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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Fascinating Rhythm : Traduire le substrat musical dans Another Country de James Baldwin

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Baldwin’s Another Country is a deeply rhythmic novel, developing its musical theme through its characters and openly claiming its debt towards musical expression. Is it possible to translate this form of musical mimesis? The question involves taking into account comparative phonology and stylistics as well as the study of the linguistic means by which writing can create a rhythmic feel (repetitions, alliterations, rhymes, similarity of words, etc.). Rhythm and music are connected to deeper historical and social questions. For example preachin’ as a form of speech stands out as part of cultural stylistics. The study of the novel’s French translation sets off these dimensions of the original text and points to the problems that any translation is faced with. This article also attempts to outline the possibility of translating the poetics of rhythm between two languages.