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The Mailer Review/Volume 13, 2019/Mailer in Translation: The Naked and the Dead: Difference between revisions
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One challenge for Malaquais is that there is no way to use “goddam” as an | One challenge for Malaquais is that there is no way to use “goddam” as an | ||
adjective in French.It is not awkward; it is just impossible. Mailer uses “goddam luck,”“goddam drinkin,”“goddam army” and they come out as “''sacrée veine''” (holy luck), “''sacrée armée''” (holy army). “''Sacré''” means “holy” (like holy Moses, holy Toledo, holy cow). So“sacred” or “holy” is used ironically- a nuance of the language. But when it comes to “goddam drinkin,” Malaquais can’t use that parallel, so he uses a whole sentence to transmit Wilson’s thought: “. . . ''j’en ai pourtant bu de la gnole'' . . .” (with all the goddam drinkin’ I’ve done . . .) then he adds, “I still can’t remember what the stuff tastes like even when I have the bottle in my hand” (5&19). | adjective in French.It is not awkward; it is just impossible. Mailer uses “goddam luck,”“goddam drinkin,”“goddam army” and they come out as “''sacrée veine''” (holy luck), “''sacrée armée''” (holy army). “''Sacré''” means “holy” (like holy Moses, holy Toledo, holy cow). So“sacred” or “holy” is used ironically- a nuance of the language. But when it comes to “goddam drinkin,” Malaquais can’t use that parallel, so he uses a whole sentence to transmit Wilson’s thought: “. . . ''j’en ai pourtant bu de la gnole'' . . .” (with all the goddam drinkin’ I’ve done . . .) then he adds, “I still can’t remember what the stuff tastes like even when I have the bottle in my hand” (5 & 19). | ||
Sometimes, Malaquais changes a word that Mailer uses because it is also less formal or more idiomatic. When Red thinks about the “hot nauseating breakfast” the men will get in the morning, the translator replaces the word “breakfast” (''petit déjeuner'') with “''casse-croûte''” which is more colloquial and means “break bread” (sounds Biblical in English but not in French). Malaquais also changes a verb: When Red thinks, “there was nothing to do but go from one day to the next.” He replaces “go” (''aller'') with “live” (''vivre''), which is an improvement especially given the circumstances (12 & 27). | |||
Then there are words like “cracker” to describe Wilson, which is pretty much untranslatable; he uses “''un crétin de vantard''” which is “stupid brag- gart” (6 &21); that expression misses the regional aspect of Wilson’s character and the many connotations it holds in English—at least in American usage. When Red, who is on deck, thinks about Hennessey who worries about “every gimcrack” in his life, “gimcrack” becomes the equivalent of he worries about “nails,” unimportant items like “nails”; “''les clous''” equals “nails” (14 & 31). | |||
Another problem for Malaquais is to translate “Jap” and “Japs” since both carry negative connotations in English; moreover, the word is sometimes used as an adjective, as in “Jap artillery” then as a noun “Japs on the beach” and “those Japs.” Malaquais simply uses “''artillerie japonaise''” and “''les Japon- ais''.” Unlike the Germans, for whom the French have many pejorative words, the Japanese have not been a traditional enemy. | |||
On the other hand, English has the largest vocabulary of any world lan- guage, so there are some words that do not exist in French. Malaquais nav- igates these instances gracefully. For example: there is no word for “giggle.” So, it becomes “''un petit rire''” (a little laugh) or no word for “grin”; “he grinned” becomes “''il sourit'',” “he smiles.” There is also no French word for “daydreaming.” Malaquais uses “''rêver''” (to dream). While the word “''la reverie''” exists in French, it still connotes more thinking and reflection than does the English “daydreaming.” | |||
Another challenge for the translator is how to render Wilson’s southern accent. Generally speaking, it cannot be done. Malaquais does, however, use a lovely expression to indicate an accent: “''Je te le dis, il annonca à Croft, de sa molle voix de Meridional'',” which is an exact translation of Mailer’s phrase: “I’m telling you, he said to Croft, in his soft Southern voice” (4 & 19). | |||