Various problems which occur during the translation of a literary text are often linked to the linguistic and extra-linguistic particularities of the original text. This thesis, which focuses on A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and its French translation, Une priere pour Owen by Michel Lebrun, deals with several of these problems. The analysis is based on two axes of reflection. The first, theoretical, is discussed in chapter one and bears on three fundamental elements of the act of translation: the notion of the ethics of translation (which concerns, among other things, the question of accuracy, or "faithfulness"); the actual process of translation, that is the operation during which certain characteristics of the source text are necessarily modified; and, finally, the polysystem theory. This approach allows the consideration of "external" elements, for example, the target culture and reader. / The second axis of reflection is in fact inspired in large part by the polysystem theory because of this consideration. As both the original and its translation refer to a specific linguistic context, literary intertext and socio-cultural milieu, chapter two deals with John Irving's and Michel Lebrun's bio-bibliography as well as certain characteristics of the American and French polysystems and of the best-seller markets in the two countries. We felt it would be useful to study these factors in order to better evaluate the translated text and to better understand the translator's choices. / In the third and final chapter the translation itself was analysed. The study of the solutions chosen by Michel Lebrun to solve the problems posed by the source text leads us to believe that the translator produced a text responding to the expectations of the average reader, fond of best-sellers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68103 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Hobbs, Holly |
| Contributors | Everett, Jane (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 | Master of Arts (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: 001394617, proquestno: AAIMM94353, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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