Onde non concentriche

In this short essay, the translator of “Alte Abdeckerei” focuses her analysis on the rendering of rhythm, in the belief that it is the most fruitful interpretive key to the Hilbig’s short story masterpiece. Both in the original version and in translation rhythm is indeed the common thread that binds both the lexical choices within the periods, as well as the text’s periods to each other, and also the narrative construction, which unravels in a recursive pattern. It is as if the whole narrative were composed of waves of varying lengths (short, medium, long and very long) that interfere at various levels. The closer one gets to the conclusion, which coincides with a kind of dissolution of syntax and terminology, the more Hilbig himself loosens the reins of his poetic prose until the grand finale. The essay focuses precisely on analyzing the rendering of the short, dense waves at the beginning of the finale itself, hoping to offer a concentrate of the less rational side of translation work.