THEY DO IT WITH NURSERY RHYMES. THE MYSTERY OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DETECTIVE FICTION FROM A LITERARY CRITIC’S AND A TRANSLATOR’S PERSPECTIVE
THEY DO IT WITH NURSERY RHYMES. THE MYSTERY OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DETECTIVE FICTION FROM A LITERARY CRITIC’S AND A TRANSLATOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The paper looks at Agatha Christie’s thought-provoking selection of titles for her detective stories both from a literary critic’s and from a translator’s perspective. The fact that many titles include or allude to well-known English nursery rhymes is not a mere coincidence, but the deliberate choice of an author who created a subtle interplay in her reader’s horizon of expectation, between the tension and thrilling atmosphere of a classical crime narrative and the tranquility and playful mood of a children’s poem or fairy tale. Observing the Romanian translations of Agatha Christie’s original titles, we comment on situations when this interplay is replicated; when it is not, we pay attention to the compensatory strategies – if any – used by the Romanian translators.

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