<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A classic of American literature, Mark Twain’s <italic>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</italic> has had a huge impact not only on American literature but also on world literature. Its bold and freshly creative style, its humor and the author’s endless verve and vitality, the multifaceted and novel approach to life have all contributed to its success and popularity. However, Twain’s greatest merit probably lies in the way in which he used language, crafting art out of the speech of ordinary people. His experiments with language, the vernacular in particular, have meant a huge step forward in American literature and have been a source of inspiration for many writers. However, the translation of the novel has generated huge challenges related to the linguistic register appropriate for the translation of the novel and the strategies for rendering dialect, the African-American one in particular. It has also divided Romanian translators with regard to the target readership the original novel addressed: children, adults or both.</p>
</abstract>

A classic of American literature, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has had a huge impact not only on American literature but also on world literature. Its bold and freshly creative style, its humor and the author’s endless verve and vitality, the multifaceted and novel approach to life have all contributed to its success and popularity. However, Twain’s greatest merit probably lies in the way in which he used language, crafting art out of the speech of ordinary people. His experiments with language, the vernacular in particular, have meant a huge step forward in American literature and have been a source of inspiration for many writers. However, the translation of the novel has generated huge challenges related to the linguistic register appropriate for the translation of the novel and the strategies for rendering dialect, the African-American one in particular. It has also divided Romanian translators with regard to the target readership the original novel addressed: children, adults or both.

The Challenges of Translating <italic>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</italic> into Romanian

East-West Cultural Passage

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Challenges of Translating  into Romanian

A classic of American literature, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has had a huge impact not only on American literature but also on world...

The Challenges of Translating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn into Romanian

Published Online: May 12, 2021

Page range: 128 - 145

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2020-0015

Keywords
translation theory, literariness, dialect, vernacular, standard, non-standard, style, orthography, Romanian translation

© 2020 Alexandra Mitrea, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Challenges of Translating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn into Romanian

Published Online: May 12, 2021

Page range: 128 - 145

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2020-0015

Keywordstranslation theory, literariness, dialect, vernacular, standard, non-standard, style, orthography, Romanian translation

© 2020 Alexandra Mitrea, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
translation theory, literariness, dialect, vernacular, standard, non-standard, style, orthography, Romanian translation