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Making sense of news : literary translation in newspapers

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Abstract
Translations published in book volumes have long been the primary focus of literary translation research. Other print media received far less attention, although the tide is turning, and a ‘medial turn’ sets forth an analysis of the role that media forms have played in the history of translation (LITTAU 2011; FOLICA 2020). Pointing out the importance of both discursive techniques and the mediating of cultural transfer, O’Connor (2019) calls for comprehensive research on translation in periodicals as even the scope of these translations remains a guess. Translations in newspapers are yet to be examined in historical perspective, at a time when they are increasingly made available for research. The translated feuilleton or serialized story is a particular interesting locus of translation. Newspapers aim to make sense of the (often chaotic) world and literature proved beneficial to fulfill this purpose. When Russia went through an era of turmoil after the 1917 revolution Dutch newspapers drew on Russian literature to show how the country was changing. This dialogue between translated literature and news is also visible in the pre-publishing of translated novels, combined with another feature of the newspaper feuilleton: establishing a reader community by providing translated content that the paper deems ideologically suitable. Offering perspectives on the daily consumption of literary texts and their cohabitation in a news-driven context, literary translation research can considerably benefit from incorporating the feuilleton in its research agenda. To showcase the possibilities of translated feuilletons I offer a case-study on serialized stories of Russian literature in Dutch newspapers during the 1920s and 1930s. Having compiled a database with 1.553 translations of Russian literature my experience can be illustrative, both in setting up a large database and in applying periodical codes (PHILPOTTS 2012). This methodological framework incorporates metadata relating translations to the publishing context, decrypting them for research.
Keywords
Russian Literature, Periodicals, Translation, Dutch

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Regniers, Gaëtan. “Making Sense of News : Literary Translation in Newspapers.” PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow, 2021.
APA
Regniers, G. (2021). Making sense of news : literary translation in newspapers. PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow. Presented at the PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow, Dublin, Ireland.
Chicago author-date
Regniers, Gaëtan. 2021. “Making Sense of News : Literary Translation in Newspapers.” In PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Regniers, Gaëtan. 2021. “Making Sense of News : Literary Translation in Newspapers.” In PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow.
Vancouver
1.
Regniers G. Making sense of news : literary translation in newspapers. In: PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow. 2021.
IEEE
[1]
G. Regniers, “Making sense of news : literary translation in newspapers,” in PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow, Dublin, Ireland, 2021.
@inproceedings{8725917,
  abstract     = {{Translations published in book volumes have long been the primary focus of literary translation research. Other print media received far less attention, although the tide is turning, and a ‘medial turn’ sets forth an analysis of the role that media forms have played in the history of translation (LITTAU 2011; FOLICA 2020). Pointing out the importance of both discursive techniques and the mediating of cultural transfer, O’Connor (2019) calls for comprehensive research on translation in periodicals as even the scope of these translations remains a guess. Translations in newspapers are yet to be examined in historical perspective, at a time when they are increasingly made available for research. The translated feuilleton or serialized story is a particular interesting locus of translation. Newspapers aim to make sense of the (often chaotic) world and literature proved beneficial to fulfill this purpose. When Russia went through an era of turmoil after the 1917 revolution Dutch newspapers drew on Russian literature to show how the country was changing. This dialogue between translated literature and news is also visible in the pre-publishing of translated novels, combined with another feature of the newspaper feuilleton: establishing a reader community by providing translated content that the paper deems ideologically suitable. Offering perspectives on the daily consumption of literary texts and their cohabitation in a news-driven context, literary translation research can considerably benefit from incorporating the feuilleton in its research agenda. To showcase the possibilities of translated feuilletons I offer a case-study on serialized stories of Russian literature in Dutch newspapers during the 1920s and 1930s. Having compiled a database with 1.553 translations of Russian literature my experience can be illustrative, both in setting up a large database and in applying periodical codes (PHILPOTTS 2012). This methodological framework incorporates metadata relating translations to the publishing context, decrypting them for research.}},
  author       = {{Regniers, Gaëtan}},
  booktitle    = {{PETRA-E Conference : Literary Translation Studies Today and Tomorrow}},
  keywords     = {{Russian Literature,Periodicals,Translation,Dutch}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Dublin, Ireland}},
  title        = {{Making sense of news : literary translation in newspapers}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}