Who actually owns words? When authors write their own texts, this question is relatively easy to answer. But it becomes more difficult when texts are translated into another language or changed during the translation process. Who is the author of the text? Who has to justify the choice of expression in translation and adaptation? The project “TO OWN YOUR OWN WORDS – AND SHARE IT” aims to question translation and adaptation to such an extent that the only answer can ultimately be: We own the words together. We write in a transnational collective.
The starting point for this literary exchange is the translation workshop during the “Week of Sloveniand Drama” on April 2nd and 3rd 2024 in Kranj/Slovenia. Two authors each from Austria (uniT), Slovenia (ZDUS) and Croatia (Kuca Klajn) will meet there.
In this workshop, the authors’ texts will be exchanged, and the authors will then change their role as writers and become translators. Translating each other’s texts also creates a basis for a conversation. What do the authors in the different countries think about? Are there overlaps in the way they think about the world and its current problems, how they analyze them?
Questions like: How do you actually understand this word? Did I understand this passage correctly? Why was this verb actually used? are not only allowed, but also encouraged. The aim is to understand your colleague’s text through the translation as if it were your own. After the workshop, the authors work with the translated texts and adapt them. The adaptations will be presented to the public as part of the Dramatiker|innenfestival 2024 in Graz.
