Ramón María del Valle Inclán, Savage Comedies
Translated and edited by Christopher Colbath and Luis M. González
New Translations 15•18 March 2022
- ‘Gracias a este nuevo volumen que nos ofrece la Modern Humanities Research Association, el público de habla inglesa tendrá la oportunidad de adentrarse en el universo valleinclaniano, disfrutar de la lectura de las Comedias bárbaras, y valorar las importantes contribuciones hechas por Valle-Inclán a la literatura española y al teatro modernista europeo.’ — Mercedes Tasende, Bulletin of Spanish Studies 99, 2022, 915-16
- ‘Colbath and González explain that in translating the three texts their principal aim was to “be faithful first and foremost to the uncanny and beautiful atmospheres conjured up in the text” (16) and their success in this endeavor is to be applauded. Noting Valle-Inclán’s rich polyphonic style, they point to the texts’ abrupt transitions among discursive registers: colloquialisms shift into courtly language which then shifts into archaic diction. Colbath and González handle these linguistic challenges deftly, producing a translation that is both readable and protective of the linguistic diversity of the original. Difficult for native speakers of Spanish, Valle-Inclán’s language is very challenging for non-native speakers. Colbath and González’s translation opens up the late nineteenth-century world created by Valle-Inclán to both an English-reading general audience and students interested in Valle-Inclán and his particular take on literary modernism.’ — Elizabeth Drumm, Hispania 106.2, June 2023, 343-44 (full text online)