J. J. Appl. Sci., Vol.12, No.1 (2010)
Translation of Parodies in Terry Pratchett's
Witches Abroad and Wyrd Sisters into German
1
Ali Abdullah Mahmood & 2Kirsten Abdellatif
1
2
Diyala University, baquba, Iraq
Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan
2010/12/28 :‫تاريخ القبول‬
2010/10/21 :‫تاريخ االستالم‬
Mahmood, Ali A. & Kirsten Abdellatif
(2010) Translation of Parodies in Terry
Pratchett's Witches Abroad and Wyrd Sisters
into German. J. J. Appl. Sci: Humanities Series
12 (1): 145-168.
Abstract: Terry Pratchett uses a lot of allusions
and references in Witches Abroad[1] and Wyrd
Sisters[2] to parody different literary sources
ranging from classical and folk literature to
fantasy fiction, movies, and TV series. Analysis
of these parodies with relevant examples from
these two novels has been thoroughly done in
order to acknowledge the reader with Pratchett's
work and the type of material being translated.
As to whether these parodies form difficulties
for translation into German, one cannot predict
unless a thorough investigation of the role of
the translator, the target text reader and the
power play of the parody has been achieved.
This study attempts to account for the success
or failure of parody transference into the target
language and to explore the stylistic deviations
and allusions which play crucial roles in
parody. These features which represent real
obstacles in parody translation have been
tackled due to their contextual relevance. This
paper also tracks down the parodic effect on the
source text reader, on the translator as a second
author, and on the target text reader. Using
Pratchett's parodies from[1] and[2] as
explanatory data, the paper argues whether the
parody can evoke in the target text reader
effects analogous to all of those evoked in the
source text by reproducing the parodic features
into the target language. Finally, the study
examines the liability of certain parodies to be
undermined in their amusing, mocking or
ridiculous features in the target language. The
discussion draws upon the perspective that
parodies, representing culture-specific features,
are untranslatable, whereas those, representing
'white knowledge' (commonly known literature)
are easily recognized in the source and target
text (English and German).
2010
168 145 1 12
Terry Pratchett
Witches Abroad
Wyrd Sisters
Keywords: Pratchett, Witches Abroad, Wyrd
Sisters, Total verhext, MacBest, Hexen,
parody, translation, allusions, white knowledge.
 Principal author's e-mail address: alidr59@yahoo.com
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Parody
White Knowledge
Ali Mahmood & Kirsten Abdellatif
Preliminary Readings
Once Lefevere[3] stated: “Of all wo0rks of literature, the one that is written
to make fun of another is probably the most difficult for translations because they
find themselves translating not just one work but two, the parody(1) and the
original”.
Creating an appropriate translation often means adapting the target text (TT)
to the text-typological conventions of the target culture. This can be achieved
through a comparative analysis of parallel texts from English (SL) into German
(TL). To be of equal informativity, these texts must be produced in similar
communicative situations. However, translation of literary texts, in general, and
parody in particular, is problematic from linguistic, cultural, stylistic, and
pragmatic point of view, admitting that stylistic deviations and allusions are more
difficult in translation than linguistic features. Therefore, the usual question is: Is
such translation possible at all? The answer is, as one might expect, negative.
Despite this, translations of some parodies have been produced in the TL. Such
translation is both a theme and a device in many parodic texts which are written to
ridicule other texts by imitating and exaggerating their contents, structures and
style. When making a critical study of translating parody from a SL into a TL,
there are a number of points that must be taken into consideration. One of the
most prevailing points is whether or not a translation of the above features should
be literal or free as possible. A literal translation, though preserving the author‟s
wording, loses the nuances of the original text. A free translation, on the other
hand, can capture more of these nuances, though it is a rewriting of the original
text. But one must indicate that beside the linguistic and cultural similarities
necessary for such translation, the piece of literature being parodied needs to be
commonly known in order for the parody to be effective on the TT readers.
However, “since the evolution of literature is mainly studied by scholars and not
by ordinary readers, translations of parodies appreciated by scholars may be the
best translators can hope for”.[3]
The novels chosen for a closer study are Witches Abroad[1] and Wyrd
Sisters.[2] Their German translations by Andrias Brandhorst are called Total
verhext[4] and MacBest[5] respectively. These two novels have been selected
because they feature the same protagonists and, partly, the same setting; this
means their language usage does not differ because of dissimilarities in the plot.
One of the main goals of Pratchett is to amuse his readers through the use of
parodies. What this paper tries to explain is to introduce the German translator‟s
approach of transferring Pratchett‟s parodies in a way that may make German
readers similarly amused. It is quite necessary to refer to Pratchett‟s Discworld
which he uses as a parodic creation to ridicule and satirise human society.
“Discworld is a place where characters battle an internal fight with the good and
evil inside themselves, where war produces more victims than heroes, where
confrontation is the last resort, and where all seemingly insignificant details of
everyday life comprise and influence a person‟s important decisions”.[10]
Moreover, “Discworld allows Pratchett to deal with all kinds of human
cultural and religious follies, along with such weighty matters as destiny and
death … or Death in this context”.[11] On her part, Mendelsohn[12] suggests that
“the ethical system of Discworld is based on valuing the individual, and both his
right and responsibility to make his own choices.” The Discworld itself is a
parody of our own world. It is not a static place, but a place overflowing with
magic and change. What started as a place of pastiche in the first novel (The
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Colour of Magic)[13] grew with each story to become more than a simple parody
of a fantastic world, but a canvas on which events, characters, philosophical,
religious and political issues could be painted and studied. The Discworld, from
its circumference to the bustling city of Ankh-Morpork, is a giant laboratory for a
curious writer who does not wish to be limited in his subject matter by any genre
stereotypes. Pratchett puts it the following way: “I was doing it for the fun of
seriously parodying a lot of bad fantasy, and, indeed some good fantasy which
nevertheless is worth parodying”.[14]
Introducing much parody in his novels, Pratchett‟s purpose was not only to
provoke laughs, but to criticise the failings of real world. “Parody hollows out
codes and norms to expose the husk-like quality of beliefs, the absurdity and
grammatically ironical nature of interpretation”.[15] It is to be noted that parody
was one of the concepts and critical categories of postmodernism used to subsume
and mirror the contradictions of today‟s intricate dialogue with the cultural canon
at large while encouraging a re-appraisal of the concept of originality. Pratchett
says: “I look upon the parody structure as a vehicle for other things”.[16] In fact,
Pratchett‟s parody is one facet of postmodernism which raises questions about the
originality of the text. It has an intimate relation with Pratchett‟s Discworld which
is used to mock our reality. Miller[11] observes that “Pratchett‟s Discworld series
presents the author as a satiric and ironic observer of twentieth-century social
mores.”
Characteristics of Pratchett’s Fiction
Pratchett writes for a British audience on a British genre, but through the
course of time, the focus of his writing is on the American culture through the
multitudinous references from American TV. series and movies. Pratchett says
that this is true „because Western culture is now largely American culture, so you
just learn about it, pick it up from the movies and television‟.[14]
Pratchett has become popular due to the use of the Discworld subverting
genre through his characters‟ intervention in the story pattern, through his
juxtaposing of rudiments of our own reality, and through the successful use of
parodies from high reputable and low public literature. In Pratchett‟s Discworld,
our real principles and even our own naïve follies and inconsistency of human
behaviour are disrespected, distorted, spoiled, twisted or even magnified due to
their impotence against agonistic and mockery debunking of parody and narrative
causality. These resources are all intermingled skilfully in the Cauldron of
Story(2) provided with relevant „white knowledge‟ tied to the basic elements of
myths and folk narratives, in order for his novels to be recognizable and gain
popularity among a large number of readers. Moreover, Pratchett‟s treatment of a
target parody is a perfect example of “repetition with critical distance that allows
ironic signalling of difference at the very heart of similarity”.[17]
By writing such number of multifarious allusions and references in selected
suitable places in[1] and[2], Pratchett often attracts the ST readers in a way that the
common man might be excluded from parodies‟ recognition. It should be noted
here that the placement of any well-known allusion or reference within the
Discworld text destabilizes it, and hence reproduces it in a new version, but to
guarantee the functions of these parodies. Crowe Writes: “His favourite tool is
parody which he displays through the regular juxtaposition of fantasy with
pragmatism”.[18]
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Ali Mahmood & Kirsten Abdellatif
Having the power of driving the ST readers outside the story patterns,
Pratchett tries to bind them to their popular culture. Allusions and references to
old and folk literature, as well as fantasy fiction and movies, have much influence
on Pratchett‟s Discworld characters, resulting in subverting the storyline under the
influence of „narrative causality‟.(3)
Humour is one of the main characteristics of Pratchett‟s work through many
jokes thrown intentionally by the novels‟ characters. His goal is not only to amuse
readers and to make them laugh, but also to comment on the deficiencies of our
world. Moorcock asserts that the “the function of humour is to emphasise the
implications of its subject matter, to humanize its characters, clarify its issues and
intensify the narrative”.[20] Moreover, mimicking the style of another writer, filmmaker or musician, Pratchett is ambitious to achieve a comic effect in many cases,
not necessarily to make the readers laugh. In[1] and,[2] Pratchett uses humour as a
tool for achieving a parodic effect, i.e the parody is successful when the reader
recognizes the humorous effect. By introducing a parody of fantasy, he subverts
that fantasy, but at the same time he fuses humour and fantasy to produce a unique
fantastical environment. On the other hand, we sometimes sympathize with the
Discworld humorous protagonists because they have been treated unjustly by the
narrator. In WS, for instance, the Fool who is supposed to be the comedian,
becomes pathetic rather than joyful. More importantly, Pratchett elevates this
character to talk about „serious subjects‟ such as „the power of words‟: “In – the
Guild,” said the Fool [to Lord Felmet], “we learned that words can be more
powerful than magic” (WS, p. 86). In doing this, Pratchett transmits a
humanitarian message to his readers showing them the psychological effect of
comedy, criticising at the same time the conventions of the so-called civilized
society from within.
Problems of Translating Parody
It is to be admitted that translating parody is not as easy as we had been led
to believe. When we suggested the “topic” of this research to Mr. Collin Smythe
(Pratchett‟s agent), his reaction was that one could get nothing out of such a study.
But we insisted to tackle the subject after a thorough reading on Pratchett‟s
parodies in many of his Discworld novels, especially[1] and.[2] What encouraged
us to study this subject was that some of Pratchett‟s parodies bear some common
knowledge representing folk literature of the western society which is concerned
with everyday life of the western layman first, and that some other parodies,
especially those related to Grimms Fairy Tales(4) in,[1] are well-known in the
western culture, second. Therefore, translation of these parodies may have some
value to examine their impact on TT readers. Pratchett states “With Moving
Pictures,[21] the film industry is common to everybody; fairy tales Witches
Abroad[1] are common to everybody; with Wyrd Sisters[2] everyone knows
Macbeth even if they have never read or seen it”.[16]
The main problems which face a translator of Pratchett belong to different
allusions and references to topics such as Shakespeare,[22] modern authors, folk
and fantasy literature, literary genre, mythology, Arthurian Legend, movies and
TV series, rock music, cartoons and computer games. Trying to defend himself
against the criticism of using a great number of references in his novels, and thus
confuses the readers, Pratchett said, “If I put a reference in a book I try to pick one
that a generally well-read[…] person has a sporting chance of picking up: I call
this „white knowledge‟, the sort of stuff that fills up your brain without you really
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knowing where it came from”.[23] These became real obstacles because their
translation needs the accurate comprehension of the parodic text in its original
context, the transfer of that text in a different and often disparate linguistic and
cultural environment, and its reformulation in a new text which successfully
recaptures the effect of the original text and evokes in the TT readers an
equivalent response. However, the recognition of Pratchett‟s parodies among
multi-numbers of allusions and references from old literature, folk tales and
fantasy fiction, to movies and TV series is difficult for the majority of ST readers
who are not interested in or familiarized with the Discworld novels. Despite this,
they have more advantages than the TT readers in a way that, for instance, most
English readers have had to read or see Shakespearean plays at some point in their
education and entertainment The great numbers of allusions and references to the
American culture through movies and TV series are other facilities to recognize
the parodies on the part of the ST readers as well. The translator must deal with
problems of translating parodies and give his solutions finding the equivalent
parodies in the target language. Such parodies should represent similar cultural
settings relying on traditional myths and archetypal situations of Western social
values and their conveyance into target-culture based parodies. Trying to identify
these problems, the researchers have made a close parallel study of[1] and[2] and
their German translations concentrating on instances of parodies being translated
into the TL. In order to give the reader a thorough study of translation of
Pratchett‟s parodies, they have been classified into four types: parodies from Old
Literature, parodies from Folk Tales and Fantasy Fiction, parodies from Movies
and TV Series, and parodies from Miscellaneous Sources.
1. Translation of Parodies from Old Literature
Pratchett was either a parodist or an ironist ridiculing other famous writers
partly or wholly. He may either insert parodies within the contexts of his novels
where necessary or parody the whole text of a novel, a play and/or a movie. Wyrd
Sisters,[2] for example, is a loose parody of Shakespeare‟s Macbeth, and that is
why the German translator gave the German version the title „MacBest‟.[5]
Moreover, in Macbeth, the three witches are sometimes called the „weird sisters‟:
Banquo, „I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters‟[…] (Act 2, Scene 1), or in
(Act 4, Scene 1). Macbeth: „Saw you the weird sisters?‟, „No, my lord‟, replied
Lennox. Some quoted dialogues between the three witches in Macbeth on one
hand, and between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth on the other, move similarly with
the three witches in.[2] Also, most of the dialogue between Lady Felmet and Lord
Felmet resembles the dialogue between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Pratchett
uses the trio witches as a parody of the three witches in Macbeth with an
exception that in Macbeth, the three witches were all evil old crones, while the
Discworld‟s counterparts act as agents of free will. Even the scenes in Macbeth go
parallel with part of the plot of WS, though there are some other parodies on
Hamlet, King Lear, and other Shakespearean plays. In fact, the entire opening
scene of WS is a direct parody on the opening scene of Macbeth: “When shall we
three meet again?”(WS, p.5) A question which we (main and co-researcher)
parody whenever we need to arrange for the next meeting between us: “When
shall we „two‟ meet again?” When we ask this question to each other, we laugh.
In translation, though this opening verse can easily be recognized by the TT
readers who have some knowledge on Macbeth, Brandhorst used German
language of today to the extent that the opening line of Macbeth lost its theatrical
effect on the text receptors. This may distract the TT readers‟s attention from the
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basic meaning of the parody. This point can be illustrated when we compare the
original translation of Macbeth into German by Dorothea Tieck[25] to
Brandhorst‟s: „Sagt, wann ich euch treffen muB? „Wann soll‟n wir drei uns
wiederschen? (MB, p. 7)
Of course, such difference in translation decreases the number of the TT
readers who can recognize the intended parody.
Pratchett introduces the three witches for a purpose though he focuses on
two recurring protagonists: Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg by whom he
explores themes of free will, right and wrong, and the ethics of power. Therefore,
anyone familiar with lore about witches and goddesses will immediately
recognize the Maiden (Magrat), the Mother (Nanny) and the Crone (Granny)
(WA, p. 248) in this trio. They represent the three aspects of womanhood that can
be found in the religions of Ancient Greece. They also represent the three fates, to
modern Wicca, where they show aspects of the triple Godden. Such representation
has to be intentional on the part of Pratchett.
In translation, the role of the translator is to be as faithful as possible to the
ST so as to approximate the intended effect (parodic effect) to the minds of the TT
readers. A good translator should supply his readers with any relevant background
information (or even hints) from the source or target culture related to the
parodies so as to fulfil their intended purposes. Translating parodies quoted in
Pratchett‟s novels from some classical authors such as Shakespeare[22] faces a
major problem. One expects that the translator either looks for the original
translations of Shakespearian plays (from which the parodies are taken) into
German, or translates the identified parodies himself as new mere structures.
Brandhorst preferred the second method in translating these parodies. In either
case, the problem of recognizing these parodies on the part of German readers still
exists opposite to English readers who are well acquainted with Shakespearian
plays in schools. But the problem might be less complicated if Brandhorst traced
them back to their original translations. There might be, at least, some German
readers who have read the German copy of Shakespeare‟s plays.[26].
Parodies, in their nature, feed on the influential style of the translator who is
supposed to situate the TT readers within the context of the materials being
parodied because “translation is a device to create distance from the source text
and the cultural stereotypes surrounding it”.[27] The narrativum features of
Pratchett‟s Discworld text cannot be reproduced in the TT in the same way as they
are produced in the ST, and thus, they do not have a similar effect on the TT
readers as such, but since the accompanying parodies are associated with stories,
German readers have already known (their white knowledge), they might have
fun, ridicule, entertainment or explanatory information from the transferred
parodies. On his part, the translator should do his best to compensate any
interstices in the process of transferring parodies to the TT readers. However, if
the translator fails to acknowledge his readers with somehow relevant
information, analogous to the ST readers about these parodies, it will result in the
TT readers‟ failure to recognize them, which means that there is no full impact of
these parodies on these readers. Consider a well-known parody from a very
famous soliloquy in Macbeth (Act 5, scene 5) in[2] ( p. 311), and its translation
in[5] ( p. 330):
"Can you remember what he said after all those tomorrows?"
"Erinnerst du dich daran, was er nach all dem Mich-trifft-keine-Schuld
sagte?“
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If the German text is back-translated into English, one can see that
Brandhorst missed „all those tomorrows‟, a key phrase for parodying Macbeth‟s
„tomorrows‟. In fact, one wonders whether he understood or even recognized this
parody:
“Do you remember what he said after all these: ‟It‟s not my fault‟?”
A careful examination of this hybrid text reveals that Brandhorst might
deduce „being not faulty‟ from the whole situation of Pratchett‟s text where Hwel,
as a playwright in,[2] glances at his scrawls asking the above question, then asking
Tomjon, “Now then, did he actually stab her, or just accuse her?” (WS, p. 311) In
this context, Hwel definitely refers to an incident in his play when the Duke
succumbs to sanity and stabs several of the nearest actors, and when seeing the
Duchess, he says: „It was her‟, „She did it.‟ (Hwel‟s reference: stab or accuse her).
Then, „He stabbed her once or twice, on general principles‟ (WS, p. 302). Once
more, ‟It‟s not my fault‟ might be understood by the translator as a reference
either to Macbeth or to Duke Felmet, since Hwel is likely to write a mixture of
Shakespearean plays when he is disturbed by “a fabric of quotations resulting
from a thousand sources of culture”.[28] Such translation might also reflect the
lack of any distinction between real and simulated text, between classic of high
quality (such as Shakespeare‟s)[22] and vulgar of low estimation (such as Hwel‟s:
a parody of the post-modern writer). In fact, „Hwel is nothing but the medium
through which these plays are written: like Barthes‟ author,[29] there is no creative
intention but rather virtual dictation”.[28]
On the other hand, it is true that the TT readers do not similarly receive the
translated parody as the ST readers do because they are aware of the linguistic
norms and the idiosyncratic styles of English language. In order to achieve an
emotional effect on the reader, there must be linguistic, pragmatic as well as
rhetoric interaction between the author / translator and the reader in relation to the
parody as a textual interface though Wilss[31] believes that “English „rhetoric‟, in
contrast to German „Rhetorik‟, has a broader semantic range, including the
concept of structure”. In contrast, if the translator cannot find the equivalent
norms and stylistic features in the target language, or at least preserve some of the
ST features, there might be no communication between the translator and the TT
readers in relation to the parodic text from which the „ulterior motive‟[32] must be
transferred in order for the parody to be successful.
It should be noted that if, by chance, Brandhorst‟s translation of parody
from Shakespeare[22] is similar to the original translation as in the following
quotation from King Lear (Act 4, scene 6), this will put the parodic source within
the TT reader‟s expectation: „Every inch a king‟, said Granny (WS, p.68). – „Jeder
Zoll ein Kőnig‟, lobte Oma (MacBest, p. 72). Once more, the German translator
introduces similar translation to somehow an adapted original quotation from
Shakespeare:[22] „I‟d like to know if I could compare you to a summer‟s day.
Because – well, June 12th was quite nice, and …‟(WS, p. 281). - „Ich würde gern
wissen, ob ich dich mit einem Sommertag vergleichen kann. Weil ...nun, der
zwőlfte Juni war nicht schlecht, und …‟ (MB, p. 298). Here, the reference is to
one of Shakespeare‟s famous sonnets (Sonnet XVIII) which starts out:
Shall I compare thee to a summer‟s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
The impact upon the TT readers may even be greater if the translator could
have bridged the gaps, small or large, in the reader‟s literary journey to trace the
parody back. We mean that if Brandhorst had referred to the original translation of
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Shakespeare, he might have helped those who have read Shakespearean German
to recognize many parodies taken from his works since “literature is a sequence of
events that unfold within the readers‟ mind”.[10] Moreover, the German
translation of Shakespeare‟s works, which took place in the 1st half of the 19th
century, is considered the best since it is in a poetic format language by famous
German Romantic poets and writers such as August Wilhelm Schlegel, Dorothea
Tieck, Wolf Graf Baudissin, and others, and it has the advantage of being popular
and having a theatrical sound effect on the audience.
Parody is a form of imitation, but again, to Pratchett it is not a purely
literary comic text since it sometimes implies an ironic imitation of another piece
of literature. The following parody which rhymes with our previous justification
in more ways than one echoes Ophelia‟s madness in Hamlet (Act 4, scene 5):
„Magrat was picking flowers and talking to them.‟ (WS, p. 115) - „Magrat
pflückte Blumen und sprach zu ihnen‟. (MB, p. 121). As far as the ST readers are
concerned, they may easily recognize this parody since they have the advantage of
seeing[2] as a two-part animated television adaptation of the novel, produced by
Gosgrove and first broadcast in 1997, the series closely follows the plot of the
novel. Furthermore, Pratchett‟s willingness to draw from society‟s basic memory
and culture using „white knowledge‟ helps the ST readers to be involved with the
story suspending their disbeliefs. As a general fact, having knowledge on
Shakespearean works is a kind of educational prestige and cultural hereditary to
English people, showing their belonging to the British society. Opposite to this,
German readers are not as familiar with Shakespearean works as are the English
readers. Therefore, we do not expect that they can easily realize the parody of
Ophelia‟s madness especially that this type of parody is not a sentential but a
conceptual one, i.e. a parody which ridicules human insanity and follies. Also, the
translator sticks to literal translation without giving any indication that the
reference is a satire of the mad Ophelia in Hamlet. What‟s applicable to this
translated text can be used as an instrument to measure the translatability of the
following allusion as a parody of the protagonist in Oscar Wilde‟s The Importance
of Being Earnest who was found, as a baby, in a handbag:
„[…] the hero had been born in a handbag.‟ (WS, p. 209) – „[…] daß der
Held in einer Handtasche geboren war.‟ (TVH, p. 221)
The difficulty of recognizing Pratchett‟s parodies is not restricted to TT
readers, but also to ST readers, because it is problematic for the first time reader
or even a well-read reader to follow three parodies within a context of five lines
in, for example, (WS, p. 209): first, a parody of The Phantom of the Opera, a
musical; second, a parody of Oscar Wilde‟s play; third, a parody of the Marx
Brothers movies. Evidently, reference to a large number of literary and nonliterary texts forms obstacles in the process of understanding the implied parodies,
and hence jeopardizes the reader‟s emotional involvement in the novel. “Pratchett
willingly admits that his ideas spring from historical and literary sources”.[33] In
fact, mixing levels by having lots of quotations from different origins definitely
burdens the reader‟s mind, allowing him a distance to the events of the story; at
last, he will be misled to recognize the parody in such scrambled allusions and
references, but this is Pratchett‟s attitude towards life: “the more knowledgeable a
person is in all areas, the more she will appreciate the Discworld novels”.[10]
Obviously, ST or TT readers do not recognize all Pratchett‟s allusions and
references, but those who are interested in Pratchett‟s style and familiar with it
know how Pratchett has planted these ideas, so they have to look for them
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actively. This is particularly true of the following dialogue where Pratchett
parodies Samuel Beckett‟s classic play Waiting for Godot in which a similar
dialogue takes place:
1st WITCH: He‟s late. (Pause)
2nd WITCH: He said he would come. (Pause)
3rd WITCH: He said he would come but he hasn‟t. This is my last newt. I
saved it for him. And he hasn‟t come. (Pause) (WS, p. 255)
ERSTE HEXE: Er ist spät dran.
ZWEITE HEXE: Er hat versprochen, zu kommen.
DRITTE HEXE: Er hat versprochen, zu kommen, aber er ist noch nicht da.
Dies ist mein letzter Molch. Ich habe ihn extra aufgespart. Und er ist nicht
gekommen. (MB, p. 270).
Pratchett is known of subverting the genre, and his discursive text is a clear
evidence on this recurrent feature throughout all his Discworld novels. The
insertion of more text realities and a plenitude of allusions and references in his
fantasy fiction distract the reader‟s concentration on the basic events of the story.
With such structuring of the text, Pratchett departs from his genre, and thus breaks
the genre expectations of the readers. This will bridle their desire to indulge in the
story patterning, and also it will not contribute to corroborate creative purport that
parodies are supposed to have. However, ST readers, compared to TT readers, are
still having the advantage of being aware of Pratchett‟s transcendence of the
traditional narration of the story. This could help much in the recognition of the
above mentioned parody, in particular, and Pratchett‟s other parodies, in general
on the part of ST readers better than the TT readers.
2. Translation of Parodies from Folk Tales and Fantasy Fiction
Pratchett‟s novel[1] is rich in using references to popular stories (especially
the German fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and those written down
by French writer Perrault.) and to fantasy fictions (especially the Tolkien‟s). Part
of the plot of this novel (a story of a young woman called Emberella) is a parody
of the famous fairy tale Cinderella – allusion to ashes.
On the level of the plot, translation of the whole novel as a parody seems
less complicated than the translation of a parody on the level of an individual
sentence. For the translator, it needs only to recognize the fairy tale being
parodied, and then to decide the type of translation being used. A good example
for the plot parody is Cinderella Fairy Tale, for which a translator does not find
difficulty in distinguishing the theme of the parodied story, and it will even be
recognized by the TT readers. Thus, at least, one of the implicit aims behind
parody as an „expository‟ intent will be achieved. Moreover, the plot of a
particular work of art, such as the mentioned fairy tale, represents the whole
genre, and this has more or less some advantages for the translator if s/he renders
it into a German text: a piece of literature sharing the same Western culture, and
ultimately, the point of parody would largely be determined.
On the other hand, the parody on the level of an individual sentence such as
the following may form difficulty for the German translator and his TT readers:
“She had called upon Mister Safe Way, Lady Bon Anna, Hotaloga Andrews
and Stride Wide Man” (WA, p. 10). The underlined meaning of this parody is
explained by Pratchett himself. Safeway is the name of a famous supermarket
chain, widely known among ST readers. He says: “I need some names that sound
genuinely voodoo.[…] Bon Anna I‟m pretty sure is a genuine voodoo goddess.
The other two are entirely made up but out of the right sort of verbal
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components”.[32] In the TT, Brandhorst puts it the following way: “Sie hatte
Herrn Sichere Heimkehr um Hilfe gebeten, auch Lady Kommgutnachhaus,
Rührmichnichtan und Du-bereust es später“ (TVH, p.7). In order to see how much
equivalence has been achieved in the TL, Brandhorst‟s text is back-translated into
English as „She had asked Mr. Safe Return for help, also Lady: Come home well!
Do not touch me, and you will regret later.‟ After a careful study of the TT, we
find great difference between the material being parodied by Pratchett and the
German version. The English and the German texts have little in common, and
one wonders whether the translator understood the source extract or not. While
this kind of parody has been distorted due to the miscomprehension of the ST
parody on the part of the translator, it is hard to tell whether Brandhorst‟s
translation of this parody should be considered as an equivalent parodic-text for
the original one because a major part of the parody is lost in translation. It is to be
noted here that the translator must go back to the original translation of the
parody, or he may find himself in a difficult situation translating two texts: the
parody and the original, not to mention that he may not recognize the quotation as
a parody. “Translators who try to translate a parody into a certain language before
its original has been translated probably set themselves an impossible task”.[3]
Examples of fairy tales were established to form fundamental assumptions in the
minds of a large number of ST readers, so these tales, as raw materials for
parodies, are almost concrete versions of familiar living notions into the ST
readers‟ beings. That is why knowledgeable ST readers can recognize such
parodies in one way or another.
In the narrative building of most of his novels Pratchett reflects what is
embedded in the human mind as folk tale tradition. He always looks for the ideas
underlying these tales and even debunks them whenever he finds it necessary to
the narrative structure of the story. Therefore, a number of folk echoes and
allusions spring out of Pratchett‟s mind targeting the „colourless green ideas
sleep[ing] furiously‟(6) in the minds of the ST readers because these tales were
actually living in their minds when they were children and moved along with their
years as adult stories. In fact, they are more „intimate to the human nature, and
they affected us much as they were variations of more than one archetypal social
situation: Tales of children abandoned in woods; of daughters poisoned by their
mothers‟ hands; of sons forced to betray their siblings; of men and women struck
down by wolves or imprisoned in windowless towers.[24] Pratchett justifies using
folk tales heavily in his novels: “Stories etch grooves deep enough for people to
follow in the same way that water follows certain paths a mountainside. And
every time fresh actors tread the path of the story, the groove runs deeper”
(WA, p. 8). Perhaps more importantly, one finds throughout this novel an ironical
vein of real life (compared to the Discworld‟s) and a sense of multilayered parody
based on a more complex mixture of irony and moral questioning related to a
stretch of fairy tales narrating different aspects of life. Such kind of parody does
not only act as a psychological analysis of other short stories, but as a serviceable
component used to chart literary texts. Consider the following example where
“parody, by its nature, is an intertextual discipline, and feeds off previous texts in
order to serve its “expository point”:[28] “Even Magrat knew about Black
Aliss.[…] When it came to texts sending palaces to sleep for a hundred years or
getting princesses to spin straw into Glod, no-one did it better than Black Aliss”
(WA, p. 114). In Pratchett‟s Discworld, Black Aliss is the evil witch of all fairy
tales. The stories referred to here are Sleeping Beauty (a parody for the sleeping
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castle), Rumpelstiltskin (a parody involving Aliss who cursed the princess to spin
straw into „Glod‟ through Rumpelstiltskin „the dwarf‟) and Hansel and Grethel
(an indirect reference „parody‟ of pushing Black Aliss into her own oven by a
couple of young children) (For the above fairy tales and others, check[36] as a
website). On the other hand, translation of the above mentioned parody into
German looks like the following:
“Selbst Magrat wußte von der Schwarzen Aliss, der grőßten Hexe aller
Zeiten”[.....] (TVH, p. 126).
In the Discworld, for instance, readers may notice a large number of
„dwarfs‟ with the name Glod. In, [1] Pratchett said in a footnote:
Bad spelling can be lethal. For example, the greedy Seriph of Al-Ybi was
once cursed by a badly deity and for some days everything he touched turned to
Glod, which happened to be the name of a small dwarf from a mountain
community.[…]
In his explanation, Pratchett refers to two things: first the Greek legend of
greedy king Midas who was cursed by a god to turn everything he touched into
„gold‟, until he touched his daughter turning her into gold, and he repented of his
greed, second, playing with words to twist misspelling (gold into Glod), a kind of
pun. By stating these two things, Pratchett was really mocking Midas‟ ignorance
and greediness as a representative of a greedy human being having power in our
own world. Thus, Pratchett wanted enthusiastically to arouse a ridiculous action in
the readers‟ minds when mixing an amusing parody with a pun. This could be
applicable on the ST readers, but does it find an equivalent effect on TT readers?
One cannot guess unless a type of questionnaire is made, but for sureness, ST and
TT readers do not decode the parodic text similarly:
Mit der Bedeutung und Schreibweise von Worten sollte man vorsichtig sein.
Um ein Beispiel zu nennen: Der habgierige Serif von Al-Ybi wurde einmal von
einer Gottheit mit unzureichenden orthographischen Kenntnissen verflucht.
Während der nächsten Tage verwandelten sich alle von ihm berührten
Gegenstände in Glod. Zufälligerweise hieß so ein Zwerg, der Hunderte von
Kilometern entfernt unter einem Berg lebte.[...] (TVH p. 12, footnote)
Pratchett is skilful at narrative causality, and he loves the power of stories in
the Discworld so much for which its weak echoes exist in our real world to the
extent that history repeats its patterns. But he always punctures the course of
reality by subverting the conventions, patterns and stereotypes of the fairy stories
being parodied to reach a parodic effect through his novels‟ characters as Granny
Weatherwax did by confronting the stories with real happy ending as that of
Sleeping Beauty: “There‟ll be a spinning wheel at the bottom of all this, you mark
my words”, said Granny, “A Black Aliss job?” said Nanny Ogg (WA, p. 113). In
breaking the story thread, the witches released the story occupants from their fates
to live their own lives outside the boundary limits of the story. Similarly, Lilith‟s
plans for Emberella (a parody of Cinderella) to marry the Frog Prince would not
have succeeded under the influence of the trials of the three witches who resist the
obvious ending of that story by sheer vitality: ”You changed the story your way,
and now I‟m going to do it mine”, said Lily. In fact, Pratchett wants for his
Discworld‟s novels different endings, though sometimes happy, from fairy tales or
old stories. It is to be noted, then, that this theme is embedded within the
multilayered parody which recurs throughout the events of,[1] and might be
recognized by knowledgeable ST readers.
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When such an interesting concept (the power of narrative causality) is
conveyed into German in terms of intertextual parodic texts, the TT readers and
even the translator may find difficulty in distinguishing the underlined parodies:
„Yes? Have you got any identification, dear?‟(WA, p. 122) (parody of the Wolf
and the Seven Little Kids or even of Little Snow-white). “Ach, Feen seid ihr?
Kőnnt ihr euch irgendwie ausweisen?” (TVH, p. 136) „I know we‟ve got the right
grandmother‟, said Fairy Hedgehog. „There‟s a family likeness. She‟s got big
ears.‟ „Look, it‟s not her that‟s got the big ears‟, snapped Fairy Daisy. „It‟ll be the
wolf that‟s got big ears.‟ (parody of Little Red Riding Hood,[1] p. 123). “Ich weiß,
daß es die richtige Großmutter ist”, stellte Fee Igel fest. “Die großen Ohren
schließen jeden Zweifel aus.“ „Die großen Ohren hat nicht etwa die Großmutter,
sondern der Wolf“[...] (TVH, p. 136)
With reference to parodies from fantasy fiction, Pratchett was influenced by
some other fantasy writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien, whose novels The Lord of the
Rings[37] and The Hobbit[38] have had a profound influence on different novels of
the Discworld (particularly on[1] and[2]). One of the most distinguishable
indications to Tolkien comes in WA: “Little devils get everywhere. Had one come
up in my kitchen once”, said Granny. “Following a seam”, he said. (WA, p. 48)
The whole section deals with „dwarfs‟ (in Tolkien‟s spelling „dwarven‟) and
at most, everything Pratchett writes about dwarfs is a parody of Tolkien‟s
„dwarven‟. Moreover, Pratchett continues parodying Tolkien through a number of
satirical moments that revolve around The Lord of the Rings.[37] The section also
reflects a fine comparison between the witches‟ musings on mine entries and
invisible runes to Tolkien‟s scenes outside Moria: „Then she [Granny] stood back,
hit the rock sharply with her broomstick, and spoke thusly‟: „Open up, you little
sods!‟ (WA, p. 49). In German: "Aufmachen, ihr kleinen Mistkerle!"(TVH, p. 53)
In Tolkien‟s The Lord of the Rings,[37] there is a famous scene outside the
dwarven mines of Moria, where invisible runes written on the door (and revealed
by the wizard Gandalf) give the correct clue „friend‟ to open the door. To follow
up with the parody, a brief discussion took place between the dwarf as a
doorkeeper and Granny. The invisible speaker (the dwarf) appeared to give this
some consideration: „We put writing on the door‟, it said sulkily. „In invisible
runes. It‟s really expensive, getting proper invisible runes done.‟ (WA, p. 50). In
German: “Wir haben einen Hinweis an der Tür angebracht”, sagte er verdrießlich.
“In unsichtbaren Runen. Echte unsichtbare Runen sind ziemlich teuer”
(TVH, p. 54).
The above extract is a parody of the invisible runes in Tolkien‟s The
Hobbit[38] which appeared at a particular time every year showing the secret door
into the „dwarven‟ mountain caves that the dragon Smaug had taken as his liar.
Such a parody is not only a textual imitation of a piece of literature, but it is a
moral or even a satirical impulse which successfully engages ST readers and even
TT readers because such type of fiction, whether a book or a movie, has gained
popularity among readers or audience all over the world.
Pratchett thoroughly mixes both fantasy and modern elements from what
Tolkien calls the „Cauldron of Story‟, and he does it skilfully. Furthermore,
Pratchett rewrites Fantasy fiction in a new form using „white knowledge‟ through
heavy use of allusions and references from different cultural sources (mythology,
folk tales, and fantasy fiction). Abbott[39] believes that when using white
knowledge of Western society.
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He [Pratchett] keeps his readers‟ interest, by writing about, for example, the
day- to- day life of a werewolf, using logic and thought to examine and challenge
the preconceptions that we already have regarding werewolves. In the process, he
intrigues readers, both in recognizing his allusions and in examining more closely
the world we think we know.
It is noteworthy to distinguish between three kinds of readers whether
source or target ones. Pym[40] made a useful distinction between excluded,
observational and participative reader. To be included in our study, excluded
readers are those who do not know English, while observational readers may
observe the meaning and patterns of the story if they are explained to them.
Participative readers, on the other hand, are those who understand English and
might be provided with sufficient knowledge on Pratchett‟s Discworld novels.
“Obviously, readers will not understand all of Pratchett‟s allusions, but more
literate readers will take great pleasure from them. The less “culture aware” reader
will still get the feeling that Pratchett has planted these ideas, and will often
search them out actively”.[39] Similarly, in translation, the TT readers may be
excluded or even become observational only when they are out of the interrelated
parodic text. To exclude or to leave some TT readers as observational, depends on
the translator‟s augmentation, explanation and rewriting of the ST, first, and the
readers‟ awareness of ST parody for which a palimpsestic relationship exists,
second. German readers may not recognize all Pratchett‟s parodies as their ST
counterparts do, but with some parodies related to fairy tales such as „the
Grimms’, they definitely participate in constructing the intended meaning beyond
such parodies. Fawcett[41] believes that The minimal solution, namely
transcribing the German, would bring us back to the example of une tartine de
merde: readers with no knowledge of the foreign language are excluded from the
text even at the level of simple referential meaning unless they are prepared to
make a not inconsiderable effort of research, and even then will have little or no
hope of retrieving the connotational, historical and cultural meaning with any
sense of immediacy.
Again we find that Pratchett‟s satire is aimed at the world of Tolkien by
letting patterns and worlds of the story play against each other for the sake of
ludic parody: “Someone‟s following us!” hissed Magrat. Two pale glows
appeared at the edge of the lamplight.[…] „ullo‟, it said. „It‟sss my birthday.‟
(WA, p. 59) - In German: “ „allo”, sagte das Geschőpf.” “ „eute issst mein
Geburtssstag” (TVH, p. 66). So the reference here is to Gollum described as
“a dark shape, hardly visible, floated close to one of the moored boats … with two
pale lamplike eyes shone coldly (The Lord of the Rings[37] part I, p. 499). Gollum
is the under worldly creature who lost his magic ring to Bilbo Baggins and refers
to it as “My birthday present!” in (The Hobbit,[38] p. 88). Thus, the birthday
comment is recalled by the small creature on the log in.[1]
Parodies representing myths may not form difficulty in translation
especially when these myths were translated into German a long time ago. The
following parody, for example, is retold on Nanny Ogg‟s tongue: „I remember
hearing once‟, said Nanny,[…] „about some ole enchantress in history who lived
on an island and turned shipwrecked sailors into pigs.‟ (WA, 134-135). A German
translation embraces an equivalent meaning of the original to prove that such
myth is really known to, at least, German educated people because Odysseus
(Ulysses - a related myth parody) was translated into German (even if two
different events are mixed up together – the siren shipwrecking sailors because of
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her beautiful singing and Circe was the name of the enchantress who turns sailors
landing on her island into pigs) (Check):[36] “Ich habe einmal von einer Magierin
gehőrt‟, ließ Nanny Ogg nach einer Weile vernehmen.[…] Lebte auf einer Insel
und verwandelte Schiffbrüchige in Schweine” (TVH, p. 150). So, the TT readers
are allowed to experience or even share similar interest or effect to the ST readers,
because readers in the western culture share some common knowledge in relation
to the settings, events and characters of the myth parodies, without the translator
having to gloss or explain the associated parodic elements. Aoyama and
Wakabayashi[27] explain: “With canonical parodic texts like Don Quixote or
Ulysses one may be able to assume a studious readership, albeit very small,
willing to go through meticulous notes.”
3. Translation of Parodies from Movies and TV Series
Discworld novels provide Pratchett with instruments to ridicule, satirize or
defamiliarize certain movies and TV series through intentionally comic or
stylistically competent piece of writing. Pratchett is a writer who „cannot change
his spots‟ as the English proverb says. Transition from one parody to another is an
apparent distinguished style of this writer. However, borrowing from old to
modern movies and TV series becomes a natural characteristic of Discworld
novels. In,[2] the dwarf „Hwel‟ who works as a script writer for a company for
strolling theatre-players, gets an idea for a play about „two clowns, one fat, one
thin[…] Tys ys amain Dainty Messe Youe have got into, Stanleigh[…]
(WS, p. 210). It might not be difficult for the German audience to recognize this
parody since it talks about the „two clowns: Laurel and Hardy‟, films which were
reproduced in German under the name of “Dick und Doof” and seen by a lot of
Germans. But to trace the texts of the films back to the 1930s to find the original
for these movies is rather difficult for Brandhorst; instead, he gives the following
translation which may have an indication to the parodic text:[…] Was hast du
jeeetzt schon wieder angestellt, Stanleigh?[…] (MB, p. 221)
When a parody is related to TV series, it is more or less easy to be
recognized by the translator and TT readers, though many of them may not have
seen them. For instance, the following extract is a parody on the famous
children‟s TV series Sesame Street
King: Now, I‟m just going to put the crown down on this bush here, and you
will tell me if anyone tries to take it, won‟t you?
Groundlings: Yes!
King: Now if I could just find my horsey…
(1st assassin pops up behind the rock)
Audience: Behind you!
(1st assassin disappears)
King: You‟re trying to play tricks on old kingy, you naughty… (WS, p. 243)
With this type of parody, whether the German version is accidentally or
systematically similar to the original text above, such translation may achieve a
strong effect on the TT readers, because this TV series has been screened on
German TV in the 1970s and up to now, but again, the effect may vary from one
reader to another depending on the reader‟s prior acquaintance and skill: More
importantly, if the translator succeeds in finding the ST parody, s/he can tone it
down to German conditions, which results in a comprehensible children‟s
language used in that series:
KÖNIG: Nun, ich lsetze die Krone jetzt auf diesen Strauch hier, und ihr sagt
mir, ob jemand versucht, sie zu nehmen, einverstanden?
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GRÜNDLINGE: Ja!
KÖNIG: Wenn ich jetzt nur mein Pferdchen finden kőnnte... (Erster Mőrder
schaut hinter einem Felsen hervor)
PUBLIKUM: Hinter dir!
(Erster Mőrder verschwindet)
KÖNIG: Wollt ihr einem alten Kőnig Streiche spielen, ihr frechen...
(MB, p. 256)
The Discworld novels (particularly[1] and[2]) being considered as postmodern parody, Pratchett is confidently aware of intertextuality within the
structure of the Discworld text and outside it, in relation to our own conventions
of textual reality. Logically, such text takes much care of the repetition and
simulation of the other outside texts ranging from old literature, folk tales and
fantasy fictions to movies and TV series. Of course, this reflects one of the
principles of postmodernism that all works of literature contain each other. In
many cases, Pratchett‟s parodies mirror the contradictions of postmodernism in
his subversion of literary conventions when his erected sub-genre repeats
elements of earlier works to the extent that originality of such works is lost. In
Bernard’s terms,[15] “Exponential parody shows that it is impossible to live
outside infinite textuality”. But far more important is Pratchett‟s employment of
these other texts for the sake of an “intramural” target of the Discworld novel. For
example, in his moments of parody, Pratchett often reacts to special interactions
between plot of the novel and its narrator on one hand, and between characters of
the novel and its readers who are supposed to be involved within textuality of the
Discworld novel, on the other. In,[1] right from the beginning, Pratchett bridges
the Discworld of his novel with The Wizard of OZ movie when the three witches
travel to Genua on their broomsticks: a parody of the Wicked Witch of the East in
the movie. Nanny‟s choice of red boots is another parody of Dorothy (the movie
protagonist). Then Pratchett continues reflecting some specific details of the
movie in many situations in the story. A reference to the conversation between
Magrat, Granny and Nanny: “What some people need,‟said Magrat, to the world
in general, „is a bit more heart.” “What some people need, said Granny
Weatherwax, to the stormy sky, „is a lot more brain.” “What I need, thought
Nanny Ogg fervently, is a drink” (WA, p. 139). “Einige Leute benőtigen mehr
Herz”, wandte sich Magrat an die Welt im großen und ganzen. “Einige Leute
benőtigen mehr Verstand”, erwiderte Oma Wetterwachs[…] Was mich betrifft…,
dachte Nanny. Ich kőnnte jetzt einen stärkenden Schluck gebrauchen.
(TVH, p. 154 )
This conversation prevails many things in the movie, from the Tin Man
(heart), Scarecrow (brain), to the Cowardly Lion. These allusions might mean
nothing to the readers first time around, but once the story moves up to its climax
through complicated incidents and conflicts among its characters, they become
very important, especially when they have marked the forthcoming events. This is
one of the characteristics of Pratchett‟s parody, where characters or settings
belonging to a work of art are used in a humorous or even a satirical way.
However, the parody ascends to draw a clear picture on The Wizard of Oz when
Nanny Ogg survives the falling farmhouse: „What happened?‟ said Nanny. „A
farmhouse dropped on your head,‟ said Magrat (WA, p. 139)
“Was‟n los?” fragte Nanny. “Was‟n los?” “Ein Bauernhaus ist dir auf den
Kopf gefallen”, erklärte Magrat. (TVH, p. 155)
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The subsequent events involve a crowd of brightly dressed dwarfs dancing
around the house and singing „ding-dong‟: a reference to the song from the early
part of the movie where the Muchkins sing when Dorothy arrives in the tornadocarried farmhouse which kills the Wicked Witch of the East. The song of the
movie follows up with: „Dingdong, the witch is dead. Which old witch? The
wicked witch‟.[23] In,[1] one of the dwarfs, who was apparently the leader, asked
Magrat a similar question: „is ... is the old witch dead?‟ „Which old witch?‟ said
Magrat (WA, p. 142). “Ist, äh, die alte Hexe tot?” “Welche alte Hexe?” erwiderte
Magrat (TVH, p. 157). The ludic parody continues, and when the dwarfs find out
that Nanny has not died (opposite to the movie‟s end, and thus Pratchett subverts
the story genre for the sake of his „narrative causality‟), they ask for her red boots
(a parody of the Wicked Witch‟s ruby slippers given to Dorothy in the movie):
„Can we have her boots?‟ – “äh”, sagte er, “Kőnnen wir ihre Stiefel haben?”
(TVH, p. 158) When Magrat asked for a reason, the dwarfs could not think of a
particular reason except „We‟ve just got this… feeling … that we ought to have
her boots‟ (WA, p. 142). – “Wir, äh, wir haben einfach nur das Gefühl, daß wir
die Stiefel bekommen sollten”, sagte er (TVH, p. 158). To them, it seems the right
thing to do since „They are ruby-coloured …?‟ (WA, ibid ) – “Sie sind doch
rubinrot, nicht wahr?” (TVH, ibid). It is worthnoting that Pratchett‟s view point
concerning the influence of the stories on the Discworld reality is significantly
represented in this section by the dwarfs‟ feeling that they should act differently
than usual.
This particular section in[1] is, in fact, a simulacrum of the first part of The
Wizard of Oz from the beginning to the end when Pratchett throws a catching
phrase by Nanny Ogg who kicked her red boots together idly, saying, „Well, I
suppose there is no place like home‟(WA, p. 286). - “Tja, ich schätze, daheim ist
daheim, nicht wahr?” (TVH, p. 319) Again, Nanny‟s final comment is a parody
of an action at the end of the movie, when a similar sentence invoked the spell
which carried Dorothy back to Kansas from Oz.
As we have previously shown, all Pratchett‟s references in this section are to
the movie version and not to Baum’s book[42] (under the same title), and there is a
point here. Pratchett believes that a number of people who has seen the movie is
definitely more than those who have read the book, and thus qualifying it as a
cultural „white knowledge‟ with which he works. This increases his readership
expectations, giving the readers more connections to the movie being parodied.
“Evidently, without knowledge of the original reference the reader will miss the
intention of the author completely”.[10] Of course, grasping full travesty on the
part of the ST readers means that the parody has its sound effect to be counted as
successful and amusing. “The more layers a reader discovers, the more enjoyable
the reading process becomes”.[10]
When it comes to translation, the „second author‟ can make his/her TT
accessible to the TT readers, in condition that full comprehension of Pratchett‟s
references is achieved to embrace equivalent allusions of The Wizard of Oz in
German. However, even equivalence, in this sense, is a farfetched functional
concept depending on some linguistic and extra-linguistic factors, such as
structural description, semantic and pragmatic meanings, the translator‟s
intention, the TT readers‟ comprehensibility, the intertextual relations between the
SL and TL within western culture. As an approach in translation, the literary
translation does not necessarily present the TT as the ST, i.e. it is not required
from Brandhorst to produce a German text of Pratchett‟s parody as if it has been
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written in English. But what is important is that “the translator can offer the TT
reader the opportunity of experiencing the aesthetic effects offered by the
original”.[43] So far, Brandhorst has presented a literal translation without any
indication or explanation of the quotation being parodied. Of course, this may
exclude some TT readers from full understanding of the parodies and leave only a
little chance for a few of them to recognize them. Nevertheless, the Germans have
seen The Wizard of Oz as a translated movie, and this increases the opportunities
for recognition of Pratchett‟s parody of this movie on the part of TT readers, but
the problem still exists since Brandhorst does not refer to the original translation
of the movie. Even if the parody refers to rock and roll movies which were
famous among the audience of the original, such parody might not be recognized
among the German readers because of the non-accessibility to the information
given by the translator to his readers to bind them to his text on one hand, and the
readers‟ maturity and interests‟: being knowledgeable, well-informed, welleducated, well-read, avid or inexperienced on the other hand. Consider the
following parody:
„Are you the taxgatherers, dear?‟ ‟No,ma‟am, we‟re –„ „-fairies‟, said Fairy
Hedgehog quickly. (WA, p. 122)
„Seid ihr die Steuereintreiber?‟ „Nein, wir sind –„ „Feen‟, sagte Fee Igel
rasch. (TVH, p. 136).
This is an allusion to the rock movie The Blues Brothers. It was a famous
American musical comedy in the 1980s from which many jokes have largely
become cliché for the rock lifestyle (white knowledge in Pratchett‟s terms). In the
movie, the dialogue goes „Are you the police?‟ „No, ma‟am, we‟re musicians.‟
Conversely, the English readers, and particularly British, do not look at Pratchett‟s
allusions to these movies similarly as the German readers do. Abbott [39] thinks
that The allusions to rock and roll in Pratchett‟s writings will draw in many
readers who listen to both „classic‟ and modern rock music. Pratchett constantly
refers to movies and rock musicians or bands that have reached a high level of
popularity or notoriety, making them more easily recognized by the average
reader.
4. Translation of Parodies from Miscellaneous Sources
A reader of Pratchett‟s Discworld novels finds himself in front of multilayered references. “Pratchett emphasizes the importance of variation and growth
in a reader. The multitudinous references and allusions in his books confirm this
attitude to life; the more knowledgeable a person is in all areas, the more she will
appreciate the Discworld novels”.[10] However, these references and allusions
involve popular songs, musicals, legends, dressings, traditions and customs,
computer games, gambling cards, geographical places, scientific rules, politics,
folk festivals, traveller‟s guides, types of food and drinks, cartoons, airlines,
operettas, comics, military scales and ranks, religions, British slang, public jokes
and proverbs, famous running gags, folk dance, (magic) books and stories,
holiday trips and resorts, logic, puzzles, slogans of advertisements, Discworld
version itself, famous love stories and lovers, historical events, speeches of
important world characters, famous painters and actors and propagandas. Because
of the great number of references in these two novels, we‟ll only get samples
which make difference in translations, or when these allusions are necessary for
immediate justification in translation. As such, popular songs have become one of
the sources for Pratchett‟s allusive writings in[1] and[2] He devotes some of his
references to „folk songs‟ because these songs gained popularity among English
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readers such as the one of The Cuckoo’s Nest: „I knows all about folk songs. Hah!
You think you‟re listenin‟ to a nice song about … about cuckoos and fiddlers and
nightingales and whatnot,[…]‟ she [Granny] added darkly (WA, p. 61). – "[…] Ich
weiß űber Volkslieder Bescheid. Ha! Man glaubt, einem lustigen Lied zuzuhören,
in dem es um …um Kuckucke und Geigenspieler und Nachtigallen und
dergleichen geht,[...] "Omas Gesicht verfinsterte sichv (TVH, p. 67). There is a
song about cuckoos among German folk songs too, and Germans know well that
the cuckoo, being a migratory bird, deposits its eggs in the nests of other birds.
This adds a positive factor to recognize the parodied song by the TT readers.
When it comes to food and its ceremonies, allusions are many in[1] and[2]
for which Germans do not have the same traditions, and thus, this may not help
TT readers to recognize the parodies related to these types of food:
„I like stuff that tells you plain what it is, like … Bubble and Squeak, or …
or…‟ „Spotted Dick‟ said Nanny absently (WA, p. 88). -„Ich mag Sachen, bei
denen ich nicht zweifeln muß, was in meinen Magen gelangt. Zum Beispiel
Eintopf Allesdrin oder... oder‟ ‟Korinthenpudding...‟, sagte Nanny
geistesabwesend (TVH, p. 99).
Bubble and Squeak, Spotted Dick, are all names of existing British
delicacies, and the first type is traditionally made on Boxing Day from Christmas
leftovers. Germans do not have these kinds of food. As a result, they are not
familiar with this parodic text unless it is explained by the translator in a footnote.
With reference to British slang, distinguishing parodies might seem difficult
on the part of TT readers and other non-British speakers of English. For instance,
in a dialogue on the etiquette of showing respect between Magrat and Granny
where the latter addresses the former: „That‟s „cos you‟re a wet hen, Magrat
Garlick‟. (WA, p. 159) When Pratchett was asked about this phrase, he explained:
“Perfectly good British slang. A „wet hen‟ is bedraggled, sad and useless, though
better than a lame duck”.[34] However, German readers may not know this slang,
so the effect for which the parody is used will not be achieved:
„Weil du nichts weiter bist als ein Küken, Magrat Knoblauch‟, stellte Oma
fest. (TVH, p. 177).
The other example belongs to British military slang which marks the end of
the novel: ‟But they went the long way and saw the elephant.‟ (WA, p. 268).
Though „seeing the elephant‟ echoes The Lord of the Rings,[37] where Bilbo
complains wistfully that he never got to see an elephant on his adventures
„abroad‟, it is British military slang dating back to the 19th century, which means
to have taken part in one‟s first battle. It is doubtful that the TT readers have come
across such slang to guarantee the parodies to be successful in the German text:
„Aber sie machten einen Umweg und sahen den Elefanten‟. (TVH, p. 320)
On the other hand, when Pratchett‟s allusions are directly related to people‟s
everyday life, they can more or less be recognizable by ST or TT readers. The
following allusion, representing a type of dressing, refers to the opening scene of
The Sound of Music, where Julie Andrews does just that: running up the
mountains, singing and wearing dirndls. In Germany, everybody knows the
„dirndl‟ since it is a traditional dress of the Alps‟ region; this film had been
translated and projected on German screens as well:
„No one ran up them wearing dirndls and singing. They were not nice
mountains‟ (WA, p. 47). – „Hier gab es keine Mädchen und jungen Frauen, die
Dirndlkleider trugen und frőhlich sangen. Es waren keine freundlichen Berge‟
(TVH, p. 51).
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Among all these references and allusions of Pratchett, there must be room
for cartoons, a field which attracts a large number of young readers who enjoy
Pratchett‟s novels though they cannot fully clutch the implications of the parodies
on most of his references and allusions, but they can, just as adults, enjoy his
novels as hilarious fantasy adventures:
„[…] she wants to make it a Magic Kingdom, a Happy and Peaceful
place‟[…] (WA, p. 96). Here, the reference is to the most famous part of the Walt
Disney World theme park in Florida, the Magic Kingdom. It comes within the
reading context by Granny. Certainly, ST and TT readers knew or heard about this
cartoon part, and there is no difficulty facing them in realizing the reference: „[…]
„denn sie willet den Ort in ein magisches Kőnigreich verwandeln von Frieden und
Glück regieret‟[…] (TVH, p. 108).
Conclusions
In[1] and[2] Pratchett exploits parody to serve different purposes: to ridicule
a high fantasy fiction (such as of Tolkien) either for humorous effect or for
commentary that this type of fantasy is not logical, to satirize human gullibility,
stupidity, criminality, and the willingness of the average person to accept and
adhere to these things as a natural and a mere fact, to subvert the genre, to pass
comments on the failings of real world, to have self awareness, to serve as a moral
intent, to be used as a reverence, and to achieve two expository intentions (i) to
cast the tradition of fantasy fiction in a new light (ii) to attribute of our own lives
textual discourses.
On the other hand, translation of Pratchett‟s parodies in[1] and[2] into
German encounters certain difficulties:
First: the absence of the ST as a convenient crib to recognize the parody makes
that parody lose most of its raison d‟être in translation, i.e. a translated parodic
text has meaning only when the TT readers have already known something about
its content in one way or another. Parodies in their essence are not based on any
physical text within the patterns of the story.
Second: the nature of the material being parodied: some parodic texts pose
particular problems in translation when these texts represent cliché, joke, proverb
and slang where stylistic deviations and allusions are great. Some of Pratchett‟s
clichés or jokes, for instance, are only understood by knowledgeable readers, so
how could they be if they are rendered into German? Once more, one of the main
features of parody is ambivalence (see)[44] which means that a parody, in its broad
sense, respects original texts, but at the same time, it either scoffs or subverts it.
Therefore, translation (and this is the job of an adequate translator) as a linguistic
performance must take into account the attitude of the parodist (Pratchett) in
considering either of the above functions of his parody in order to be correctly
transferred.
Third: though English is an Indo-European language of Germanic origin, there are
certain linguistic (paradigmatic and syntagmatic) and pragmastylistic features
which form obstacles in the translating process of these parodies into German.
Specifically speaking, the German text, compared to the English text, prefers a
structure where the list is framed or bracketed by a phrase expressing an intention
or a vision. Moreover, since much of the parodic effect is based on the use of
English structure, much of it is lost in the TT, even if part of it is transferred rather
than translated to make a similar parody in the TL. A parodic source text also has
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a pragmatic function which contributes to its original meaning, and such function
should be kept in any rendering of a parody in order for the parody to be
successful and influential on its readership.
Fourth: some of Pratchett‟s parodies represent parts of cultural myths such as the
three urban legends (WA, p. 9), „[…] in Bad Ass a cockerel laid an egg‟
(WS, p. 79), „Herne the Hunted‟[…] (WS, p. 191) and stereotypes such as
„Desiderata Hollow was making her will‟ (WA, p. 12), or a stereotypical
propaganda of radical vegetarians (WA, p. 264) to typical British food and
traditional English toasts (WA, p. 88, 197), „[…] turbot for your tea‟[…]
(WS, p. 32). As such, equivalent conveyance of these parodies into the TT seems
rather difficult, but it is not impossible though part of the parodic function may be
lost.
Fifth: many fictional and folk parodies in these two novels are characterized by
their amusing, ridiculing and defamiliarizing aspects which cannot be reproduced
similarly into German, such as the parody of Mister Safe Way in [1] (p.10).
Nevertheless, the above parodic functions and others might be transmitted partly
into the TT as in the following obvious joke: „Thank goodness witches float‟
(WA, p. 62). – „Zum Glück schwimmen Hexen‟ (TVH, p. 68). This is a literal
translation with no reference to ducking suspected witches in the Middle Ages: If
they drowned, they were innocent; the result is: they died at any rate. Neither the
amusing nor the ridiculous function is achieved in translation, and it may be only
the defamiliarizing function is transferred. In (WS, p. 115), the parodic function
through the story protagonist Magrat is a satire of the mad Ophelia in Hamlet. An
adequate rendering of this parody guarantees its success in condition that there
must be a TT reader who is familiar with the Shakespearean Hamlet. But once
again, other functions such as „amusing‟ might be absent.
So far, we have mentioned the difficulties facing translation of Pratchett‟s
parodies in[1] and[2] Another important factor in the process of translating
parodies is the effect these parodies achieve on the TT readers because such an
effect is a tool for evaluating a successful parody translation or not. A successful
translation of parody is based on a triple factor: (i) the translator - though
Lefevere[3] believes that „the successful translation of parody is[…] largely out of
the translator‟s hands.‟ – (ii) the TT readers and (iii) the quality of the parody
itself.
As far as the translator is concerned, Brandhorst has adopted two
techniques in his translation of these parodies:
First: he focuses on literal translation, with no paratext of any kind that may help
to recognize the parody, letting the TT reader look for the parody himself;
meanwhile, neither the translator nor the TT reader knows it in many cases. Such
an attitude fails to take into account the process of parody recognition because the
questions of where should the TT readers go for explanation of these allusions and
references, and how much effort do they have to expend in this process, still
exist?.
Second: Brandhorst neglects completely the original translations of these
parodies, especially those from the widely known Shakespearean history plays. To
some extent, this technique fails to connect his target readership to his translation,
resulting in a complete fiasco on the part of the TT readers to recognize some
parodies from old literature. One of the shortcomings in Brandhorst‟s translation
of certain untranslatable parodies is that he does not concentrate on the target
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(German) literature where he could take the idea of the ST parody and write a
close target-culture parody from scratch. Also, he does not try to choose a parody
from this literature which is supposed to be roughly equivalent to the ST parody.
Thus, he could provide his parodic text with substitutable allusions, ad hoc or
wholesale. Moreover, with certain ST parodies representing culture specific
features for which no equivalent parodies exist, Brandhorst does not reckon on the
use of explanatory footnotes to help his TT readers recognize these parodies.
Consider the following examples from[1] and[2] respectively: „[…] Granny‟s
famous goose-grease-and-sage chest liniment‟ (WA, p. 19) – „Oma Wetterwachs‟
berühmtes Gänsefett-und-Salbei-Einreibemittel-für-die Brust‟ (TVH, p. 21) or
„[…] (dandelion clock at about 2 pm)‟ (WS, p. 136) – ‟[…] eine Lőwenzahn-Uhr
mit krummen, verwelkten Zeigern‟ (MB, p. 142).
As for the TT readers, the power play of parody translation is whether those
readers are included or excluded. This, of course, depends on how knowledgeable,
well-read, educated or even literate German readers are. “Because the target
reader is in very many ways unlike the source reader”,[41] some of the German
readers who do not have sufficient knowledge on English language and its culture
might be excluded from recognizing the ST parodies. To measure the
translatability of Pratchett‟s parodies in these two novels is to know the effect of
the translated parodies on the German readers. “A parody is successfully
translated if readers in the target culture find it funny”.[3] The reflection of the
stylistic features of some original parodic texts and the TT readers‟ low
proficiency in the SL might create real obstacles for achieving full impact on
German readers. Parodies of the „Butterfly Effect‟ (WA, p. 7, TVH, p. 7) and the
echo of Macbeth‟s famous soliloquy (WS, p. 311, MB, p. 330) are best examples
to illustrate this point
On the other hand, parodies of the Grimms’ and Perrault’s fairy tales
facilitates understanding the original ST parodies because the average German
reader has, at least, certain knowledge of these folk tales. Furthermore, when the
parody represents the plot of the story, wholly or partly, it is easily recognized by
its readers, better than the sentence-level parody. Cinderella and Macbeth are
good examples in[1] and[2] respectively. Once more, these folk tales represent
some genuine „white knowledge‟ upon which Pratchett has worked to inveigle the
readers to be involved in his stories and ultimately receive the perlocutionary
effect of the ST parody. Of course, this does not depend on how genius or
competent the German translator is, but it depends heavily on how much
knowledgeable and skilful the German reader is.
As for the quality of the parody, it has implicitly or explicitly been
illustrated in the previous discussion of the two other factors from which one can
safely deduce that it is difficult to make any predictions as to whether the targetparodic effects are different from or similar to the source- parodic effects unless a
field study is made to examine the parodic effect on both ST and TT readers.
Despite the fact that translation of Pratchett‟s parodies in[1] and[2] face great
challenges, translations of some parodies have been produced because they take
place within the western culture where its readers (ST or TT) share some common
knowledge, especially with parodies of folk literature, fantasy fiction, and even
movies which are basically structured on myth and fantasy. Finally, one can safely
conclude that it is possible to translate Pratchett‟s parody if one keeps in mind that
the translation will not always be as ridiculous, satirical, amusing or even
expository as the original, and also the TT parody in German does not have the
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same rhetorical density as does the ST parody in English. Even this transference
must be aided by some particular devices such as the TT readers‟ alertness to and
knowledge on the English literature, high proficiency of the translator and the
existence of contextual paratext which instantly hallmarks the material being
parodied.
References
[1]- Pratchett, T. (1991) Witches Abroad. Victor Gollancz Ltd.
[2]- Pratchett, T. (1988) Wyrd Sisters. Victor Gollancz Ltd.
[3]- Lefevere, A. (1992) Translating Literature. Practice and Theory in a
Comparative Literature, Context. The Modern Language Association of
America, New York, p. 44, 45.
[4]- Pratchett, T. (1999) Total verhext. Ein Scheibenwelt-Roman. Ins Deutsche
übertragen von. Andreas Brandhorst (translator) Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag,
München.
[5]- Pratchett, T. (2007) MacBest. Ein Roman von der bizarren Scheibenwelt.
Aus dem Englischen. von Andreas Brandhorst ( translator ) Piper Verlag,
München-Zürich.
[6]- Sebastian, A. J. & NDR Chandra (2001) Literary Terms in Poetry. Delhi:
Authors‟ Press, p. 173.
[7]- Abrams, M. H. (1993) A Glossary of Literary Terms. Hartcourt Brace
Jovanovich College Publishers, in Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New
York, p. 18.
[8]- Barnard, B. & W. David (2006) An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and
Drama. Thomson & Wadsworth, Boston, p. 1500.
[9]- Martin, Wendy (2006) The Art of the Short Story. Houghton Mifflin
Company, Boston, p. 476.
[10]- Kirby, J. (2003) Subverting the Genre. A Havedfag Thesis Submitted to the
Department of Modern Languages. NTNU, pp. 3, 8, 29, & 30.
[11]- Miller, F. (2008) “Terry Pratchett: The Soul of Wit”. Contemporary Literary
Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center, pp. 1-9
[http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do ]
[12]- Mendelsohn, F. (2001) “Faith and Ethics” in Terry Pratchett: Guilty of
Literature. (Eds.) Andrew M. Butler, Edward James and Farah Mendelsohn:
The Science Fiction Foundation, Vol. 2, p. 145-161.
[13]- Pratchett, T. (1983) The Colour of Magic. New York: St Martin‟s.
[14]- Silver, S. (2000) “A Conversation with Terry Pratchett”, Part I. The SF Site,
(April) 40 pars (pars. 7 and 11 ).
[15]- Bernard, C. (1999) “The Cultural Agenda of Parody in some Contemporary
English Novels” European Journal of English Studies, 3 (2), 167-189.
[16]- Enright, J. (2001) Crescent Blues, 60 pars. http: //www.lspace.org/
aboutterry/ interviews/crescentblues.html., pars. 40, 41, and 60.
[17]- Hutcheon, L. (1988) A Poetics of Postmodernism. N.Y. and London:
Routledge, p. 26.
[18]- Crowe, J. (2003) A War of Words. Humor in the Works of Terry Pratchett.
University of Birmingham, p. 17.
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[19]- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1984) The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 125 – 127.
[20]- Moorcock, M. (1987) Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic
Fantasy. London: Gollancz, p. 108.
[21]- Pratchett, T. (1990, B) Moving Pictures. New York: ROC.
[22]- The Complete Work of William Shakespeare (1973) Great Britain: Rex
Library.
[23]- Breebaart, L. & M. Kew (eds.) (1997) Words from the Master.
http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/ words-from-the-master.html., pars. 228 229, 105 – 106.
[24]- Windling, T. (2001) “On Tolkien and Fairy Stories” in Mediations on
Middle-Earth, Karen Haber (ed.), St. Martin‟s Press, p. 1-6.
[25]- Dorothea, T. (1799) (translator) Macbeth, in William Shakespeare:
Sämtliche Werke in einem Band. R.Lőwit, Wiesbaden.
[26]- William Shakespeare: Sämtliche Werke in einem Band. R.Lőwit,
Wiesbaden.
[27]- Aoyama, T. & J. Wakabayashi (1999) “Where Parody meets Translation”, in
Japan Forum 11(2), 217-230.
[28]- Bryant, C. (2000) Postmodern Parody in the Discworld Novels of Terry
Pratchett. (Unpublished Dissertation presented for the Degree of Bachelor
of Arts, Single Honours in English. University of Plymouth ), p. 6, 8.
[29]- Barthes, Roland (1986) “The Death of the Author” in The Rustle of
Language. Trans. Richard Howard, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 52-53.
[30]- Schäffner, C. & B. Adab (1997) “Translation as Intercultural
Communication –Contact as Conflict. in Translation as Intercultural
Communication. Mary Snell-Hornby, et.al. (eds) Amsterdam: John
Benjamin, p. 325- 338.
[31]- Wilss, W. (1985) “Rhetorical and Stylistic Issues in Translation Pedagogy”.
Meta 30 (3), 224-235.
[32]- Jameson, F. (1985) “Postmodernism and Consumer Society”. Postmodern
Culture. Hal Forster (ed.). London: Pluto, p. 109–120.
[33]- White, C. (2000) “A Conversation with Terry Pratchett”, An Interview in
Writers Write The IWJ, (April) 74 pars. [www.writerswrite.com], par. 8.
[34]- The L-Space Web: Analysis. [ http://www.lspace.org/interviews.html ]
[35]- Chomsky, N. (1990) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, 6th Printing (First
published, 1965). Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press.
[36]- Grimms
Fairy
Tales:
At
All
Family
Resources
http://www.familymanagement.com/literacy/grimms. html.
[37]- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1974) The Lord of the Rings (part 1): The Fellowship of
the Ring. London: Unwin Hayman Limited.
[38]- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1975) The Hobbit. London: Unwin Hayman Limited.
[39]- Abbott, W. T. (2002) White Knowledge and the Cauldron of Story: The Use
of Allusion in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld (an MA. Thesis presented to the
Faculty of the Department of English- East Tennessee State University),
p. 3, 10, and 29.
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[40]- Pym, A. (1992) “The Relation between Translation and Material Text
Transfer”. Target 4 (2), 171-89.
[41]- Fawcett, P. (1995) “Translation and Power Play”. The Translator, 1 (2) 177192.
[42]- Baum, J. C. (1939) The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming, MGM.
[43]- Hickey, L. (ed.) (1998) “Perlocutionary Equivalence: Marking, Exegesis and
Recontextualisation”. The Pragmatics of Translation. Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters Ltd, p. 217-230.
[44]- Rose, M. A. (1993) Parody: Ancient, Modern, and Post-modern.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Notes
(1)- Parody is a burlesque in comic imitation of a literary work. By it a
composition ridicules another by imitating and exaggerating its content,
structure and style. It is a kind of satirical mimicry. A parody has to have
close resemblance to the original, yet distort it creatively. In a parody a light
theme is treated in the style of a serious work, e.g. Cervantes‟ Don Quixote
is a parody of the chivalric romances of this time.[6] For other definitions,
see.[7, 8, 9]
(2)- Tolkien introduces the „Cauldron of the Story‟, (white knowledge in
Pratchett‟s terms) saying “But if we speak of the Cauldron, we must not
wholly forget the Cooks. There are many things in the Cauldron, but the
Cooks do not dip in the ladle quite blindly. Their selection is important”.[19]
(3)- Pratchett explains „narrative causality‟ in:[1] “This is called the theory of
„narrative causality‟ and it means that a story, once started, takes a shape. It
picks up all the vibrations of all the other workings of that story that have
ever been” (p.8).
(4)- In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the German Classics
and Romantics (Goethe, Tieck, Novalis, De la Motte-Fouqué, etc.) created
works with mystical themes inspired by myths and fairy tales, while their
countrymen, the Brothers Grimm, prepared their famous, influential volume
of German Popular Stories. Works by the German Romantics were highly
popular in nineteenth century In England, and the first English translation of
the Grimms‟ collection (in 1823) flamed the fire of Victorian interest in all
things magical and fey.[24]
(5)- “A hybrid text is a text that results from a translation process. It shows
features that somehow seem „out place‟/„strange‟/„unusual‟ for the receiving
culture, i.e. the target culture”.[30]
(6)- Chomsky‟s famous sentence, which breaks selectional rules, can be
interpreted metaphorically (particularly, as personification).[35]
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