Le pelerinage des mots d’enfants dans "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" de Mark Twain et ses traductions françaises. Le cas du discours indirect mimétique

Résumé

Pilgrimage of children words in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and its french translations. The case of mimetic indirect discourse

This article studies the Mimetic Indirect Discourse in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876 and its French translations 1884–1963. In the original, words belonging to the language of children go on an initial pilgrimage as they encroach upon the Narrator’s Discourse which, as a rule, reflects an adult point of view. The pilgrimage is made twofold as these words or phrases make it into another language through the translation process. This essay is an attempt at answering two overlapping questions: What effect does the Mimetic Indirect Discourse achieve? In what ways was it handled by translators? The reader shall first be reminded of the characteristics of Mimetic Indirect Discourse in connection to other discourses. A study between English and French in the tradition of Compared Stylistics then follows. The article finally focuses on the effect of Mimetic Indirect Discourse within the economy of the novel.