BA Thesis English Language and Culture, Utrecht University The ...

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BA Thesis English Language and Culture, Utrecht University

The Best-Laid Translations of Of Mice and Men:

A Case for a New Dutch Translation of Of Mice and Men

Falko van Schieveen

4141237

Heeswijk 86, 3417 GS Montfoort

BA Thesis English Language and Culture

British English

Lette Vos & Anniek Kool

12 February 2016

5682 words

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Table of Contents

Plagiarism Statement………………………………………………………………........2

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..4

Methodology……………………………………………………………………………7

Pragmatics and Culture-specific Translation Issues…………………………………...11

Language and Register Translation Issues…………………………………………….15

Translation……………………………………………………………………………..21

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..26

Discussion and Further Avenues of Research…………………………………………27

Bibliography…………………………………………………………….......................28

Source text…………………………………………………………………………......30

Eggink’s Translation…………………………………………………………………..34

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Introduction

Despite the critical acclaim which John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men received upon its

release in 1937 (Wagner, et al. 71-95), only one Dutch translation of the novel has ever been

published according to the Index Translationum, named Van muizen en mensen, by Clara

Eggink in 1973. Because this is the only Dutch translation of this novel, one would hope that

this translation is of an at least reasonable quality. However, Eggink’s translation leaves much

to be desired. Firstly, her translation contains several issues related to the use of register and

syntax. The register she uses has become archaic and sometimes does not convey the proper

meaning. Eggink’s translation also contains ungrammatical and awkward sentences. The

translation of dialect is also inconsistent in terms of the level of register, as well as being

limited to morphology only, making Eggink’s translation of dialect seem very artificial.

Lastly, several cultural differences between the United States and the Netherlands have been

translated in a way that seems problematic, at least to a contemporary readership.

Besides this, there are many other reasons why a new Dutch translation of Of Mice

and Men should be produced regardless of the quality of Eggink’s translation. For one, Of

Mice and Men has many literary qualities which are relevant for non-American audiences as

well. These qualities, among other things, are the interesting implications regarding the so-

called American dream, and the nature of good and evil, the latter being represented by

Lennie’s struggle and failure to do good due to his lacking intelligence. The reconsideration

of topical and universal issues like these certainly has some literary merit. Scholars such as

Thomas T. Tammaro also make a case for including working-class novels like Of Mice and

Men in the curricula of college students, as well as for working-class novels to be considered

literature in general (95). This point of view is especially prudent when considering Of Mice

and Men’s history of being banned from many American schools and universities. This likely

hinders academic discussion surrounding this novel by a new generation of American scholars

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and academics, as well as potentially holding back the prestige and popularity of this novel in

other countries. Adding to this the general acclaim which this novel received by its

contemporary critics (Wagner, et al. 71-95), it seems apt to claim that this novel deserves

more recognition than it currently receives. It is also possible that the mechanism by which

the amount of awareness and prestige is raised for a particular novel through translations may

not only be of a qualitative, but also of a quantitative nature. In other words, the amount of

translations of a particular novel may have a positive correlation with the amount of

awareness about the original work, and the amount of prestige the original novel is perceived

to have. Considering Of Mice and Men’s history of censorship in the United States, as well as

its aforementioned qualities, raising the prestige of this novel would be desirable. Then there

is also what Maarten Steenmeijer calls the “houdbaarheid van vertalingen” (25), or the shelf

life of translations, which entails that many languages, including Dutch, are dynamic, so that

translations swiftly start to sound archaic. Academics like Steenmeijer also encourage

multiple literary translations of the same novel, because each individual translation may offer

something different, for different target audiences, as a translation cannot possibly fulfil the

wishes of all possible target audiences. In these ways, another Dutch translation of Of Mice

and Men could be justified regardless of the quality of Eggink’s translation.

Because this translation is intended to raise awareness of this novel, reaching an

audience which is as broad as possible is of paramount importance. As such, a modernising

translation with regards to register may be desirable. Such a translation method may not only

improve upon Clara Eggink’s translation by better fitting a contemporary public, but also

complement it by offering a translation for a target audience which Clara Eggink’s translation

does not appeal to, and vice versa. Furthermore, because one of the primary aims of this

translation will be to lower the threshold of reading the original work by removing possible

barriers, for example those related to language competence, general awareness, and

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differences in age and associated knowledge across target audiences, a modernising

translation method seems apt to remove many of said barriers and, as such, reach a broader

audience.

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Methodology

In the following chapters, the most prevalent translation issues with regards to Of Mice and

Men in Dutch will be discussed. For the sake of brevity, only major and structural translation

issues of Of Mice and Men will be highlighted and discussed. In order to show why a new

translation of Of Mice and Men is necessary, many examples of the poor quality of Eggink’s

translation will be provided.

In order to analyse the problems of Eggink’s translation, Christiane Nord’s

categorisation of translation problems will be adhered to, dividing the issues into categories of

language, pragmatics, culture-specific elements, and text-specific issues (147). Another aspect

of Nord’s academic discourse which will be adhered to in this research is the top-down

approach, meaning that the pragmatic macro-level will be taken as the starting point, and from

there the proper translation strategies on the linguistic micro-level will be chosen. The

advantage of this approach as described by Nord is that this approach narrows down which

translation strategies should be used (147). Because it is difficult in practice to separate

translation problems completely using Nord’s categorisation, some categories will be grouped

together in a single chapter, and certain major translation problems will be discussed across

several chapters. Because the few text-specific translation issues do not have a considerable

effect on the macro-level of the translation, this category will not be discussed. The source

text will be used to identify potential translation difficulties, and Clara Eggink’s translation

choices will be judged based on the effects they have on the macro-level of the translation.

Several contrasting translation strategies will be compared to each other in the

following chapters based on the effects they would have in the specific case of translating Of

Mice and Men. Firstly, the general contrast between a domesticating translation strategy, a

translation strategy which stays true to the source culture of the text, and a translation strategy

in which cultural elements, or CSE, are adapted to the target culture (Chesterman 168, Aixelá

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200-201) is important to consider. Whereas the former translation strategy brings the text

closer to the reader of the translation, the latter translation strategy gives the translation a

more exotic quality, something which may have an estranging effect on the reader (Aixelá

200). Aixelá also describes many different ways in which these two general translation

strategies may be achieved. For a domesticating translation strategy, these ways are:

1) Preservation of the CSE in its original form.

2) Ortographic adaptation, which entails spelling the CSE in the alphabet of the target

language.

3) Linguistic, non-cultural translation of the CSE.

4) Extratextual explanation, an explanation of the CSE using footnotes.

5) Intratextual explanation, an explanation of the CSE within the text itself (Aixelá 200-201).

The different ways to achieve the latter translation strategy are as follows:

1) Using synonyms from the target language.

2) Using a more well-known CSE.

3) Using a neutral term instead of the original CSE.

4) Domesticate the CSE.

5) Removal of the CSE (Aixelá 201-202).

Another important, general contrast to establish is between a modernising translation

strategy or a translation strategy which preserves the archaic elements of the source text.

Whereas the former contrast concerned differences between the source culture and the target

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culture, this contrast concerns the translation issues which arise from the differing time

periods between that of the source text and of the hypothetical, new translation.

Another important distinction to make when discussing potential translation issues is

the difference between the narrative and dialogic voice. Whereas the narrative voice consists

of the narrator conveying the story from an outside perspective, the dialogic voice consists of

the characters speaking to each other, situated inside the story world. This is an important

distinction because these two voices each have their own stylistic requirements. This is

especially true in the case of Of Mice and Men, in which the dialogic voice is marked with

dialect, and as such requires a much lower level of formality.

Because the translation of dialect is a major translation issue in the case of Of Mice

and Men, some theoretical consideration on this topic is appropriate. Berezowski Sienkiewicz

describes several strategies to translate dialects, which are in turn summarised by Michal

Mašlaň:

“1) Image for image substitution; this means to select TL varieties that perform similar

functions as the original dialects. For instance, Yiddish accented Czech for Yiddish accented

English. This would, however, embed the text in TL extralinguistic reality.

2) Approximate variety substitution; it is accomplished by selecting a TL variety that is

believed to be equivalent to the SL dialect only in some respects, and different in others. For

example, colloquial Polish for Polish accented English of Pennsylvania coal miners.

3) Neutralization; this is elimination of the SL nonstandard variety by means of standard

language. A translator may use standard Czech for African American Vernacular English. In

this way a translator not only interprets the SL text but also explicates it. Such a strategy

levels the speech of all characters and inevitably ignores the meanings embedded in SL

heteroglossia.

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4) Amplification; this is introducing additional differentiation where it does not exist in the

SL text” (Sienkiewicz in Mašlaň 27).

In order to illustrate the validity of the theoretical framework in practice, a brief

translation will be produced. Because many of the issues discussed are featured prominently

within the first few pages of the source text, this will be a large focus of the new translation.

Some later parts will be translated as well, however, in order to show that these issues are not

confined to these first few pages.

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Pragmatic and Culture-specific Translation Issues

This chapter will deal with translation issues that stem from pragmatics and culture-specific

elements. Issues that fall within the category of pragmatics are those that stem from a

differing communicative situations between the source language and the target language

(Nord 147). While Javier Franco Aixelá claims that it is difficult to separate culture-specific

elements from language and pragmatics, he names two subcategories which encompass the

elements which are to be considered culture-specific elements: idiomatic phrases and proper

names (197-199) In this case, the differences between American and Dutch culture are

relevant to consider. The difference in time periods between the conception of the source text

and that of the current target audience is also an important factor to take into account. After

all, due to both differing cultures and time periods, certain aspects of the source text, such as

certain word choices, curse words, sayings and culture-specific elements are likely outdated

or difficult to understand for a modern Dutch audience. Furthermore, the presence and

prominence of an American, lower class dialect in the speech of every character in this novel

also forms a prominent translation issue. A good, modern Dutch translation of this novel

succeeds at conveying these elements to a Dutch target audience without significant, negative

side-effects.

Eggink’s translation fails to fulfil this goal in many aspects. One of these aspects

which falls under the category of pragmatics is the translation of the dialect used in the source

text. When translating this dialect, it may be important to take into account that native Dutch

speakers tend to speak in a much more direct manner than native speakers of American

English (Rottier et al. 409). Combining this consideration with the aforementioned shelf life

of translations provides an explanation for why Eggink’s translation of this dialect does not

always convey the appropriate informal attitude. While it is difficult to objectively compare

and determine the exact social prestige of phrases across languages, comparing the phrase

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“An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither” (Steinbeck 4) from the

source text to “En je haalt ook geen streken uit zoals in Weed” (Eggink 11), which is

Eggink’s translation of the same phrase, makes it clear that Eggink’s translation, especially in

today’s context, does not always manage to capture the tone of the lower-class speech which

features prominently in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. An example of a translation

which would capture the proper tone of this phrase would be En je gaat ook niet lopen

klooien zoals in Weed. Another example is the passage “Ik… zeg geen stom woord. Ik sta er

alleen bij” (Eggink 11), which also does not belong to the same informal level that the

original phrase, “I… ain’t gonna say nothing. Jus’ gonna stan’ there” (4) belongs to. These

assertions can be made even without considering the aforementioned cultural differences in

politeness conventions and formality between the source culture and the target culture, but

this cultural difference makes this issue all the more valid to address. Because this translation

issue affects a great portion of Of Mice and Men, the linguistic aspects of translating this

dialect will be discussed in the next chapter.

Then there is also a multitude of culture-specific elements which are present in the

source text, such as geographical names, measurement units and other, American concepts.

The decision to be made here is whether these culture-specific elements should be preserved

in a new translation, or if they should be adapted to the Dutch target culture. There is also a

third option, which Levý calls an “illusionistic translation strategy” (Grit 191). This

translation strategy entails keeping realia exotic, but providing additional information on

individual realia which are likely to be unknown to the target audience (Grit 191). While it is

tempting to choose a single translation strategy for all categories of culture-specific elements,

there are certain distinctions to be made. For example, whereas preserving names of

geographical locations is vital to the story’s setting, measurement units can sometimes be

adapted to Dutch standards so that the reader gains a better idea of distance and monetary

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value. Furthermore, other American concepts like “the west” require adaptation in order for

them to carry the correct connotation to a Dutch target audience. Translating “western”

(Steinbeck 9) as “het westen” (Eggink 24) like Eggink does simply does not convey the

correct meaning of the word in the context it is used.

Because Of Mice and Men is a relatively old book, written in the 1930s, it is marked

by an old-fashioned register. Examples of this include words such as “mottled” (Steinbeck 1),

“tramp” (1), “pugnacious” (11), and “slough” (13). While these words may be

comprehensible, both on a pragmatic and a semantic level, to a native speaker of English,

such words may be more difficult to understand to an L2 speaker of English. Besides lending

credibility to the translation of this novel, it provides an incentive to provide a modernising

translation. Yet, it seems that Eggink’s translation has become outdated as well. To give a few

examples, Eggink translates “defensively ” (20) as “op zijn qui-vive” (Eggink 49),

“rheumatism” (23) as “rimetiek” (55), “blubberin’” (6) as “grienen” (14), and “twigs” (6) as

“twijgen” (16). Eggink also uses words in her translation whose primary meaning has shifted

over the years. For example, Eggink translates “huge” (2) as “geweldig” (7) and “handy” (13)

as “handig” (34). Words which would convey the intended meaning without suggesting any

additional, wrong meanings would be enorm en behendig respectively.

Another major issue when translating Of Mice and Men is the frequent use of

idiomatic phrases in the source text. Because not all English proverbs have a Dutch

equivalent, proverbs are sometimes difficult to translate, and may require inventive translation

strategies in order to convey the general meaning of these proverbs to a Dutch target

audience. However, Eggink’s translation of idioms is consistently inadequate. Many of the

idioms Eggink uses in her translation simply do not exist in Dutch, do not have any clear

meaning, are used wrongly, or have not aged well. To give a couple of examples, Eggink

translates “You ain’t putting nothing over” (Steinbeck 5) as “Dat zal je niet gladzitten”

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(Eggink 13), which is a very archaic Dutch proverb. “We got to sneak out in the dark”

(Steinbeck 7) is translated by Eggink as “en wij moeten in het donker stiekem uitknijpen”

(Eggink 17), in which the idiom ertussenuit knijpen is supposed to be used instead. “Het is

alsof hij ze niet zetten kan” (Eggink 34), which is Eggink’s translation of the phrase “He’s

alla time pickin’ scraps with big guys”, is a rather old-fashioned proverb which is no longer

used in modern Dutch. To improve upon Eggink’s translation in this regard would simply be

to use proverbs that actually exist and are still used in modern Dutch.

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Language and Register Translation Issues

The category of language and register encompasses a broad range of translation issues. Such

issues include the many differences between the Dutch and the English language (Nord 147).

In this case, issues such as the translation of American dialects, the general differences and

nuances in meaning between American words and their closest Dutch equivalents, and the

problems arising from differing sentence structures between English and Dutch are the most

relevant issues to consider.

As was mentioned in chapter 2, the characters in Of Mice and Men predominantly use

a dialect which is bound to a particular social, geographical and historical context.

Specifically, the dialect which the characters use in the source text is meant to emulate the

speech patterns of the American lower class in the 1930s. The translation of written out

dialect to another language is a difficult translation issue with no ideal solution. However,

since it features so prominently in Of Mice and Men, it seems important to consider which

translation strategy would best represent this dialect in a Dutch translation. The most

important, pragmatics aspects of this issue have already been discussed in chapter 2. This

discussion showed that the dialect used by the characters would theoretically have to be

somewhat exaggerated and modernised in a Dutch translation for it to convey the same social

class to a contemporary Dutch target audience, if such a relationship of relativity could be

established across different languages and cultures at all. However, there are also purely

linguistic aspects to this issue, which will be discussed in this chapter.

One such issue simply concerns how to translate an American dialect into Dutch.

Because there are many linguistic aspects which define a dialect, such as register, syntax,

grammatical structures, and morphology, there are also a lot of different ways to translate

dialects by emphasising one of these different aspects. These linguistic aspects can also be

combined, leading to even more ways to translate dialects.

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Alternatively, it could also be debated whether this dialect should be translated at all,

or if it should simply be left out. After all, by virtue of dialects being bound to a particular

language, trying to emulate a dialect in a different language has many problems associated

with it. A translated dialect may appear to a reader of a translation as nonsensical, estranging,

mockingly stereotypical, etc. However, an important counterargument to abandoning these

dialects is that doing so would take away a very important dimension of the source text. After

all, it has been established that dialect is a very prominent feature of Of Mice and Men, and

forms a large part of the scene setting, as well as characterisation, as a result. As such,

neglecting to translate these dialects would result in a significant loss of style and

characterisation.

In the case of Of Mice and Men, the translation of the American dialect into Dutch

poses some interesting dilemmas. In light of what has been established about the socio-

cultural differences between the United States and the Netherlands, it begs the question how

the same effect of insinuating a low social background could be achieved in Dutch. The

“image for image substitution” and “approximate variety substitution” (Mašlaň 27,

Sienkiewicz 35) translation strategies, as described in the methodology, are relevant to

consider here. As such, one way to translate the dialect in Of Mice and Men would be to

simulate a lower prestige dialect of Dutch. While this strategy would boost social recognition

and association, it might undermine the previous choice of preserving the story’s American

setting, creating an estranging rift between speech and environment. Alternatively, a non-

stereotypically Dutch dialect could be invented to circumvent this rift, but such a translation

strategy could be risky as the resulting dialect would potentially be less associable to the

appropriate social class, and may have an estranging effect on the Dutch target audience. As

the downsides of this translation strategy are likely too great, the translation of the dialect

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from the source text will feature a mix of grammatical and morphological alteration which is

recognisable to a Dutch target audience.

This translation strategy significantly improves upon Eggink’s translation of the

dialect in Of Mice and Men, which consists for the greatest part of using the phonetic,

informal Dutch form of a very specific set of verbs, namely moeten en zouden, as well as the

abbreviation of individual words like als. Eggink’s translation of this dialect is also not

consistent in terms of level of register. This translation strategy has several issues connected

to it. For one, it tries to but significantly falls short in emulating the dialect used in Of Mice

and Men. Secondly, this translation strategy entails that everyone has the same verbal ticks,

homogenising the characters unjustly. Thirdly, the focus on a very specific set of verbs has the

general effect of making the dialect seem very contrived and forced due to a lack of natural

variation.

When translating from American English to Dutch, semantics are important to

consider as well, because not taking semantics into consideration when translating may lead

to some rather misleading and awkward phrases being present in the resulting translation.

This applies especially to Of Mice and Men considering the long, detailed phrases and

difficult words that are used to describe the novel’s setting. In the case of Eggink’s

translation, multiple instances of skewed sentences can be found on the first few pages of the

translation. For example, the phrase “The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over

the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool” (Steinbeck 1) being

translated as “warm is het water ook, want het is glinsterend over het gele zand in de zon

gegleden voordat het de smalle kreek bereikt” (Eggink 5) suggests the impossible scenario

that the water from the river Salinas somehow physically enters the sun before reaching a

small creek. While it could be argued that this would not be the primary interpretation of this

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phrase, there is another odd phrase from Eggink’s translation which does suggest a wrong,

primary interpretation. It concerns the translation of the following phrase from the source text:

“Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are

covered with the night tracks of ‘coons, and with the spreadpads of dogs from the ranches,

and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark” (Steinbeck 1)

This phrase is translated by Eggink as follows:

“s’Avonds komen er konijnen uit het struikgewas om in het zand te zitten en de vochtige

plekken zijn bedekt met de nachtelijke sporen van wasberen, de gespreide sporen van honden

van de hoeven en gespleten sporen van herten, die in de duisternis komen drinken” (Eggink

5).

This is a rather awkward sentence due to the double meaning of the word hoeven, which can

both mean farmsteads and the hooves of an animal in Dutch. What truly makes this sentence

awkward, however, is the fact that the word hoeven is used in a context where both meanings

are intuitively applicable, and animal hooves would seem like the more intuitive meaning

before the ungrammaticality of this interpretation of the phrase is noticed by the reader.

Eggink’s translation of the sentence “George unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the

bank” (3) as “George wierp zijn bundel af en liet hem zacht op de oever neer” (7) contains a

paradox between the phrases wierp zijn bundel af and liet hem zacht op de oever neer,

because it seems physically impossible to throw something so that it lands lightly on the

ground. Neerlaten is also an awkward and archaic verb. The translation also contains

examples of sloppiness; on the seventh page the phrase “Lennie dabbled his big paw in the

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water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the

pool to the other side and came back again” (3) is translated as the ungrammatical phrase

“Lennie dompelde zijn grote poot in het water en bewoog zijn vingers over de kreek naar de

overzijde en kwamen weer terug.” (7). There are also many instances where Eggink copies

Steinbeck’s style, specifically his long-winded sentences, even when this style does not work

in Dutch. For example, Eggink translates the phrase “Don’t you think I could see your feet

was wet where you went acrost the river to get it?” (6) as “Dacht je dat ik niet kon zien dat je

voeten nat waren, omdat je door de rivier gelopen bent om hem te halen?” (14). Eggink’s

translation of this phrase seems much less natural than the same phrase from the source text.

A more natural approach to this and certain other lengthy phrases would be to divide them

into several smaller sentences. While this approach arguably leads to a loss of style from the

source text, this style does not always fit the Dutch language. While these are but a few

examples of odd phrases in Eggink’s translation, it is relevant to note that many of these

examples are found in the introductory passage, which is supposed to set the mood for the rest

of the story.

Not only sentences, but also individual word choices form a major issue when

translating Of Mice and Men. Many words that are used in the source text are not only

archaic, but also quite obscure and likely difficult to understand for a Dutch target audience.

As such, the proper translation on the level of individual words is important in order to

convey the proper meaning of the source text to a Dutch target audience. However, Eggink’s

translation often contains words which do not convey the proper meaning. To give some

examples, Eggink’s use of “nachtelijke sporen” (Eggink 5) does not adequately convey the

meaning of “nightly tracks” (Steinbeck 1), the translation of “He smiled happily” (3) as “Hij

glimlachte gelukkig” (7) is ungrammatical, and should be Hij glimlachte gelukzalig,

translating “hopelessly” (3) as “zei hij zonder hoop” (8) suggests a wrong interpretation of

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desperation rather than annoyance due to zonder hoop, and Eggink translates “sick” (2) as

“ziek” (7), which is better translated along the lines of misselijk.

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Translation

1Een paar kilometer2 ten zuiden van de Amerikaanse stad Soledad3 stroomt de Salinas dicht

langs de heuvels. De rivier wordt hier diep, groen en bovendien warm, omdat het glinsterend

in het zonlicht over het gele zand heeft gegleden voordat het de smalle beek bereikte. 4Aan

één kant van de rivier buigen de gouden heuvels omhoog richting het machtige en grillige

Cabilangebergte, maar in het dal aan de andere kant van de rivier staan er bomen langs het

water – wilgen, die iedere lente fris en groen in bloei staan en waar in de takken? nog de

wrakstukken van de wintervloed hangen, en esdoorns met gevlekte, witte, kromme takken die

over het water buigen. Op de zanderige oever onder de bomen ligt een laag bladeren die zo

hoog en dor is, dat als er een hagedis doorheen zou rennen dit een luid geritsel zou

veroorzaken. ’s Avonds komen de konijnen uit het struikgewas om in het zand te zitten en de

vochtige zandbanken zijn bedekt met de sporen van wasberen die s’ nachts tevoorschijn

komen, de pootafdrukken van boerderijhonden en de gespleten hoefafdrukken van herten die

in het donker komen drinken5.

‘Straks moet je weer kotsen net als gister.’6

Lennie stak zijn hoofd geheel onder water, met hoed en al, en ging daarna rechtop

zitten op de oever. Water droop van zijn hoed op zijn blauwe jas en langs zijn rug. ‘Dat is

1 Parts of source text which are written in the narrative voice, such as this one, can be translated in a more formal manner than parts which are written in the dialogic voice. 2 In order to give the reader a better understanding of the distance spoken of here, miles is translated as “kilometers”.3 In order to give the reader a general sense of the setting, as well as to clarify that Soledad is a city, the phrase “de Amerikaanse stad” is added. 4 This sentence improves upon Eggink’s translation by removing an ambiguous, odd interpretation that was present in Eggink’s translation of the same phrase.5 Improvement upon one of Eggink’s ambiguous sentences through removing the false interpretation.6 By not using the verb “zal”, as well as using informal words like “gister” and a more informal sentence structure, the level of formality of this sentence corresponds much better to that of the original sentence. This strategy will be used recurrently in order to create a more natural and informal tone which is appropriate to this particular novel.

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lekker,’7 zei hij. ‘Drink ook wat, George. Neem maar een goeie, grote slok.’ Hij glimlachte

gelukzalig.

George liet zijn knapzak zachtjes op de oever vallen. ‘Weet je wel zeker dat het

drinkbaar is?’ vroeg hij. ‘Ziet er best wel smerig uit.’8

Lennie stak zijn joekel van een hand in het water en bewoog zijn vingers zodat er wat water

uit de rivier omhoog spatte; kleine golfjes waaierden uit naar de overkant van de rivier en

kwamen weer terug.9 Lennie keek naar het deinende water. ‘Kijk is, George. Kijk is wat ik

dee.’

George knielde neer bij de rivier en dronk met snelle teugjes uit zijn hand. ‘Smaakt

wel oké,’ gaf George toe, ‘maar ’t lijkt niet echt te stromen. Geen water drinken dat niet

stroomt, Lennie.’ zei hij vergeefs. ‘Jij zou nog uit de goot drinken as je dorst had.’

Even later kwam Lennie weer uit het struikgewas gedenderd. Hij had een enkele, kleine

wilgentak in zijn hand. George ging rechtop zitten. ‘Oké,’ zei hij kortaf. ‘Geef hier die muis!’

Maar Lennie speelde de onschuld zelve. ‘Welke muis, George? Ik heb helemaal geen

muis.’

George hield zijn hand uit. ‘Kom op. Geef hier. Mij hou je echt niet voor de gek.’

Lennie aarzelde, deed een stap achteruit, keek schichtig naar de bosrand alsof hij

overwoog om de benen te nemen. George zei ijzig: ‘Ga je me die muis nog geven of moet ik

je voor je bek slaan?10’

‘Wat moet ik je geven, George?’

‘Je weet godverdomme precies wat je moet geven. Die muis.’

7 This phrase is translated to better fit Lennie’s character compared to Eggink’s translation. This adjustment is made for other phrases uttered by Lennie, and other characters, as well. 8 By not only using abbreviations of several word types, but also on the level of sentences, it lowers the formality of this sentence to more appropriate levels. If such variation would be used across the entire novel, then the dialect would both be much more prominent and seem less artificial.9 Revision of ungrammatical sentence in Eggink’s translation.10 Here a much more informal, Dutch proverb than in Eggink’s translation is used to decrease formality and underscore the nature of the relationship between George and Lennie.

van Schieveen 23

Lennie graaide met tegenzin in zijn broekzak. Zijn stem brak een beetje. ‘Ik snap niet

waarom ik ‘m niet mag houwen. Hij is toch van niemand. Ik heb ‘m niet gestolen. Ik vond ‘m

gewoon langs de weg.’

George hield streng zijn hand voor zich uit. Langzaam, als een hond die een bal niet

naar zijn baasje terug wil brengen, kwam Lennie dichterbij, deed een stap terug, kwam weer

dichterbij. George knipte scherp met zijn vingers, en bij dit geluid legde Lennie de muis in

George’s hand.

‘Ik dee d‘r niks slechts mee, George11. Ik aaide ‘m alleen maar.’

George stond op en gooide de muis zo ver als hij kon in het schemerige struikgewas en

liep toen naar het water toe en waste zijn handen. ‘Jij halfgare idioot12, dacht je nou echt dat ik

je natte poten niet zou merken? Ik hoorde je wel door het water gaan om ‘m te halen!’13 Hij

hoorde Lennie janken en draaide zich snel om. ‘Jammeren als een baby!14 Jezus Christus! Een

grote vent als jij.’

‘Het was geen moeite,’15 zei Slim. ‘Ik had de meeste toch motten verdrinken. Je hoeft me er

niet voor te bedanken.’

George zei ‘Voor jou was ‘t niks, misschien, maar voor hem betekent het veel. Jezus

Christus, ik weet niet hoe we ‘m hier kunnen laten slapen. Hij zal er naast willen slapen in de

schuur. Het zal moeilijk zijn te voorkomen dat ie regelrecht in het nest klimt met die pups.’

‘Het was geen moeite,’ herhaalde Slim. ‘Zeg, je had gelijk over ‘m. Hij mag dan niet

zo snugger zijn, maar ik zag nog nooit zo’n harde werker. Hij vermoorde verdomme bijna zijn

11 Phonetically, dee d’r would be a more likely pronunciation than deed ‘r in casual speech. 12 An informal but nevertheless relatively soft version of this insult is used here to fit its context, as it is used here as a condescending insult but not one made in sheer anger like some other insults by George to Lennie. 13 Liberties were taken here to split one sentence from the source text into two separate sentences, so that the resulting translation of this sentence flows more naturally and is easier to follow.14 This insult is made clearer for a contemporary Dutch target audience by using words that are more commonly used in present day Dutch.15 Improvement over phrase in Eggink’s translation which did not seem like the appropriate response in this context.

van Schieveen 24

partner tijdens het gerst dorsen. Er is niemand die ‘m bij kan houden.16 God allemachtig, ik

heb nog nooit zo’n sterke vent gezien.’

George sprak vervuld met trots: ‘Zeg Lennie gewoon wat ie moet doen en hij doet ’t

zolang ie z’n kop er niet voor nodig heeft. Hij kan zelf niet bedenken wat ie moet doen, maar

bevelen opvolgen kan hij als de beste.’

Buiten klonk het geklingel van een hoefijzer tegen een ijzeren paal en een bescheiden

gejuich.

Slim schoof een klein stukje naar achter zodat het licht niet meer op zijn gezicht

scheen. ‘Vreemd dat jullie twee met elkaar omgaan.’ merkte Slim kalm op, op een manier die

vertrouwen wekte.

‘Wat is er zo vreemd aan?’ vroeg George wantrouwig.

‘Oh, weet ik veel. De werkers reizen bijna nooit samen. Ik heb bijna nog nooit twee

mannen met elkaar zien reizen17. Je weet hoe de knechten zijn, ze komen binnen en krijgen

hun slaapplek en werken een maandje, en dan stappen ze op en gaan weer alleen weg. Geven

nooit een zak om niemand. Lijkt gewoon een beetje gek dat een malloot als hij en een slim

mannetje zoals jij met elkaar reizen.’

‘Hij is geen malloot,’ zei George ‘Hij is zo dom als een ezel, maar hij is nie gestoord.

En ik ben zelf ook niet zo’n genie, anders zou ik niet gerst hoeven dorsen voor mijn salaris

van 50 dollar en m’n verblijf. Als ik slim was, als ik ook maar een greintje slimheid18 had, dan

had ik m’n eigen plekje en zou ik m’n eigen oogst binnenhalen, niet al het werk doen en niks

krijgen van wat er uit de grond komt.’ George viel stil. Hij wou praten. Slim ontmoedigde

hem niet maar spoorde hem ook niet aan. Hij leunde simpelweg naar achter, stil en

toegankelijk.

16 One of the phrases which improves upon Eggink’s translation by using a more modern register.17 This translation removes the redundancy of Eggink’s translation, who does not recognize the difference in emphasis between the first two sentences of this paragraph.18 Although “intelligentie” would be the proper Dutch translation, “slimheid” better fits the level of register George commonly uses.

van Schieveen 25

‘Zo gek is ’t niet, dat hij en ik samen reizen,’ zei George uiteindelijk.

Conclusion

To conclude, there are many reasons to produce a new and modern Dutch translation of Of

Mice and Men. Whereas some of these reasons, such as Tammaro’s case for the

van Schieveen 26

representation of working-class literature, Steenmeijer’s “houdbaarheid van vertalingen”, and

the speculated connection between the amount of translation and recognition of the source

text could be named without even looking at the quality of the existing Dutch translation,

there were other reasons which required a closer look at the source text and Eggink’s

translation in order to validate them. The main issues when translating Of Mice and Men were

identified as the translation of dialect, archaic phrases, culture-specific elements, and differing

sentence structures. Eggink’s translation turned out to be flawed in all of these aspects. Some

of these flaws were attributable to the age of Eggink’s translation, others could have been

prevented through better translation choices.

Discussion and Further Avenues of Research

This research also brought to light some other, interesting theoretical insights which may

require further research to be fully understood. For one, the limitations on the translation of

van Schieveen 27

dialect have become fairly clear based on both Mašlaň’s findings and those of this study.

However, the exact limitations of translating English dialect into Dutch have not been fully

explored. Then there is also the described strategy of representing underrepresented novels

through translation, either once or multiple times. The effectiveness of such a strategy has

also not yet been described. Thirdly, based on what has been established about the flaws of

Eggink’s translation and the effect these flaws have on the macro level of the translation, it

seems that linguistic comprehension is not the only type of comprehension which provides a

reason to translate a certain text. Cultural comprehension seems to be an equally valid reason

to translate a text.

Works Cited

Aixelá, Javier Franco. “Cultuurspecifieke elementen in vertalingen”. Denken over Vertalen.

eds. Annemijn van Bruchem & Hilda Kruithof. Utrecht: Vantilt, 2010. 197-212. Print.

van Schieveen 28

Berezowski, L. Dialect in Translation. Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Uniwesytetu

Wroclawskiego, 1997. Web.

Chesterman, Andrew. “Vertaalstrategieën: een classificatie.” Denken over Vertalen. Ed. Ans

van Kersbergen. Utrecht: Vantilt, 2010. 153-172. Print.

Grit, Diederik. “De vertaling van realia.” Denken over Vertalen. Utrecht: Vantilt, 2010. 189-

196. Print.

Mašlaň, Michal. Dialect and Translation. M.A. Thesis. Masaryk University, 2006. Print.

Nord, Christiana. “Tekstanalyse en de moeilijkheidsgraad van een vertaling.” Denken over

Vertalen. eds. Cornelia van Rinsum & Henri Bloemen. Utrecht: Vantilt, 2010. 145-

152. Print.

Rottier, Bart, Nanette Ripmeester & Andrew Bush. “Separated by a Common Translation?

How the British and Dutch Communicate.” Pediatric Pulmonology 46.4 (2011): 409-

411. Print

Steenmeijer, Maarten. “Houdbaarheidsdatum.” Schrijven als een ander: over het vertalen van

literatuur (2015): 25-29. Print.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1937. Print.

Steinbeck, John. Van muizen en mensen. Trans. Clara Eggink. Amsterdam: Muntinga &

Wereldbibliotheek, 1965. Print.

Tammaro, Thomas M. “Sharing Creation: Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle, and the Working-

Class Novel in American Literature.” John Steinbeck: The Years of Greatness, 1936-

1939 (2015): 95-105. Print.

Tukaj, Mariusz. Index Translationum. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization, 1932. Web. 27 January 2015.

van Schieveen 29

Wagner, Charles A., et al. “Of Mice and Men”. John Steinbeck: The Contemporary Reviews.

eds. McElrath, Joseph R., Jesse S. Crisler & Susan Shillinlaw. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2009. 71-95. Web.

Source Text

van Schieveen 30

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs

deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in

the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foot

hill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the

water is lined with trees — willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower

leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white,

recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the

leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them.

Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered

with the night tracks of ‘coons, and with the spreadpads of dogs from the ranches, and with

the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.

‘Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night.’

Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then he sat up on the bank and

his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back. ‘That’s good,’ he said. ‘You

drink some, George. You take a good big drink.’ He smiled happily.

George unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank. ‘I ain’t sure it’s good

water,’ he said. ‘Looks kinda scummy.’

Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in

little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Lennie

watched them go. ‘Look, George. Look what I done.’

George knelt beside the pool and drank from his hand with quick scoops. ‘Tastes all

right,’ he admitted. ‘Don’t really seem to be running, though. You never oughta drink water

when it ain’t running, Lennie,’ he said hopelessly. ‘You’d drink out of a gutter if you was

thirsty.’

van Schieveen 31

In a moment Lennie came crashing back through the brush. He carried one

small willow stick in his hand. George sat up. ‘Awright,’ he said brusquely. ‘Gi’me that

mouse!’

But Lennie made an elaborate pantomime of innocence. ‘What mouse, George? I ain’t

got no mouse.’

George held out his hand. ‘Come on. Give it to me. You ain’t puttin’ nothing over.’

Lennie hesitated, backed away, looked wildly at the brush line as though he

contemplated running for his freedom. George said coldly, ‘You gonna give me that mouse or

do I have to sock you?’

‘Give you what, George?’

‘You know God damn well what. I want that mouse.’

Lennie reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice broke a little. ‘I don’t know why

I can’t keep it. It ain’t nobody’s mouse. I didn’t steal it. I found it lyin’ right beside the road.’

George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t

want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again.

George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand.

‘I wasn’t doin’ nothing bad with it, George. Jus’ strokin’ it.’

George stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could into the darkening brush, and

then he stepped to the pool and washed his hands. ‘You crazy fool. Don’t you think I could

see your feet was wet where you went acrost the river to get it?’ He heard Lennie’s

whimpering cry and wheeled about.

‘Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you.’

‘It wasn’t nothing,’ said Slim. ‘I would of had to drowned most of ‘em

van Schieveen 32

anyways. No need to thank me about that.’

George said, ‘It wasn’t much to you, maybe, but it was a hell of alot to him. Jesus

Christ, I don’t know how we’re gonna get him to sleep in here. He’ll want to sleep right out in

the barn with ‘em. We’ll have trouble keepin’ him from getting right in the box with them

pups.’

‘It wasn’t nothing,’ Slim repeated. ‘Say, you sure was right about him. Maybe he ain’t

bright, but I never seen such a worker. He damn near killed his partner buckin’ barley. There

ain’t nobody can keep up with him. God awmighty, I never seen such a strong guy.’

George spoke proudly. ‘Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it if it don’t take no figuring.

He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take

orders.’

There was a clang of horseshoe on iron stake outside and a little cheer of voices.

Slim moved back slightly so the light was not on his face. ‘Funny how you an’ him

string along together.’ It was Slim’s calm invitation to confidence.

‘What’s funny about it?’ George demanded defensively. ‘Oh, I dunno. Hardly none of

the guys ever travel together. I hardly never seen two guys travel together. You know how the

hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month, and then they quit and go

out alone. Never seem to give a damn about nobody. It jus’ seems kinda funny a cuckoo like

him and a smart little guy like you travelin’ together.’

‘He ain’t no cuckoo,’ said George. ‘He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy. An’ I ain’t

so bright neither, or I wouldn’t be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found. If I was bright, if I

was even a little bit smart, I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in my own crops,

‘stead of doin’ all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground.’ George fell

silent. He wanted to talk. Slim neither encouraged nor discouraged him. He just sat back quiet

and receptive.

van Schieveen 33

“It ain’t so funny, him an’ me goin’ aroun’ together” George said at last.

Eggink’s Translation

van Schieveen 34

Een paar mijl ten zuiden van Soledad stroomt de rivier de Salinas dicht langs de oever aan de

zijde der heuvels en wordt diep en groen. Warm is het water ook, want het is glinsterend over

het gele zand in de zon gegleden voordat het de smalle kreek bereikt. Aan de ene kant van de

rivier buigen de gouden hellingen van de heuvels aan de voet omhoog naar het sterke en

rotsachtige Cabilangebergte, maar aan de kant van het dal staan er bomen langs het water –

wilgen, die iedere lente fris en groen zijn en in de holten tussen hun laagste takken het

aanspoelsel van de wintervloed dragen; en wilde vijgen met gevlekte, witte,

achterovergebogen stammen en takken die zich over de kreek welven. Op de zandige oever

onder de bomen liggen de bladeren hoog en zo dor, dat een hagedis een luid geschuifel

veroorzaakt als hij erdoor loopt. ’s Avonds komen er konijnen uit het struikgewas om in het

zand te zitten en de vochtige plekken zijn bedekt met de nachtelijke sporen van honden van de

hoeven en de gespleten sporen van herten, die in de duisternis komen drinken.

‘Lennie, je zal weer ziek worden net als vannacht.’

Lennie stopte zijn hele hoofd onder water met hoed en al en ging toen op de oever

zitten; zijn hoed droop uit op zijn blauwe jas en langs zijn rug. ‘Dat doet je goed,’ zei hij

‘Drink ook wat, George. Neem een flinke slok’. Hij glimlachte gelukkig.

George wierp zijn bundel af en liet hem zacht op de oever neer. ‘Ik ben er niet zeker van

dat het goed water is,’ zei hij. ‘Het ziet er smerig uit.’

Lennie dompelde zijn grote poot in het water en bewoog zijn vingers over de kreek naar

de overzijde en kwamen weer terug. Lennie keek ernaar. ‘Kijk, George. Kijk eens wat ik

gedaan heb.’

George knielde bij de kreek neer en dronk, vlug scheppend, uit zijn hand. ‘’t Smaakt

goed,’ gaf hij toe. ‘Maar het schijnt toch niet echt te stromen. Je moet nooit water drinken dat

niet stroomt, Lennie,’ zei hij zonder hoop. ‘Jij zou nog uit een goot drinken als je dorst had.’

van Schieveen 35

Na een ogenblik kwam Lennie door het krakend struikgewas terug. Hij hield één

kleine wilgentak in zijn hand. George ging rechtop zitten. ‘Best,’ zei hij ruw. ‘Geef op die

muis!’ Maar Lennie deed uitvoerig onschuldig. ‘Wat voor muis, George? Ik heb geen muis’

George stak zijn hand uit. ‘Vooruit. Geef hier. Dat zal je niet gladzitten.’

Lennie aarzelde, deinsde terug, keek wild naar de struiken alsof hij dacht over

ontvluchten. George zei koel: ‘Geef die muis of moet ik erop slaan.’

‘Wat moet ik je geven, George?’

‘Dat weet je verdomd goed. Ik mot die muis hebben.’

Lennie greep met tegenzin in zijn zak. Zijn stem haperde een beetje. ‘Ik snap niet

waarom ik hem niet mag houden. Die muis is van niemand. Ik heb hem niet gestolen. Ik vond

hem aan de kant van de weg liggen.’

Georges hand bleef bevelend uitgestrekt. Langzaam, als een terriër die ene bal niet bij

zijn baasje wil brengen, kwam Lennie dichterbij, liep weer weg, kwam weer nader. George

knipte hard met zijn vingers en bij dat geluid legde Lennie de muis in zijn hand.

‘Ik deed er niks kwaads mee, George. Ik aaide hem alleen.’

George stond op en gooide de muis zo ver hij kon in de duister wordende struiken en

toen liep hij naar de kreek toe en waste zijn handen. ‘Jij stomme gek, dacht je dat ik niet kon

zien dat je voeten nat waren, omdat je door de rivier gelopen bent om hem te halen?’ Hij

hoorde Lennies snikkende kreek en draaide zich om. ‘Grienen als een zuigeling! Jezus

Christus! Een grote vent als jij!’

‘Niks,’ zei Slim. ‘Ik had de meeste toch motten verdrinken. Daar hoef je me niet voor te

bedanken.’

van Schieveen 36

George zei: ‘Voor jou is het misschien niks, maar voor hem is het verdomd veel. Jezus

Christus, ik weet waarachtig niet hoe we hem hier te slapen motten krijgen. Hij zal

gewoonweg daar bij ze in de stal willen slapen. Het zal ons moeite kosten om hem uit de box

met die jongen te houden.’

‘Het is niks,’ herhaalde Slim. ‘Nou, je had wel gelijk. Hij mag dan niet snugger zijn,

maar zo’n werker heb ik nog nooit gezien. Hij heeft zijn maat gewoonweg bijna vermoord

met het gerst dorsen. Er is geen mens die met hem op kan werken. God allemachtig, ik heb

nog nooit zo’n sterke vent gezien.’

George sprak trots: ‘Zeg Lennie maar wat hij doen mot en hij doet het, als hij er maar

niet bij mot denken. Hij kan zelf niks bedenken om te doen, maar hij kan doen wat hem

gezegd wordt.’ Buiten klonk het tikken van een hoefijzer op een ijzeren paal en een klein

gejuich van stemmen.

Slim verschoof een beetje, zodat het licht niet op zijn gezicht viel. ‘Gek zoals jullie

samen optrekken.’ Dat was Slims kalme uitnodiging tot vertrouwelijkheid.

‘Wat is daar voor geks an?’ vroeg George op zijn qui-vive.

‘Nou, weet ik het. D’r trekken bijna nooit kerels samen. Ik heb nog bijna nooit kerels

samen zien trekken. Je weet hoe die werklui zijn, ze komen gewoon binnen en krijgen hun

slaapbank en werken een maand en dan zeggen ze op en gaan alleen weg. Schijnen nooit wat

om iemand, we dan ook, te geven. Het lijkt een beetje gek, een idioot als hij en een slim

ventje als jij, die samen trekken.’

‘Hij is niet idioot,’ zei George ‘Hij is zo stom als wat, maar hij is niet gek. En ik ben

ook niet zo’n hoogvlieger, anders zou ik geen gerst dorsen voor vijftig dollar en de kost. Als

ik verstand had, als ik zelfs maar een beetje verstand had, dan zou ik mijn eigen gedoe

hebben, en ik zou mijn eigen oogst binnenhalen in plaats van al het werk te doen en niks te

van Schieveen 37

krijgen van wat er uit de grond komt.’ George zweeg. Hij wilde praten. Slim ontmoedigde

hem niet, noch spoorde hij hem aan. Hij zat daar maar rustig te luisteren.

‘Het is niet zo gek dat hij en ik samen rond trekken,’ zei George ten slotte.