Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations

Literary translation, in general, has its own multiple difficulties; many of the challenges in translating Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed are due in particular to its transtextuality (juggling through a rhizomatic nexus of texts, eminently Shakespeare’s The Tempest, rewritten into a contemporary stor...

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Main Authors: Enikő Pál, Judit Pieldner
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Scientia Publishing House 2024-11-01
Series:Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
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Online Access:https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/14-465510.pdf
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author Enikő Pál
Judit Pieldner
author_facet Enikő Pál
Judit Pieldner
author_sort Enikő Pál
collection DOAJ
description Literary translation, in general, has its own multiple difficulties; many of the challenges in translating Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed are due in particular to its transtextuality (juggling through a rhizomatic nexus of texts, eminently Shakespeare’s The Tempest, rewritten into a contemporary story) and its multilayered complexity (employing multiple voices and registers, mixing styles and genres, combining prose and verse) that make the novel an exquisite case of adaptation and recontextualization (Pál and Pieldner 2023) These peculiarities may be the source of several dilemmas of translators who have engaged in translating the novel The aim of this research is to compare two translations of the novel in order to shed light on the possible options the translators had, as well as on their possible motivations when resorting to particular solutions in different situations The comparative study of the translators’ choices encompasses the translation of intertextual elements (title, chapter titles, direct quotes, and covert references to Shakespeare and other authors), verse inserts that constitute a major originality of Atwood’s text as well as the stylistic chords it plays, in between the vernacular and the formal, the grave and the jocular In doing so, we would focus on whether it is possible to delineate a certain “concept(ion)” of translation adopted by the Hungarian and the Romanian translators, whether there are any common solutions/techniques that correspond to certain translation traditions, and whether or to what extent each translator is free in choosing their path, resulting in disparate reading experiences.
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spelling doaj-art-406623347b4e47bbb206e1220d91568f2025-08-20T02:55:39ZdeuScientia Publishing HouseActa Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica2067-51512068-29562024-11-0116222524410.47745/ausp-2024-0026Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian TranslationsEnikő Pál0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4026-7562Judit Pieldner1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-624XSapientia Hungarian University of TransylvaniaSapientia Hungarian University of TransylvaniaLiterary translation, in general, has its own multiple difficulties; many of the challenges in translating Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed are due in particular to its transtextuality (juggling through a rhizomatic nexus of texts, eminently Shakespeare’s The Tempest, rewritten into a contemporary story) and its multilayered complexity (employing multiple voices and registers, mixing styles and genres, combining prose and verse) that make the novel an exquisite case of adaptation and recontextualization (Pál and Pieldner 2023) These peculiarities may be the source of several dilemmas of translators who have engaged in translating the novel The aim of this research is to compare two translations of the novel in order to shed light on the possible options the translators had, as well as on their possible motivations when resorting to particular solutions in different situations The comparative study of the translators’ choices encompasses the translation of intertextual elements (title, chapter titles, direct quotes, and covert references to Shakespeare and other authors), verse inserts that constitute a major originality of Atwood’s text as well as the stylistic chords it plays, in between the vernacular and the formal, the grave and the jocular In doing so, we would focus on whether it is possible to delineate a certain “concept(ion)” of translation adopted by the Hungarian and the Romanian translators, whether there are any common solutions/techniques that correspond to certain translation traditions, and whether or to what extent each translator is free in choosing their path, resulting in disparate reading experiences.https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/14-465510.pdftranslationintertextualityshifting registershag-seedthe tempest
spellingShingle Enikő Pál
Judit Pieldner
Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
translation
intertextuality
shifting registers
hag-seed
the tempest
title Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
title_full Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
title_fullStr Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
title_full_unstemmed Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
title_short Walking a Tightrope between Languages: Challenges in Translating Atwood’s Hag-Seed. A Case Study on the Romanian and Hungarian Translations
title_sort walking a tightrope between languages challenges in translating atwood s hag seed a case study on the romanian and hungarian translations
topic translation
intertextuality
shifting registers
hag-seed
the tempest
url https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/14-465510.pdf
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