[Vwoolf] Arrogance, ignorance or parochialism?

Stuart N. Clarke stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com
Fri Oct 25 05:35:34 EDT 2013


VW wrote in 1924:

“Can neither war nor peace teach the French to translate or even to spell English? Glancing through a catalogue of pictures the other day which was thoughtfully provided with translations into English and German, I came upon ‘Le Dessert’ translated ‘Leavings,’ ‘Le torso d’une jeune femme’ translated ‘Young woman’s trunk,’ and so on and so on. No English proof-reader would dare pass such misquotations of Racine as we put up with whenever Shakespeare is quoted in French. But there is a charm in the arrogance of French illiteracy, which takes it for granted that all languages save one are the base dialects of savages.”



Reprinted E3 p. 459.  “The offending catalogue has not been identified” – but I’ve tried (I suspect it’s of a Rodin exhibition) – but I bet it has “Le torse”!



Cf.



“‘Sorry, sir,’ apologized the precinct captain.”

"The Shadow of the Moth: a novel of espionage with Virginia Woolf", ch. 27



“There’s Shaftesbury, Clarissa Dalloway thought as she approached it (for she had to be especially attentive to street names this morning ...).”

“Mr Dalloway began walking, walking slowly down Fitzroy ... crossing Gower onto Montague”

“Mr Dalloway”, pp. 13, 31-2



I should love to hear of novels written by foreigners set in the US with these kinds of solecisms.



Stuart








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