Cover not available
Article published In:
Translation in Society
Vol. 1:2 (2022) ► pp.224–250

What ever happened to the belles infidèles?

Elements for a more inclusive sociology of literary translation

| University of Montreal
Over the past thirty years, crime fiction, children’s literature, comics and, to a lesser extent, romance novels have received growing attention from translation scholars. Drawing on an analysis of this translation studies literature and interviews conducted with translators working in different publishing sectors, this paper revisits the hypothesis of Clem Robyns (1990), who proposed that non-canonical literary translations are the belles infidèles of the twentieth century. In a spirit reflecting the evolution of the discipline, the author examines not only the textual norms, but also the translators’ viewpoint and their role in the publishing process. The questions at the heart of this reflection are the following: to what extent does adaptation – to use a less value-laden term than belle infidèle – (still) constitute the translation norm of non-canonical literatures? How do the actors participating in the translation of these literatures and their involvement in the publishing process differ from those governing the translation of institutional literature? Finally, what can the study of these literatures teach us about translation and some of the key notions and oppositions in contemporary translation theories?
Keywords: sociology, literary translation, institutional literature, serial literature, agents, norms, process
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: From Série noire to “popular fiction”
  • 2.A few words on methodology and terminology
  • 3.Textual strategies – Is adaptation (still) the norm of non-canonical genres?
    • Children’s books
    • Crime fiction
    • Science fiction, romance, manga and comics
    • Revisiting Robyns’s hypothesis
  • 4.Who translates? Fans, professionals and translation “teams”
  • 5.What roles do translation and translators play in the publishing process?
  • 6.Conclusion, avenues for research, and three proposals
    • 6.1On translation norms
    • 6.2Some research avenues
    • 6.3Three proposals
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 September 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.22020.buz
References (55)
References
Antoine, Fabrice. 2001. Traduire pour un jeune public. Cahiers de la Maison de la Recherche. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Université Charles-de-Gaulle/Lille 3.Google Scholar
Aubry, Anaïs, and Thibaut Chozard. 2014. “ Millenium: Circulation of a Trilogy in from the Cold.” Bulletin de l’Institut Pierre Renouvin 40 (2): 63–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ayan, Irem. 2020. “Re-thinking Neutrality Through Emotional Labour: The (In)visible Work of Conference Interpreters.” TTR 33 (2): 125–146. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bacon, Josephine. 2005. “How Co-Editions Can Go Wrong: Pitfalls of Cross-Cultural Translation.” LOGOS 16 (1): 48–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beaulieu, Solange, and Hélène Buzelin. 2016. “De la coimpression à la réécriture: traduire la fiction anglo-canadienne en coédition.” Meta 61 (3): 511–533. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Béghain, Véronique, and Isabelle Licari-Guillaume. (2019). Les traducteurs de bande dessinée. Bordeaux: Presses universitaires de Bordeaux.Google Scholar
Berman, Antoine. 2009. Toward a Translation Criticism: John Donne. Translated by Françoise Massardier-Kenney. Kent: Kent University Press. [Original title: Pour une critique des traductions: John Donne. 1995. Paris: Gallimard].Google Scholar
Bianchi, Diana, and Federico Zanettin. 2018. “‘Under Surveillance’: An Introduction to Popular Fiction in Translation.” Perspectives. Studies in Translation Theory and Practice 26 (6): 793–808. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Buzelin, Hélène. 2006. “Independent Publisher in the Networks of Translation.” TTR 19 (1): 135–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “Repenser la traduction à travers le spectre de la coédition.” Meta 52 (4): 688–723. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. “Les contradictions de la coédition internationale: des pratiques aux représentations.” In Les contradictions de la globalisation éditoriale, edited by Gisèle Sapiro, 45–79. Paris: Nouveau Monde Éditions.Google Scholar
. 2015. “Traduire pour le Centre national du livre.” COnTEXTES. Revue de sociologie de la littérature, 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carter, Ellen. 2018. “Translating Popular Fiction.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture, edited by Sue-Ann Harding and Ovidi Carbonell Cortés. 431–444. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Casanova, Pascale. 2004. The World Republic of Letters. Translated by M. B. DeBevoise. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
D’Arcangelo, Adèle, Chiara Elefante, and Roberta Pederzoli. 2019. Traduire pour la jeunesse dans une perspective éditoriale, sociale et culturelle. Special issue of Équivalences 46 (1–2).Google Scholar
Delisle, Jean. 1993. La traduction raisonnée. Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.Google Scholar
Diament, Nic, Corinne Gibello, and Laurence Kiefé (eds). 2008. Traduire les livres pour la jeunesse: enjeux et spécificités – Actes du Colloque tenu en 2007 à la BNF. Paris: Hachette/BNF.Google Scholar
. 2003. “Translation for Reading Aloud.” Meta 48 (1–2): 81–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dollerup, Cay, and Silvana Orel-Kos. 2001. “Co-Prints and Translation.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 91: 87–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dresse, Nathalie. 2000. “Fifi Brindacier: une petite fille terrible?” In La traduction et l’adaptation dans les livres d’enfance et de jeunesse, edited by L. Battieuw. 55–68. Bruxelles: Section belge francophone de l’Ibby.Google Scholar
Frenay, Adrien, and Lucia Quaquarelli. 2021. “ Ce n’est pas tout à fait Série noire! Quand la traduction produit du roman noir.” In Expériences de traduction, edited by Dorothée Cailleux, Chiara Denti, and Lucia Quaquarelli. 71–90. Brussels: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Friot, Bernard. 2003. “Traduire la littérature pour la jeunesse.” Le français aujourd’hui, 3 (142): 47–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gelder, Ken. 2004. Popular Fiction: The Logics and Practices of a Literary Field. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gouanvic, Jean-Marc. 1997. “Translation and the Shapes of Things to Come: The Emergence of Science Fiction in Post-War France.” The Translator 3 (2): 125–152. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2018. Hard-Boiled Fiction et Série noire. Les Métamorphoses du roman policier anglo-américain en français. Paris: Éditions Garnier.Google Scholar
Grieder, Josephine. 1975. Translations of French Sentimental Prose Fiction in Late Eighteenth-Century England: The History of A Literary Vogue. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Honnoré, Patrick. 2008. “La traduction du manga: vous avez dit « shônen » ?” In Traduire les livres pour la jeunesse: enjeux et spécificités, 129–140. Paris: Hachette/BNF, 129–140.Google Scholar
Jüngst, Heike Elisabeth. 2004. “Japanese Comics in Germany.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 12 (2): 83–105. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. “Manga in Germany: From Translation to Simulacrum.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 14 (4): 248–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kalinowski, Isabelle. 2002. “La vocation au travail de traduction.” Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 1451: 47–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labarre, Nicolas. 2019. “Introduction.” In Les traducteurs de bande dessinée, edited by Véronique Béghain, and Isabelle Licari-Guillaume. 11–17. Bordeaux: Presses universitaires de Bordeaux.Google Scholar
Lamodière, Fédoua. 2021. “La traduction des mangas.” Paper presented at the second workshop of the Chaire croisée en humanités Paris 3/UdeM on book translation, December 3, 2021.
Lavoie, Judith. 2007. “Mark Twain vs. William-Little Hughes: The Transformation of A Great American Novel.” In In Translation. Reflections, Refractions, Transformations, edited by Paul St-Pierre, and P. C. Kar. 95–106. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Léchauguette, Sophie. 2013. “Une facette méconnue du travail des traducteurs.” Translationes 51: 104–116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2020. “Le métier de traducteur d’édition.” Paper presented at the first workshop of the Chaire croisée en humanités Paris 3/UdeM on book translation, 25 June 2020.
Lévêque, Mathilde. 2019. “Dans les coulisses de la traduction pour la jeunesse: les archives éditoriales et les romans traduits en français dans les années 1960.” Équivalences 46 (1–2): 81–103.Google Scholar
Létourneux, Matthieu. 2017. Fictions à la chaîne. Littératures sérielles et culture médiatique. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
. 2019. “ ‘Traduisez-les tous!’ Franchises, traduction et éléments d’attraction.” Écritures (10): 135–150.Google Scholar
Manchette, Jean-Patrick. 2020. Lettres du mauvais temps. Correspondance 1977–1995. Paris: Éditions de la Table Ronde.Google Scholar
Milton, John. 2001. “Translating Classic Fiction for Mass Markets.” The Translator 7 (1): 43–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morvan, Françoise. 2020. “Traduire/écrire pour les enfants.” Paper presented at the first workshop of the Chaire croisée en humanités Paris 3/UdeM on book translation, June 26, 2020.
Oeser, Hans-Christian. 2020. “Duel with DeepL.” Counterpoint 41: 19–23.Google Scholar
Oittinen, Riitta. 2000. Translating for Children. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Regattin, Fabio. 2021. “Détourner la coédition. Petits éditeurs, petites langues et le marché global.” Atelier de traduction (35–36): 59–70.Google Scholar
Shavit, Zohar. 1981. “Translation of Children’s Literature as a Function of Its Position in the Literary Polysystem.” Poetics Today 2 (4): 171–179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shibamoto Smith, Janet S. 2005. “Translating True Love. Japanese Romance Fiction, Harlequin-Style.” In Gender, Sex and Translation: The Manipulation of Identities, edited by José Santaemilia. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Simeoni, Daniel. 2001. Traduire les sciences sociales. L’émergence d’un habitus sous surveillance: Du texte support au texte source. PhD diss. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Sohár, Aniko. 1999. The Cultural Transfer of Science Fiction and Fantasy in Hungary 1989–1995. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Storm, Marjolijn. 2016. Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Style in German and Dutch Translation. The Remarkable Case of the Six Poirots. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Stougaard-Nielsen, Jakob. 2020. “Criminal Peripheries: The Globalization of Scandinavian Crime Fiction and Its Agents.” In Translating the Literatures of Small European Nations, edited by Rajendra Chitnis, Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, Rhian Atkin and Zoran Milutinovic, 184–204. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tahir-Gürçağlar, Şehnaz. 2002. “What Texts Don’t Tell. The Use of Paratexts in Translation Research.” In Crosscultural Transgressions. Research Models in Translation Studies II: Historical and Ideological Issues, edited by Theo Hermans. 44–60. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Venuti, Lawrence. 1995. The Translator’s Invisibility. A History of Translation. New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar