This thesis provides an analysis of the translation of racial taboo language in Southern Gothic novels in the form of a descriptive case study. For this study, two well-known examples of Southern...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis of the translation of racial taboo language in Southern Gothic novels in the form of a descriptive case study. For this study, two well-known examples of Southern Gothic fiction were selected: Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1941) and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). A crucial characteristic of Southern Gothic as a genre that differs from general American Gothic is the fact that it specifically explores the unpleasant realities of life in the American South, including racial injustices and prejudices. As a result, a prominent element in novels of this genre is that they include topics that could be considered problematic and even taboo in their writing, such as racial stereotyping and slurs targeting minority groups. The translation of such language is particularly problematic for translators, as the acceptance of taboo language and the way taboo words are used not only differs per cultural context but also changes over time. The analysis used an approach based on Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) as it will focus on the effect the use of taboo language in the target text (TT) might have within the target culture (TC). The analysis considered whether certain ethical considerations might have influenced the translation procurers the translators have employed and also how the source culture (SC) differs from the TC. This study found that the approach of translations from the 1960s and the 2010s was not significantly different for most instances of taboo language, while the ideology within both the SC and TC and the degree of acceptability for certain words has changed.Show less
