Divided into five chapters, the thesis analyzes the translation into French of Black English as represented in Mark Twain's novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The method, mainly text-oriented, that is to say turning away from the sociological approach, offers a semiotic reading of the text, both original and translated (Chapter 1). This semiotic approach considers the text as a significant mosaic. Thus, it brings out not only the motivation of the different textual elements, but also the coherence cementing them. The analysis of the original text (Chapter 2) shows that the subversive aesthetic and ideological function of Black English is provided by Jim's characterization and his discursive and narrative programs. William-Little Hughes's translation (1886), as well a Claire Laury's (1979) and Rene and Yolande Surleau's (1950), reverse the subversive project of the source-text through an organized system of textual transformations (additions, omissions, shifts) and produce a stereotyped version of Jim's character, his speech, also simplified and reduced, becoming the expression of this characterization (Chapter 3). Poles apart from these three texts, the French versions written by Suzanne Netillard (1948), Andre Bay (1961), Lucienne Molitor (1963), Jean La Graviere (1979) and Helene Costes (1980) display translation projects which reactivate the original system in which Jim had a multidimensional characterization (Chapter 4). Yet, despite the efficient options chosen by certain translators on the material level, Jim's speech in French does not convey a Black identity in the way Black English does in the original text. A modified and literary version of creolized French is suggested as a possible option for translating this sociolect (Chapter 5).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.35905 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Lavoie, Judith. |
| Contributors | Chapdelaine, Annick (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Département de langue et littérature françaises.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001655592, proquestno: NQ50204, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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