Sherlock Holmes, A Drama in Four Acts: an approach to the translation of late-Victorian mystery drama

This PhD thesis presents a translation project that I carried out from English into Spanish of a theatre play involving the famous literary character of Sherlock Holmes. The analytical part of the thesis is a discussion of certain issues that will contribute to the development of translation studies in the particular areas under research. In the course of my research, I have undertaken a detailed examination of several translation drafts, and after establishing the textual characteristics of this play, I have addressed some research matters pertaining to the difficulties a professional translator faces when translating this type of texts. These matters include the reception in contemporary Spain of a period piece that is set in a foreign culture, the transposition of stereotyped characters and the implications of relating formality and class to a criminal setting in the target language. This thesis looks into the transference of cultural elements when the culture to be translated has become part of the recognizable features that highlight the sellability of the play, therefore taking into account the expectancy norms of the audience. Moreover, the translation of drama texts has traditionally entailed a binary approach that forces the translator to choose between a performance version or a text to be read, depending on the circumstances of the play. This may be a relatively useful method when the functional context of the text is unambiguous, and the commission sets clear instructions for the translator. However, these conditions may not be realistic possibilities in many cases such as the present project. Therefore, I suggest a hybrid approach to the drama text resulting in a product that can serve multiple purposes. In sum, an analysis of the various translation strategies employed in this translation reveals the intersections between notions that are key to the theory of drama translation, such as the idea of performability, and the translation process at different levels, i.e. sociolects, dialects, stereotypes and formality levels