A Problem of Translation: Structural Patterns in the Language of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea

A Problem of Translation: Structural Patterns in the Language of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea KA Y UNRUH DES ROCHES When I first read The Lady From the Sea in Norwegian,' I was arrested by a repetitiveness in the text that seemed to signify purpose. Not only .are characters, settings and plots repeated, so that various ofthem are variations on others, but cenain words occur so frequently that their recurrence became a matter of interest. I panicularly noticed EIlida's repetition of what I will call "fear" words, such as "grufulle," (dreadful) "forferdelig," (terrible) and "skremmerog drager" (frighten and pull). Examining several English language translations,2 I discovered that some of these words were repeated: in the Penguin translation, "fascinate" is given as an equivalent for "drager" often enough to create a repetitive effect; in the Signet, "tenify and attract" are consistently given for "skremmer og drager"; in the Oxford, "undenow" is given twice for "dragende." However, in none of them is any word translated consistently enough for a repetitive pattern to emerge from the English language text. To illustrate: "dragende," the adjectival form of the verb "Ii dra" (to pull. drawI attract), is used five times, each at a moment of crisis in the text. Ellida uses it four times in her attempt to explain that she feels pulled or compelled against her will: she describes her homesickness for the sea, the power the Stranger and the sea exen on her, and her unfulfilled longings and desires as "dragende"; she also names the particular force or compulsion she fears as "det dragende." Significantly, Wangel also uses "det dragende" in Act IV when he admits that he, too, is compelled against his will by a force which is gathered for him in the person of Ellida. As this is a crucial moment in the action, it is important that all the available information be included in the translation; and one piece of information rests in the repetition of "det grufulle" and "det dragende," phrases which Ellida and Wangel use solely to identify that force which they seem unable to fight. Although all the translations render the sense of "dragende" appropriately, and all but one use the same equivalent on two orthree occasions, none of them 312 KAY UNRUH DES ROCHES attempts a consistent pattern of repetition. Furthermore, only the Penguin translation gives the same equivalent, "fascination," for both Ellida and Wange!'s use of "det dragende." The Oxford, Anchor, and Signet give equivalents so specific to Ellida's experience (undertow, tide), that it could not be applied also to Wange!'s experience. The problem is not thatthe sense ofthe situation is lost; the rendering in the Anchor translation is perfectly clear: "You are to me - what he is to you"; so also is the Signet's: "You have for me this same horrifying spell, Ellida, this attraction - that's so powerful in you." Here the Signet allows Wangel to echo Ellida's repeated words "terrify and attract"; however, when Ellida first describes that experience, the Signet gives her the word "undertow" as an equivalent for "det dragende," which suggests that her experience is somehow different from his. What we lose is not only tone and emphasis; we lose the special clue the Norwegian text gives us that Wangel is here admitting to sharing Ellida's experience. Ellida's request has shaken Wangel sufficiently to make him realize that he is subject to the same force she is subject to: "Du er for meg som det grufulle, Ellida. Det dragende, - det er det sterkest i deg." Hearing Wangel echo Ellida's words jolts us into redefining the patient/doctor relationship which Wangel, at any rate, had assumed.' Penguin 's "fascination" provides the echo, but fails to account for the tone implicit in the words and the situation. Signet's "horrifying" and "attraction" renders both the tone and the sense, but loses the irony provided by the repetition. In part, the problem repetition presents to the translator in this play is inherent in the two languages under consideration. lnga-Stina Ewbank has pointed out that, because English has a much broader range of synonyms than the Danish-Norwegian language used...