This essay discusses the subject of translating a French book about the French cuisine into Swedish. The author is Gérard Depardieu, a famous French actor with a keen interest in the French culinary art and culture. The book is about simple, classic, French cooking. While translating, we had some difficulties translating some cultural expressions or words that do not have an equivalence in Swedish, and therefore we had to find another solution than literal translation that would allow us to retain the cultural sense. To our help, we used the theories of Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet who discuss equivalence, explication, modulation and adaptation, which are different methods of translating a foreign culture to a target language. We also used the expressions foreignization (where you break target conventions by retaining a foreign cultural element in the original way) and domestication (where you translate the foreign element to something that exists in the target culture to minimize the strangeness). Our goal was to adapt the translated text to a Swedish reader, but at the same time keep as much of the French culture and Depardieu's style as possible.

Ce mémoire est une étude traductologique du suédois au français, concernant les mots inventés par Astrid Lindgren dans Ronya fille de brigand et spécifiquement les invectives, les jurons et les êtres (personnages inventés). Nous avons étudié les stratégies utilisées par la traductrice (selon Vinay et Darbelnet), la proximité avec la langue source ou la langue cible et le problème spécifique de traduire un livre pour la jeunesse du suédois au français. Notre conclusion est que les stratégies sont parfois difficiles à cerner mais que ce sont surtout des stratégies indirectes, que le texte est proche de la langue cible et qu’il y a un remplacement des mots inventés par des mots courants de la langue cible. Notre conclusion est que s’il n’existe pas une express ion identique dans la langue cible, il est probable que le traducteur remplace l’expression en question par une expression courante. / This essay is a translation study from Swedish to French concerning the invented words by Astrid Lindgren in Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter, in particular the swear words, invectives and spirits (invented figures). Our study examines the strategies used by the translator according to Vinay and Darbelnet, the closeness to the source language or the target language and the specific problems when translating a book for children from Swedish to French. Our conclusion is that the strategies sometimes are difficult to encircle and that the indirect strategies are more frequent. We noticed also that the text, concerning these words, is closer to the target language and that there is a replacement of the invented words of more standard words in the target language. Our conclusion is that if it does not exist an identical expression in the target language, it is likely that the translator replaces this expression with a more common one.

Studien undersöker i hur stor utsträckning de skandinaviska översättarna använder samma metoder när de översätter. För att kunna studera detta undersöks den danska, norska och svenska översättningen av den franska romanen L’élégance du hérisson med hjälp av Vinay och Darbelnets (1958/1977) metodologi. I studien kommer också översättarna till tals om de situationella faktorer som kringgärdat översättningsprojektet. Det största fokuset ligger på de indirekta översättningsmetoderna, eftersom det är dessa som visar på de största skillnaderna. Resultaten visar att översättarna väljer samma metoder i 42 % av den totala översatta textmassan. Resultaten visar också att den danska översättningen har störst användning av indirekta översättningsmetoder och därmed också är den måltext som avviker mest från källtexten, medan den norska måltexten är rik på så kallad traduction littérale och ligger närmast källtexten. / The study investigates to what extent the Scandinavian translators use the same methods when translating. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish translations of the French novel L’élégance du hérisson are analyzed using Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958/1977) methodology. In the present study the translators are also questioned about so called situational factors that might have influenced the translation process and its outcome. There is a major focus on the methods that are characterized by indirect translation, since these in a clear way indicate differences. Results show that the translators use the same methods in 42 % of the cases in the analyzed material. Results also show that the indirect translation methods are widely used in the Danish target text and it hence also distances itself the farthest from the source text, whereas the Norwegian target text is rich in litteral translation and closest to the source text.

This study focuses on comparing two different versions of Pippi Longstocking translated into English on a structural level. With the help of the research of the known linguistics John Catford and Paul Vinay & Jean-Louis Darbelnet, we compare how the two different translators, Tiina Nunnally (2007) and Florence Lamborn (1950) have translated the same book. This study compares these two translations for grammatical features and word choices on a structural level, for example use of verb tense and differences in Vinay & Darbelnet’s modulation. It also studies how the translators have done differently regarding Catford’s structural shifts. The essay also briefly looks at the cultural differences between the countries and how they have been translated. The aim of this project is not to determine which translation is better, but to compare and describe any differences and similarities found. It will look at how the two translators have handled the same problems differently (or similarly). The translations by Florence Lamborn and Tiina Nunnally have much in common, but in our result and analysis we present the differences.