First Advisor

Annabelle Dolidon

Date of Award

Spring 6-16-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in World Languages & Literatures: French and University Honors

Department

French

Language

English

Subjects

Translating and interpreting, Cultural translation, Authorship, French language -- Translating into English, French science fiction, Sylvie Denis (1960- ). Dedans dehors

DOI

10.15760/honors.1345

Abstract

Language cannot be separated from its sociocultural context, given that it is a foundational tool with which humans communicate, understand, and connect with one another. This complicates the act of translating literary works from one language to another because the translator is translating more than words, she is transposing a cultural context into another. In addition, literary translators are faced with editorial expectations, the target language audience, and the demands of the source text itself, factors that are not always in agreement and can pose challenges during the translation process. In this paper, I present my original English translation of the French short story "Dedans, dehors" by science-fiction author Sylvie Denis as the basis for a reflective and theoretical commentary that frames the objectives of a literary translator. Concepts such as novums and neologisms that are prominent in the science fiction genre add insight into the considerations and decisions I made during the translation process. As I advance past the reflection, I draw from translation theory concerning cultural translation and authorship to support my position on the literary translator’s objective: proxy-authorship. The literary translator, by creating a reading experience, not only translates cultural ideas, but creates a new direction for form and content, thus asserting their own agency in the translation.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40240

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