145 Years of Finnish Shakespeare Retranslation: The Next Move

Abstract

According to the Retranslation Hypothesis, a retranslation always tends to be more faithful to the source text and culture than the first translation, which in turn tends to reduce the foreignness of the source text. However, the hypothesis rarely proves to be valid. This finding contests the traditional way of placing translations along such continuums as "foreignisation-domestication". The study of translations, and especially retranslations, calls for a broader point of view which takes their many-facetedness better into account. In this paper I will take a look at two of Shakespeare‘s plays which have recently been retranslated into Finnish and published as books. The purpose is to deal with the plays expressly as Finnish retranslations, that is, as "newcomers" in a distinct group of texts which is governed by its own translation tradition. I will, above all, focus on the role of the copyeditors of these contemporary retranslations, and discuss how the copyeditors have affected the retranslations by regulating the way in which the preceding translations are allowed or forbidden to enter the retranslations. By focusing on the concealed work of the copyeditors, I wish to further contest the uncomplicated view of translation offered, for example, by the Retranslation Hypothesis.