Multilingualism and translation strategies in the Finnish translation of Patricia Grace’s Potiki

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between multilingualism and translation strategies in Patricia Grace's novel Potiki (1987) and its Finnish translation Potiki – pieni lintu (1990) by Leena Tamminen. The purpose of the study is to analyze how Tamminen’s translation relates to its multilingual source text and in what ways does multilingualism manifest itself in the translation. The study had two research questions. The first research question was to identify the local translation strategies the translator had used to translate the foreign language text sequences in the novel’s Finnish translation. The second research question was concerned with the global translation strategy used by translator to produce the Finnish translation, that is, whether the translator’s aim has been to produce a multilingual or monolingual translation.

The data used in the study consists of the foreign language text sequences in Potiki and the corresponding text sequences in the Finnish translation. The term foreign language text sequences refers to the Māori language sequences, or codeswitches, in the material. All codeswitches in both the source text and the translation were included in the analysis. As the first part of the analysis, the Māori codeswitches in the source text and the corresponding sequences in the translation were tabulated. These were then compared and categorized according to the local translation strategies used. I based my categorization on the categorization of translation strategies by Leppihalme (2007). Based on the analysis of local translation strategies, I also comment on the global translation strategy used by the translator in the translation, and whether the translation has sought to preserve or reduce the multilingual nature of the source text.

The analysis is based on Lawrence Venuti’s (2018) concepts of domestication and foreignization, in addition to which I approach the text by considering its position as a postcolonial text. Multilingualism and language mixing are typical features of postcolonial literature, and they play a central role in the construction of cultural realities in postcolonial texts. When translating a multilingual text, the choices made by the translator determine how the linguistic and cultural realities of the source text are portrayed in the translation.

The results of the analysis show that the most common local translation strategy used by Tamminen was direct transfer, and the Finnish translation has overall been faithful to the multilingual nature of the source text. The majority of the foreign language sequences were retained in the translation, thus the global translation strategy has been to produce a multilingual translation. The local translation strategies used by the translator were direct transfer, typographic cushioning, intratextual translation and translating into target language. The least used local translation strategies were intratextual translation and translating into target language.