Sterne’s extraordinary novel Tristram Shandy (1759-67), which was a phenomenal success in its day,  abounds in non-narrative elements and is thus an ideal choice for such a study. These elements, which were often seen as a fault in nineteenth-century criticism,  lead to a high level of intertextuality in the book, a life-like quality of the breathless prose and a heightened role of the reader, but mainly they create and awesome reading experience full of fun and surprises. These features have received attention by modernist and postmodernist scholars, and while they have given a new lease of life to Tristram Shandy, one should not to draw anachronistic conclusions. Claiming that Sterne’s ambiguities lead to total instability of language are not based on a careful reading of the book, whereas recent theories of intetextuality can be quite helpful.

A Finnish translation  was not published before 1998 – partly because of the late arrival of modernism into Finnish mainstream literature – and was aimed at the general public, echoing the original’s target audience. Readability and humorous effects were given prominence, which was picked up by the unanimously positive reception in the Finnish press.

The detailed discussion of  translating the non-narrative elements, insertions, ambiguity, and visuals, in the first volume, reveals some trends. Culture specific allusions do not provide the Finnish reader with the same guessing game as they do for the English reader, but with certain techniques it is it is possible to hint that the material is borrowed and give an overall impression of a high level of intertextuality. On the other hand wordplay and innuendo, which mostly serve to create humorous effects, can be translated with a little imagination, lateral thinking, experience, and a luck. The merits of various possibilities are discussed in detail and even if a translation cannot be improved ad infinitum, many improvements to the printed book (TSF/P) are offered which appear in the appendix (TSF/R). The visual appearance of Tristram Shandy is such an integral part of the book that a translator need take it into account. The first volume presented here has been completely reformatted to create similar effects to the original.

Some questions that did not fall into the focus of this study remain open for further study. Accessing the ‘black box’ will be a major challenge for future study. One practical way of looking at the translation process would be looking at versions produced at various stages of the process. Another area of research could be the influence of the publishing climate and the role of the editor in literary translation.

Mainly I hope my example will encourage other translators to share their experiences with the academic community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY