The Worlds of Langston Hughes: Modernism and Translation in the Americas

Vera M. Kutzinski

Open Access Published by Cornell University Press 2012

The Worlds of Langston Hughes

Modernism and Translation in the Americas

Vera M. Kutzinski
Funded by: Knowledge Unlatched

https://doi.org/10.7591/9780801466250

Overview
Contents

About this book

Kutzinski shows that translating and being translated (and often mistranslated) are as vital to Hughes's own poetics as they are to understanding the historical network of cultural relations known as literary modernism.

Author / Editor information

Vera M. Kutzinski is The Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and Director of the Alexander von Humboldt in English (HiE) Project at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of Against the American Grain: Myth and History in William Carlos Williams, Jay Wright and Nicolás Guillén and Sugar's Secrets: Race and the Erotics of Cuban Nationalism.

Reviews

John Lowe, Louisiana State University, author of Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston's Cosmic Comedy:

Reading The Worlds of Langston Hughes was a real education for me. No one, to my knowledge, has done such a thorough presentation of the role of translation in literary modernism as it was practiced in the Americas; further, Vera M. Kutzinski has given us one of the very best analyses and evaluations of Hughes's seminal texts. We observe him at work translating, but we also see his works being translated. Kutzinski, a preeminent polylingual comparativist who knows the literatures of the African diaspora as well as anyone, brings a keen understanding of both race and ethnicity to her overarching discussion. She has written an exemplary work, which will be widely influential.

Natalie Melas, Cornell University, author of All the Difference in the World: Postcoloniality and the Ends of Comparison:

In The Worlds of Langston Hughes, Vera Kutzinski lays out the theoretical implications and the practical necessity of making translation and translations objects of literary analysis in a creative, multidimensional, compelling, and utterly illuminating way. This book is simply breathtaking.

Although Hughes is highly regarded in US literature, he may be even more of an iconic figure in Hispanic culture. Kutzinski illustrates how his works, as translated into Spanish, made an indelible mark on Hispanic literature. And as more of his works have been translated in other world languages, Hughes's themes have become globally impactful and universal. Kutzinski also argues that translations of the works of other iconic US writers—especially those of non-US descent—can impact a nation's culture. Kutzinski's research suggests that the possibilities are endless.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Chronology of Travels, Translations, and Other Key Publications Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xvi
Introduction: In Others’ Words: Translation and Survival Open Access Download PDF	1
1. Nomad Heart: Heterolingual Autobiography Open Access Download PDF	15
2. Southern Exposures: Hughes in Spanish Open Access Download PDF	56
3. Buenos Aires Blues: Modernism in the Creole City Open Access Download PDF	86
4. Havana Vernaculars: The Cuba Libre Project Open Access Download PDF	132
5. Back in the USSA: Joe McCarthy’s Mistranslations Open Access Download PDF	184
Afterword: America/América/Americas Open Access Download PDF	221
Appendix Open Access Download PDF	241
Notes Open Access Download PDF	257
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	311
Index Open Access Download PDF	339

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 376
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 9
- Images: 9
- Other: 9 halftones
Keywords: poetry; literary analysis; african diaspora; poetic translation; literary modernism

eBook

Published: October 15, 2012
ISBN: 9780801466250