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Article published In: FORUM
Vol. 15:1 (2017) ► pp.123–141

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Representations of black people in the Slovenian translations of Karl May’s novels

A case study

 | University of Maribor
Published online: 4 September 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.15.1.07tru
Abstract
The article discusses how black people were portrayed in the Slovenian translations of the novels Winnetou, Old Surehand and Der Schatz im Silbersee, which have all been translated into Slovenian several times; the analysis thus reveals how translation strategies have changed over the decades. The comparison shows that the strategies in translations published in the 1930s were somewhat different from those in the post-World War II period, when the Slovenian territory was part of socialist Yugoslavia; because of the unacceptability of racist views during the socialist period, some racist passages of the original texts were censored in the translations. A substantial amount of neutralization of pejorative racial terminology occurred in both pre- and post-War translations, and translators in both eras also used similar strategies for translating black people’s sociolect. The interventions in the translations have somewhat affected how the translated works can be interpreted.
Résumé
L’article présente la façon dont les Noirs sont décrits dans les traductions slovènes des romans Winnetou, Old Surehand et Le Trésor du lac d'argent, tous traduits en slovène plusieurs fois. L’analyse met en lumière la façon dont les stratégies de traduction ont évolué au fil des décennies. La comparaison montre que les stratégies utilisées pour les traductions publiées dans les années 30 présentent des différences par rapport à celles des traductions parues après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, lorsque le territoire slovène faisait partie de la Yougoslavie socialiste. L’inadmissibilité des opinions racistes pendant l’ère socialiste a conduit à la censure, dans les traductions, de certains passages racistes des textes originaux. Un important travail de neutralisation de la terminologie raciale péjorative a été réalisé à la fois sur les traductions publiées avant et après la guerre. De plus, les traducteurs des deux périodes ont employé des stratégies semblables pour traduire le sociolecte des personnages noirs. Ces interventions sur les traductions ont transformé la façon dont les œuvres traduites peuvent être interprétées.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Explicitly racist discourse
  • 3.Terms for black people
  • 4.Black characters’ sociolect
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (42)
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