Translating Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury: How Translation Can Benefit from Stylistic Analysis

Abstract

This thesis investigates the practicability of stylistic analysis and contrastive grammar as preliminary steps to the translation of literary prose. The discussion is illustrated by a case study of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. In PART ONE, it is pointed out that, in educational settings at least, a so-called translation-oriented text analysis (TOTA), is promoted as a tool for the preparation of translations. However, the instructions for such analyses seem to be less suitable for the translation of literary texts. Although there is some debate as to whether the nature of literary texts and non-literary texts is essentially different, this thesis presupposes that the relationship between the text and the physical world is less direct in the case of literature. Literary texts distinguish themselves by the relative importance of style. Style and literary translation are the objects of several studies, but these often use stylistic analysis as a tool for evaluating existing translations rather than as a preparatory tool. This thesis proposes the use of Leech and Short’s model of stylistic analysis as a TOTA. It further speculates on the merits of contrastive (linguistic) analysis as a complementary step in the preparation of a translation. In PART TWO, The Sound and the Fury is considered in the contexts of Faulkner’s style and modernism. This rather general overview is followed by a detailed stylistic analysis of The Sound and the Fury and complemented with a brief investigation of the contrastive issues raised in PART ONE. PART THREE contains the annotated translations of four fragments from the respective chapters of The Sound and the Fury. The notes refer back to the analysis if applicable. Finally, the conclusion evaluates the virtue of stylistic analysis and contrastive analysis for the preparation of a translation of The Sound and the Fury.