Variation in Translating Huckleberry Finn into Spanish: Dialect Challenges

1. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

2. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Different audiences CLASSIC FOR ADULTS ADVENTURE BOOK FOR CHILDREN Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

3. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish The same problem • The Missouri negro dialect • The extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; • The ordinary "Pike County" dialect • Four modified varieties of this last. Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

4. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish The same problem David Carkeet, believes “Clemens’s recall was imperfect; his attempt at consistency, at least in Huck’s dialect, falls short.” Carkeet attributes this “imperfect recollection” to the fact that Twain wrote three−fifths of the novel after he had put the book aside for two years. This led to several pronunciation changes, particularly in the speech of Huck, in the last three−fifths of the novel. Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

5. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish The same problem Missouri Negro: Jim (and four other minor characters) Southwestern: Arkansas Gossips (Sister Hotchkiss et al.) Ordinary “Pike County”: Huck, Tom, Aunt Polly, Ben Rogers, Pap, Judith Loftus Modified “Pike County”: Thieves on the Sir Walter Scott Modified “Pike County”: King Modified “Pike County”: Bricksville Loafers Modified “Pike County”: Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas Phelps Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

6. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Facing the challenge • Explaining translation decisions in introductions. • Footnotes. • Translating just the note. • Attempting to establish equivalence through TL dialects. Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

7. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Translated varieties • Obsession with geographical varieties. • Social varieties not always translated. • Age and gender varieties. • Varieties and power relationships. Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

8. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish What translators say Conviene finalmente añadir que, pese a haberse conservado el tono coloquial y la libertad expresiva de la novela en la versión castellana, se pierden, sin que podamos evitarlo, las varias formas dialectales del habla local a las que Mark Twain hace referencia en la “explicación” inicial del libro. Doris Rolfe Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

9. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish What translators say Una vez más las rígidas normas editoriales impiden al traductor reflejar - de suponer que hubiera sido capaz de ello – la riquísima variedad de formas dialectales empleadas por el autor y comentadas por éste en su Nota Explicativa al principio del texto. Fernando Santos Fontenla Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

10. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish What translators say Muchos de estos matices se pierden, indefectiblemente, al traducirlos. Tampoco es posible ensayar, lo que algunos a veces ensayan, de trasladar al castellano esas diferencias dialectales y estos matices del original. Juan José Coy (editor). The translation is Rolfe’s one! Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

11. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Are translations really different? "Hello, Jim! And skipped out. […] He bounced up and stared at me wild. Then he drops down on his knees, and puts his hands together and says: “Doan’ hurt me –don’t! I hain’t ever done no harm to a ghos’. I awluz liked dead people, en done all I could for ‘em. You go an git in de river agin, whah you b’longs, en doan’ do nuffn to Ole Jim, ‘at ‘uz awluz yo fren’.” (Twain, 1985:94) Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

12. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Are translations really different? • - ¡Hola, Jim! – y salí de un brinco. • El se puso de pie de un salto y me miró con ojos de loco. Luego cayó de rodillas y juntó las manos y dijo: • ¡No me hagas daño, no! Nunca he hecho daño a un fantasma. Siempre me gustaban los muertos, y les he hecho todo el bien que pude. Vete y métete en el río otra vez, donde debes estar, y no le hagas nada al viejo Jim, que siempre fue amigo. • (Twain, 1989:54) Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

13. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Are translations really different? • - ¡Hola, Jim! – y salí de un brinco. • El se levantó de golpe y me miró con ojos desorbitados. Después se dejó caer de rodillas, juntó las manos y dijo: • ¡No me hagas daño, ¡por favor! Yo nunca le he hecho daño a un fantasma. Siempre he sido amigo de los muertos, y he hecho lo que podía por ellos. Vuélvete al río otra vez, que es tu sitio, y no le hagas nada al viejo Jim, que siempre fue amigo tuyo. • (Twain, 1998:72) Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

14. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Research questions • Role of paratext. • Are translators consistent and decision-conscious? • Are translations only used for parody? • What role does the audience have as far as translation is concerned? Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org

15. Variation in translations of Huckleberry Finn into Spanish Hypotheses … • The explanatory note singles this work out from other works which present the challenge of translated varieties. • Geographical varieties in the TT do not have a one-to-one correspondence with the ST. • Some varieties are not translated and / or attempted at all. • Varieties are used for parody effects. Fernando Romeu – fromeu@tinet.org