The Influence of an English Mediating Translation in Translating Figures of Speech into French from the Malayalam novel, Chemmeen

This study intends to investigate whether the translation of figures of speech in an indirect translation could be influenced by the techniques adopted by the translator of the translation that serves as the mediating text (MT). The English translation of metaphors, idioms, and colloquial expressions from the Malayalam novel Chemmeen and its subsequent French translation comprise the data of this study. The objectives of this study are: (i) to identify the translation techniques that have effectively conveyed the figurative meanings to the foreign reader in the indirect translation, and (ii) to investigate to what extent the English translation which serves as the mediating translation (MT) has influenced the French indirect translation (ITr) in representing the meanings embodied in the Malayalam metaphors, idioms, and colloquial expressions. Principles of translation postulated by Baker (2011) and Newmark’s (1988) typology of translation techniques guide the data analysis and discussions in this study.