Translation of Offensive Language in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange

Abstract

Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, first published in 1962, is a novel written in an artificial slang Nadsat, which largely comprises elements of Russian and Cockney rhyming slang. This thesis aims to analyse a specific aspect of Nadsat, offensive language, in connection with the protagonist Alex, and the translation of it since it can be a challenging task, especially when dealing with constructed slang, for translators to render impolite expressions that may appear stronger in written than oral form. The question this thesis seeks to answer is how Udo Uibo, the Estonian translator of A Clockwork Orange, has translated offensive Nadsat expressions and what implications his translation techniques could have on the portrayal of Alex in the Estonian version. The thesis consists of two parts, the first presents an overview of Nadsat and why the author has made Alex use this slang, continues with the discussion of the translation techniques used for rendering offensive language, and introduces previous works on the translation of Nadsat. The second part examines the translation techniques the Estonian translator has applied by comparing the English and Estonian texts as well as Nadsat glossaries. Additionally, the second partsuggeststhe implications Uibo’s choices might have on the portrayal of Alex in the Estonian translation.