Translation multiplicity and retranslation hypothesis revisited: ‘Fathers ans Sons’ in Dutch (translations of 1870–1919)

Abstract

This article deals with three early translations of Ivan Turgenev’s novel ‘Fathers and Sons’ into Dutch (1870, 1918 and 1919). It traces the long and complicated path of the novel to its Dutch readers. The first Dutch translation (by Goeverneur) was made through two intermediary languages (French and German) and comprises a number of deviations from the original as a result of the triple translation. The second translation (by Saalborn) takes into account the changes that took place in the Dutch language between 1870 and 1918, particularly in regard to personal pronouns. Though the title page of Saalborn’s translation reads: ‘Newly translated from Russian’, the reality is that the translator only corrects a few of the errors in Goeverneur’s translation and makes several of his own mistakes. Generally speaking, the version of 1918 contains many of the same details as the first Dutch translation of 1870. Only the third translation (by Bukowsky) is made directly from Russian and is thus more faithful to the original text. The first two translations after their initial publication were never republished. Bukowsky’s translation was republished several times until the 1980s, and successfully competed with the two post-war translations of 1949 and 1955. Thus, the three early translations of the ‘Fathers and Sons’ generally prove the Retranslation Hypothesis which is broadly discussed by European Translation Studies specialists.