Translation Norms, Strategies and Solutions in Lagerlöf's The Further Adventures of Nils (1911) : A Comparative Analysis of Proper Nouns and Lexical Items for Natural Phenomena

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this paper is to examine translation norms, strategies and solutions in chapter XIII Westbottom and Lapland in The Further Adventures of Nils (Lagerlöf, 1911). In the foreword to the English translation of the novel, the translator writes that some of the purely geographical matter has been eliminated in the translation, and that cuts have been made where the descriptive matter is only of local interest. This statement raised questions about the intended readerships and the purposes of the original novel and the translation, respectively. Are these the same in the two texts, or are they different? Further questions were raised regarding the initial norm of the translator. Has she aimed for domestication or foreignization in the text? In this paper, two domains were chosen as fields of study: proper nouns and the lexical fields of water, heights and flat land. Through an analysis of coupled pairs from the chosen domains, it was concluded that the translator’s initial norm was foreignization, but that there are also many examples of domestication in the text. It was also shown that while the original novel has two clearly stated purposes, namely of being a geography book for Swedish school children as well as a novel with high literary standards, the educational purpose is not as pronounced in the translation. However, the inclusion of a Table of Pronunciation displayed an educational addition to the translation, which is not part of the original novel. Keywords: translation, Lagerlöf, English, Swedish, initial norm, domestication, foreignization.