New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Culture
  2. Theatre
10 November 2008updated 22 Jul 2021 11:30am

Translating Lorca

The difficult line of transforming a play from one language to another continues to challenge and so

By Ruth Collins

Bringing the work of legendary Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca to the stage is much more than simply making appropriate lexical choices, but how do we translate Lorca?

In short, it’s not an easy task. Much of Lorca’s work is saturated by strong imagery. For the translator, the cultural resonances associated with such imagery may seem completely unfathomable to foreign audiences. This was demonstrated when the first ever translation, Blood Wedding, Lorca’s arguably most translated (and so his most famous) work, was virtually laughed off stage.

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
How drones can revolutionise UK public services
Chelsea Valentine Q&A: “Embrace the learning process and develop your skills”
Apprenticeships: the road to prosperity