Les Schwarz-Bart en Allemagne : sur quelques illustrations de couverture des traductions en allemand

Abstract

The novels by André and Simone Schwarz-Bart have been well translated and by the best translators. Whether it be André's novels (La Mulâtresse Solitude being translated by Ralph Mannheim, L'Étoile du matin by Julie Rose, two experts whom we have been following for many years) or Le Dernier des Justes (Stephen Becker) for the English, or Ti Jean L'Horizon and Pluie et vent both translated by Barbara Bray (the companion of Samuel Beckett whose biography is still awaited to shed light on Beckett's relationship with our authors, both having visited the Moulin d'Andé, Gyssels in press in Il Tolomeo), the novels also benefited from a German touch. Starting from the covers chosen for the German translations, I look at the shifts occurring both in terms of content and profile of the authors. The biggest "flaw" we could find, however, is a Norwegian translation, strangely illustrated by what passes for an anti-Semitic caricature. It is by examining these paratextual elements and the promotional texts accompanying it that a call for vigilance for the [re-]editions, the management and decisions whether and how to release unpublished schwarz- bart’s files are raised.

Keywords

• posture of the writer
• paratext
• press material
• blurb and cover illustration