Intralingual Translation of British Novels : A Multimodal Stylistic Perspective

Building on an upsurge of interest in the Americanization of British novels triggered by the Harry Potter series, this book explores the various ways that British novels, from children's fiction to travelogues and Book Prize winners, have been adapted and rewritten for the US market.

Drawing on a vast corpus of over 80 works and integrating the latest research in multimodality and stylistics, the book analyses the modifications introduced to make British English texts more culturally acceptable and accessible to the American English reader. From paratextual differences in cover, illustrations, typeface and footnotes to dialectal changes to lexis, tense, syntax and punctuation, Linda Pillière reveals the sociocultural and ideological pressures involved in intralingual translation and shows how the stylistic effects of such changes – including loss of meaning, voice, rhythm, and word play – often result in a more muted American edition. The book also sheds light on the role of the editor as mediator between original author and target reader, the prescriptive style guides used by US copy-editors and the power relations between agents active in the translation process. In doing so, it shows how homing in on numerous small adjustments can provide fascinating insights into the American publishing process and readership.

“Linda Pillière fills a gap in our understanding of translation with this fascinating study of intralingual translation from British into American English, highlighting with detailed examples many issues such as the role of the editor, the author's voice, and the material nature of the text.” —Jean Boase-Beier, Professor Emerita, University of East Anglia, UK

“Finally, a monograph on intralingual translation! Linda Pillière has produced a deep, well-researched and entertaining analysis of British-American translations based on a wealth of illustrative examples. Her well-informed theoretical discussions are relevant for anyone interested in intralingual translation and its (firm) place within translation studies. A highly readable contribution!” —Karen Korning Zethsen, Professor of Translation Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark

“This book is an engaging exploration of the intralingual translation of British novels for an American readership. Bringing together insights from translation studies, stylistics, multimodality and publishing practices, Pillière convincingly shows the need for translation studies to move beyond the linguistic text and to consider the book as the product of a collaborative enterprise. An original contribution to translation studies and multimodal stylistics.” —Nina Nørgaard, Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark