Översättning av kraftuttryck i de franska och svenska översättningarna av Maria Parrs Keeperen og havet

Abstract

The current study deals with the translation of foul language in the French and Swedish translations of Maria Parr’s Norwegian novel Keeperen og havet (Lena, the Sea, and Me, 2017). Previous research shows that children’s literature is translated differently in France and in Scandinavia. It is also well-known that parents often have an opinion on what children’s literature can contain. For this reason, we choose the two target languages in question, French and Swedish, and the specific object of study, namely foul language. Methodologically, this is a comparative case study where we compare how passages containing foul language are translated from Norwegian to French and Swedish. Parr is highly creative in her use of foul language. Our study suggests that the Swedish translator retains the coarseness of the source text, and often does so to a great extent by choosing established expressions in the target language. The French translator shows a great deal of creativity, as she uses the characteristics of the plot and the setting to find solutions that are true to the style of the source text.