Translating class in Jonathan Coe

Chadderton, Helena

Abstract

This article looks at the translation and reception in France of the contemporary British author Jonathan Coe. Coe’s work is four times more popular in France than in the UK and is particularly enjoyed for its treatment of contemporary social and political issues in a largely realist setting. Coe’s self-confessed writing project is to represent the plurality of British society as faithfully as possible. Through an analysis of the transposition of social class in the French translations of his novels, this article will reveal that a particular understanding of Britishness is created, which through use of standardization and domestication of British specificity, in fact dilutes the markers of British social class. The consequences of this are both social, in its impact on French understanding of Britain, and cultural, in its impact on the consumption of the contemporary British novel in France.

Citation

Chadderton, H. (2017). Translating class in Jonathan Coe. Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication, 23(3), 269-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2017.1297673

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 17, 2017
• Publication Date: Apr 17, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2018
• Journal: Translator
• Print ISSN: 1355-6509
• Electronic ISSN: 1757-0409
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 269-278
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2017.1297673
• Keywords: Coe, Jonathan, 1961-; Translation; Contemporary British novel; French literary scene; Social class; Britishness
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/448722
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13556509.2017.1297673
• Additional Information: This is the accepted manuscript of an article published in The translator, 2017. The version of record is available at the DOI link in this record.