SF Estrangement in Literary Translation

Translation of Neologies in the Finnish Version of Dune

Authors

  • Suvi Korpi University of Helsinki

Keywords:

translation, estrangement, neology, science fiction

Abstract

This study analyzes the translation of neologies in the literary translation of the science fiction (SF) novel Dune (1965). As one of the most important linguistic elements in SF, neologies contribute to the worldbuilding of SF and create the estrangement from reality that is characteristic of the SF genre. Evaluating the translation of neologies is hence used as a tool to evaluate the transfer of the source text’s (ST) estranging properties to the target text (TT). When the ST’s neological estrangement is retained as a genre-specific feature of SF in the TT, the ST estrangement becomes accessible also for the TT reader. The study reveals that the translation has predominantly retained neologies, thus retaining the neological estrangement of the ST in the TT. The material of the study consists of the neologies in Frank Herbert’s Dune and its Finnish translation Dyyni (2021 [1982]), which were analyzed to determine whether they retain or recreate SF estrangement.

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Published

2025-01-21

Issue

Section

Peer-Reviewed Articles