Surrealistically Speaking: Translating Joyce Mansour

<p><strong>ABSTRACT Is translating Surrealism a contradiction in terms? Translation is a logical rational process, and Surrealism seeks to break through logic and reason. This could mean that Surrealism can’t be properly translated, but one would hope that this is not the case, and so a more productive question must be: how can one translate surrealistically? This thesis explores experimental techniques for translating the works of French-Egyptian Surrealist poet Joyce Mansour. I employ a surrealistic method of curation inspired by theorists Fred Moten and Robin D.G. Kelley and use the translation strategy Skopostheorie. By choosing a Surrealist poet as case study, I hope to show that through this curation process it is possible to translate a Surrealist in way which respects the poet’s own aims and methods.</strong></p>