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Translating History Or Romance? Historical Romantic Fiction and Its Translation in a Globalised Market

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Translating History Or Romance? Historical Romantic Fiction and Its Translation in a Globalised Market Linguistics and Literature Studies 3(5): 248-253, 2015 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/lls.2015.030508 Translating History or Romance? Historical Romantic Fiction and Its Translation in a Globalised Market Diana Bianchi1, Adele D’Arcangelo2,* 1Department of Political Sciences, University of Perugia, Italy 2DIT Department, University of Bologna, Forlì Campus, Italy Copyright © 2015 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract Popular romance literature has long been popular paperback fiction and generates almost 1.5 billion neglected and underestimated in the global literary context dollars per year in sales in North America alone. In Italy, and little research on the translation of this genre has been Harlequin Mondadori - the big editorial joint venture leader carried out so far. Even taking into account its “popular for female romance fiction in the country for more than 30 connotation”, romantic fiction seems to occupy the lower years - publishes more than 600 titles each year, amounting shelf in the literary polysystem compared with other popular to a total of 260 million books sold in the last 20 years, and a genres. The discrepancy between the importance of this total invoice of 20 million euros. For the specific purpose of genre in the publishing industry and the scarce attention this article it is also worth remembering that 99% of given to it by traditional scholars means that little is known Harlequin books are translated (especially from US authors) about the textual practices and processes that accompany its and only 1% are written by Italian authors.3 production and circulation, including translation. In this However, in spite of such success, romantic popular paper, we deal with the issue of translating romantic fiction, literature is still perceived as an inferior type of cultural focusing on the specific translation of historical romances, production and has received little attention by critics, with one of its most popular subgenres. In particular, through the the exception of a few individuals and specific study groups4. analysis of a specific case study, the novel Outlander by As Barbara Fuchs states: “[..] despite its popularity, even American author Diana Gabaldon, we suggest that the within the larger category of mass genre fiction, the term double filiation of historical romances, i.e. their connection romance marks the most criticized and also less recognized to both popular and canonical traditions, may have kind, the one associated with young or infantile female consequences at the textual level as when such books are readers, and particularly deplored.” [1: p. 129] In the area of translated, their ambiguous generic labelling tends to be translation, contributions are even scarcer as, before and resolved, favouring either the romantic or the historical after the emergence of Translation Studies as a distinct component, thus resulting in a stronger generic identity.1 discipline in the 1980s, translation scholars have generally privileged the study of literary texts that are part of the canon Keywords Literary Translation, Romance, History, or ‘official’ literature. The few studies on the translation of Popular Fiction popular romance either focus on the specific subgenre of category romances (see for example George Paizis [3]) or concern themselves with pre-industrial texts whose form and function was different from the texts under examination in 1. Introduction this article, as, for example, the translation of popular medieval romances discussed in Weiss et al [4]. The production and consumption of romantic fiction is a The result of this neglect is that little is known of the global phenomenon, a key element of both international and national publishing industries. According to recent sales 2 they have been used to refer to different types of narratives in different figures, romance fiction comprises more than half sales in times (see Fuchs [1: p. 1-4]). In this article we use these terms in relation to the mass-market texts published since the twentieth century and centered on a love story, as defined in Section 2. 1A first version of this article was presented by both authors at the 2014 3 Data about sales come respectively from the RWA at: Translata Conference, held at the University of Innsbruck (30 October-1 https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=580 and from Alessandra Bazardi, November). Although both authors have contributed to the overall draft and Editorial Manager at Harlequin Mondadori (see Carmignani [2]) have written abstract and conclusions together, Adele D'Arcangelo is 4 See for example the International Association for the Study of Popular primarily responsible for Section 1 and 2 of the article and Diana Bianchi for Romance (IASPR at: http://iaspr.org/ ) and the academics gathered round the section 3. recently formed group Teach Me Tonight. Musings on Romance Fiction from 2Terms such as “romantic fiction” and “romance” may be ambiguous as an academic perspective at: http://teachmetonight.blogspot.it/ Linguistics and Literature Studies 3(5): 248-253, 2015 249 textual practices that characterise the production of popular An emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending: romantic fiction, particularly when it is translated for a new romance novels end in a way that makes the reader feel cultural context and readership. good. Romance novels are based on the idea of an In this paper we address this issue focusing on the innate emotional justice – the notion that good people translation of historical romances, a genre that, in the last in the world are rewarded and evil people are punished. decades, has become particularly popular in terms of sales In a romance the lovers who risk and struggle for each and international appeal. From a translational point of view other and their relationship are rewarded with these novels pose interesting problems as, while the romantic emotional justice and unconditional love. [7]. aspects may be seen as transnational (at least in western “Historical romance” is to be considered as a subcategory culture), history is local and national and perhaps less of the romance genre, presenting all the elements listed in the appealing for target readers. Since, as Shibamoto Smith [5] above reported definition, but within a historical context. indicates, the audience’s expectations constitute an While the historical component is clearly important, its important criterion when translating romantic fiction, the function is not easy to define. In this regard, Helen Hughes question we ask is how the different components of historical notes how romances are dealt with in translation, i.e. to what extent is the historical part translated? What is adapted and/or cut out? The past setting may in such texts appear to add to Are any particular historical periods seen as less ‘appealing’ the pleasure of the book because it can be presented in the target culture? Who is not translated? as more colourful and exciting than the everyday life We will examine these issues through a specific case study, of the reader; but it may also be seen as an amniotic the analysis of the Italian translation of the novel Outlander fluid in which the seeds of the present float […] by American author Diana Gabaldon whose generic identity romantic writers use the past as an exotic setting to has been questioned and negotiated, due to its combination add to the escape value of their story: but it also of history, fantasy and romance. Before presenting the functions as a mirror for the present. [8: p. 4] results of our analysis we will provide a brief overview of the In addition, it is not clear how “historical romances” differ main generic features of romantic fiction and, in particular, from another form that also presents a fictionalised historical of historical romances, as the way in which these genres are element, i.e. the “historical novel”. Perhaps it would be defined and understood by the operators in the field is better to talk of ‘historical fiction’ within which two bodies important to get insights into the practices that characterize of narratives have developed: ‘the historical romance’ and their consumption and circulation. ‘the historical novel’, although outlining in which way they differ is not easy, as Jeremy de Groot [9] has recently shown in a study discussing the features of the historical novel and 2. Defining ‘Popular Romances’ and its development into different subcategories. In particular, it ‘Historical Romances’ is possible to identify a popular, uncomplicated, read-for leisure form, usually defined as ‘historical romance’, mainly Although definitions of “popular romances” have been produced and consumed by women and a ‘nobler’ form, 5 provided within the academic environment , it is of usually seen as the offspring of a tradition dating back to particular interest to see the definition given by the Walter Scott and the development of the novel in the Association of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), as, nineteenth century, which is usually referred to as ‘the for the purposes of this article, it is essential to see which historical novel’ and could be seen as being part of a elements are to be considered fundamental in order to gain patriarchal literary canon7. the interest of the market, hence to generate trends not only The genre of 'historical romance' in its contemporary form in terms of sales but also in relation to the readers’ favourite took shape in the US in the early 1970s8 with writers such as elements: in short, it is important to see what makes these Kathleen Woodiwiss, whose 1972 novel The Flame and the books popular as a market product. Flower was a revolutionary book for those times, set at the The RWA states that to be labelled as romance a fiction turn of the nineteenth century and featuring an epic historical needs to present the following aspects: romance with a strong heroine and sex scenes.
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