THE SUPPRESSION OF VULGARITY IN TRANSLATION. A CASE STUDY ON NIGHTBITCH AND ITS ROMANIAN TRANSLATION
THE SUPPRESSION OF VULGARITY IN TRANSLATION. A CASE STUDY ON NIGHTBITCH AND ITS ROMANIAN TRANSLATION

Summary/Abstract: With the constant evolution of technology, all societies are experiencing an increase in access to information, as well as an increase in the demand for certain information to be made accessible in their native languages. However, as it is already known, from the works of academics such as Lefevere and Benjamin, translation is not a scientific, accurate practice. While specialised translation may benefit from the clear-cut, unquestionable use of language through the use of specific words in specific syntactic positions, fiction, with its metaphors and poetic use of language, does not observe the same objectivity and rigour in translation. As such, many translations are conducted by either observing a faithfulness to the words used in the original, or a faithfulness to the meaning behind the words used. As such, when we consider the latter method of translation, we are faced with works which oftentimes hardly resemble the source text. This matter is of vital importance when it comes to the translation of feminist texts which aim to instill a certain effect and response in the reader. The present paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the novel Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and its Romanian translation produced for Editura Trei by Radu Șorop, with a special focus on the profanities used by the author and its translated counterparts, to attempt to illustrate the way in which feminist texts considered “uncouth” are stifled in the target language through euphemisms and censorship.

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