The Coquetterie of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Translator’s Note in Selections from Paroles

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s translation of selected poems from Jacques Prévert’s Paroles was first published by City Lights in the Pocket Poet series in 1958. This, and subsequent editions published in 1965 and 1990, all contain a paratext written by the translator. Part One of this dissertation contains a detailed comparative textual analysis of the three published versions of this preface, and other elements of the publisher’s peritext. This examines the versions for any textual variations, and acts as a springboard in Part Two to unlock the potential of Ferlinghetti’s Translator’s Note, potential which can be found both inside and beyond any preconceived boundaries of the paratext. Gérard Genette’s thesis that a ‘paratextual element is always subordinate to “its” text’ is also called into question. In examining the mythology which both Ferlinghetti and Prévert construct around their work, similarities in their narrative are uncovered, and their shared pairing of strong self-belief and relaxed indifference comes to the fore. Despite a hesitancy to credit Ferlinghetti as a reliable narrator, the story of finding Prévert’s words of resistance scribbled on a tablecloth at the close of World War II adds value and cultural significance to his translations. Ferlinghetti’s extended metaphor of occupation and resistance allows him to justify and promote his own ideology in the suggestion that writers of dissent can be seen as freeing or liberating forces. Despite the elasticity of its borders, the Note is littered with clues leading back to the ‘text’. However, the definition of ‘text’ can also be considered as elastic, not limited simply to the poems translated in this volume, but also encompassing Ferlinghetti’s work as a poet and publisher of works of ‘international, dissident, insurgent ferment.’

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Dewally, Samantha

• PQ Llenyddiaethau Rhamant

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3638