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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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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). | 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). | ||
Malaquais does take a stab at Gallagher’s Boston Irish accent, but that is only because the words used are cognates in English: “cards” for “''cartes'',” so he drops the “r” and gets “''caaates''.” It is important to remember that it is Levy who is dealing and he is glad to poke fun at Gallagher, who has been in an angry mood all through the game, by imitating Gallagher’s accent. These issues are trifles compared to the scope of the translator’s accomplishments, but they are important trifles that reveal close attention to detail and thoughtful choices. Ultimately, the challenges he faced, combined with the advantages afforded by the French language, help Jean Malaquais to achieve a masterful translation of Mailer’s masterpiece. | |||
To close, I would like to cite the hauntingly sober first paragraph of the novel, first in English and then in French. It is timeless in both languages. | |||
<blockquote>''The Naked and the Dead''</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>No one could sleep. When morning came, assault craft would be lowered and the first wave of troops would ride through the surf and charge ashore on the beach at Anopopei. All over the ship, all through the convoy, there was a knowledge that in a few hours some of them were going to be dead (3).</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>''Les Nus et les Morts''</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>''Personne ne pouvait dormir. Quand le matin sera venu, les embarcations d’assaut seront mises à la mer et une première vague de troupes piquera à travers le ressac et débarquera sur la plage d’Anopopei. Dans le convoi, à bord de chaque navire, l’on savait que dans quelques heures quelques-uns seraient morts (17).''</blockquote> | |||
The solemnity and the elegiac tone of the passage resonate in both languages. Despite the movement implied in the scene to come, there is a profound silence that is echoed in the chapter that follows, in many ways by the men themselves, even those who speak and wake others. The mood is sober and silent in the convoy as conveyed so well by Red’s thoughts—as he is all alone on deck. | |||