A Writer, a Translator and a Translator

Abstract

The article deals with the French translation of the short story Amy by the Slovenian writer Mira Mihelič, made by Elza Jereb for the anthology Nouvelles slovènes (Paris, 1969). The original text, a classical narrative involving some modernist strategies, presents a syntactical feature rather unusual in Slovenian (although typical of the author Mira Mihelič): a very frequent use of participles and participial structures. Elza Jereb’s translation is accurate and precise, preserving not only the basic meaning but also the stylistic qualities, particularly the internal rhythm of the original. Some slight changes (such as for example a more consequent and logical use of italics) render the text accessible to the French reader without undue simplifications. The only part of the original that seems to get lost in translation are some minor parts of the dialogue: the phonetically transcribed provincial German of the original, rich in social connotations, is translated into standard literary German, thereby losing some of its sociohistorical implications as well as some of its comical potential.