ABBREVIATIONS

The following abbreviations have been used:

SL – Source Language

ST – Source Text

TL – Target Language

TT – Target Text

TSE – Tristram Shandy in English, Penguin Edition

TSF/P – Tristram Shandy in Finnish, published by WSOY

TSF/R – Tristram Shandy I in Finnish, revised version

OED – Oxford English Dictionary

1. Introduction

The purpose of this study is to discuss the translation into Finnish of certain non-narrative elements of Tristram Shandy, concentrating on the first volume.

I will first attempt to describe in both theoretical and practical terms my views on literary translation. After some definitions I will explain why elements that fall outside the main stream of narrative translation, i.e. non-narrative elements, are chosen as the subject of this study.

My second starting point is the chosen material of my research, Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy (1761-67). Again, after discussing various aspects of the book, I defend my focus on non-narrative elements.

The main part of my study consists of a detailed discussion of the non-narrative elements in Tristram Shandy, their function and effects, and how I translated them. I attempt to list all such elements in the first volume and compare and discuss the merits of various possible translations.

My aim is to approach the subject as a professional translator, drawing extensively from my own experience, without compromising scholarly requirements, which is rather rare in translation studies. This unusual angle explains the criticism of many scholars, whose conclusions I cannot verify by my experience.

The first volume of Tristram Shandy in Finnish, a revised version of my published translation (1998), forms an appendix to this work.