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Article published In: Target
Vol. 16:2 (2004) ► pp.319–339

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Dialect and point of view

The ideology of translation in The sound and the fury in French

 | Department of French, University of California at Berkeley
Published online: 12 October 2005
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.16.2.06maa
This article is an analysis of translations into French of non-standard literary dialect, in particular the speech of African Americans, in William Faulkner’s The sound and the fury. It shows that the contingency of dialect variation upon narrative point of view (focalization) is not taken into account in translation, an omission that alters the ideological framework of the novel. In addition, it argues that the maintenance of this variation, when systematic, should be at least as important a concern as, for instance, the most accurate translation of single dialectal or non-standard words and utterances.
Résumé
Cet article offre une analyse des traductions françaises du dialecte littéraire non-normatif, en particulier celui des Afro-américains, dans Le bruit et la fureur de William Faulkner. Il sera démontré que l’effet de la variation dialectale sur la focalisation n’est pas pris en compte dans les traductions, ce qui modifie le cadre idéologique du roman. L’auteur recommande que le mainten d’une telle variation, quand elle est systématique, devrait être un but aussi important que, par exemple, la traduction la plus fidèle des expressions ou des mots dialectaux ou non-standard isolés.
Article outline
  • Introduction: Translating non-standard literary dialect
  • Faulknerian non-standard literary dialect
    • Luster
    • Dilsey
    • Reverend Shegog
    • Naming
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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