The Ritual of Translation: Some Examples Chiefly from English and German Literature

After a brief introduction dealing with the translatability or ultimate intranslatability of texts by Walter de la Mare, Samuel Beckett, Günter Kunert, and Christian Morgenstern, the bulk of this article is devoted to a detailed investigation and comparison of various aspects of the English version (by H. T. Lowe-Porter) of Thomas Mann's novel Joseph und seine Brüder; then, as a kind of supplement, there follows a cursory discussion of similar problems in the English version(s) of Goethe's novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. As it turns out, even the very basics of the "ritual of translation" are in dire need of constant admonition, indeed exhortations.