Article published In: Text and Context Revisited Within a Multimodal Framework
Edited by Yves Gambier and Olli Philippe Lautenbacher
[Babel 70:1/2] 2024
► pp. 211–233
Malleable meaning
Translating and recontextualizing The Garden of Earthly Delights from the Gallery of Nassau to the Centro Cultural de Belém
Published online: 12 December 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00379.mon
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00379.mon
Abstract
This paper examines the process of recontextualization of Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of
Earthly Delights (1505–1515) as a dance performance choreographed by Compagnie Marie Chouinard and presented at the
Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) in 2018. It shows how both source and target texts have been interpreted by scholars and the public
in relation to the discursive framings offered by the physical space of their location and their historical contexts. While the
first alleged locations of the painting have led the art historians Fischer, Stefan. 2016. Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Works. Cologne: Taschen Bibliotheca Universalis. and Belting, Hans. 2018. The Garden of Earthly Delights. Munich: Prestel. to relate it either to the traditional moral
precepts of Christianity or to the new voyages of colonization, the location of Chouinard’s dance performance at the heart of the
most visible inscription of Portuguese colonial past, the district of Belém, created a parallel friction with the moral
interpretation offered by the CCB. In analyzing how the process of recontextualization can activate dissonant discursive frames, I
propose recontextualization as the operation of exposing the source text’s ambiguities and foregrounding the malleability of
meaning-material.
Résumé
Cet article examine le processus de recontextualisation de la peinture de Hiéronymes Bosch Le Jardin des
Délices (1505–1515) en tant que performance de danse chorégraphiée par la Compagnie Marie Chouinard et présentée au
Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) en 2018. Il montre comment les textes sources et cibles ont été interprétés par les spécialistes et
le public en relation avec les cadres discursifs offerts par l’espace physique de leur emplacement et leur contexte historique
respectif. Alors que les premiers emplacements présumés du tableau ont conduit les historiens de l’art Fischer, Stefan. 2016. Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Works. Cologne: Taschen Bibliotheca Universalis. et Belting, Hans. 2018. The Garden of Earthly Delights. Munich: Prestel. à le relier soit
aux difficultés morales traditionnelles du christianisme, soit aux nouveaux parcours de la colonisation, l’emplacement du
spectacle de danse de Chouinard au cœur de la plus visible inscription du passé colonial du Portugal, le quartier de Belém, a créé
une friction parallèle avec l’interprétation morale offerte par le CCB. En analysant comment le processus de recontextualisation
peut donner lieu à des cadres discursifs dissonants, je propose une définition de la recontextualisation comme l’opération
consistant à exposer les ambiguïtés du texte source et à souligner sa malléabilité.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The Garden of Earthly Delights (1505–1515) and Le Jardin des Délices (2016): From painting to dance
- 3.Spatial and discursive framings: The Garden of Earthly Delights at the Gallery of Nassau
- 4.Spatial and discursive framings: Jérôme Bosch: Le Jardin des Délices at the CCB
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
References
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