One translation fits all? A comparative analysis of British, American and transatlantic translations of Astrid Lindgren and Sven Nordqvist
View/ Open
Goodwin-Andersson20161.docx (76.58Mb)
Date
24/11/2016Author
Goodwin-Andersson, Elizabeth Margaret
Metadata
Abstract
Target culture is a concept regularly used in Translation Studies but it is not a
concept which is routinely defined any further than the geographical location of the
target language. In English translation this can be problematic because some
translations published in English are produced in one English-speaking country
which are then sold to other English-speaking domains and this process of migration
might not be obvious from the edition notice of the book. The underlying principle
for the production of these translations could be that one translation can fit all
English target cultures. Yet, in contrast, some anglophone translations are published
separately e.g. as a British translation or an American translation.
There has been, so far, minimal investigation into the different ways in which
English translations come into existence and, therefore, this thesis aims to address
the theoretical gap by creating a taxonomy of translation. The thesis presents new
terminology for the various translation types within the anglophone world: for
example, a translation can be separate when published independently by both
Britain or America, or it can be transatlantic when it is shared by both countries.
The existence of transatlantic translation challenges preconceived ideas regarding
the concept of target culture within Descriptive Translation Studies. Through
textual, paratextual and metatextual analysis of several case studies of each
translation type the thesis explores the possible refinement of the concept of target
culture per se.
The thesis is underpinned by analysis of the work of two prominent Swedish
children’s authors: Astrid Lindgren and Sven Nordqvist. Swedish children’s literature
was selected because of its proven perennial contribution to the genre of children’s
literature and its exceptional success in translation. Furthermore, children’s
literature itself presents its own unique challenges in translation because, for this
particular genre, the target culture introduces powerful constraints based upon the
educational, social and cultural expectations of the receiving language community.
However, in the case of the transatlantic translation, it is the initial target culture
constraints which will be present within the text. In the second country to receive
the translation, expectations regarding educational, social and cultural ideals may
vary from the first target culture.
Ultimately, the thesis argues that there are powerful constraining ideological forces
within target cultures which are visible in separate translation; those same forces
may present themselves in transatlantic translation also, but the origin of the
ideology behind them may not be obvious. Thus, the thesis aims to change the way
we label translation within newly delineated English-speaking target cultures.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Improving verb phrase anaphora translation in English to French statistical machine translation
Leirvik, Austin (The University of Edinburgh, 2012-11-28)This project investigates the translation of verb phrase anaphora within the source text of an English to French statistical machine translation system. VP anaphora is a common syntactic construction in English, although ... -
Toward a Deleuzean theory of translation: a translation of and commentary on A fuego eterno condenados
Kelly, James Christopher (The University of Edinburgh, 2016-06-30)This translation and commentary thesis presents a theory of literary translation based on the ideas of Gilles Deleuze, informed by and applied to a translation of parts 0, 1 and 2 of the novel A fuego eterno condenados ... -
Translation and national identity: the use and reception of Mauritian Creole translations of Shakespeare and Molière
November, Kate (The University of Edinburgh, 2010-06-30)The purpose of this thesis is to find out whether theatre translation into Mauritian Creole can contribute to the formation of a national identity in post-colonial, multi-ethnic and multilingual Mauritius. There are currently ...