Representing translation in a documentary about one of the world’s most translated songs

This paper analyses ‘translatedness’ – representations of translation and the ways and extent to which the act of translation are made explicit – in the short documentary The Internationale (2000). How is translation represented in a film about one of the world’s most widely translated and disseminated songs? Drawing inspiration from film narratology, it first examines the auditive and visual meaning-making resources at work in the documentary, keying in on how these combine in complex ways to render translatedness and give it meaning. Four representation types emerge from the analysis: translation as music; translation as a result (rather than as a prerequisite) of worldwide dissemination; (non)translation and multilingual choruses; and cultural translation. These inform a discussion of the ideological implications of a documentary narrative that acknowledges the pivotal role of translation in the song’s international dissemination but ultimately portrays (re)translation into English as the best way to revive its change potential and redeem it from past misuses. This seeming Anglocentrism sits somewhat uneasily alongside the song’s long and varied translation history and its past ideological investments.