The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/757464
thelinguist.uberflip.com DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 The Linguist 17 FEATURES constraints and the allowable leeway, they can produce a piece fit for use in performance: even and, perhaps, especially if they are also interpreters, who are steeped in the rhythms of spoken language and party to the dramas of international life. Translators and interpreters must know the manners and the mores of their working languages. Actors interpret, and acting may have profound lessons for interpreters and translators. Drama translation as pedagogy There can be a rich interface between the processes of crafting a play in translation and honing interlingual skills. A key characteristic of theatre is collaboration in terms of both intellectual and physical interaction. In our open, transparent age, translation also is increasingly collaborative, and interpreting is founded on interpersonal interaction. There is much in acting and stagecraft which can enrich translation and interpreting pedagogy. Drama has been recognised as a teaching method in first and foreign language teaching for decades. In the UK the name most closely associated with theatre in education (TIE) is Dorothy Heathcote. 1 Heathcote worked with children and adults in very informal settings, enabling them to play roles and use language inaccessible to them in their daily lives. There has been criticism in educational circles of the way in which her methods came to be used, seen as too child-centred and lacking in structure. The principles of her work, however, were solidly grounded in drawing out the best in each pupil, in terms of problem solving, interpersonal interaction, self-reflection and language enhancement. Heathcote was inspired by Brecht, and although she explicitly denied that she was influenced by Stanislavski, there is a great deal in her practice which echoes the ideas and methods of both. Stanislavski 2 remains one of the major influences on acting, while Brecht 3 has had a huge impact on the way theatre is presented and used in the modern world. In theory, the two are apparently poles apart. Stanislavski emphasised the individual actor, becoming the role, containing the action inside "four walls". Brecht, on the other hand, embraced the audience, tearing down the fourth wall, and insisting on drama as a vehicle for learning. Both had a distinct pedagogic agenda, and in the translation of drama we can learn from both. From Stanislavski we learn the importance of knowledge: understanding people, events and self through observation. He insists on the importance of articulation, intonation and body language. These are all basic features of good interpreting practice, and can be learned through performing plays in translation, combining text and action. Brecht might be regarded as a model for translators. He believed in collaboration, bringing experts such as anthropologists and historians into the creation of a drama in thoroughly interdisciplinary and experimental ways. Brecht's ideas coincide with those of Stanislavski at several points. He emphasised the notion of 'gestus' – a combination of gesture and gist – and he recommended that actors observe, drawing on all possible experiences to improve their knowledge. Above all, Brecht was a teacher: his Lehrstücke were designed to educate. In Newcastle, we have engaged with the ideas of Stanislavski, Brecht and Heathcote in our drama translation projects. Trainee translators and interpreters collaborate in translating drama, learning to understand and craft spoken language in varying registers that fit physically on a stage and culturally with a target audience. Staging and performance of the translated drama help to form and inform the interpreter voice and body language. Notes 1 Johnson, L and O'Neill, C (1984) Dorothy Heathcote: Collected writings on education and drama, London: Hutchinson 2 Stanislavski, C (1936) An Actor Prepares, London: Geoffrey Bles. Tr. Hapgood, E; (1950/81) Building a Character, London: Methuen. Tr. Hapgood, E 3 Willett, J (1977) The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht, London: Methuen ACTING THE PART The programme cover for Newcastle University's 2015 play, Confession (main); and (inset) a publicity shot for their 2016 production of The Master