Exercises in Style: Raymond Queneau
Xabier Olarra

Abstract

This article tells of the process of translating Raymond Queneau's book Exercices de style, from the time when Koldo Mitxelena Cultural Centre in San Sebastián commissioned the translation, in September 2004, to when the book was published, in December 2005. This undertaking was not without its difficulties, some of which were not of a literary nature —certain matters related to the pictures which were to illustrate the work and to the intellectual property rights— and others were inherent in the special features of the original work which, in the opinion of diverse persons, lies at the limit of what is translatable. The tasks the translator had to undertake and the difficulties he had to tackle in recreating those hundred variations which, at last, were able to see the light of day in Euskara, are the subject-matter of this chapter.

[Full text in Basque language]