<p>The present text examines the translation of multiethnic youth language in Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s novel Ett öga rött (One Eye Red). Khemiri’s language is analysed, its function described and compared with the German translation of the book using representative text excerpts. Khemiri’s language is shown to deviate considerably from standard language and should be understood functionally as protest language. Most conspicuous is the continuous even word order after adverbial in the prefield instead of an inversion. Also typical is the use of nouns without articles, wrong genders, or ethnolectal lexemes such as flos (money), keff (bad) etc. Idioms are often used in an incorrect form and word formation is idiosyncratic. Khemiri’s language is characterised as a highly stylised, aesthetic artificial language inspired by multiethnic youth language (Rinkeby Swedish). The translation is typified by grammatically ordinary standard language, whose lexis is striking only for its coarse and youth language lexemes. There are no indications to suggest a German ethnolect and/or an artificial language. The target text is more neutral and lacking in humour, resulting in an impoverishment of the original text. The contrast between multiethnic youth language and standard language is also lost. The translation strategy used can best be described as einbürgernd (domesticating), as the linguistic idiosyncrasies for the most part are translated with grammatically correct standard language. The presumed effect on the reader is classed as inappropriate. Parallels between the German and the Swedish language could have been exploited in the translation without running the risk of appearing odd.</p>

The present text examines the translation of multiethnic youth language in Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s novel Ett öga rött (One Eye Red). Khemiri’s language is analysed, its function described and compared with the German translation of the book using representative text excerpts. Khemiri’s language is shown to deviate considerably from standard language and should be understood functionally as protest language. Most conspicuous is the continuous even word order after adverbial in the prefield instead of an inversion. Also typical is the use of nouns without articles, wrong genders, or ethnolectal lexemes such as flos (money), keff (bad) etc. Idioms are often used in an incorrect form and word formation is idiosyncratic. Khemiri’s language is characterised as a highly stylised, aesthetic artificial language inspired by multiethnic youth language (Rinkeby Swedish). The translation is typified by grammatically ordinary standard language, whose lexis is striking only for its coarse and youth language lexemes. There are no indications to suggest a German ethnolect and/or an artificial language. The target text is more neutral and lacking in humour, resulting in an impoverishment of the original text. The contrast between multiethnic youth language and standard language is also lost. The translation strategy used can best be described as einbürgernd (domesticating), as the linguistic idiosyncrasies for the most part are translated with grammatically correct standard language. The presumed effect on the reader is classed as inappropriate. Parallels between the German and the Swedish language could have been exploited in the translation without running the risk of appearing odd.