Celebration of Scholars
Translation & Modernization: Adapting a 17th-century Spanish play
Name:
Matthew Borden
Department: Humanities
Type of research: Course project
Funding: n/a
Name:
Rebecca Burns
Major: Spanish & Communication
Hometown: Countryside, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: n/a
Name:
Nancy Retana
Major: Spanish & Biology
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: n/a
Name:
Katherine Schlinder
Major: Spanish & IPE
Hometown: Sun Prairie
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: n/a
Abstract
Our project is an original adaptation of a 17th-century Spanish play. This project originates from our work in Professor Borden's course: SPAN 4240 "Hispanic Theater." The original text was produced around 1620 in Spain, written in rhymed verse (as was the style of the time), and received with great acclaim. Our goal has been to make this play accessible to modern-day audiences who have only a limited understanding of Spanish and perhaps no knowledge of 17th-century Spanish society. Consequently we have created a hybrid-translation, where half of the play's characters speak in English and the other half speak in Spanish. All the lines in the play, in both languages, have been simplified and modernized to promote understanding by the viewing public. A basic knowledge of Spanish should be enough to fully comprehend our version of the text, whereas the original would be utterly incomprehensible to most people without native-like Spanish fluency.
Submit date: March 14, 2013, 11:08 a.m.