Repetition in John Irving’s novel A Widow for One Year: A corpus stylistics approach to literary translation

The present study applies some of the approaches used in corpus stylistics to examine repetition in John Irving’s novel A Widow for One Year and its translations into Czech and Finnish. The main aim of this case study is to explore whether systematic identification of repetitive textual features in a source language may be a beneficial procedure for translators of literary texts. The underlying assumption is that, in their complexity, not all repetitive features are necessarily easily noticeable. Repetitiveness here is identified with cluster and keyword analysis that are subsequently considered in synergy. Relevant translation solutions are examined. Though repetition plays a central role in the novel, translators show a marked stylistic strategy to avoid them. The results of the study suggest that application of corpus tools may help translators to uncover the structure of the text and keep their translation consistent.