Few and Far Between: The Translations of T. S. Eliot's Drama in Spanish

Resumen

S. Eliot is recognized in Spain as a referent of modern poetry, but comparatively little known as a dramatist. Translations of his poetry into Spanish and the other languages of Spain have been published since the 1930s up to the present day. Not surprisingly, given the secondary status conferred upon them even in English, there are fewer translations of Eliot’s plays. We propose to examine their history, context, and specificities.Murder in the Cathedral is exceptional in having been translated into Spanish numerous times, and as recently as 2016. The reputed translator José Méndez Herrera produced a prose version of The Cocktail Party, destined for a 1952 stage production. Rosa Chacel and Carmen Conde, prolific authors associated with the “Generación del 27”, both translated or adapted The Family Reunion, also in the 1950s. They attempted to find equivalents for Eliot’s dramatic verse in the patterns of Spanish contemporary poetry; fascinatingly, their versions involve an unsolved enigma that we will attempt to unravel. The most recent translations of Eliot’s “modern English society” comedies (The Confidential Clerk, The Elder Statesman) appeared in the 1960s. Those produced by the Argentinian translator Miguel Alfredo Olivera deserve special attention because of their quality.The remoteness from our times of most of these translations, however, seems to call for new Spanish versions, alert to Eliot’s verse cadences and incorporating the latest scholarship. Because of our involvement in such a project (a forthcoming critical edition in Spanish), we will also share our experience as translators of Eliot’s verse drama.The present text has three main aims: to trace the history of T. S. Eliot’s drama in Spanish translation as an aspect of his general reception, to consider the practical challenges faced by past and present translators, and lastly, to reflect on our own experience as translators and editors of these texts, in the context of a recent translation and research project whose main result has been a comprehensive and critical edition of Eliot’s plays