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Author
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Comment
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lapeze
Registered User
(4/4/05 6:27 pm)
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Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
I'm proposing to do my Masters thesis on the translation of the Grimm fairytales into English. Do you think this is really unoriginal and has been done many times before? I'm trying to think of a new slant on things, but got a bit discouraged when I read about Maria Tatar's book (The Hard Facts..). It seems as though she has already covered everything. Do any of you have other suggestions? It's a Masters of Translation Studies (German-English), so I would definitely need to keep the translation angle.
Thanks
Lapeze
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(4/4/05 6:47 pm)
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Re: Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
Dear Lapeze:
I'd say that it all depends on your approach (although, I do know
exactly what you mean ... so much excellent material has been produced
on the topic of the Grimms that it can sometimes seem like a very
intimidating topic). If you've read Tatar, you're probably already
familiar with Zipes' The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forest
to Modern World (which also looks at translation theory). Are
you planning to be look at any one specific element of translation
theory as it relates to the Grimms?
Best,
Helen
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(4/4/05 7:09 pm)
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Re: Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
This is a bit of a general comment, but I don't think any topic
is ever truly exhausted, as you will bring your own interests, background,
and perspective to it. Look at Shakespeare--people have been writing
about his work for four hundred years, and still there are new and
original points to be made. If you're fascinated by the topic and
feeling discouraged, try taking some time off from the secondary
lit--it can be overwhelming--and focussing on your primary texts.
Eventually you will develop your own slant on the topic.
Sorry for the lack of specificity.
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tigermiep
Registered User
(4/5/05 7:42 pm)
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Re: Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
lapeze, i don't have any leads for you, but i would love to see a discussion on how to bring the spirit of the tale and its language to life in a way that is neither archaic nor easily-dated colloquialisms. what is it about the language that makes it "folksy"? how do we find a transational counterpart to non-high german expressions?
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lapeze
Registered User
(4/7/05 4:31 am)
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Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
Thanks Veronica,
I was get quite worried that I wouldn't be able to do the thesis I had decided on. Your reply has cheered me up no end.
Lapeze
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lapeze
Registered User
(4/7/05 4:35 am)
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Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
Dear Helen,
I haven't actually thought that much about the theories I will be using, apart from the really basic ideas of domestication versus foreignisation, and thoughts about target audiences for any translation.
At this stage, I'm just collecting secondary sources and trying to work out a proposal.
Best,
lapeze
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Don
Registered User
(4/9/05 1:39 pm)
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Re: Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
Scholarship that would be useful to you in thinking about your own project on translations of Grimms' tales and in learning what others have already done would include:
Martin Sutton, The Sin Complex: A Critical Study of English Versions of the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmaerchen in the Nineteenth Century (Kassel, 1996).
Jennifer Schacker, National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England (Philadelphia, 2003).
Karen Seago, "Transculturations: Making 'Sleeping Beauty'. The Translation of a Grimm Maerchen into an English Fairy Tale in the Nineteenth Century." PhD Thesis, Univ. of London, 1998.
Donald Haase, "Framing the Brothers Grimm: Paratexts and Intercultural Transmission in Postwar English-Language Editions of the Kinder- und Hausmaerchen," in i>Fabula (2003).
While it deals with Danish and not English translations, you might also get some inspiration from:
Cay Dollerup, Tales and Translation: The Grimm Tales from Pan-Germanic Narratives to Shared International Fairytales (Amsterdam, 1999).
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lapeze
Registered User
(4/13/05 7:00 pm)
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Translation of Grimm Fairy Tales
Thanks Don,
They look like really useful books. I'm actually half Danish anyway, so looking at the last book will be fine. I might even try and get a small section into my thesis on the differences between the translations into English and Danish.
Lapeze
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