Peter Constantine
Encyclopedia
Peter Constantine is a British and American award-winning literary translator
who has translated literary works from German, Russian, French, Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Italian, Albanian, Dutch, and Slovene.
, Greece before moving to the United States in 1983. In his first books, Japanese Street Slang and Japanese Slang: Uncensored he explored Japanese slang and criminal jargon
s in their many varieties, focusing on aspects of the Japanese language that had been traditionally marginalized. "Previously unprintable things that will inform, amuse, shock and maybe even disgust" (Joseph LaPenta: Daily Yomiuri Newspaper, December 6, 1992).
In the early 1990s, Constantine began translating short stories and poetry from various European languages, publishing in literary magazines in the United States, Britain, and Australia. Since the publication of his first book-length translation, Thomas Mann
: Six Early Stories, he has worked almost exclusively as a literary translator.
Contemporary Authors quotes Constantine: "I have always been interested in language in all its aspects. Working with master linguists such as Thomas Mann, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, and Babel has been particularly rewarding for me, since these writers push language to an extreme, and the translator has to vigorously mold the translation in order to try to recreate their effects."
for his translation of Thomas Mann
's Six Early Stories . It was chosen by the New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year. In 1999 he was awarded the National Translation Award
for The Undiscovered Chekhov: Thirty-Eight New Stories. In 2002, Constantine's translation of The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
, edited by Nathalie Babel, received a Koret Jewish Book Award
and a National Jewish Book Award citation. His translation of the Modern Greek Poet Stylianos Harkianakis's poetry book Mother received the 2004/2005 Hellenic Association of Translators of Literature Prize. In 2007 Constantine was the recipient of the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
for his translation of Benjamin Lebert
's novel The Bird is a Raven. His translation of The Essential Writings of Machiavelli was a finalist for the 2008 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
.
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
who has translated literary works from German, Russian, French, Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Italian, Albanian, Dutch, and Slovene.
Biography
Constantine was born in London to an Austrian mother and a British father of Turkish and Greek descent. He grew up in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece before moving to the United States in 1983. In his first books, Japanese Street Slang and Japanese Slang: Uncensored he explored Japanese slang and criminal jargon
Jargon
Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...
s in their many varieties, focusing on aspects of the Japanese language that had been traditionally marginalized. "Previously unprintable things that will inform, amuse, shock and maybe even disgust" (Joseph LaPenta: Daily Yomiuri Newspaper, December 6, 1992).
In the early 1990s, Constantine began translating short stories and poetry from various European languages, publishing in literary magazines in the United States, Britain, and Australia. Since the publication of his first book-length translation, Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
: Six Early Stories, he has worked almost exclusively as a literary translator.
Contemporary Authors quotes Constantine: "I have always been interested in language in all its aspects. Working with master linguists such as Thomas Mann, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, and Babel has been particularly rewarding for me, since these writers push language to an extreme, and the translator has to vigorously mold the translation in order to try to recreate their effects."
Honors
In 1998 Constantine received the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation PrizePEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize is an annual award given to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN American Center and the Book of the Month Club since 1963....
for his translation of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
's Six Early Stories . It was chosen by the New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year. In 1999 he was awarded the National Translation Award
National Translation Award
The National Translation Award is an annual prize given by the American Literary Translators Association to an exceptional translation of a book-length work published in the preceding calendar year. As of 2010 the prize is worth $5,000...
for The Undiscovered Chekhov: Thirty-Eight New Stories. In 2002, Constantine's translation of The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
Isaac Babel
Isaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
, edited by Nathalie Babel, received a Koret Jewish Book Award
Koret Jewish Book Award
The Koret Jewish Book Award is an annual award that recognizes "recently published books on any aspect of Jewish life in the categories of biography/autobiography and literary studies, fiction, history and philosophy/thought published in, or translated into, English." The award was established in...
and a National Jewish Book Award citation. His translation of the Modern Greek Poet Stylianos Harkianakis's poetry book Mother received the 2004/2005 Hellenic Association of Translators of Literature Prize. In 2007 Constantine was the recipient of the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize is an annual literary prize honoring an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA the previous year. The translator of the winning translation receives $10,000.00 and a stay at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin...
for his translation of Benjamin Lebert
Benjamin Lebert
Benjamin Lebert is a German author. He was born in Freiburg. His first novel Crazy, was published when Lebert was only 16 years old...
's novel The Bird is a Raven. His translation of The Essential Writings of Machiavelli was a finalist for the 2008 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize is an annual award given to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN American Center and the Book of the Month Club since 1963....
.
Editor
- The Caribbean Writer, Volume 12, 1998. Special Section: Poems by Celie Diaquoi Deslandes, edited and translated by Peter Constantine from the French.
- The Caribbean Writer, Volume 10, 1996. Special Section: Surinamese short fiction by Paul Bandel, Hélène Ramjiawan, Anne Zeggen en Monique Pool. Edited and translated by Peter Constantine from the Dutch.
Translations and Adaptations
- Sarah Bernhardt Comes to Town, by Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts and Moving Theater. Directed by Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
. World Premiere, May 2, 1998. Performed by Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
and Rachel KempsonRachel KempsonRachel, Lady Redgrave , known primarily by her birth name as Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty.-Career:...
. - Sarah Bernhardt Comes to Town: An Evening of Chekhov, by Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, adapted by Vanessa Redgrave. August 7, 1999. Directed by Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
. Performed by Lynn RedgraveLynn RedgraveLynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
, Rachel KempsonRachel KempsonRachel, Lady Redgrave , known primarily by her birth name as Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty.-Career:...
and Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
. - Maria, by Isaac BabelIsaac BabelIsaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
. Pigott Theater, Stanford. Directed by Carl Weber. Premiere February 19, 2004. - The Mandrake, by Niccolò MachiavelliNiccolò MachiavelliNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
. The Pearl Theatre, New York. Directed by Jim CalderJim CalderJim Calder is a retired Scottish professional association football player. Calder played as a striker until he received a knee ligament injury at the age of 26...
. Premiere January 8, 2008. - The Oedipus Cycle, by SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
. The Pearl Theatre, New York. Directed by Shepard Sobel. Premiere October 27, 2008.
External links
- Translations of short stories and poems published in Words Without Borders
- A translation of Anton Chekhov's comical short story After The Fair
- A translation of Anton Chekhov's comical short story First Aid
- A translation of Alexandros Papadiamantis' The Seal's Dirge
- Dostoevsky's Siberian Notebook
- An excerpt from August Strindberg's novella Paul and Peter
- A translation of Haye Hinrichsen's short story Dung, translated from the Friesian
- A translation of Counsel for My Family After My Death, a poem by the Tunisian poet Salah Garmadi
- A radio discussion with Michael Silverblatt about The Complete Works of Isaac Babel with Peter Constantine, Nathalie Babel, and Cynthia Ozick
- Audio: Peter Constantine reads his translation of Bronze Age (a poem by Yannis KondosYannis KondosYannis Kondos is an award winning Greek poet. He read Economics at the University of Piraeus . He founded the bookshop Ηνίοχος in 1971, along with Thanassis Niarchos. Since 1975, he has been working for Kedros publishers...
) - Audio: Peter Constantine reads his translation of Practical Solutions (a poem by Dinos Siotis)