FN Translation Portfolio-3

LN902
Translation Portfolio
Dr. Mila Milani
Maria-Valentina Bruns, MA Translation and Culture

Maria-Valentina Bruns
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Table of Contents
Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………. 1
Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen) by Brothers Grimm Translation…………………………... 2
Sleeping Beauty Translation Commentary………………………………………………….. 5
Downton Abbey Translation………………………………………………………................ 11
Downton Abbey Translation Commentary…………………………………………………… 16
Brexit Article (Pressure on May and her Brexit plan is growing by Cathrin Kahlweit………. 21
Brexit Article Translation Commentary………………………………………………………. 23
Source Texts (in order: Dornröschen, Downton Abbey, Brexit) ………………………………27
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………35
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Sleeping Beauty by Brothers Grimm
Translated from German into English by Maria-Valentina Bruns
A long time ago there was once a King and a Queen, they wished every day:
“Oh, if only we had a child!”, but sadly never had one.
Then suddenly one day, as the Queen sat in her bath a frog, who had crawled from the sea to
land, said to her:
“Your wish shall be granted, before the year is over, you will bring a daughter into the world”.
What the frog had said, had come to pass and the Queen bore a girl. The girl was so lovely that
the King, full of joy, did not know what to do with himself and so he ordered for a big
celebration to be held. He invited not only his relatives, friend and neighbours but also the wise
women, so that they could all hold and fuss over the child. There were thirteen wise women in
the King’s land, but because he only had twelve golden plates for the women to eat from, one of
them had to stay home.
The celebration was full of splendor and richness and as it came to an end, the wise women
blessed the child with wonderful gifts: one gifted her virtue, another gave her beauty, the third
with riches and so on, they gifted everything one could ever wish for on earth. As the eleventh
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bestowed her gift, suddenly the thirteenth wise woman showed up. She wanted to punish the
King and his family for not inviting her and without greeting or looking at any of the guests, she
cried with a loud voice,
“The Princess will, on her 15th Birthday, prick herself on a spindle and die.”
And without another word she turned around and left the Great Hall. Everyone was stunned.
However, in that moment the twelfth wise woman, who still had her gift to bestow, stepped
forward and while she could not lift the curse she could diminish it.
So she said, “It will not be death, but instead the princess will fall into a deep slumber that will
last for a hundred years.”
The King, who wanted to protect his lovely child from the curse, gave the order that all spindles
in his kingdom should be burned. All the gifts from the wise women had come true, the girl was
so beautiful, kind, friendly and compassionate that anyone who met her loved her immediately. It
so happened that on the day of her fifteenth birthday, the King and Queen were not at home and
the princess stayed in the castle all by herself. She walked all around the castle, looking into
different rooms and chambers, whatever took her fancy and she eventually made her way to the
old tower. She climbed up the winding stairs and reached a small door. Stuck in the lock there
was a rusty key, and as she turned the key the door suddenly opened and in the little room there
sat and old woman with a spindle diligently spinning wool.
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“Good day, old woman”, said the princess. “What are you doing there?”
“I’m spinning.”, said the old woman while she nodded her head.
“What is that thing that jumps around so strangely?”, asked the princess. She looked at the
spindle decided she also wanted to spin. She had barely touched the spindle when she pricked
her finger, so the curse fulfilled itself.
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Commentary on the translation of “Dornröschen” by the Grimm Brothers
“Dornröschen” by the Brothers Grimm is a short story published in their children’s
literature anthology in 1812, called “Kinder- und Hausmärchen”1 It is a folk fairy-tale that has
seen several adaptations since its initial publication. However, the story itself is significantly
older, several of the stories within the Grimm’s anthology were stories that had been orally
transmitted years before they were collected and formally written down. The brother’s, collected
the stories from speaking to neighbours and acquaintances in and around Kassel, Germany1. I
decided to work with this folk tale due to the iconic acclaim it has achieved in both the German
as well as in the English speaking world. It has been translated and adapted countless times, with
it even becoming a feature length animated Disney film2. The popularity and exposure is what
drew me to this piece in the first place, I wanted to explore the original text and discern how to
best translate a piece that has become very familiar to most people. According to Zipes, it has
become so familiar there is an aspect of ‘non-recognition of translation’, this means that when
most people hear or read Grimm stories, like Hansel and Gretel they rarely think of the
translation or even source text and language, no matter what language is being used3. The
concept of a story being exposed to the extent that readers do not consider the origins is what I
found interesting with this text, especially since it allows the translator more scope with the
language of the source text. One of the biggest issues with the translation of children’s literature
1
Donald Haase and Mary Primeau, The Reception Of Grimms' Fairy Tales (Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State
University Press, 1993).
2
Vanessa Joosen and Gillian Lathey, Grimms' Tales Around The Globe (Detroit: Wayne State Univ. Press, 2014).
3
Jack Zipes, The Oxford Encyclopaedia Of Children's Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
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is the fact that there is no one definition that encapsulates the genre fully4. There are multiple
slight differentiations within the genre, and this story, depending on the type of audience one
wishes to target could be categorised as different ones. As this is a fairy tale originally written
with children as the main audience, I have chose to categorise it as children’s literature, with
children as the target audience who will be the prime readers of the translation.
While working with this text several challenges emerged. The first was the title, and with
it the question of whether or not to follow a more traditional translation or use a more familiar,
anglicised title. The original German title “Dornröschen” includes two German linguistic
characteristics that are not directly translatable into English. The word itself is a compound noun,
which while they are present in English they are a lot more common in German. Literally
translated ‘dornroschen’ means thorn of a little rose and here one is confronted with the second
linguistic problem, the suffix “-chen”. This suffix generally is added to words to make them
appear diminutive5. There is not a grammatically correct translation for that suffix if it does not
relate to size, since the only diminutive suffix in English is “-let”, i.e. pig to piglet. While the
word thornlet is technically grammatically correct it is not a commonly used word nor would it
look familiar to an English reader. Therefore, I have opted to substitute the title completely. I
have decided to translate the German title into the very familiar and traditional English name of
the fairy tale, “Sleeping Beauty”. This is due to the fact that the target readership for a piece like
this is either beginner readers or parents who are reading to children not yet fully literate, and
4
Brett J Epstein, Translating Expressive Language In Children's Literature (Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang
Publishers, 2012).
5
Laurence Urdang, Alexander Humez and Howard G Zettler, Suffixes And Other Word-Final Elements Of English
(Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1982).
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they are more likely to engage positively with a text that they are familiar with. In this case
domestication seems to be the best option for the translation.
The second challenge that surfaced was issues with the diction. A prominent example
would be the word, “Königstochter”, which is what the protagonist is often referred to as. This is
another compound noun which directly translated means ‘King’s daughter’. The compound noun
translates correctly and could potentially even be used in the story and the reader would
understand what is meant. However, since the translation is meant to be published as a children’s
book in English the ideal experience is that they read this story without thinking about the source
language too much but rather have a fluid reading experience with this story.. Therefore, the
word “Königstocher” is simplified for “Princess”. Princess conveys in principle the same thing,
the female issue of the King. While the argument exists that by substituting the phrase one is
taking away from the original piece6, especially the German-ness of the text, it is not a strong
enough argument to dissuade me from simplifying the phrase. This is mostly due especially since
the audience will already be familiar with, if not all of the, context of the story due to its fame.
Another reason why Princess was a more adequate choice rather than the literal translation is it is
more appropriate with the theme of the “fairy tale”, while the Grimm brothers may not have
written the most modern age appropriate stories it is meant to be children’s literature. The title
Princess is not only less formal than “King’s Daughter” but also more familiar to the desired
target audience who will be familiar with the idea of princesses being the protagonist of stories in
their reading level. Another issue with diction, is the use of “Spindel”, or spindle in English. The
6
Gillian, Lathey, Translating children’s literature ( London: Routledge, 2016)
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word plays a pivotal plot role in the story. Due to its nature as a plot device I could not just
replace it, especially since the way in which the spindle is integrated. While I considered
changing spindle to a more familiar household object that modern audiences especially children
would understand, however, changing the word spindle would mean changing quite a lot of the
original source text. As I looked into a spindle substitute, it became clear that there is not a good
modern equivalent. A spindle is too specific for there to be an easy substitute, therefore I decided
to keep it as a spindle. A translator is not a window but is an intrinsic part of negotiating a
dialogue between the source and target text7. As a result of this concept, as a translator I did not
want to restructure the story to an extent that it may seem unfamiliar to some readers. The
spindle is very indicative of the story even if it is antiquated and most readers will not have seen
or even heard of a spindle outside of the context of fairy-tales. Considering this, I made the
decision to keep the world “spindle”, and make the assumption that readers will be familiar
enough with the story to be able to define the word within the context given.
The idea that the story is often read aloud, have to consider the readers especially if the
possibility exists that the story might be read aloud. This is important to note as a transalor
especially because it changes the skopos of the piece. Skopos translation theory emphasizes that
the translator should primarily consider the function or purpose of the text8. This is a
functionalist view of translation. It does not want the translator to focus on the development on
the text or the methodology of translating which can sometimes hinder the translation itself.
7
Jan Van Coillie and Walter P. Verschueren, Children's Literature In Translation: Challenges And Strategies
(Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, 2006).
8
Christiane Nord, "Meaning, Sense, Function – What Is Transferred?", Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences,
231 (2016), 3-10 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.064>.
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While paying attention to the function of the text is important, especially when the translation is
meant to be published it cannot be the only focus of a translator. This is even more important to
note because it is children’s literature and not written with an academic scope in mind but rather
to entertain readers and/or listeners9. I have tried to incorporate this into my translation by
making small deviations to the original to make sure the story is written not with what is best f or
children but just for children. This can be seen by the repeated use of some adjectives and the
simplification of the action and tenses within the story. Some of the more prominent examples
are the use of, “A long time ago” which is indicative of children’s literature10, especially if they
have some level of orality to them. Another example that highlights the concept of orality in
“Sleeping Beauty”, is the simple verbs. Characters actions are often described as “... said to her,”
or “So she said,...”, the simpler descriptive words allow for an easier beginner reading or hearing
experience. Moreover, due to the history of oral tradition of folk tales it was important to me as
translator to maintain characteristics of the stories oral tradition so as not too domesticate the
story completely.
To conclude, the Brothers Grimm are iconic in the world of children’s literature and have
become staples in any child’s library. Translating such a mainstream and popular story has
allowed for me, as a translator, to understand how much editorial and censoring responsibility
there is with children’s literature. Dissecting the story and trying to understand the intricacies of
a traditionally oral story from the romantic movement in Germany has had its challenges.
9
Gillian Lathey, The Role Of Translators In Children's Literature (New York: Routledge, 2010).
10
Jan Van Coillie, "“Oh, How Hard It Is To Play The Translator's Game”: Translating Orality In The Grimms'
“Rumpelstiltskin”", Marvels & Tales, 28.2 (2014), 346-366.
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Overall I have found the issues challenging and rewarding, since it allowed me to work with an
unknown genre and immerse myself translating for a very targeted audience.
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Downton Abbey, Season 1; episode 1 by Julian Fellowes
translated from English into German by Maria-Valentina Bruns
[Herr Carson nähert sich Ihnen aus der Richtung des Hauses]
Robert, Graf von Grantham
Was ist es?
Herr Carson
Die Gräfin Witwe erwartet Sie im Salon.
Ich komme gleich
Herr Carson
Sie hat nach Lady Grantham gefragt
Cora, Gräfin von Grantham
Ich frage mich was ich nun wieder falsch getan habe
Herr Carson
Und der neue Kammerdiener ist angekommen, my Lord
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Ach, ja. Danke Carson
[Carson räuspert sich]
Was noch?
Herr Carson
Ich bin mir nicht völlig sicher, ob er seiner Aufgabe ganz gewachsen sein wird. Doch Ihre
Herrschaft wird es selbst beurteilen
[Carson kehrt zu dem Haus zuruck und Robert dreht sich zu Cora um]
Ich geh jetzt lieber
Erzähle ihr bitte von James und Patrick, Sie wird es noch nicht gehört haben
[Im Salon]
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[Violet ist in Schwarz gekleidet]
Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham
Natürlich habe ich davon gehört. Warum wäre ich sonst hier?
Robert wollte nicht dass du es in der Zeitung lesen musst und dich darüber aufregst.
Er schmeichelt mir. Ich bin stärker als ich aussehe.
[Cora seuft]
Es tut mir sehr leid um den armen Patrick, keine Frage. Er war ein netter Junge.
Wir hatten ihn alle unglaublich gern.
Aber aus James habe ich mir nie etwas gemacht. Er war seiner Mutter zu ähnlich, und eine
schrecklicher Frau hat es niemals gegeben.
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[Cora lächelt]
Wurdest du zum Mittagessen bleiben?
Ja, Dankeschön.
Ich sage Carson bescheid
[Cora geht zur Tur]
Ich habe es ihm schon gesagt. Wollen wir uns hinsetzen?
[Sie setzen sich]
Weisst du wer der neue Erbe ist?
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Ich weiss nur, dass es einen neuen gibt.
Er ist der Sohn von Robert Cousins im dritten Grad, einem jungen Mann dem so weit, ich weiss
ihn noch nicht begegnet bin.
Wenn dein verstorbenen Ehemann mich nicht gezwungen hätte diesen absurden Vertrag über
legalen Diebstahl...
[Violet hebt ihre Hand]
Meine liebe, ich bin nicht hier um zu streiten. Mein Mann wollte den Besitz schützen. Es ist ihm
nie eingefallen dass du keinen Sohn gebären wurdest.
Nun, so ist es.
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Commentary on Downton Abbey, season 1, episode 1 by Julian Fellowes
Downton Abbey is one of the most iconic television shows from the last decade, it has
been a sensation not only in the United Kingdom where it became the first of many period
dramas that became mainstream TV success. One of the reasons I decided to translate this piece
is because it has been incredibly popular with English and German audiences since it premiered11
. The specific piece I picked is one of the first scenes from the pilot episode, which aired in 2010.
The pilot seemed like the best episode to translate since it sets the tone of the series and
introduces audiences not only to the characters but also to the historical context of the show. This
piece like, “Sleeping Beauty”, has aspects of oral translation, i.e. one has to consider the effect of
translating the text in a way that would sound not only correct but also fluid when spoken out
loud. This directly ties into one of the challenges of this piece, which is correctly translating
dialogue. Downton Abbey is also a symbolic piece for English identity of a bygone time which
has been hugely romanticised12. I wanted to work with this piece too since it has been not been
translated directly to the audiences but rather dubbed into German or subtitled. While both of
these means the scenes have gone through some type of translation before airing, dubbing and
subtitling have their own definitive characteristics which differ to a textual translation13.
Translating dialogue, especially dialogue that is dated or regionally specific was another reason I
was drawn to this type of text. Finding the right type of antiquated language in German while
11
James Leggott and Julie Anne Taddeo, Upstairs And Downstairs (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).
12
Rosalía Baena and Christa Byker, "Dialects Of Nostalgia:Downton Abbeyand English Identity", National
Identities, 17.3 (2014), 259-269 <https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2014.942262>.
13
Jacques Barreau, "Dubbing Localization In Europe", Multilingual, 27.2 (2016), 45-50.
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also making it understandable to a general audience seemed like a difficult but enjoyable
challenge.
An audiovisual translation is very different to a literary one, especially considering that
an audiovisual translation will inevitably be spoken out loud or read dynamically. In this case I
wanted to work with the text separate from the visuals. That decision was made due to the fact
that Downton Abbey has already been dubbed and subtitled and I wanted to steer away from
those constraints and focus on translating the text to be able to fully work with the source text.
Dubbing, is the practice of re-recording the audio of a film or TV show in the target language12.
When Downton Abbey premiered in Germany it had been dubbed into German, due to the
general trend in German TV to dub foreign shows into German rather than just add German
subtitles. Subtitles differ from dubbing and translation, subtitling a foreign show in the target
language requires usually two independent types of translation, a direct textual translation of the
script from the source language to the target language as well making the subtitles appropriate to
the dialogue time on screen14. Downton Abbey had gone through both the dubbing and subtitling
process when it was being prepared to launch in Germany. Moreover, working with an
audiovisual translation means that as a translator one must consider the dialogue as it would be
spoken rather than read15. This means making sure the dialogue is short and clear, i.e. “Ich
komme gleich” for “I’ll come now”, to simplify the text for the actors so that the target audience
understands clearly and can keep up with the antiquated language in the scene.
14
Tessa Dwyer, Speaking in subtitles: revaluing screen translation ( Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017)
Cambridge Core ebook collection
15
Elena Di Giovanni, Reception Studies and Audiovisual Translation (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing:
2018)
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The main challenge with this translation was the language used in the scene. Downton
Abbey is set in the early 20th century in an English country estate and so the language and
expressions used in the script are very emblematic of that time period. Firstly, before discussing
the actual dialogue of the scene, one must look at the characters which is where the first
translation problem is. The titles of all the characters must be correctly translated since the titles
represent the different social standings of the different characters. The structure of nobility is
different in the United Kingdom in comparison to the German one16, and so the translation
should demonstrate that. The title related challenge in this particular piece had to do with the
“Dowager Countess”. Dowager in terms of title means, a woman with title or property that has
been derived from her late husband. An English person, who has grown up with the rigid class
system in place in the United Kingdom they might be aware of what the “dowager” title means,
however, Germans with almost no general knowledge of british nobility would be unfamiliar
with the English term. This is highlighted by the fact that in one of the official published
translations of the Downton Abbey script, “Dowager” is kept in the original English simply
because the translator(s) believe it is a place and so the characters title reads: “Violet, Gräfin von
Dowager”, rather than the accurate: “Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham”17. Due to observing
mistakes like these I found myself very interested in trying to tackle Downton Abbey, to
comprehend the level of difficulty of the type of language used. A further issue of the difference
16
"Glossary Of German Noble And Royal Titles", Unofficial Royalty, 2019
<http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/glossary-of-german-noble-and-royal-titles/> [Accessed 10 January 2019].
17
Cora Buhlert, "Downton Abbey Hits Germany – With An Embarrassing Mistranslation", Writer, Teacher,
Translator, 2012
<http://corabuhlert.com/2012/12/25/downton-abbey-hits-germany-with-an-embarrassing-mistranslation/> [Accessed
10 January 2019].
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in antiquated language is the use of the phrase “my Lord” in comparison to the title, “Mr.”
throughout the script. Carson, who is the highest ranking servant (the butler), in the show is
referred to in the script, as well as by all his inferiors, as “Mr. Carson”. This type of title is
commonly translated into German as “Herr Carson”, this is the usual translation and German’s
would be familiar with a high ranking servant being addressed as Herr. However, the central
issue is that the direct translation of the phrase, “my Lord”, also translates to “mein Herr”. When
Carson address Robert the Earl of Grantham as “my Lord”, it not only is a sign of respect but
also emphasizes the difference in social classes. Having both translate to as “Herr”, would in my
view, diminish the overall experience for the reader as they would not be able to observe the
small cues that make up the larger social norms of pre-war England. Therefore, in my translation
I have opted to translate “Mr. Carson” to “Herr Carson”, and keep “my Lord” in the original
English. In addition to showcasing the societal roles, keeping that phrase in English will provide
an aspect of foreignisation that the translation requires. Downton Abbey’s success is also a result
of the audiences craving a dramatised glimpse into a different time in a different country.
Consequently, making the dialogue too German and therefore too domesticated would mean
losing aspect of the “English-ness” that German audiences loved so much as it aired10.
Further tied into the aspect of the use of older and more formal English is the concept that
when translating the sophisticated English of the early 20th century, as a translator one must find
acceptable translation that would fit within the dialogue. To exemplify, the first line of dialogue
in the script is: “What is it” said by the Earl of Grantham to his butler, I have translated it as,
“Was ist es?”, rather than the more modern and colloquial, “Was gibts?”. This is due to the tone
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of the piece, which has a formal tone. While a German viewer may be more familiar with the
more colloquial answer in their day to day speech, Downton Abbey is meant to sound older and
so care has been taken to chose and construct the translation so that it reads formal but also so
that it matches the type of language and tone that was used in Germany by the elite in the early
20th century. However, due to the inherent nature of the show and the massive success I have
tried to keep it as foreign as possible. Keeping domestication low with a piece like this would be
beneficial since part of the allure or watching or reading a period drama from Britain in Germany
is that it feels British. Another aspect of Britishness that needed to be translated effectively was
the british sarcasm that is typical of a high-society period drama like this one. Figurative
language will always pose a challenge as most often than not direct translation do not work well,
they either lost the meaning or the tone can not be fully brought across with just text18. This
notion was something I was aware of while translating, I was thinking about the visuals which
would accompany this script segment as facial cues can often convey part of the message.
In conclusion, Downton Abbey is a complicated source text that offers the translator a
range of directions when it comes to translating. It allows for more creative editing especially as
one considers its target audience. As well as having to think about what an audience requires
visually and textually to be able to understand but also enjoy a translation, peculiarly when most
audiences have been familiar with the original and therefore will have certain standards and
expectations about what they would like to see and hear in their target language.
18
Rachel Giora and others, "On The Superiority Of Defaultness: Hemispheric Perspectives Of Processing Negative
And Affirmative Sarcasm", Metaphor And Symbol, 33.3 (2018), 163-174
<https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2018.1481259>.
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Pressure on May and her Brexit plan is growing by Cathrin Kahlweit
Translated from German into English by Maria-Valentina Bruns
The Hardliners in the party as well as the Cabinet want to force May to negotiate a “clean”
Brexit and demand a step away from the Chequers Plan.
Before the Party conference May had affirmed, she would push through with her Plan, even if it
meant subjecting Britain to some of the EU rules and regulations but she is ready to continue
negotiations with the EU.
The pressure, from the EU, on the British Prime minister to change her Brexit-plan is growing
exponentially. Although, May clearly stated two weeks ago at the Salzburg summit, that her
government has to be open to more compromise. Talks about Brexit dominated the Conservative
Party Conference in Birmingham, but adversaries within the party also intensified their tone.
Not present this time is Boris Johnson, the ex-foreign secretary who now dominates headlines for
being a May-Opponent. He will only be present for one speech on Tuesday and will surely
attract a lot of attention. Johnson had called May’s Brexit plan confusing and ridiculous before
the Party Conference. However, in his absence he has received harsh criticism; He is an
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irrelevant person, that offends others, said an MP. Ex-Brexit Minister David Davis, claimed his
colleague was “good for headlines but bad for politics”.
At least in Birmingham, it seems that Johnson does not have a majority, would he want to
challenge May. It is mostly the Hardliners in the Party and in the Cabinet that want to force May
into negotatiating a clean Brexit and demand a move away from the Chequers Plan.
Many of those "leavers" who were fighting passionately for out of the EU two years ago, now
suspect that there is a real danger that Theresa May will make more concessions to Brussels in
order to come up with any deal at all before 29th of March. But they are determined to prevent
that from happening.
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Brexit Commentary
The current political turmoil that is facing the United Kingdom at the present are
unprecedented. The entirety of the Brexit is a heavily discussed and complicated issue, with
many people not fully understanding both the European Union of the “divorce” process itself19.
Due to this, Brexit has become a highly contested issue with the media constantly trying to
simplify and explain certain aspects of the negotiations and proceedings. Consequently,
translating news reports about such an intricate subject can create a multitude of problems. This
translation while fairly straightforward, is littered with traits very characteristics of german
journalism which is different to english journalism and it is in this division where most of the
challenges of the translation arise. The most noticeable challenges of this piece were with the
various political terms, the dynamic nature of the news cycle and the context of perspective.
While these may not be perceived as very difficult challenges for a translation, the target
audience for a piece like this would be a casual news reader, someone aware of the current
situation but with no expert knowledge. It is also important to note that while this specific article
deals with a political issue that affects a large portion of the native english speaking world, news
reporting is dominated by english20. Therefore it is easier to access other news sources and
perspectives on current affairs that perhaps to a german reader and inaccessible. Which makes
19
Benjamin J. W. Eddington, ‘A poorly decided divorce: Brexit’s effect on the European Union and United
Kingdom’, Suffolk Transnational Law Review, 41 (2018)
20
Steve Dorsey, The Global Freelancer: Telling And Selling Foreign News (New York: Routledge, 2017).
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this translation important, since it offers a glimpse into german perspectives and german notions
of Brexit and British politics.
The most difficult issues tend to arise with the political language used. News reports,
especially concerning Brexit which are generally reported from a British point of view and are
full of uniquely specific terms that relate to the British government and the current situation in
the United Kingdom. The most obvious example is the word, “Brexit”, itself, which is a
combination of the phrase “British exit”. Ever since the 2016 referendum the word, “Brexit” has
been the go to term to describe the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, and to date
there is no translated equal term. In almost all other languages who report on Brexit, they will
use the term ‘Brexit”, rather than for instance in German trying to say, “Brifahrt”, which would
be a combination of “Britisch” and “Abfahrt”. While trying to However, that is one of many
political terms that are hard to translate within this text. There are other issues with German
idioms, like in almost all languages reporters often employ the use of figurative language or
expressive language to either make the text more approachable or to be able to draw on existing
comparisons21. An example in this translation would be the phrase, “scharfe Kritik auf offener
Bühne einstecken müssen”, which loosely and literally translated means “having to deal with the
setback of harsh criticism” or more vaguely, to be vulnerable to harsh criticism. It is a very
typical german phrase in the linguistic sense, which is why it does not translate very well. Given
its difficulty in translating appropriately I have chosen to omit that phrase from my translation
for the sake of clarity, in the translation the phrase now is “However, in his absence he has
Esperança Bielsa and Susan Bassnett, Translation In Global News (Shanghai, China: Shanghai Foreign Language
21
Education Press, 2011).

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received harsh criticism”. With a subject matter like Brexit, clarity should be a translator’s
ultimate goal22, therefore the figurative language while perhaps useful in German seems
unhelpful in English and does not add anything to the overall meaning of the text. A secondary
challenge of this type of translation is the missing context. While in the United Kingdom the
Brexit news cycle dominates almost every media channel, in Germany, Brexit while significant
is most likely on the peripheral news coverage since it does not directly impact Germans in the
way it will British citizens. Consequently the context of the reporting is altered, since the
perception of Brexit is different. The issue, again, is whether or not as a translator to make the
reader aware that this article and therefore the cultural context comes from a different country23.
As before, I have chosen not to include the context of the source text. The piece is meant to
educate and update the readership and therefore the context it was written in is not wholly
necessary.
Another challenge to accurately translating this piece was the fact that news, especially
concerning Brexit is constantly changing. The information that is on this piece is now, vague and
mostly non-sequential, however, at the time of selection it was one of the most current and up to
date published news reports in the German news sphere. As a translator is it my job to leave
some scope knowing the dynamic nature of the news but also to provide the most accurate and
reliable translation. The merging of both of these forces became a considerable challenge. The
selection period was weeks ago and as a translator in this field whose work is not immediately
published there is an urge to fill in the gaps of the source text especially if there has been more
22
Claire Scammell, Translation Strategies In Global News (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018).
23
Anthony Ridge-Newman, Fernando León-Solís and Hugh O'Donnell, Reporting The Road To Brexit (Cham:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
25
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information about the status of the Plan or the fact that the Brexit Plan which May negotiated
was very recently rejected by a historic defeat in Parliament24. I have chosen not to add
information to the translation for the sake of objective news reporting.
In conclusion, translating news can be quite a challenge, especially when the news is
constantly evolving and changing. Brexit is simultaneously a hotly contended issue but also a
mysterious one, no one is ever sure of the outcome but there is always a lot of discussion on the
various possibilities. Due to this dynamic relationship translating this piece proved more difficult
than anticipated. However, it provided a glimpse into news translations and what strategies are
best employed when dealing with a non academic subject which needs to be handled with as
much objectivity as possible while asking making the translators voice obvious.
24
Laura Kuenssberg, "Brexit: Theresa May's Deal Is Voted Down In Historic Commons Defeat", BBC, 2019
<http://Brexit: Theresa May's deal is voted down in historic Commons defeat> [Accessed 15 January 2019].
26
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Original Source Texts
Dornröschen by Brothers Grimm
Vor Zeiten war ein König und eine Königin, die sprachen jeden Tag: »Ach, wenn wir doch ein
Kind hätten!« und kriegten immer keins. Da trug es sich zu, als die Königin einmal im Bade saß,
daß ein Frosch aus dem Wasser ans Land kroch und zu ihr sprach: »Dein Wunsch wird erfüllt
werden, ehe ein Jahr vergeht, wirst du eine Tochter zur Welt bringen.«
Was der Frosch gesagt hatte, das geschah, und die Königin gebar ein Mädchen, das war so
schön, daß der König vor Freude sich nicht zu fassen wußte und ein großes Fest anstellte. Er
ladete nicht bloß seine Verwandten, Freunde und Bekannten, sondern auch die weisen Frauen
dazu ein, damit sie dem Kind hold und gewogen wären. Es waren ihrer dreizehn in seinem
Reiche, weil er aber nur zwölf goldene Teller hatte, von welchen sie essen sollten, so mußte eine
von ihnen daheim bleiben.
Das Fest ward mit aller Pracht gefeiert, und als es zu Ende war, beschenkten die weisen Frauen
das Kind mit ihren Wundergaben: die eine mit Tugend, die andere mit Schönheit, die dritte mit
Reichtum und so mit allem, was auf der Welt zu wünschen ist. Als elfe ihre Sprüche eben getan
hatten, trat plötzlich die dreizehnte herein. Sie wollte sich dafür rächen, daß sie nicht eingeladen
war, und ohne jemand zu grüßen oder nur anzusehen, rief sie mit lauter Stimme: »Die
Königstochter soll sich in ihrem fünfzehnten Jahr an einer Spindel stechen und tot hinfallen.«
Und ohne ein Wort weiter zu sprechen kehrte sie sich um und verließ den Saal. Alle waren
27
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erschrocken, da trat die zwölfte hervor, die ihren Wunsch noch übrig hatte, und weil sie den
bösen Spruch nicht aufheben, sondern ihn nur mildern konnte, so sagte sie: »Es soll aber kein
Tod sein, sondern ein hundertjähriger tiefer Schlaf, in welchen die Königstochter fällt.«
Der König, der sein liebes Kind vor dem Unglück gern bewahren wollte, ließ den Befehl
ausgehen, daß alle Spindeln im ganzen Königreiche sollten verbrannt werden. An dem Mädchen
aber wurden die Gaben der weisen Frauen sämtlich erfüllt, denn es war so schön, sittsam,
freundlich und verständig daß es jedermann, der es ansah, liebhaben mußte. Es geschah, daß an
dem Tage, wo es gerade fünfzehn Jahre alt ward, der König und die Königin nicht zu Haus
waren und das Mädchen ganz allein im Schloß zurückblieb. Da ging es allerorten herum, besah
Stuben und Kammern, wie es Lust hatte, und kam endlich auch an einen alten Turm. Es stieg die
enge Wendeltreppe hinauf und gelangte zu einer kleinen Türe. In dem Schloß steckte ein
verrosteter Schlüssel, und als es ihn umdrehte, sprang die Türe auf, und da saß in einem kleinen
Stübchen eine alte Frau mit einer Spindel und spann emsig ihren Flachs. »Guten Tag, du altes
Mütterchen«, sprach die Königstochter, »was machst du da?« »Ich spinne«, sagte die Alte und
nickte mit dem Kopf. »Was ist das für ein Ding, das so lustig herumspringt?« sprach das
Mädchen, nahm die Spindel und wollte auch spinnen. Kaum hatte sie aber die Spindel angerührt
so ging der Zauberspruch in Erfüllung, und sie stach sich damit in den Finger.
Two scenes from Downton Abbey’s pilot episode
28
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[Mr Carson approaches them from the house.]
ROBERT, EARL OF GRANTHAM
What is it?
MR CARSON
The Dowager Countess is in the drawing room.
I'll come now.
MR CARSON
She asked for Lady Grantham.
CORA, COUNTESS OF GRANTHAM
I wonder what I've done wrong this time.
MR CARSON
And the new valet has arrived, My Lord.
Has he? Er...thank you, Carson.
29
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[Carson clears his throat.]
What is it?
MR CARSON
I'm not entirely sure that he'll prove equal to the task, but Your Lordship will be the judge of that.
[Carson returns to the house and Robert turns to Cora.]
Better go.
Tell her about James and Patrick; she won't have heard.
--
[00:15:41, INT. DRAWING ROOM - DAY]
[Violet is dressed in black.]
VIOLET, DOWAGER COUNTESS OF GRANTHAM
30
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Of course I've heard. Why else would I be here?
Robert didn't want you to read about it in a newspaper and be upset.
He flatters me. I'm tougher than I look.
[Cora sighs.]
I'm very sorry about poor Patrick, of course. He was a nice boy.
We were all so fond of him.
But I never cared for James. He was too like his mother and a nastier woman never drew breath.
[Cora puts on a smile.]
31
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Will you stay for some luncheon?
Thank you.
I'll let Carson know.
[Cora heads for the door.]
I've already told him. Shall we sit down?
[They sit.]
Do you know the new heir?
Only that there is one.
32
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He's Robert's third cousin, once removed. I have never, well, to my knowledge, set eyes on him.
Of course, if your late husband hadn't forced me to sign that absurd act of legal theft--
[Violet puts up a hand.]
My dear, I didn't come here to fight. Lord Grantham wanted to protect the estate. It never
occurred to him that you wouldn't have a son.
Well, I didn't.
Druck auf May und ihren Brexit-Kurs wächst by Cathrin Kahlweit
Die Hardliner in der Partei wie im Kabinett wollen May zwingen, einen "reinen" Brexit
auszuhandeln, und fordern ein Abrücken vom Chequers-Plan.
May hatte vor dem Parteitag bekräftigt, sie beharre auf ihrem Plan, der das Königreich teilweise
EU-Regeln und Standards unterwerfen würde, sei aber bereit, weiter auf die EU zuzugehen.
Der Druck auf die britische Premierministerin, ihren Brexit-Kurs zu ändern, wächst unaufhörlich
- nicht nur von Seiten der EU, die Theresa May auf dem Gipfel in Salzburg vor zwei Wochen
33
1892892
sehr klar signalisiert hatte, dass ihre Regierung kompromissbereiter werden müsse. Auf dem
Parteitag der Konservativen in Birmingham, der komplett von der Brexit-Thematik dominiert
wird, verschärfen jetzt auch ihre innerparteilichen Gegner noch einmal den Ton.
Dabei ist es diesmal nicht Ex-Außenminister Boris Johnson, der als May-Opponent die
Schlagzeilen dominiert. Er wird nur für eine einzige Rede am Dienstag anreisen und sicher große
Aufmerksamkeit bekommen. Johnson hatte Mays Kurs gegenüber der EU vor dem Parteitag als
"verwirrt" und "lächerlich" bezeichnet. Allerdings hat er - in Abwesenheit - scharfe Kritik auf
offener Bühne einstecken müssen; er sei "eine irrelevante Person", die andere beleidige, sagte ein
Abgeordneter. Ex-Brexit-Minister David Davis klagte, der Kollege sei "gut für Schlagzeilen,
aber schlecht für Politik".
Zumindest in Birmingham sieht es also so aus, als hätte Johnson keine Mehrheit hinter sich,
wollte er May herausfordern. Es sind vielmehr die Hardliner in der Partei wie im Kabinett, die
May zwingen wollen, einen "reinen" Brexit auszuhandeln, und ein Abrücken vom Chequers-Plan
fordern. May hatte vor dem Parteitag bekräftigt, sie beharre auf ihrem Plan, der das Königreich
teilweise EU-Regeln und Standards unterwerfen würde, sei aber bereit, weiter auf die EU
zuzugehen.
Viele überzeugte "Leaver", die vor zwei Jahren für den EU-Austritt geworben hatten, wittern nun
die Gefahr, dass May, um überhaupt einen Deal zum 29. März 2019 hinzubekommen, weitere
Kompromisse gegenüber Brüssel macht; sie wollen das verhindern.
34
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Identity", National Identities, 17 (2014), 259-269
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Foreign Language Education Press, 2011)
Buhlert, Cora, "Downton Abbey Hits Germany – With An Embarrassing Mistranslation", Writer,
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slation/> [Accessed 10 January 2019]
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Coillie, Jan Van, "“Oh, How Hard It Is To Play The Translator's Game”: Translating Orality In
The Grimms' “Rumpelstiltskin”", Marvels & Tales, 28 (2014), 346-366
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Peter Lang Publishers, 2012)
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Giora, Rachel, Adi Cholev, Ofer Fein, and Orna Peleg, "On The Superiority Of Defaultness:
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LN902

Dr. Mila Milani

Maria-Valentina Bruns, MA Translation and Culture

Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen) by Brothers Grimm Translation…………………………... 2

Sleeping Beauty Translation Commentary………………………………………………….. 5

Downton Abbey Translation………………………………………………………................ 11

Downton Abbey Translation Commentary…………………………………………………… 16

Brexit Article Translation Commentary………………………………………………………. 23

Source Texts (in order: Dornröschen, Downton Abbey, Brexit) ………………………………27

Sleeping Beauty by Brothers Grimm

Translated from German into English by Maria-Valentina Bruns

“Oh, if only we had a child!”, but sadly never had one.

land, said to her:

them had to stay home.

cried​ ​with a loud voice,

last for a hundred years.”

sat and old woman with a spindle diligently spinning wool.

her finger, so the curse fulfilled itself.

Commentary on the translation of “Dornröschen” by the Grimm Brothers

“Dornröschen” by the Brothers Grimm is a short story published in their children’s

domestication seems to be the best option for the translation.

to keep it as a spindle. A translator is not a window but is an intrinsic part of negotiating a

Downton Abbey, Season 1; episode 1 by Julian Fellowes

translated from English into German by Maria-Valentina Bruns

Robert, Graf von Grantham

Was ist es?

Die Gräfin Witwe erwartet Sie im Salon.

Robert, Graf von Grantham

Ich komme gleich

Sie hat nach Lady Grantham gefragt

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Und der neue Kammerdiener ist angekommen, my Lord

Robert, Graf von Grantham

Ach, ja. Danke Carson

[Carson räuspert sich]

Robert, Graf von Grantham

Herrschaft wird es selbst beurteilen

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Ich geh jetzt lieber

Robert, Graf von Grantham

[Violet ist in Schwarz gekleidet]

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Er schmeichelt mir. Ich bin stärker als ich aussehe.

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Wir hatten ihn alle unglaublich gern.

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

schrecklicher Frau hat es niemals gegeben.

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Wurdest du zum Mittagessen bleiben?

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Ich sage Carson bescheid

[Cora geht zur Tur]

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Ich habe es ihm schon gesagt. Wollen wir uns hinsetzen?

[Sie setzen sich]

Violet, Gräfin Witwe von Grantham

Weisst du wer der neue Erbe ist?

Cora, Gräfin von Grantham

Ich weiss nur, dass es einen neuen gibt.

cried with a loud voice,