LA TRADUCTION DE L’ARGOT DANS LA LITTÉRATURE : SIMONIN TRADUIT PAR DEBRIGODE

Abstract

The notion of slang embraces many different types, including social or socioprofessional jargons and cryptic modes of expression. Generic slang encompasses these sub-slangs; it is used in informal or colloquial contexts by all speakers, regardless of their socio-cultural background. The slang style of Albert Simonin, one of the greatest exponents of French crime fiction in the Fifties, was rendered into Spanish by Pedro Víctor Debrigode. This article analyses the techniques used by Debrigode in his translation of Touchez pas au grisbi (1953), a story of gangsters in the Pari- sian underworld. The translator achieves a fine balance by reducing the instances of slang and translating the rest through a combination of strategies: standard Spanish, colloquial expressions, pejorative connotation or explicitly marked items of Spanish slang.