Basque Verse-Makers and Translators: A Colloquium
Translation: Kristin Addis
Abstract
Xabier Amuriza, Xabier Payá and Koldo Tapia, three people involved in translation/interpretation and ad-lib verse-making, activities that require special uses of language, review in this colloquium their careers in the two professions, with particular emphasis on translation/interpretation. A considerable part of the lengthy discussion was devoted to the problems encountered by each of the three in performing these activities that are so different from each other (although the difference between interpretation and improvisational verse may seem small), especially in the case of languages still in the process of standardization and normalization, like Basque. In addition, they discuss in detail the resources that each of these tasks provides to them when they must carry out the other activity, clarifying that these are compatible and complementary activities that mutually compensate for the limitations on linguistic resources that the professional faces.
