1 Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – [email protected]
2 Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – [email protected] Different audiences CLASSIC FOR ADULTSADVENTURE BOOK FOR CHILDREN
3 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
4 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
5 Fernando Romeu – [email protected] The same problem Missouri 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 Loftus Modified “Pike County”: Thieves on the Sir Walter Scott Modified “Pike County”: King Modified “Pike County”: Bricksville Loafers Modified “Pike County”: Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas Phelps Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish
6 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
7 Fernando Romeu – [email protected] Translated varieties Obsession with geographical varieties. Social varieties not always translated. Age and gender varieties. Varieties and power relationships.
8 Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – [email protected] What translators say Conviene 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
9 Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – [email protected] What translators say Una 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
10 Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – [email protected] What translators say Muchos 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!
11 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)
12 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)
13 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)
14 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?
15 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.