Translating Adolf Muschg: Two Short Stories

Abstract

<p>Certain Swiss authors, such as Gottfried Keller, Robert Walser, Friedrich Durrenmatt, and Max Frisch, are more frequently translated into English than others. To this day, Adolf Muschg has belonged to the latter; his texts have been translated, but into Eastern European languages rather than English. I decided to translate him because his prose appeals to a wide audience and deserves to be introduced to English-speaking readers. Muschg has concerned himself with literature and its related fields for many years. Contemporary Swiss and international issues are directly confronted in his writings, where he also analyzes the individual's relationships with culture and society. Not only does he use a variety of themes, but also an array of narrative techniques and structural elements. Diversity is extremely important when considering a text for translation, because the more diverse the author's writing style is, the more interesting and challenging the translation task will be. After having read a selection of Muschg's short prose, the stories "Besuch in der Schweiz II and "Wullschleger Country" caught my interest, because of the similarities In themes. The central figures in both stories come from different backgrounds: Swiss and German in the first; Swiss and Thai in the second. Thus Switzerland is observed from the perspective of natives and foreigners; by employing these opposing points of view Muschg can also voice his criticism of the respective culture and society. Adolf Muschg's texts challenge the translator due to the cultural contexts of his themes and the structural variety of his style; I attempted to consistently incooperate these aspects in my translations. In addition, by discussing the difficulties associated with these aspects in a detailed commentary, it becomes evident how much the translation process has to rely on interpretation, or else not every textual element is accounted for.</p>