35(1) - 2023

The many questions of non-retranslation. Swedish non-retranslations from the 20th Century

Elin Svahn

Titre
The many questions of non-retranslation. Swedish non-retranslations from the 20th Century

Résumé
The phenomenon of non-retranslation, here defined as translations that are continuously being republished over an extended period of time without being retranslated, has attracted scholarly attention in recent years. Yet, there has been no systematic exploration of the phenomenon to date. This article aims to fill this gap by reporting on a bibliography of Swedish non-retranslations, which has been constructed as an answer to previous calls on macro-studies in retranslation studies. In particular, this article offers a first overview of the bibliography with a point of departure in the five W and one H approach. Hence, this article aims to answer some questions regarding non-retranslation, such as what (establishing a definition; categories), who (authors; translators), when (publication timespan; publication interval), where (source languages; publishers; series), how (overt and covert revisions), and why (hypotheses). Some of the findings, regarding for example publication timespans and publication intervals, counter some of the assumptions often prevailing on retranslations. The article concludes with pointing out new avenues for research, such as exploring the role of publishing houses in relation to non-retranslation and case studies on specific titles. In sum, the article presents a macro-perspective of non-retranslation, with implications for both research on retranslation and non-retranslation.

Mots-clés
non-retranslation, retranslation, bibliography, macro-scale study, Swedish

DOI 10.17462/para.2023.01.05

4 avril 2023
  35(1) - 2023