Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Different audiences
CLASSIC FOR ADULTS ADVENTURE BOOK FOR CHILDREN
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
The same problem
•The Missouri negro dialect
•The extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect;
• The ordinary "Pike County" dialect
•Four modified varieties of this last.
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
The same problem
David Carkeet, believes “Clemens’s recall was imperfect; his attempt at consistency, at least in Huck’s dialect, falls short.” Carkeet attributes this“imperfect recollection” to the fact that Twain wrote three−fifths of the novel after he had put the book aside for two years. This led to several pronunciation changes, particularly in the speech of Huck, in the last three−fifths of the novel.
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
The same problemMissouri Negro: Jim (and four other minor characters)Southwestern: Arkansas Gossips (Sister Hotchkiss et al.)Ordinary “Pike County”: Huck, Tom, Aunt Polly, Ben Rogers, Pap, Judith LoftusModified “Pike County”: Thieves on the Sir Walter ScottModified “Pike County”: KingModified “Pike County”: Bricksville LoafersModified “Pike County”: Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas Phelps
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Facing the challenge
• Explaining translation decisions in introductions.
• Footnotes. •Translating just the note. •Attempting to establish equivalence through TL dialects.
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Translated varieties
• Obsession with geographical varieties.
• Social varieties not always translated.
• Age and gender varieties.
• Varieties and power relationships.
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
What translators sayConviene finalmente añadir que, pese a haberse conservado el tono coloquial y la libertad expresiva de la novela en la versión castellana, se pierden, sin que podamos evitarlo, las varias formas dialectales del habla local a las que Mark Twain hace referencia en la “explicación” inicial del libro.
Doris Rolfe
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
What translators sayUna vez más las rígidas normas editoriales impiden al traductor reflejar - de suponer que hubiera sido capaz de ello – la riquísima variedad de formas dialectales empleadas por el autor y comentadas por éste en su Nota Explicativa al principio del texto.
Fernando Santos Fontenla
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
What translators sayMuchos de estos matices se pierden, indefectiblemente, al traducirlos. Tampoco es posible ensayar, lo que algunos a veces ensayan, de trasladar al castellano esas diferencias dialectales y estos matices del original.
Juan José Coy (editor).
The translation is Rolfe’s one!
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Are translations really different?
"Hello, Jim! And skipped out. […]He bounced up and stared at me wild. Then he drops down on his knees, and puts his hands
together and says:“Doan’ hurt me –don’t! I hain’t ever done no harm to a ghos’. I awluz liked dead people, en done all I could for ‘em. You go an git in de river agin, whah you b’longs, en doan’ do nuffn to Ole Jim, ‘at ‘uz
awluz yo fren’.”(Twain, 1985:94)
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Are translations really different?
- ¡Hola, Jim! – y salí de un brinco.El se puso de pie de un salto y me miró con ojos de loco. Luego cayó de rodillas y juntó las manos y dijo:-¡No me hagas daño, no! Nunca he hecho daño a un fantasma. Siempre me gustaban los muertos, y les he hecho todo el bien que pude. Vete y métete en el río otra vez, donde debes estar, y no le hagas nada al viejo Jim, que siempre fue amigo.
-(Twain, 1989:54)
Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Are translations really different?
- ¡Hola, Jim! – y salí de un brinco.El se levantó de golpe y me miró con ojos desorbitados. Después se dejó caer de rodillas, juntó las manos y dijo:-¡No me hagas daño, ¡por favor! Yo nunca le he hecho daño a un fantasma. Siempre he sido amigo de los muertos, y he hecho lo que podía por ellos. Vuélvete al río otra vez, que es tu sitio, y no le hagas nada al viejo Jim, que siempre fue amigo tuyo.
-(Twain, 1998:72)
Variation in translations of
Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Research questions
•Role of paratext.
•Are translators consistent and decision-conscious?
•Are translations only used for parody?
•What role does the audience have as far as translation is concerned?
Variation in translations of
Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
Hypotheses …• The explanatory note singles this work out from other works which present the challenge of translated varieties.
• Geographical varieties in the TT do not have a one-to-one correspondence with the ST.
• Some varieties are not translated and / or attempted at all.
• Varieties are used for parody effects.