Translation and Performance – Nina Simone sings Aznavour and Brel

Abstract

In this paper changes in the translation process related to cultural and social aspects will be explored by linking Translation Studies to Performance Studies. A strong focus is on shifts that occur due to a change in the performing artist and their individual performance styles, which are likely to have influenced the songs and lyrics. To do this, two songs will be examined that were translated from French to English by different lyricists/translators in the early 1960s and performed in the translated versions by Nina Simone. The songs are Charles Aznavour’s “Il faut savoir” (1961) and Jacques Brel’s “Les désespérés” (1965). The first was translated as “You’ve Got to Learn” (1962), the second as “The Desperate Ones” (1968). Through these songs, it is possible to scrutinize different performance styles and artists in the respective original versions and the modifications in the translations.