Klassikosta lukuromaaniksi

käännösstrategioiden vertailu Dickensin David Copperfield -suomennoksissa

• Katja Vuokko Turun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74961

Abstract

From a Classic to a Popular Classic: Comparison of Translation Strategies in the Finnish translations of David Copperfield

The novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens has been translated into Finnish three times, in 1879–80, 1924 (revised edition in 1974) and 1971. In this article, I compare the strategies used in these translations to solve translation problems related to culture-bound elements. My aim is to show that the strategies employed can give us clues on how the translators and publishers perceived their target audience and the nature and purpose of the translation, and how translation practices have changed over time.

During the almost one hundred years spanned by the translations, there have been significant changes in Finnish publishing and translating practices, a shift in the status and reception of Dickens, and a considerable increase in Finnish readers’ familiarity with the English language and culture. All these changes are reflected in the translations. Contrary to expectations, the first translation stays very close to the original and uses footnotes to explain culture-bound items, whereas the latest version in print, the revised edition of the second translation, has many of the culture-bound items replaced or omitted. It seems that the cultural knowledge of the target audience has not been the primary factor behind the choice of strategies. Instead, the translations appear to reflect and contribute to a shift in the status of the work from a highly regarded classic to an entertaining novel aimed at a more general reading public.