Aug. 26, 2010

Faculty member completes translations, reproduces line drawings for publication

Patrick Blaine, assistant professor of modern languages at Morningside College, translated two chapters and reproduced a number of architectural line drawings for the book “Baroque New Worlds: Representation, Transculturation, Counterconquest,” which was recently published by Duke University Press.

The book is a groundbreaking collection of essays on the baroque and neobaroque art movements. These were particularly influential in Latin America, but have important off-shoots in U.S. and European cultural production. The collection features a number of texts that were previously not available in English. It will be of use to both scholars and students.

Monika Kaup, who edited the book with Lois Parkinson Zamora, was one of Blaine’s advisors for his master’s degree and doctorate. As a result, Blaine completed the following translations for the book: “America’s Relation to Europe in the Arts,” which was originally the first chapter of “The Rediscovery of America in Art” by Ángel Guido; and “Góngora in Spanish Poetry, Góngora in Luso-Brazilian Poetry: Critical Parallels” by Jorge Ruedas de la Serna.

“Literary translation requires a lot of research and fine-tuning,” Blaine said. “You almost have to understand the subject in the same way that the author did. Another consideration is that if an author is discussing a text or artwork from the 1600s, you have to make some effort to understand what the piece was and its significance in that place and time. It’s a continuous learning process.”

In addition to the translations for the book, Blaine used computer software to reproduce for the modern publishing process architectural line drawings that originally appeared in essays by Cuban poet, novelist and critic Severo Sarduy.

Blaine joined the faculty at Morningside College this year after serving seven years as a predoctoral lecturer in Spanish, film studies, comparative literature and interdisciplinary studies at the University of Washington. He also worked for three years as a graduate staff associate in the school’s language learning center and as assistant director of the Spanish language program. He previously taught and studied in Santiago, Chile, and studied in San Sebastián, Spain. Blaine has a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Washington.