Explaining translatorship: Selective appropriation and causal emplotment in literary translators' life-story narratives

Abstract

This study examines literary translators' ontological narratives and how translatorship is embedded in their life-stories. Translatorship refers to how they portray themselves as literary translators and what translation as an activity means for them. The data constitute of four life-story narratives by contemporary Finnish literary translators collected as a part of a wider interview project in late 2018 and early 2019. Based on an earlier study (Heino, 2021) translators identify themselves either as mediator- or writer-translators. This study focuses on the narratives of two mediator- and two writer-translators who all have a Master's degree in Translation Studies and analyses how they utilize selective appropriation and causal emplotment to construct a coherent narrative that reflects their experiences of becoming and being a literary translator. The analysis demonstrated that to negotiate the challenging working conditions and low status of the profession, the mediator-translators emphasise the ethos of hard work and professional qualifications whereas the writer-translators aim to promote qualities such as innate talent, vocation, and a way of life.