ABSTRACT
Theo Hermans’s notion of the translator’s voice, subsequently developed into a model of translation as reported speech, constitutes one of the earliest and most important contributions to discussions of the translator’s presence in the text. Whereas his model applies to all forms of translation and interpreting, this chapter specifically focuses on the translation of artistic texts – mostly, but not exclusively, literary writing. I explore the connections between Hermans’s theory and theories of artistic representation and argue that, when dealing with literary texts, the translator’s voice becomes an artistic performance. A conceptualization of translation as, specifically, a performance art makes it possible to locate literary translation within existing art theories that have so far excluded it. In particular, anthropological theories of art such as Alfred Gell’s complement Hermans’s theory and offer a powerful model for understanding how translators’ literary performances extend the agency of the work of art beyond the confines of authorship.
