English Translations of Daniel Owen 1888–2010: Nation, Canon and Welsh-English Cultural Relations Adam Pearce Bangor University A thesis submitted to Bangor University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Summary In this thesis, I analyse four English translations of the novels of Victorian Welsh- language novelist Daniel Owen from a variety of postcolonial and Translation Studies perspectives. Drawing on recent theories in Translations Studies and Welsh cultural studies, I suggest that translations of Owen’s work have been undertaken as part of a variety of political and cultural agendas. These often interrelated agendas have included attempts to reinvent the idea of the Welsh nation, attempts to reinforce and/or rehabilitate the reputation of Daniel Owen as a canonical author in the Welsh-language literary canon, and attempts to either inspire the tradition of Welsh Writing in English, or to distance that practice from Welsh-English translation. In presenting these arguments, I suggest that the role of Welsh-English translation in Welsh cultural history over the late nineteenth to twenty-first centuries has been underappreciated, and that it has in fact been central to processes of cultural and national re-imagination in Wales over this period. 2 Contents Note to the reader 5 Acknowledgements 6 Declaration and Consent 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Opening statements, research questions 12 1.2 Critical debates in Welsh-English translation 18 1.3 Translation and (post)colonial discourse in Wales 31 1.4 Translation and the Welsh-language literary canon 56 1.5 Welsh-English translation and the English-language literature of Wales 66 1.6 Chapter outlines 77 Chapter 2: Daniel Owen: His work, its translations and reputation 2.1 Introduction: Poor writer, great novelist? 89 2.2 The state of the novel in Victorian Wales 98 2.3 Daniel Owen the translator 117 2.4 Daniel Owen’s novels 121 2.5 Daniel Owen’s afterlives: Adaptations and editions 140 2.6 Daniel Owen’s afterlives: Translations 146 3 Chapter 3: Owen’s Rhys Lewis: Translation as Nationalist Activism 3.1 Introduction: Translation and nationalism in nineteenth-century Wales 154 3.2 Rhys Lewis: A nationalist’s novel? 160 3.3 Rhys Lewis, Minister of Bethel: An autobiography: Contexts 170 3.4 Textual analysis of Rhys Lewis, Minister of Bethel: An Autobiography 186 3.5 Conclusions 199 Chapter 4: Re-inventing the classics through translation: Gwen Tomos 4.1 Introduction: Welsh nationalism in the 1960s 203 4.2 Gwen Tomos in the Twentieth Century: Thomas Parry’s abridged edition 211 4.3 Gwen Tomos in English: Re-imagining Daniel Owen 221 4.4 Language and nation in the English Gwen Tomos 229 4.5 Conclusions 242 Chapter 5: Profedigaethau Enoc Huws: Retranslation, canon and the English-language literature of Wales 5.1 Introduction: Retranslation in Wales 248 5.2 Enoc Huws: Daniel Owen’s most English novel? 252 5.3 Claud Vivian’s Enoch Hughes: Translation as inspiration 260 5.4 The Trials of Enoc Huws: Retranslating the ‘classic’ 276 5.5 Conclusions 291 Chapter 6: Conclusions 294 Bibliography 304 4 Note to the reader This thesis is written in English but contains quotations from texts and translations originally written in both Welsh and English. Where an English translation of a specific text is already available, e.g. the English versions of Thomas Parry’s Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg hyd 1900, John Davies’ Hanes Cymru and Meic Stephens’ Cydymaith i Lenyddiaeth Cymru, I have quoted from that instead of the Welsh version. Where (to my knowledge) no English translation exists of a text, I have quoted the original Welsh, followed by a close English translation by my own hand. In cases where I wish to draw attention to the differences betewen the Welsh original and an English translation, I will usually quote the original first, followed by a close translation which emphasises the strict letter of the original, followed by a quotation from the English translation. Translations from the Welsh which are not credited to another hand in the text of the thesis and/or the bibliography are my own. Quotations from some older Welsh-language texts sometimes exhibit spelling or grammatical errors, a mark of a time when the language had yet to be standardised. I have, to the best of my ability, reproduced these and indicated (with [sic]) where this is the case. 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Bangor University for part-funding this project. I am extraordinarily grateful to my supervisor Dr. Helena Miguélez-Carballeira for proposing this work in the first place, and for her constant assistance at every stage of the project, from the initial research to reading successive drafts of the finished work. Grazas! I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Dr. Angharad Price for her continued support and enthusiasm for the project, for directing me to useful articles and for proof- reading my work. Diolch yn fawr. Thanks to every individual and group who helped me at any point with my research, regardless of the size of the contribution. A particular thanks is due to John Mainwaring at Brown Cow for answering my questions, and for giving me the opportunity to work with the Daniel Owen project; to Les Barker for answering my questions about his own translation; Mold Library for providing the scans of the Vivian translation (via John Mainwaring); Charles Vivian for answering my questions about his ancestors; Robert Rhys for answering some questions about his biography of Owen; to Sarah Skripsky (nee Yoder) for sending me a copy of her Ph.D thesis on 19th-century Welsh periodicals; to Rebecca Butler for translating some Irish for me; to Bangor University’s Theatre of Thoughts reading group for helping me understand some theoretical concepts in translation and literature; and to wife and my family for their support, especially my 6 parents and grandparents, for proof-reading this thesis; as well as to anyone else who contributed, in however small a way. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi gyd! Lastly, I owe a considerable debt to my secondary school Welsh teacher, Meleri Jones, who some time around 2003 handed me a copy of Enoc Huws and suggested I might enjoy it. Unknowingly, she set in motion a fascination with Daniel Owen that will persist with me throughout my life. 7 Declaration and Consent Details of the Work I hereby agree to deposit the following item in the digital repository maintained by Bangor University and/or in any other repository authorized for use by Bangor University. Author Name: Adam Pearce Title: English Translations of Daniel Owen 1888-2010: Nation, Canon and Welsh- English Cultural Relations Supervisor/Department: Dr. Helena Miguélez-Carballeira / Modern Languages Funding body (if any): N/A Qualification/Degree obtained: PhD This item is a product of my own research endeavours and is covered by the agreement below in which the item is referred to as “the Work”. It is identical in content to that deposited in the Library, subject to point 4 below. 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