TRUE TO LIFE? SOME REMARKS ON A DUTCH TRANSLATION OF JERZY KOSINSKI’S THE PAINTED BIRD
Abstract
Almost six decades after it was first published, the novel The Painted Bird, by the Polish-American author Jerzy Kosinski, continues to attract interest and controversy. The book was widely translated and an analytical comparison of its translation into over a dozen languages was recently published. Noting the absence of Dutch from this analysis, the present contribution aims to provide an overview of De geverfde vogel, the Dutch translation of The Painted Bird. In the first instance, information regarding the circumstances and development of Kosinski’s original novel are outlined. This is subsequently complemented by an overview of the Dutch language as well as the context behind the translation of the book, before relevant aspects relating to the original and the Dutch translation are compared and contrasted.
Keywords: Jerzy Kosinski; The Painted Bird; De geverfde vogel; Holocaust literature; literary translation; Oscar Timmers.
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References
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Rosiers, K., and Vogl, U. (2019). Quality first? Engels en Nederlands in het Vlaamse hoger onderwijs: reflecties vanuit de (meertalige) praktijk. Internationale Neerlandistiek, 67(2), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.5117/IN2019.2.001.ROSI
Sinu, R. (2022). The translator’s voice: Rendering The Painted Bird into Romanian. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 166-179). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_011
Steurs, F. (2021). Nederlands, een grote taal? Een kwestie van meten. Neerlandica Wratislaviensia, 31, 17–29. https://doi.org/10.19195/0860-0716.31.2
Taalunie (2022). Wie we zijn. https://taalunie.org/over-de-taalunie-/wie-wij-zijn
Venuti, L. (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. Routledge.
de Vreede, M. (2014). “1e druk De geverfde vogel vertaald door mij”. De Volkskrant (20 October). https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/1e-druk-de-geverfde-vogel-vertaald-door-mij~b3071327
de Vreede, M. (2021). Biografie. http://www.mischadevreede.nl/biografie/ [Last accessed January 11, 2021]
Wilkinson, R. (2012). English-medium instruction at a Dutch university: Challenges and pitfalls. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, and J.M. Sierra (eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges (pp. 3–24). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847698162-005
Brooks, X. (2019). The Painted Bird review – savage, searing three-hour tour of hell. The Guardian (3 September). https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/03/the-painted-bird-review-vaclav-mahoul
Corngold, S. (1973). Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird: Language lost and regained. Mosaic, 6(4), 153–167.
van Dale (2022). Boer. https://www.vandale.nl/gratis-woordenboek/nederlands/betekenis/boer
ELV (2022). Expertisecentrum Literair Vertalen. https://literairvertalen.org/
van Es, B. (2018). The Cut-Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found. Penguin.
van Es, N., and Heilbron, J. (2015). Fiction from the periphery: How Dutch writers enter the field of English-language literature. Cultural Sociology, 9(3), 296–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975515576940
van Essen, A. (1997). English in mainland Europe – a Dutch perspective. World Englishes, 16(1), 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00050
European Union (2022). Languages. https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/languages_en
Flanders Literature (2022). Translation Grants. https://www.flandersliterature.be/grants/translation-grants
Frank, A. (2019 [1952]). The Diary of a Young Girl. Penguin Classics.
Franklin, R. (2017). Jerzy Kosinski’s Traumas, real and invented. The New Yorker (March 20). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/jerzy-kosinskis-traumas-real-and-invented
Gelb, B. (1982). Being Jerzy Kosinski. The New York Times (February 21). https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/magazine/being-jerzy-kosinski.html
Harmon, L. (2019). Translation strategies, techniques, and equivalences in critical approach. Explorations: A Journal of Language and Literature, 7, 7–16. https://doi.org/10.25167/EXP13.19.7.2
Harmon, L. (2022a). Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages. Brill.
Harmon, L. (2022b). Introduction: Two originals, many translations. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 1-13). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_002
Harmon, L. (2022c). Eastern Europe is Poland: The German rendering. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 53-68). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_005
Heerma van Voss, D. (2014). Een verhaal over waarheid en bedrog. De Volkskrant (17 October). https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/een-verhaal-over-waarheid-en-bedrog~bc835d79
Holligan, A. (2018). Dutch language besieged by English at university. BBC News (31 October). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46030112
Kapranov, O. (2022). The translator’s self-censorship: The Norwegian rendering. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 138–153). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_009
Kooij, J., and Booij, G. (2018). Dutch. In B. Comrie (ed.) The World’s Major Languages (pp. 112–126). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315644936-6
Kosinski, J. (1978 [1965]). The Painted Bird. Grove Press.
Kosinski, J. (2008 [1979]). De geverfde vogel. De Bezige Bij.
Lodge, G. (2019). Film review: ‘The Painted Bird’. Variety (3 September). https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/the-painted-bird-review-1203320878/
Marhoul, V. (2019). The Painted Bird [Film]. Pub Res/Silver Screen Producers.
McMartin, J. (2020). Dutch literature in translation: A global view. Dutch Crossing. 44(2), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2020.1747006
Merunka, V. (2018). Koriščenje medžuslovjanskogo jezyka v filmu Kolorovana ptica. Slovjani.info, 3(1), 69–75.
Morgenstern, J. (2020). ‘The Painted Bird’ review: The horrors of war through a child’s eyes. The Wall Street Journal (July 16). https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-painted-bird-review-the-horrors-of-war-through-a-childs-eyes-11594930960
Nederlands Letterenfonds (2022). Over het fonds. http://www.letterenfonds.nl/nl/over-het-fonds
Rokosz, E. (2022). Controversies around The Painted Bird. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 14-23). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_003
Rosiers, K., and Vogl, U. (2019). Quality first? Engels en Nederlands in het Vlaamse hoger onderwijs: reflecties vanuit de (meertalige) praktijk. Internationale Neerlandistiek, 67(2), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.5117/IN2019.2.001.ROSI
Sinu, R. (2022). The translator’s voice: Rendering The Painted Bird into Romanian. In L. Harmon (ed.), Kosinski’s Novel The Painted Bird in Thirteen Languages (pp. 166-179). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521926_011
Steurs, F. (2021). Nederlands, een grote taal? Een kwestie van meten. Neerlandica Wratislaviensia, 31, 17–29. https://doi.org/10.19195/0860-0716.31.2
Taalunie (2022). Wie we zijn. https://taalunie.org/over-de-taalunie-/wie-wij-zijn
Venuti, L. (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. Routledge.
de Vreede, M. (2014). “1e druk De geverfde vogel vertaald door mij”. De Volkskrant (20 October). https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/1e-druk-de-geverfde-vogel-vertaald-door-mij~b3071327
de Vreede, M. (2021). Biografie. http://www.mischadevreede.nl/biografie/ [Last accessed January 11, 2021]
Wilkinson, R. (2012). English-medium instruction at a Dutch university: Challenges and pitfalls. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, and J.M. Sierra (eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges (pp. 3–24). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847698162-005
Published
2023-06-13
How to Cite
Hoyte-West, A. (2023). TRUE TO LIFE? SOME REMARKS ON A DUTCH TRANSLATION OF JERZY KOSINSKI’S THE PAINTED BIRD. PALIMPSEST / ПАЛИМПСЕСТ, 8(15), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.46763/PALIM23815131hw
Section
КНИЖЕВНОСТ/ LITERATURE
