Crypto-Back-Translation in Van Rooten's Homophonic Nursery Rhymes

Abstract

This article explores the covert practice of literary back-translation, here called ‘crypto-back-translation’, through an analysis of Luis D'Antin van Rooten's Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames. The book contains homophonic translations of Mother Goose's Rhymes, but is presented as a collection of original French poems, edited by van Rooten with explanatory notes and translations. The article argues that crypto-back-translation takes two forms: on the one hand, it constitutes a hermeneutic strategy used by van Rooten to amuse and confound his readers, by producing new versions of known English nursery rhymes under the guise of erudite notes; on the other, it forms part of the reading process, by evoking preverbal memories of sound association, connected to language acquisition in the context of the nursery. More generally, the article discusses the role of humour and deception in translation practice, translation methodology, and the emotional, psychological, and physical effects of literary back-translation.