Le coq gaulois à l’heure anglaise: analyse de la traduction anglaise d’Astérix by Catherine Delesse, Bertrand Richet (review)

Fourastié, would have been called for. However, Fourastié is briefly mentioned only once (168). Western Washington University Edward Ousselin DELESSE, CATHERINE, et BERTRAND RICHET. Le coq gaulois à l’heure anglaise: analyse de la traduction anglaise d’Astérix. Arras: Artois PU, 2009. ISBN 978-2-84832-077-9. Pp. 447. 24 a. This book deserves a belated review because it presents a major research project on Astérix that deals with the difficult art of translating cultural humor. The authors compare thirty-three episodes of the series by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (the last eight by Uderzo alone after Goscinny’s death in 1977) with their corresponding English translations, all of which were done by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge between 1969 and 2005. In their introduction, Delesse and Richet discuss the challenges translators face in their efforts to remain close to the original work while creating similar cultural humor that is essentially an adaptation. In order to organize and present such a vast amount of material, the authors divided their comparisons into four chapters: “Les noms propres,” “Les jeux de mots,” “Accents, dialectes et langues étrangères,” and “Les allusions culturelles.” The chapter on proper names is divided into numerous categories, such as historical references and adaptations of the original French names to fit the context. For example, in Astérix et le chaudron the character Juleraimus (Jules Raimu, a wellknown French actor from the 1930s) becomes Alecguinus (Alec Guinness, a famous British actor who admired Raimu). There are many clever names invented by the English translators that often have a connection with the French or with the original meaning of a certain word, such as the dog’s name Idéfix which becomes Dogmatix in the English translation. A great challenge for translators is rendering into English plays on words, which are based on colloquial meanings, sounds, and cultural references. In Astérix et les Goths the chief Téléféric is deposed by his enemy who says “Ta vie ne tient qu’à un fil, Téléféric.” Since cable car and “hang by a thread” do not have the same close connection in English, the translators totally transformed the word play by changing the chief’s name to Metric with his opponent saying “It’s time you were going, Metric” (95). The phrase alludes to the debate in England about “going metric,” meaning an official change to using the metric system for money and measurement. The English phrase here can be understood in two ways: It’s time to get rid of you (when using a comma and meaning get rid of the metric system) and it’s time to go metric (without the comma, meaning it’s time for a change), thus representing both sides of the debate. Much of the humor in Astérix is based on stereotypes and details of cultural identity. In their chapter on accents, dialects, and foreign languages, the authors compare the clever ways in which the translators transformed these elements into a context that is humorous for Anglophones. The final chapter, which deals with cultural allusions, is divided into sections on songs, famous sayings, historical references, and popular culture, just to name a few. The creative genius of Goscinny and Uderzo and the ingenious renditions of their humor by the translators are impressive and amusing. From a pedagogical perspective, this book could Reviews 967 be used as a reference work in a French culture class, a translation course, and a course on bandes dessinées. Le coq gaulois is a must-read for Astérix aficionados as well as for those who are yet unfamiliar with the French cultural icon whose adventures have been translated into 107 languages and dialects with worldwide sales of over 325 million albums. Ohio University, Athens Lois Vines DIETLER, MICHAEL. Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France. Berkeley: UP of California, 2010. ISBN 978-0-52026551 -6. Pp. 464. $60. During the sixth century BCE, Phocaeans from a Greek colony in contemporary Turkey arrived in Marseille, naming it Massalia. This event becomes more than a mere historical fact in Dietler’s complex analysis of Mediterranean society during the...