This paper addresses the lack of proof for the common assumption that translations age faster than their corresponding originals. To show the visibility of this effect even in contemporary literature – a rare object of investigation in this field – it uses the Spanish classic Cinco horas con Mario by Miguel Delibes (1966) and its German equivalent Fünf Stunden mit Mario (1976). While Delibes achieved to publish a regime-critical work in the midst of the Franco era, Fritz Rudolf Fries’s translation was proclaimed as a support to the political system in the GDR. Its two republications from 1989 and 1997 were each assigned even more implausible meanings, but left identical in wording – a call for inspection. On a linguistic level, the most crucial stylistic element of the novel, fictitious orality, is pointed out as an intensifier for the ageing effect. Moreover, previous claims on retranslations are compiled and checked for appliance.
The empirical part consists of a perception study. This new research method is found to be more realistic and usable than former ways of translation analysis since it takes the actual readership of texts into account. To this end, native speakers of Spanish and German share their impressions on representative excerpts of the novel in their respective language version. A combination of categorized and free text interrogation allows to further illustrate the quantitative investigation – analysed separately by excerpt and by language – with qualitative findings on each excerpt. It becomes clear and traceable that the translation appears to be significantly older than the original and has thus evidently aged faster and for the worse. The study’s outcome is not only used as comprehensive proof for the long-discussed question of the ageing translation, but also for well-grounded recommendations regarding the handling of retranslations and their profitability in the book market.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:31233 |
| Date | 15 August 2018 |
| Creators | Rollberg, Lucie |
| Contributors | Universität Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | German |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:masterThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds