Translations, Paratextual Mediation, and Ideological Closure
UrpoKovala
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Abstract
This article deals with the way so-called paratexts were used, in Finland in 1890-1939, in publishing translations of Anglo-American literature, and especially with the tendencies towards ideological closure that those paratexts manifest. The dominant ideology in the material is what could be called religious-conservative ideology, emphasizing the thought content of the works and their (educative, civilizing, sometimes also entertaining) impact on readers. This is due to the ideological unification process that penetrated the cultural institutions, which were still relatively undifferentiated and non-autonomous during the period in Finland. The article emphasizes that in studying paratext, it is necessary to take heed of the wider cultural context; looking at the paratexts alone is not enough.
Translations are not merely texts that have undergone translation. Rather, they are texts that are filtered through many selection and modification processes before reaching the reader. The translator is only one of the mediators between the original work and the reader of its translation. These mediation [ p. 120 ] processes, it is assumed in this article, exert a considerable influence on the reader's reception of foreign literature.
References
Barthes, Roland
1985Mythologies, tr. Annette Lavers. Glasgow: Paladin (1957)
Brisset, Annie
1989 “In Search of a Target Language: The Politics of Theatre Translation in Quebec”. Target 1:1. 10–27.
Eagleton, Terry
1991Ideology: An Introduction. London and New York: Verso.
Escal, Françoise
1987 “Le titre de l’œuvre musicale”. Poétique 69 (Février). 101–118.
Fairclough, Norman
1992Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fiske, John
1982Introduction to Communication Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Frandsen, Finn
1991 “Avisens paratext—et nyt område for medieforskningen”. Mediekultur 16. 70–97.
Genette, Gérard
1982Palimpsestes: La littérature au second degré. Paris: Seuil.
Genette, Gérard
1987Seuils. Paris: Seuil.
Genette, Gérard
1988 “The Proustian Paratext”. SubStance 17:2. 63–77.
Hall, Stuart
1984 “Encoding / Decoding”. Stuart Hallet al., eds. Culture, Media, Language. London and Birmingham: Hutchinson & CCCS 1984 128–138.
Hallyn, Fernand and Jacques Georges
1987 “Aspects du paratexte”. Maurice Delcroix and Fernand Hallyn, éds. Méthodes du texte: Introduction aux études littéraires. Paris: Duculot, 1987. 202–215.
Hermans, Theo
1985 “Introduction: Translation Studies and a New Paradigm”.
Hermans 1985a
: 7–15.
Hermans, Theo
ed.1985aThe Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation. London and Sydney: Croom Helm.
Hillis Miller, J.
1992Illustration. London: Reaktion Books.
[ p. 145 ]
Hodge, Robert and Gunter Kress
1988Social Semiotics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hoek, Leo H.
1989 “A Semiotic Analysis of Paratextual Discourse”. Degrés 58. A1–A23.
Huotari, Markku
1980 “Mistä ja miten kriitikot kirjoittavat: Malli kirjallisuuskritiikin sisältöjen analysoimiseksi” [What do critics write about, and how?: A model for analyzing the contents of literary reviews]. Markku Huotari, Leeni Hurskainen and Yrjö Varpio, eds. Literary Reviewing in Finland I: An Introduction to the Study of Literary Reviewing. Helsinki: Kirjastopalvelu 1980 9–66.
Keskinen, Mikko
1993 “Reading on the Threshold: Gérard Genette’s Peritexts as Interpretive Commentary”. Andrew Bennett, ed. Reading Reading. Tampere: University of Tampere 1993 159–182. [Tampere University English Studies.]
Kirby, D.G.
1979Finland in the Twentieth Century. London: Hurst.
Kirstinä, Leena and Judit Lörincz
1991 “Finns and Hungarians as Readers of Novels: A Study of the Reception of Meri and Balász”. Yrjö Varpio, ed. Finns and Hungarians as Readers. Tampere: University of Tampere 1991 23–35.
Kivimäki, Sanna
1992 “Takakansi romaanin tuoteselosteena: Kotimaisten romaanien takakansitekstit vuosina 1930-1989” [The back cover as the specification of a novel: The cover blurbs of Finnish novels between 1930 and 1989]. Kulttuuritutkimus [Cultural Studies] 9:4. 12–23.
Kovala, Urpo
1992Väliin lankeaa varjo: Angloamerikkalaisen kaunokirjallisuuden välittyminen Suomeen 1890-1939 [The shadow between: The mediation of Anglo-American literature in Finland 1890-1939]. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. [Nykykulttuurin tutkimusyksikön julkaisuja (Publications of the Research Unit for Contemporary Culture), 29.]
Lefevere, André
1985 “Why Waste Our Time on Rewrites?: The Trouble with Interpretation and the Role of Rewriting in an Alternative Paradigm”.
Hermans 1985a
: 215–243.
McGann, Jerome J.
1991The Textual Condition. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Martens, Klaus
1991 “Institutional Transmission and Literary Translation: A Sample Case”. Target 3:2. 225–241.
Oittinen, Riitta
1993I Am Me—I Am Other: On the Dialogics of Translating for Children. Tampere: University of Tampere. [Acta Universitatis Tamperensis, Ser. A Vol. 386.]
1987 “La signature à la lettre et au figuré”. Poétique 69 (Février). 119–127.
Sevänen, Erkki
1994Vapauden rajat: Kirjallisuuden tuotannon ja välityksen yhteiskun nallinen sääntely Suomessa vuosina 1918-1939 [The limits of freedom: Social regulation of literary production and mediation in Finland 1918-1939]. Helsinki: SKS.
Vanderauwera, Ria
1985 “The Response to Translated Literature: A Sad Example”.
Hermans 1985a
: 198–214.
Varpio, Yrjö and Lajos Szopori Nagy
1990Suomen ja Unkarin kirjalliset suhteet vuosina 1920-86 [The literary relations between Finland and Hungary in 1920-86]. Helsinki: SKS.