Abstract
This article explores aspects pertaining to the translation of Philippe Djian’s bestselling novel 37° 2 le matin. The source text (ST) was published in 1985, and its English counterpart Betty Blue: The Story of a Passion, translated by Howard Buten, was published in 1988. The 2010 Italian target text (TT) 37° 2 al mattino is translated by Daniele Petruccioli. The context in which Djian created the foreign text, the conditions under which Petruccioli translated it, the significant impact of these conditions and other contextual factors upon the TT, are analysed in relation to translation as process, product and activity. How and why translations should be evaluated and how translators should be perceived are key issues explored herein.
Highlights
This article explores aspects pertaining to the translation of Philippe Djian’s bestselling novel 37◦2 le matin
Daniele Petruccioli: A Visible “Performer”. It is declared as such; it is “consecrated” as such by the community in which it circulates, becomes “inhabited” by the Foreign Metatext which it substitutes and replaces (Hermans 103; Venuti 6). This declaration is legitimated by the establishment of a certain relationship of similarity between foreign text and translation, the nature of which differs according to context
This aspect is seen in action in compensation strategies and is often stimulated by and perceived as a response to a lack of fit between Foreign Metatext (FM), Translated Metatext (TM) and their respective cultures
Summary
In the final analysis, what is translation? An art or a science? Embracing postmodernist and deconstructionist perspectives, I am attracted to Zongxin’s view which embraces multiplicity and avoids making an “either/or” choice, preferring to establish a middle way. This assumption paradoxically limits the choices of translators and silences their voices: a translator’s voice can be expressed in their choice of domesticating, transparent and fluent strategies (Jiang [369, 378]) Petruccioli frequently describes his “voice” as an element which endows the TM with his creative presence and is indicative of it. Petruccioli is very aware of and takes pride in the individualised, performative aspect of translation, which he regards as an essential component of translation as process, product and activity This aspect is seen in action in compensation strategies and is often stimulated by and perceived as a response to a lack of fit between FM, TM and their respective cultures. It is because equivalence is impossible in translation, that creative solutions abound, to create “similar” sound(s) in the TM as are found in the FM by the translator
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