A Thesis in the Department of Études Fiançaises Presented in Partial
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Myles McKelvey A Thesis in The Department of Études fiançaises Presented in Partial Fuifilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Translation Studies at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada Uarch 2001 O Myles McKelvey, 2001 National Library Bibliothèque natiode 1+1 d,, du Canada uisiions and Acquisitions et 9Bib lographk Senrices seMces bibliographiques 385 Wemngton Street 395, n~eWslfigton OteawaON KtAON4 OüawaûN KtAW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exchisive iicence dowhg the exchisive permettant a la National Liibmry of Canada to Bibfiothèqpe nationale du Cmda de reproduce, Ioan, distriiirte or seil reproduire, prêter, disttr'buer on copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous papa or electronic formats. la forme de nUcrofiche/fihn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fimat e1ectroniqye. The author retams ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur @ protège cette thèse. thesîs nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de cekne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT/RÉS& Tnmslating the Musical Les Misérables: A Polysystemic Approach Myles McKelvey The Polysystem theory caa be de- as a generai mode1 for understanding, analyzing and descniing the functioning and evolution of literary systems, of which transiation is one pan Developed by Itamar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury, the Polysystem's most important contniiution to Translation Studies is that it bas generated a methodology. This thesis uses the Polysystem theory as an heuristic tooool to andyze and descnk the translations of Les Misrrables (the novel) and Les Mi= (the musical). Chapter 1 offen a. overview of the Polysystem theory. Chapter Two discusses the socidktorical and lit- context of the novel Les Misérables, as weU as its cntical reception Chaptcr 3 compares fie excerpts from two Engiish translations of the novel, one from the 19* century, the other from the 20' century. Chapter 4 is prima-rily concemed with the theoretical difficulties involveci in trmlating lyrics. Chapter 5 analyzes four Song translations from the rnus~*calLes Mi= by applying one of the concepts outlined in Chapter 4: rhythmic constraintsnstraintsChapter 6 first offm a brief history of the musical, and then discwes the place of Les Mi= within the "musical Polysystem." The second half of Chapter 6 reveals how and why Les Mi= was adapted to its target audience. Fioally, Chapter 7 addresses two Unportant theoreticai implications: i) the notion of adaptation; and ii) "ersal" translation noms. The thesis concludes with a critique of Toury7s tbeory, but dso outlines the positive coo~butionshe has made ?O Translation Studies. On peut définir la theone du polysystème comme un modèle génW aidant à comprendre, anaiyser et décrire le fonctionnement et l'évolution des systèmes Littéraires, dont la traduction fait partie. Le polysystème a été conçu par Itamar Even-Zohar et Gideoa Toury et son plus grand apport à la traductologie réside dans la création d'une méthodologie. Ce mémoire utilise la théorie du polysystème comme un outil heuristique afin d'analyser et de décrire les traductions du roman et de la comédie musicale Les Misérables. Le premier chapitre présente un panorama génM de la théone du polysystèmee Le deuxième chapitre examine à la fois les contextes sociobistoriques et lintrairts du roman Les Misérabies a les critiques que ce roman a reçues. Le troisième chapitre compare cinq exüaits de deux üaductions angiaises du roman. l'une du XE? tiède, l'autre da XXO siècle. Le chapitre 4 porte principalement sur les difndés théoriques présentes dans la traduction de pIes de chansons. Le chapitre 5 analyse quatre tradrictiom de cbnsprovenant de la comédie musicale Les Miséra61es7 en memint en application l'un des concepts pkemt6 au chapitre 4, les contmbks qtbmiqnes Le chapitre 6 -, en premier lieu, mie bréve histoire de la comédie musicale a la phice des Misérables à l'iritérietr du (t polysystème mnsical~.En second lieu, le sixième chapitre révèle également comment a pourquoi Les Misérables a été adapté pour son piiblic-ciiIe. Eiinn, le chaptre 7 soulève deux cpestions théoriques importantes : i) la notion â'adaptaiion et hi les nomes &erselles de tdwtion. On trouve en conclusion non seulement une critique de la théorie de Toury, mais une synthèse de son apport i la tductologie. A special thank you to my thesis supenisor, Jean-Marc Gouaovic, for his meticulous revlrevlsionand helpful Suggestioas. Dedication To my mom, for the unconditional love and support you bave given me throughout the Y-, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ........................................................... -1 RATIONALE ..................................................................................2-5 In Search of a TransIation Theory ..................................................2 Rationale for the Polysystem ........................................................ 3-5 CHAPTER 1 :THE POLY SY STEM: AN OVERVIEW ................................ -6-12 CHAPTER 2: SOCIO-KISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT................. i3- 18 1 . Historicalcontext ................................................................ 13-14 2. Critical Reception and Importance ofthe Novel ............................ -14-18 CHAPTER 3: TWO ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE NOVEL ............... -19-34 I . A Comparison of Wilbour's and Denny's Trans1ation.s. ...................-19-20 2. Analysis.. ............................................................................ 2I -28 3. Cnbque ........................................................................... -29-30 4. Reception ofthe English TransIations.......................................... 3 1-32 CONCLUSION.,. .................................................................... -33-34 CHAPTER 4: FROM NOVEL TO MUSICAL ............................................. 35-41 .. I . Inter~ermottcTranslation ......................................................... 35 2. The French-language version of the musical (1980) ..........................36 3 The EngIish-language version of the musical ( 1985)........................ -36 4. The Difficulty of TmsIating Lyrics ............................................31 7.4 Song # 1: Cde on a Cloud translated as Un Château dmles Nwges ...... -42-43 Song #2: On My Own translated as Mon Histoire .................................4445 Song #3: Lyrics of La Devise du Cabaretzer...................................... 4546 Lyrics of Miter of the Hmse.......................................... -46-48 Song #4: A la volo~édu pqletranslaîed as Do Ym hear the People Sing?50-52 CONCLUSION.. ..................................................................... .53-54 CHAITER 6:LES MIZ AND THE "MUSICAL POLYSYSTEM".................... -55-72 1. The History of the Musical Viewed as a Polysystem ....................... -5564 2. The PIaœ of Les Mk Within the Musicd PS ............................... ..65-67 3 . Translatiod Noms .............................................................. 68-71 4. Critical Reception and Importance of Les Mk .............................. ..7 1-72 CHAPTER 7: SOCIAL ASPECTS ......................................................... -73-79 1. Adapting Les Mk to the Target Culture........................................ 73-74 2. A Case for Adaptation ............................................................ 75-76 3 . Gideon. Toury: Towards Laws of Translational Behaviour .................. 77 4. Cntique ............................................................................. 78-79 CONCLUSION ........................................................................80-82 REFERENCES ................................................................................ -83-91 Before comuig to the field of translation, 1 had studied music for the first two decades of my He. kgthose years, 1had always bcen fascinated by the musicali~of languages, and especially the magic of lyrics, which combineci my tim love, music, with my se~ndone, language. 1 was especidly interested in the creative process of how composem set wor& to music. It was in 1982 that I saw my first "mega-musicd,t, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evzta, and from that moment on, 1 became uiterly obsessed with musical+fiom West Side Stoty to Starmania. in 199 l,t was blown away by Les MisérabIles, which played in Winnipeg, Manitoba in both English and French on altemate nights-with the same cast! Not only was this an incredrile feaf the most amazing part was that it was equally effective in bot. languages. So it only seems fitting that 1 do this, my nrst thesis, on the trans1ation of my favourite musid, Les Misérables. IN SEARCH OF A TRANSLATION THEORY Befme begmning to dyzethe translation of the lyrics of Les Misérables, 1 had to decide which translation theory to use as a hnework for my analysis. I would need a fimctional, opewnded theory that wodd be general enough to apply to the manifold considerations in lyric translation, in other words, a theory thaî wouid allow an mterdisciplinary opprouch. Obviously, 1 would have to avoid traditional linguistic theories, which focus on one-twne equivalence and look at translation in a "vacuum," that is, they focus on the words and ignore the larger socio-historical-cultural cmtext of a translation. 1 was therefore looking for a descriptive theory, one which would