Brousse, Rimboe, Oerwoud or Jungle? Retranslations as Sites of Negotiations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dutch reading culture is so international that it is fair to say foreign texts in Dutch translation are part of Dutch literature. But translation of literature ‘into Dutch’ is itself not without pitfalls, it proves to be an arena where Dutch diverging linguistic norms become visible. Retranslation can be a means to negotiate these complex target culture norms. In the Dutch language literary field the policy of avoiding ‘Flemish’ for the Dutch language book market seems to have been consistent and widespread as e.g. the case of Richard Scarry’s ABC-books shows. Three consecutive translations of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books, seen from a cultural-political angle, clearly show how the unity or heterogeneity of the Dutch speaking literary field is negotiated. My paper demonstrates how retranslations can serve as negotiations between not only source and target culture but even within the target culture itself.