夏洛特●羅奇「潮濕地帶」：在跨文化翻譯中的附文本與其功能分析

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學翻譯研究所碩士論文. Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation National Taiwan Normal University Master’s Thesis. Charlotte Roche’s Wetlands: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Paratext in Translation and its Function 夏洛特•羅奇「潮濕地帶」：在跨文化翻譯中的附文本與其功能分析. 指導教授：李根芳博士 Advisor: Dr. Kenfang Lee. 研究生：可莉 Kirsten Klitsch. 中華民國 109 年 9 月 September 2020.

(2) Table of Contents. THESIS ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................... III 論文摘要 ............................................................................................................................................................... IV. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................V 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. 2. 3. THE ‘CULTURAL TURN’ IN TRANSLATIONS STUDIES ............................................................................. 5. 1.1.1. Translation and Political Theory ...................................................................................................... 5. 1.1.2. Translation and Gender Theory ........................................................................................................ 7. 1.1.3. Paratext of Translation as Political Intervention ........................................................................... 13. 1.2. RESEARCH MOTIVATION ...................................................................................................................... 15. 1.3. RESEARCH SCOPE ................................................................................................................................. 17. 1.4. INTRODUCTION TO WETLANDS AND THE AUTHOR CHARLOTTE ROCHE ................................................ 18. LITERATURE REVIEW & METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 23 2.1. INTRODUCTION TO PARATEXT .............................................................................................................. 23. 2.2. ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PARATEXT ............................................................................................ 27. 2.2.1. Engagement with Genette’s Paratext in Translation ...................................................................... 27. 2.2.2. Interdisciplinary Study of Paratext ................................................................................................. 32. 2.2.3. Shift to Digital and Media Paratext ................................................................................................ 36. 2.3. FUNCTION OF CONNOTATIVE PERITEXT ............................................................................................... 39. 2.4. FUNCTION OF DENOTATIVE PERITEXT.................................................................................................. 43. 2.5. FUNCTION OF EPITEXT ......................................................................................................................... 44. 2.6. AUTHORIAL IMAGE AND IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTION............................................................................... 47. 2.7. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 51. PERITEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF CHARLOTTE ROCHE’S WETLANDS ......................................... 55 3.1. AIM OF PARATEXTUAL STUDY ............................................................................................................. 55. 3.2. PERITEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN SOURCE TEXT ................................................................... 57. 3.3. PERITEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRITISH TRANSLATION..................................................................... 63. i.

(3) 3.3.1. Peritextual Analysis of Denotative Peritext .................................................................................... 64. 3.3.2. Peritextual Analysis of Connotative Peritext .................................................................................. 69. 3.4 3.4.1. Peritextual Analysis of Denotative Peritext .................................................................................... 77. 3.4.2. Peritextual Analysis of Connotative Peritext .................................................................................. 82. 3.5 4. CONCLUDING REMARKS ....................................................................................................................... 87. EPITEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF CHARLOTTE ROCHE’S WETLANDS ............................................ 91 4.1. AIM OF EPITEXTUAL STUDY ................................................................................................................. 91. 4.2. ANALYSIS OF GERMAN EPITEXT DISCUSSING WETLANDS..................................................................... 94. 4.2.1. Der Spiegel ...................................................................................................................................... 94. 4.2.2. Die Welt ......................................................................................................................................... 100. 4.2.3. Amazon Reviews ............................................................................................................................ 104. 4.3. 5. PERITEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE CHINESE TRANSLATION ................................................................... 76. ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH EPITEXT DISCUSSING WETLANDS ................................................................... 107. 4.3.1. The Guardian ................................................................................................................................ 107. 4.3.2. The Times ...................................................................................................................................... 114. 4.3.3. The Daily Mail .............................................................................................................................. 116. 4.3.4. Amazon .......................................................................................................................................... 119. 4.4. ANALYSIS OF CHINESE EPITEXT DISCUSSING WETLANDS ................................................................... 120. 4.5. CONTEXTUALISATION OF EPITEXT ..................................................................................................... 125. 4.6. CONCLUDING REMARKS ..................................................................................................................... 128. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 130. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................. 136. ii.

(4) THESIS ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the study of paratextual elements accompanying translated works and their functions. I shall argue that paratext lends itself to the promotion of political ideas by appropriating cultural and ideological norms in the target culture. While some schools of thought in the academic translation studies discourse have dedicated a considerable amount of research to the translator's role as a political interventionist and paratextual study respectively, relatively little research has been conducted on the interplay of politically interventionist translation and its paratextual features. This research seeks to explore how peritext and epitext are used in the promotion of English and Chinese translations of the German bestseller Wetlands, a feminist novel by Charlotte Roche, that has sought to challenge mainstream views pertaining to the female body including negative body image and women's sexuality, and will argue that cultural and ideological norms related to women’s sexuality are adjusted according to the trending norms of the target culture. The present study provides an in-depth analysis of how the authorial image is shaped by means of paratextual elements and furthermore, how paratextual elements are appropriated and censored in a manner that supports and complies with the current Zeitgeist and ideology of a given target culture at the time of publication, in order to ensure their successful promotion not only on a commercial, but also on an ideological level. First and foremost, further research into supplementary paratexts of translations and their ideological functions can provide useful information regarding how translated works are portrayed and received by the consumers of the target culture. Gerard Genette’s and Paul-Michel Foucault’s research on the paratext and authorial function will provide the theoretical basis for this study. Keywords: paratext, peritext, epitext, Wetlands, feminism, cross-cultural communication. iii.

(5) 論文摘要本論文旨在探討翻譯的附文本元素及其功能的研究。我將深入探討，附文本的功能特徵有助於提倡帶政治意圖的觀念。在當今研究的脈絡中，多數翻譯學派的研究皆是將政治干預主義和附文本區別開來，而探討政治干預主義及其附文本特徵的相互作用的研究卻相對較少。這項研究將探討夏洛特-羅奇的德國暢銷書《潮濕地帶》的中文及英文譯本。這本女性主義小說因為力求挑戰與女性身體有關的主流觀點包含社會闡述的負面女身材形象及女性的性解放. 本研究將剖析附文本的角色和功能，進而分析作者如何運用附文本的特徵塑造該文化的普世價值，更進一步以確保不僅在商業上，且在政治干預主義上成功的宣傳。最後，為了能夠多瞭解，某一個目標文化中翻譯作品的描述及讀者的反應，這碩士論文呼籲翻譯脈絡的學者進行進一步附文本和其政治干預主義性功能的相關研究。熱拉爾‧熱奈特（Gerard Genette）和米舒·傅柯(PaulMichel Foucault)對超文本和作者使用附文本的研究是本研究的理論基礎。關鍵字：附文本，內文本，外文本，潮濕地帶，女性主義，跨文化交際. iv.

(6) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I still have very vivid memories of when I first set foot in the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation (GITI) and Taiwan National Normal University as a Chinese language student at the school’s Mandarin Training Centre. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if one day our Chinese was good enough to be able to study here?”, I remember saying to my friend, who just shrugged her shoulders and imparted to me that this was a more or less unachievable goal. Two years later, I decided to try my luck and applied to the programme. When I did not receive notification informing me whether my application had made it to the second stage of the application process, I was quick to dismiss the idea of becoming a graduate student at GITI. At least this time around. A week later on a Saturday morning, I received a phone call from a student at GITI inquiring about my whereabouts, informing me that I had missed my interview appointment. Frantically, I got dressed and rushed to GITI. I felt extremely nervous not only because I was late, but also because I had not had time to prepare for an interview, especially not in Chinese! However, when I walked into the interview room, I was immediately put at ease. The professors were very friendly and tried their best to make me feel as comfortable as possible. I felt there was a genuine interest in getting to know the real me and I instantly felt ‘at home’. It was there and then that I knew that GITI was the right school for me. The last three years have indeed been a rollercoaster full of ups and downs, challenges and moments of joy. At this point, I would like to thank all the professors at GITI for seeing my potential at said interview and for their continuous support throughout the last three years.. First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Professor Ken-fang Lee for guiding me through the challenging yet rewarding process that is thesis writing. Thank you for your timely feedback and encouragement whenever I felt stuck or doubted myself. Your v.

(7) expertise and knowledge are truly inspiring, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have studied under your supervision. I thoroughly enjoyed your Translation and Gender course and I am thankful that I was able to pursue my interests in translation and gender studies.. I would also like to thank my thesis committee member Professor Dr. Sharon Lai for her valuable feedback and suggestions and for patiently reading and correcting my (sometimes very bad) Chinese writing in her English to Chinese translation classes. Thank you! I would also like to extend my gratitude to Professor Dr. Yi-lin You for her thesis feedback. Thank you for taking the time to read my research and for making the journey all the way from Yilan to Taipei to partake in my thesis defence.. To Katie Hayslip: thank you for your support, love and encouragement over the last few years. My time at GITI simply would not have been the same without our numerous lunches at Mianhua-Tian, yoga retreats, hikes, French classes, gossip or the shared tears and laughter. Thank you for drawing my attention to the paratext. I guess it is more than apt to say that this thesis would not have come to fruition without your emotional support and input.. To Tim Smith: thank you for always lending an ear and for being the loyal friend that you are. Thank you for sharing my passion for books and a good cup of coffee. I could not have asked for a better Elite book shopping buddy!. To Marcus Larsen-Strecker: thank you for being the best listener, for you unwavering belief in me and for introducing me to Wei-Tang.. vi.

(8) Wei-Tang: thank you for translating Wetlands into Chinese and for bringing this remarkable literary work to Taiwan. Thank you for inspiring me to write about Wetlands and for sharing your ideas, insights and opinions. My time in Taiwan would not have been the same without the countless hours spent at your house drinking coffee and discussing feminist ideas. Thank you for your continuous support, kindness and faith in me.. Carla Juri: thank you for being a wonderful friend throughout all these years despite the distance that sets us apart and thank you for bringing Helen into my life.. Finally, this journey would not have been possible without the love and support of my family. Dad: thank you for your love and support over the years. I know that we are exact opposites and that understanding some of my decisions has not always been easy. Thank you for being the most tolerant and accepting person I know and for always having my back no matter what.. Mum: thank you for your unconditional love and for being the backbone of our family. Thank you for being my ‘biggest fan’ and for your unswerving faith in me.. To Laura: thank you for not only being my sister but my best friend. I certainly would not have been able to get through these last few years without your moral support, encouragement and countless FaceTime sessions.. To Tobias: thank you for being the most caring and protective brother one could wish for and for giving me the reassurance that I always have a seat on a flight home, should I need one.. vii.

(9) To my aunt, Birgitt, and uncle, Eugen, my gran and my grandfather: Thank you for everything you have done for me over the years, for nurturing my curiosity about the world and for believing in me. I would not be who I am today without you.. Last but not least, I would like to thank my partner Jian-Feng Lin for your unconditional love and support over the last years. Thanks for being my partner in crime, for always having my back, for making me laugh every day, for your patience, for never growing tired of discussing my feminist ideas with me, for listening to and discussing my thesis research with me and for your honest opinion. I probably would not have embarked on this journey without you!. viii.

(10) 1 INTRODUCTION “Translation always intervenes. Given the enabling role translation plays in all crosscultural interactions and exchanges, it is no exaggeration to say that the world has been translated into what it is now.” (Yameng, 2007, pp.54-55). In today’s world, translation is the fundament of globalisation. Without the services and hard work of a great deal of translators and interpreters worldwide, the project of globalisation would not have been possible. The last few decades have seen an unprecedented demand in translation services and transformation of the translation industry; translations need to be produced under greater time constraints than ever before, with increased demands and expectations on the translator.. With instant access to information in various languages, it stands to reason that the current state of the world is a product of translation. While in many respects these trends have yielded positive political change, it is also important to bear in mind that translation plays a vital role in reinforcing existing global power structures as well as political notions serving ulterior motives. The invention of the internet and the rise of social media have undoubtedly accelerated the dissemination of information by granting instant access to citizens worldwide at a scale that is unprecedented in human history.. Despite our world becoming seemingly smaller, more liberal, more democratic, fairer and more progressive, one cannot be oblivious to the growing gap between the rich and the poor, the exacerbation of the north-south divide, the disintegration of democracies and political structures, as well as the increased polarisation between liberal and conservative societies. 1.

(11) When one considers that at no point in history have knowledge and information ever been as readily available as they are today, one has to ask: how is it possible that we are currently living in a world that has seen the emergence of various political issues, such as the erosion of the environment or depletion of natural resources? How is it possible that in numerous countries, freedom of speech is under threat yet again? If our world has become fairer and more progressive, how is it possible that imprints of the colonial legacy and the hegemony of white supremacy continue to be visible in political power structures and seem to be perpetuating the vicious cycle that sees the economic and cultural marginalisation of developing countries? How is it possible that despite political activism and movements such as feminism, 21st-century women are still deprived of agency and subjected to extreme violence and discrimination?. Notwithstanding improvements and progress in the right direction towards a more democratic and equal world, to many, globalisation has not achieved its initial aspirations. The continuation and widening of social and political divisions have somewhat ridiculed this grand undertaking that is globalisation, which is often depicted as the key ingredient to peace, unity, and democratisation in political discourse. This is not to say that globalisation is fundamentally harmful; however, it has not brought about as much positive transformation as initially promised. In light of these drawbacks and current political trends worldwide, it is absolutely vital that we remain critical and seek to gain a deeper understanding of the shortcomings at hand to ensure that globalisation benefits all members of society irrespective of gender, class, ethnicity, or culture. While it may seem somewhat hyperbolical to ascribe political setbacks to translation, nevertheless, one cannot be completely oblivious to the role of translation in shaping the world’s status quo. In this globalised day and age, it is essential that we gain a. 2.

(12) deeper understanding of translation and its role in perpetuating and challenging existing power structures and ideologies, thus making the world what it is today (Tymoczko, 2002).. In order to better understand the relationship between politics, ideology and translation and to tackle its ensuing drawbacks, it is necessary to investigate and evaluate contributing factors that have led to the current political situation. Having ascertained that translation is a vital key player in the transmission of beliefs, values and norms, it is essential to investigate and re-evaluate translation, its role, function and purpose. We must move away from this idea that translation is a mere facilitator of communication; it would be naive to uphold this notion that the act of translation is impartial and that it is a ‘silent voice’ merely clearing the way for an innocuous transaction between different cultures. Since translations are written and commissioned by human beings, a translation is never ‘perfect’ or void of human bias. Human beings are driven by emotions, values, upbringing, and social norms. Thus, even the most professional translators cannot remain completely impartial at all times as they are human actors driven by norms, educational values, and their upbringing, making translation a politically or ideologically driven act. In light of the current global developments, we need to re-shift our focus and start viewing translation for what it truly is: a form of ideological intervention.. If translation is used as a tool for political intervention, we must ask ourselves the following two questions: what and who are the driving forces behind a political act? Where does this position the translator? These questions call for a new approach to how we view translators as well as agents commissioning and authorising translations at a given time. As previously mentioned, human beings are influenced by a range of external factors that make up their surroundings, which is why it is impossible for writers, editors, publishers, or. 3.

(13) translators to remain impartial. Hence, a text can never be treated as a neutral source of information void of hidden agendas or subtexts. For example, those in authority (i.e. commissioners of texts) determine which texts are to be published in order to ensure that certain messages deemed appropriate are delivered to the wider public. This logic similarly applies to the field of translation, where the translator is essentially commissioned to rewrite a text in another language, thus entrusting power to the translator. Translators, publishers and stakeholders are constantly required to make deliberate choices throughout the translation and publication process and are required to make decisions about which texts are transcribed into another language and its cultural context and how, thus making political intervention on the part of the aforementioned agents inevitable.. During the so-called ‘cultural turn’ in the 1990s, translation studies scholars started to acknowledge and recognise the complexities involved in translation processes and moved away from the notion that translation merely consists of linguistic transfer. Instead, language was treated as a medium serving a cultural, political, philosophical, or religious function. Subsequently, scholars called for an interdisciplinary approach that saw translation research branch out into various academic disciplines including culture, politics, gender, philosophy, religion, and post-colonial theory, to mention but a few. Suddenly, there was a general consensus amongst scholars that it would be too facile to simply treat translation as a neutral linguistic transaction.. As mentioned above, globalisation is heavily reliant on successful cross-cultural communication, which has rendered translation and interpretation services indispensable. In order to avoid miscommunication and to ensure that we are understood according to our original intention in the target culture, it is paramount that we understand their linguistic. 4.

(14) nuances, cultural connotations and trending norms. Translation can be ‘make or break’ in critical situations; if we are misread or misrepresented, transcultural communication can lead to completely different outcomes than intended. In fact, sometimes it is necessary for translators to tweak a translation in order to achieve the effect desired by a commissioner. In some cases, translators might actively go against the author’s original intention in order to introduce new concepts to the target readership.. 1.1. The ‘Cultural Turn’ in Translations Studies. 1.1.1 Translation and Political Theory In 1990, translation scholars Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere revised and published the book Translation, History and Culture. In the introduction, Bassnett and Lefevere proclaimed that the translation studies discourse had moved away from its traditional line of research (i.e. focus on textual analysis) and that an increasing number of academics had become concerned with the study of ‘non-textual’ elements’, calling this the ‘cultural turn’ in translation studies.. The object of study has been redefined; what is studied is the text embedded in its network of both source and target cultural signs and in this way, Translation Studies has been able to utilize the linguistic approach and to move out beyond it. (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990, p. 12). Bassnett and Lefevere were of the opinion that a combined approach towards translation taking its cultural elements as well as linguistic praxis into account, could help demonstrate the malleability and layered intricacies of translation processes, such as potential. 5.

(15) motives for the selection of particular texts by stakeholders, namely publishers, translators and patrons, and how cultural and ideological norms influence these decisions. Bassnett and Lefevere’s book publication featured a paper by Mary Snell-Hornby (1990) in which she further elaborates on the shift from viewing translation as a literary text to viewing it as an act reflecting the politics and culture of a society, coining the term ‘cultural turn’.. According to Bassnett and Lefevere (1990), a translation can never be neutral as it does not take place in a void, but in a continuum with all kinds of textual and extratextual constraints imposed upon the translator. Therefore, the act of translation is of an interdisciplinary nature as it is reflective of social and cultural norms. Human action is neither neutral nor does it take place in a continuum. On the contrary, all human actions are preordained and construed by trending cultural norms in a given period. Therefore, written text and translations are a product of their Zeitgeist and the temporal circumstances they are produced in, making them reflective of cultural and political issues including gender, class, race, etc. (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990).. While translation bestows a text with linguistic meaning, it can also act to camouflage or promote power relations. In line with French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s school of thought asserting that “every power which manages to impose meaning and to impose them as legitimate by concealing the power relations which are the basis of its force, adds its own symbolic force to those power relations” (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977, p. 4), translation can be a deliberate attempt to camouflage or impose censorship of certain ideas, while laying claim to being a truthful reproduction of the source text (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990). As a result, translation is always a political act and similarly to Scholte’s analysis of globalisation (1993), comprises four major factors: the cultural, the social, the political, and the economic (as cited in Robertson & White, p. 3). While translation encompasses all four of the dimensions, the. 6.

(16) primary task of a translator is of a commercial and political nature: to promote and assist in international dialogue and trade (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990).. In short, Bassnett and Lefevere’s publication of Translation, History and Culture (1990) laid the groundwork for the cultural turn and paved the way for further interdisciplinary research combinations, such as cultural studies, gender, politics, philosophy, history, postcolonialism, etc., in the field of translation studies (Munday, 2008).. 1.1.2 Translation and Gender Theory Simone de Beauvoir, a French existentialist philosopher, political activist and above all feminist, once famously said that “one is not born, but rather becomes woman”. What Beauvoir was referring to at the time is what has now become known as the contemporary ‘biological sex versus gender’ discourse in the feminist paradigm. While the status quo suggested that certain attributes considered female were inherent traits of women, various feminists started challenging this notion and argued that so-called feminist traits were the result of women’s social conditioning. Even though the term ‘gender’ did not exist at the time of publication of Beauvoir’s The Second Sex in 1949, it nevertheless paved the way for the development of the concept of gender and played an instrumental role in the post-War women’s movement in the mid to late 1960s.. Given the defining mood of the 1960s, which saw the unfolding of various political movements across Western Europe and Northern America, it is hardly surprising that the feminist movement also took on a new course: suddenly the concept of ‘gender’ found its way into the feminist discourse, shifting the focus from biological sexual difference as the main signifier differentiating men and women. Feminists at the time saw gender as the “the result of. 7.

(17) the social process that turns young females into girls, and later into women” (Von Flotow, 1997, p. 5). The progression from girl- to womanhood includes the formation of social, cultural and physical characteristics attributed to womanhood at a designated time. The term gender not only applies to the social conditioning of women, but also to that of men and can act as a useful framework for analysing behavioural differences internalised by men and women and how these nurture and feed into the social and political inequality between the sexes, thus depriving women of equal opportunities and choices (Von Flotow, 1997).. The movement of the 1960s consisted of two different feminist schools of thought: (1) that women are different due to their social and cultural upbringing, which means that actions can be taken to diminish these differences, and (2) that the most important hallmark of women should be their shared experiences, fostering a sense of sisterhood, rather than reducing the visibility of women’s differences. The latter school of thought condemned and denounced the notion of gender as an attempt at calculated social conditioning and brainwashing of women and opted for the promotion of commonalities irrespective of cultural boundaries instead, with the aim of forging a political movement (Eisenstein, 1983, as cited in Von Flotow, 1997). In short, the 1960s’ feminist movements resulted in gender being viewed as the biggest contributor accountable for the subjection of women in the public and private sphere.. Following the realisation that women’s voices were absent from the political and academic paradigm, the academic field of women or gender studies was called to life and sought to incorporate feminist voices in the public domain and the world of academia. As such, texts ranging from historical, political, literary to sociological texts were rewritten and revised from a female perspective. Since then, the field of women’s studies has been able to establish itself as a respectable academic field and has also made significant progress in the political. 8.

(18) sphere. Gender is viewed as a social system that not only promotes inequality, but also one that deprives people of choices and reinforces existing hierarchical and gender driven power structures (Von Flotow, 1997). Therefore, the question of gender is always politically motivated and dictated by ideology and culture and spawns further research in the field of translation and political intervention, as gender in itself is a concept that seeks to politically intervene.. Before long, the field of women’s studies branched out and influenced social sciences and other disciplines. Linguistics and literature soon followed suit and feminists sought to deconstruct these disciplines from a woman-centric point of view. Language was suddenly regarded not just as a platform for facilitating communication, but furthermore, manipulation. Researchers such as Kate Millett or Adrienne Rich, to mention two, paid particular attention to how ‘patriarchal language’ used in political institutions, which were mainly governed by men, contributed to reinforcing gender stereotypes and perpetuating systemic power clusters in line with Lefevere’s model of patronage and poetology. Scholarly research at the time investigated the different use of language amongst men and women, the literary and linguistic depiction and representation of both sexes, the role of language in constructing gendered identities, and how gendered power imbalances are intensified or diminished through language. The reformist school of thought viewed every-day language as symptomatic of its society and the environment that it was construed in, while the radical school of thought deemed conventional language as the underlying source of female subordination, playing an active role in perpetuating and indoctrinating women with gendered norms (Von Flotow, 1997).. In light of the second-wave feminist movement, literary works translated in the 1960/70s were naturally exposed to and influenced by the feminist discourse of the time.. 9.

(19) Translators proactively searched for and translated literary works written by female writers, attempting to navigate cross-cultural barriers. Since language gained increasing recognition as a tool for promoting political ideas, feminists were left to tackle issues related to censorship and text manipulation in translation and to address questions, such as what methods translators used at a particular point in time in order to adjust a text to a target culture, as well as whether or not these choices could have been acts of political intervention (Von Flotow, 1997).. Thus, gender in translation brings the interplay between linguistic factors, gendered clichés, cultural norms and ideologies, and the politics of language choices to the forefront, foregrounding the significance of the social, political and cultural contexts in which translations are executed. The radical feminists of the 1970s were of the conviction that language needed to be reconstructed and cleansed of conventional language, as dictated by the dominant governing institutions. It was an experimental attempt at revising language, making it more women-centred and conducive to the development of new ideas.. Furthermore, feminism sought to redefine and reconstruct cultural norms and ideologies that undermined women’s agency. Feminists were concerned with how the female body and women’s sexuality were translated across different cultures, and sought to challenge female stereotypes pertaining to the ‘lover’, i.e. the notion that woman has to choose between being a ‘femme fatale’ or a ‘holy virgin’ (Von Flotow, 1997, p.17). Feminists at the time regarded this notion as the ultimate impediment towards sexual equality and were adamant about re-centring and re-defining women’s sexuality from a female perspective, which resulted in extensive linguistic experimentation in the field of literature and translation. For example, deliberate emissions or derogatory terms for female body parts were retrieved and reclaimed. Translations of puns and cultural nuances sought to ridicule and ‘pun-ish’ heteronormative. 10.

(20) insinuations, and grammatical experiments with languages; for example, French or Italian that require nouns, adjectives and participles to be gendered, were exploring gender neutral alternatives (Von Flotow, 1997, p.20).. Seeing that translation can be an act of political intervention, either on the part of the patron or the translator, translators supporting the feminist Zeitgeist at the time were searching for ways to politically intervene by promoting feminist causes. The experiments listed above proved to be useful tools for navigating interventionist feminist translations. In line with Peter Newmark’s statement that translations should evaluate political messages and subtexts in the source texts and ‘correct’ them accordingly based on moral and ethical principles (Newmark, 1991, p. 46), numerous feminist translators acted as intermediaries and rewrote words from a feminist perspective. This in itself is somewhat controversial as translators are expected to remain professional and impartial at all times (Von Flotow, 1997). However, translation is hardly ever impartial as translations are governed by human beings and human beings are intrinsically driven by their personal norms, convictions and ideologies. Instead, translation has assumed the role of an interventionist tool, which can be employed for promoting social norms and ideologies.. Since the 1970s, increased cross-cultural and linguistic exchange in the feminist movement has resulted in the penetration of feminist thought into various cultural and political domains and academic fields including that of translation studies. Translation scholars were predominantly concerned with the role of translation in propagating social and ideological ideas related to gender and how these ideas were communicated or appropriated across cultural contexts. Further research was dedicated to the study of present and past female translators and writers, their contributions and social impact, and their significance in further academic study.. 11.

(21) For example, the risks that female translators historically have often had to take upon themselves in order to get their work published were suddenly recognised and studied. Since the onset of the women’s movement in the late 1960s, women’s representation in the world of literature and translation has been omnipresent and remains widely studied. Especially in the Anglo-American world, gender has had a profound impact on the practice of translation and translation studies. With the arrival of third-wave feminism, new feminist-thought and interests entered the gender discourse in the fields of literature and translation studies, in areas such as trans and queer culture. As a result, translation scholars distinguish between the first and second gender paradigm in translation studies (Von Flotow, 1997).. Both gender paradigms have been concerned with the study of identity, and while gender has played a bigger role in the English-speaking world, European, South American, Asian, Arabic and African countries are gradually following suit. The first paradigm heavily drew on feminist theories coined by Simone de Beauvoir and recognised that every society consisted of men and women with one sex, usually women, being subjected to discriminatory treatment due to ascribed gender roles and social conditioning. In line with this school of thought, women were seen as a minority group within patriarchal power structures. While the majority of academic gender research falls into the category of the first paradigm, related research based on the school of thought of the second paradigm has been gaining traction in recent years. The second paradigm is based on the notion that the various derivatives pertaining to sexual orientation, sex, gender, class, ethnicity, race and other societal or cultural factors are too divergent and that any attempt at referring to these groups as either male or female, would be too simplistic, limiting and restrictive. Furthermore, similarly to gender fluidity and queer culture, the second paradigm views translation as a discursive and performative act, which. 12.

(22) renders translation as an appropriate tool for communicating second paradigm gender notions, as well as navigating cultural and linguistic differences (Von Flotow, 1997).. 1.1.3 Paratext of Translation as Political Intervention While some scholars such as Maria Tymoczko (2002) and Carol Meier (2007) have recognised translation as a form of political intervention, most related research is concerned with non-textual issues such as linguistic intervention and the political interventionist role assumed by the translator. Carol Meier further critiques existing studies researching the role of the translator as a political interventionist, arguing that research findings simply lack sufficient ‘raw material’ to really prove a translator’s intentions. Though she does believe that translators’ works are shaped by their lives and personal experiences, what she refers to as ‘insights’, she deems studying translators and their intentions as problematic since assumptions about a translator’s personal experiences and how they could have influenced his/her translation and ideological choices are highly subjective (Meier, 2007, p. 5).. As the translation studies discourse moved away from its traditional research focus on textual analysis, an increasing number of academics became concerned with the study of anything ‘non-textual’. Apart from an increased interest in interdisciplinary research as mentioned above, the study of paratextual elements and their relevance to translation also gained traction. It was during the ‘cultural turn’ that the concept of ‘paratext’ gained momentum in the field of translation studies. The most important contribution to the study of paratext can be attributed to French literary theorist Gerard Genette, whose publication of Seuils (Thresholds) in 1987, paved the way for future research on paratextual elements and their functions in translation studies as well as other academic disciplines. According to Genette, a paratext can. 13.

(23) embody anything that acts to supplement the main text of a literary work, such as the name of the author and the book, the preface, afterword, introduction, translators’ notes, blurbs, book cover designs and illustrations. He posits that "more than a boundary or a sealed border, the paratext is, rather, a threshold” (Genette, 1997, pp. 1-2). In other words, Genette describes the paratext as a threshold that grants readers access to information encircling a story, thus setting the stage for the interpretation of a literary work by creating expectations about the story. In short, a paratext can influence how a text is approached, read and interpreted and therefore, how it plays an integral part in defining the literary value of published texts and translations.. In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have started to recognise the importance of paratextual elements in translation. In his research paper ‘Style and Ideology in Translation’ (2008), Jeremy Munday analyses the occurrence of political ideology in translation and how effective linguistic and stylistic choices are in their communication. He finally concludes that while. politically sensitive texts show some remarkable stylistic patterns in translation, the most evident are the paratextual framing, not introductions and glossaries and bibliographies but also the titles (particularly in newspapers) and footnotes. The latter may even conceal the evaluative and interpretive act of translation. (Munday, 2008b, p. 172). Hence, the paratext is a supplementary text filled with hidden social, cultural, political and ideological agendas. Since Genette first highlighted the importance of paratext and given the technological developments over the last two decades, paratextual research has branched. 14.

(24) out to a variety of other disciplines and gained particular momentum in the domain of e-books, digital media, and advertising.. Following the current Zeitgeist, I believe it is of the utmost importance that translation studies takes on a combined approach and considers paratextual elements in print and digital media and starts viewing them as agents of political intervention. Though Genette (1997) and other researchers such as Carol Meier (2008) have somewhat talked about the ideological role of paratext in books and print media, I deem it essential that translators of this generation also consider paratextual elements in digital media as agents of political intervention. Long gone are the days where information is solely obtained through print media. As translators, we need to better understand how other forms of media and text influence our reception and interpretation of translated text. Furthermore, how do paratextual elements of digital media interact with and supplement those in print media? In this globalised day and age, it is no longer sufficient to only consider printed paratext accompanying books. Translators and translation scholars need to understand that in an increasingly digitised and interconnected world, we are constantly exposed to paratext through digital media and the internet. If we truly want to gain a better understanding of the current underpinnings of political power relations in this day and age and how translation has made the world what it is today, we need to take a closer look at paratextual elements in print and digital media and understand how these impact cross-cultural communication and translation.. 1.2. Research Motivation I have always felt very strongly about fighting social injustices and inequality. As a. translation studies student with a particular interest in politics and feminism, I am naturally curious about how translation intervenes on political, social and ideological levels. After. 15.

(25) reading Andre Lefevere’s research on patronage, I became very interested in the study of ‘concrete factors’ that impact the reception, acceptance and rejection of literary texts and translations. I wanted to better understand the underlying political, ideological and social forces that determine the reception of a translated work. As has already been established by various scholars, translation intervenes. It can intervene on various levels and I am particularly drawn to how it intervenes on an ideological or social level, thus rendering it an instrument of political intervention.. On my quest for a research topic, I stumbled across a lot of literature concerned with the study of translation as political intervention and found that the majority of research either focussed on linguistic translation choices or the role of the translator. With the emergence of print media and the internet, using a translator’s linguistic and ideological choices to explain the phenomenon of intervention in translation feels too simplistic. I wanted to investigate the supplementary and concrete factors that contribute to the promotion of political and ideological ideas and deemed the paratextual threshold as a fruitful point of study. As an ardent women’s rights activist who feels very strongly about fighting sexual inequality and violence against women, I wanted to investigate paratextual threshold and the ideological functions therein accompanying feminist literature advocating women’s sexual empowerment.. Genette himself views functionality as the most significant notion in his paratextual theory, “Whatever aesthetic intention may come into play as well, the main issue for paratext is not ‘to look nice’ around the text but rather to ensure for the text a destiny consistent with the author’s purpose” (Genette,1997, p. 407).. 16.

(26) The current study will investigate the functionality of paratext and will argue that their thresholds are sites of ideological and political appropriation serving political trajectories in line with the prevailing cultural norms of the target context. I hope that my research findings will provide valuable insights into the ideological trending norms of the target context and demonstrate how publications and translations are portrayed and received by the target culture. Furthermore, this research is concerned with the study of the authorial image created in paratextual elements and will argue that authorial image plays a vital role in ensuring the success of a translated work.. 1.3. Research Scope This research will explore the role of paratextual elements in the promotion of translated. works and argue that paratexts reveal politically and ideologically charged messages, rendering them agents of political intervention.. Gerard Genette’s theory on paratext further distinguishes between peritext and epitext, with peritext referring to any supplementary text or design accompanying the main text in a book. The term includes prefaces, postfaces, titles, dedications, illustrations etc. Epitext refers to texts or images that are not presented in the book but as a separate entity, such as reviews in newspapers or online forums, comments by writers, translators, critics, and commercials, etc.. In brief, peritext and epitext are texts supplementing an original work and they create a link between the foreign work or its author and the target readership by means of a threshold. In line with Foucault’s definition of authorship, this research will demonstrate that the portrayal of the author function in paratext is key in promoting a literary work within the given target context.. 17.

(27) In line with my personal interests as outlined above, I wanted to find a research topic that would allow me to use paratextual analysis to explore how feminist ideas are navigated and adapted across different cultural contexts. This thesis will provide an analysis of the presentation of the German bestselling novel Feuchtgebiete (Wetlands) in terms of accompanying paratextual elements, including peritext and epitext. Though highly controversial, the novel has been hailed as a feminist book challenging social norms pertaining to the female body and women’s sexuality.. 1.4. Introduction to Wetlands and the Author Charlotte Roche Feuchtgebiete (English title: Wetlands), by Charlotte Roche, was first published in. Germany in 2008 and immediately sparked a national outcry and media frenzy. It was the most talked about novel at the time and before long, Wetlands was awarded the title ‘Book of the Year 2008’ and translated into 27 languages.. The author Charlotte Roche, a woman of British descent who grew up in Germany, succeeded in breaking and polemicising feminist and sexual taboos. The Guardian newspaper stated, in a book review: “If you ever wondered what you’d be like if you weren’t shy, polite, tolerant, modest, sexually repressed, logical and constrained by modern standards of hygiene, this may be the book for you” (Ellmann, 2009). Its explicit content sparked a lot of controversy and heated debate about whether or not the novel should be considered a literary or pornographic work of art.. Wetlands seeks to challenge mainstream ideas about the female body and women’s obsession with body hygiene. Female protagonist Helen Memel ends up in a hospital 18.

(28) proctological ward after an intimate shaving accident, which resulted in her having an anal fissure. Confined to her hospital bed, she is immersed in her own thoughts and ponders over her dysfunctional upbringing, sexuality, body parts, and divorced parents. She takes the reader on a fascinating, and at times stomach-churning, journey. Helen is fascinated by bodily fluids such as period blood, and it angers her that society depicts women’s private body parts as disgusting and ‘unclean’. She is a teenager who openly admits to masturbating with food items, and is not too shy to share her sexual desires, her experiences of sleeping with female sex workers, as well as using her own bodily secretions as body perfume because, contrary to the status quo, she believes female sexual organs to be beautiful and not disgusting. She voices her anger over not being taken seriously by doctors when she decides to undergo permanent sterilisation on her eighteenth birthday and describes how she felt belittled by the doctors, who kept on insisting that she was too young to be making such a life-changing decision of that scale.. In short, the book does not shy away from addressing topics that would make most people blush. Helen, who is still suffering from her parents’ divorce, sees her hospital stay as a potential opportunity to bring her parents back together, and intentionally prolongs her stay by thrusting the lower pedal of her hospital bed into her anus. She is immediately sent into emergency surgery and asks the male nurse Robin to inform her parents. Unable to get hold of her parents, Helen’s quest to further gain her parents’ attention and prospect of a possible romantic reunion fails as her parents have stopped visiting altogether.. As the plot unfolds, it transpires that Helen is traumatised from her dysfunctional childhood, following an attempted suicide by her mother. However, it remains unclear to the reader if this actually happened or if her recollection is yet another result of Helen’s vivid. 19.

(29) imagination. She calls her parents, only to be redirected to their answering machines. Disillusioned, she fantasises about the male nurse, Robin, and falls in love with him. Robin is fascinated by Helen, who continuously tries to draw him into her world. The story concludes with an open ending: after Helen is released from hospital, she asks Robin if she can live with him. At the end of the novel, Helen leaves the hospital together with Robin; however, the reader is left in the dark as to whether their relationship is successful and if Helen has managed to finally find the love she so desperately longs for (Roche, 2008).. The author Charlotte Roche is a British-German TV presenter, actress and author. She was born to British parents (her father was an engineer and her mother a political activist) on 18th March 1978 in High-Wycombe, England. Her family later moved to Germany, where she received her secondary education. She discontinued her studies at the age of 17 before completing the German equivalent of the high school diploma. Whilst at school, she gained her first acting experiences in the school’s drama society and founded a girl’s garage rock band together with three other girls. Charlotte was known to be quite the rebel and even shaved her hair off at some point! She was reported to have engaged in self-harming behaviour including excessive experimentation with drugs. After leaving school prematurely to pursue her acting and musical ambitions, Charlotte would regularly publish her own performances on YouTube, where she would engage in activities considered ‘provocative’ by the status quo, such as stripping, exposing her armpit hair, or painting with blood (Schulz, 2017).. Charlotte had her big breakthrough when she was cast as the TV presenter for the German music channel VIVA, winning various television awards. She further rose to fame after discussing sexual fantasies with celebrities including Uma Thurman and Kylie Minogue, during one of her talk shows. At the time of the publication of Wetlands in 2008, Charlotte. 20.

(30) Roche was already a well-known TV celebrity in Germany, which definitely facilitated the promotion of the book. The main events of the novel, such as the protagonist’s desire to reunite her divorced parents, are inspired by Charlotte Roche’s own life. Roche’s own parents are known to have divorced when Roche was five years old. The book comprises autobiographical elements; however, Charlotte Roche has posited that she is not as bold or daring as Helen, thus making it a fictive novel. Her second book Schossgebete (English title: Wrecked) followed in 2011, which draws on a traumatic event in her life: the death of her three brothers, who succumbed to a car accident on their way to her wedding in 2001. Recently, Roche and her husband have been hosting their own Podcast, where they talk openly about the ups and downs of their marriage, not shying away from discussing their extra-marital affairs and decision to have an open marriage (Schulz, 2017).. Despite its controversy and numerous negative critiques, the fact that Feuchtgebiete was such a success in Germany bears testament to the fact that it managed to hit a nerve in German society. The English translation went by the name of Wetlands and was translated by the translator Tim Mohr in 2009. Even though the novel was somewhat successful in the English-speaking world and adapted as a film in 2013, it did not spark as much of a frenzy as it did in Germany. Reviews in the Anglo-American context were a lot more critical. The Chinese translation of the Taiwanese book version was translated in 2009 by translator Tang Wei (唐薇) and titled Chaoshi-Didai （潮濕地帶）.. This research will analyse, contextualise and compare paratextual elements of the German original publication with their Anglo-American and Taiwanese counterparts in their English and Chinese translations. The promotional value and ideological functionality of paratext will be explored and it will be argued that paratextual elements are agents that are. 21.

(31) strategically used to promote ideological norms in translation with the aim of political intervention in different cultural contexts. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to answer what insights we can gain from paratextual analysis about cultural norms, political power relations and ideologies in the different target cultures, and how can these findings help explain why the book was not as successful in Taiwan and the Anglo-American world as in Germany.. Since Charlotte Roche was already a well-known celebrity in Germany at the time of publication, emphasis will also be placed on the authorial image created in the various paratexts presented and how this could have influenced the reception of the book in the German, AngloAmerican and Chinese speaking worlds. The first part of the research section is concerned with the study of peritextual and the second with epitextual material.. 22.

(32) 2 Literature Review & Methodology “Watch out for the paratext.” (Genette,1997, p. 410). 2.1. Introduction to Paratext This thesis seeks to demonstrate the importance of paratext in promoting literary works,. not only in their source culture, but also in promoting their translations in different target cultures. Analytical studies of peri- and epitext demonstrate how literary works and their translations are perceived in the target context, providing valuable insights into the ideological and political norms circulating in the target culture. This information helps identify the patrons’ vested interests in perpetuating certain norms in the target culture.. Through the analysis of paratextual material promoting Wetlands in Germany, the UK and Taiwan, it will be argued that the incentives of patrons can be two-fold: (1) to consolidate or challenge existing power structures; (2) to boost the revenue of book publications, with the former entrusting the paratext created by patrons with a political, and the latter with a commercial function. Furthermore, as the paratextual analysis will demonstrate, the framing of the author function within the paratextual threshold is an effective tool for realising the political and commercial function as set out by the paratext.. This chapter will look at existing academic engagement with paratext in translation studies with a special focus on its political, commercial and authorial functions as well as its intersectionality with sociological and cultural studies. Based on existing research presented in this literature review, it will be argued that although sufficient research on the study of internal peritext in the form of translators’ notes does exist, a more inclusive approach considering external denotative peritext, such as book covers as well as epitext in the form of online 23.

(33) newspaper articles and reviews, would be desirable as this provides more concrete material conveying the political and ideological norms of a given target context, thus facilitating interdisciplinary ideological and cultural research. Finally, since there is very little research on the definition of online epitext in relation to translation, this research will extend Genette’s definition and treat online news reviews and customer feedback as epitext, arguing that online news articles in the form of book reviews can be seen as epitext too.. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the ‘cultural turn’ in translation studies saw a shift from textual to non-textual analysis. Academics suddenly sought to incorporate the study of cultural elements, which paved the way for further interdisciplinary research between translation and various subcategories of cultural studies. There was an increased interest in the study of cultural factors in relation to translation and how these influence linguistic choices made by translators and publishers.. Translation was no longer viewed as a mere linguistic transfer consisting of words, but there was a common consensus that cultural influences, norms, and ideologies do indeed play and integral part, if not even the most important part, in defining translation and publication processes and that translations are indicative of a culture’s ideology and their political power structures, particularly in relation to gender, race, class, and ethnicity.. Translation was no longer seen as an innocent transaction of linguistic exchange, but as a linguistic exchange fuelled by cultural and political messages. Subsequently, an increasing number of translation scholars such as Jeremy Munday (2008a) or Maria Tymoczko (2002) became concerned with the study of translation practices and their relevance to the perpetuation and reinforcement of political and ideological ideas. They no longer viewed translation as a. 24.

(34) harmless linguistic act; instead, they argued that translation could be a deliberate act of political intervention.. As the field of translation studies evolved and became predominantly concerned with non-textual items such as cultural and ideological elements, paratextual study in translation moved to the forefront. With his publication of Seuils (1987), Gerard Genette became the first academic to explore the relevance of paratextual elements in translated book publications. As Genette was a French literary theorist and not a translation studies scholar, the majority of his research in Seuils (1987) is primarily concerned with the functionality of paratext in relation to literary works. Nevertheless, Genette’s academic contribution to paratextual studies succeeded in laying the groundwork for further related research in translation studies. With the publication of the English translation of Seuils under the title Thresholds in 1997, paratextual analysis in translation studies finally gained traction in the Anglophone world and a lot of current research and theories are based on the work of Genette (Pellatt, 2013).. Genette’s paratext refers to the text that accompanies the main text of a book and can refer to the foreword, afterword, blurb, table of contents, book cover design etc. Its purpose is to contextualise, clarify, and explain the main textual body of the book. In short, it serves to deliver ‘hidden messages’ (Batchelor, 2018, p. 9). He further subdivides paratext into two groups: (1) peritext and (2) epitext. The former refers to internal paratext accompanying a given literary work, and the latter refers to external paratext such as book reviews, advertisements, etc. (Pellatt, 2013).. Paratextual elements are varied in nature, ranging from translator and author introductions to external reviews and commentaries. Footnotes, endnotes, prefaces and epilogues belong to the more obvious forms of paratext and are of ‘connotative value’, while 25.

(35) elements such as tables of contents, indexes, titles, subtitles and blurbs are of a ‘denotative’ nature and less pronounced (Pellatt, 2013 p. 2). Apart from written denotative paratext, book publications are often marketed and accompanied by unspoken paratextual elements, such as the book cover design, illustrations, photos, fonts, layout, charts and diagrams (Pellatt, 2013).. Despite their different characteristics, connotative and denotative elements can be equally powerful in transmitting hidden messages. In fact, a seemingly innocent index can act as a very condensed summary of the book and will probably only list items that are deemed relevant or of significance by the person writing the index (Pellatt, 2013), which is why these so-called hidden messages in paratextual material accompanying the publication of Wetlands in Germany, as well as their English and Chinese translations, will be evaluated with the aim of yielding more accurate insights into their political, commercial and economic functions.. Translators read and interpret a given text and translate it into the target language based on their own perception and understanding of the source text. A paratext, especially when in verbal form written by the translator, can act to reinforce the translator’s perception to the reader. In some cases, however, a translator might resort to paratextual elements to convey ideologically charged ideas, thus rendering the paratextual function as an act of political intervention (Pallatt, 2013).. In today’s day and age, where information is readily available on the world wide web, translation has assumed an unprecedented role, which is why it has become increasingly important to create an awareness and understanding of how paratextual elements, whether of connotative or denotative value, influence a reader’s reception of a translated text. Readers and consumers of translated texts should always remain critical of the paratextual elements they. 26.

(36) have been exposed to. Kathryn Batchelor stated that “the interpretation of a given paratext is not the point. Rather, the threshold through which the piece was subsequently entered should be explored” (Batchelor, 2018, p. 1). According to Batchelor, it is the threshold a paratext creates which determines the reception of a book. She therefore calls on translation scholars to draw on paratextual study to gain a deeper understanding of paratextual functionality (Batchelor, 2018). The thresholds encircling the publications of Wetlands will be analysed in an attempt to provide an explanation of why the reception of the novel was completely different in the three cultural contexts.. 2.2. Academic Development of Paratext. 2.2.1 Engagement with Genette’s Paratext in Translation With the publication of Genette’s English translation of Thresholds in 1997, an increasing number of translation scholars in the Anglophone world became interested in the study of paratext. In 1996, one year prior to the publication of the English translation of Thresholds, Hermans and Kovala published two essays in the academic journal Target, making them the first two researchers to publicly engage with Genette’s paratextual conceptualisation. Hermann and Kovala explored the paratext of translations, arguing that the paratext acts as a site of intervention by making adjustments based on trending norms prevalent in the new realm. Depending on the given time period and context, this so-called intervention can be of an ideological, political or sociological nature. Hermann and Kovala do not share Genette’s view that translations themselves are paratexts of an original text. Despite them being amongst the first scholars to engage with Genette’s term ‘paratext’ in translation studies discourse, interest in paratextual elements dates as far back as to the nascent days of translation studies in the 1970s.. 27.

(37) After the Target publications, subsequent publications of English articles and essays, discussing Genette’s paratext, paved the way for academic discussion of paratext in the Anglophone world. While the vast majority of subsequent research was primarily concerned with literary paratextual studies, an increasing number of researchers branched out to various other fields such as literary translation, news translation, audio-visual translation, music, film, as well as non-fiction literary genres including philosophical, political, sociological or religious texts. Nevertheless, the most extensively studied paratext in translation studies continues to be the internal peritext in the form of the translator’s foreword, afterword, footnotes, commentary, etc. (Tahir-Gürçağlar, 2013, as cited in Batchelor, 2018, p. 26).. So-called external peritexts such as book covers, illustrations, titles, fonts and designs are not as extensively studied in translated literary works nor are epitextual elements of translated text such as magazine reviews, online reviews, etc. Existing research often conflates all paratextual elements treating them as one item, instead of focussing on the analysis of one.. This thesis will make a clear distinction between peritextual and epitextual analysis in order to establish their respective goals and functions. It will be argued that peritext is produced by patrons, often with the aim of realising ideological or commercial goals, whereas epitext is reflective of the reception and the ideological norms that shape it. A combined approach for peri-and epitext is advocated as this will provide more accurate and concrete insights into the presentation and reception of a text as well as the ideological and political norms within the target context.. 28.

(38) Due to the abstract nature of the paratextual threshold, various academics have coined their own definitions and interpretations of paratext. While most related academic research draws from Genette’s conceptualisation, many scholars did not entirely agree with Genette’s definition, particularly with the notion that all paratext should comprise an authorial intention. Subsequently, academics in translation studies further developed Genette’s theory or in some cases, coined their own definitions. Some scholars, for example Cecilia Alvstad (2003), Kos (2008) or Borgeaud (2011), regard illustrations or the name of the author as a form of paratext as these factors can also play a vital role in the promotion of literary works (as cited in Batchelor, 2018, p. 27).. Pellatt (2013) regards all peritextual and epitextual elements aimed at supporting a main text by providing context, reviews or commentaries of academics, translators or reviewers, as paratext. In short, it is the ‘supplementary’ function that determines the paratext, rather than the authorial intention (Batchelor, 2018). Similarly, Gild Bardaji, Orero & RoviraEsteva (2012, as cited in Batchelor, 2018, p. 28) have contended that the paratext is ‘an area of thinking’ in which the peritext and epitext act as an extension of the main text.. In her publication What texts don’t tell (2002), Şehnaz Tahir-Gürçağlar critiques Genette’s claim that translations themselves are paratexts on the basis that Genette’s argument would presuppose that translations are inferior models of their originals. Tahir-Gürçağlar views this as problematic as this approach dismisses any contributions made by the translator or publisher and deems the authorial intention in translation as well as loyalty to the source text as the sole paratextual function. Furthermore, this approach fails to account for translated works that were more successful than their original publications and would dismiss Benjamin’s notion. 29.

(39) that translations are vital in ensuring a literary work’s ‘afterlife’ (Benjamin, 1968 as cited in Disler, 2012).. Tahir Gürçağlar (2002) argues that viewing translation as paratext limits and impedes the potential for exploring further research channels. She posits that Genette’s notion of translation as paratext “runs counter to a perspective that regards translation as initiated in the target culture” and stands in stark contrast with postcolonial theories in translation studies. Furthermore, this would deny the possibility that translation may differ from their original texts or that they can be acts of political intervention (Tahir-Gürçağlar, 2002, p. 46).. Overall, Tahir-Gürçağlar rejects Genette’s conceptualisation of paratext, viewing it as restrictive and not conducive to further research. She advocates viewing translation as an entity separate from its original while treating any supplementary elements as “presentational materials accompanying translated texts and text-specific metadiscourses formed directly around them” (Tahir-Gürçağlar, 2002, p. 44). Her approach removes Genette’s authorial intention from the paratext, thus rendering paratextual research in translation studies a fruitful domain of study.. However, Kathryn Batchelor (2018) disapproves of Tahir-Gürçağlar’s critique on Genette’s concept which views translation as paratext, arguing that a translation should merely ‘serve the original’ text ‘and nothing else’. While Batchelor does agree that Genette’s conceptualisation is inadequate as it is primarily concerned with the message of the source text, thus failing to explore the target context, she also deems Tahir-Gürçağlar’s approach as too extreme as Genette’s concept does not refute the fact that elements carrying paratextual meaning cannot be indicative of extra information. In fact, Batchelor (2018) argues that. 30.

(40) Genette’s claim that the epitext, which encompasses translation as paratext, “consists of a group of discourses whose function is not always basically paratextual”. Instead, Genette suggests viewing the epitext’s functions as “occasions capable of furnishing us with paratextual scraps, though they must often be sought with a magnifying glass” (Genette, 1997, p. 356). Hence, viewing translation as paratext does not ignore any other channels that could be of interest to a researcher. Instead, the aim is to investigate how these channels present and contextualise the original texts (Batchelor, 2018).. In summary, the quintessence of a literary text, be it an original or translated text, is how it is received. As the reception is heavily reliant on the producing paratext, Genette’s conceptualisation of viewing translation as paratext is problematic as this is not a clear enough threshold for the target reader. Words and texts can bear different meanings in different contexts, and a translation on its own might not necessarily achieve the desired effect as originally intended, thus defying the literary purpose of the translated work (Batchelor, 2018).. In line with Herman (1996) and Kovala’s (1996) studies, this research analysis of paratextual material supplementing Wetlands will support their claim that paratexts are sites of intervention and that they are adjusted based on the trending norms circulating in the target culture. As will be seen in the case of Wetlands, the content of paratextual material was rewritten and tweaked based on the political and ideological norms in relation to women’s sexuality and feminism. With the internal peritext being the most widely studied paratext in translation studies (Tahir-Gürçağlar, 2016, as cited in Batchelor, 2018), great emphasis will also be placed on the study of external peritext and epitext with epitext encompassing online newspaper and magazine reviews. Existing research tends to treat peri- and epitext as one item,. 31.