The Subversive Scribe: Translating Manuel Puig

Abstract

The issue of the original in translation is addressed by quoting views by such writers as Jorge Luis Borges & James Joyce. Translation is discussed as a creative & critical act, & the literary translator is characterized as a subversive scribe. Innovative writers, eg, Severo Sarduy, Cabrera Infante, & Manuel Puig, view their originals as translations of texts, traditions, & realities; thus they are not authors but self-translators, & self-subverters. Puig's novel Boquitas Pintadas (Little Painted Lips) & its English version (Heartbreak Tango) by Levine (no bibliographic references) are examined to show that the literary translation is a continuation of the creative process - a critical act that does not replace but complements the original. The cultural constraints affecting the translational process are also discussed. Z. Dubiel