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

The final version does, however, make concessions to anticipated
audience expectations concerning the gender question and the use of obscenity. In
example 4, the initial version (i) uses the masculine pronoun "himself" to translate
"chacun" and "se" in the original French text (o).
4 o: chacun s'affairera, d'abord pour faire les ablutions et la prière de
l'aube (9)
4 i: each person would busy himself, first to perform ablutions and the
dawn prayer
4 f: Each person would perform ablutions and pray in the cool, shadowy
early morning
This revision results from a reader's comment that the use of the masculine
pronoun in English suggests that only men pray. Using the gender neutral phrase
"each person," the final version avoids this erroneous implication.
Though none of the readers overtly objected to the use of strong language,
Catherine Cobham's concern for readers' tolerance of obscenity led to a revision
of the expression in example 5.
5 o: Brute mal décrottée. (156)
5 i: Shit-caked animal.
5 f: Dung-caked animal.
In this passage, townsfolk are exchanging insults with members of their own
extended family in public. Though scatological images were maintained in
contexts involving mistreatment of prisoners and criticism of cowards, in this
instance, a more socially acceptable phrase was chosen to avoid implying more
animosity than was expressed in the original context.
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