How to Translate Thomas Mann's Works

Thomas Mann's three stories Tonio Kröger Tristan and Der Tod in Venedigare compared with the translations by Helen Lowe-Porter and David Luke respectively.From the comparison it emerges that Lowe-Porter's translationsare so deeply flawed that her oeuvre can be regarded as a scandal in thetranslation world. Even today her botched versions of Thomas Mann's worksare still being widely published and used as texts in institutes of higher education.Luke's translations are generally reliable but they still fail to capturethe literary aspects of Thomas Mann's prose. Alternative literary strategies arediscussed with examples illustrated by the author's own samples. The discussionabout how to approach the translation of dense literary passageshumour philosophical arguments and dialect has led to the development ofa new theory of translation: the Strategic Approach.The traditional conceptof fidelity is redefined based on Wittgenstein's language game theory.This book should be of interest to linguists translators students and teachersof translation as well as to any one who wishes to increase their knowledgeand appreciation of one of Europe's greatest prose stylists.