Négociations entre théories et pratiques chez le traducteur littéraire : l'exemple du Maître des âmes d'Irène Némirovsky

This thesis involves the translation of a novel by Irène Némirovsky entitled The Master of Souls. This is its first translation into English. There are special features of the translation. Influenced by the writings of Lawrence Venuti concerning the adaptation of foreign language translations to the norms of English expression, which Venuti calls domestication, we have analysed six novels by Sandra Smith, the sole modern translator of Némirovsky's novels, (apart from our own translation) to determine how domestication affects many aspects of translation. By avoiding domestication, we hope to preserve to the fullest degree possible Némirovsky's style. In addition, we argue that the depiction of the protagonist of the novel embodies many antisemitic stereotypes of the 1930's in France and is thus an historical artefact of the period. Tome 1 deals with certain theories of translation and the important question of conserving the style of a French novel in translation. Tome 2 is the first translation of the French novel, The Master of Souls into English.