Thomas Mann in English: A Study in Literary Translation

Description

Thomas Mann owes his place in world literature to the dissemination of his works through translation. Indeed, it was the monumental success of the original English translations that earned him the title of 'the greatest living man of letters' during his years in American exile (1938-52). This book provides the first systematic exploration of the English versions, illustrating the vicissitudes of literary translation through a principled discussion of a major author. The study illuminates the contexts in which the translations were produced before exploring the transformations Mann's work has undergone in the process of transfer. An exemplary analysis of selected textual dimensions demonstrates the multiplicity of factors which impinge upon literary translation, leading far beyond the traditional preoccupation with issues of equivalence. Thomas Mann in English thus fills a gap both in translation studies, where Thomas Mann serves as a constant but ill-defined point of reference, and in literary studies, which has focused increasingly on the author's wider reception.

David Horton teaches English Translation Studies at Saarland University, Germany

Based on thorough expertise and on a comprehensive command of the surprisingly extensive secondary literature on translating Mann, Horton has made a major contribution to the field. Henceforth anyone who wants to comment on translation of Mann must first read and digest this book. -- Ritchie Robertson, The Queen's College, Oxford * Modern Language Review, 109.2, 2014 * The subject of this excellent and interesting book is translatability. [...] Attention is also paid to Mann's personality, its effect on his writing, and its significance for his translators. Impeccably researched and with excellent use of sources, this book is written with exemplary clarity. Even a reader not entirely familiar with linguistic terminology will have no difficulty following its argument. [...] This book's scholarship, clarity, wealth of detail, and insight into translating one of the most difficult of authors should give all translators pause. It deals with important and knotty problems that must be confronted. * Translation Review (Burton Pike, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and German, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA) * Horton (Saarland Univ., Germany) presents a detailed analysis of the English translatiosn of Thomas Mann...Horton's archival research unearthed much little-known information about the remarkable triangle of Mann, Lowe-Porter, and Knopf...Summing Up: Highly Recommended. All students, researchers/faculty, general audiences. -- J. Hardin, emeritus, University of South Carolina * CHOICE * Thomas Mann in English makes us aware of the daunting task that Mann's translators face when approaching his work, and gives us a new appreciation for their creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems. [...] a book that not only offers meticulously close and sensitive readings of Thomas Mann and his translators, but also serves as a model for future studies of translations. * Translation and Literature (Todd Kontje, University of California, San Diego, USA) * Mann's worldwide reputation as one of the preeminent figures in twentieth-century literature rests on the dissemination of his works through the medium of translation. Horton's subject is thus an important one. He approaches it with great expertise in the fields of translation studies and cross-linguistic and intercultural transfer. His analysis is grounded not only theoretically, but also in a thorough knowledge of Mann's works. Anyone interested in Mann and the literary and linguistic aspects of the transformation a text undergoes in the process of translation will profit from this meticulously argued study. -- Jens Rieckmann, Emeritus Professor of German, University of California, Irvine, USA David Horton's Thomas Mann in English is a sophisticated and well-researched attempt to pierce the film of ignorance and commonplaces surrounding the field of literary translation, in the context of a specific author whose works became classics thanks largely to the popularity of their translations into English. The most admirable aspect of Horton's work is forensic: with recourse to the correspondence of Thomas Mann, his translator Helen Lowe-Porter, and his publisher Alfred Knopf, he shows the specific factors that went into such decisions as cutting or modifying large blocks of text, changing titles, presenting potentially controversial aspects of the author's work, or discouraging interference from competing translators. [...] Taken together, Horton's book provides an excellent introduction for the uninitiated to the field of practical translation studies [...] For translators, Horton points out many potential minefields, and illustrates a number of approaches translators have taken to sidestepping them; and students of Thomas Mann will enjoy the discussion of Mann's years in America, and his partnership with his American publisher in a very deliberate and ultimately successful quest to become one of the signal voices of his time. * Asymptote * Horton's clearly written, well-researched study is an important contribution both to the fields of literary translation studies and Thomas Mann scholarship. Especially those interested in the intersection of linguistic and literary analysis and in the psychology of literary reception will find this in-depth study of Mann's English translations thought-provoking. The volume is well-edited with an extensive index and scholarly bibliography and will attract experienced scholars and those new to translation studies equally. -- Esther K. Bauer, Virginia Tech, USA * Monatshefte, Vol. 107, No. 2, 2015 * Horton is a great scholarly stylist, and his erudite and deeply theoretically grounded book is a pleasure to read. It is also enormously informative, adding to our knowledge of Mann's manifestations in English as well as to our acquaintance with the latest thinking within the field of contemporary translation studies. * Pacific Coast Philology, Vol. 50, 2015, reviewed by Friederike von Schwerin-High, Pomona College, USA * David Horton's new book is one of the most remarkable, sensitive, and well-researched examinations I am acquainted with of the behind-the-scenes intrigues surrounding translation and retranslation in the context of a writer conceived of even during his lifetime as a "classic." -- Adrian Nathan West * A la recherche du temps perdu * This study not only provides a history of the translations and editions of Mann's works in English, but also offers an analysis of the stylistic and intercultural aspects of Lowe-Porter's versions ... Written with genuine expertise, Horton's book has closed a serious gap in the secondary literature. * Germanistik, vol. 55, 2014 (reviewed by Ehrhard Bahr, Emeritus Professsor of German, University of California, Los Angeles, USA) * Thomas Mann is regarded as the most erudite author of German literature in the first part of the twentieth century as well as the most eloquent explicator of its cultural traditions and political trials and tribulations. His relatively early rise to international recognition became only possible through the timely translations and consecutive re-translations of his work into English. David Horton's study is the first comprehensive account and assessment of this complex history of translation and subsequent transculturation of Thomas Mann's work into the English language. By interrogating a variety of theoretical models, Horton provides pertinent frames and focal perspectives to illuminate the multifaceted aspects of this elaborate process. -- Frederick Lubich, Professor of German, Old Dominion University, USA Horton's study shows the merits of descriptive translation studies. The sustained close readings make it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the specific stylistic qualities of Mann's work. ... Deliver[s] some superb close readings. It is to be hoped that these close readings will assist readers in articulating their own responses to Mann's work. * Orbis Litterarum 70:4 344-346, 2015 (reviewed by Ernest Schonfield, University of Glasgow, UK) * This volume will not only be of considerable interest to anyone involved with Mann and his reception, but also to all those engaged in the translation of German literature. * The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies (Cambridge), 75 (2013), p. 471 (reviewed by Michael White) * David Horton's Thomas Mann in English is a book that, had the normal publishing logic triumphed, would never have been published. It's a single-author study of a non-Anglophone writer, it focuses on only one aspect of that author's reception history, it does not employ trendy jargon or speak to any topic that's ripped from today's headlines, and it does not even have a sexy title. And yet it is a supremely interesting work, not just because it sheds new light on Thomas Mann's oeuvre, but also because it raises thought-provoking questions about the future of literary study ... [It] is arguably the first absolutely rigorous, comprehensive, and even-handed treatment of a subject that has already attracted much attention in the scholarly literature, namely the impact of Mann's first translator, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter. ... In my opinion, however, the most important service that Thomas Mann in English provides to German Studies has nothing to do with translation studies per se. It concerns, rather, David Horton's approach to reading. Over the past few years, literary criticism has been riven by serious methodological disputes, as advocates of computer-assisted 'distant reading' strategies have done battle with more hermeneutically oriented scholars and sociologically informed 'surface reading' approaches have begun to displace the psychoanalytic depth model pioneered by Fredric Jameson in The Political Unconscious (1982). But Horton moves easily among all these different strategies, treating them not as secular gospel, but simply as tools by which to better dissect his chosen texts. ... Any reader willing to read for the larger picture will walk away with hard evidence that literary study, contrary to its frequently expressed contemporary malaise, is actually more alive and methodologically vibrant than ever. This book is an impressive achievement, and fully lives up to the claim of providing new directions for its discipline. * Comparative Literature Studies *