Free Indirect Style Research Articles

Les traducteurs face au style indirect libre (français-russe, russe-français)

Free indirect style in translation. This article deals with the translation of free indirect style from French into Russian and from Russian into French. More than direct and indirect speech, free indirect speech may be corrupted in translation. Translation may cause changes in perspective, displace a given text-unit in the continuum between free indirect style and narrative and sometimes transform free indirect style into narratorial passages. These changes are caused by syntactical or lexical factors. It is especially through the choice of verb past tenses that French translators détermine whether a given text-unit belongs to free indirect style or to narrative, and also the character of the free indirect style (more classical, or closer to direct speech) and his temporal relation (whether, for instance, anterior or simultaneous to the temporal reference point). By comparing différent versions of one work one сап observe évolution in the translation of free indirect style. For many years, Russian translators seem to hâve misunderstood French temporal conditionnel-futur du passé as a modal device. This situation improved in more récent translations, the translators seeming to have better knowledge of French grammar.

Baudelaire: At the Limits and beyond by Nicolae Babuts (review)

Revzews 834 Wrois contes ouplus.BYMARIE THERESE JACQUET. (Cultura Staniera, 91)Fasano: Schena; Paris: Didier. I999.229PP.28,ooo lire. Few short stories have attracted asmuch critical attention asFlaubert's 7Frois Contes, andMarieTherese Jacquet's newmonograph aimed atnarratologists and/or literary geneticists adds tothis growing corpus ofscholarly commentary. Divided into five sections, Jacquet's study explores the tales inthe order of their composition, with twochapters dedicated toboth Saint ulien andUnCueur simple anda final chapter onHerodias. Jacquet argues thatTrois Contes, though autonomous and readable as discrete texts, constitutes a homogeneous artefact in itslexical elaboration (the migration andrepetition of textual detailing from conte toconte) and initsdevelopment ofa thematics ofsolitude, saintliness anddeath; the tales are really a novel masquerading as three short stories. Theapproach adopted to expound the thesis issomewhat eccentric, with Chapter I charting the plight ofa hapless Julien within a determinist context andthe demonic sangnoir which stains him from first tolast. Chapter 2,incontrast, proXers a reading ofthe same conte as anexample offairytale literature, highlighting a largely unconvincing array of poncifs (monster, dwarf, transformation) germane tothe fairytale form. This chapter iseXectively a study ofFlaubert's synthetic approach toartandthe premium he placed onthe figural perspective asthe talegestates through its numerous drafts. Theambit iswidened inthe following two chapters asvoice andperspective as metonymies ofeachother areexplored with close reference tothe avant-texte ofUn Coeur simple. Evidently, Flaubert isconcerned increasingly with figural representation (free indirect style, limited/collective point ofview) asthedrafts arere-worked. Complex forms of speech representation imply undecidability andthe final chapter treats Herodias, the most opaque ofthe tales. Jacquet overeggs the pudding here, contending that Flaubert's tinkering with historical realities tosuit his aesthetic ends disrupts the narrative transaction, effiectively undermining the author/reader pact, thereby leaving thelatter ina state ofchronic malaise.Overall, thestudy does convincingly systematize the ludic strategies deployed byFlaubert toproblematize andtoobfuscate. Sadly, a measure ofthe substance ofthis study hasalready been rehearsed. Pierre-Marc DeBiasi's Demon del'indecidable (Paris: CNRS,I986)springs tomind, asdoesAlanRaitt's excellent I99I study (London: Grant andCutler) which answers several ofthe questions posed inJacquet's third andfourth sections. Thechapter exploring Julien's homosocialization from a psycho-critical stance makes noallusion toBerg's Sairzt aNdipus (Ithaca, NYand London: Cornell Univesity Press, I982), a study ofwhich, curiously, nomention ismade inwhat isotherwise anextremely useful andcompendious bibliography. UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER PAUL ANDREW TIPPER Baudelaire: Atthe Limits andBeyond. BYNICOLAE BABUTS. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London: Associated University Presses. I997.I82PP.£28. Nicolae Babuts's book presents itself as'anattempt todefine the coherence that is characteristic of[Baudelaire's] texts' (p.I3)byadopting a cognitive approach to literature, that focuses onthe texts andtheir interpretation andmoves away from 'ideologically driven' approaches. Babuts gives adetailed and complex presentation ofthecognitive approach in hisintroduction, emphasizing in particular the importance ofthe interpreter ofthe text inthe 'equation ofmeaning' (p.I3),and outlining the importance ofdynamic patterns inthe functioning oftext andthe creation oftextual coherence. Intertextual echoes aretherefore underlined as MLR,96.3,200 I 835 central to thecreation of meaning. Once thistheoretical groundhas been established, thebooksets outtodemonstrate theunity ofBaudelaire's works. The first stepis an exploration ofthenature oftheBaudelairean selfand,more speciScally, thecombination ofunity andfragmentation as 'twointerdependent forces opposing eachother' (p.35)intherelationship between theartist andthe world, theSelf andtheOther. Babuts then emphasizes theimportance ofthe prose poems inthe development ofthe interaction between self andother (and,therefore, their centrality toanystudy ofidentity), before examining thetension created by thedoubleallegiance to God and Satanand underlining thecentrality ofthe mnemonic potential ofthenarrator in hisinterpretative strategies. Chapter 3 concentrates on theSabatier poems,drawing on de Maistreand Gautieras important intertexts inthevariation onthelovelyric, while Chapter 4 establishes linksbetween 'Une Mortheroique', T. S. Eliot'sMurder in theCathedral, and Anouilh's Beckett, andseestheprose poemas a 'demonstration ofthedynamics of the cognitive relation between subject andobject andofthe limitation ofthe process ofcognition itself' (p.86).Babuts next turns toCLe Cygne', analysing Baudelaire's creation ofthemyth ofexileinorder totranscend it,andto'Le Voyage' which he relates totheepictradition ofHomer, Dante,Tennyson andothers. Thisleadsto ananalysis ofthe theory ofcorrespondences anda conclusion exploring the question ofidentity, central tocognitive analysis, as revealed through thetransformative dimension ofartandthe interaction between biography andpoetry. Babuts's cognitive approach proves tobe most relevant tothecloseanalysis of Baudelaire's texts. Itsheds a newlight ontheintertextual readings andinterpretations which form a large partofthebookandgivefresh, useful, interdisciplinary readings ofsome ofBaudelaire's key texts...

Trois contes ou plus (review)

Revzews 834 Wrois contes ouplus.BYMARIE THERESE JACQUET. (Cultura Staniera, 91)Fasano: Schena; Paris: Didier. I999.229PP.28,ooo lire. Few short stories have attracted asmuch critical attention asFlaubert's 7Frois Contes, andMarieTherese Jacquet's newmonograph aimed atnarratologists and/or literary geneticists adds tothis growing corpus ofscholarly commentary. Divided into five sections, Jacquet's study explores the tales inthe order of their composition, with twochapters dedicated toboth Saint ulien andUnCueur simple anda final chapter onHerodias. Jacquet argues thatTrois Contes, though autonomous and readable as discrete texts, constitutes a homogeneous artefact in itslexical elaboration (the migration andrepetition of textual detailing from conte toconte) and initsdevelopment ofa thematics ofsolitude, saintliness anddeath; the tales are really a novel masquerading as three short stories. Theapproach adopted to expound the thesis issomewhat eccentric, with Chapter I charting the plight ofa hapless Julien within a determinist context andthe demonic sangnoir which stains him from first tolast. Chapter 2,incontrast, proXers a reading ofthe same conte as anexample offairytale literature, highlighting a largely unconvincing array of poncifs (monster, dwarf, transformation) germane tothe fairytale form. This chapter iseXectively a study ofFlaubert's synthetic approach toartandthe premium he placed onthe figural perspective asthe talegestates through its numerous drafts. Theambit iswidened inthe following two chapters asvoice andperspective as metonymies ofeachother areexplored with close reference tothe avant-texte ofUn Coeur simple. Evidently, Flaubert isconcerned increasingly with figural representation (free indirect style, limited/collective point ofview) asthedrafts arere-worked. Complex forms of speech representation imply undecidability andthe final chapter treats Herodias, the most opaque ofthe tales. Jacquet overeggs the pudding here, contending that Flaubert's tinkering with historical realities tosuit his aesthetic ends disrupts the narrative transaction, effiectively undermining the author/reader pact, thereby leaving thelatter ina state ofchronic malaise.Overall, thestudy does convincingly systematize the ludic strategies deployed byFlaubert toproblematize andtoobfuscate. Sadly, a measure ofthe substance ofthis study hasalready been rehearsed. Pierre-Marc DeBiasi's Demon del'indecidable (Paris: CNRS,I986)springs tomind, asdoesAlanRaitt's excellent I99I study (London: Grant andCutler) which answers several ofthe questions posed inJacquet's third andfourth sections. Thechapter exploring Julien's homosocialization from a psycho-critical stance makes noallusion toBerg's Sairzt aNdipus (Ithaca, NYand London: Cornell Univesity Press, I982), a study ofwhich, curiously, nomention ismade inwhat isotherwise anextremely useful andcompendious bibliography. UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER PAUL ANDREW TIPPER Baudelaire: Atthe Limits andBeyond. BYNICOLAE BABUTS. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London: Associated University Presses. I997.I82PP.£28. Nicolae Babuts's book presents itself as'anattempt todefine the coherence that is characteristic of[Baudelaire's] texts' (p.I3)byadopting a cognitive approach to literature, that focuses onthe texts andtheir interpretation andmoves away from 'ideologically driven' approaches. Babuts gives adetailed and complex presentation ofthecognitive approach in hisintroduction, emphasizing in particular the importance ofthe interpreter ofthe text inthe 'equation ofmeaning' (p.I3),and outlining the importance ofdynamic patterns inthe functioning oftext andthe creation oftextual coherence. Intertextual echoes aretherefore underlined as ...

Traduire Lolita

Translating Lolita The author of this article, who is currently preparing a new French translation of Nabokov's famous novel, spells out the defects of Eric Kahane's translation published in 1959 and explains why it was necessary to establish a new one, especially for the Pléiade edition of Nabokov's novels. The author of Lolita was aware of the many shortcomings of Kahane's translation but did not take time to correct them. The present translator explains the principles which are guiding his work on the novel, claiming that he wants to remain absolutely faithful not only to the contents but to the wording and syntax of the text, and he ends his article with a brief examination of four stylistic problems: slang, which changes from generation to generation, word games and neologisms, the many French expressions, and finally free indirect style, concluding that Nabokov's idiosyncratic English owes a great deal to his other languages, Russian and French.

"The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury": Gossip and the Free Indirect Style in Emma

Research Article| July 01 1990 "The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury": Gossip and the Free Indirect Style in Emma Casey Finch, Casey Finch Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Peter Bowen Peter Bowen Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Representations (1990) 31: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.2307/2928397 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Casey Finch, Peter Bowen; "The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury": Gossip and the Free Indirect Style in Emma. Representations 1 July 1990; 31 1–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2928397 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentRepresentations Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1990 The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

"The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury": Gossip and the Free Indirect Style in Emma

"The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury": Gossip and the Free Indirect Style in Emma

Centers of Consciousness Reconsidered

Debates over the definition of various forms of the style indirect libre (free indirect style) continue to rage. After seventy years of scholarly activity there is still argument whether some of its fundamental aspects constitute a linguistically identifiable phenomenon. For the vast majority of FIS1 specialists, including Dorrit Cohn (1978) and Roy Pascal (1977) who have contributed major studies to it in the last few years, the most intriguing and esthetically the most fruitful element in speech and thought is its voice, the presence of a dual consciousness in what may appear as a univocal, objective text. In the case of Flaubert, at least, it would seem that to attribute unidimensional features to FIS is to negate its essence. It is precisely its multi-dimensional, indeterminate and unpredictable quality that marks its uniqueness as a stylistic device. It is a of discursive shell game, a contextual prestidigitation, in which the givens, the various pieces or elements of narrative discourse, are subject without warning to a translation from one level to another, to an unexpected expansion or contraction of their context in such a way as to keep the reader of Flaubert perpetually off his guard (Jameson 1979). Recent efforts to demonstrate the impossibility of the existence of more than one consciousness in any one sentence or expression, to prove the univocal nature of represented speech and thought, involve the extension of so-called non-reflective consciousness to the expression of feelings. The distinction between reflective and non-reflective consciousness is based on the notion that postulates the existence of two levels of consciousness: one that indicates full intellectual knowledge, and the other a kind of subconscious awareness, usually a sensory perception. One level denotes, in Bertrand

Malraux's Renunciation of the Novel

The emphatic tone of these two statements by Malraux indicates the importance for him of achieving immediacy in a novel. From the very beginning of his own career as a novelist the essence of his narrative technique was precisely that: rendre present. Malraux attempted to re-create the action and atmosphere of his story around the reader; the <esthetic problem which he sought to resolve is that of the artist who attempts a three-dimensional effect with two-dimensional means. To a certain extent every art tends towards that point which seems most distant from its fundamental nature: the painter seeks relief, even infinity, on a canvas within a restricting frame; the sculptor may attempt to animate, to humanize an inert block of stone; the film-director has increasingly sought to interiorize the stubbornly objective eye of the camera. Malraux in each of his novels wanted to reveal to his reader a world which was real and immediately present, and not a literary world, subordinated by the author, and at a recognizable, even comfortable, distance from the reader. The various devices of which Malraux made use in this quest for immediacy are too numerous to be catalogued in detail here, but there are those which demand mention by the frequency with which they re-appear. Some of these techniques are intended to suppress the distance which often exists between the action of the story and the reader: the use of the present tense eliminates temporal distance; the use of a first-person narrator lessens the spatial distance between the action and the recounting by making the narrator an eye-witness; free indirect style allows the reader to 'receive' a character's thoughts directly, without intellectualization and subordination by the author. Other devices attempt to concretize and to under line some idea or action: to this effect it is the figurative language which is most developed. By his use of imagery Malraux emphasizes what he is describing and gives physical substance to abstract notions. In addition, with the aid of techniques which are sometimes claimed as