Inclusive Language in Literary Translation (Based on Translations of A. Christie’s Novel And Then There Were None)

Abstract

This article performs a comparative analysis of diachronic translations of Agatha Christie’s novel Ten Little Niggers/Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None (intralingual translations into American English and interlingual translations into French, German and Russian) in terms of adequacy of literary

translation and following the norms of inclusive language. The paper found that the intralingual translation into American English is a culturally determined adaptation of the original text excluding culture-specific concepts perceived differently in the American culture. While classical interlingual translations of the novel into German, French and Russian follow the norms of adequacy and equivalence, modern interlingual translations reflect the desire of translators to make various lexical and lexico-grammatical transformations in order to avoid invective vocabulary, which often leads to the loss of text-forming dominants of the novel (the modern translation into French is such an example). Further, the importance of preserving the intertext, which reflects the author’s artistic intention, is demonstrated. The symbolic dominants of the novel are considered here in their historical and sociocultural context. It is concluded that these dominants are closely related to the collective ideas about racial differences in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, it is shown that following new language norms in translation should not violate the unity of a literary work; hence the importance of conveying the author’s intention and the historical and sociocultural context of the work. Finally, recommendations are given to translators as to finding a balance between the requirements of political correctness and adequacy of translation.