Ruxanda Bontila and Petru Iamandi
25
they’re trying to do a literary translation: They are tempted to do it word
for word, forgetting the requirements of their mother tongue and changing
into servants of the foreign language. As I said, apprenticeship takes time.
References
Benjamin, W. 1955/1970. “The Task of the Translator” in Illuminations,
Zohn, H. Transl, London, Cape, 69-82.
Stanciu, V. 2008. Dic ionar de angliúti úi americaniúti români, Cluj:
Tribuna.
Note
1
Ruxanda Bontilý is mentioned in the dictionary of Romanian specialists in the
field of English and American studies (Stanciu 2008: 26). A member of The
International Vladimir Nabokov Society, University of Kansas, USA, she has
authored books on literature (Vladimir Nabokov’s English Novels: The Art of
Defining Subjectivism, EDP, 2004) and she has published articles and studies. Her
latest publications include Vladimir Nabokov’s “Task of the Translator”: Identity
in Need of Editing (in Gonzales, M and F. Tolron (eds.), Translating Identity and
the Identity of Translation, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007) and Lolita’s take on
history: A Romanian Perspective (European Journal of English Studies, Routledge,
2008, 12(03), 277-89).
2
Petru Iamandi is included in the dictionary of Romanian specialists in the field of
English and American studies (Stanciu 2008: 65-66), in Who’s Who in the World
(1999, 2001) and in Dic ionar SF (1999). He has translated English literature into
Romanian (from authors such as N. Gordimer, J. Brunner, A.R. Morlan, G.
Dahlquist, J. Chace, R. Humphreys, R. L. Byers, Paul B. Thompson, Margaret
Broadhurst-Clegg) as well as non-literary works (out of which mention is made of
Susan Strange’ States and Markets published in Romania under the title State úi
pie e, E. Williamson’s Borges: A Life/Borges–o via , R. A. Dahl’s Democracy
and Its Critics/Democra ia úi criticii ei, Tom Reiss’ The Orientalist/Orientalistul,
Benazir Bhutto’s Reconciliation/Reconcilierea, Yehuda Berg’s The Power of
Kabbalah/Puterea Kaballei). His translations into English include Requiem for the
Second Millenium by Vasile Ghica, Polonius and The Little Giant-Tamer by Victor
Cilinc, A Hawk’s Lesson and Primitive Rains by Aurel Stancu, Top Priority by
Doru Tatar, The Odd Beast by Nicolae Mrúanu, Lines and The Secret Dew by
Maria Weishaupt Saru,Contemporary Political Doctrines by Anton Carpinschi,
Gala i–History and Present Times by Grigore Lazarovici and Stefan Stanciu, etc.
In 2008, the ”Fani Tardini” Theatre of Gala i staged Harold Pinter’s The Birthday
Party in his translation. He has placed numerous translations of essays, poetry,
fiction, and articles in various Romanian publications and several of his
translations have appeared in the UK and the USA.