Speaking Your Mind: The Translation of Orality in Marlen Haushofer's Prose

This article considers how features of spoken language in three of Marlen Haushofer's works, Die Tapetentür (1957), Die Wand (1963) and Die Mansarde (1969), have been translated into English. A close reading of Haushofer's prose demonstrates how she relies on carefully constructed cadences of thought to reach an intermediate point between writing, thinking and vocalising; characteristics of spoken language and particularly modal particles are a vital means of doing this. Evoking an inner voice in this way allows Haushofer to access and verbalise that which had, in her postwar context, been deliberately repressed: a woman's true thoughts beneath an outward performance of domesticity. Haushofer's characteristic, engaging language use has met with praise, but has rarely been analysed from a translation perspective; this article seeks to draw renewed attention to this generally overlooked feature, and contribute to the fruitful intersection of translation, stylistics and gender. A comparative analysis shows that orality is translated in quite distinct ways by the three English translators, which in turn is revelatory about the function this feature played in the original texts. Lastly, I consider what is at stake when translating Haushofer, what implications this kind of analysis might have on translation practice.