Whether re-located or just 'acculturated,' the characters of a foreign play or work of fiction still need to retain their individual voices in order to retain the interest of audiences and readers. And this is how Bill Findlay's work as a translator, often together with Martin Bowman, marks an important step forward in Translation Studies. Findlay finds individual voices for the source-language characters by drawing a distinction between English and Scots-speaking characters and by using different Scots linguistic varieties to reflect more subtle distinctions in their approach and personalities.
In his translation for the stage, Bill Findlay lifted the language of the characters from the page and gave them a voice of their own. Little had been written about drama dialect translation until Bill Findlay and Martin Bowman started to discuss the process from the perspective of their work as translators. Together the two brought the plays by playwright Michel Tremblay into Scotland by translating the joual French dialect of Quebec in which they are written, into Scots. Findlay’s own translations include his version of Die Weber (1892) by Gerhart Hauptmann, the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Consistent with Hauptmann’s aim to convey socialist ideas in a naturalist setting was the need for The Weavers to be written in the language actually spoken in the region in which the action took place, and the German original was written in the distinctive dialect of Silesia. The first version of the play, called De Waber, was written in uncompromising dialect, but once the stage première of this version was prohibited, Hauptmann set to work on a new version, now called Die Weber. Although Hauptmann’s play about the real-life uprising of Silesian handloom weavers in the 1840s appeared in print in 1892, working conditions had largely remained unchanged, and the appearance of the play aroused a storm. When finally performed in 1893, the play became a literary sensation. If transferred into a Standard English medium, however, Hauptmann’s original Silesian is likely to become diluted to the point of failing to make credible the social position and working conditions of his weavers. The problem of capturing the robustness of the original dialect in English translation is compounded by the fact that the events described took place a long time ago, and unless the language of the characters is in keeping with the period, there is the potential danger of anachronism. A further linguistic problem for the translator is Hauptmann's German, which is 'masterly handled'; and his reproduction of everyday speech with its subtlest nuances is 'unsurpassed', including the different mixtures of local dialects, colloquial talk and several layers of High German 10 Voices in Translation(Grimm, 1994: xiv). In fact, it has been suggested (Maurer, 1982: 50) that 'even the most talented and experienced translator with a perfect command and knowledge of German (including not only several dialects but, in addition, various sociolects and idiolects too) will never succeed in rendering Hauptmann's naturalistic texts entirely satisfactorily'. Part of Hauptmann's talent lies in his ability to imbue all of his characters with distinct, individual voices. 'Each speaks in his own characteristic language with distinctive dialectical inflections, idiomatic peculiarities, syntax, speech rhythm and melody and even gestures' (Maurer, 1982: 50).
Hauptmann's plays have been described as not dependent 'primarily on subject matter theme or even location: the stuff of his drama is language'(Skrine, 1989: 19).
As pointed out by Findlay (1998), the particular feature whereby all but the most peripheral of Hauptmann's characters generate and communicate their personalities and shifting social relationships through linguistic variation is a feature also found in Scottish writing. In a position to draw on a varied linguistic resource embracing Standard English, Scottish Standard English and Scots dialect, Scottish writers are able to style-shift between these different linguistic varieties as they see fit. As a result, the numerous linguistic options made use of by Hauptmann can find their match in Scots dialect, offering a number of flexible choices; it can be urban or rural, regional or standardised, historical or contemporary.
In a play such as The Weavers on the theme of worker/management conflict, clear linguistic signals are obviously needed to highlight differences in occupation and/or class. To this end, Findlay made the decision to draw a basic distinction between Scots and English-speaking characters.
He then took the process a step further, using a stiff variety of Standard English to help reinforce an attitude of inflexibility in some characters and their concern to uphold the status quo as reflected in their reactions to the weavers’ action. Unmoved by their plight, Pastor Kittelhaus shows little understanding or sympathy, which in turn is reflected in his use of a pompously correct and sanctimonious English:
PASTOR KITTELHAUS: When a man has delivered sermons from the pulpit fifty-two Sundays a year for some thirty years – and that’s not counting the Holy Days in the calender – of necessity he acquires a sense of proportion. (Findlay, 1998: 97)
In contrast, Surgeon Schmidt is a more sympathetic character who is able to relate to the weavers and their suffering. In order to show that this is his attitude, Schmidt makes use of a more conversational tone, generously peppered with Scotticisms, as for instance when he speaks to the little girl
Mielchen:
Voices in Translation 11SCHMIDT: Here Mielchen, come and have a lookie in my coat pocket. (Mielchen does so.) The ginger snaps are for you – but don’t wolf them all at once ... In fact, I’ll have a song first! ‘The tod run off ... wi the bubbly, bubblyjock, bubbly, bubblyjock ... oh, just you wait, young lady!
(Findlay, 1998: 97)
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