Names in Literary Translation : A Case Study of English Versions of the Slovenian Tale

This article presents three English translations of the Slovenian tale Martin Krpan z Vrha (1858) by Fran Levstik and focuses on the translation of personal and geographical names with the aim of examining the application of domestication and foreignization translation strategies. The comparative analysis of the English names aims to find out if the cultural gap between the source and the target cultures has been diminishing over the years. The study also highlights the role of the chronotope that gives the work, one of the most frequently translated Slovenian texts, a distinctive cultural character.


INTRODUCTION
The Slovenian tale Martin Krpan z Vrha was written by Fran Levstik (183-1887), a Slovenian writer, poet and playwright who was also a literary critic and a linguist.The text was first published in Celovec 1 -Klagenfurt in a fortnightly journal Slovenski glasnik/Slovenian Herald in 1858 and then in a book format.One of the author's aims 2 was to offer contemporary Slovenian writers and readers a model of an original tale based on folklore and national tradition (Boris Paternu, 1981;  Miran Hladnik, 2002).This tale, written for adult readers, exploits »traditional tales of fights between simple but brave giants from among the ordinary people, and violent figures of foreign and noble origin« (Niko Grafenauer, 2004)  3 .The book already appeared interesting for translators in the 19th century, when the first translations were published.In 1917, it was illustrated, and since then it has been present in the market as a picturebook.Illustrated by various renowned artists, it has been considered primarily as a children's book, however, its protagonist, the eponymous Martin Krpan, became a folk hero and, towards the end of the 20th century, even a national icon.Today the book is generally referred to as Martin Krpan and this shorter form of the title will be used also in the current context.
This study focuses on the personal and geographical names in the three English translations.By uncovering the application of domestication and foreignization translation strategies that gave rise to the forms of the names, this paper aims at highlighting the bridging of the cultural gap between the source Slovenian culture and the English speaking target cultures.It may be indicative that the translators of Martin Krpan originate from four different English cultures. 4he comparative analysis of translated names will additionally reveal if in the period from the mid 20th century, when the first English translation was published, to the start of the third millenium, when the second and the third 1 Names of places are given in the Slovenian traditional form.When other forms are used officially, both names are quoted.As the town of Klagenfurt (situated in Austria) has a traditional Slovenian name Celovec, the name is given also in the Slovenian form.English names presented in this text are the ones to be found in the translation of Maja Visenjak-Limon and David Limon, if not otherwise stated.

2
In accordance with the purpose of this paper, the other goals, related to the national awareness and the political position of Slovenians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, will not be taken into consideration here.Consequently, also the view that the 'English salt' that Krpan illegally transports, may have a metonymic significance and may well represent the import and proliferation of ideas of the non-German origin, will not be discussed in the current context.translations were offered to the market, the openness of the English speaking audiences to the Slovenian culture has increased.These aims are based on the supposition that since throughout this period, sections of Slovenian culture have been losing their totally foreign connotations for an important section of the international literary audience; English 5 readers may have also become more open to Slovenian literature.This paper also stresses the crucial role of the chronotope, the fusion between the setting and the temporal framework of the story, that gives to this literary masterpiece its distinctive cultural character.

TRANSLATION OF PROPER NAMES: DOMESTICATION OR FOREIGNIZATION
Proper names, whether names of persons or geographical names, have an important role in Martin Krpan.Geographical names may be considered as essential markers as they directly indicate where the story is located.Personal names which may »implicitly indicate to which culture the character belongs« (Nord, 2003 :  184) do not always perform the identifying function in this tale.This is true for the original and the translations.However, the English versions of the story, inevitably, indicate the applied translation strategies.
Domestication and foreignization rank among frequently applied translation strategies.When the culture of the original, referred to as the source culture, and the target culture i.e. the culture of the translation, share a sufficient field of common semiotic signs, 6 so that no extensive adaptation of the text is required to be acceptable in the new reading context, foreignization tends to be the chosen strategy.Domestication, on the contrary, tends to be applied when the shared semiotic space is so narrow that it requires considerable adaptation of specific cultural features of the original.Any application of translation strategies mirrors the expected openness of the target audience to the culture of the original as it is expected to create the preconditions for the understandability of a text in the new literary environment.
The application of translation strategies depends also on the position the target and the source language have in a world context.If there is a considerable gap between the two with regards to their influence and impact, the first translations, 5 The term English readers refers to English speaking audiences all over the world.

6
Semiotic terminology seems to be particularly convenient for the discussion of cultural encounters between the source and target cultures, as Maria Nikolajeva proves it in her book Children's Literature Comes of Age.Towards a New Aesthetic.
especially those from peripheral or non-central languages, 7 tend to be considerably domesticated.This is particularly true when the target language is English, the world central language number one.When further rapproachement between cultures and literatures takes place, the subsequent translations tend to reflect the combination of domestication and foreignization strategies and perhaps even the predominance of the foreignization translation method.Slovenian ranks among non-central languages and therefore the first translation of Martin Krpan is expected to be noticeably domesticated.The comparative analysis of names will uncover to what degree the translation strategies changed in the retranslations.

MARTIN KRPAN -A PLOT PERSPECTIVE
Martin Krpan is a tale of a Slovenian countryman who comes from Hilltop in Inner Carniola.The eponymous hero is of extraordinary strength and exceptional wit and he makes his living by smuggling English salt.As this is strictly prohibited, he becomes an object of suspicion to the authorities.On one occasion he accidentally meets the imperial carriage and with his strength impresses the Emperor so much that when a murderous warrior threatens the Court, Krpan is summoned to Vienna, in the hope that he can behead the killer.Krpan accepts the challenge but at the court he has to equip himself with his own weapons, a club of soft wood, and a butcher's axe.He also has to send home for his mare, as no Viennese horse is strong enough to carry him to the battlefield.Applying an unexpected fighting strategy, he is successful: Vienna is saved and the whole court with it.The saviour is hailed by the citizens and the Emperor but his heroic deed is not given due tribute by the Empress and the minister »who kept the keys to the Emperor's treasury« (translated by Maja Visenjak-Limon and David Limon).They both try to diminish the importance of Krpan's act of heroism.Krpan therefore addresses the Emperor, saying: I've heard in church that every labourer is worthy of his hire.If you so will it, then give me a letter that will be valid before every church and land authority, and set your seal upon it, saying that I'm free to peddle English salt (translated by Maja Visenjak-Limon and David Limon).This is the translation of the following Slovenian lines: Ampak vendar je vsak delavec vreden svojega plačila, to sem v cerkvi slišal.Če je vaša draga volja, dajte mi tedaj pismo, ko bo veljavno pred vsako duhovsko in deželsko gosposko; pa tudi svoj pečat morate udariti, da bom brez skrbi nosil angleško sol po svetu.
Krpan thus obtains the official permit to peddle salt without restrictions or limitations.He is additionally freed from a cumbersome gift offered by the Empress just to embarrass him and rewarded with a purse filled with gold coins by the Emperor.Thus he is able to return home.Before leaving, however, he says to the Emperor that «if any such Brdaus should appear again, you know where Hilltop by Holy Trinity is« (translated by Maja Visenjak-Limon and David Limon).This reads in the original, »Ko bi se spet oglasil kak Brdavs ali kdo drug, saj veste, kje se pravi na Vrhu pri Sveti Trojici.« The plot of this narrative reveals a harmonious interplay between facts and fiction, between mythical and realistic elements (Paternu, 1981).From the international perspective it is worth stressing that among mythical elements echoes of the Habsburg myth can also be found. 8Thus Martin Krpan transcends its national and temporal context, something which is confirmed also by translations published in various languages, twelve in all.The most recent renderings of the text into foreign languages are Martin Krpan från Vrh (2004), in Swedish, and  Marutein Kurupan, (2006) in Japanese.

THE CHRONOTOPE AND THE INTERPLAY OF FACTS AND FICTION
The chronotope, the configurations of place and time of the narrative, plays a pronounced role in this tale.It does not only frame the story but it also gives its raison d' etre.This tale grows from the fictional setting that evokes the actually existing European territory situated between Trst/Trieste 9 , Vrhnika10 and Dunaj/ Vienna and it also evokes a period that had severely marked the Slovenian sense of identity.
The region, presented as the fictional location, has been important for trading from time immemorial.This is the area known for commercial routes connecting Central Europe with the Adriatic sea.In the book it is named Notranje, today it is 8 See: Baskar Bojan, "Martin Krpan ali habsburški mit kot sodobni slovenski mit"(Martin Krpan or a Habsburg Myth as a Modern Slovenian Myth).9 Commercially important in Roman Times and in the following periods, especially under the Habsburg rule.
called Notranjska.The area is characterized by Karstic phenomena and one of its salient features is the lowest passage11 between the Southern and Central Europe.It was therefore favourable for traditional transporting and peddling.It is a hilly region with villages also on the slopes or even the hilltops.Thus the name Vrh, the only one that derives from the topographical features of the region.The names Vrh and Sveta Trojica have been fairly common in Slovenian territory.The name Vrh od Svete Trojice12 , refers to a village and is generally known in Notranjska.
The temporal framework of the picturebook is determined by the mid -19th century, the time in which Fran Levstik was an important literary figure, and by the historic circumstances which gave rise to the oral literary tradition which the author relied on in this narrative.The historic circumstances echoed in this tale derive from the historic fact that from 1382 most of the territory inhabited by Slovenians was ruled by the Habsburg dynasty.In the time of the invasions from the Ottoman Empire, this territory presented a kind of shield for the more central regions of the Habsburg Empire.Another fact derived from this historic reality was that the regions of Karst and Notranjska were among those Slovenian areas that were particularly afflicted by the raids of the Turks (Simoniti 1990: 88).History reveals as well that this territory played a role in the traffic of sea salt.Both historic experiences had therefore strongly marked the collective memory of the local population.
The time framework of this narrative is indicated by the author himself at the very start of the text13 : An old man of my acquaintance would sometimes spin me yarns about times gone by, how people used to live and things that went on between them (Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon).A man by the name of Močilar used to tell me stories about the olden days, about how people lived and what kind of things they kept by them (Erica Johnson Debeljak).Sometimes Mochilar would tell me of bygone days, how people used to live and how they got on with each other (F.S. Copeland).This reads in Slovenian: Močilar mi je časi kaj razkladal o nekdanjih časih, kako so ljudje živeli in kako so imeli to in to reč med sabo.
In the same introductory paragraph the indications of time and place become more precise.
One Sunday afternoon, sitting on the bench in the shade of the linden tree, he told me the following tale: … (Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon).One Sunday afternoon, as we sat on a bench in the shade of a great linden tree, he related the following tale to me: … (Erica Johnson Debeljak).One Sunday afternoon, as we sat on the bench under the lime tree, he told me the following tale (F.S.Copeland).
This reads in the original: Nekoč v nedeljo popoldne mi je v lipovi senci na klopi pravil naslednjo povest … The chronotope is further explained in the following paragraph by the fictional narrator.
There is a village in Inner Carniola known as Hilltop.There once lived a certain Krpan (Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon).In the region of Notranjska there once stood a village called Vrh.A very long time ago, a strong and powerful man named Krpan lived in the village (Erica Johnson Debeljak).There is a village in Inner Carniola, called The Peak.In that small village there lived in olden times Krpan, a powerful man and strong (F.S. Copeland).This reads in the original: V Notranjem stoji vas, Vrh po imenu.V tej vasici je živel v starih časih Krpan… When trying to establish facts related to the temporal framework of this tale, it should be highlighted that from the Middle Ages onwards, Austria and the Republic of Venice were fighting for primacy in this part of Europe (Granda, 142).Austria prohibited its citizens from trading with salt which was a monopoly of the Crown.Trafficking was one of the responses to the prohibition.
The time frame of the story is determined also by the visual narrative.Since the first illustration, created by Hinko Smrekar 14 (1883-1942), the brutal warrior has been viewed as a Turk.The gap existing due to the missing textual clue about the origin of the foreign knight, the seemingly invincible killer, was thus filled by the illustration. 15Among other illustrators who presented the cruel knight as a Turk, it is 14 A renowned Slovenian caricaturist who worked also as a graphic artist and illustrator.
15 The presentation of Brdavs contributes essential information to the understanding of the book as a whole.This picturebook therefore ranks among those where the word and the image complement each other.This is one of the possibilities of the relationship between the text and the illustration as Maria Nikolajeva and Carol Scott explain in their book How picturebooks work.
in the present context particularly worth mentioning Tone Kralj (1900-1975) whose illustrations accompany several translations of this book.Kralj's monumental realism corresponds so much to the story and to the characters of the hero and of the cruel intruder that his illustration acquired the status of the 'standard' one. 16Such a vision must have been the result of the Slovenian collective memory, strongly marked by the raids of the Turks which were a real scourge in the 15th and 16th centuries.It was the time when the forces of the Ottoman Empire systematically raided and plundered the bordering regions of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
The first raid on the Slovenian territory took place in 1408, as reported by Janez Vajkard Valvasor. 17Turks endangered the territory for more than 200 years.They were remembered for plunder, arson, killing and hostage taking.When not massacred, Slovenians were sold as slaves in the Ottoman Empire, or destined to be re-educated as janizaries.Thus, due to the Turkish invasions, an important section of the Slovenian rural population was lost. 18Additionally, the Slovenian chivalry suffered a severe blow and was considerably reduced during the wars that were waged against the Ottoman Empire.The raids on the Slovenian territory ceased only in 1593. 19t is therefore no surprise that Slovenian culture, particularly literature and the arts, echoes this period full of tribulations for Slovenians and other nations of Southeastern and Central Europe.The experience that they had to endure represented a challenge for the rest of Christian Europe, aware as it was that its cultural roots were endangered.It can be presumed that this common experience is one of the main reasons why Martin Krpan has been frequently translated and retranslated into the languages of the neighbouring nations.

TRANSLATIONS: FOCUS ON TRANSLATIONS INTO ENGLISH
Martin Krpan ranks among those Slovenian literary works which have been translated comparatively often.The first translations, into Russian (1888 and 1891) and into German (1893), were followed by translations into a further ten languages.However, the real number of translations is much higher as, in the case of various languages, the text has been retranslated several times.Retranslations in the neighbouring languages may have been the result of the special interest in the fictional representation of an aspect of historic experience that this geographical area had been directly confronted with.In the case of retranslations into other languages, it can be presumed that the targeted public appreciated not only the factual and fictional aspects of this narrative, which are related to the experience of a wider part of South Eastern and Central Europe, but also its transnational and transcultural aspects.
The three English translations were published in 1960 and in 2004.The 1960 translation, entitled Martin Krpan, was the work of F.S. Copeland. 20It was followed by two translations, both with the same title as the original.They were published in the same year, 2004, but at different publishing houses: Erica Johnson Debeljak published her translation by Prešernova družba, and Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon published theirs by Mladinska knjiga.The comparative analysis of the three translations will focus on the translation of personal and geographical (topographical) names.The aim of this comparative analysis is double: to find out if the gap between the source and the target literary contexts has diminished from the mid 20th century to the start of the third millenium; and to establish if in this period the openness of the English speaking audiences to the Slovenian culture has risen.
The first English translation (1960) of Martin Krpan may be expected to be largely adapted to the target readers' cultural context, i.e., to that of the English speaking readers, and to be largely domesticated.The study of translation of names will show if later translations moved from domestication translation strategy21 to foreignization as this change of translation method is expected to be present also in the translation of personal and geographical names.However, no clear dichotomy between the two approaches is envisaged as domestication and foreignization are not mutually exclusive (Baker 2010: 115).Especially in the case of retranslations, the application of translation strategies will be viewed as a mirror, reflecting the bridging of the gaps between the source Slovenian culture and the target English cultures.In this context, the comparative analysis of personal and geographical names will be considered as a testimony to the changes in the application of these two translation methods.

TRANSLATION OF PERSONAL NAMES
Names are traditionally culture-bound and as such they deserve the special attention of translators and readers.This is particularly true in books that have multicultural contexts.Martin Krpan is a good example of such a literary work as the chronotope represents a geographical region where Slovenian, German and Italian cultures meet.The analysis of names as »culture markers« (Nord, 184) will reveal if also in this picturebook names »implicitly indicate to which culture the character belongs« (ibid.)The names in the original and in translations will be therefore analysed also as to their culture of origin, to their source tradition.
Translators approach the task of translating proper names in various ways.When the target and the source language share the same script, as it is the case for English and Slovenian, names in the target text generally tend to be either reproductions of source names, i.e. without any change, or they are changed due to morphological, phonological or cultural adaptation to the target language (Bassnett and Lefevère; Nord).Accordingly, even though domestication and foreignization seem to be rather obvious in the translation of a particular literary work, translation of names may not be so straightforward.Therefore translations may contain names which are clear equivalents as 'John' in the case of Slovenian 'Janez'.On the other hand, equivalents may not be the choice of translators, as particular forms depend on several factors and not on translation strategies alone.Accordingly, the comparative analyses of selected forms may also uncover other solutions, for example those originating from the translator's creativity and this is likely also to reveal the skill and artistry of a particular translator.However, in this context, in accordance with the aim of this study, the latter aspect is not taken into consideration.
The challenge posed by the translation of names in Martin Krpan was indicated above when the concept of the chronotope was discussed.Proper names are an essential source of the construction of the cultural setting in which the story is embedded.The appearance of the name Močilar which was dealt with in various ways by the three translators is therefore also relevant in connection with the discussion of names.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL NAMES
The personal names used in the original are all of Slovenian origin or, without referring to the etymological origin of each of them, in their Slovenian form.Original names thus do not reflect the presumed nationality of literary characters which are of Slovenian and German origin.The name of the giant, Brdavs, is presented as Brrdows in the first translation (1960).The double 'r' in spelling may indicate the translator's aim to insist on a pronunciation that would evoke the original one.The tendency to keep the pronunciation of individual's proper names similar to that of the original becomes even more obvious in the cases of the names Štempihar, Močilar and Klinčar.As all three contain letters absent from to the English alphabet, they are written with combinations of letters that are likely to make English readers imitate the original pronunciation.Thus there is 'sh' for the Slovenian 'š' (sibilant [ʃ]) so that Štempihar turns into Shtempihar, and 'ch' for the Slovenian 'č' (affricate [tʃ]), thus Močilar turns into Mochilar.The cited names, appearing in the first English translation, are thus, contrary to expectations, partly foreignized: the spelling is anglicized with the intention of offering readers an impression of the original sound of Slovenian names.Thus even in the first translation names are transformed in different ways.They are entirely domesticated, when they are already familiar within an English cultural context.The name Gregor thus becomes Gregory and Jernej changes into Bartholomew.Conversely, in both 2004 translations, the quoted Slovenian names are kept and English readers are faced with foreignization.When names contain sibilants and affricates, Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon, apply the same type of adaptation procedure as adopted by F.S. Copeland.Erica Johnson Debeljak, on the contrary, uses the Slovenian forms Močilar and Štempihar, and keeps also the name Jernej.The translator thus introduces complete foreignization.
The 2004 translators used the same name for the giant: Brdaus.but different names for the Emperor.In the original, the Emperor himself is referred to either with his title or by title and first name.In translations, the title is followed by the name, either in the English form, as Emperor John (F.S. Copeland), or with Emperor Johann (Maja Visenjak Limon, David Limon) and Johan (Erica contributes to the foreignizing effect of the translations.Conversely, Krpan's place of origin, his home village, is translated in three different ways.Only the second part of the name is translated identically by all of them.In the 1960 translation the domestication strategy is particularly underlined with a short commentary that accompanies the translations of the name Razdrto, translated as Broken Hill, and Golo, rendered as Bare Hill.Each of these translations is accompanied with a footnote on the same page informing the reader that the translation is an »approximate rendering«.
The only name refering to a geographical region is Notranje which is translated in two ways: with the name established in historiography, Inner Carniola, by F.S. Copeland and Maja Visenjak Limon and David Limon, and with the modern name, Notranjska, by Erica Johnson Debeljak.If the latter is an obvious foreignization, I dare say that the name used by historiography would also hardly sound less foreign to the majority of Non-Slovenian readers.This also proves that in the translation of any literary text, domestication and foreignization can be assigned their role and effect only within a larger linguistic, literary and cultural context.

CONCLUSION
This comparative analyses of the translations of names in the narrative Martin Krpan has turned out to be particularly interesting not only because the time span between the first translation and the retranslations was almost half a century, but also because the two retranslations, published in the same year, reveal a few aspects of the complexity of literary translation.
The comparative studies of personal names, place names and other geographical names reveal that the expectations built on theoretical premises regarding retranslations and the application of domestication and foreignization translation strategies were basically justifiable.The analyses reveal that within the three translations domestication and foreignization tend to complement each other and that foreignization is particularly pronounced in the area of geographical names.Most names of Slovenian places retain their original form.In the field of names of individuals only a few can be considered as »culture markers« (Nord, 184).The Emperor's name, Johann, which in itself clearly indicates its linguistic origin within the Habsburg Monarchy, ranks among them.
The analysis of personal names also reveals frequent adaptations of spelling which is anglicized with the intention of enabling targeted readers to derive an impression of the original sound of Slovenian names.Neither of the retranslations is based primarily on s single translation strategy.As expected, the degree of application of each of the highlighted translation strategies differs.Visenjak and Limon apply both domestication and foreignization strategies and it is likely that their translation may help the English reader to gain an impression of the sound of the Slovenian language.
The translation of names reveals that the cultural gap between the Slovenian and English speaking cultures has diminished and that since the start of the 21st century translators have expected English readers to be much better prepared for the encounters with Slovenian literature than their counterparts in the reading audiences in the second half of the 20th century.nekaj odstopanj, ki so kulturno pogojena.Predvsem zaradi večje rabe potujitvene strategije pri zapisu geografskih imenih lahko zaključimo, da se je, po oceni prevajalcev, v zadnjih petdesetih letih zmanjšala oddaljenosti med slovensko, angleško in ameriško kulturo.

7
Division of languages according to the taxonomy of Johan Heilbron ('Towards a Sociology of Translation: Book Translations as a Cultural World System') and Pascale Casanova ('Translation as Unequal Exchange'), is explained in Mona Baker's (ed.) Critical Readings in Translation Studies (2010).