The research focuses on the underexplored genre of Greek translated fantasy literature. It accounts for translation variation between the two Greek versions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy saga The Lord of the Rings (1954, ST), published in Greek by Kedros Publishing Company in 1985 (TTa) and 2001 (TTb) and translated by the same translator, Ms Hatzithanassi-Kollia. The study attempts to unveil the mechanisms motivating specific options in translation, their significance and deeper meaning.

A contrastive analysis of selected chapters of the ST and TTs reveals diachronic narratives (Somers 1992; 1997; Somers and Gibson 1994; M. Baker 2005; 2006a & b; 2007), with reference to perception of time, environment awareness, social exclusion and marginality, historical memory, perceptions of state authority and subjugation, the individual actor, war, gender representation, queer ideology and migration. It draws upon a combination of the comparative, process and causal translation models (Williams and Chesterman 2002) with a view to observing whether fundamental notions have been treated differently in the two Greek translations, or between the source text and the target versions. The analysis is in three chapters, each one of which focuses on Stuart Hall’s cultural studies perspective (1990/1992) and its tripartite substantiation (textuality, historical events and politics).

Findings demonstrate that translation reconstructs socially sensitive issues in the two versions in renegotiating the ‘fantastic’ over the years, establish themselves as significant to the extent that they point to translation as a process contingent on the multifaceted needs of a changing society rather than being the result of a random activity.

Three-member committee: Dr. Maria Sidiropoulou (supervisor), Dr. Christina Dokou, Dr. Anna Hatzidaki

On the seven-member committee: Dr. Lisa Tsaliki, Dr. Ioannis Saridakis, Dr. Stamatina Dimakopoulou, Dr. Paschalis Nikolaou.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/frontend/browse.html?p.id=1927064