A Case Study of Cien Años De Soledad and Its English and French Translations
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REALIA, STYLE AND THE EFFECTS OF TRANSLATION IN LITERARY TEXTS: A case study of Cien Años de Soledad and its English and French translations DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Ana Maria Callejas Toro M.A. [email protected] [email protected] Realia, style and the effects of translation in literary texts A case study of Cien Años de Soledad and its English and French translations Submitted by Ana Maria Callejas Toro M.A. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Heiner Böhmer Technische Universität Dresden Fakultät Sprach-, Literatur –und Kulturwissenschaften Institut für Romanistik November 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND EXAMPLES ................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER I- Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II- The original is unfaithful to the translation: a theoretical approach on literary translation issues.................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Literary translation: a cultural and linguistic transfer ......................................................... 9 1.1. Issues of literary translation ........................................................................................... 10 1.1.1. Sense Vs. form or “les belles infidèles” .................................................................. 10 1.1.2. Source or target language orientation ................................................................... 12 1.1.3. Equivalence, adaptation, approximation............................................................... 15 1.1.4. Untranslatability ...................................................................................................... 18 1.2. Cultural- oriented approaches ....................................................................................... 19 1.2.1. Rewriting and manipulation ..................................................................................... 20 1.2.2. The restitution of meaning ............................................................................................ 22 1.2.3. Skopos or functional theory .......................................................................................... 23 1.2.4. The translator’s invisibility .......................................................................................... 24 1.2.5. Integrated approach on translation: linguistics, literature and culture ................... 25 2. Narrative register in translation ............................................................................................ 28 2.1. Referential level: Realia .................................................................................................. 28 2.2. Textual level: Style .......................................................................................................... 33 3. The literary translator: individuality and style .................................................................... 36 4. Cultural translation ................................................................................................................. 38 4.1. Cultural translation: an overview .................................................................................. 38 4.2. Cultural translation and interlingual translation ......................................................... 41 4.3. Cultural translation and the translation of Realia and style ....................................... 44 CHAPTER III- Hasta las cosas tangibles eran irreales: on magical realism and Cien Años de Soledad .................................................................................................................................................. 47 1. Magical realism: The background of a term......................................................................... 47 2. Subverting the real: Magical realism and its neighboring genres ...................................... 56 3. Magical realism’s style in Cien Años de Soledad ................................................................... 63 3.1. Local color and sense of absurdity ................................................................................. 64 3.2. The ‘brick tone’ ............................................................................................................... 64 4. Historical, social and literary contextualization of Cien Años de Soledad and its translations ....................................................................................................................................... 67 4.1. The writer ......................................................................................................................... 67 i ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 4.2. The novel .......................................................................................................................... 71 4.2.1. Social, political and literary panorama during the sixties ................................... 71 4.2.2. The plot ..................................................................................................................... 73 4.2.3. Literary construction .............................................................................................. 74 4.2.4. Political dimension of CAS: between reality and realism .................................... 77 4.3. The translations: why focusing on the English and French version? ......................... 80 4.3.1. The English translation: socio-cultural context of TC1 and description of TT1 82 4.3.2. The French translation: socio-cultural context of TC2 and description of TT2 84 CHAPTER IV- Macondo era entonces una aldea de veinte casas de barro y cañabrava: Realia and the foundation of the fictional world ................................................................................................. 88 1. The definition of Realia ............................................................................................................... 88 2. Categorization of Realia in the novel ......................................................................................... 90 3. Descriptive analysis: Realia in ST and in TTs .......................................................................... 94 3.1. Natural environment: vegetation ........................................................................................ 94 3.2. Natural environment: animals .......................................................................................... 111 3.3. Natural environment: geography ...................................................................................... 118 3.4. Social interactions: social practices .................................................................................. 122 3.5. Social interaction: oral traditions ..................................................................................... 126 3.6. Social interactions: Forms of address ............................................................................... 128 3.7. Social interactions: Politics ............................................................................................... 141 3.8. Material heritage: Food ..................................................................................................... 142 3.9. Material heritage: Tools.................................................................................................... 147 3.10. Material heritage: Constructions .................................................................................... 151 3.11. Material heritage: Ritual objects .................................................................................... 156 4. Formulation techniques for translating Realia in TTs........................................................... 157 4.1. Formulation techniques ..................................................................................................... 158 4.1.1. Elimination ................................................................................................................... 158 4.1.2. Adapted formulation ................................................................................................... 159 4.1.3. General formulation .................................................................................................... 161 4.1.4. Descriptive formulation .............................................................................................. 162 4.1.5. Denotative formulation ............................................................................................... 163 4.1.6. Loan formulation ......................................................................................................... 164 4.1.7. Inferred formulation ................................................................................................... 165 4.1.8. Textual functional formulation .................................................................................. 166 4.1.9. Borrowing formulation ............................................................................................... 167 4.1.10. Combinations ............................................................................................................