A translation with footnotes. The Czech version of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series and the translator’s voice in the paratext


Abstract


One of the many reasons for the lasting popularity of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is the strong presence of an authorial voice in his laconic, ingenious footnotes; it is no coincidence that Pratchett’s posthumous biography is subtitled A Life with Footnotes (Wilkins, 2023). Pratchett’s work, full of wordplay and culture-specific references, also places substantial demands on its translators, many of whom are highly acclaimed for their craft – including the Czech translator of Discworld, Jan Kantůrek. In addition to his skilful and engaging approach to Pratchett’s challenging prose, Kantůrek also added his own footnotes alongside the author’s. These range from explanations of references tied to the original anglophone context, to the translator’s own anecdotes and jokes, going well beyond the traditional device for solving intercultural conundrums. While footnotes as ‘the translator’s shame’ (Mounin 1963, xi) have traditionally been viewed as a necessary evil, recent years have brought research exploring footnotes as a valuable component in a translator’s toolkit (Haroon 2019; Miao and Salem, 2008; Paloposki 2010), as well as a method for showcasing the translator’s agency (Paloposki 2010). This paper reimagines footnotes as an opportunity for exploring the translator’s creativity, and provides an insight into the role of the translator’s voice in speculative fiction.

Keywords: paratext; footnotes; translating fantasy; Terry Pratchett

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