Journale Lucy Fricke’s Töchter: A Translation Road Trip

THE DISAPPEARING ACT

By Isabelle Liber, translated by Odile Kennel


Lucy Fricke’s novel consists of 53,739 words. Of these, 65 – or 0.12% – are the verb verschwinden (disappear) in its various inflected forms. For comparison’s sake, forms of the verb trinken (drink) account for 0.07% of the total word count. Drinking is a prominent motif in the novel; in fact, it’s so important that we wrote an article about it together. I should point out here, though, that I cheated slightly in my calculations: I didn’t include synonyms of trinken, nor did I count the numerous kinds of alcoholic drinks mentioned in the novel

In any case, the frequent repetition of the word verschwinden is striking. Indeed, as early as the second chapter, the narrator, Betty, describes herself as “Meisterin im Verschwinden” (“the queen of the disappearing act”). As far as I can see, there are two types of “disappearing act” in the novel. First, there are other people’s disappearances: these include Martha’s father, who is in the final stage of terminal cancer; Betty’s father figure, Ernesto, whose disappearance marked the end of her childhood; and Jon, the actor friend who drank himself to death. Too many disappearances to bear. The second kind is the narrator’s own attempt to disappear, her desire to simply vanish from the face of the earth.

It’s clear, then, that the word verschwinden is deeply resonant. For me, the French term disparaître is not quite so multifaceted. The online dictionary Leo offers several French verbs and phrases in various registers for the German word verschwinden.

French translations of the verb verschwinden on Leo.

OK, you might say, so why not just vary the words you use in the French translation, choosing the term that works best in each context? Betty and Martha could décamper (something along the lines of “clear off”) or filer (“do a runner”), for example, while Kurt would more likely s'en ira (leave). There’s certainly no shortage of French synonyms. And while we’re on the subject, I can’t resist sharing with you the work of art below, which depicts these synonyms. 1

The disparaître semantic field from the  Dictionnaire Électronique des Synonymes du CRISCO.

The risk is that switching between synonyms might weaken the theme of disappearance. Or that the idea would remain, but the form would itself disappear. Yet what would be the point in using the French word disparaître every single time verschwinden appears in the source? I mean, I’m not a machine. Nevertheless, the intensity evoked by the repetition in the German must somehow be conveyed in the French. The question is how. I could use a word that doesn’t stand out quite so much, and use it often, but not always. Thus, for example, Betty would no longer be the “reine de la disparition” but the “reine de l’éclipse”.2

Another solution might be to work with the novel’s title. I still haven’t made my mind up and am working on finding a satisfactory solution. And on that note, I’m going to leave you, disappear, vanish, be gone, make off, do one, scarper, skedaddle, leg it, vamoose, scoot, scram …

 

Drive on.

Fußnoten
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