TRANSLATING NATIONAL IDENTITY: THE TRANSLATION AND RECEPTION OF CATALAN LITERATURE INTO ENGLISH by JENNIFER ARNOLD A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Modern Languages School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham December 2016 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis examines reader responses to Catalan identity through the reception of two Catalan novels in translation: Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal and For a Sack of Bones by Lluís- Anton Baulenas. Drawing on theories from Descriptive Translation Studies and cultural and sociological approaches to translation, it examines how representations of Catalan culture and identity are subject to influence from different agents at each stage of the translation and reception process. The thesis explores three areas: the role of translation within Catalan culture in the promotion of Catalan identity; the way in which this role is relevant to the translation process itself within the target culture; and finally whether the objectives of this role are achieved within the target market. This study offers a new approach to the study of the reader within Translation Studies, using blogs, online reviews and reading groups in order to gain access to real reader responses to translated literature and offers a methodology by which the study of the representation of culture through translation may be explored. The results of this study have relevance not only to translation research and practice, but also to translation policy, particularly for minority cultures. Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support of some pretty amazing people. Firstly I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Gaby Saldanha and Dr Elisenda Marcer, for their patience, their advice and for believing in me when the going got tough. A special mention should also go to the wonderful ladies from the reading groups who allowed me to intrude into their meetings and provided me with lovely drinks and nibbles. I would also like to thank my mum without whom I could not have done this and my best friend Leonna for being there every step of the way and understanding me in a way that nobody else could. Finally, my beautiful girls, Isabel and Matilda, who inspire me every single day, and Fran, for putting up with everything this thesis threw at you - it has been a long road but we got there in the end. No hay palabras, te quiero. Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................. 8 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................. 9 Part One: Translation and Identity: Translation in the Catalan Context ..... 12 1.1 Translation and Minority ...................................................................................... 15 1.2 Translation in Catalan Culture............................................................................. 18 1.2.1 Cultural Policy ........................................................................................................ 21 1.2.3 Book Fairs ................................................................................................................ 33 1.2.4 Translator Training ............................................................................................. 42 1.2.5 Other Organizations ............................................................................................. 45 1.3 Translations of Catalan Literature into English ............................................ 49 1.3.1 Translations into English ................................................................................... 58 Part Two: Textual Analysis .......................................................................................... 70 2.1 The Choice of Texts .................................................................................................. 72 2.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 74 2.3 For a Sack of Bones (Per un sac d’ossos) by LLuís Anton Baulenas .......... 80 2.3.1 Paratextual Material ............................................................................................ 92 2.3.2 The Translation of Culture Specific Items .................................................... 97 2.3.3 The Translation of the Interplay between Spanish and Catalan ........ 110 2.4 Stone in a Landslide/Pedra de tartera by Maria Barbal ............................ 116 2.4.1 Paratextual Material .......................................................................................... 135 2.4.2 The Translation of Culture Specific Items .................................................. 146 2.4.3 Translation of Dialect and Phraseology ...................................................... 152 2.4.4 Interplay between Spanish and Catalan in the novel ............................. 162 2.5 A comparative overview of the two novels in translation ....................... 165 Part 3: The Reception of the Two Novels .............................................................. 167 3.1 Reading in Translation ......................................................................................... 169 3.2 Analysing Reception – Methodology ........................................................... 191 3.3.1 The Press reviews ............................................................................................... 194 3.3.2 Reviews on Blogs and review sites ............................................................... 201 3.4 The Reception of For a Sack of Bones ............................................................... 232 3.4.1 Press Reviews ....................................................................................................... 233 3.4.2 Amazon and Goodreads .................................................................................... 236 3.5 Reading Groups ....................................................................................................... 242 3.5.1 Reading Group One – For a Sack of Bones ................................................... 247 3.5.2 Reading Group Two – Stone in a Landslide ................................................. 264 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 279 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 287 Appendix 1: Translations of Novels and Short Story Collections from Catalan into English in Chronological Order ........................................................ 306 Appendix 2: CSIs - Proper Nouns: Translation of Character names and titles .............................................................................................................................................. 313 Appendix 3: CSIs – Proper Nouns: Real Place Names ........................................ 316 Appendix 4: CSIs: Common Expressions – Places (including buildings, shops etc) ...................................................................................................................................... 319 Appendix 5: CSIs: Common Expressions – Institutions, Organizations, departments .................................................................................................................... 321 Appendix 6: CSIs: Common Expressions – Food .................................................. 323 Appendix 7: CSIs: Common Expressions – Miscellaneous (including customs, newspapers, radio ...................................................................................... 325 Appendix 8: References to Catalan and Spanish in the novel ........................ 327 Appendix 9: CSIs Translated using a Spanish Equivalent ................................ 330 Appendix 10: CSIs in Stone in a Landslide ........................................................... 331 Appendix 11: Simplification of Long Sentences in Stone in a Landslide .... 335 Appendix 12: Phraseology in Stone in a Landslide ........................................... 338 Appendix 13: Interplay between Spanish and Catalan in Stone in a Landslide .............................................................................................................................................. 349 Appendix 14: References to Voice in Reviews ..................................................... 351 Appendix 15: References to simple or simplicity ............................................... 354 Appendix 16: References to Stoic, stoical or stoicism .....................................