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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
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