translating asyndeton from french literary texts into english

Translating asyndeton from French literary texts into English

Fiona RossetteUniversité Paris 10

While asyndeton between finite clauses within the sentence may be considered a marginal construction, compared for example to coordination or subordination, it is more frequent in French than in English, in which it is limited with respect to genre. Particularly interesting examples, both quantitively and qualitively, can be found in French literature, notably in the fiction of Marguerite Duras, who made asyndeton her hallmark. This study documents the choices made by English translators of Duras, and of three other French writers who exploit asyn-deton. Literature aside, asyndeton in French texts is not carried over into Eng-lish, in what can be qualified as norm-governed translation. However, asyndeton in literary texts is carried over into English in up to fifty percent of cases, reflect-ing a certain compromise between norms in the source language and those in the target language. Apart from describing Duras’ specific use of asyndeton, and illustrating the difficulty of translating any element that is an essential ingredient of a writer’s style, which, by definition, represents a departure from an accepted norm, this study brings to light certain aspects governing clause combining in English. Certain linguistic parameters that favour the exploitation of asyndeton in English are systematised, specifically concision, rhythm and isotopy. Seman-tic, temporal and/or aspectual constraints are also highlighted.

Keywords: asyndeton, French-English translation, Marguerite Duras, literary translation, style

1. Introduction

1.1 Linguistic background

My interest in clause-combining stems from my contact with French as a foreign language. In this area, French and English differ greatly. The study of “connectives” has received considerable attention in second-language education, and in France,

Target 21:1 (2009), 98–134. doi 10.1075/target.21.1.05rosissn 0924–1884 / e-issn 1569–9986 © John Benjamins Publishing Company

Translating asyndeton from French literary texts into English 99

students’ misuse and overuse of these elements in their writing in English lead to major problems in understanding their texts. It is often claimed that French requires connectives in order to be more explicit, which may explain why French students overuse them in English. The main “offenders” are adverbials (e.g. there-fore, indeed, moreover) which are used in sentence-initial position and therefore realise relations between sentences. In a quantitative study (Rossette 2003), I noted that sentence-initial connectives are more common in French than English. At the other end of the scale, however, French offers the possibility of foregoing connec-tives within the sentence, combining finite clauses simply via the use of a comma, in constructions which parallel the famous veni, vidi, vici.

Clause combining is situated half-way between the domains of grammar and discourse. Instead of clear-cut rules, we have before us a somewhat “messier” ob-ject of study:

This area of language study [discourse organisation] is somewhat “messier” than the study of lexis and grammar. Texts may be organised in a number of ways, the naturalness or otherwise of their organisation being determined by a multitude of factors. De Beaugrande and Dressler rightly point out that it is ‘much more straightforward to decide what constitutes a grammatical or acceptable sentence than what constitutes a grammatical or acceptable sentence sequence, paragraph, text or discourse. (Baker 1992: 112–113)1

The study of connectives flows into the domains of pragmatics and coherence. For example, Martin (1992: 269) affirms that connectives are highly sensitive to genre and are “a useful place to start whenever the structure of whole texts is under consideration and an interpretation of their relationship to ideology, genre and register is what is required.” In terms of translation, it is more difficult to pinpoint constraints situated at this higher, macro level of text construction, however Baker (1992: 84) notes that “certain restrictions” do indeed exist. A case in point is the translation of the ubiquitous Hebrew coordinating conjunction waw in the Bible, translated differently depending on the target language. English translations of the Bible more readily retain the equivalent structure (and) than do French transla-tions, in which subordination, or non-finite structures are preferred to et, although such tendencies do vary depending on the translation (Rossette 2008).

Constructions akin to veni, vidi, vici are generally analysed as instances of jux-taposition, asyndeton, or parataxis.2 However, as the term “parataxis” can encom-pass other types of clause linkage (e.g. coordination), it is often felt necessary to add a qualifying adjective, as in “asyndetic parataxis.” Interestingly, the notions of “asyn-deton” and “juxtaposition” do not tend to feature in linguistic theory, at least not to the extent that “subordination” or “coordination” do. This in itself may be indicative of the marginal nature of the construction.3 Asyndeton, in terms of “absence of

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conjunction”, has instead been appropriated by literary theory and gains entry into most literary, rhetoric or stylistic manuals, in which it is presented as a figure of speech. I will come back to its analysis in a literary perspective in a moment.

Within linguistic typology, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) offers, to my knowledge, one of the most comprehensive descriptions of clause-combining, be it across sentences (cf. Cohesion in English, Halliday & Hasan 1976), or within sentences. Within sentences, Halliday (1994) provides what is designed as an ex-haustive description of clause-combining within the “clause-complex,” according to both semantic criteria and the type of interdependency, or “taxis.” The latter categorisation is based on a distinction between two cases of subordination, that of embedding (in which an element functions within the structure of a group), and that of hypotaxis (relation of dependency). A third category, outside subordina-tion, is that of parataxis, involving the linking of elements of equal status.4 These distinctions are not based a priori on formal criteria, as what is at stake is the status of the clauses. The terms “juxtaposition” and “asyndeton” do not appear in the description, although the term “apposition” is mentioned in passing (e.g. Halliday 1994: 203). In practice, however, parataxis encompasses both coordination, link-ing with an adverb (e.g. so, however), and clause-combining devoid of a connect-ing item, that is, juxtaposition. This categorisation is summarised in Figure 1.

⇐ Subordination ⇒

Hypotaxis Embedding ⇐ Parataxis ⇒

Coordination Adverbs Juxtaposition

Figure 1. The System of Clause Combining in Systemic Function Linguistics

Examples of parataxis include juxtaposition via semi-colons (e.g. John ran away; he didn’t wait [Halliday 1994: 198]), colons (Each argument was fatal to the other: both could not be true [Halliday 1994: 203]), and hyphens (e.g. He had been drink-ing very hard — only I knew how hard [Downing & Locke 1994: 283]). In such con-texts, Downing and Locke affirm that rather than juxtaposition being synonymous with “no link”, it signals the existence of a semantic relation:

When clauses are simply juxtaposed in this way, a strictly syntactic view would in-terpret them as separate, independent units. Viewing them as a possible complex is to give priority to discourse and semantic criteria. […] The choice of juxtaposed clauses serves to highlight what is felt to be their semantic connection. (Downing & Locke 1994: 283)

However, neither Halliday nor Downing and Locke give examples of juxtaposition of finite clauses coinciding with a comma, no doubt because such a construction is extremely rare in English. While the terms asyndeton, or asyndetic construc-


tion, do not tend to be used in the context of clause combining, lower down in the constituent structure of the clause, Downing and Locke (1995: 484) refer to “asyndetic subordination”, between epithets for example (e.g. an enchanting old church as opposed to an old and enchanting church), and to “asyndetic coordina-tion” between noun groups in which a comma does feature (e.g. All he thinks about is money, money, money) (1995: 480). It would seem that although asyndeton and juxtaposition are to all intents and purposes synonyms, the metalanguage does not treat them as such: the tendency is for asyndeton to refer uniquely to cases of juxtaposition which use a comma.

Indeed, the effect of the comma is quite different from that of other punc-tuation marks. Punctuation serves primarily to indicate the “strength of the link between two adjacent statements or utterances” (Fayol 1997: 160), and a scale of strong to weak links can be established (e.g. Quirk et al 1985). Halliday (1994: 4) notes that commas, colons, semi-colons and hyphens “mark off some kind of sub-sentence, some unit that is intermediate between the sentence and the word”, how-ever the problem remains of determining precisely what type of intermediate sta-tus is indicated by each of these punctuation marks. Moreover, punctuation is an area of usage that is constantly evolving, and some consider (e.g. Fayol 1997) that punctuation is not an essential component in understanding a text.5 It can how-ever be posited that, compared to the colon, semi-colon or hyphen, the comma creates less dissociation, and therefore a stronger link between the clauses. For example, in a comparative study of punctuation in French and English, Demanu-elli (1987) observes that while colons and hyphens are more common in English, French favours the comma, which is decribed thus:

The effect produced by the comma is that of tight interdependence between the whole and its parts, a type of “merging” which blurs the difference between the whole and the parts, and vice-versa, so that the different parts are hardly dissoci-ated from one another […] (L’effet produit par la virgule est celui d’une interdépen-dence étroite entre les lignes et leurs composantes, une sorte de « fendu », qui fait que les uns sont les autres et inversement, et que la décomposition ou la dissociation des lignes s’opère insensiblement, « en douceur » […]) (Demanuelli 1987: 151)

It can therefore be argued that in comparison to juxtaposition involving other punctuation marks, the strong degree of the link associated with the comma makes the juxtaposition appear more marked.

1.2 Asyndeton and stylistic effects

For a description of such a marked effect, it is necessary to turn to presentations of asyndeton in literary theory. Cuddin’s Dictionary of Literary Terms points to the

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use of asyndeton as a trend in twentieth-century poetry, citing W.H. Auden, al-though he also refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost. Asyndeton is considered a rhetori-cal device used “for the sake of speed and economy” and as “a means of achieving compact expression.” In Rossette (2005), I describe some of the rhetorical effects that can be associated with asyndeton in English literary texts: it is not a neutral construction, in that it gives the impression that “something is missing”, produc-ing what could be described as a “conspicuous absence”. It features typically in subjective passages, such as first-person narrative and free-indirect speech, as well as quoted direct speech. Indeed, it would appear that asyndeton acts as a device to produce a certain degree of spontaneity, or an “oral” tone. In certain contexts, an element of drama is introduced. Let us compare the following examples:

(1) I’m in the playground with Malachy. I’m four, he’s three. He lets me push him on the swing […] (F. McCourt, Angela’s Ashes, Simon & Schuster, p. 22)

(2) The times when she was away were hard for Jimmy. He worried about her, he longed for her, he resented her for not being there. (M. Atwood, Oryx and Crake, Random House, p. 377)

(3) Annie Little was sitting next to me on the bench, and she leant close and whispered to me, Grace, Grace, is he handsome, your young doctor? Will he get you out of prison? Are you in love with him, I suppose you are. (M. Atwood, Alias Grace, Virago, p. 442)

While asyndeton features in all three sequences, the effect it produces varies ac-cording to its degree of “markedness”. In (1), two finite clauses are juxtaposed, while in (2), three clauses are included in the same sentence, and extra emphasis is created by the repetition of the same argument structure — subject (he) + preterite verb + complement (her) — and also by the fact that the clauses refer to the char-acter’s feelings: the verbs worry, long for, and resent are more emotionally-packed than copular be which introduces in (1) the ages of the respective characters. In both cases, a coordinating conjunction (and) would have been the unmarked op-tion. This is not the case in (3), which may be considered an even greater depar-ture from the norm, by including a question and a response in a hybrid structure, devoid of a question mark, but linked iconically by the chiasmus (are you/you are). The unmarked option here would have been to place each clause in a separate sen-tence rather than to use a connective (Are you in love with him? I suppose you are.). It can be posited that the higher the degree of markedness, the higher the dramatic effect, which can be explained in terms of the immediate nature of the communi-cation in which such examples appear. As Elbow (2000: 309) notes in his manual on creative writing: “There is more energy in unconnected sentences, more drama. They tend to be an enactment of something going on rather than a record of a


past event that is conceptually finished.” Examples such as (3) particularly give the impression that certain things have gone unsaid and need to be read between the lines; in this way, they hint at the complexity of the situation being presented — Elbow (2000: 309) speaks of such “naked fragments” that mirror a world in which “everything is not so simple.”

While examples of asyndeton exist in English, they are quite rare in that they are used by a minority of writers, who exploit them sparingly. This is not necessar-ily the case in French, as we shall see in a moment. The structure is so frequent in certain works by Duras, for example, that it can hardly be analysed as marked. In such contexts, it engenders quite a distinct effect from that of (2) or (3) described above. One of the factors that distinguish Duras’ use of asyndeton from that of other writers is the greater number of clauses that appear in the same sentence. Whereas asyndeton in combination with couplets or ternary structures tends to give emphasis to the clauses, “zooming in” on them as it were, this is not the case in longer sentences. The following sentence is made up of five finite clauses. Un-like the previous examples, it appears in a third-person narrative. Here, the use of asyndeton accentuates the objective point of view and the distance with which the story is told:

(4) Avec l’argent des pêcheurs, à plusieurs reprises elle va à Pursat, elle achète du riz, le fait cuire dans une boîte de conserve, ils lui donnent des allumettes, elle mange du riz chaud. (le Vice-Consul, 856)

My literal translation: With the money she gets from the fishermen, she goes to Pursat, she buys rice, cooks it in a tin can, they give her matches, she eats hot rice.

Published translation (p. 12): With the money she gets from the fishermen, she goes several times to Pursat. She buys rice, which she cooks in an old tin can. They give her matches. She has hot rice to eat.

In the published translation, the asyndeton between each clause is replaced either by a sentence break or by a subordinate relative clause (she buys rice, which she cooks…). This distance comes through even more clearly in the following sen-tence, which announces a death and then points to its cause:

(5) Le petit frère est mort en trois jours d’une broncho-pneumonie, le cœur n’a pas tenu. (L’Amant, 37)

My literal translation: My younger brother died in three days of bronchial pneumonia, his heart gave out.

Published translation (p. 28): My younger brother died in three days, of bronchial pneumonia. His heart gave out.

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The effect is quite different in the English translation, which introduces a sen-tence break and, with it, a certain sense of profoundness. Such profoundness can be identified in the following sequence, in which Duras herself introduces a sen-tence break (which is carried over into the English translation). Interestingly, these clauses are not unlike the type that frequently appear in asyndetic combinations, which particularly favour repetition:

(6) L’histoire de ma vie n’existe pas. Ça n’existe pas. (L’Amant, 14)

Published translation (p. 8): The story of my life doesn’t exist. Does not exist.

1.3 Asyndeton in French and in English

Asyndeton (with a comma) is a potentially strong stylistic device. In terms of translation, this throws up the recurrent problem of what gets lost in the pro-cess of translation — of “translating” style or “eccentric grammar”, of which Parks (2000) provides a very detailed discussion. The problem lies in the fact that in both French and English, asyndeton is considered a minor construction; conse-quently, there is the likelihood that, whatever the target language, the translation will be influenced by target-language norms, with asyndeton being replaced by another construction — such practice underscores in Toury’s framework (Toury 1995) “adequacy-oriented” translation, that is, translating in which conformity to the norms of the target language takes preference over conformity to the norms of the source language.

However, asyndeton is considered more characteristic of French than English. In France, both translation manuals (e.g. Vinay & Darbelnet 1958; Grellet 1990; Chuquet 1990) and contrastive linguistic studies have insisted on the difficulty of carrying asyndeton over into English translations. Guillemin-Flescher (1981: 347) observes that French uses commas in a relatively “loose” addition of elements (be they finite or non-finite), whereas in English, elements are syntactically integrated into the clause/sentence, and “more explicit” relations (“relations explicitées”) are preferred.

In addition, asyndeton is restricted with respect to genre in English, but not in French. In English, asyndeton features mainly in literature, while it is absent for example in the press and academic prose (Rossette 2003). In French, however, it can be found in most genres, including the press:

(7) Car le pli est désormais pris, l’accord d’aujourd’hui reflète une tendance qu’ont déjà adoptée d’autres grands musées étrangers, chacun à leur manière et compte tenu de leur histoire. (« Le Louvre, l’image de la France », Le Figaro, 6/3/07) (Literal translation: For a trend has now been set, today’s


agreement reflects a practice that has already been adopted by other prestigious foreign museums, each in its own way and in keeping with its customs.)

(8) Mais le recours élargi à la sous-traitance suppose l’existence d’un outil industriel en dehors du groupe capable de relever le défi. Les Américains ont su le trouver, les Européens ont encore à l’inventer. (“Remise à plat”, Libération, 1/3/07) (Literal translation: But resorting more and more to sub-contracting depends on the existence of an industrial sector outside the group which is capable of meeting the challenge. The Americans have it, the Europeans have yet to find it.)

In the same context, asyndeton would be impossible in English. In translations of French newspaper articles into English, I am unaware of it ever being retained.6 For instance, and has been added in the published translation of example (9), while a sentence break and the adverb also have been added in that of (10):

(9) Des premières allumettes vendues par le gamin de 5 ans aux « radineries » du vieillard milliardaire qui compare les prix des cartes postales, la communication d’Ikea et celle de M. Kamprad lui-même ont créé un personnage redoutable, imposant l’économie ultime au moindre ouvrier de la société. Ces histoires ravissent les médias. Ingvar tutoie le personnel, Ingvar conduit une vieille voiture, Ingvar attend la fin du marché pour acheter des légumes au rabais, Ingvar voyage en classe économique pour être proche du peuple… (« Derrière l’image d’une compagnie « éthique » » Le Monde diplomatique, December 2006)

Published translation (Le Monde diplomatique website, December 2006): Ikea’s corporate communications team and Kamprad himself have built on the image to create an awesome figure, enforcing penny-pinching on the whole workforce. Such tales delight the media. Kamprad is on first-name terms with staff, drives an old banger, waits until the end of the market to buy vegetables at reduced prices and flies economy class just like everyone else.

(10) Roland est en guerre contre la prison. Il a écrit un livre préfacé par l’avocat des droits de l’homme Henri Leclerc, a réussi à créer son blog. (« La Présidentielle vue de prison », Le Monde, 31/3/07)

Published translation (The Guardian Weekly, 13–19/4/07): Roland is waging a private war on prisons. He has written a book, with a preface by Henri Leclerc, a famous human rights lawyer. He also has his own blog.

In literature, on the other hand, asyndeton can appear both in French and in English, although only in a relative minority of writers. It is interesting to note that asyndeton

106 Fiona Rossette

does not feature just once or twice in a work: if a writer has chosen to adopt it as part of his/her style, it will generally appear on quite a regular basis (see discussion in next section). Whatever the language, it is not asyndeton per se that corresponds to “eccentric” or “distorted” grammar. What may be interpreted as atypical or distorted relates either to the frequency or the nature of the asyndeton, which therefore needs to be analysed from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective.

I will focus here on the works of Marguerite Duras. Duras has been described as a “paratactic writer” (“écrivain de la parataxe” Noguez 1985). Ruppli’s study (1989) of juxtaposition in French draws frequently on examples from Duras. In Duras’ works, asyndeton goes hand in hand with short sentences and repetition to create a theatrical, oral tone.7 Asyndeton is not present in her early writing, but is predominant by the time she writes le Vice-Consul (1965), and from then on features to different extents in all her works.

This study draws principally on examples from Le Vice-Consul (1963) and L’Amant (1984), with additional references to Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (1964), La Douleur (1985) and Yann Andréa Steiner (1992). By way of comparison, I have included three works by other French writers: La Nausée by Sartre (1938), Onit-sha by Le Clézio (1991), and Le crime d’Olga Arbélina by Makine (1998). While asyndeton features in most of Makine’s works, this is not the case for Sartre or Le Clézio. Asyndeton is not present in Le Clézio’s early writing, such as Procès-verbal (1964), which has not prevented parataxis being cited as an important component of his style — for example, Jollin-Bertocchi (2004) discusses parataxis as confir-mation of the influence of music on Le Clézio’s writing.8

In what follows, I will first present the characteristics of asyndeton in each of the French works, before then discussing the way it is translated into English.

2. Asyndeton in the context of the French works

2.1 Frequency

All instances of asyndeton in the first pages (approximately fifty — see appendix) of each work have been analysed. As already mentioned, use of the construction in a literary work is not a case of a one-off example. The writers studied here all adopt it in a comprehensive way. As presented in Table 1, Duras uses asyndeton on a regular basis: her highest average is 5 examples per 500 words, which can be found in three novels (le Vice-Consul, L’Amant, La Douleur). This rate is more than halved in Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (2 examples per 500 words); of all the novels, Yann Andréa Steiner features the lowest frequency (1 example per 500 words). Use of asyndeton therefore fluctuates depending on the novel, but does


not systematically increase or decrease over time. Despite such fluctuation, these figures reflect to what extent asyndeton is characteristic of Duras’ style. Sartre is the only other writer included in this study to equal Duras’ record of 5 examples per 500 words; Le Clézio’s Onitsha matches another of Duras’ averages of 2 ex-amples per 500 words, while Makine’s le Crime d’Olga Arbyelina contains the low-est frequency of the corpus (less than one example per 500 words).9 It is therefore firstly in terms of frequency that certain novels — and certain authors — can be considered more “paratactic” than others. This begs the question as to whether asyndeton is used in the same way in each novel or whether a difference in fre-quency goes hand in hand with variation on a qualitative level. In the rest of Sec-tion 2, I will present statistics based on two of Duras’ novels, le Vice-Consul and L’Amant, as these present the most unusual uses of asyndeton, and these will be compared with the novels by the three other authors.

2.2 Status of the grammatical subject

Ruppli (1989) sets out to determine from a syntactic point of view the conditions that allow juxtaposition in lieu of coordination in French. She underlines the role of repetition, particularly in the position of grammatical subject, as well as the concision of the clauses. These are all recurrent traits in the examples of asyndeton examined here.

Ruppli also talks of “shared expansions” (expansions communes) in the form of a superordinate circumstantial element, upon which the asyndetic clauses de-pend, such as the temporal adverbial (Deux jours après l’averse, quand… — Two days after a downpour, when…) preceding the two clauses in (11). The dependency on the adverbial element gives the clauses something in common; this tends to stabilise the “disparate” nature of the link and to produce instead a less spontane-ous, more elaborate construction. Moreover, the expansion, particularly when it is in initial position, also neutralises or at least slows down the linear, left-to-right

Table 1. Frequency of instances of asyndeton per 500 words

0123456

V.C

onsu

l

L’am

ant

LaD

oule

ur

Lol V

Stei

n

Y. A

.St

eine

r

Lana

usée

Oni

tsha

Le Crim

ed’

O.A

.

108 Fiona Rossette

acceleration often associated with asyndeton. A colon after an initial segment sets up the same dependency, as in (12).

(11) Deux jours après l’averse, quand toute la ville est moite sous le soleil et rayonne de chaleur humide, ils [les boulevards] sont encore tout froids, ils conservent leur boue et leurs flaques. (Sartre, La nausée, 47) (PT, 43: Two days after a downpour, when the whole city is moist in the sunshine and radiates damp heat, they [the boulevards] are still cold, they keep their mud and puddles.)10

(12) Mon regard descend lentement, avec ennui, sur ce front, sur ces joues : il ne rencontre rien de ferme, il s’ensable. (Sartre, La nausée, 34) (AT: My gaze travels slowly and wearily down over this forehead, these cheeks: it meets nothing, sinks into the sand.)

However, such expansions are not that common in the corpus; they are not char-acteristic of Duras, and the highest proportion (only 11 examples, mostly involv-ing a segment followed by a colon) is found in Sartre’s La Nausée.

In contrast, a striking characteristic of asyndeton in the corpus relates to rep-etition pertaining to the grammatical subject. While Ruppli notes that various types of argument structures are compatible with asyndeton, such as the combina-tion of different subjects with different predicates (S1 V1, S2 V2), the repetition of a predicate associated with different subjects (S1 V1, S2 V1), or the repetition of the subject associated with different predicates (S1 V1, V2), the latter type by far outnumbers the former two in the corpus. Table 2 indicates the frequency of asyndeton involving the same subject, and its syntactic status. In the five novels taken together, two thirds of asyndeton involves clauses sharing the same subject. Le Clézio’s Onitsha contains the lowest rate (45%), while Duras’ le Vice-Consul contains the highest (83%).

Table 2. Status of the grammatical subject in asyndetic clauses

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Le vice-Consul

L’Amant La Nausée Onitsha le Crime d’O. A.

Ellipsis

Repetition of a pronoun

Lexus > Pronoun


Le Vice-Consul is moreover the only novel that does not show any marked preference in terms of how the subject is carried over into the second (and any other successive) clause(s), be it via ellipsis, the repetition or the introduction of a pronoun. Conversely, ellipsis is the preferred form in Makine, such as in (13), in which the pronoun elle is not repeated in the last two asyndetic clauses. The three other novels show a preference for the repetition of a pronominal form, including the personal pronouns of the first and second person, such as je which appears in the two clauses of (14). Finally, asyndeton can combine with a process of pro-nominalisation (“Lexus > Pronoun”), in which the subject is expressed in lexical form in the first clause, and then in pronominal form in successive clauses, as in the move from proper noun (Charles Rosset) to pronoun (il) in (15). However, over the five novels, pronominalisation plays a minor role in comparison to either ellipsis, which coincides with approximately one fifth of instances of asyndeton, or repetition of a pronoun, present in one third of the examples. Finally, it is interest-ing to note that the distribution is not identical in the two Duras novels: unlike the even distribution found in le Vice-Consul, l’Amant shows a marked preference for pronominal repetition.

(13) Olga ne répondit pas. Elle alla à la porte, l’ouvrit, écouta le silence le long du couloir. (Makine, Le crime d’O. A., 76) (PT, 57: Olga did not reply. She went to the door, opened it, listened to the silence along the corridor.)

(14) A dix-huit ans j’ai vieilli. Je ne sais pas si c’est tout le monde, je n’ai jamais demandé. (Duras, L’Amant, 10) (PT, 4: I grew old at eighteen. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone, I’ve never asked.)

(15) Charles Rosset dit qu’il est pressé, il le quitte, il continue sa route vers les bureaux de l’ambassade. (Duras, Le Vice-Consul, 863) (AT: Charles Rosset says he’s in a hurry, he leaves him, he continues on his way towards the embassy offices.)

2.3 Semantic relations

Asyndeton can also be analysed in terms of the semantic relation that exists be-tween the clauses. The relation can be identifiable, bringing to mind a gloss by way of a connective, or realising a relation that can be compared with a construction of a purely syntactic nature; however, sometimes no justification can be found for the asyndeton in that no link can be identified between the clauses. The latter case is rare, as the asyndetic construction encourages us to look for a relation, which we would not necessarily do if the clauses were part of separate sentences. Let us consider the following sequence:

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(16) Elle remonte pendant trois jours le fleuve qui s’est présenté devant elle, elle calcule qu’au bout du fleuve elle devrait retrouver le nord, le nord du lac. (Duras, VC, 850) (AT: For three days she follows the river which she has discovered, she reckons that at the end of it she will have reached the north, the northern shore of the lake.)

The first clause refers to the fact that the character is following the river and the second clause can be seen to provide the justification for her doing so, as she should therefore reach the lake, which is her destination — a relation that could be elucidated by “because” or “as”.

Table 3 presents the frequency of the main categories of relations. A temporal relation of succession is the most frequent type, and can be identified in one fifth of the data, followed closely by a more general “and” relation (linking two claus-es which share the same rhetorical status). Logical, cause-consequence relations which can be paraphrased by either “so” or “because”, depending on the order of the clauses, then follow, and finally a relatively small proportion of adversative relations in which “but” could replace the asyndeton.

Asyndeton is also used, however, precisely in cases which do not call forth a connective. It is used to link clauses which express the same idea, when one clause paraphrases the first. For instance, in (17), it goes without saying that one cannot do as one likes if deprived of freedom. Such repetition has a compounding effect; it is found in three out of the four writers, with the exception of Makine. I have distinguished these cases of paraphrase from clauses in which the main verb is repeated, either with the addition of a complement, as in (18) (regarder/regarder changer — watch/watch him change), or with a variation in complement position, as in (19) (avoir peur — be afraid), (moi/Dieu — myself/God). Interestingly, this latter type of repetition is specific to Duras, and is found in all her novels.

(17) Je ne suis plus libre, je ne peux plus faire ce que je veux. (Sartre, la Nausée, 26) (PT, 22: I am no longer free, I can no longer do what I want.)

(18) Lol le regardait, le regardait changer. (Lol V. Stein, 17) (AT: Lol watched him, watched him change.)

(19) J’avais peur de moi, j’avais peur de Dieu. (Duras, L’Amant, 13) (PT, 7: I was afraid of myself, afraid of God.)

I have described another type of construction as “accumulation.” The majority of examples are found in Duras, although Sartre and Makine also exploit it occasion-ally. Accumulation involves more than two clauses which first seem disparate but which present a descriptive “tableau”. Such is the effect of the three clauses in (20), and of the four clauses which appear after the semi-colon in (21). Unlike other ex-amples, accumulation involves clauses containing different grammatical subjects.


(20) Sa marche s’accélère, les traditions archaïques volent en éclats, le chef du nouveau gouvernement porte le bras droit en écharpe d’avoir serré la main de dizaines de milliers de concitoyens enthousiastes. (Makine, le Crime d’O.A., 133) (AT: Its onward march accelerates, outmoded traditions are smashed to smithereens, the head of the new government has to wear his arm in a sling after shaking hands with tens of thousands of enthusiastic fellow citizens.)

(21) Elle attend le long du fleuve dans les bouquets de bambous, elle traverse des villages sans être remarquée, pas plus que les autres mendiantes ; elles se faufilent dans des petits marchés, des vendeurs de soupe les croisent, elles voient des morceaux de cochon étincelants sur des étals, des nuées de mouches bleues regardent avec elles, plus près. (VC, 853) (AT: She waits by the river in the clumps of bamboo, she passes through villages unnoticed, or at least indistinguishable from the other beggars; they thread their way among the stalls at the local markets, soup vendors walk among them, they see gleaming cuts of pork on the stalls, clouds of blue flies hover over them, closer than they.)

Finally, Table 3 indicates a small percentage of asyndeton for which no semantic justification can be identified. Most are found in le Vice-Consul:

(22) Dans l’allée, deux autres enfants blancs, des garcons ceux-là, viennent la regarder pendant un petit moment, repartent en sautillant entre les pommes-cannelles tombées, leurs pieds sont chaussés de sandales blanches. (Duras, VC, 877) (AT: In the lane, two other white children, boys this time, come and stare at her for a moment, skip away between the fallen custard-apples, their feet are shod in white sandals.)

Between the two asyndetic clauses reproduced in bold there is a sudden switch from narration (repartent en sautillant — skip away) to description (leurs pieds sont chaussés de… — their feet are…). The final clause appears quite out of place and we are inclined to want to transfer it to a new sentence. This type of sequence provides a challenge to the widely accepted premise that “simply putting claus-es next to each other suggests some logical connection between them” (Martin 1992: 165) — moreover, the term logical orients us towards systems of reasoning, which do not necessarily include the instances of repetition or accumulation il-lustrated here.

Certain variations between the different novels can be observed. Makine’s Le Crime d’Olga Arbelina shows a preference for temporal relations of succession; Clezio’s Onitsha features a relatively high number of “and” and “so” relations. The Duras novels reflect a more equal distribution, with le Vice-Consul favouring more logical relations while l’Amant presents a higher frequency of repetition and

112 Fiona Rossette

accumulation. Sartre’s La nausée comes closest to Duras’ novels due to its relatively even distribution.

Duras’ novels also contain some marginal examples of relations which do not feature in the table. While these are low in number, they demonstrate the extent to which she experiments with asyndeton. For example, the second of the two clauses reproduced in bold in (23) may be analysed as a purpose clause, which could be introduced by “(in order) to” (he leaves Calcutta to go shooting in Nepal). On the other hand, the relation underlying the clauses in (24) may be described as “spe-cific to general”: it presents a switch from a specific event to a generality, with the specific event presented as part of a general pattern. This is also indicated by the change in tense from the past to the present. Finally, the link between the clauses may be of a syntactic nature, with the potential for the asyndeton to be replaced by a subordinating conjunction. The second of two asyndetic clauses may be likened to a relative, such as in (25) (equivalent to “a broad avenue intersects the palm grove of the Prince of Wales, which leads to…”). Similarly, the structure in (26) would normally be expressed by way of an extrapolated complement clause (i.e. “it is visible that he is intimidated”). In both cases, Duras uses asyndeton to string out a structure that could be more compact.

(23) Il faut aller aux Iles, conseille M. Stretter, il faut prendre l’habitude d’y aller si on veut tenir le coup à Calcutta. Lui, il quitte Calcutta, il chasse dans le Népal. (Duras, VC, 868) (AT: You should go out to the Islands, advises Monsieur Stretter, it’s essential to get into the habit, if you mean to stick it out in Calcutta. He leaves Calcutta, he goes shooting in Nepal.)

(24) Ils ont bu, ils boivent beaucoup chaque soir, sur la terrasse du Cercle. (Duras, VC, 887) (AT: They have been drinking, they drink heavily every night on the Club terrace.)

Table 3. Main semantic relations realised by asyndeton

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%“t

hen”

“and

”

“so”

“bec

ause

”

“but

”

Repe

titio

nsa

me

idea

Repe

titio

nve

rb

Acc

umul

atio

n

No

link

Le vice consulL’amant La nauséeOnitshale Crime d’O.A.


(25) Il y a des palmeraies partout aux Indes, sur la côte de Malabar, à Ceylan, une grande allée traverse celle du Prince of Wales, elle mène aux petites villas compartimentées, annexes luxueuses et discrètes de l’hôtel. (Duras, Le Vice-Consul, 895) (AT: There are palm groves all over India, in the Malabar region, in Ceylon, a broad avenue intersects the palm grove of the Prince of Wales, it leads to the little private bungalows, which are part of the discreet and luxurious service offered by the hotel.)

(26) Il vient vers elle lentement. C’est visible, il est intimidé. (Duras, l’Amant, 42) (AT: He slowly comes over to her. It’s obvious, he’s nervous.)

2.4 Number and length of clauses

Across the corpus, asyndeton most often combines two clauses. Ternary structures are also common, with asyndeton producing a very distinct rhythm, as in the de-scription below:

(27) Dehors, le soleil brillait sur la mer, le vent chaud du Sahara soufflait sur les vagues, il pleuvait du sable rouge sur le pont, sur les hublots. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 33) (PT (18): Outside, the sun shone on the sea, the warm wind of the Sahara blew against the waves, red dust rained upon the deck, on the portholes.

On the other hand, the maximum number of clauses that can be linked together via asyndeton varies from one writer to another. In Sartre’s La Nausée, the maximum is three clauses per sentence, in le Clézio’s Onitsha, it is four, while in Makine, it is six. Once again, the Duras novels stand out: the limit is ten clauses in Le Vice-Consul, and twelve in l’Amant. An example from Makine and the two Duras novels are provided below. The sequence in Makine involves short, action clauses which are all part of a narrative passage; in combination with the asyndeton, this gives the impression of an acceleration, and the three dots at the end of sentence (often exploited by Makine) suggest a succession of movements that are so fast or so indissociable that they run away from the narrator who is attempting to put them down on paper.

(28) Parvenant au bout de la poutre, il tourne sur lui-même, chancelle, agite les bras en s’accrochant à l’air qui se solidifie sous les regards tétanisés des témoins, se redresse, regagne le point de départ, descend… (le Crime d’O. A., 113) (PT: Reaching the end of the girder he turns round, teeters, waves his arms, clinging at the air that solidifies beneath the petrified gaze of the onlookers, stands up straight again, returns to his starting point, comes down …)

114 Fiona Rossette

A similar effect can be identified in Duras’ long series of asyndetic clauses. Both (29) and (30) can be categorised as realising an accumulation: the first presents a portrait of the narrator’s mother, the second traces a mother’s thoughts as she secretly watches her child from whom she has been separated. The clauses tend to run into one another and, together with repetition, the asyndeton adds to the high emotional charge of both passages the extra drama identified by Elbow.

(29) Ma mère mon amour son incroyable dégaine avec ses bas de coton reprises par Dô, sous les Tropiques elle croit encore qu’il faut mettre des bas pour être la dame directrice de l’école, ses robes lamentables, difformes, reprisées par Dô, elle vient encore tout droit de sa ferme picarde peuplée de cousines, elle use tout jusqu’au bout, croit qu’il faut, qu’il faut mériter, ses souliers, ses souliers sont éculés, elle marche de travers, avec un mal de chien, ses cheveux sont tirés et serrés dans un chignon de Chinoise, elle nous fait honte, elle me fait honte dans la rue devant le lycée, quand elle arrive dans sa B.12 devant le lycée tout le monde regarde, elle, elle s’aperçoit de rien, jamais, elle est à enfermer, à battre, à tuer. (Duras, L’Amant, 31–32) (PT (23): My mother, my love, her incredible ungainliness, with her cotton stockings darned by Dô, in the tropics she still thinks you have to wear stockings to be a lady, a headmistress, her dreadful shapeless dresses, mended by Dô, she’s still straight out of her Picardy farm full of cousins, thinks you ought to wear everything till it’s worn out, that you have to be deserving, her shoes, her shoes are down-at-heel, she walks awkwardly, painfully, her hair’s drawn back tight into a bun like a Chinese woman’s, we’re ashamed of her, I’m ashamed of her in the street outside our school, when she drives up to the school in her old Citroën B12 everyone looks, but she, she doesn’t notice anything, ever, she ought to be locked up, beaten, killed.)

(30) L’enfant séparée ouvre les yeux et se rendort, entrouvre les yeux et se rendort encore, sans cesse, sans cesse, cela ne me regarde plus, d’autres femmes sont indiquées pour cela, toi en plus de moi, juxtaposition inutile, combien il a été difficile de nous séparer, la tête ronde sortait du sac dans le dos et branlait à chaque sursaut, il fallait marcher lentement, on courra, éviter les pierres trop grosses, regarder le sol, on n’évitera pas, on regardera en l’air. (Duras, VC, 880) (AT: The child from which she has parted opens its eyes and drops off to sleep again, it half-opens its eyes and drops off again, over and over, endlessly, it no longer concerns me, it is the business of other women, you in addition to myself, an impossible association, how hard it was to separate us, the round head protruded from the sack behind me and rolled from side to side whenever we skipped or stumbled, I should have gone slowly and carefully, I ran, watching out for large stones, I kept my eyes on the ground, I didn’t avoid them, I walked with my head in the air.)


Heterogeneity also plays a role. Unlike Makine, Duras not only strings together relatively short, finite clauses but also clauses of different lengths, together with non-finite elements, such as the nominal groups at the beginning of (29) (Ma mère mon amour son incroyable dégaine — My mother, my love, her incredible ungainli-ness). Secondly, in (30), she mixes different points of view: the sentence begins from an omniscient point of view (l’enfant séparée — the child from which she had parted), before suddenly switching to direct reportage of the thoughts of the mother (“cela ne me regarde plus” — it doesn’t concern me anymore), who speaks directly to her child (“toi en plus de moi” — you in addition to myself). In both examples, she pushes to the limit the “merging together” effect identified by Elbow that is associated with the use of a comma.

Such examples typify Duras’ innovative use of asyndeton in all the aspects that have been examined here. Extremes are found in her novels, be it in terms of the general frequency of asyndeton, or the number of clauses per sentence. Her exam-ples are also the most varied, both with respect to semantic relations, and rhythm. She explores parallelisms, such as that between the French synonyms longuement and lentement (which also resemble one another phonologically) in (31), as well as more syncopated rhythms resulting from the combination within the same sen-tence of clauses of different length, often mixing heterogeneous elements, such as finite clauses and enumerations. This is the case in (32), in which a long list of smells (celle des cacahuètes, des soupes chinoises […] — the smell of roast peanuts, Chinese soups […]) appears between finite clauses.

(31) En route pour la carrière, elle met les dents dans le poisson, le sel croque avec la poussière. La nuit venue, elle sort de la carrière, longuement elle lave, lentement elle mange. (VC, 856) (AT: On the way back to the gravel pit, she sinks her teeth into the fish, the salt and the dust grind in her mouth. Late that night, she creeps out of the pit, carefully she washes [the fish], slowly she eats it.)

(32) Des odeurs de caramel arrivent dans la chambre, celle des cacahuètes grillées, des soupes chinoises, des viandes rôties, des herbes, du jasmin, de la poussière, de l’encens, du feu de charbon de bois, le feu se transporte ici dans des paniers, il se vend dans les rues, l’odeur de la ville est celle des villages de la brousse, de la forêt. (Duras, L’Amant, 53) (PT (41): Whiffs of burnt sugar drift into the room, the smell of roasted peanuts, Chinese soups, roast meat, herbs, jasmine, dust, incense, charcoal fires, they carry fire about in baskets here, it’s sold in the street, the smell of the city is the smell of the villages upcountry, of the forest.)

Sartre comes close to this in the following sentence, which begins with a very long left dislocation (in bold) preceding the subject:

116 Fiona Rossette

(33) Oui, moi qui aimais tant, à Rome, m’asseoir au bord du Tibre, à Barcelone, le soir, descendre et remonter cent fois les Ramblas, moi qui près d’Angkor, dans l’îlot du Baray de Prah-Kan, vis un banian nouer ses racines autour de la chapelle des Nagas, je suis ici, je vis dans la même seconde que ces joueurs de manille, j’écoute une Négresse qui chante tandis qu’au-dehors rôde la faible nuit. (la Nausée, 43) (PT (40): Yes, I who was so fond of sitting on the banks of the Tiber in Rome, or in the evening, in Barcelona, of walking a hundred times up and down the Ramblas, I who near Angkor, on the island of the Baray of Prah-Kan, saw a banyan tree knotting its roots around the chapel of the Nagas, I am here, I am living in the same second as these card players, I am listening to a Negress singing while the feeble night prowls outside. )

Despite the fact that le Vice-Consul (1963) and L’Amant (1984) were published two decades apart, the seeds of Duras’ characteristic uses of asyndeton are present in the 1963 novel. L’Amant persues the types of innovation that were already present in le Vice-Consul: it presents a less systematic use of the construction in the context of typical “and” or “then” relations, or that of short clauses based on intransitive verbs, and manifests, on the other hand, further experimentation with regards to rhythm and repetition. The three other Duras novels — Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, La Douleur and Yann Andréa Steiner — contain a more standard use of the construction; this is rather surprising, particularly in the case of the two latter novels, which, despite having been published after l’Amant, feature a more neutral use of asyndeton, predominantly between short clauses involving repetition, and generally not exceeding four clauses per sentence (La Douleur contains one excep-tion of a sentence of seven clauses).

3. Procedures for translating asyndeton into English

Table 4 accounts for the choices made by translators of the Duras novels, and Ta-ble 5 those of the three other authors. Asyndeton (Asyn) is often retained in the English translation, but to varying extents; the other main constructions that are favoured include the introduction of a sentence break (New Sent.), use of another punctuation mark within the same sentence, such as a semi-colon or a hyphen (Other punct.), or use of the additive coordinator and.

What is striking is the great variation found between translations — with the exception of Duras’ L’Amant and La Douleur, which share the same translator and hence reflect similar choices. It is also rather surprising that the lowest percentage of asyndeton pertains to one of the Duras novels, le Vice-Consul, in which only 9% of cases of asyndeton are carried over into the translation. Instead, the introduction


of a new sentence is preferred 50% of the time. If asyndeton is a Duras trademark, this does not come through in the English translation. It could be argued that this characteristic of her style had not been recognised as early as 1968, from which the translation dates; however, that of Lol V. Stein, published two years earlier, features a far higher rate of asyndeton (65%). Such figures underscore the rather arbitrary nature of translation choices in relation to phenomena situated outside the realm of the rules and constraints of local clause grammar.

Among the other, less frequent constructions used in lieu of asyndeton in Eng-lish features the introduction of a non-finite present participal (Ving), such as that reproduced in bold in (34), and which is strongly favouring in Onitsha (27%).

(34) Dans le salon, les passagers fumaient, parlaient fort. (Onitsha, 26) In the lounge, passengers were smoking, speaking loudly. (13) 5

Table 4. Frequency of different types of asyndeton in Duras translations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%A

SYN

.

New

Sen

t.

Oth

er p

unct

.

And Bu

t

SUB

AD

V

To V

Vin

g

Ved

NG

Adv

. Ph.

Supp

. Ide

nt.

Le vice-consulLol V. SteinL’Amant La DouleurY. A. Steiner

Table 5. Frequency of different types of asyndeton in translations of other authors

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%

ASY

N.

New

Sen

t.

Oth

er p

unct

.

And Bu

t

Vin

g

Ved

NG

Adv

. Ph.

Supp

. Ide

nt.

La NauséeOnitshale Crime d’O.A.

118 Fiona Rossette

Another option is the suppression of one of two identical verbs (Supp. Ident.), as in the translation of (19) from L’Amant quoted above (J’avais peur de moi, j’avais peur de Dieu > I was afraid of myself, afraid of God). Indeed, repetition plays an important role in l’Amant, and in 11% of the instances of asyndeton, the verb is removed in the translation.

Other structures appear only spasmodically, such as coordination by way of but, the introduction of a past-participle (Ved), as in (35), a nominal group (NG) as in (36), or an adverbial phrase (Adv. Ph.), in (37). Other options are found uniquely in the translations of the Duras novels, such as the use of a subordinating conjunction, including a relative pronoun, or the introduction of a purpose clause (to V), exemplified in (38).

(35) Li se joint à la liesse générale, sa voix se perd dans le chœur désordonné des invités. (le Crime d’O. A., 129)

Li joins in the general jubilation, her voice drowned in the guests’ raucous chorus. (105)

(36) […] ils [les soldats] se retournent sur les femmes françaises, ce sont les premières qu’ils revoient. (La Douleur, 27)

they turn and look back at the Frenchwomen, the first they’ve seen since they got back (17)

(37) […] il est debout, il a une aiguille à la main (Le Vice-Consul, 880) He is standing with a syringe in his hand (49)

(38) Elle fait quelques pas, va vers, regarde. (Le Vice-Consul, 879) She goes a few steps nearer, to watch. (47)

None of the above choices can be explained with reference to precise linguistic variables: for example, neither the ellipsis of the grammatical subject, the presence of an intransitive verb, or the number of asyndetic clauses in the sentence increas-es the likelihood of finding asyndeton in the translation.11 This said, it is pertinent to refer to more general factors which prove influential in the translation process: the principle of simplification, which is common to translation at all levels, and the parameters of rhythm and isotopy, which relate specifically to asyndeton. These will now be systematically examined.

3.1 Simplification

Baker (1992: 85) qualifies simplification as the “strait-jacket” effect of any type of translation. Different types of simplification can be identified in the translation of asyndeton. Explicitation is one type in that it makes the translated text simpler, or easier, to understand. Firstly, the semantic link between the clauses can be made


explicit via the addition of a connecting item, be it a coordinator, as in (39) or (40), or a subordinator, as in (41) and (42). In these cases, the translator has given his/her interpretation of the relation that had been left implicit, or open-ended, in the original version.

(39) Il fait sombre dans le studio, elle ne demande pas qu’il ouvre les persiennes. (Duras, L’Amant, 47)

It’s dark in the studio, but she doesn’t ask him to open the shutters. (36)

(40) Mon petit frère et moi on est près d’elle sur la vérandah face à la forêt. On est trop grands maintenant, on ne se baigne plus dans le rac, on ne va plus chasser la panthère noire dans les marécages des embouchures, on ne va plus ni dans la forêt ni dans les villages des poivrières. (Duras, L’Amant, 35)

My younger brother and I are beside her on the veranda overlooking the forest. We’re too old now, we don’t go bathing in the river any more, we don’t go hunting black panther in the marshes in the estuary any more, or go into the forest, or into the villages in the pepper plantations. (26)

(41) Dans la platitude à perte de vue, ces fleuves, ils vont vite, ils versent comme si la terre penchait. (Duras, L’Amant, 17)

In the surrounding flatness stretching as far as the eye can see, the rivers flow as fast as if the earth sloped downward. (11)

(42) Onze heures moins le quart : il n’y a plus rien à craindre, ils seraient déjà là. (Sartre, la Nausée, 15)

A quarter to eleven: there’s nothing more to fear — if they were coming, they would be here already. (11)

Simplification can also apply on a constituent level, in the form of a general con-densing of the clauses. Finite verbs are either simply removed or are replaced by non-finite constructions. The original sequence in (43) contains a succession of three finite verbs of movement (glisser, s’éloigner, aller — slip, move away, go), while in English a phrasal verb (slip away) is followed directly by an adverbial phrase (beyond the twilight). Sequence (44) contains a rare counter-example in which two verbs of movement are maintained in the translation (swung, opened wide) where-as one would expect them to be condensed (swung wide open).

(43) On glissait, on s’éloignait, on allait de l’autre côté du crépuscule. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 40)

They were slipping away, beyond the twilight. (23)

(44) La porte glissa, s’ouvrit largement. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 101) The door swung, opened wide. (80)

120 Fiona Rossette

As a rule, the accumulation or “stretching-out” of the sentence which is typical of Duras undergoes some form of syntactic simplification. Example (45) contains four asyndetic clauses; the first two are condensed into one, with the disappear-ance of one of the verbs (coiffer — style [one’s hair]), while two purpose clauses follow, one non-finite (to try…) and one finite (so that people can’t see it).

(45) Depuis quelque temps je tire fort sur mes cheveux, je les coiffe en arrière, je voudrais qu’ils soient plats, qu’on les voie moins. (Duras, L’Amant, 24)

For some time I’ve scraped my hair back to try to make it flat, so that people can’t see it. (16)

An extreme case of simplification is the choice referred to previously to suppress one of two identical finite verbs, which is frequent in Duras. Two extra examples are provided below. It can be argued that, unlike the concision of the one-element verbal group in French in (46) (plonge), the repetition in English of a verbal group com-posed of both auxiliary and lexical verb (is plunged) would appear too heavy, and is best avoided. A less extreme case of simplification is provided in the translation of (47), in which the finite predicator is suppressed, but the lexical element of the ver-bal group is repeated (afraid) — the same repetition which, interestingly, appeared in (19), with the same translation choice (J’avais peur de moi, j’avais peur de Dieu).

(46) Lol V. Stein est derrière l’Hôtel des Bois, postée à l’angle du bâtiment. […] Ce champ, à quelques mètres d’elle, plonge, plonge de plus en plus dans une ombre verte et laiteuse. (Lol V. Stein, 62)

Lol Stein is behind the Forest Hotel, stationed at one corner of the building. […] This field, only a few short yards from her, is plunged, deeper and deeper into a green, milky shadow. (53)

(47) Je descends toujours du car quand on arrive sur le bac, la nuit aussi, parce que toujours j’ai peur, j’ai peur que les câbles cèdent, que nous soyons emportés vers la mer. (L’Amant, 18)

I always get off the bus when we reach the ferry, even at night, because I’m always afraid, afraid the cables might break and we might be swept out to sea. (11)

3.2 Rhythm and isotopy

A characteristic of asyndeton in either language is some type of likeness between the clauses. The question of repetition or likeness is, however, a complex one. In her description of French asyndeton, Ruppli refers to the notion of “isotopy” pre-viously developed by the French literary critic Greimas (1966) to refer to segments which share the same common semantic denominator. More generally, isotopy


refers to resemblance between the clauses on any level, including that of clause length or rhythm. It is this type of isotopy that proves pertinent in English — particularly as resemblance on the semantic level, at least in the form of repeated verbs, can be problematic. Isotopy works to “bring together” the structure, provid-ing the necessary cohesion which, one could argue, is lacking in the juxtaposed clausal syntax.

Asyndeton is most frequently carried over into English in the translation of short, concise clauses, as exemplified in (48), in which clauses composed uniquely of a finite verb are juxtaposed. The symmetrical clause structure produces a strong, regular rhythm. Sequences (49) to (51) provide examples from other translations.

(48) Il trafique, cabale, espionne. (Sartre, la Nausée, 28) He smuggled, plotted, spied. (24)

(49) Quand ma mère retrouve l’air, qu’elle sort du désespoir, elle découvre le chapeau d’homme et les lamés or. Elle me demande ce que c’est. Je dis que c’est rien. Elle me regarde, ça lui plaît, elle sourit. (Duras, L’Amant, 32)

[…] She looks at me, is pleased, smiles. (23)

(50) La dame regarde, non, repart, elle refuse de reprendre la piastre. (Duras, VC, 874)

The lady stares, no, she is beginning to walk away, she refuses to take back the piastre. (40)

(51) Le minuscule battant vitré se referme, la flamme ondoie souplement, se calme. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 24)

The tiny glazed door closes, the sinuous flame flickers, steadies itself. (13)

Conversely, asyndeton which links unbalanced clauses, producing a more synco-pated rhythm, generally undergoes some type of transformation in the English translation. The coordinator and is introduced in (52), in which the final clause is longer due to the apposition of an extended nominal group (cet appareil photo-graphique camouflé…), while in (53), a semi-colon is introduced in front of a final clause which stretches out due to an accumulation of complements belonging to the verb éclairer (illuminate).

(52) Elle ouvrit son sac, retira un épais volume relié en cuir, cet appareil photographique camouflé qu’au moment des adieux, avec une curiosité enfantine, elle avait demandé à Li de lui prêter. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 61)

She opened her bag and took out a thick leatherbound volume, the concealed camera that, with childish curiosity, she had asked Li to lend her as they said their good-byes. (44)

122 Fiona Rossette

(53) C’était la fin de l’après-midi, la lumière du soleil éclairait les cheveux foncés aux reflets dorés, la ligne du profil, le front haut et bombé formant un angle abrupt avec le nez, le contour des lèvres, le menton. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 13)

It was late afternoon; the sun illuminated her dark gold-flecked hair, the outline of her profile, her high forehead which rounded sharply to meet her nose, the shape of her lips, her chin. (3)

Asyndeton in combination with Duras’ heterogeneous syntax is also subject to transformation, as in (54), which contains left dislocation (les buffles trapus, les pierres qui rosissent, ce sont des differences…) interrupted by a parenthetical clause which would usually appear between hyphens or brackets, and in front of which a relative clause is introduced in English. Similarly, in (55), Sartre places a cleft in front of a regular Subject-Verb-Complement structure, with both articulated in the English translation by and. It can be argued that the disparate syntactic structures of the clauses in these two examples prove incompatible with the use of the comma which, as pointed out by Demanuelli, produces a “merging together” of the claus-es. While such a tight association is challenged by Duras’ original syntax, and even that of Sartre, the English versions attest to norm-governed translation.

(54) Les buffles trapus, les pierres qui rosissent, parfois il y en a des blocs dans les rizières, ce sont des differences qui ne signifient pas que la direction est mauvaise. (Duras, Ve Vice-Consul, 851)

The herds of stocky buffalo, the pinkish rock, lumps of which have fallen into the rice-fields here and there, these and other familiar features do not necessarily mean that she is on the wrong road. (4)

(55) C’est au livre que je m’attache, je sens un besoin de plus en plus fort de l’écrire — à mesure que je vieillis, dirait-on. (Sartre, la Nausée, 29–30)

It is the book to which I am growing attached, and I feel an ever-increasing compulsion to write it — the older I get, you might say. (26)

In terms of resemblance in meaning, asyndeton involving the repetition of identi-cal clauses is rarely left as is in English. Either one of the clauses is suppressed, as already observed (simplification), or the repetition is maintained, but with the introduction of a sentence break. In the latter case, the sentence break does not produce the same effect as asyndeton: each new sentence marks a fresh beginning, “from scratch” as it were, with the repetition appearing less marked.

(56) Tête baissée, elle marche, elle marche. Sa force est grande. Sa faim est aussi grande que sa force. (Duras, VC, 849)

With bowed head, she walks. She walks. Her strength is very great. Her hunger is as great as her strength. (2)


Interestingly, however, asyndeton in English tends to be compatible with examples which share a common semantic denominator but feature some small variation. In (57), the verb is repeated in the second clause but a complement is added. In the translation, the asyndeton is conserved and while a comma separates the final verb from the complement, the latter provides the necessary variation.

(57) Elle s’arrête, repart, repart sous le bol. (Duras, VC, 849) She stops, moves on, moves on, with the sky like an inverted bowl

overhead. (2)

Similarly, asyndeton can be carried over into English when the same idea is para-phrased — that is, there is isotopy in terms of meaning, but that is not paralleled on the surface of the discourse. This was the case in example (17) from Sartre quoted earlier (Je ne suis plus libre, je ne peux plus faire ce que je veux > I am no longer free, I can no longer do what I want); a similar principle would explain the use of asyndeton in the translations below:

(58) Tout était encore malléable dans ses traits, tout gardait encore la plasticité enfantine… (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 91)

Everything in his features was still malleable, everything still had the softness of childhood … (70)

(59) Fintan respirait l’odeur. Elle entrait en lui, elle imprégnait son corps. (Sartre, Onitsha, 37)

Fintan breathed in the odor. It entered him, soaked into his body. (20)

This said, there is a fine dividing line between semantic repetition which is echoed in form and that which is not. Duras often combines synonyms, or near-syn-onyms, and it is not only her syntax but also her lexical choices which provide a challenge to the translator. In (60), she associates the verbs piétiner (literally: walk about without going anywhere) and tourner (turn); equivalent verbs do appear in the translation, although a sentence break is introduced.

(60) Elle ne marche plus comme dans le Tonlé Sap, elle piétine, elle tourne. (Duras, VC, 851)

She does not go forward as she did when crossing the marshes of Tonle Sap. She wavers. She goes round in circles. (5)

124 Fiona Rossette

4. Semantics, tense and aspect

4.1 The semantic relation

Isotopy can be systematically explored in relation to each of the traditional gram-matical categories of semantics, tense and aspect. It can be argued that a combina-tion of heterogeneous values within either of these categories reflects a departure from a norm which in fact applies in both languages and is therefore part of the stylistic innovation of a specific writer. The translation process generally reinstates such norms. In addition, there exist certain oppositions between the modes of clause-combining in the two languages, which are also borne out by translation choices.

Concerning semantic relations, most have the potential to be realised in Eng-lish through asyndeton. Moreover, when the asyndeton is retained, the relation is interpreted in the same way in the English version. Among the common relations realised by asyndeton in the translations feature a general “and” relation linking concomitant actions, as in (61), or temporal succession which can be paraphrased by “then”, exemplified in (62).

(61) Ils bousculaient, ils parlaient fort, ils fumaient des cigarettes détaxées. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 15)

They shoved, spoke loudly, smoked duty-free cigarettes. (5)

(62) Elle alla à la porte, l’ouvrit, écouta le silence le long du couloir. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 76)

She went to the door, opened it, listened to the silence along the corridor. (57)

Causal relations are also frequent. Either the cause can precede the consequence, and the relation can be glossed by “so”, as in (63), or the asyndeton can introduce postposed justification, for which “as” or “for” appear as equivalents, as in (64).

(63) La nuit était tiède, on a ouvert la fenêtre. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 19) It was a warm night, they opened the window. (8)

(64) Dans les réceptions, celles-ci [les filles d’Anne-Marie Stretter] paraissent parfois quelques minutes — ce soir elles ont paru —, elles sont déjà un peu distantes comme il semblerait que le souhaite leur mère, après être sorti des salons on murmure : L’aînée sera sans doute aussi belle qu’elle, leur charme est déjà pareil. (Duras, VC, 898)

[…] After they have left, murmured comments can be heard: Undoubtedly, the elder will be a beauty, like her mother, she has all her charm already. (72)


Importantly, a change in the mode of clause-combining can alter its semantics, notably when and is introduced. While the coordinator can either link two con-comitant actions or properties, or realise a relation of succession which sometimes combines with cause-consequence, it is not compatible with postposed justifica-tion. In (65), the second clause in the original asyndetic construction is likely to be interpreted as a postposed justification or purpose clause (e.g. Je mets de la crème Tokalon pour essayer de cacher les taches de rousseur… — I use Crème Tokalon to try to hide my freckles); I would argue that such an interpretation is compromised in the translation which introduces and, which instead links two concomitant actions. Asyndeton would however be possible in English, and the postposed justification conserved (e.g. I use Crème Tokalon, I try to camouflage the freckles on my cheeks).

(65) Je mets de la crème Tokalon, j’essaye de cacher les taches de rousseur que j’ai sur le haut des joues, sous les yeux. (Duras, L’Amant, 24)

I use Crème Tokalon, and try to camouflage the freckles on my cheeks, under the eyes. (16)

Clauses containing complementary elements also favour asyndeton in the English translation, such as the uniting of antonyms (last/vanish) in (66), or a negation fol-lowed by an affirmation involving the same verb, as in (67). Similarly, (68) includes the cohesive pair some/others.

(66) Ce grand découragement à vivre, ma mère le traversait chaque jour. Parfois il durait, parfois il disparaissait avec la nuit. (Duras, L’Amant, 22)

Every day my mother experienced this deep despondency about living. Sometimes it lasted, sometimes it would vanish with the dark. (14)

(67) Elle ne voulait pas rester à Gorée, elle voulait repartir au plus vite vers Dakar. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 39)

She did not want to stay in Goree, she wanted to go back to Dakar as quickly as possible. (22)

(68) Certains se débattaient, d’autres se figeaient en essayant de faire le mort avant même de mourir. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 21)

Some would struggle, others went rigid, trying to play dead even before dying. (10)

Asyndeton is not carried over into English in cases of accumulation which realise a descriptive “tableau”. Instead, sentence breaks are preferred:

(69) Les eaux du Tonlé Sap sont étales, leur courant est invisible, elles sont terreuses, elles font peur. (Duras, VC, 850)

The waters of Tonle Sap are stagnant, muddy. No ripple breaks the surface. They breed fear. (2)

126 Fiona Rossette

Likewise, it is not retained when it combines at least three clauses involving dif-ferent relations. In the second sentence of the reported speech below, a contrastive relation can be identified between the first two clauses, while the last clause in-troduces a postposed justification. In the translation, but is introduced in the first instance, a sentence break in the second.

(70) Il s’est fait connaître et il m’a dit : « Je vous connais depuis toujours. Tout le monde dit que vous étiez belle lorsque vous étiez jeune, je suis venu pour vous dire que pour moi je vous trouve plus belle maintenant que lorsque vous étiez jeune, j’aimais moins votre visage de jeune femme que celui que vous avez maintenant, dévasté. » (Duras, L’Amant, 9)

He introduced himself and said, “I’ve known you for years. Everyone says you were beautiful when you were young, but I want to tell you I think you’re more beautiful now than then. Rather than your face as a young woman, I prefer your face as it is now. Ravaged.” (3)

Indeed, contrast features among the underlying semantic relations which are not carried over into English. Either, the adversative coordinator (example of simplifi-cation) is introduced, or a sentence break, as is the case below.

(71) L’alcool a rempli la fonction que Dieu n’a pas eue, il a eu aussi celle de me tuer. (Duras, L’Amant, 15)

Drink accomplished what God did not. It also served to kill me; to kill. (9)

Asyndeton also generally undergoes transformation in general-specific sequences, with another type of sentence-internal punctuation mark being introduced, such as a colon (example 72) or a hyphen (73). There exist occasional counter-examples, in which the asyndeton is retained in English (74).

(72) On attendait une fin tragique toute proche, on affublait déjà la princesse Arbélina d’un deuil de mere inconsolable. (le Crime d’O. A., 36)

They expected an almost immediate tragedy: they were already decking out the Princess Arbyelina in the mourning of an inconsolable mother. (22)

(73) C’était un géant noir, un Ghan qui avait un nom magnifique, il s’appelait Yao. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 48)

He was a black giant of a man, a Ghan with a magnificent name — he was called Yao. (30)

(74) M. Heylings connaissait leurs noms, c’étaient des fous, des frégates. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 34)

Mr Heylings knew their names, they were gannets, frigate birds. (18)


Similarly, a sentence break is introduced in the very rare sequences in which a spe-cific, punctual action precedes a generalisation, as in example (24) quoted earlier (Ils ont bu, ils boivent beaucoup chaque soir, sur la terrasse du Cercle > They have been drinking. They drink heavily every night on the Club terrace). In such an ex-ample, what proves difficult is the combination of different tenses, an issue which is taken up in more detail in the following section.

4.2 Tense and aspect

Isotopy also applies to tense: asyndetic clauses sharing the same tense are generally retained in the English translations. This is the case in descriptive passages, such as those containing a succession of imperfect tenses in the French original, translated with preterite forms in English (examples 75 & 76), or a series of present tenses, such as example (77), in which asyndeton is carried over for all but the final verb (translated with a present participle).

(75) Une heure après, la lanterne était allumée, le vent soufflait, le ciel était noir : il ne restait plus rien du tout. (Sartre, la Nausée, 22)

An hour later, the lantern was lit, the wind was blowing, the sky was dark: nothing at all was left. (18)

(76) Le brouillard se dissipait pourtant peu à peu, la mosaïque devenait de plus en plus irrémédiable. (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 89)

Little by little, however, the mists cleared, the mosaic became more and more irremediable. (68)

(77) Les terres du bas sont définitivement perdues, les domestiques cultivent des parcelles du haut, on leur laisse le paddy, ils restent là sans salaire, ils profitent des bonnes paillotes que ma mère a fait construire. (Duras, L’Amant, 36)

The lower part of the land is lost for good and all, the servants work the patches higher up, we let them keep the paddy for themselves, they stay on without wages, making use of the straw huts my mother had built. (26)

Conversely, asyndeton combining different tenses or aspectual values is not car-ried over. Instead, one of two constructions feature: either coordination via and, or use of a stronger punctuation mark, notably a full stop introducing a sentence break. For example, the original sentence in (78) strings together one present and two past tenses, and in the translation a sentence break provides a transition be-tween the two forms. Similarly, a semi-colon is introduced between a passive and an active form in (79).

128 Fiona Rossette

(78) On ouvre les yeux, on a oublié, comme chaque après-midi, on a oublié Calcutta. (Duras, le Vice-Consul, 870)

He opens his eyes. As always in the afternoon, he had forgotten, he had forgotten Calcutta. (33)

(79) D’autres feuillets, l’hiver, sont pilonnés, broyés, maculés, ils retournent à la terre. (Sartre, la Nausée, 25)

Other pieces of paper, in winter, are pulped, crumpled, stained; they return to the earth. (21)

Likewise, a mixture of bounded and unbounded verbs is rarely carried over.7 When a dynamic, punctual verb is followed by a stative relational verb, as in (80), and appears in the English translation. Interestingly, between the two final clauses in (81), the asyndeton is retained but the second clause is transformed, and the unbounded relational verb (avoir — have) is replaced by a bounded, dynamic verb (take out), in keeping with the previous clause.

(80) Je prends le chapeau, je ne m’en sépare plus. (Duras, L’Amant, 20) I take the hat, and am never parted from it. (13)

(81) Ils se penchaient sur le bastingage, ils cherchaient à voir, ils s’interpellaient, ils avaient des jumelles, des longues-vues. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 15)

They leaned against the railing, trying to see; they called out to each other, they took out their binoculars and telescopes. (4)

The additive coordinator is also introduced in English at the end of a series of punctual, dynamic verbs referring to actions which tend to go together, leading from one to the next, as exemplified below:

(82) Elle éteignit la lumière, posa l’appareil sur l’étagère, enfonça le bouton lisse sur sa tranche comme son amie lui avait enseigné… (Makine, le Crime d’O. A., 73)

She switched out the light, put the camera on the shelf, and pressed the smooth catch on the top as her friend had instructed her. (55)

The sequence in (83) features two sentences which each contain a series of actions. And is used in the translation of the second, while a sentence break is introduced in the first.

(83) Elle s’arrêtera face au lac, restera là. Aux arrêts, elle regarde ses pieds larges au dessous de pneu, elle les caresse. (Duras, VC, 850)

There she will stop, looking out across the lake. There she will stay. At each stopping place, she examines her large feet, with their toughened soles, like tire-treads, and rubs them. (3)


The translation in (84) not only introduces the coordinator but transforms the second verb coucher (put to bed) into a verb of movement (carry back).

(84) Le grand M. Heylings le prenait dans ses bras, le couchait dans le lit étroit. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 23)

Tall Mr Heylings picked him up and carried him back to his narrow berth. (10)

Indeed, unlike French, English prefers the use of coordination in associations be-tween a movement verb and another dynamic verb. Makine often combines two such verbs using asyndeton, and in some translations, the asyndeton is retained:

(85) Elle alla à la porte, l’ouvrit, écouta le silence le long du couloir. (Makine, Le Crime d’O. A., 76)

She went to the door, opened it, listened to the silence along the corridor. (57)

(86) L’homme se retourne, voit la femme qui cherche la clef de sa voiture, la main plongée dans un petit sac à dos en cuir. (Makine, Le Crime d’O. A., 22)

The man turns, sees the woman looking for her car key, her hand thrust into a little leather rucksack. (10)

Norm-governed translation is therefore not always respected, and variation of this type underscores the absence of hard-fast rules even in the face of aspectual con-siderations, once outside the context of isolated clause grammar. Finally, another construction used in the context of heterogeneous aspectual values is the present participle, specifically to realise a durative action which follows a stative position verb:

(87) Il était assis, il buvait un whisky, il fumait. (Duras, L’Amant, 53) He was sitting drinking a whisky, smoking. (41)

(88) Fintan restait immobile sur la couchette, il écoutait la respiration de Maou, la respiration de la mer. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 40)

Fintan lay motionless on his berth, listening to Maou’s breathing and the breathing of the sea. (23)

4.3 Direct speech

Heterogeneous aspectual values also appear in the French works in the context of reported speech. Indeed, reported speech is one area which is heavily governed by convention in each language, in terms of how it is presented (e.g. use of quotation marks or hyphens, paragraphing) and it therefore comes as little surprise to find a certain regularity in translation procedure when asyndeton features in such a

130 Fiona Rossette

context. It is used either within the direct speech itself, or to introduce it. Within the direct speech, it is generally retained in English:

(89) Elle dit durement : après l’agrégation de mathématiques tu écriras si tu veux, ça ne me regardera plus. (Duras, L’Amant, 29)

She says grimly, When you’ve got your math degree you can write if you like, it won’t be anything to do with me then. (21)

(90) Je vous attends tous les deux, je vous aime. (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 25) I’m waiting for you both, I love you. (12)

However, in the narration which immediately precedes the direct speech and serves to introduce it, a dynamic verb is often followed by a reporting verb, and coordination is introduced between the two in English:

(91) Elle me regarde, elle dit : peut-être que toi tu vas t’en tirer. (Duras, L’Amant, 32) She looks at me and says, Perhaps you’ll escape. (23)

(92) Il avait pris sa main, il l’avait regardée bien droit, il avait décidé : « A partir d’aujourd’hui, je t’appellerai Maou. » (Le Clézio, Onitsha, 13–14)

He had taken his mother by the hand, looked straight into her eyes, and decided: “From today on I shall call you Maou.” (3)

The dynamic verb is a verb of movement (venir — come) in the example below, which justifies twofold the use of and:

(93) Ils viendraient me tapoter l’épaule, ils me diraient : « Eh bien, qu’est-ce qu’il a, ce verre de bière ? […] (Sartre, la Nausée, 23) They would come and slap me on the back and say to me: ‘Well, what’s

special about that glass of beer? […]’ (19)

Similarly, a verb belonging to the narrative can be followed by a cognitive verb, such as know in (94), or a verb of perception introducing free indirect speech, such as look in (95). While asyndeton appears in the originals, a stronger punctuation mark is introduced in both translations:

(94) Je digère lourdement, près du calorifère, je sais d’avance que la journée est perdue. (Sartre, la Nausée, 30–31)

I am digesting dully near the stove; I know in advance that this is a wasted day. (27)

(95) Elle repart, regarde : les buffles de l’autre rive ne sont-ils pas plus trapus qu’ailleurs ? (Duras, VC, 851)

She sets off again. She looks about her: surely, the buffalo on the other side of the river are stockier than any she has seen before? (3)


Conclusion

This study marks an attempt to shed light on asyndeton — a marginal construc-tion in both French and English, which may explain why it is generally not accom-modated into current linguistic theory — and to highlight the issues surrounding its translation from French into English. Indeed, difficulties arise out of Duras’ innovative use of the construction. The way she exploits asyndeton is quite specific in terms of the number of clauses which can be combined, as well as their hetero-geneity, factors which make for a rather uncanny “merging together” of segments and which contribute greatly to the drama of the narrative. At the same time, the reader is constantly challenged by a prose style which can make it difficult to get one’s bearings, but which nevertheless “flows”.

The expectation had been that certain linguistic parameters would prove de-cisive in whether or not asyndeton is carried over into English. However, nothing appears automatic, and considerable differences exist from a quantative point of view between the translations. Asyndeton lies outside clause grammar, belonging instead to the realm of discourse organisation. It would therefore be wrong to speak of “rules” or impossibilities. Rather, one can only highlight trends, such as those relating to tense and aspect. While such trends apply generally to asyndeton, whatever the language, they are reinforced in the translation process due to norm-governed practice and simplification.

It is however undeniable that concision and resemblance between the clauses — or isotopy — appear as key factors in the use of asyndeton, preconditioning the use of the comma which creates a tight association between sentence constituents. It can be posited that, whatever the context, asyndeton produces a more marked effect in English than in French, which explains why translators are reticent to carry it over into their translations.

Notes

1. Cf. Beaugrande, R. & Dressler, W. 1981. Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman.

2. These three terms will be used as synonyms in this study.

3. Similarly, a difference can be drawn between English and French linguistic typology. Asyn-deton generally receives more attention in French theory, no doubt due to the greater frequency of the construction in the French language compared to English.

4. Parataxis and hypotaxis are presented as general modes of construction that can be found at different syntactic levels, not only determining the combination of clauses, but also that of groups and phrases (Halliday 1994: 248).

132 Fiona Rossette

5. On the evolution in the use of certain punctuation marks, I discuss for example (Rossette 2007) a relatively recent trend in the use of the colon to introduce indirect and free indirect speech in English.

6. I base this observation on translations of articles appearing on the website of Le Monde diplo-matique, and articles translated from Le Monde and published in The Guardian Weekly.

7. Duras was extremely conscious of sentence structure, and discussed in detail the importance of “movement” and “progression” in the sentence (e.g. « Réponse de Duras à C. Régy » in Cahiers Renauld-Barrault, 91, 1976, p. 16).

8. Le Clézio has spoken of his debts to Salinger and, interestingly, to Sartre.

9. This explains why I have included in the study a proportionally higher number of pages of le Crime d’Olga Arbyelina (see appendix).

10. In this section, I have chosen to provide translations which mirror the syntax of the original. When this is not the case in the published translation (PT), I have altered it (AT). The different choices reflected in the published translations will be addressed in Section 3.

11. From now on, the published translation will be quoted.

12. Similarly, the ellipsis of the grammatical subject is carried over automatically in some trans-lations, such as those of Makine and le Clézio, but not in others, such as le Vice-Consul; all in all, the translation of the latter contains the most conservative choices of the corpus.

13. For this aspectual category, I have adopted the terms used by Downing and Locke (1992). Unbounded verbs involve a situation or a process which has no end point, including stative verbs and certain uses of dynamic verbs (e.g. boil continuously).

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Vinay, J.P., & Darbelnet, J. 1958. Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Paris: Didier.

Appendix: Corpus

1. Duras, M. (1963, 1997) Le Vice-Consul. In Duras, romans, cinéma, théâtre : un parcours. Paris: Gallimard. Pages 849–899. (165 examples of asyndeton)

Translation: E. Ellenbogen. (1968, 1987) The Vice-Consul. New York: Pantheon books.

2. Duras, M. (1964, 1976) Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein. Paris: Folio. Pages 11–66. (55 ex-amples)

Translation: R. Seaver (1966, 1986) The Ravishing of Lol Stein. New York: Pantheon Books.

3. Duras, M. (1984) L’Amant. Paris: Editions de Minuit. Pages 9–58. (92 examples) Translation: B. Bray (1985, 1997) The Lover. New York: Pantheon books.

4. Duras, M. (1985) La douleur. Paris: Folio. Pages 13–48. (77 examples) Translation: B. Bray (1986) La Douleur. London: Fontana Paperbacks.

5. Duras, M. (1992) Yann Andréa Steiner. Paris: P.O.L. Editeur. Pages 7–81. (39 examples) Translation: M. Polizzoti (2006) Yann Andréa Steiner. New York: Archipelago Books.

6. Le Clézio, J.-M. G. (1991) Onitsha. Paris: Gallimard. Pages 13–49. (64 examples)

134 Fiona Rossette

Translation: A. Anderson. (1997) Onitsha. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.

7. Makine, A. (1998) Le crime d’Olga Arbélina. Paris: Mercure de France. Pages 13–135. (71 examples)

Translation: G. Strachan (1999) The Crime of Olga Arbyelina. New York: Penguin.

8. Sartre, J.-P. (1938, 2000) La nausée. Paris: Gallimard. Pages 13–49. (63 examples) Translation: R. Baldick (1965, 2000) Nausea. London: Penguin.

Résumé

Si l’asyndète entre des propositions à verbe conjugué à l’intérieur d’une phrase peut être consi-dérée comme une construction marginale, comparée par exemple à la coordination ou à la su-bordination, elle est plus fréquente en français qu’en anglais, car elle y est limitée quant au genre. Des exemples particulièrement intéressants, tant sur le plan quantitatif que sur le plan qualitatif, peuvent être attestées dans la littérature française, notamment dans la fiction de Marguerite Du-ras, qui a fait de l’asyndète sa marque distinctive. Cette étude documente les choix faits par les traducteurs anglais de Duras et de trois autres écrivains français utilisant l’asyndète. Exception faite des textes littéraires, l’asyndète dans les textes français n’est pas reprise en anglais dans ce qui peut être appelé des traductions respectueuses de la norme. Cependant, l’asyndète dans des textes littéraires est reprise en anglais dans environ cinquante pour cent des cas, fait reflétant un certain compromis entre les normes de la langue source et celles de la langue cible. Cette étude décrit non seulement l’usage spécifique de l’asyndète chez Duras, et illustre la difficulté de la tra-duction de n’importe quel élément constant un ingrédient essentiel du style d’un écrivain, qui, par définition, représente une déviation par rapport à une norme acceptée ; elle révèle également certains aspects régissant la combinaison de propositions en anglais. Certains paramètres lin-guistiques favorisant l’exploitation de l’asyndète en anglais sont systématisés, plus précisément la concision, le rythme et l’isotopie. Les contraintes sémantiques, temporelles et/ou aspectuelles sont également mises en relief.

Mots-clefs : asyndète, traduction du français vers l’anglais, Marguerite Duras, traduction littéraire, style

Author’s address

Université Paris 10,Département d’anglais, UFR des langues étrangères200 av de la République, 92000, NANTERRE, Cédex, France

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

translating asyndeton from french literary texts into english

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