nm u Ottawa L'Universite canadienne Canada's university mn FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES l=J FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L*Universit6 eanndienne Canada's university Melanie Aubert AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS M.A. (Translation) GRADE/DEGREE School of Translation and Interpretation TAOJLTE71COT!,DT!PARTC^ Last Days of the Victim: A Case Study in Translating Argentine Crime Fiction TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS MarcCharron T5IR1"CTEWPRECTR^ CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE / THESIS EXAMINERS Ryan Fraser Luise Von Flotow Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies LAST DA YS OF THE VICTIM: A CASE STUDY IN TRANSLATING ARGENTINE CRIME FICTION by Melanie Aubert School of Translation and Interpretation Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa Under the supervision of Marc Charron School of Translation and Interpretation Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies of the University of Ottawa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of a Masters of Arts in Translation © Melanie Aubert, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-61351-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-61351-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par ('Internet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Abstract This thesis is based on the author's English translation of key passages of an Argentine crime novel: Jose Pablo Feinmann's Ultimas dias de la victima (1979). The thesis establishes a theoretical framework revolving around the original text and its translation. This theoretical framework examines the novel's place in the history of the crime fiction genre in Argentina, translation's role in this history, the socio-political context in which the novel was created, and the linguistic, cultural, stylistic, and interpretive challenges of its translation. Most importantly, this thesis will examine how the novel can be translated for an audience who might not be aware of the socio-political situation that provides the context for a number of interpretations of this story. Resume Cette these se fonde sur la traduction anglaise effectuee par l'auteure de passages cles d'un roman policier argentin : Ultimos dias de la victima (1979) de Jose Pablo Feinmann. Elle vise a etablir un cadre theorique autour du texte depart et de sa traduction, en prenant en compte la situation du roman dans l'histoire du genre policier en Argentine, le role de la traduction a travers cette histoire, le contexte sociopolitique qui a inspire le roman de Feinmann, ainsi que les defis linguistiques, culturels, stylistiques et interpretatifs propres a la traduction. Parmi ces defis, il sera avant tout question d'aborder la facon de traduire ce roman pour un public ne connaissant pas forcement le contexte sociopolitique qui est a l'origine de nombreuses interpretations du recti. Acknowledgements There are so many people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Un grand merci a Marc Charron for giving me the space and creative licence to do the first commented translation within a thesis my way, and for reminding me what the point was when I felt lost. To the Thesis Club, thanks for the laughs, the academic support, the distractions, the kermie arms, and the focus, depending on the day/hour/minute. And thanks for continually reminding me that it would all come together, even if no one was ever going to read our work. I'm so glad we were all in this together. Thanks also to David, whose patience allowed him to put up with THESIS and stick with me through its various symptoms. Muchisimas gracias a Jose Pablo Feinmann por aceptar mi invitation y platicar conmigo sobre su obra. Muchisimas gracias tambien to my wonderful friends in Buenos Aires for supporting my translation and providing me with expert ayuda portena. A big-hearted thanks to my copy editor and most enthusiastic reader, aka Mom, who always knew when not to mention the T-word. On the more practical side, I must thank the professors and administrative staff at the STI who helped me along the way, the library staff in Interlibrary Loans, and the FGPS for their generous travel grants. Lastly, un monton de gracias a mis co-talleristas Mundo a Mundo for helping me translate tango and reminding me what this project was all about: my love of literary translation. iii Table of Contents Abstract ii Resume ii Acknowledgements iii INTRODUCTION 1 1. LITERARY CONTEXT: TRANSLATION AND CRIME FICTION IN ARGENTINA . 8 1.1. The role of translation in the evolution of crime fiction in Argentina 8 1.1.1. Origins of crime fiction 8 1.1.2. Argentine origins of detective fiction and the importance of translation 11 1.1.3. The hard-boiled novel/the novela negra 16 1.2. General characteristics of the Argentine policial 23 1.2.1. Status of crime fiction in Argentina 23 1.2.2. Characteristics of Argentine detective literature 28 1.3. Argentine crime fiction in translation 33 2. EXAMINING ULTIMOS DIAS DE LA VICTIMA 36 2.1. The origins of the novel 36 2.2. The novel 38 2.3. The author 42 2.4. The literary context 46 2.5. The socio-historical context 52 2.5.1. Brief overview of events preceding the 1976-1983 military dictatorship 52 2.5.2. The 1976-1983 military dictatorship 53 2.5.3. Censorship and its impacts on Argentine literature 55 2.5.4. A socio-political reading of Ultimos diets de la victima 59 3. TRANSLATING ULTIMOS DIAS DE LA VICTIMA 62 3.1. Why translate? 62 3.2. Translation questions 65 3.2.1. Audience 65 3.2.2. Linguistic issues 70 3.2.3. Cultural references 75 3.2.4. Style 80 3.2.5. Interpretations 86 CONCLUSION 92 Bibliography 96 Appendix 1 - List of Argentine policiales from 1960-1985 102 Appendix 2 - Selection of Argentine novelas negras (1976-1983) and their Translations 104 Appendix 3 - Number of "Disappeared" in Argentina by Year 105 Appendix 4 - Translation of Passages from Ultimos dias de la victima 106 IV INTRODUCTION Mysteries have always captured the imagination of people around the world. In the realm of television, Nielsen Media Research reports that 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', a series which centers on solving crimes using forensics, is the most watched non-reality TV show currently on the air. In the literary world, Agatha Christie, creator of notable detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, was the world's most frequently translated author according to UNESCO's 1998 World Culture Report1. Crime fiction is an important genre not only in English-speaking countries, but all around the world. In the last few decades, new crime fiction has emerged from France, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. In the case of Argentina, the genre was warmly welcomed in Spanish translation at the turn of the twentieth century and was eventually appropriated by national authors, taking on new characteristics inherent to Argentine culture. This thesis will focus on translation and the Argentine policial (known in the Anglophone literary realm as detective or crime fiction), exploring translation's role in the dissemination and popularity of the genre in Argentina, and looking at the evolution of Argentinean crime fiction. The context surrounding a specific crime novel, Jose Pablo Feinmann's Ultimos dias de la victima (1979), hereafter referred to as Ultimos, will also be examined, especially the historical period in which the novel was written. Finally there will be an analysis of the issues surrounding the Argentine detective novel in English translation, referring specifically to sections of my own translation of the novel. 1 Over a decade later, UNESCO's Index Translationum shows that Agatha Christie was recently overtaken by Walt Disney Productions as the world's most translated author. As a side note, world renowned detective fiction writers Georges Simenon and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ranked 15th and 17th respectively.