The specificity of Simenon: on translating 'Maigret'

Simenon, Georges, 1903-1989--Translations--History and criticism;Literature, Comparative

Taylor, Judith Louise ; Bowd, Gavin P. ; Bowd, Gavin P.

University:University of St Andrews

Department:Modern Languages (School of)

关键词: Simenon, Georges, 1903-1989--Translations--History and criticism;    Literature, Comparative;   

Others  :  https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/713/JudithTaylorPhDThesis.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y

来源: DR-NTU

【 摘 要 】

The project examines how German- and English-speaking translators of selectedMaigret novels by the Belgian crime writer Georges Simenon have dealt with culturaland linguistic specificity, with a view to shedding light on how culture and languagetranslate. Following a survey of different theories of translation, an integrated theoryis applied in order to highlight what Simenon’s translators have retained and lost fromthree selected source texts: Le Charretier de la Providence (1931), Les Mémoires deMaigret (1951) and Maigret et les braves gens (1961). The examination of issues oflinguistic and cultural specificity is facilitated by application of an integrated theoryof translation coupled with the methodology devised by Hervey, Higgins andLoughridge (1992, 1995 and 2002). In addition, consideration of paradigms ofdetective fiction across the three cultures involved, and Simenon’s biography andwider oeuvre, help elucidate the salient features of the selected source texts. In view ofthe translators’ decisions, strategies for minimising various types of translation lossare presented. While other studies of translation theory have examined literary andtechnical texts, this study breaks new ground by focussing specifically on thecomparative analysis of detective fiction in translation.