últimas corrientes teóricas en los estudios de traducción - Gredos ...

K. J. DUNCAN BARLOW–ON THE TRANSLATING OF THE PASSIVE VOICE IN THE DETECTIVE GENRE
10.a. “Su Majestad no durmió en palacio, su cama está sin deshacer” (Torrente Ballester,
Cronica del Rey Pasmado, p. 16)
b. “His Majesty did not sleep in the palace: his bed has not been slept in” (Smith, C,
The King Amaz’d: A Chronicle, p. 9)
In this case the translation is from Spanish into English; of course this is not a
detective genre example, nonetheless, it presents an instance frequently found in
detective novels, since in many of them the other characters start to get worried because
people’s bed have not been slept in.
It seems to me that Smith’s translation instance proves House’s levels of
equivalence, and it also seems to reveal that the translator’s idiolect may have certain
relevance within the translating of a given text. Thus, for instance, in personal
communications, Dr. M. Dahlgren (U.V.) suggested “La cama estaba sin deshacer”, and
Dra. M. J. López Couso (U.S.C.) provided “la cama no estaba deshecha”. My own
translation was “La cama estaba por deshacer”.
From these instances, it may be gathered that the translator’s own usage of the
target language could affect the translated text, and subsequently, the target text reader’s
perception of that text. Thus, for instance, if the translator “activises” an English passive,
she or he would reveal the “whodunniter” i.e. the person who did “it”, and this is
intolerable within the genre.
3. CONCLUSIONS
This paper shows that, to a certain extent, passive forms are a “genre requisite”
within detective novels. The paper also reveals that in the translating of detective novels,
a translator may – and ought to – bear in mind certain useful linguistic theories/studies.
Albeit briefly, this paper proves that, when translating detective novels, linguistic studies
not necessarily translation – directed – may lend translators a helping hand.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALLINGHAM, M. Police at the Funeral. London: Penguin, 1980 [1931].
CATFORD, J. C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: O.U.P. 1965.
CHRISTIE, Agatha. The Thirteen Problems. Berkley, New York: Berkley Publishing Group,
1984.
———. El Club de los Trece. Barcelona: Molino, 1983.
DOWNING, Angela. A University Course in English Grammar. Hertfordshire: Phoenix E.L.T.,
1998.
156