Trauma in Transit : Textual and Translational Dislocations in Mercè Rodoreda’s “La gallina"

Moreno Gimenez, Alicia (2025) Trauma in Transit : Textual and Translational Dislocations in Mercè Rodoreda’s “La gallina". Journal of Catalan Studies, 1 (26): 2. pp. 22-49.

Text (lagallinarodoreada)
lagallinarodoreada.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (331kB)

Abstract

This paper examines the complex relationship between trauma, literature, and translation by analyzing Mercè Rodoreda’s Catalan short story “La gallina” and its English translation “The Hen” by David Rosenthal. Building upon contemporary trauma theory and translation studies, the study investigates how linguistic manifestations of trauma, including irony, dissociation, and fragmented narrative, are conveyed or altered in translation. Using corpus analysis tools, the paper identifies significant shifts in lexical choices, punctuation, and syntactic structures that potentially “detraumatize” the source text (ST). The analysis reveals how Rodoreda’s personal experiences of exile, gender oppression, and war trauma manifest in her literary style, and how these elements are negotiated in translation. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about the ethics of translating trauma narratives and the translator’s role as a secondary witness to suffering.