DECISIONES OPERATIVAS

Swiss German, Low German and Scots are each regarded as groups of dialects which are used in addition to one or more other languages in different domains. Low German and Scots which have in the past been regarded as independent languages, as well as Swiss German which is far removed from Standard German, have an

43 ambiguous status, and were it not for the lack of a standard variety, Scots and Swiss German could be regarded as independent languages on linguistic grounds. All three countries and regions have a tradition of original literary writing in dialect as well as translation into dialect in literary works, with drama making up the majority. However, original and translated dialect literature is only a marginal contributor to the literary output of each of the countries and regions.

Plays originally written in both standard and dialect are translated into Low German, Swiss German and Scots. While translators in the German-language regions specialise in light comedies, or ‘low-brow’ drama, and ‘high-brow’ and world drama makes up a considerably smaller part of translated drama; Scottish translators focus almost exclusively on classic and contemporary world drama. The reasons may be found in a strong tradition in the German-language context of Volkstheater, or folk theatre, and dialect theatre which has always relied on light-hearted comedies in the local dialect.

Practitioners in all three regions choose “high-brow” drama to prove that their dialect has the same capacity as standard to cope with the literary language of the original. They want to keep the language varieties alive, challenge and develop their capabilities aiming at raising the status of the dialect to that of a language unifying culture and country. Whereas this is rarely stated explicitly as a goal, what translators in Scotland and northern Germany do state as a reason is the desire to contribute to the development of a cultural or literary tradition independent of the standard-English and Low German traditions. This confirms Aaltonen’s suggestion that translation may be a means of contributing to the continuation of an indigenous tradition (2000: 70).

The strategy used in northern Germany and Switzerland is that of combining a choice of suitable TL dialects with cultural relocation, i.e. the adaptation of the plot, names and references to the target-regional culture. These major changes to the ST are justified by the belief of the translators that retaining the source-cultural context while using a clearly defined target-cultural dialect would lead to confusions, mismatched associations and misinterpretations by the audience. In the Scottish context, however, dialect translation with and without cultural relocation can be found. Bowman and Findlay, in particular, challenge this assumption. Their success proves that dialects can reach beyond the narrow context of the local to express thoughts, ideas and problems in different cultures.

44 Translators in all countries and regions are aware of the social implications of dialect use in the ST and try to match them with suitable TL dialects and sociolects. In fact, one of the reasons given by translators for their use of dialect in the TT is the attempt to recreate the individuality of each character as expressed through their language use – their local, regional and social background as well as idiosyncrasies. Translators also use the whole range of language varieties available to them, including the standard, to express group membership, contrasts and insider-outsider relationships between characters.

Translators and theatre practitioners are aware that audiences like hearing their own ‘voice’ on stage, their everyday speech and use of language variation. It facilitates immediate recognition of and identification with the characters and, thus, understanding and empathy.

All dialect productions were staged mainly within the respective dialect regions. Some Bowman & Findlay translations were staged in the USA, Canada and England without adjustment of language use. For the recording and broadcast on German TV of Low German plays produced at the Ohnsorg-Theater, however, the dialect use is toned down to varieties closer to standard with Low German accents and few dialect features. Even for the production in front of the regular audience, the playwrights take into account the urban background and linguistic capabilities of their audience. Whether Swiss German play productions are toned down for TV broadcast could not be ascertained. Apparently, the success of dialect productions also depends on where they are staged. As long as they remain within the same region as that of the dialect used in the play, comprehension and, therefore, success of the play can be guaranteed. For broadcasts or touring beyond the particular dialect region, adjustments seem necessary.

Of course, it is not always the translator alone who makes the decision to translate a particular foreign play into dialect. The translation may be commissioned by a particular theatre, or a theatre company and director may discuss the matter and come to a group decision. Sometimes individual translators make the decision and then offer their work to different theatres. Sometimes the translator is the director of a theatre who commissions, translates and produces the play himself.

Overall, factors influencing the decision to translate plays into dialect are manifold and interrelated. They are not only related to the ST but also, and to a larger extent,

45 reflect factors that are clearly target-culture related and are politically motivated. Czennia describes how historical changes in the norms and functioning of standard and dialect, as well as attitudes towards them in everyday life, have an impact on their use in literature, whether the speaker is attributed positive or negative characteristics (2004: 507-8). However, these connotations with dialect in particular are influenced not only by linguistic norms, but also by stylistic and text-related norms, in our case drama norms, as well as translation norms. All these factors affect the translator’s choice of strategy when it comes to the translation of dialect. In short, literary translations are

[…] Sprachschöpfungen, in denen sich sprachstilistische Eigenschaften des Ausgangstextes mit geltenden Traditionen, Konventionen und Normvorstellungen der Zielkultur sowie des Übersetzers selbst […] verbinden.19

(Czennia 2004: 509)

19

Translation: “[…] word creations, which combine stylistic characteristics of the source text with prevailing traditions, conventions and norms of the target culture as well as of the translator him-/herself.”

46

Chapter Two