Introduction : literary texts and their translations as an object of research

This special issue of the International Journal of Literary Linguistics offers seven state-of-the-art contributions on the current linguistic study of literary translation. Although the articles are based on similar data – literary source texts and their translations – they focus on diverse aspects of literary translation, study a range of linguistic phenomena and utilize different methodologies. In other words, it is an important goal of this special issue to illuminate the current diversity of possible approaches in the linguistic study of translated literary texts within the discipline of translation studies. At the same time, new theoretical and empirical insights are opened to the study of the linguistic phenomena chosen by the authors of the articles and their representation or use in literary texts and translations. The analyzed features range from neologisms to the category of passive and from spoken language features to the representation of speech and multilingualism in writing. Therefore, the articles in this issue are not only relevant for the study of literary translation or translation theory in general, but also for the disciplines of linguistics and literary studies – or most importantly, for the cross-disciplinary co-operation between these three fields of study. The common theme that all these articles share is how the translation process shapes, transfers and changes the linguistic properties of literary texts as compared to their sources texts, other translations or non-translated literary texts in the same language and how this question can be approached in research. All articles provide new information about the forces that direct and affect translators’ textual choices and the previously formulated hypotheses about the functioning of such forces. The articles illustrate how translators may perform differently from authors and how translators’ and authors’ norms may diverge at different times and in different cultures. The question of how translation affects the linguistic properties of literary translations is approached from the viewpoint of previously proposed claims or hypotheses about translation. In the following, we will introduce these viewpoints for readers who are not familiar with the recent developments in translation studies. At the same time, we will shortly present the articles in this issue

“Gruß aus Saksa”: Multilingual practices in a German expatriate online community in Finland

This article investigates forms and functions of multilingual practices among German-speaking expatriates in Finland in an online community. It focuses on Finnish codeswitches in otherwise German forum messages in a material that consists of 179 discussion threads with a total of 616 Finnish codeswitches. The structural analysis of the Finnish codeswitches revealed that most of the Finnish codeswitches were intrasentential switches - most often common and proper nouns. Switches of other parts of speech such as verbs and adjectives occurred significantly less often. Almost half of the Finnish nouns were orthographically adapted into German through capitalisation of the initial letter. The functional analysis showed that codeswitches referring to Finnish culture and society were common. Other central functions included metalinguistic commentary, slips of the tongue, greetings and closings, reported speech, and reiteration. The forum members largely relied on their shared knowledge of Finnish and Finland, and only some codeswitches were translated into German. The findings of this study indicate that Finnish codeswitches are an expression of the multicultural and multilingual lives and identities of the forum members. Codeswitching to Finnish serves both as a means of communicating their shared Finnish experience and as a signal of membership in the online community.&nbsp

Atlas Ruhrin metropolialueen kielimaisemasta

Arvioitu teos: Evelyn Ziegler, Heinz Eickmans, Ulrich Schmitz, Haci-Halil Uslucan, David H. Gehne, Sebastian Kurtenbach, Tirza Mühlan-Meyer & Irmi Wachendorff: Metropolenzeichen. Atlas zur visuellen Mehrsprachigkeit der Metropole Ruhr. Duisburg: Universitätsverlag Rhein-Ruhr 2018. 319 s. isbn 978-3-95605-038-1

Jatkumoita, käänteitä ja kehityspolkuja – saksan kielen opetusta ja tutkimusta 100-vuotiaassa Suomessa

Takautuva katse satavuotiaan Suomen historiaan nostaa esille saksan kielen menneen prestiisikielen aseman. Nykyisyys taas on ristiriitainen, koska se tuo ilmi suomalaisen kaventuneen kielivarannon, joka ei vastaa monikielisen työelämän kielitaitotarpeisiin. Tulevaisuus on sumun peitossa ja tuntematon, mutta yritysten, organisaatioiden ja yliopistojen kielitaitotarveselvitysten mukaan muitakin kieliä kuin englantia tarvitaan. Saksan ja muiden vähän opiskeltujen kielten osaajia tarvitaan Suomessa.</p

Jatkumoita, käänteitä ja kehityspolkuja – saksan kielen opetusta ja tutkimusta 100-vuotiaassa Suomessa

Takautuva katse satavuotiaan Suomen historiaan nostaa esille saksan kielen menneen prestiisikielen aseman. Nykyisyys taas on ristiriitainen, koska se tuo ilmi suomalaisen kaventuneen kielivarannon, joka ei vastaa monikielisen työelämän kielitaitotarpeisiin. Tulevaisuus on sumun peitossa ja tuntematon, mutta yritysten, organisaatioiden ja yliopistojen kielitaitotarveselvitysten mukaan muitakin kieliä kuin englantia tarvitaan. Saksan ja muiden vähän opiskeltujen kielten osaajia tarvitaan Suomessa

What is “Language Making”?

This article introduces a new concept called “Language Making”. The term covers all kinds of processes in which speakers or non-speakers collectively conceptualize linguistic entities. Such processes are usually perpetual, they operate based on language ideologies and attitudes, and they bring about functional and structural norms which determine the boundaries of linguistic entities such as languages, dialects or varieties. The article discusses the significance of standardization, language policy and planning, and of stakeholders and agency for processes of Language Making. Raising the question as to why a new concept is needed in the first place, the article concludes with a demarcation of Language Making from opposite processes which may be called “un-Making” of Languages

Translating into an endangered language : filling in lexical gaps as Language Making

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