A Stylistic Analysis of Four Translations of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Abstract

The paper looks at stylistic differences between four translations of J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye – two Slovene translations, a Serbo-Croatian, and an Italian translation. Firstly, stylistic components relevant to the novel in question are identified. In this respect, the translation of teenage speech and idiom appears to be not only the most conspicuous stylistic feature of the original but also the hardest to translate. Secondly, the ways in which the different translations have rendered certain formal and lexical features of style are compared by determining and describing their function. A large number of examples have been submitted to critical scrutiny, of which only a few representative ones are listed and explained in the paper. Finally, this paper points to some particular difficulties of the four translators in their attempts to reproduce the stylistic components of the original.