Granice przekładalnosci literatury quebeckiej (na przykładzie "Maryse" Francine Noël)

Abstract

The author describes the problem of the relative untranslatability of the cultural realities connected with the lack of equivalence between two cultures using the example of the possibilities of translation of Quebec literature. The literary output of the Quebec writers was determined, especially in the 60's and 70’s, by the political and social situation of this province. One of the means of emphasizing their own identity was to use a specific language, particularly “joual”. The 80’s brought new questions about the national identity of the inhabitants of Quebec, which can be illustrated in the domain of literature by Maryse by Francine Noel, a novel built on a game between different registers and forms of the language. The author of this article analyses the limits in translating of that type of literature based on the analysis of a tew linguistic problems which appear in the novel, among them the specific accent in the Quebec variation of French which indicates affiliation with a particular social group, the presence of Anglicisms in Canadian French and the use of “joual”. The specificity of Quebec literature consisting of the games between different registers of language constitutes its main disadvantage making the translation to other languages difficult if not impossible.