Speaking of Which . . . Dialogue and Characterization in French Translations of Agatha Christie

Abstract

The aim of this study is not to provide an overview of Agatha Christie’s numerous crime novels or their even more numerous translations into French—such a project is clearly beyond the scope of an article. Instead, I propose to examine in some detail, and with a particular focus on the use of dialogue in a small selection of her works, the transformations that occur through the translation process. This will take us some way toward seeing the novels as they are received by a French (target) readership. My intention is not to criticize, but to describe, and to do this for an audience without specialized knowledge of theories related to translation challenges.