Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

Appendix B: Marjolijn de Jager's e-mail response to the
questionnaire
When you were translating An Algerian Childhood, did you have an audience in
mind?
Not a specific one, really. I have in mind people who love to read, who are
curious about cultures and worlds other than the one they know, but rarely did I or
do I think in more specific terms than that.
What individuals might you list as belonging to this audience?
The author (if she or he reads English, that is) Always! The publisher/editor,
certainly: after all they are the ones who will decide on the quality of the book in
English and who come to me in the first place.
How strong was your awareness of this audience?
Ever-present but in the background.
How would you characterize your attitude toward the original audience and
cultural context?
As close as it can be as a non-member of that culture. Prepared to do all the
'research' needed to have it feel and sound authentic.
How would you characterize your attitude toward the audience and cultural
context of the translation?
One of wanting to share my enthusiasm, love, passion for the work in question, in
the hope of piquing its interest and have it want to continue further reading in that
area.
How would you characterize the general tone and purpose of your translation?
This is hard to answer. I am hardly objective. I do the very best I can with each
new text I encounter. I try to inhabit characters, feel the music, understand events,
and then put it into the new language relating it in atmosphere and feeling as
closely as I can. It will be different every time with every text.
How would you characterize what you imagined would be your audience's
attitude toward the text and the cultural context it conveys?
I do not give that much thought other than what I stated above.
Describe some of the decisions you made while translating in which you felt the
influence of, sought to impose your influence on, or otherwise anticipated the
responses of your audience.
I do not feel the influence of an audience nor do I anticipate its responses, as I
don't often know who they will be. I do not seek to impose any influence, rather I
seek to inspire or enchant perhaps, by providing the best possible and most
faithful translation of the original I can.
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