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Rabassa was born in [[Yonkers, New York]], [[United States|U.S.]], into a family headed by a [[Cuba]]n émigré. After serving during [[World War II]] as an [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] [[cryptographer]] and receiving a bachelor's degree from [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]], Rabassa enrolled as a graduate student at [[Columbia University]], where he eventually earned a doctorate. He taught at Columbia for over two decades before accepting a position at [[Queens College]], [[City University of New York]].<ref name=nytimes>{{cite web|author=Andrew Bast|title=A Translator's Long Journey, Page by Page|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/books/25RABA.html?ex=1086508264&ei=1&en=3c126bf247b9e504|publisher=The New York Times|date=May 25, 2004}}</ref><ref name=finebooks>{{cite web|author=Lucas Rivera|title=The Translator in His Labyrinth|url=http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/0104/translator.phtml|publisher=Fine Books Magazine|quote=A profile of Gregory Rabassa, the man who brought One Hundred Years of Solitude, Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez' masterpiece, to the English-speaking world.}}</ref><ref name=utdallas>{{cite web|author=Thomas Hoeksema|title=The Translator's Voice: An Interview with Gregory Rabassa|url=http://translation.utdallas.edu/Interviews/Rabassaby_Hoeksema.html|publisher=UT Dallas}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Hector Tobar|title= Listening to Gregory Rabassa, the translator's translator|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-gregory-rabassa-translator-litquake-20131016-story.html|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=October 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gregory Rabassa|url=http://wordswithoutborders.org/contributor/gregory-rabassa|publisher=Words without Borders}}</ref>
Rabassa was born in [[Yonkers, New York]], [[United States|U.S.]], into a family headed by a [[Cuba]]n émigré. After serving during [[World War II]] as an [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] [[cryptographer]] and receiving a bachelor's degree from [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]], Rabassa enrolled as a graduate student at [[Columbia University]], where he eventually earned a doctorate. He taught at Columbia for over two decades before accepting a position at [[Queens College]], [[City University of New York]].<ref name=nytimes>{{cite web|author=Andrew Bast|title=A Translator's Long Journey, Page by Page|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/books/25RABA.html?ex=1086508264&ei=1&en=3c126bf247b9e504|publisher=The New York Times|date=May 25, 2004}}</ref><ref name=finebooks>{{cite web|author=Lucas Rivera|title=The Translator in His Labyrinth|url=http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/0104/translator.phtml|publisher=Fine Books Magazine|quote=A profile of Gregory Rabassa, the man who brought One Hundred Years of Solitude, Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez' masterpiece, to the English-speaking world.}}</ref><ref name=utdallas>{{cite web|author=Thomas Hoeksema|title=The Translator's Voice: An Interview with Gregory Rabassa|url=http://translation.utdallas.edu/Interviews/Rabassaby_Hoeksema.html|publisher=UT Dallas}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Hector Tobar|title= Listening to Gregory Rabassa, the translator's translator|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-gregory-rabassa-translator-litquake-20131016-story.html|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=October 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gregory Rabassa|url=http://wordswithoutborders.org/contributor/gregory-rabassa|publisher=Words without Borders}}</ref>


He worked primarily in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. He produced [[English-language]] versions of the works of several major Latin American novelists, including [[Julio Cortázar]], [[Jorge Amado]] and [[Gabriel García Márquez]]. On the advice of Cortázar, García Márquez waited three years for Rabassa's schedule to become open so that he could translate ''[[One Hundred Years of Solitude]]''. He later declared Rabassa's translation to be superior to his own Spanish original.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=finebooks/><ref name=utdallas/><ref>[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811216659 Amazon.com: If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents: Books: Gregory Rabassa<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
He worked primarily in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. He produced [[English-language]] versions of the works of several major Latin American novelists, including [[Julio Cortázar]], [[Jorge Amado]] and [[Gabriel García Márquez]]. On the advice of Cortázar, García Márquez waited three years for Rabassa's schedule to become open so that he could translate ''[[One Hundred Years of Solitude]]''. He later declared Rabassa's translation to be superior to his own Spanish original.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=finebooks/><ref name=utdallas/>


He received the [[PEN Translation Prize]] in 1977 and the [[PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation]] in 1982. Rabassa was honored with the [[Gregory Kolovakos Award]] from [[PEN American Center]] for the expansion of Hispanic Literature to an English-language audience in 2001.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=finebooks/><ref name=utdallas/>
He received the [[PEN Translation Prize]] in 1977 and the [[PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation]] in 1982. Rabassa was honored with the [[Gregory Kolovakos Award]] from [[PEN American Center]] for the expansion of Hispanic Literature to an English-language audience in 2001.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=finebooks/><ref name=utdallas/>

Revision as of 23:23, 14 June 2016

Gregory Rabassa (March 9, 1922 – June 13, 2016) was a prominent American literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English.[1]

Life and career

Rabassa was born in Yonkers, New York, U.S., into a family headed by a Cuban émigré. After serving during World War II as an OSS cryptographer and receiving a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth, Rabassa enrolled as a graduate student at Columbia University, where he eventually earned a doctorate. He taught at Columbia for over two decades before accepting a position at Queens College, City University of New York.[2][3][4][5][6]

He worked primarily in Spanish and Portuguese. He produced English-language versions of the works of several major Latin American novelists, including Julio Cortázar, Jorge Amado and Gabriel García Márquez. On the advice of Cortázar, García Márquez waited three years for Rabassa's schedule to become open so that he could translate One Hundred Years of Solitude. He later declared Rabassa's translation to be superior to his own Spanish original.[2][3][4]

He received the PEN Translation Prize in 1977 and the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation in 1982. Rabassa was honored with the Gregory Kolovakos Award from PEN American Center for the expansion of Hispanic Literature to an English-language audience in 2001.[2][3][4]

Rabassa had a particularly close and productive working relation with Cortázar, with whom he shared lifelong passions for jazz and wordplay. For his version of Cortázar's novel, Hopscotch, Rabassa split the inaugural U.S. National Book Award in category Translation.[7][2][3][4]

Rabassa formerly taught at Queens College, from which he retired with the title Distinguished Professor Emeritus. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[2][3][4]

Rabassa has translated without reading the book beforehand, working as he goes.[4]

He wrote a memoir detailing his experiences as a translator, If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents, A Memoir, which was a Los Angeles Times "Favorite Book of the Year" for 2005[8] and for which he received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir in 2006.[2][3][4][9]

Rabassa died on June 13, 2016, at a hospice in Branford, Connecticut.[1]

Selected translations

References

  1. ^ a b News, ABC. "Gregory Rabassa, Renowned Translator, Dead at 94". ABC News. Retrieved 2016-06-14. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Andrew Bast (May 25, 2004). "A Translator's Long Journey, Page by Page". The New York Times.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lucas Rivera. "The Translator in His Labyrinth". Fine Books Magazine. A profile of Gregory Rabassa, the man who brought One Hundred Years of Solitude, Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez' masterpiece, to the English-speaking world.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Thomas Hoeksema. "The Translator's Voice: An Interview with Gregory Rabassa". UT Dallas.
  5. ^ Hector Tobar (October 17, 2013). "Listening to Gregory Rabassa, the translator's translator". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ "Gregory Rabassa". Words without Borders.
  7. ^ a b "National Book Awards – 1967". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
    There was a "Translation" award from 1967 to 1983.
  8. ^ If This Be Treason at Google Books. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  9. ^ "Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir Winners". Pen American Center. Archived from the original on October 2, 2006.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gregory_Rabassa&oldid=725319920"