Translating New Journalism: Capturing the Essence of the American Nineteen-Sixties

Abstract

Translation problems caused by cultural discrepancies are not uncommon in the field of translation studies. However, in translating New Journalism, a style of news writing developed in the nineteen-sixties in America, these problems seem unusually difficult. New Journalists sought to portray a cultural reality by immersing their audience through the use of literary devices, and preserving this effect in a translation is often challenging. This thesis aims to explore possible translation strategies dealing with the cultural differences between American culture in the nineteen-sixties and contemporary Dutch culture. Translation-relevant aspects of New Journalism are examined, as well as two existing Dutch translations of New Journalism works. Lawrence Venuti’s notion of “resistancy” is also mentioned, which states that the intended effect of the original text can be preserved through a strong emphasis on foreignisation. This is an idea that is also applicable to the translation of New Journalism, as the highlighting of foreign elements can serve to immerse the target audience into a different cultural reality by creating an effect of estrangement.