The Creative Voice of the Translator of Latin American Literature

What do we mean by the creative 'voice' in translation, and how does it relate to forms of creativity in the source? How do creative writers, translators, and authors view this process? This article seeks to explore some of the issues related to artistic creativity in translation using examples drawn from the translation into English of twentieth-century Latin American literature, which has been the focus of interest of a host of renowned translators, including Harriet de Onis, Gregory Rabassa, Helen Lane, Margaret Sayers Peden, Suzanne Jill Levine, Norman Thomas di Giovanni, and Edith Grossman. The article employs a range of theoretical concepts from creativity theory, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics to investigate this phenomenon. it also discusses new forms of creativity engendered by hybrid Spanish-English texts that pose new questions for translators and blur any rigid divide between source and target texts.