Translating Colloquial Registers in Catalan. A Case Study: The Translation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Submitted by Helena Borrell Carreras to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Modern Languages In February 2013 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people. I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Richard Mansell, who offered valuable assistance and guidance. Sincere gratitude is also due to Dr Joaquim Mallafrè, whose knowledge and kindness facilitated this research. I would also like to convey my thanks to the Institut Ramon Llull for providing the financial means. In addition, I would like to thank Cossetània Edicions, Documenta Balear, Tàndem Edicions, Fragmenta Editorial, Club Editor, Brau Edicions and Edicions del Pirata; the translator Albert Pejó; the general secretary of Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya, Segimon Borràs, and the director of the Language Services of TVC, Ernest Rusinés, for providing valuable information. Special thanks to my beloved husband, family and friends for their understanding and patience throughout the duration of this thesis. 3 Abstract This thesis aims to find a model for translating colloquial registers into Catalan. Colloquial registers play an important part in literature today inasmuch as literature projects real life situations in which informal registers unfold. Many Catalan readers do not have a high regard for Catalan translations because established models for colloquial language do not reflect the way Catalan is spoken today, since there is a divorce between the linguistic norm and oral Catalan as a result of Castilian interference in informal registers. As a consequence, translations tend to be standardised and far from the spontaneous oral Catalan. In order to devise a flexible model for colloquial Catalan in translation, a text which contains a great deal of informal registers has been selected: Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The analysis of the sociolinguistic situation of the Catalan language and the position of translated literature in the Catalan system allows us to explain why the system is reluctant to change. Norms in the target culture and the principle of equivalence are explored as they prevent translators from shifting towards a model which accommodates Castilian words and expressions. With the aim of explaining why Catalan presents a particular problem in the translation of colloquial language, an analysis of both written and oral texts in English where colloquial registers have been translated into Catalan is carried out. In order to avoid a rigid model which follows the Catalan dictionary and grammar only, features of media oral registers have been applied to the translation of selected fragments of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This allows us to obtain a text which does not include Castilian terms and, at the same time, reproduces a neutral but more realistic colloquial Catalan. 4 Table of contents Title page ........................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7 1.1. Translating colloquial registers in Catalan ............................................................. 7 1.2. The source text ..................................................................................................... 11 2. Analysis of contemporary translation theories ............................................................ 16 2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 16 2.2. The position of translated literature ..................................................................... 17 2.3. The status of the translator ................................................................................... 19 2.4. Norms in translation ............................................................................................. 21 2.5. Laws or universals of translation? ....................................................................... 27 2.5.1. Laws according to Toury .............................................................................. 27 2.5.2. Universals according to Baker ...................................................................... 30 2.5.3. Socioculturally constrained laws: an example .............................................. 33 2.6. Equivalence .......................................................................................................... 36 2.6.1. Types of equivalence ..................................................................................... 36 2.6.2. The conditions in which equivalence is achieved ......................................... 39 2.6.3. Visibility ........................................................................................................ 41 2.7. Translation, patronage and prestige ..................................................................... 44 2.8. On the importance of pseudotranslations ............................................................. 49 2.9. The translator’s prestige ....................................................................................... 54 3. Translation strategies: Domestication and foreignisation ........................................... 57 3.1. Venuti’s approach ............................................................................................ 57 3.2. Finding the balance .......................................................................................... 60 3.3. Examples .......................................................................................................... 63 4. The Catalan system ..................................................................................................... 71 4.1. The Catalan language status ............................................................................. 73 4.2. The creation of a standard language and the normalisation of Catalan ........... 76 4.3. A historical view of the fight over Castilianisms and the situation today ........ 80 4.4. Translated literature .......................................................................................... 84 4.5. The publishing industry .................................................................................... 86 4.6. Language, identity and translation ................................................................... 91 5 4.6.1. Language and identity ................................................................................... 91 4.6.2. Ideology and translation ................................................................................ 97 4.6.3. Translation and imperialism: Noucentisme ................................................... 98 4.6.4. Translation and identity today: in search of a language model ................... 104 5. Analysis of the translation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas into Castilian ......... 109 5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 109 5.2. Register analysis and Systemic Functional Grammar ........................................ 110 5.3. Analysis of the translation .................................................................................. 112 5.3.1. Analysis of field .......................................................................................... 115 5.3.2. Analysis of tenor ......................................................................................... 119 5.3.2.1. Temporal and geographical provenance of the author ......................... 120 5.3.2.2. Author’s personal stance and the social role relationship .................... 123 5.3.4. Analysis of mode ......................................................................................... 124 5.3.5. Statement of function .................................................................................. 126 5.3.6. Statement of quality .................................................................................... 127 6. Translation into Catalan of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: a film adaptation of H. S. Thompson’s novel ................................................................................................. 130 6.1. The Televisió de Catalunya requirements: a model for oral Catalan ............. 132 6.1.1. The contrast between domestic and foreign production ...................... 132 6.1.2. Televisió de Catalunya and the language policy of ésAdir ................. 136 6.2. The loss of culture-specific terms and values in dubbed films ...................... 140 6.3. Analysis of the dubbed version of Fear and