Historical context translation about World War: a study from the translation of Marcel Aymé La carte and Le décret

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the translation of the historical context of World War, by using a translation of Marcel Aymé’s short stories: La carte and Le décret from French to Thai as a case study. The historical background of these two stories is an important factor where they took place in the Second World War, especially the time when the German army occupied France. Moreover, in terms of style, Marcel Aymé wrote the stories as a diary or a journal where the main character described what he saw in his daily life: food, places, and people. Some terms within a historical context are difficult to translate into Thai because the perception and knowledge about World War in France between French and Thai people are different. So, the translator must find alternative approaches to make sure that Thai readers would fully understand the stories. One of the approaches being used is to consider words in the war context of France and Thai. If the equivalent word is found in Thai, the translator can translate them right away. But, if it’s not, the translator might need other approaches such as adding explications or creating new words. This article proposes the analysis of the vocabulary translation divided into 4 groups: things and places, army uniform, military operation, and military rank, with problems and solutions for the translation provided in each example.