Ashley van der Kuijp 3863867
Fantasy and the Ordinary:
Problems Encountered in Translating Urban Fantasy
Ashley van der Kuijp
3863867
Thesis
18 July 2014
4316Words
Words Footnotes: 1182
First reader: Jan-Jaap Spies
Second reader: CeesKoster
Table of Contents
- Fantasy and the Ordinary: Problems Encountered in Translating Urban Fantasy.…….3
- Background Information………….……………………….…………………...4
- Text Analysis…………………………………………………………………..7
- Pragmatic Level……………………………………………………………7
- Socio-cultural Level………………………………………………………..7
- Linguistic Level…………………………………………………………..10
- Source Text Specific Level……………………………………………….12
- Conclusion……………………………………………………………………15
- Annotated Translation………………………………………………………………..16
- Works Cited………………………………………………………………………….30
- Appendix…………………………………………………………………………..…32
- Fantasy and the Ordinary:
Problems Encountered in Translating Urban Fantasy
Atticus O’Sullivan, a witty 21 centuries old Irish druid who fights against evil and can communicate with his dog. That is the premise of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne; a book series currently consisting of seven novels, with two more due for publication in 2015. The focus of this thesis is on the translation of the first chapter of Hexed, the second instalment in the fairly popular urban fantasy series. Before translating the text, a text analysis will be made regarding the problems encountered in this text. The Iron Druid Chronicles is different from other urban fantasy fiction, because the main character is a druid and not a vampire or a werewolf. The protagonist is male, whereas urban fantasy frequently has a female protagonist. Other interesting aspects of the series include mythology,references to popular culture and humour: all interesting aspects in translating a text. Moreover, another layer of difficulty is added due to urban fantasy being in between fantasy and contemporary fiction which has to be maintained as accurately as possible in the translation. The question that arises from this is what aspects have to be taken into consideration when translating urban fantasy, because the genre encompasses elements from both fantasy and contemporary fiction. To find the answer to this question, first some general information about urban fantasy, the Iron Druid Chronicles, Hexed and the author will be given, followed by the reason why this book series deserves to be translated. Secondly, the problems that occurred during the translation will be linked to Nord’s four categories of text analysis and possible solutions will be provided. Finally, there is the annotated translation, where certainchoices made in the translation that have not be discussed in the text, will be explained.
1.1.Background Information
Before starting the text-analysis of the translation, information regarding the literary genre, the book series in general, the chapter that will be translated, the author and the reason this particular work of fiction deserves to be translated have to be given in order for the problems found in the source text to be understandable, which in turn will show the problems that occur in urban fantasy that can be linked to fantasy and contemporary fiction.
The literary genre of urban fantasy has gained much popularity over the last years. In contrast to high fantasy, urban fantasy is a subgenre of low fantasy and is not set in a fantasy world, but rather in a city; the urban aspect. Another important prerequisite of urban fantasy is that it needs to include supernatural creatures and occurrences, the link to fantasy fiction. Most of the time humans and supernatural creatures exist alongside each other with or without people knowing of their existenceand usually the protagonist is either a supernatural creature or comes in contact with the supernatural (“Urban”).Moreover, urban fantasy does not heavily feature romance; an aspect reserved for the closely related genre of paranormal romance. The previous information can help the translator of urban fantasy to determine the way in which to translated these texts and shows the aspects of both fantasy and contemporary fiction that are included in urban fantasy.
The chapter that is translated is the first chapter from Hexed, the second novel in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. The book series is about a 21 centuries old Irish druid named Atticus O’Sullivan who acts and appears to be a regular 21-year-old American, but has knowledge way beyond this. He owns an Irish wolfhound named Oberon, with whom he can communicate through the magical connection they share via their minds. Oberon is often very happy and funny, and he is obsessed with French poodles, sausages and bacon. In every novel there is a supernatural occurrence which Atticus tries to solve, for example, in Hexed Atticus is going after some witches who picked a fight with him. Furthermore, in the first chapter of Hexed, Atticus is talking to the Icelandic vampire Leif Helgarson, his friend and attorney who asks him to kill Thor, the Norse god of thunder. In addition, Atticus is trying to teach him how to fit into modern society. These features are important to keep in mind while translating the text.
The Iron Druid Chronicles is written by Kevin Hearne, an Arizona native and English teacher. Hearne’sown background and personal experience are evident in his writing. First of all, the series is set for the most part in Tempe, Arizona; the same state Hearne has been living in for his whole life. Furthermore, because of his degree in English,Hearne likes to play with language in his writing and he sometimes offers very elaborate explanations and descriptions of places and occurrences in the novels. In addition, he mentions that he loves puns and popular culture, which turn out to be the largest reoccurring elements throughout the novels (“About”). Overall Hearne’s writing style is fairly easy and adheres to the regular writing rules of English; the references to popular culture, puns and language specific elements are what make it more difficult for the translator. These last aspects can be linked to the contemporary part of urban fantasy.
Furthermore, the book series provides many different translation problems the translator has to work with of which some are not included in this chapter but are present in the rest of the book series. While some problems are universal to all texts, others are more specific to urban fantasy making the book series very interesting to translate.The series includes very typical English grammatical structures that do not exist in Dutch, along with some other very specific words and phrases, including puns. There is much humour, often dry or witty, which is not always appreciated by everyone but it has to be maintained in the translation. Moreover, mythology from all over the world is used: mostly Celtic and Norse mythology, but others can be found as well. Next, there are manyreferences to popular culture of a somewhat geeky nature, such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, BattlestarGalactica and there is even a Shakespearean quote duel.Moreover, multiple characters speak with an accent or a dialect, for example an old Irish widow speaking an Irish English dialect and a Russian thunder god who has an accent when speaking English.All this taken together illustrates the many elements that have to be taken into consideration when translating the Iron Druid Chronicles.
To date there has not been a Dutch translation of the Iron Druid Chronicles. However, the series has been translated into multiple other languages (“Books”), which indicate their popularity outside the United States. Furthermore, the series has had favourable reviews stating that the novels are funny, fast-paced and the mythology is interesting (“Reviews”), which shows that the novels are popular enough to be translated. One possible reason the novels have not been translatedmay be because many people prefer to read fantasy and urban fantasy in English, because it gives a more authentic feel to the story that people may not experience when reading the novels in Dutch. Additionally, the puns and other language specific jokes will not be the same in translation. Therefore, there might not be such a great market for a Dutch translation. However, the many features do make the text interesting to translate for a thesis and the chapter shows the different problems that are present in urban fantasy, some of which originate from contemporary fiction while others come from fantasy fiction.
When looking at the aspects found in the source text, the supernatural elements, the humour and the references to popular culture are amongst the most important ones. These features have to be maintained in the translation and show how urban fantasy incorporates elements from both fantasy and contemporary fiction into the stories and how this adds another to the text regarding the translation.
1.2.Text Analysis
By using Christiane Nord’s analysis of translation problems, the problems that occur in the translation will be placed into four different categories of translation problems: pragmatic, socio-cultural, linguistic and source text problems (147). After doing so, other theories will be used in order to provide solutions to these problems, including Chesterman and Grit.
1.2.1.Pragmatic Level
The problems that occur on the pragmatic level have to do with differences between time and place in the source and target culture and the difference in knowledge between the source and target audience (Nord 147). However, the pragmatic aspects are irrelevant to this translation, because the book series is set in the presentand becauseDutch and American culturesare fairly close to each other. The Dutch audience can be assumed to have enough knowledge about American culture to understand references to the culture in translation. Therefore, the decision was made to not include the pragmatic levelof the text analysis in this thesis.
1.2.2.Socio-Cultural Level
Nord’s socio-cultural level includes translations problems that are specific to two cultures and consists of differences in norms and conventions between the source and target culture (147). The translation problems encountered in the source text regarding the socio-cultural level are related to culture specific elements, and includes place names, intertextuality, mythology and the supernatural. Before translating urban fantasy, it is important that the translator is at least somewhat acquainted with both fantasy and contemporary aspects of translation. It is useful if the translator knows about the mythology in both the source and the target language and in case of the Iron Druid Chronicles it is also important for the translator to be familiar with the popular culture in the source and target language.There are different ways to solve the aforementioned problems, but the solution depends on what the target audience can be assumed to be familiar with.
First of all, the novels of the Iron Druid Chronicles take place in the United States, more specifically in Arizona. Arizona is important as setting in the novel, because certain state specific elements are mentioned, such as weather and vegetation characteristics, whichillustrateswhy the setting has to remain the same in order for the novel to provide that same feeling. It may not be evident in this chapter, but examples of vegetation characteristics include“desert scrub” and “teddy bear cholla” (Hammered 96). In addition, Hexed includes many references to Native Americans and especially the Navajo, since Arizona has the largest Navajo population in the United States (“Profile”). This reference is another reason that the setting should not be changed, becauseracial minorities are part of the culture of the state andit also demonstrates the importance of the setting in the context of the novel.Examples of place names used in the novel are “Town Lake”, the state North Carolina and “Valley of the Sun”which refers to the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in Arizona. Another reference is “RúlaBúla”: the Irish pub Atticus frequently visits. If these American places were substituted with Dutch places, the setting would be lost and certain references would make no sense anymore. According to Diederik Grit culture specific elements can be maintained in the target language if they are known by the target audience (192), which can be assumed to be the case here, because the Dutch target audience can be assumed to be familiar with American culture. These place names will not be translated and therefore the setting of the story will remain the same.
Thesecond socio-cultural aspect is that of intertextuality, especially in the form of references to popular culture. This is one of the aspects exclusively found in the urban part of urban fantasy and is something that would not be included in fantasy fiction. When the audience is familiar enough with what the popular culture reference meansit does not have to be translated. There are two major references to other media in the first chapter of Hexed. The first is the reference to the thunder god Thor having a comic book and a movie made about him, which is an example of popular culture the target audience can be assumed to be familiar with since both have also been released in the Netherlands. Therefore, the decision can be made to not translate it and it would still be understood by a Dutch audience. On the other hand, there is a reference to popular culture that needs more thought before translating it.The protagonist Atticus mentions that since his ear has been chewed off, he cannot help himself but sing “don’t spend your time always searching for those wasted ears”; a pun on the Iron Maiden song “Wasted Years” where years is substituted by ears. Many Dutch people will at least be familiar with the band Iron Maiden, however not everyone would recognise the song.This problem can be solved by changing the song into a Dutch song or another English song. However, in doing so certain information will be lost: the Iron Maiden reference would make less sense and an American would not be familiar with a Dutch song. In addition, the punwill be lost in translation, but by not translating the lyric the pun will only be understood by a select few. The translation of references to popular culture showsthat the choice for whether or not to translate a reference to popular culture depends on the target audience and what they can be assumed to be familiar with.
Finally, on account of the Iron Druid Chronicles being an urban fantasy series, the source text and the whole of the book series includes mythology and supernatural elements from all over the world, which can be linked to the fantasy aspect of urban fantasy. The most prominent mythology is Celtic, because Atticus is an Irish druid. Norse mythology is also important, because there is a whole storyline about killing Thor running through the course of multiple novels and many Norse gods are mentioned too. However, other mythologies are included as well, ranging from Slavic and Japanese to the more general Scandinavian and Germanic. The mythology and references to the supernatural can be regarded as culture specific as well, considering that they are part of the cultural heritage from the country they originated from. One of the problems for the translator regarding mythology in this chapter is the question whether or not to translate names of mythological creatures such as Thor, Loki, Brighid and AenghusÓg, and of the Norse realms Asgard and Midgard. When looking at books about mythology in both English and Dutch, multiple spelling variations exist in both languages (Hamilton, MacLeod). However, in fiction names are normally not translated. In short, the mythology and supernatural elements can remain the same, because they are known by the target audience albeit with a spelling variation.
Among the problems encountered in the socio-cultural level there are a few that can easily be solved or even remain the same, such as the names of places and mythological creatures, while a few others do require some more thought and will probably not easily be understood by the target audience if they are kept the same in the target text, such as references to popular culture the target audience is less familiar with. However, the problems encountered in the socio-cultural level of the source text do not poseto be the biggest problems in the translation of the first chapter from Hexed.
1.2.3.Linguistic Level
According to Christiane Nord, the linguistic level consists of differences in linguistics between the target and source language (147).Problems included in this category have to do with the archaic way in which Leif speaks and the way in which Atticus tries to teach him modern vernacular, such as mentioning that he should not use “well” when he means “good” and that he should start using contractions in his speech. Another problem included in the linguistic level refers to poetic metres. In the translation, these aspects regarding Leif’s speech have to be changed into Dutch equivalents. However, not everything can be translated similarly.
First of all, there is the distinction between “good” and “well” for which no similar equivalent exists in Dutch. In Dutch“goed” is used to indicate how someone is doing in a positive way and no other word is frequently used or seen as the better option. One possible translation here might be to change “well” to a more old-fashioned word in Dutch, rather than to maintain the distinction between “well” and “good”. However, what will happen then is that the following sentence about using an adjective as an adverb is unnecessary and has to be changed to fit the context as well. Another solution is to choose different words that convey the same idea and use these to achieve a similar distinction as that between “well” and “good”. The final translation of this problem will be discussed in the footnotes.