The hunting of a way to translate the 'Snark'
Snarkaren ehizan (2024) is the title of the Basque translation of Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark (1876). The Basque version was translated and edited by Manu López Gaseni, who in this article provides various keys to the ballad, which is considered the pinnacle of nonsense. After placing it in the context in which it was originally written, he describes the form and content of the work in detail, chronicles its reception when first published, in later editions and up to the present day, and discusses the interpretations attributed to it. Next, he provides details about the translation process of Carroll’s work, particularly how he addressed notable difficulties such as meter and rhyme, character names, and portmanteau words and other words invented by Carroll. He concludes that The Hunting of the Snark remains a work of great literary value today, in that it is capable of endlessly inspiring a variety of readings.
