Familiarly Foreign: Realia and affect in the English and Finnish translations of Er ist wieder da by Timur Vermes

Abstract

This thesis analyses the treatment of realia in the Finnish and English translations of the satirical novel Er ist wieder da (2012) by Timur Vermes, with a secondary focus on the effect that these translatorial choices have on the affective nature of the texts. The thesis relies primarily on Ritva Leppihalme’s categorization of translation strategies for realia in identifying and categorizing the realia in the prologue and two opening chapters of the novel Er ist wieder da and its translations into Finnish and English. The concept of affect is treated with a focus on the difference between geographical and emotional distance when considering domestication and foreignization as outlined by Kaisa Koskinen. The research builds on an initial identification of realia in the chosen chapters followed by a categorization of the strategies used for them in the translations. This data is then used as basis for a more in-depth analysis of the similarities and differences between the utilization of the strategies as well as their effect on the affective nature of the texts. A very clear difference was observed in the affective distance created by the two translations, with the English translations favoring strategies considered traditionally foreignizing to create a more comfortable and domesticated reading experience by distancing the reader from the National Socialist themes of the novel. This is contrast with the original novel and the Finnish translation, which both use very familiar everyday language to bring the reader uncomfortably close to these same themes. In short, the original and the Finnish translation use language to tie together modern Germany and that of the National Socialist era, while the English translation seeks to separate the two.