El salt del cérvol: antologia traduïda del poemari Stag’s Leap, de Sharon Olds

Abstract

Sharon Olds is one of the most renowned poets in contemporary English literature, such as John Ashbery, Brian Patten or Mary Oliver. On the one hand, this study aims to analyse in general terms her last book of poems, Stag’s Leap, in order to translate some of these into Catalan. Stag’s Leap is Olds’ reflection about her separation and divorce with her ex-husband. As all of her poetry, all the poems are autobiographic. But this book specifically, like The Father (1992), is focused in a single topic, which makes it more personal than usual. On the other hand, it also intends to analyse poetic translating, which has been qualified by many scholars as an impossible task, and apply it to Olds’ work. Our research, though, has proved poetic translating as perfectly possible. Olds’ work has been found in this study as extremely autobiographical. The constant music within her verses and the sometimes frenzied pace has been tried to transport into the Catalan translations. Even so, the main aim in translating Olds’ poems is the meaning, rather than the sound. Out of 49 poems, this study includes only 11, considered the most representative of the book. Each poem is accompanied by an analysis and an explanation on the translating process.