MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature

‘An Abundance of Katherines’ by John Green (Translation and Analysis of Selected Parts)

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2017

Supervisor: Written by: Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. Lujza Valúšková

Bibliography

Valúšková, Lujza. ‘An Abundance of Katherines’ by John Green (Translation and Analysis of Selected Parts): bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature. 2017, 80 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D.

Abstract

The bachelor thesis deals with the translation and subsequent analysis of selected parts of a novel An Abundance of Katherines written by an American writer, John Green. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part is practical, it contains an alternative translation of the extracts, which might present several translation problems for a translator. The other part is theoretical, therefore it contains the analysis of above-mentioned translation problems, their alternative solution and their comparison with the Slovak translation Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín.

Key Words

translation, analysis, translator, Melcerová, Knittlová, Newmark, anagrams, idioms, misinterpretation, names, nicknames

Bibliografická identifikácia

VALÚŠKOVÁ, Lujza. An Abundance of Katherines’ by John Green (Translation and Analysis of Selected Parts): bachelor thesis. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury. 2017. 80 strán. Vedúci bakalárskej práce: Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D.

Anotácia

Táto bakalárska práca sa zaoberá prekladom a následným rozborom vybraných častí diela An Abundance of Katherines od amerického autora Johna Greena. Práca je rozdelená na dve časti. Prvá časť je praktická, obsahuje alternatívny preklad úryvkov z diela, u ktorých sa prekladateľ stretne s mnoho prekladateľskými problémami. Druhá časť je teoretická, a teda obsahuje analýzu vyššie uvedených prekladateľských problémov, ich alternatívne riešenie a takisto porovnanie so slovenským prekladom Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín.

Kľúčové slová

preklad, rozbor, prekladateľ, Melcerová, Knittlová, Newmark, prešmyčky, idiomy, nesprávna interpretácia, mená, prezývky

Prehlásenie

Prehlasujem, že som bakalársku prácu vypracovala samostatne, s využitím len citovaných prameňov, ďalších informácií a zdrojov v súlade s Disciplinárnym poriadkom pre študentov Pedagogickej fakulty Masarykovej univerzity a so zákonom č. 121/2000 Zb., o práve autorskom, o právach súvisiacich s právom autorským a o zmene niektorých zákonov, v znení neskorších predpisov.

Declaration

I hereby declare that I worked on my bachelor thesis on my own and that all the sources I used are listed in the bibliography.

I agree with the thesis being stored in the library of the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University in Brno and made accessible as a source for study purposes.

Brno, March 2017 ......

Lujza Valúšková

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. for inspiring me to base my bachelor thesis on the translation analysis and for the subsequent guidance that he provided me as a supervisor. I am particularly grateful for his enormous kindness, patience and valuable help.

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 7

2 JOHN GREEN AND HIS WORK ...... 9

2.1 John Green ...... 9 2.2 An Abundance of Katherines ...... 9 3 PRACTICAL PART ...... 11

3.1 Explanatory Notes ...... 11 3.2 Corpus ...... 11 4 THEORETICAL PART ...... 35

4.1 Introduction to the Theoretical Part ...... 35 4.2 Theoretical Introduction to the Translation...... 35 4.3 Analysis and Comparison ...... 36 4.3.1 Title ...... 36 4.3.2 Anagrams ...... 37 4.3.3 Idioms ...... 53 4.3.4 Misinterpretation ...... 56 4.3.5 Mistake on Purpose ...... 59 4.3.6 Names, Nicknames ...... 62 4.3.7 Similes ...... 67 4.3.8 Translator's Interpretation ...... 69 4.3.9 Good Translation ...... 73 5 CONCLUSION ...... 76

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 78

6.1 Printed ...... 78 6.2 Online ...... 79

1 INTRODUCTION

The bachelor thesis deals with the translation and subsequent analysis of selected parts of a novel An Abundance of Katherines written by John Green. In order to gain the experience of translating and to create something useful for readers, I decided to base the thesis on the translation and analysis. The main focus of the thesis is to provide an alternative translation of the problematic parts and misunderstandings and compare it to the John Green's work and Jana Melcerová's translation. Furthermore, a short part of the thesis deals with sections, which were, in my opinion, translated in a very good manner.

The choice of the book was simple, as I already worked a bit on the analysis of this book at the seminar of Introduction to Translation Theory with Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. These lessons inspired me in such way, that I decided to expand the analysis of the novel into the bachelor thesis.

The novel is full of elements which are generally difficult to translate to other languages. After reading the official Slovak translation, Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín by Jana Melcerová and observing the challenges that the Slovak translator must have faced, I decided to create an alternative translation of the problematic elements and compare it to the official Slovak translation. The problematic parts concern anagrams, idioms, mistakes on purpose, names and nicknames, similes and translator's interpretation. Furthermore, while reading the Slovak translation, I came across a few cases of misinterpretation, which would be incomprehensible for me, if I was not familiar with the original text. The Slovak readers without the ability of having a closer look at the English version might be a bit confused by some parts of the translation. As the readers are those for whom we translate, I tried to make these cases of misinterpretation clear and evident. However, as it was mentioned above, the bachelor thesis does not focus only on translating and commenting on the problematic parts and misunderstandings, but also on highlighting the parts which were translated in a good manner.

7

The thesis starts with a short introduction of the writer and the book. Then it is divided into two main parts. The first one is practical and it consists of a corpus, which is composed of three columns. The left one contains the original English text by John Green, the middle one the official Slovak translation by Jana Melcerová and in the last one, my own alternative translation is provided. I focused mainly on the translation of the problematic words and phrases, so the context is usually kept in the version suggested by Jana Melcerová, only with a few small changes. It also contains explanatory notes, so that the readers could know what the marking in the corpus stands for. The extracts in the corpus are presented chronologically according to their occurrence in the novel. They are indicated by numbers for easier orientation within the corpus and the analysis. The other main part deals with the analysis and comparison of the three versions.

The methods of analysis of the extracts vary according to the element which is being analysed. They usually include using both printed and online dictionaries and in some cases also British National Corpus. Consulting some cases with groups of translators and interpreters and working with a Czech official translation Příliš mnoho Kateřin translated by Veronika Volhejnová were also included while analysing.

8

2 JOHN GREEN AND HIS WORK

2.1 John Green

John Michael Green is a contemporary American author of the young adult fiction. He was born in 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Lake Highland Preparatory School and Indian Springs School. The experience of being bullied as a social outcast, as well as the time he spent as a student chaplain with ill children in a children's hospital, have encouraged him to become a writer (“John Green”). That is probably the reason for which he is the author of the young adult fiction, where the main character is often a social outcast in a way.

John Green is known mainly for his works Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines and The Fault in Our Stars, which are all The Number One New York Times Best Sellers. His readers are also familiar with the work Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which he wrote with David Levithan. He received the Michael L. Printz Award and Edgar Award. He has been more than once a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The author's books have been translated into approximately 55 languages and more than 24 million copies are in print. The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns were released as film adaptations in recent years (“Bio”).

John Green is also known for being active on the Internet and the social media. His readers can follow him on Twitter and tumblr. They can find lots of information about him on his website or on his YouTube channel Vlogbrothers, where he and his brother post videos concerning various topics (Green, 2013).

2.2 An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines is a young adult novel, a bestseller and one of the well-known works by John Green. As all works by this author, the book is significant mostly for the main character, who is always extraordinary in a way,

9 and because of the quotes and unusual elements included in the text, such as anagrams or mathematical formulas and graphs.

The main character's name is Colin Singleton, a young adult and a prodigy, who tries to matter. He has a huge passion for creating anagrams and for dating girls named Katherine. Nineteen Katherines happened to be his girlfriends and every single one of them broke up with him. After his last break-up, Colin is broken- hearted and decides to go on a road trip with his friend, Hassan. This trip should help him heal his heart and also prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship. The book presents to the readers a struggle of a young person, which is close to all young people, and that's probably the reason why John Green's books are so popular among teenagers.

An Abundance of Katherines has got many rave reviews. Some of them are presented on the first pages of the book. Booklist, for example, stated as follows: “Green follows his Printz-winning Looking for Alaska with another sharp, intelligent story. The laugh-out-loud humor ranges from delightfully sophomoric to subtly intellectual” (Green, 2013).

10

3 PRACTICAL PART

3.1 Explanatory Notes

3.2 Corpus

1 An Abundance of

11

Heart-reassuring Netají poklady, upokojuje srdce. Signature Sharer Lopatky nádejí. Podpisuje sa rovnako, Easing rare hurts. Má len jedno meno lieči vzácne bolesti. on: len „Medojemná“!

3 Col, Col,

Here's to all the places we spomeň si na všetky went. And all the places miesta, kde sme spolu we'll go. And here's me, boli. Aj na tie, kam ešte whispering again and len pôjdeme. A na mňa, again and again: iloveyou. ako šepkám znovu a znovu: ľúbim ťa.

He anagrammed “yrs Dovtedy vymýšľal forever” until he found prešmyčky v slovách one he liked:

12

bolesť v oblasti plexu solaris.

4 He gave himself a splinter Keď menil slovo

5 “My question is, Why are „Chcem sa ťa opýtať, „Mojou otázkou je: Prečo you such a tard,

6 In second grade, Robert V druhom ročníku Robert V druhom ročníku Robert Caseman and his ilk Caseman a jemu podobní Caseman a jeho banda matured a bit. Finally trochu dozreli. Nakoniec trochu dospeli. Nakoniec

13 recognising that words can si totiž uvedomili, že slová si totiž uvedomili, že slová never hurt, but sticks and nedokážu fyzicky ublížiť, nedokážu ublížiť tak, ako stones can sure break ale palice a kamene fyzické násilie, a tak si bones, they invented spoľahlivo lámu kosti, a vymysleli

* Which, for the record, * Len pre informáciu, * Len pre informáciu, Colin actually named. The takto to vlastne nazval takto to v skutočnosti others called it “The Colin. Ostatní to volali nazval Colin. Ostatní to Stretch,” but then one time „naťahovačka“. Ale keď volali „naťahovačka“. when they were about to sa k tomu jedného dňa Lenže raz keď sa k tejto do it to him, Colin zasa schyľovalo, Colin hre opäť schyľovalo, shouted,

7 While Hassan knelt on the Kým Hassan kľačal na Kým Hassan kľačal vonku concrete outside, facing betóne pred autom na betóne obrátený k Mecca, Colin went to the obrátený k Mekke, Colin Mekke, Colin si zašiel na bathroom (there graffiti in sa vybral na toaletu (kde toaletu (kde grafity v the stall read: CALL mu grafity na stene kabínke oznamovali: DANA FOR BLOW. oznamovali: FAJKU? NO CHCEŠ SI PICHNÚŤ? Colin wondered whether TAK VOLAJ DANE VOLAJ DANE. Dana provided fellatio or JÁNI K. Colin chvíľu Colin chvíľu uvažoval, či cocaine, and then, for the uvažoval, či Dana ponúka Dana poskytuje sex alebo first time since he'd been orálny sex alebo trávu, a heroín, a potom sa po prvý lying motionless on the potom sa prvý raz raz odvtedy, čo ležal ako carpet of his bedroom, he odvtedy, čo ležal ako bez bez duše na koberci vo indulged his greatest duše doma na koberci, svojej izbe, oddal svojej

14 passion. He anagrammed: oddal svojej veľkej vášni, najväčšej vášni. Z nápisu

8 “Well, while you were in „Kým si bol na záchode, „Kým si bol na záchode, the bathroom, I sat down sedel som pri tomto stole v sedel som pri tomto at this picnic table here in kentuckej riti sveta a piknikovom stole v Bumblefug, Kentucky, všimol som si, že ktosi kentuckej riti sveta a and noticed that someone doň vyrezal

15

Katherine XIX (3) the sa uberala svojimi Katherine XIX, 3. ruby necklace he'd bought vlastnými chodníčkami: 1. rubínový náhrdelník, ktorý her five months and žabie stehienka, 2. jej kúpil pred piatimi seventeen days before... Katherine XIX, 3. mesiacmi a sedemnástimi rubínový náhrdelník, ktorý dňami. jej kúpil pred piatimi mesiacmi a sedemnástimi dňami.

9 “Everything here reminds „Aj tu mi ju všetko „Aj tu mi ju všetko me of her, too. We used to pripomína. Rozprávali pripomína. Rozprávali talk about going to Paris. I sme sa o tom, že pôjdeme sme sa o tom, že pôjdeme mean, I don't even want to do Paríža. Ja vlastne po do Paríža. Ja do Paríža go to Paris, but I just keep Paríži netúžim, ale stále si vlastne ani nechcem ísť, imagining how excited predstavujem, aká by bola ale stále si predstavujem, she'd be at the Louvre. vzrušená v Louvri. Zašli aká by bola nadšená v We'd go to great by sme do skvelých Louvri. Zašli by sme do restaurants and maybe reštaurácií a možno by skvelých reštaurácií a drink red wine. We even sme si dali červené víno. možno by sme si dali looked for hotels on the Dokonca sme si cez červené víno. Dokonca Web. We could have done internet hľadali hotel. sme si na internete that on the KranialKidz Mohli sme to zaplatiť z prezerali hotely. Mohli money.” peňazí za KranialKidz. sme si to zaplatiť peniazmi “Dude, if Kentucky is „Človeče, ak ti má z KranialKidz. going to remind you of Kentucky pripomínať „Kamoško, ak ti má Paris,

10 “I'm just saying that I „Ja iba hovorím, že podľa „Ja iba hovorím, že podľa think we should go mňa by sme mali ísť mňa by sme mali ísť

16 somewhere,” Hassan said niekam,“ ozval sa Hassan, niekam,“ ozval sa Hassan, not hearing him. “I mean, ktorý ho nepočul. ktorý ho nepočul. I like this interstate as „Myslím tým, že sa mi „Chcem povedať, že sa mi much as the next guy, but táto medzištátna diaľnica táto medzištátna cesta páči the farther south we go, páči rovnako ako tá, čo rovnako ako tá, čo príde, the hotter it gets, and I'm príde, ale čím južnejšie ale čím južnejšie ideme, already

11 Anyway, my dad didn't go A okrem toho, ani môj A okrem toho, ani môj to college, and he's

12 Although then again, Hoci ak ste sa práve Hoci ak ste sa práve when you have just gone vybrali na road trip, aby vybrali na výlet, aby ste on a road trip to escape the ste utiekli pred utiekli pred spomienkami memory of your spomienkami na svoju na svoju devätnástu nineteenth Katherine and devätnástu Katherine a Katherine a motáte sa are traipsing through motáte sa kdesi po južnom kdesi po južnom south-central Tennessee Tennessee, aby ste videli Tennessee, aby ste videli on your way to see the hrob rakúsko-uhorského hrob rakúsko-uhorského

17 grave of a dead Austro- arcivojvodcu, možno ani arcivojvodcu, možno ani Hungarian Archduke, nemáte právo pokladať nemáte právo sa niečomu maybe you don't have a niečo za čudné. čudovať. right to go and think A okrem toho ho práve A okrem toho ho práve anything odd. plne zamestnávala tvorba plne zamestnávala tvorba And he was busy prešmyčiek:

13 “Give me your T-shirt,” „Daj mi tričko.” Ale „Daj mi tričko.” Ale and Hassan promptly said Hassan okamžite odmietol Hassan okamžite odmietol no, which Colin figured a Colin sa dovtípil, že to a Colin sa dovtípil, že to had something to do with má niečo spoločné s jeho má niečo spoločné s jeho Hassan's man-boobs. “We chlapskými kozami. chlapskými kozami. need to apply pressure,” „Musíme mu zastaviť „Musíme mu zastaviť Lindsey explained to krvácanie,” vysvetlila krvácanie,” vysvetlila Hassan, and then Hassan Lindsey Hassanovi, ale Lindsey Hassanovi, ale calmly said no again, and Hassan zopakoval svoje Hassan zopakoval svoje Lindsey said, “Jesus tiché nie. A tak sa znovu tiché nie. A tak sa znovu Christ—fine,” and took ozvala Lindsey: ozvala Lindsey: off her shirt. „Kristepane! Fajn!” A „Kristepane! Fajn!” A ... As she wiped at his vyzliekla si tričko. vyzliekla si tričko. forehead and cheek softly ... Keď mu jemne utrela ... Keď mu jemne utrela with the T-shirt, then čelo a líce tričkom a čelo a líce tričkom a pressed hard on a tender potom mu pritlačila potom mu pritlačila spot above his right boľavé miesto nad pravým boľavé miesto nad pravým

18 eyebrow, she kept talking. obočím, povedala:

14 “Can

15 “Why'd it have to be „Prečo to museli byť práve „Prečo to museli byť práve hemorrhoids? How the hemeroidy? Ako sa ti ten hemeroidy? Ako ti,

16 He liked Lindsey Lee Lindsey Lee Wellsová sa Lindsey Lee Wellsová sa Wells, but sometimes it mu páčila, ale niekedy mal mu páčila, ale niekedy mal felt like she was

*Which is what Colin's *Toto slovo používala *Čo Colinova mama

19 mom always called Colinova mama vo používala vo význame teasing, even though it význame „vytočiť „vytočiť niekoho”, hoci never made a lick of sense niekoho”, hoci Colinovi Colinovi to nedávalo ani to Colin. pripadalo absolútne sebemenší zmysel. nezmyselné.

17 As they climbed the hill, it Cestou do kopca začalo

18 “I felt really bad about the „Cítil som sa dosť zle pre „Cítil som sa dosť zle other kid losing. She was tú druhú súťažiacu. Bola kvôli tomu, že tá druhá really nice. The kid I fakt veľmi milá. Dosť súťažiaca prehrala. Bola played against—she took ťažko to niesla.” fakt veľmi milá. Dosť it kind of hard.” „Ale ja som bol šťastný za ťažko to niesla.” “I was happy enough for nás oboch,” povedal „Ale ja som bol šťastný za the both of us,” said Hassan. „Ako jediný som nás oboch,” povedal Hassan. “I was the only v hľadisku od radosti Hassan. „Ako jediný som member of the studio tancoval. Singleton tú v hľadisku od radosti audience dancing a jig. malú kozu

20

* Stolen something, Colin * Pierko, Hassan, pierko, * Ako pierko, mal Colin wanted to say. But mal Colin na jazyku. Ale na jazyku. Lenže grammar isn't interesting. gramatika nie je gramatika nie je zaujímavá. zaujímavá.

19 The rooster crowed again. Kohút znovu zakikiríkal. Kohút znovu zakikiríkal. “Cock-a-doodle-don't, „Kikirikiii, ty sukiiin „Kikirikiii, ty sukiiin motherfugger,” Colin syyyn,” mrmlal si popod syyyn,” mrmlal si popod mumbled. But the rooster nos. Ale kohútovi to nos. Ale kohútovi to cock-a-doodle-did, and by zjavne bolo jedno a ďalej zjavne bolo jedno a ďalej dawn. the crowing created si húdol svoje. Na úsvite si húdol svoje. Na úsvite a kind of weird dissonant už tvorilo kikiríkanie už tvorilo kikiríkanie symphony when mingled čudnú disharmonickú čudnú disharmonickú with the muffled sounds of symfóniu, lebo sa miesilo symfóniu, lebo sa miešalo a Muslim's morning s tlmenými zvukmi s tlmenými zvukmi prayers. Those hours of moslimských modlitieb. ranných moslimských unsleepthroughable Niekoľko hodín ani oko modlitieb. loudness allowed him nezažmúril a v tej podivne Pri tomto hluku, ktorý ample time to wonder hlučnej atmosfére rannej trval niekoľko hodín, sa about everything from nespavosti mal viac než spať nedalo, a tak mal when Katherine last dosť času nad všeličím kopu času na to, aby nad thought of him to the popremýšľať. Začal tým, všeličím popremýšľal. number of grammatically kedy naňho asi Katherine Začal tým, kedy naňho asi correct anagrams of posledný raz myslela, a Katherine naposledy rooster.* skončil pri gramaticky myslela, a skončil pri správnych prešmyčkách gramaticky správnych slova kohút.* prešmyčkách slova kohút.*

* He found forty, of which * Vymyslel ich asi desať, * Vymyslel ich asi šesť, he only really liked two: ale páčili sa mu iba dve: ale páčili sa mu iba dve:

21

20 “Maybe we should have a „Možno by sme si mali „Možno by sme si mali word,” Colin said. “For vymyslieť nejaké slovo, vymyslieť nejaké slovo, when it's gone too far. ktoré použijeme vždy, keď ktoré použijeme vždy, keď Like, just a random word jeden z nás zájde jeden z nás zájde and then we'll know to priďaleko,“ navrhol Colin. priďaleko,“ navrhol Colin. back off.” „Vieš, nejaké náhodné „Vieš, nejaké náhodné Standing there in his slovo, a keď ho jeden slovo, a keď ho jeden towel, Hassan looked up at povie, ten druhý bude povie, ten druhý bude the ceiling and finally vedieť, že si má dať vedieť, že si má dať said,

*

21

22

“She's giving us jobs „Tú prácu nám dáva preto, „Tú prácu nám dáva preto, because a fatty always lebo tučkovia vždy lebo tučkovia vždy trusts another fatty.” dôverujú iným tučkom.” dôverujú iným tučkom.” “You're not fat.

22 “Whatcha reading there, „Čo si to tam čítaš,

23 It rather goes without Hádam netreba dodávať, Hádam netreba dodávať, saying that Katherine že Katherine pila kávu bez že Katherine pila kávu bez drank her coffee black. smotany. Tak ako všetky mlieka. Tak ako všetky Katherines do, generally. Katheriny. Majú rady Katheriny. Majú rady They like their coffee like kávu na rovnaký spôsob kávu na rovnaký spôsob they like their ako svojich bývalých ako svojich bývalých ex-boyfriends:

24 “I'm good with codes and „Idú mi kódy a podobné „Idú mi kódy a podobné stuff. And I'm good at, vecičky. A potom ešte veci. A potom ešte také like, linguistic tricks like také lingvistické hry, ako lingvistické hry, ako je angramming. That's my je tvorba prešmyčiek, čiže tvorba prešmyčiek. To je favorite thing, really. I can anagramov. To mám asi fakt moje. Dokážem

23 anagram anything.” He'd najradšej. Viem zo vytvoriť prešmyčku z never before told a všetkého utvoriť čohokoľvek.“ Ešte žiadnej Katherine about his prešmyčku.“ Ešte žiadnej Katherine nepovedal o anagramming. He'd Katherine nepovedal o prešmyčkách. Myslel si, always figured it would prešmyčkách. Myslel si, že ich to bude nudiť. bore them. že ich to bude nudiť.

25

26 My mama told me the Mama mi povedala, že v Mama mi povedala, že v

24 town didn't have no name. dávnych časoch mestečko dávnych časoch mestečko But then they started nemalo ani len meno. Ale nemalo ani len meno. Ale bringing in boxers. Boys potom sem začali voziť potom sem začali voziť from all over the country boxerov, chlapcov zo boxerov, chlapcov zo would come here and všetkých kútov štátu. všetkých kútov štátu. they'd fight for five or ten Prišli, aby boxovali za päť Prišli, aby boxovali za päť dollars, winner take all, až desať dolárov. Víťaz až desať dolárov. Víťaz and make extra money zhrabol všetko. A ďalšie zhrabol všetko. A ďalšie betting on themselves. But peniaze zarábali tým, že peniaze zarábali tým, že to get around the stavili na svoju výhru. Ale stavili na svoju výhru. Ale prizefighting laws, they aby obišli zákon aby obišli zákon had this rule: you couldn't zakazujúci profesionálny zakazujúci profesionálny hit below the belt or above box, dodržiavali jedno box, dodržiavali jedno the shoulders.

27 She was such a good K-19 je úžasne dobrý K-19 bola úžasne dobrý person, and he missed her človek a priam bytostne človek a priam bytostne all over his body.

*It's cheesy, but that's *Ide o pukance. Ale oni *Je to gýčové, ale to si what they always said to dvaja si hovorievali:

25 etc.

28 Colin flipped open the Colin odblokoval telefón. Colin otvoril telefón. phone. “Dingleberries,” he „Čučoriedka,“ povedal. „Bobky na zadku,“ said. Hassan threw up his Hassan zdvihol ruky. povedal. hands. “You can't

29 Hassan sighed heavily. Hassan si vydýchol. „To Hassan si vydýchol. „To “That was a close one. bola fakt tesnotka. bola fakt tesnotka. Thank goodness for the Vďakabohu za

30 “Hassan told me you're „Hassan mi povedal, že si „Hassan mi povedal, že si good at anagramming,” fakt dobrý v tvorbe fakt dobrý v tvorbe she said. prešmyčiek,“ začala. prešmyčiek,“ začala. “Yeah,” Colin answered. „Hej,“ povedal Colin. „Hej,“ povedal.

31 The next morning, Colin Na druhý deň ráno bol Na druhý deň ráno bol

26 felt tired enough to sleep Colin taký unavený, že Colin taký unavený, že through the rooster's prespal kikiríkanie a prespal kikiríkanie a squawking until eight. zobudil sa až o ôsmej. zobudil sa až o ôsmej. When he made his way Keď zišiel dolu schodmi, Keď zišiel dolu schodmi, downstairs, he found na prízemí našiel Hollis v našiel Hollis v Hollis wearing a hot pink sýtoružovom župane. sýtoružových voľných muumuu, passed out on Ležala na pohovke, na šatách zvaných muumuu. the couch with papers hrudi, okolo seba a na Ležala na pohovke, na strewn across her chest dlážke mala rozhádzané hrudi, okolo seba a na and the floor. Colin pracovné materiály. Colin dlážke mala rozhádzané walked softly past her, and prešiel po špičkách okolo pracovné materiály. Colin thought to add

32 Five rings and then her Ozvalo sa päť zazvonení a Ozvalo sa päť zazvonení a voice mail. Hey, it's potom odkazová schránka: potom odkazová schránka: Katherine, he heard, and Ahoj, tu je Katherine. V Ahoj, tu je Katherine. V in the background cars pozadí sa ozýval hukot pozadí sa ozýval hukot rushed by. They'd been premávky. Keď nahrávala premávky. Keď nahrávala walking home together odkaz do odkazovej odkaz do odkazovej from

27 phone, I guess. Leave me a odkaz a ja vám zavolám. odkaz a ja vám zavolám. message and I'll call you Na to všetko si spomenul. Na to všetko si spomenul. back. And he remembered A ešte na všetko o A ešte na všetko o everything about it, and všetkom inom, čo spolu všetkom inom, čo spolu also everything about zažili. Myslel na to, prečo zažili. Myslel na to, prečo everything else, and why na to nevie zabudnúť, a v na to nevie zabudnúť, a v couldn't he forget and tom sa ozvalo píp. tom sa ozvalo píp. beep.

*

33 “Dude, do you have a „Človeče, nemáš náhodou

28 and

34

29 was just screwing with s tebou.“ Colin šliapol na plyn a you.” „Poďme,“ pokynula vyrazil. “Go,” she said again, and Colinovi, ktorý šliapol na Colin sa chcel opýtať, čo Colin hit the gas and shot plyn a vyrazil. to malo znamenať, ale off. Colin sa chcel opýtať, čo Lindsey sa k nemu Colin was about to ask for to malo znamenať, ale obrátila a veľmi pokojne an explanation of the Lindsey sa k nemu povedala. „O nič nejde, je scene when Lindsey obrátila a veľmi pokojne to iba taký náš súkromný turned to him and said povedala. „O nič nejde, je vtip.“ very calmly, “It's to iba taký náš súkromný nothing—just an inside vtip.“ joke.”

35 “Um, why are we going „Prečo sme spolu vonku?“ „Prečo sme spolu vonku?“ out for dinner together?” „Hm, z troch dôvodov. Po „Hm, z troch dôvodov. Po “Well, three reasons. First, prvé preto, lebo prvé preto, lebo because I've been thinking rozmýšľam nad našou rozmýšľam nad našou about our Theorem and I poučkou a mám otázku. poučkou a mám otázku. have a question. How does Ako to funguje, ak ide o Ako to funguje, ak ide o it work if you're gay?” geja?“ geja?“ “Huh?” „Čože?“ „Čože?“

30

‘b2.’ That's how algebra umiestniš do grafu každú napíšeš ‚ch1’ a ‚ch2’. works.” osobu. Namiesto ‚ch’ a ‚d’ Takto sa to robí v napíšeš ‚ch1’ a ‚ch2’. algebre.“ Takto sa to robí v algebre.“

36 Colin spent the next ninety Colin strávil deväťdesiat Colin strávil deväťdesiat minutes thinking, without minút ustavičným minút ustavičným ceasing, about a girl he'd premýšľaním o dievčati, premýšľaním o dievčati, known for less than two ktoré poznal sotva dva ktoré poznal sotva dva weeks. But eventually, týždne. Ale napokon aj on týždne. Ale napokon aj on even he grew tired. To ustal. Aby mu nejako ušiel ustal. Aby mu nejako ušiel pass the time, he čas, tvoril prešmyčky z jej čas, tvoril prešmyčky z jej anagrammed her rozťahaného mena

31

37 “If we just keep walking „Ak pôjdeme stále jedným

38 He slowed down, Keď však stúpal do kopca, Keď však stúpal do kopca, however, as he made his predsa len trochu predsa len trochu way up the hill, the spomalil. Tenké svetelné spomalil. Tenké svetelné flashlight a thin and shaky lúče baterky sa mihali po lúče baterky sa mihali po beam of yellow light tmavej krajine. Keď tmavej krajine. Keď against the darkening prechádzal cez krovie a prechádzal cez krovie a landscape. He kept it popínavé rastliny a popínavé rastliny a directly before him as he prekračoval stromy, svietil prekračoval stromy, svietil picked through bushes and si pod nohy. Hustý porast si pod nohy. Hustý porast vines and trees, the thick na odhnívajúcom podloží na odhnívajúcom podloží rotting floor of the forest lesa chrupčal pri každom lesa chrupčal pri každom crunching beneath his feet, kroku a pripomínal mu, kroku a pripomínal mu, reminding him of where kam všetci smerujeme. kam všetci smerujeme. we all go. To seed, to Prach si a na prach sa Prach si a na prach sa ground. And even then he obrátiš. Ale chuť na obrátiš. Ale chuť na couldn't help but anagram. prešmyčky ho neopúšťala. prešmyčky ho neopúšťala.

32

“donor gut,” combined his prešmyčky, podľa ktorej a ktoré sa kombinovalo s newfound feeling that he by mal dať zbohom nedávno nadobudnutým had at some recent point prázdnu v kombinácii s pocitom, že mu možno received a donor gut, kept nedávno nadobudnutým svitá na lepšie časy, ho his pace quick. pocitom, že by sa to poháňalo vpred. prázdno v jeho žalúdku mohlo začať opäť napĺňať, mu zrýchľoval krok.

39 “The Eighth wasn't quite „Ôsma Katherine nebola „Ôsma Katherine nebola so sweet, and maybe I až taká zlatá. Možno som až taká zlatá. Možno som should have known it to mal vytušiť z jej mena. to mal vytušiť z jej mena. since her name,

40 “Katherine XVII I met— V januári som spoznal – V januári som spoznal – I'm not going to lie about nebudem ti klamať, bolo nebudem vám klamať, it—on the Internet the to na internete – Katherine bolo to na internete – next January, and she had XVII. Mala krúžkový Katherine XVII. Mala

33 a pierced nose with a ring pírsing v nose a ten krúžkový piercing v nose in it and had this ohromne pôsobivý a ten ohromne pôsobivý immensely impressive slovník, s ktorým vedela slovník, s ktorým vedela vocabulary with which she rozprávať o indie rocku. rozprávať o indie rocku. was able to talk about Používala napríklad aj Používala napríklad aj indie rock—one of the slovo ‚indie’ a spočiatku slovo ‚indie’ a spočiatku words she used that I som veľmi nechápal jeho som veľmi nechápal jeho didn't initially know the význam. Celkom ma význam. Celkom ma definition of was, in fact, bavilo, keď som ju bavilo, keď som ju ‘indie’—and it was fun to počúval, ako hovorí o počúval, ako hovorí o listen to her talk about hudbe, a raz som jej hudbe, a raz som jej music and one time I pomáhal s farbením pomáhal s farbením helped her dye her hair, vlasov. Po troch týždňoch vlasov. Po troch týždňoch but then she broke up with ma nechala, lebo som bol ma nechala, lebo som bol me after three weeks podľa nej

34

4 THEORETICAL PART

4.1 Introduction to the Theoretical Part

The theoretical part of the bachelor thesis deals with the analysis of selected parts of the novel An Abundance of Katherines by the American writer John Green. It is divided into two chapters. The first chapter presents a short theoretical introduction to the translation. The following chapter is divided into sections that carry the same names as the elements listed in the chapter 3.1. There is one section, which is not mentioned in the chapter 3.1, and that is the title of the book itself, which is also analysed. Each section starts with a short theoretical introduction, and then the specific examples are introduced. The comparison of the original message, and the message provided by Jana Melcerová follows the theoretical introduction. Finally, my own alternative translation is presented and compared to the original text, and to the official Slovak translation.

The analysis is based on the effort to find the original meaning of the text, which includes consulting dictionaries, mostly Webster's Dictionary of American English, Merriam-Webster Dictionary or Urban Dictionary, and searching for information in the British National Corpus. Furthermore, I contacted a group of Czech and Slovak translators and compared some parts of the corpus with the official Czech translation Příliš mnoho Kateřin by Veronika Volhejnová. I consider Jana Melcerová's translation Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín a very good one, yet there are some things I see differently, and I believe that they could be presented in a different, and in some cases, more understandable way.

4.2 Theoretical Introduction to the Translation

The translation is usually introducing the meaning of a text into another language while maintaining the author's intention of the text. This process might be considered simple or complicated. It is not possible for the translation to be original or to be correct. Translators should never be content with the translation because there is usually something that can be improved. Translators often need to consider more choices while

35 translating, and so they follow the theory of translation in order to make the best choice (Newmark, 2008, pp.5-6).

The world-known linguists have different opinions on the basic principle of the translation. The elements in the novel An Abundance of Katherines are at times so complicated for a translation that it is really difficult to conserve both content and form. It concerns mainly the anagrams which make a considerable part of this thesis. For this thesis, the idea of J. Catford is applicable. He declares that the elements of the source language and the target language don't need to have, in terms of linguistics, the same meaning, yet they can be used in the same situation. It is the functional attitude to the translation that is considered as the basic principle of the translation. What is important about the elements used in the translation is not whether they are the same as in the original, but whether they have the same function as those used in the original. They should have the same function with regard to the factual, denotational, referential, connotative, associative, expressive and pragmatic aspect of language (Catford, 1965: cited in Knittlová, 1995, p.5).

4.3 Analysis and Comparison

For easier orientation in the corpus, each example is indicated by two numbers. The first one represents the order in the corpus with regards to all the extracts included in the corpus, and the second one, which is actually a letter in a combination with a number, provides the information about the type of element, and the order in the corpus with regards to the relevant element.

4.3.1 Title

In terms of fiction books, the title is an important part of the book, as it should give the potential reader at least a slight image of what the book is about. Furthermore, it should attract the reader, make him feel curious, and make him want to read the book. Newmark (2008, p.57) says: “I distinguish between ‘descriptive titles’, which describe the topic of the text, and ‘allusive titles’, which have some kind of referential or figurative relationship to the topic.”

36

An Abundance of Katherines is rather a descriptive title because it describes the topic of the book sufficiently. Everyone can imagine what the story will probably be about according to the title. It is quite short and easily comprehensible title.

The title of the Slovak translation by Jana Melcerová, Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín, is rather an allusive title, as it does not describe the topic of the book. It has got a referential function, referring to a Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, the creation of which is the aim of the main character Colin. He wants to prove this theorem because it might help other people with their relationships. Thanks to the theorem, they should be able to estimate whether their relationship is going to work or not. Even though the theorem plays a significant role in the novel, I do not consider it important enough to become a title. It does not say much about the novel and it is too long. What's more, it does not sound as attractive as An Abundunce of Katherines, and potential readers might be confused by the meaning. It is evident that the potential readers would need some time to understand the meaning of the title, and this fact might make them decide that they do not want to read this book. On the other hand, it might have a very opposite effect, making people read it in order to solve the kind of mystery hidden in the title. Czech translator decided not to experiment with the title, and so the official title of the Czech translation is Příliš mnoho Kateřin. I decided to keep the descriptive title, which means basically the same as the original title and is equivalent to the Czech one as well. Príliš veľa Katherín is the title I present in the corpus. It is possible to create also a different title, which would still be accurate and interesting at the same time. Preč od Katherín, for example, might work as a nice title, as it would reffer to Colin leaving for a roadtrip in order to heal his heart after his last break-up.

There is also a problem concerning the name Katherine which needs to be analysed. This issue will be dealt with later in the chapter 4.3.6.

4.3.2 Anagrams

The word anagram is, according to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.23), “a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging

37 its letters.” Merriam-Webster (online) provides similar definition and apart from that, it also states that anagrams could be a game based on the principle explained in the definion above. Another definition in Merriam-Webster (online) is as follows: “to rearrange (the letters of a text) in order to discover a hidden message.” The anagrams are widely used in the book, yet they are not used for secret messages or games. However, they have an important role in the book. The anagrams make the book and the author significant. It's the main character who is passionate about them, and who creates them of almost every word or group of words that he comes across.

It is important to say that it is more complicated to make anagrams in Slovak language, or any other language that distinguishes short and long vowels and that uses sounds, such as š, č, ž, etc. That is the reason for which the translator must sometimes make a slight grammatical mistake while creating an anagram, for example use the letter s instead of š. I had to make these mistakes a few times as well, but I tried to avoid it as much as possible.

2/A1

The first anagram can be found in the beginning of the book, where John Green dedicates a few lines to his wife. Each line is composed of the same letters. It is difficult to achieve the same effect in another language, as we cannot keep both the content and the form, but Jana Melcerová did a good job. Instead of creating the anagram of each line, she decided to create anagrams only of two directly successive lines. The short extracts are listed below:

English original:

Her great Russian

Grin has treasure—

A great risen rush.

She is a rut-ranger;

Anguish arrester;

38

Sister; haranguer;

(Green, 2013)

Official Slovak translation:

Usmieva sa z plných líčok.

Sluch zaplavený čímsi O.K.

dáva K.O. rutine,

nie toku, dravá

sestra, orátorka,

skorá rosa trate.

(Melcerová, 2015)

This is one of the cases where I worked with the Czech translation as well, and I found out that the translator left this dedication in English, and provided the non- anagrammatic Czech translation in the footnote with the apology and explanation that it would never have such a poetic effect in the Czech language as in the original text (Volhejnová, 2015).

I decided to translate the content rather than the form, so there are no anagrams in my translation. Even though it is really interesting to have them there, I would not like to do something similar as the Slovak translator did, which means to include the words, such as O.K. or K.O. in the dedication. I think that the English original should be kept in the translation either in the footnote or on another page, and then the non- anagrammatic but semantically equivalent Slovak translation should be presented. Many young people study English, so they might find it interesting and even useful to have a look at the original anagrammatic dedication. The short extract of my translation is below:

Jej veľkolepý ruský

úsmev skrýva poklad.

39

Mocný dvihnutý nával.

Brázdi cestičky,

krotí úzkosť.

Sestra; kazateľka.

3/A2

What is problematic about translating anagrams is not only the complication in keeping the same content and the form, but also the context. The American writer uses very often the new word which has been anagrammed, and bases the following context on this particular word. This means that translators need to either find a really good anagram or to change the context adequatly.

The second anagram of the book which is going to by analysed is exactly this case. The main character is reading his yearbook and looks at the Katherine XIX's inscription.

English original: He anagrammed “yrs forever” until he found one he liked: sorry fever. And then he lay there in his fever of sorry and repeated the now memorized note in his head and wanted to cry, but instead he only felt this aching behind his solar plexus.

(Green, 2013, pp.4-5)

Official Slovak translation: Dovtedy vymýšľal prešmyčky v slovách naaavždy tvoja, kým nenašiel variantu, ktorá mu bola pochuti: vždy taaa vojna. A potom tam iba tak ležal utopený v myšlienkach o vždy rovnakom vojnovom konflikte so svojím vnútrom a v duchu si opakoval venovanie, ktoré už teraz poznal naspamäť. Chcelo sa mu plakať, ale namiesto sĺz cítil iba bolesť v oblasti plexu solaris.

(Melcerová, 2015, pp.11-12)

Katherine XIX's inscription says: yrs forever, K-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e. He changes it anagrammatically into a sorry fever, and then the context continues with the description of him lying on the floor in his fever of sorry. In Jana Melcerová's translation, the signature of the inscription is: Naaavždy tvoja K-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e which becomes vždy

40 taaa vojna. The translator had to deal with the problem of long and short vowels, so she decided to write the words navždy and tá with three short vowels, which in the word navždy stress the duration, and in the woord tá replace the long vowel. Then the context continues with Colin lying on the floor, and thinking about his inner war conflict that goes on forever.

I didn't create an alternative translation to this part, as I consider this an excellent one. In the corpus, it is marked as ‘Good Translation’.

4/A3

The following example deals with a very simple anagram. It is the first anagram Colin has ever created, thus it is based on a simple principle. It is a principle based on reading the other word backwards.

English original: He gave himself a splinter rearranging p-o-t-s into s-t-o-p—the first anagram he remembered making.

(Green, 2013, p.16)

Official Slovak translation: Keď menil slovo c-i-k-á-m na m-á-c-i-k, svoju prvú prešmyčku (pozornosť drobným pravopisným zádrhom nevenoval), zadrel si do ruky triesku.

(Melcerová, 2015, pp. 24-25)

My translation: Keď pretváral slovo m-a-k na slovo k-a-m, čo bola prvá prešmyčka, na ktorú si spomínal, zadrel si triesku.

The official Slovak translation is not based on the principle of reading the first word backwards, and it has got a grammatical mistake in it, so the translator had to add an explanatory note to it. I think it is easier to stick to the principle suggested by John Green, so I chose the word mak and changed it into kam because it is a short and simple word, appropriate for a child, and it does not require any extra explanation.

41

7/A4

The following anagram is quite challenging, as it is created from a graffiti in the public bathroom and the author managed to change something really unpleasant into something nice and poetic.

English original: Colin went to the bathroom (there graffiti in the stall read: CALL DANA FOR BLOW. Colin wondered whether Dana provided fellatio or cocaine, and then, for the first time since he'd been lying motionless on the carpet of his bedroom, he indulged his greatest passion. He anagrammed: Call Dana for blow; Ballad for a clown.

(Green, 2013, p.20)

Official Slovak translation: Colin sa vybral na toaletu (kde mu grafity na stene oznamovali: FAJKU? NO TAK VOLAJ DANE JÁNI K. Colin chvíľu uvažoval, či Dana ponúka orálny sex alebo trávu, a potom sa prvý raz odvtedy, čo ležal ako bez duše doma na koberci, oddal svojej veľkej vášni, tvorbe prešmyčiek. A z nápisu FAJKU? NO TAK VOLAJ DANE. JÁNI K. vytvoril odkaz: TAK LAJKUJ FAJNOVO, INAK NEDÁ.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.29)

My translation: Colin si zašiel na toaletu (kde grafity v kabínke oznamovali: CHCEŠ SI PICHNÚŤ? VOLAJ DANE. Colin chvíľu uvažoval, či Dana poskytuje sex alebo heroín, a potom sa po prvý raz odvtedy, čo ležal ako bez duše na koberci vo svojej izbe, oddal svojej najväčšej vášni. Z nápisu „Chceš si pichnúť? Volaj Dane.“ vytvoril prešmyčku „Šiestich chlapcov nenajdú.“

According to the listed examples, it can be seen that none of the Slovak translations managed to keep John Green's idea of changing an unfavourable expression into a poetic one. Jana Melcerová kept the sense of the original text, but had to use words, such as Jáni and K, which are not very comprehensible. I had to change the meaning a bit so that I could create an anagram, which would make sense, and would not involve strange incomprehensible words. I had to use the word nenájdu with a short a and a long ú. In terms of the context that follows the sentence Call Dana for blow in the original, Colin thinks about fellatio and cocaine, in the official Slovak version, it 42 is fellatio and marihuanna because it is possible to blow or fajčiť in both cases. In my version, it is sex and heroin. My version is not completely equivalent to the original one, but both sex and heroin can be used with the word pichnúť, so I decided to suggest this alternative. However, Jana Melcerová's translation is closer to the original in terms of the meaning, but mine is closer because of the comprehensible anagram that is possible to create.

12/A5

This example of anagramming shows that Colin is such a prodigy that he is able to make three anagrams of one expression. The Slovak translator does not demonstrate this fact to the readers, as she created only one anagram, which is also very difficult to understand. That is why I suggest three anagrams, exactly like it is in the original text.

English original: ... maybe you don't have a right to go and think anything odd.

And he was busy anagramming anything odd—any odd night, handy dog tin, doing thy DNA—when Colin did his DNA proud: he stumbled on a a molehill and fell.

(Green, 2013, p.31)

Official Slovak translation: ... možno ani nemáte právo pokladať niečo za čudné.

A okrem toho ho práve plne zamestnávala tvorba prešmyčiek: niečo vyzerá čudne, C.S. ‒ čučo? dnes nie, C. vyzerá! Vo chvíli, keď Colin poskytoval priamy dôkaz o tom, že možno vyzerá čudne, ale určite taký nie je, zakopol o krtinec a spadol.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.41)

My translation: ... možno ani nemáte právo sa niečomu čudovať. A okrem toho ho práve plne zamestnávala tvorba prešmyčiek: čudovať sa niečomu – času mu dať, čo on vie?; čuť časovanie domu; vedu sa (m)učiť, no a čo? – o chvíľu už sa mučil on sám, keď zakopol o krtinec a spadol.

There is a context which follows one of the anagrams. In the original, Colin stumbles on a molehill when he creates the anagram with the word DNA. In the Slovak

43 translation, he stumbles at the moment of proving that he might look odd, but he is definitely not. In my translation, he creates the anagram using the word mučenie, so I profit from it by saying that he tortured himself when he stumbled on a molehill and fell.

14/A6

The next example is based on misunderstanding between two characters in the novel.

English original: “Can sushi be anagrammed?” she asked. “Uh, sis,” he answered immediately. “Sis is three letters; sushi is five,” she said. “No. ‘Uh, sis.’ The uh and the sis.”

(Green, 2013, pp.35-36)

Official Slovak translation: „Dá sa vytvoriť prešmyčka aj z maki suši?” spýtala sa. „Uši, Simka,” odpovedal okamžite. „Simka ako SIM karta, alebo dievčenské meno?” opýtala sa. „Myslel som dievčenské meno, ale vyber si.”

(Melcerová, 2015, p.47)

My translation: „Dá sa vytvoriť prešmyčka aj zo slova sushi?” spýtala sa. „Si hus,” odpovedal okamžite. „Čože? Veď sa len pýtam na prešmyčku.” bránila sa. „Ale nie. Myslím ‚Si hus’ ako prešmyčku.”

Each translation provides a different type of misunderstanding. The English original is based on the fact that one of the anagrammed words is uh, which is at first perceived as interjection. The Slovak translator used the expression maki suši, which is a type of sushi, and she wrote the word suši in a Slovak way. The misuderstanding is based on the understanding of the word Simka, which can be either a female name or a SIM Card. I decided to keep the English word sushi, which is normally used in Slovakia, and base the misunderstanding on the fact that the anagram looks like an insult.

19/A7

The next paragraph deals with a short anagram. The American writer decided to anagram the word rooster.

44

English original: He found forty, of which he only really liked two: “rose rot” and “to err so.”

(Green, 2013, pp.68-69)

Official Slovak translation: Vymyslel ich asi desať, ale páčili sa mu iba dve: „oh, kút“ a „hú, k. o., T.“.

(Melcerová, 2015, pp.84-85)

My translation: Vymyslel ich asi šesť, ale páčili sa mu iba dve: „oh, kút“ a „húkot“.

In this part, the problem is not the anagram, but the rest of the sentence. John Green says that there are forty anagrams of rooster, which is a big number, but we do not know if it is true, or if it is just an imaginary number which should impress the readers. The Slovak translator found, reportedly, ten anagrams. It is not a high number, but I am not sure if there are so many anagrams of such a short word. Personally, I found, with a little help of the website Annagrammer.org, only six anagrams, of which only two or three made at least a little sense. I mention the same two anagrams as the translator because they are the most understandable ones, even though I changed the way of writing of the word húkot because I found it a bit complicated in the version by the Slovak translator. Here are the next four anagrams that could be created: oh, tuk; tuho k; tuk ho; kút ho. However, it is highly possible that there are ten of them, exactly like Jana Melcerová proposed.

20/A8

The following anagram is based on its previous context. Two boys are looking for a word that would end all of their arguments in the future. They choose the word dingleberries. There exist several definitions of this word. Dingleberries might be “a common name for Vaccinium erythrocarpum, the southern mountain cranberry” (Wiktionary, online). The Slovak translator chose this meaning and translated the word as čučoriedka. However, as this word is used by two young man who use lots of expressions which are out of taste, it is more sensible to consider rather the slang meaning of this word for the translation. The slang meaning is “a stupid or foolish person” or “dried faecal matter adhering to anal hair” (Wiktionary, online). Seeing that the last explanation is preferable also in the Urban Dictionary (online), and it is 45 the meaning the Czech translator chose as well, I translated the word dingleberries in this manner too. The Czech version is suchý bobky (Volhejnová, 2015, p.80), and because of the large number of anagrams that are supposed to follow this expression, I used the phrase bobky na zadku, as I was able to make many anagrams of it. The examples of anagrams are listed below:

English original: See inbred girl; lie breeds grin; leering debris; greed be nil, sir; be idle re. rings; ringside rebel; residing rebel; etc.

(Green, 2013, 70)

Official Slovak translation: Či o darčeku. / Čau, koč drie. / Kurča či deo? / Kdečo čiaru. / Račie čudo K. / Čo, ide kurča? atď.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.86)

My translation: Banky za bodku; Dana, bozky, buk; Danku by za bok; kozy nad babku; kuk, Boby nazad!; Danko zuby, bak!; nad bok bazuky; atď.

24/A9

The following part deals not only with an anagram, but also with a misunderstanding of the Slovak translator.

English original: “... I can anagram anything.” “Anything?” “Night, nay,” he answered quickly...

(Green, 2013, p.76)

Official Slovak translation :„...Viem zo všetkého utvoriť prešmyčku.“ „Akékoľvek slovo?“ „Z noci nie,“ zareagoval chytro...

(Melcerová, 2015, p.94)

My translation: „...Dokážem vytvoriť prešmyčku z čohokoľvek.“ „Akékoľvek slovo?“ „Veľké ako slovko,“ zareagoval chytro...

In the story, Colin admits that he can anagram anything and he proves it by creating an anagram from Anything?, which is a question that his girlfriend asks him.

46

In the Slovak translation, there is no anagram. Jana Melcerová translated the anagram Night, nay in the literal sense. In my alternative translation, I provided the anagram so as to show to the readers how amazing Colin is at anagramming.

24/A10

The next anagram is created by transposing the letters in a name. It is the name Katherine Carter. John Green proposes two anagrams. In the Slovak text, the name changes the suffix, so it is necessary to create the anagram of Katherine Carterová. In this case, I really liked the anagrams suggested by Jana Melcerová. However, I found a mistake in one of them, specifically in the anagram trenie charakterov. This anagram has not the letter á in it. So I changed this anagram in my translation, and kept the other one in the form created by the Slovak translator.

English original: “Um, okay. Her karate cretin—um, oh. I like this one: their arcane trek.”

(Green, 2013, p.77)

Official Slovak translation: „Hmm, tak dobre. Napríklad – trenie charakterov. A tento sa mi páči – Aká Richterova neter?“

(Melcerová, 2015, p. 94)

My translation: „Hmm, tak dobre. Napríklad – ITC retro herne a káva. A tento sa mi páči – Aká Richterova neter?“

30/A11

The next example deals with an anagram in the Slovak translation which is appropriate, and does not include any incomprehensible words or letters. However, I provided an alternative translation because the translator did not use the word prešmyčky as in every other part of the book, but she profited from the English word, and wrote anagramy. Even though it might not be considered practical, I decided to stick to the word prešmyčky. The examples can be found below:

English original: “Good at anagramming—dragon maggot mania.”

47

(Green, 2013, p.91)

Official Slovak translation: „Idú mi anagramy – úrady mini gama.“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.111)

My translation: „Dobrý v prešmyčkách - prvý hráč, bodec, šmyk.

31/A12

In this section, we find an anagram in the Slovak translation, while there is none in the English original. It is caused by the word muumuu, which Colin in the original text evaluates as unanagrammable word. According to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.489), muumuu is “a long, loose- hanging dress, usually brightly colored or patterned, worn esp. by Hawaiian women.” Jana Melcerová translated this word as župan, but according to the definition provided, it does not seem like the same thing. What's more, she added an anagram because she could find one, but pan Už is not very understandable anagram. So I decided to keep the word muumuu, and add a short explanation of the word, which is the same thing that Veronika Volhejnová did in the Czech translation (Volhejnová, 2015, p.106). I also kept John Green's idea of this word being unanagrammable.

English original: ...he found Hollis wearing a hot pink muumuu... Colin walked softly past her, and thought to add “muumuu” to his mental list of unanagrammable words.

(Green, 2013, p.95)

Official Slovak translation: ...na prízemí našiel Hollis v sýtoružovom župane... Colin prešiel po špičkách okolo nej a pridal slovo župan na svoj pomyselný zoznam slov, z ktorých len ťažko vymyslíte zmysluplné prešmyčky. Napadla mu iba jediná, s chýbajúcim dĺžňom: pan Už.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.116)

My translation: ...na prízemí našiel Hollis v sýtoružových voľných šatách zvaných muumuu... Colin prešiel po špičkách okolo nej a v duchu pridal slovo „muumuu“ na svoj pomyselný zoznam slov, z ktorých len ťažko vytvoríte prešmyčku.

48

32/A13

The following example is the opposite case to the previous one. There is an anagram in the original text, but we cannot find any in the official Slovak translation.

English original: They'd been walking home together from the RadioShack* when she recorded the message.

*A roach disk.

(Green, 2013, p.101)

Official Slovak translation: Keď nahrávala odkaz do odkazovej schránky, kráčali spolu domov z obchodu s elektronikou.*

*To je jedno z ktorého.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.123)

My translation: Keď nahrávala odkaz do odkazovej schránky, kráčali spolu domov z obchodu RadioShack.*

*Iskra a chod.

The anagram is created from the name of the store, and in the novel it is provided in the footnote. The Slovak translator did not name the store, she just described it as obchod s elektronikou and in the footnote, she added To je jedno z ktorého. She might have not noticed that it is the anagram or she simply wanted to avoid creating it. What needs to be remarked is that it is quite difficult to understand that a roach disk is an anagram. I also had the tendency to overlook the anagram, and I could not find the sense of this word in the context. The official Czech translation does not have the anagram there either, the translator wrote Kupovali harddisk in the footnote (Volhejnová, 2015, p.112). I asked some translators in public groups on Facebook for help and they had many ideas. They thought a roach disk might be a frisbee or a trap for roaches. However, only one of them was correct. He immediately found out that it was an anagram. Therefore, I provided a translation keeping the original name of the shop and the anagram as well.

49

36/A14

The next example deals with an anagram created from a name. It is the name of one of Colin's Katherines, specifically Katherine Mutsenberger, or in Slovak Katherine Mutsenbergerová.

English original: He'd never anagrammed her before, and he was fascinated to find the word “eighteen” within her. “Me returns eighteen barks; eighteen errs makes burnt.” His favorite: “Remark eighteen, snub rest.” But that didn't really make sense, because Colin had certainly remarked all nineteen.

(Green, 2013, p.160)

Official Slovak translation: Fascinovalo ho, že pritom objavil aj slovo „osemnásť“, aj keď bez mäkčeňa na t. Hub starogermánske vetrenie. Starogermánske vrtenie behu. Murárske behanie, regentstvo. A jeho najobľúbenejšia, aj keď ani tá mu nedávala veľký zmysel: tiger a ruka v hre – Bene osemnásT. Presne ako anomália v prípade nositeľky tohto mena.

(Melcerová, 2015, p. 187)

My translation: Predtým mu to nikdy nenapadlo, a tak bol fascinovaný, že pritom niekoľkokrát objavil aj slovo „starogermánske“. „Starogermánske vrtenie behu; starogermánske trenie v behu.“ A jeho najobľúbenejšia: „Hub starogermánske vetrenie.“ Tá však nedávala veľký zmysel, pretože on po všetkých Katherinách stále vetril a nemohol túto vlastnosť zahubiť.

In the English original, Colin finds three anagrams in this name, and he is surprised by the fact that in each one of them, there is a word eighteen. In the official Slovak translation, Colin creates four anagrams, but one of them does not give much sense, and it comprises a grammatical mistake, so I believe it would be better to use only three anagrams. The translator wanted to use the word osemnásť, which is understandable, but I think it is essential to profit from the word starogermánske because it is in two of her anagrams. I based the alternative translation of this part on the word starogermánske because I used two of Jana Melcerová's anagrams comprising it, and I managed to create one more with this word as well. However, I did not manage

50 to include the word osemnásť, which is a pity, because it is important for the reason that this Katherine was Colin's eighteenth girlfriend.

There is also a context which follows according to one of the anagrams. In English text, it is the fact that Colin, reportedly, remarked only eighteen Katherines, but in reality, he remarked all nineteen of them. In the Slovak translation, there is an anagram comprising the words tiger a ruka v hre, and the translator then continues that this perfectly fits the characteristics of the girl, even though I do not understand what the translator means. I decided to base the following context on the words hub a vetrenie, and I say that Colin still sensed all Katherines and could not erase this feeling.

38/A15

This example is based on the previous context, and it influences also the following context.

English original: ...reminding him of where we all go. To seed, to ground. And even then he couldn't help but anagram. To ground—Run, Godot; Donor Gut. And the magic through which “to ground” can become “donor gut,” combined his newfound feeling that he had at some recent point received a donor gut, kept his pace quick.

(Green, 2013, p.196)

Official Slovak translation: ...kam všetci smerujeme. Prach si a na prach sa obrátiš. Ale chuť na prešmyčky ho neopúšťala. Dumaj, obrátiš sa zas na prach‒ prázdno šachistu a bar, maj sa! Čarovný moment tejto prešmyčky, podľa ktorej by mal dať zbohom prázdnu v kombinácii s nedávno nadobudnutým pocitom, že by sa to prázdno v jeho žalúdku mohlo začať opäť napĺňať, mu zrýchľoval krok.

(Melcerová, 2015, pp. 227-228)

My translation: ...kam všetci smerujeme. Prach si a na prach sa obrátiš. Ale chuť na prešmyčky ho neopúšťala. Obrátiš sa na prach‒ sobáš - (pra)hra na cit. Kúzlo, vďaka ktorému sa z prachu mohol stať sobáš a ktoré sa kombinovalo s nedávno nadobudnutým pocitom, že mu možno svitá na lepšie časy, ho poháňalo vpred.

51

In the English text, the author says that we all go to ground, and then he creates two anagrams from it. The second anagram is donor gut, and it influences the following context because than Colin feels like he received a donor gut. It is probably for the reason that he is on his way to see his friend who might become something more than just a friend. I like the expression Prach si a na prach sa obrátiš in the Slovak translation. Jana Melcerová needed to mix a part of this expression with other letters and that is how she got the anagram comprised of the words prázdno and maj sa, which she utilised in the next context by saying that Colin is likely to say goodbye to an empty place in his gut. I kept the phrase Prach si a na prach sa obrátiš in my translation, and then created an anagram including the words, such as sobáš and cit, which meant a hope for him in his situation.

39/A16

The last example from this section is again dealing with Colin's girlfriend's name, which is Katherine Barker.

English original: ...Katherine Barker, anagrams into Heart Breaker, Ink, like she's a veritable CEO of Dumping...

(Green, 2013, p.202)

Official Slovak translation: Volala sa Katherine Barkverová, čiže prešmyčkovo: krátke rabovanie v hre. Mal som predvídať, že mi zlomí srdce.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.235)

My translation: Volala sa Katherine Barkerová, po vytvorení prešmyčky: tak hrá krab overenie. Mal som si ju overiť, pretože mať kraba v mene neveští nič dobré.

In the English text, there is a huge advantage, as it is possible to create the word heartbreaker from this name. It is much more difficult to achieve the same effect in Slovak. Jana Melcerová had to adjust the name a bit. She named this girl Katherine Barkver, so that she could make the anagram mentioned in the example. I tried to make the anagram without adding or omitting the letters and I managed to create an anagram which is, unfortunately, not as good as the one in the original text. The context follows the anagrams as it is usual in the novel. In English, it is the word heartbreaker

52 that should have given Colin an idea of the sad end of this love. In the official Slovak translation, it is about a short game and in my translation, it deals with the necessity of verifying each person and the bad luck that a crab carries if it is hidden in the name.

4.3.3 Idioms

Idioms are fixed expressions which are recognized by native speakers. The language is used in a non-literal way. The traditional idioms are whole expressions, but there exist also single words with idiomatic meaning. It is important to be familiar with idioms, as they are commonly used in the language. The idiomatical use of expressions is sometimes more common then their literal use. An English speaker is more likely to sound natural if he uses more idioms in his speech. Idioms are an important part of a language, even though someone might object that they are rather informal. In terms of translation of idioms, it is essential to say that they are not translated into other languages. In some cases, it is possible to find an equivalent idiom in the target language, but very often translators need to explain the meaning of the idiom, as there is no equivalent. (Wright, 1999: 7-10)

According to Newmark (1998: 40), an idiom is a group of words, the meaning of which is never deduced from the meaning of its elements. There is, however, a preferrable definition of an idiom, which is that an idiom is an extended standard metaphor. They might be cultural or universal. He provides three ways of translating idioms. The first one is finding an equivalent idiom, the second one deals with focusing on the sense, and the last one is a literal translation which, however, happens only exceptionally.

9/I1

The first example deals with the following sentence:

English original: “Dude, if Kentucky is going to remind you of Paris, we're in a hell of a pickle.”

(Green, 2013, p.22)

Official Slovak translation: „Človeče, ak ti má Kentucky pripomínať Paríž, tak to máme fakt veľký problém.“

53

(Melcerová, 2015, p.31)

My translation: „Kamoško, ak ti má Kentucky pripomínať Paríž, tak to sme naozaj úplne v riti.“

According to The Free Dictionary (online), to be in a pickle means “to be in disagreeable position; to be in a condition of embarrassment, difficulty, or disorder.” Jana Melcerová's translation is good and equivalent one, but it should not be forgotten that there is also the word hell in front of a pickle. This exact word is making the meaning stronger, and I believe it should be recognizable from the translation as well. In Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.347), hell has got many definitions, but this one fits this context the best: “This word is used in various phrases in swearing to express anger, dismissal, disgust, etc., or to express how strong one's feelings are about a situation.” That is why I propose my translation in the way presented above.

15/I2

This example focuses on the following sentence:

English original: How the hell did the idea pop into your mind?

(Green, 2013, p.50)

Official Slovak translation: Ako sa ti ten nápad vôbec zrodil v kotrbe?

(Melcerová, 2015, p.64)

My translation: Ako ti, dopekla, niečo také vôbec napadlo?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online), pop into one's head, which is, I believe, the same as pop into one's mind, means “to become a thought that is not a result of reasoning.” We cannot forget about the word hell which is in front of the sentence we are dealing with. I consider official Slovak translation a good one, even though it might seem too expressive at first because of the word kotrba, which is an expressive word meaning head (Slovník, online). However, I think that it is the way in which the translator expresses the mood which is in the original text expressed by the

54 word hell. In my translation, I express this mood by using the word dopekla, and then I leave the rest of the sentence in a neutral tone.

16/I3. The next example deals with the following idiom:

English original: He liked Lindsey Lee Wells, but sometimes it felt like she was trying to get his goat.

(Green, 2013, pp.53-54)

Official Slovak translation: Lindsey Lee Wellsová sa mu páčila, ale niekedy mal pocit, že ho chce vyštengrovať.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.68)

My translation: Lindsey Lee Wellsová sa mu páčila, ale niekedy mal pocit, že mu schválne pije krv.

To get one's goat is an informal idiomatic phrase which means “to anger, annoy, or frustrate someone.” (Random House Webster's dictionary of American English, 1997. p.321). According to Slovník (online), štengrovať means “podpichávať,” so the meaning is the same as in the original text. However, vyštengrovať niekoho is not a standard expression in Slovak, and I am not sure how familiar the readers of the novel are with this word. Therefore, I suggest to use an easier and much more common expression, which is piť niekomu krv.

25/I4

The last example focuses on an idiomatic expression which is translated in more expressive way than it is necessary.

English original: “Y'all make yourselves at home.”

(Green, 2013, p.78)

Official Slovak translation: „Urobte si pohodlie a cíťte sa tu ako doma.“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.96)

My translation: „Cíťte sa tu ako doma.“ 55

Make yourself at home is a figurative expression meaning “Please make yourself comfortable in my home” (The Free Dictionary, online). Jana Melcerová translated this expression a bit more expressively than it is necessary. It is not inappropriate and I consider it a nice example of translation, but I think that a simple translation that I am suggesting is clear and sufficient.

4.3.4 Misinterpretation

The word misinterpretation is a noun derived from the verb misinterpret. According to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.474), to misinterpret means “to interpret incorrectly.” In the field of translation, it is possible to meet rather with the word mistranslation. Newmark (1991, pp.101-102) expresses ideas about the translation and mis-translation. He states that the concept of a perfect translation is delusive, and that is why the concept of translation equivalence is possible to only be estimative. He also demonstrates as follows: “Most translations are in the graduated area between correct translation and mis-translation, but at least, mis- translation is usually demonstrable and always unnecessary.”

There are few cases of mis-translation in the novel, and it is important to analyse them and provide their alternative translation. There are cases in which it is quite understandable for the translator to misinterpret and then mis-translate. However, it is possible to find parts in which it is not understandable as well. In any case, it should not happen to a translator to mis-translate the text because then it is very difficult for readers to understand.

While I was reading the official Slovak translation for the first time, I came across these cases of misinterpretation. Some words or phrases did not fit into the context. After having read the original version, I found out what the meaning was, and I immediately started to think of the alternative translation. However, it is important not to forget who the readers usually are. They are usually teenagers who will, in most cases, rather read the Slovak version, as they might find it difficult to read a book in English. That means that they do not consult the original version, and they are left with the misunderstanding from the Slovak translation. That is why I am providing the alternative translation. I want to make the misinterpreted parts more comprehensible for readers.

56

13/MI1.

The first case of misinterpretation is to be found in the part, where Colin falls down and hits his forehead on a small rock. Lindsey, a girl he has just met, and who happens to be a paramedic in training, is trying to provide first aid. She needs Hassan, Colin's friend, to give her his T-shirt so that she could apply pressure. Hassan refuses, so Lindsey needs to take off her shirt. After having done everything necessary to stop the bleeding, she reacts in the following way:

English original: “Some friend you've got, by the way.”

(Green, 2013, p.32)

Official Slovak translation: „Mimochodom, máš aj priateľov.”

(Melcerová, 2015, p.42)

My translation: „Mimochodom, máš to teda ale kamaráta.”

Lindsey's comment is supposed to be ironic. She is commenting on Hassan's unmanly reaction, and she wants to share her thought with Colin by saying that his friend is probably not a good one. This is not apparent from the official Slovak translation. I believe that the Slovak translator saw the irony in the comment, but she used wrong words to express it. The expression máš aj priateľov might be ironic, yet it is not as clear as the expression máš to teda ale kamaráta.

34/MI2

The following case deals with the word two-toned.

English original: A two-toned Chevy Bronco approached from the other direction.

(Green, 2013, p.118)

Official Slovak translation: Z opačného smeru sa k nim priblížilo dvojtonové terénne vozidlo.

(Melcerová, 2013, p.142)

My translation: Z opačného smeru sa k nim priblížil dvojfarebné terénne vozidlo. 57

According to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.783), the word tone is presented under various definitions. This one fits the context the most: “A quality of color; a tint, hue, or shade.” Other definitions speak rather about sounds or manners. As we are talking about a car, it is the colour that we are interested in. Therefore the word toned means to have a certain tint of colour. In the British National Corpus (online), there are 81 results for this word. Most of them are used in the context of a sound, a state of body, and very often they function as a verb.

Neither the dictionary, nor the BNC provides the word toned in the context of the weight, which is what Jana Melcerová did in the Slovak translation. Therefore, I believe it should be translated as dvojfarebný.

34/MI3

This example is composed of two cases of misinterpretation. They are to be analysed together, as they are a part of one extract. It is a situation, in which Lindsey and Colin are sitting in Colin's car, and Lindsey's boyfriend and his friend are sitting in another car. They talk through the windows which are rolled down, and Lindsey's boyfriend invites her to go to the Camp. He calls her Lass, which is a nickname she hates, and she gets angry.

English original: “I think I'm gonna stay at home tonight,” she said, and then turned her head to Colin and said, “Go.” “Aww, Linds. I was just screwing with you.” “Go,” she said again, and Colin hit the gas and shot off.

(Green, 2013, pp.118-119)

Official Slovak translation: „Asi dnes ostanem doma,“ povedala a pozrela na Colina. „Choď s nimi ty,“ povedala mu. „Ajaj, Lindsey, veď ja som doteraz spával s tebou.“ „Poďme,“ pokynula Colinovi, ktorý šliapol na plyn a vyrazil.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.142)

My translation: „Asi dnes ostanem doma,“ povedala a pozrela na Colina. „Choď,“ povedala mu. „Ale, Linds, veď ja som len žartoval.“ „Choď,“ zopakovala, a Colin šliapol na plyn a vyrazil.

58

The first problem is the command Go. As it was already mentioned, Lindsey is angry with her boyfriend, so she wants Colin to get going. In Slovak translation, it seems like Lindsey wants Colin to go to the Camp with the boys. That is not correct, as there is no such evidence in the original text. When she says Go for the second time, Colin hits the gas and shoots off. That is why I suggest to say Choď.

The other problem is the sentence I was just screwing with you. It is translated as veď ja som doteraz spával s tebou, which is definitely a possible translation. However, it does not fit the context. There is no reason for Lindsey's boyfriend to talk about their intimate life in this section. He just wants her to stop being mad because of the nickname he gave her, so he assures her that he is only joking. According to Urban Dictionary (online), screw with means “to mock or rile someone.” That is why this sentence should be translated as veď ja som len žartoval.

4.3.5 Mistake on Purpose

This is a chapter that deals with the translation and analysis of mistakes made on purpose in the original English text. The mistakes were made for various reasons. Specific cases will be discussed in details below.

8/MP1

The first example of this chapter is rather a difficult one. It is taken from the part of the novel, where Hassan finds out that somebody has carved God hates fag into a picnic table, and he tries to change it into something else. There is a mistake in the inscription, and it somehow needs to be kept in the translation. Hassan is changing it into a different inscription, and it is obvious that the new inscription needs to be spelled in a similar way so that it is easy to carve it into the picnic table. The original text and the translations of this example are provided below:

English original: “Well, while you were in the bathroom, I sat down at this picnic table here in Bumblefug, Kentucky, and noticed that someone had carved that GOD HATES FAG, which, aside from being a grammatical nightmare, is absolutely ridiculous. So I'm changing it to ‘God Hates Baguettes.’ It's tough to disagree with that. Everybody hates baguettes.”

(Green, 2013, p.20)

59

Official Slovak translation: „Kým si bol na záchode, sedel som pri tomto stole v kentuckej riti sveta a všimol som si, že ktosi doň vyrezal BOH NEZNÁŠA TVOIE STEHIENKA. Okrem toho, že je to čisté gramatické zúfalstvo, je to maximálne absurdné. A tak to mením na ‚Boh neznáša žabie stehienka.’ Len ťažko sa s tým dá nesúhlasiť. Lebo kto už má rád žabie stehienka?“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.29)

My translation: „Kým si bol na záchode, sedel som pri tomto piknikovom stole v kentuckej riti sveta a všimol som si, že ktosi doň vyrezal BOH NEZNÁŠA BUZÍKY. Okrem toho, že je to čisté gramatické zúfalstvo, je to riadna blbosť. Tak to mením na ‚Boh neznáša budíky.’ Len ťažko sa s tým dá nesúhlasiť. Lebo kto už má rád budíky?“

There are two things that a translator needs to bare in mind while translating this paragraph. Firstly, there is a mistake in the original text, specifically there is fag instead of fags and this mistake must be somehow conserved in the translation. Furthermore, the word into which Hassan changes the original word (fag) needs to be composed of letters similar to those which are in the original word. In this version, fag is changed into baguettes, because the letter F can be easily changed into letter B and the following two letters are the same in both words. The Slovak translator made the mistake in the word tvoie by using it with the letter i instead of j. On the other hand, she did not stick to the principle of the similar spelling, as she changed the word tvoie into žabie. In my translation, I decided to base the mistake on a wrong grammatical case, so I used the word buzíky instead of buzíkov. I also sticked to the principle of similar spelling, as I changed this word into budíky, which means that I had to change only one letter.

Secondly, the sense is an important factor in this example, yet it is difficult to translate these expressions in a way in which the sense and the similarity of spelling are conserved. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online), the word fag has got several meanings, but it is highly possible that it is used in the meaning of “insulting and contemptuous term for a male homosexual.” Urban Dictionary (online) also contains several definitions of this word, such as “a cigarette; a person who owns or frequently rides a Harley; a short form for faggot; an extremely annoying, inconsiderate person; could be loud, rude, or of offensive nature; or a homosexual

60 male.” In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online), the word baguette is explained as “a long, thin loaf of French bread; or a gem having the shape of a narrow rectangle.” More definitions of this word can be found in the Urban Dictionary (online). Baguettes might be for example “a female version of douchebag; or chicks who date douchebags; or a gun.”

I struggled a lot while translating this part, so I decided to ask a couple of translators in a public Facebook group for help. Most of them agreed that the word fag is a pejorative term for a male homosexual. They had different opinions on the word baguette, some of them thought it would be a chick dating douchebags, some said it was rather nothing specific. They believed that it is only a way of changing the insulting word into something inoffensive. None of them commented on the Slovak official translation, as they probably did not agree with this version. They were rather suggesting other possibilities. Some of them can be found below:

1. Boh nemá rád teplošov. - Boh nemá rád teplo.

In this case, there would be no rewriting of the inscription. By contrast, crossing out would occur. However, the main problem in this suggestion is that the following context would be: Lebo kto už má rád teplo? It is not a word that can be generalized in such way, because there are many people who love hot weather.

2. Boh nenávidí buznu. - Boh nenávidí burzu.

Boh nenávidí buzny. - Boh nenávidí buzoly.

None of these suggestions can be used, as the word buzna is rather a Czech word. It might be used in some parts of Slovakia within a dialect, but it is not a standard Slovak word. Moreover, it would be difficult to rewrite the words because of the different spelling.

3. Boh neznáša buzíky. - Boh neznáša budíky.

Personally, I like this suggestion the most, therefore I used it in my alternative translation. The sense of a pejorative term for male homosexual is kept, and it is changed into a word which is spelled in a similar way. Furthermore, the next context is reasonable, as there are many people who hate the alarm clock.

61

18/MP2

The following example deals with a grammatical mistake.

English original: Singleton beat that little fugger like she'd stole something.

(Green, 2013, p.61)

Official Slovak translation: Singleton tú malú kozu sfúkol ako perko.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.76)

My translation: Singleton tú malú kozu sfúkol jak pierko.

In the original, there is a mistake in the past participle form, but in Slovak we do not have such forms, so translators need to find a different alternative. They are a bit free in their choice. Jana Melcerová made a mistake on purpose in the word pierko, as she wrote perko instead. I think it is an acceptable translation, but I decided to focus rather on a different word. I chose the word ako, and changed it into jak because many Slovak people use it, even though they know that it is not a standard Slovak.

4.3.6 Names, Nicknames

Translating proper names is a problematic issue in any text. In literary texts, the information revealing whether the name is real or invented needs to be evident (Newmark, 1993, p.15). In the original text, names are of the same importance as words. The meaning, function and ‘referential coverage’ of each proper word should be clear to a translator. The translator's task is to reproduce intertextually or extratextually as much of this information as possible. It should be done sufficiently enough for the target language readers to understand (Newmark, 1998, p.116).

This chapter deals with the translation and analysis of proper names, nicknames and names of places, games or things. They all carry a referential meaning and they provide the possibility to be translated in more possible ways.

1/N1

The first example deals with a character's proper name. It is the name Katherine, which is used for nineteen girls in the novel. There exists a Slovak equivalent to this

62 word in Slovak, so it is important to decide whether to keep the name in the original form or whether to let the name undergo the process of naturalization, which means the adaptation to the pronunciation and morphology of the target language (Newmark, 2008, p.82). The first decision would be problematic, because of the cases in Slovak. Therefore, it would be possible to find forms, such as s Katherinou, o Katherine, Katheriny etc, which does not sound very natural. However, other names cannot undergo the process of the naturalization because they do not have Slovak equivalents, so the name Katherine would be the only Slovak name which does not seem right either. That is why I decided to keep the name in the original form, just like Jana Melcerová did.

5/N2

The first example is a nickname which was created for Colin by his classmate.

English original: “My question is, Why are you such a tard, Colon Cancer?”

(Green, 2013, p.18)

Official Slovak translation: „Chcem sa ťa opýtať, prečo si ty taký retard, Kolík Trapko.“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.26)

My translation: „Mojou otázkou je: Prečo si taký retard, Kolonoskopia?“

This nickname is based on the game with letters in Colin's name. If we change the letter i into letter o, we get the word colon and if we add the word cancer, we get a serious illness. It is obvious that it is a very offensive nickname. It's difficult to translate it into Slovak and keep the same meaning, as it is impossible to create rakovina hrubého čreva out of the name Colin. The Slovak translator followed the same principle as it was in the original, which is changing one letter in the name. The result is the name Kolík with an addition Trapko, so as to keep the two-word nickname. I decided to keep rather the meaning of the nickname, so I created a nickname Kolonoskopia. It is only one word, but it is similar to the name Colin and it is much more similar to the original in terms of the meaning.

63

6/N3

The following example deals with the name of a game. The game was invented by Colin's classmates but Colin was the one who entitled it.

English original: Finally recognising that words can never hurt, but sticks and stones can sure break bones, they invented the Abdominal Snowman... The others called it “The Stretch,” but then one time when they were about to do it to him, Colin shouted,

”Don't give me an abdominal snowman!”

(Green, 2013, p.18)

Official Slovak translation: Nakoniec si totiž uvedomili, že slová nedokážu fyzicky ublížiť, ale palice a kamene spoľahlivo lámu kosti, a vymysleli si hru na opicu... Ostatní to volali „naťahovačka“. Ale keď sa k tomu jedného dňa zasa schyľovalo, Colin zvolal: „Necvičte so mnou ako s opicou!“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.27)

My translation: Nakoniec si totiž uvedomili, že slová nedokážu ublížiť tak, ako fyzické násilie, a tak si vymysleli hru na Yetiho... Ostatní to volali „naťahovačka“. Lenže raz keď sa k tejto hre opäť schyľovalo, Colin zvolal: „Nerobte zo mňa Yetiho!“

It is difficult to find the appropriate equivalent in the Slovak. The abdomen is “the part of the body between the chest and the legs.” (Random House Webster's dictionary of American English, 1997, p.1). The word abdominal is an adjective derived from this term. The Abdominal Snowman might therefore mean a snowman with somehow specific abdomen. Urban Dictionary (online) provides only one definition, which is inapplicable, because it has got a sexual meaning, so it is clear that pupils would not use it in such sense. Jana Melcerová translated the name as hra na opicu, which might be appropriate because of the fact how the game looked like. They were pulling Colin's hands and legs, so metaphorically, his limbs were being lenghtened. A monkey has got long limbs, so it would correspond to the original name in this way. While looking for the definition, I came across the expression in which one word was similar to the word abdominal in spelling, and it was abominable snowman. Abominable snowman is another term for Yeti (“Yeti,” online). It might not have

64 anything in common, but it made me think about Yeti, who is very often displayed as a creature with long limbs. Therefore, I decided to call this game hra na Yetiho.

22/N4

The next example is not completely a nickname, but it is a type of label very often given to some people.

English original: “Whatcha reading there, smartypants?” asked Lindsey.

(Green, 2013, p.71)

Official Slovak translation: „Čo si to tam čítaš, lúmen?” spýtala sa Lindsey.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.87)

My translation: „Čo si to tam čítaš, vševed?” spýtala sa Lindsey.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online), smartypants, or smarty-pants is “a person who talks and behaves like someone who knows everything.” On the other hand, it might be a label given to “someone who displays intelligence in an annoying way” (Urban Dictionary, online). The Slovak translator used the word lúmen, which is “prenesene: osvietená hlava, mimoriadne múdry človek, vynikajúci zjav” (“Lúmen”, online). However, in the original novel, it is supposed to be sarcastic. That is why I suggest the word vševed. I believe that vychytralec would be also a nice example of translation. These words might also be more understandable for young readers than the word lúmen.

26/N5

This example deals with a type of boxing, the name of which was invented according to the way of performing this sport.

English original: ...they had this rule: you couldn't hit below the belt or above the shoulders. Gutshot boxing. The town became famous for it, and that's what we got called.

(Green, 2013, p.81)

65

Official Slovak translation: ...dodržiavali jedno pravidlo: nesmeli udrieť súpera pod pás ani povyše pliec. Smeli boxovať do žalúdka, a tak vznikol ‚gutshot’. Mesto sa tým preslávilo a vyslúžilo si svoje meno.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.99)

My translation: ...dodržiavali jedno pravidlo: nesmeli udrieť súpera pod pás ani povyše pliec. Tak vznikol gutshot, čiže rana do žalúdka. Mesto sa tým preslávilo a vyslúžilo si svoje meno.

As it is clear from the text, gut is “the part of the body that carries food and digests it (Random House Webster's dictionary of American English, 1997, p.333). In other words, it is a stomach. Therefore, gutshot means a shot into a stomach. The name should be identical with this word, but it is not preferable in the target language, as it is rana do žalúdka in Slovak. I decided to keep the English name in the translation, which is the same process that Jana Melcerová utilised. However, it needs to be explained because Slovak readers do not know what gutshot means. That is why I provided a short explication of this word in my translation.

40/N6

The following example focuses on a nickname which was given to Colin by one of his girlfriends.

English original: ...but then she broke up with me after three weeks because I was sort of ‘emo nerd’ and she was more looking for ‘emo core.’

(Green, 2013, p.205)

Official Slovak translation: Po troch týždňoch ma nechala, lebo som bol podľa nej ‚emácky čudák’ a ona hľadala skôr ‚skutočného emáča’.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.238)

My translation: Po troch týždňoch ma nechala, lebo som bol podľa nej ‚emácky čudák’ a ona hľadala skôr ‚emáckeho tvrďasa.’

66

I like the official Slovak translation, but I think there are also other possibilities of translation. According to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.496), nerd is “a socially backward person, esp. one preoccupied with intellectual matters or with technology,” and so the word čudák is appropriate. Emácky bifľoš would be an adequate translation as well, mainly if we consider the fact that Colin is a child prodigy. However, I decided to stick to the Slovak translator's idea and keep the word čudák because it fits the context better. Skutočný emáč is an understandable translation. -Core, however, as a suffix, is “a combining form extracted from hard-core and used especially to form words that name a rebellious, antimainstream lifestyle, social movement, type of music, etc.” (Dictionary.com, online). That is why I used the expression emácky tvrďas.

4.3.7 Similes

Similes are very often associated with metaphors, but they are not as incisive as metaphors. They are used in the text for approximate descriptions and for making the text look decorated. Similes should not be problematic in translation, as translators are supposed to translate them literally in every text, even though they might look unnatural. It is important not to be mistaken while deciding whether a similar is a metaphor or a simile. There are cases of epithets which can be translated as collocate in the target language (Newmark, 1993, p.19).

This chapter provides the examples of similes or expressions which may seem like similes at first sight.

10/S1

The first example is presented below.

English original: “I mean, I like this interstate as much as the next guy, but the farther south we go, the hotter it gets, and I'm already sweating like a whore in church.”

(Green, 2013, p.25)

67

Official Slovak translation: „Myslím tým, že sa mi táto medzištátna diaľnica páči rovnako ako tá, čo príde, ale čím južnejšie ideme, tým je väčšia horúčava a už teraz sa potím ako filcka v kostole.”

(Melcerová, 2015, p.34)

My translation: „Chcem povedať, že sa mi táto medzištátna cesta páči rovnako ako tá, čo príde, ale čím južnejšie ideme, tým je väčšia horúčava a ja sa už teraz potím ako prostitútka v kostole.”

I believe that this is the case of a simile that should be translated literally. Sweating like a whore in church might be translated as potím sa ako kôň, which is a Slovak expression for this kind of situation. Jana Melcerová's idea is a good one, but it is not a literal translation, and I do not think that filcka is a better example than prostitútka according to the context. However, if we stick to the rule of translating similes literally, potím sa ako prostitútka v kostole, is an appropriate expression.

11/S2

The following example deals with an expression that looks like a simile, but has got a different function.

English original: Anyway, my dad didn't go to college, and he's rich as balls.

(Green, 2013, p.30)

Official Slovak translation: A okrem toho, ani môj otec nechodil na univerzitu a pritom je bohatý ako gule.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.41)

My translation: A okrem toho, ani môj otec nechodil na univerzitu a i tak je mega bohatý.

According to the definition in Urban Dictionary (online), as balls means “to the most extreme degree.” That is why it does not seem adequate to translate it literally. I decided to use the word mega, which is not a standard word, but it is

68 commonly used by people around the same age as Colin and Hassan are. Other alternatives might be extrémne bohatý or strašne bohatý.

27/S3

The next example, exactly like the previous one, focuses on an expression that may seem like a simile, but functions differently.

English original: It's cheesy, but that's what they always said to each other: "I love you like crazycakes; I miss you like crazycakes;" etc.

(Green, 2013, p.85)

Official Slovak translation: Ide o pukance. Ale oni dvaja si hovorievali: „Ľúbim ťa ako cucance“ alebo „Chýbaš mi ako cucance,“ atď.

(Melcerová, 2015, 104)

My translation: Je to gýčové, ale to si vždy hovorili: „Ľúbim ťa ako blázon; chýbaš mi ako blázon;“ atď.

Definitions of the expression crazy cakes in Urban Dictionary (online) are as follows: “A person who is extraordinarily bizarre or loopy; an act of lunacy.” Another applicable definition is: “The term "crazy cakes" is used to express an extreme degree or abundance of a physical object or idea.” That is why I consider my alternative translation more convenient than the official one. The Slovak word blázon corresponds more with the definition provided above. The same way of translation can be found in the Czech official translation of the book. More specifically, it is: “Miluju tě jako blázen; stýská se mi jako blázen” (Volhejnová, 2015, p.95). The Slovak translator might have had a good reason to use the words pukance and cucance, but I think it is rather confusing for readers.

4.3.8 Translator's Interpretation

While translating, it often happens that a translator's subjective attitude to the context occurs, and then the final translation is not correct. In some cases, however, it is possible to translate things in more than one way. I called this chapter Translator's

69

Interpretation, because the examples by Jana Melcerová that are to be analysed are interpreted differently then the examples that I provide.

The examples in this chapter are not included in the chapter 4.3.4 because I do not consider them to be misinterpreted. They are only interpreted differently then others might interprete them. Thus, there are more possible interpretations.

21/TI1

The first example is dealing with the word pudgy.

English original: “You're not fat. You're pudgy.” “Dude, you just saw my man-tits when I got out of the shower.” “They're not that bad,” said Colin.

(Green, 2013, p.70)

Official Slovak translation: „Ty nie si tučný, iba bachratý.” „Človeče, však si práve videl moje chlapské kozy, keď som vyšiel zo sprchy.” „Nie sú zasa až také strašné,” povedal Colin.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.87)

My translation: „Ty nie si tučný. Si plnoštíhly.” „Človeče, však si práve videl moje chlapské kozy, keď som vyšiel zo sprchy.” „Nie sú zasa až také strašné,” povedal Colin.

The word pudgy is an adjective which, according to Random House Webster's dictionary of American English (1997, p.596), could be defined as “short and fat or thick.” The synonyms of this word are e.g. plump and chubby. To be more precise, plump can be found under this definition: “having a full rounded usually pleasing form” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, online). This dictionary also provides a definition for the word chubby, which is “somewhat fat.” Urban Dictionary (online) provides the following definition: “sexy fat; fat that is attractive; just the right amount of fat.” In the British National Corpus (online), there are 27 results of the word pudgy, usually used in phrases associated with body parts. Judging by the information stated above, I believe that the word pudgy is used in the novel in order to please and not to offense. Colin is trying to assure Hassan that he is not fat, but only a bit more rounded then he could be. Therefore, the Slovak translator's version is not appropriate, as she uses

70 the word bachratý, which is rather a pejorative Slovak word. I am suggesting the word plnoštíhly, as it is a word that expresses certain level of plumpness, but at the same time it is polite. Another possibility that I would propose as an alternative translation might be poriadny chlapák, as it hides the meaning of somewhat plump person, but is an encouraging expression as well.

23/TI2

The following example focuses on a slight difference between Jana Melcerová's translation and my alternative one.

English original: They like their coffee like they like their ex-boyfriends: bitter.

(Green, 2013, p.75)

Official Slovak translation: Majú rady kávu na rovnaký spôsob ako svojich bývalých frajerov ‒ horkú až trpkú.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.92)

My translation: Majú rady kávu na rovnaký spôsob ako svojich bývalých frajerov ‒ trpkú.

There is no serious problem within this translation. This example just points out how a translator can make the translation a bit more expressive than the expression in the original text actually is. Bitter means “having a harsh taste; not sour, sweet, or salty” (Random House Webster's dictionary of American English, 1997, p.74). The Slovak translator used two words to describe the taste of the coffee. Both of them fit in the context, and they make the text more expressive. I decided to stick to the single word, so that the translation is equivalent in terms of the form. However, the difference in meaning is neglectable.

28, 29/TI3

This example deals with the word dingleberries. This definition of this word is provided in the chapter 4.3.2, specifically it is the example no. 8. As this word is used by Colin and Hassan as a signal for ending a dispute, it is presented in several parts of the book.

71

English original: “You can't dingleberry that! That's a flagrant misuse of the dingleberry! I dingleberry you calling her!” ... “That was a close one. Thank goodness for the Double Reverse Dingleberry.”

(Green, 2013, p.86)

Official Slovak translation: „Toto nemôžeš vyčučoriedkovať! Toto je do neba volajúce zneužitie čučoriedky! To ja čučoriedkujem, aby si jej zavolal!“ ... „To bola fakt tesnotka. Vďakabohu za dvojnásobné anulovanie z moci čučoriedky.“

(Melcerová, 2015, p.105)

My translation: „Toto nemôžeš vybobkozadkovať! Toto je do neba volajúce zneužitie bobkov na zadku! To ja bobkozadkujem, aby si jej zavolal!“ ... „To bola fakt tesnotka. Vďakabohu za dvojitý zvrat z moci bobkov na zadku.“

What is important to realize in this case is that the word dingleberry is used in the function of two word classes, specifically it functions as a noun and as a verb. In English, the word does not change its form. However, it is different in Slovak because the form of the word needs to be slightly changed to become another word class. It is clear that these forms are not a part of a standard language, but they are understandable. I am proposing the same way of translation as Jana Melcerová, the only difference is in the word choice. The reason why I am suggesting another word is explained in the chapter 4.3.2, example no. 8.

35/TI4.

The last example from this chapter deals with following extracts:

English original: Well it's all graph-going-up means boy dumps girl and graph- going-down means girl dumps boy, right?

(Green, 2013, p.136)

Official Slovak translation: „No, vo všetkých grafoch, ktoré najskôr stúpajú a potom klesajú, dievča dá kopačky chlapcovi, a vo všetkých grafoch, ktoré najskôr klesajú a potom stúpajú, opustí chlapec dievča. Správne?

72

(Melcerová, 2015, p.162)

My translation: „No, ak graf vedie smerom nahor, znamená to, že chlapec dá kopačky dievčaťu. Ak graf vedie smerom nadol, dá kopačky dievča chlapcovi. Správne?

I consider Jana Melcerová's version of this extract a good one. Yet I am providing an alternative translation because I think that it could be translated slightly easier. Jana Melcerová is describing both directions of the graph, while it is necesary to mention only one of them. However, it is not a serious concern.

4.3.9 Good Translation

This chapter is dedicated to the extracts that are, in my opinion, translated in a very good manner. Therefore, only examples of the English original and those of the official Slovak translation are presented. I did not create an alternative translation because the aim of this part is to point out the good work of the Slovak translator. Some cases were already mentioned in previous chapters, so here are the others that cannot be neglected.

3/GT1

The first example of this chapter was already analysed in the chapter 4.3.2. in the example no. 2. The details can be found in the corresponding chapter.

17/GT2

The following example deals with a simile. It is not a typical form of the simile, but it has got its function.

English original: Also, it was glaringly, bubble-gummingly, Pepto-Bismolly pink.

(Green, 2013, p.56)

Official Slovak translation: A navyše bol krikľavo žuvačkovo ibalginovoružový.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.71)

This extract concerns an epithet which does not have to be translated literally because the appropriate collocate in the target language might be used (Newmark, 1993,

73 p.19). Pepto-Bismol is a medication that people take while having stomach difficulties. It is significant for its pink colour (“Bismuth subsalicylate,” online). It would not be possible to translate this name of a medication literally because it is not sold in Slovakia, and the readers would not be able to imagine the colour. Therefore, the translator used a medication widely sold in Slovakia, which is Ibalgin. It is also pink, so it fits the context perfectly.

33/GT3

The following extract is an example of a mistake on purpose.

English original: Anyway, you'll just have to wait till morning to douse yourself in gasoline and self-annimilate.” “Self-immolate,” Colin corrected, and then pulled the door shut.

(Green, 2013, p.104)

Official Slovak translation: Ak sa chceš poliať benzínom a sebaopätovať, proste počkaj do rána.“ „Sebaobetovať,“ opravil ho Colin a zacapol za sebou dvere.

(Melcerová, 2015, p.127)

As it is explained in the chapter dealing with mistakes on purpose, these are the mistakes made by the writer so as to show the imperfection of a character's language skills. In this extract, Hassan confuses the word immolate, and uses a non-existing but similarly pronounced word annimilate instead. To immolate means “to offer in sacrifice; or to kill or destroy often by fire” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, online). This word is an equivalent to the Slovak word obetovať, which gets mistaken with the word opätovať, which actually has a meaning in Slovak, but not with the prefix seba-.

37/GT4

The last example deals with the lyrics of a song invented by Hassan.

English original: ...Hassan was singing a song entitled: “We're on a Trail / a Trail of Tears / There's a Dip on My Chin / and We're Gonna Die Here.

(Green, 2013, p.169)

74

Official Slovak translation: ...Hassan si zatiaľ pospevoval pesničku: „Sme na chodníku / na chodníku plnom sĺz / som od aspiku / zhynieme tu pre ten sklz.

(Melcerová, 2015, pp.197-198)

I appreciate the translator's effort to translate the lyrics with the aim of keeping the same meaning and making it rhyme at the same time. The rhyme is not in the original text, or at least, it is not explicit. However, in this case it should be considered as a positive feature because it makes the text more interesting.

75

5 CONCLUSION

The bachelor thesis deals with the translation and subsequent analysis of the novel An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Since the moment I have read the novel for the first time, I knew I wanted to work on its alternative translation. The book presents many interesting and significant elements. Apart from that, there are a few cases of misinterpretation, and all of that made me want to write this thesis.

The thesis is divided into a few chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the whole thesis. The second chapter provides basic information about John Green and his novel. The third and the fourth chapter are the longest and the most important ones. The practical part consists of the explanatory notes and the corpus. In this part, the extracts of the original novel and the official Slovak translation are provided. Moreover, my alternative translation is presented. The problematic words or phrases are indicated by corresponding marks. The last chapter, which is the theoretical part, deals with the analysis of the problematic parts.

The procedure of my analysis depended on the element that was analysed. However, it usually included the work with dictionaries, either printed or online. After looking up the problematic word in the dictionary, I compared the definition with the word which was used by the Slovak translator, and then I decided whether the translation was an appropriate one, or whether it was necessary to find another possibility.

It was not as easy as I thought it would be. While reading the book, I had many ideas of how I would translate the extracts, but when the moment of translation and analysis came, I was not that confident. It was a real challenge, mainly the translation of anagrams. On the other hand, the anagrams were one of the most attractive elements for me, together with the cases of misinterpretation.

The biggest motivation for me was the fact that my work could help potential readers of the novel. I think that they might come across a few cases of misunderstanding and my work might serve as a source of explanations and alternative translations

76 that may be really helpful. It would save their time, as they would not have to spend much time on searching the problematic elements in different books or on the Internet.

This work helped me realize how responsible it is to be a translator. I am thankful for this experience and I hope that I will have another chance to translate something as interesting as this book. I know that I need much more practice, but this work taught me how to work with various sources and how to organize the ideas.

I worked with many printed sources and many sources online, and I have come across a considerable amount of valuable information. This work was definitely an academic enrichment for me, and I hope that it will be a helpful source for those who will need to consult translation problems of this novel or any other work containing challenging elements.

77

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

6.1 Printed

Catford, J. C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: Oxford University, 1965. Print.

Dalgish, Gerard M. Random House Webster's dictionary of American English. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.

Green, John. An abundance of Katherines. Maryborough, Vic.: Penguin, 2013. Print.

Green, John. Poučka o podstate predvídateľnosti Katherín. Trans. Jana Melcerová. 2nd ed. Bratislava: Ikar, 2015. Print.

Green, John. Přílíš mnoho Kateřin. Trans. Veronika Volhejnová. 1st ed. Praha: Knižní klub, 2015. Print.

Knittlová, Dagmar. Teorie Překladu. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 1995. Print.

Newmark, Peter. About Translation (Multilingual Matters). N.p.: Multilingual Matters, 1991. Print.

Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2008. Print.

Newmark, Peter. More Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1998. Print.

Newmark, Peter. Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters, 1993. Print.

78

Wright, Jon. Idioms Organiser: Organised by Metaphor, Topic and Key Word. Estados Unidos: Thomas International Publication, 1999. Print.

6.2 Online

"Bio." John Green. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2017. .

"Bismuth Subsalicylate." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. .

British National Corpus (BYU-BNC). Oxford University Press, n.d. .

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. 2016. .

"John Green" FAMOUS AUTHORS. FamousAuthors.org, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2017. .

"Lúmen." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. .

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. 2017. .

Slovník. Ringier Axel Springer Slovakia, A.s. a Jazykovedný ústav Ľudovíta Štúra Slovenskej Akadémie Vied, n.d. 2010. < http://slovnik.azet.sk/ >.

The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. 2017. .

Urban Dictionary, n.d. Web. 2017. .

Vyhledávač Přesmyček. N.p., n.d. . 79

Wiktionary. Wiktionary, Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. 2017. .

"Yeti." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. .

80