 |
Twenty-one years after Daney passed away, a third book of translations was published (two in so many years): Footlights, thanks to Nicholas Elliot, the translator, and the team at Semiotext(e), the publisher. The proof, if any, that amateur translation blogs and official publishing are not incompatible since this book had already been translated through a patchwork of initiatives over the years.
It's not all. Although not in English, Pierre Eugène's fabulous PhD thesis on Serge Daney finally found its way to a book format: Exercises in Re-reading, Serge Daney: 1962-1982.
Since Footlights (La Rampe, Daney's first book) is a selection of texts published between 1970 and 1982, the two books form a magnificent coincidence, made even more unlikely by the mysteries of publishers' timelines (Pierre's project was many, many years in the making while Nicholas' translation took just over a year from conception to print).
Could this blog bring you a special "double bill" combining a text from La Rampe with its analysis by Eugène? We'll see.
Elsewhere, it was a rather low harvest but good quality crop of 'other" translations:
- In Praise of Tati, co-translated with Andy Rector. You can also read Nicholas Elliott's translation here.
- Balls so Heavily Loaded, one of the many texts Daney wrote about tennis, co translated with Srikanth Srinivasan.
- Love for the Thugs, Daney's notes from the film premiere of Antigone by Straub and Huillet, published in a Danish film magazine.
- When Serge Daney Met Ogawa Shinsuke, the transcription of Microfilms with Ogawa Shinsuke. One I've somehow missed for many years.
Two other potential book projects didn't see the light of day:
- A book on Daney from a university-funded project: Serge Daney and Queer Cinephilia.
- Emmanuel Burdeau's book project for a cine-biography of Daney (the lack of information making us wonder if the book will materialise).
