Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Μεταφραστικές Σπουδές και ΔιερμηνείαLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Kyriakou Konstantina
Supervisors info:
Μαρία Σιδηροπούλου, Καθηγήτρια, Αγγλική Γλώσσα και Φιλολογία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Νικόλαος Λαβίδας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Αγγλική Γλώσσα και Φιλολογία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Άννα Χατζηδάκη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Αγγλική Γλώσσα και Φιλολογία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Original Title:
The Pragmatics of History and Fantasy in Jeanette Winterson’s "The Daylight Gate"
Translated title:
The Pragmatics of History and Fantasy in Jeanette Winterson’s "The Daylight Gate"
Summary:
The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how translation shapes the identity
of a historical figure (the witch) for a Greek audience. Jeanette Winterson’s
novella, The Daylight Gate, functions as the source text for studying the 17th
century Lancaster witch trials and the misogyny inherent in a patriarchal society.
Blending history with fiction, Winterson’s postmodernist novella seeks to bring
the inconspicuous, historical figure of the witch from the periphery to the center
(Lazăr, 2014). Rooted in postmodernist writing, Hutcheon’s (2010) theory on
historiographic metafiction explains how Winterson draws both on history and
fiction, thus creating a self-reflexive novella. A historical overview of witchcraft
and witch hunts in Europe further elucidates our understanding of the complex
identity construction of the witches and the projection of assumptions on them by
ignorant men. Qualitative data from the novella are analyzed, using pragmatic
theories of meaning-making to suggest that the construction of identities is
achieved through discourse. Grice’s (1975) framework of implicatures is used to
analyze the hidden meanings of male utterances regarding the accused witches,
in order to flesh out misogynistic connotations that underlie what is clearly
stated. Sperber and Wilson’s (2006) relevance theory further illuminates implied
meanings in the text regarding institutionalized misogyny and hatred against
witches. Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness strategies are also employed for
analyzing the abusive language used by male characters against the witches, as
well as the strategies employed by witches when responding to their accusers.
The production of a Greek translation intends to foreground misogynistic
inferences and offensive language of the source text. The distribution of a
questionnaire seeks to confirm (or not) the hypothesis that a Greek audience
would appreciate foregrounding inferences and enhancing impoliteness. Readers’
intuition confirms the initial hypothesis, while the study’s results are attributed to
the changing attitudes of Greek society regarding women, through raised social
awareness on female positions. These attitudes are possibly harbored by the rise
of feminism and the upsurge of femicides in the country, particularly after the
emergence of COVID-19. The study highlights the importance of metanarratives
in redeeming historical figures, as well as the significance of pragmatic
inferencing and discourse analysis in translation practice. Incorporating literary
texts in translation curriculums can prove to be beneficial for the study of gender
identity construction through discourse.
Main subject category:
Language – Literature
Keywords:
translation, pragmatics, literature, implicatures, impoliteness, misogyny, witchcraft
Number of references:
134
File:
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.
Dissertation_Kyriakou- The Pragatics of History and Fantasy in Jeanette Winterson's The Daylight Gate.pdf
3 MB
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.
