Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas

“Francisco García Salinas”

Área de Arte y Cultura

Unidad Académica de Cultura

Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras

Translation of “The Jacket:” A Contextual and Translation Procedure

Commentary

TESIS:

Presenta:

Diana Huizar Amaro

Para obtener el grado de:

LICENCIADO EN LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS EN TRADUCCIÓN

Asesora:

M. en C. Maureen Sophia Harkins Kenning

Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Junio 2017

 “Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam atque doctrinam erroresque
et stultitiam et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et adflictio spiritus.
Eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio et qui addit
scientiam addat et laborem.”
Ecclesiastes 1:17-18

2
 Abstract
The aim of this research is to offer a translation from English to Spanish of “The Jacket,” for a young
adult Mexican audience as well as to produce a commentary regarding the translation procedure of
this literary work written by the Chicano poet, novelist, essayist and short story writer Gary Soto. In
addition, to analyze the proposed Translation Studies theorists’ techniques which were employed to
translate this especial piece.
To reach this objective it was crucial to make use of a text interpretation discipline called
Hermeneutics, which implies the analysis of the context of the work and the author in regards to the
target culture. The analysis focused on the stylistic, rhetorical, cultural, and contextual aspects of
the text and the differences between the Source Text and the Target Context in which the
translation will be introduced.
Since there is a limited amount of Chicano literature being read in Mexico due to the lack of
interest concerning this literary movement, the translation of this work will allow the recognition,
perhaps acceptance, and the spreading of Chicano writings in the country that forms part of their
origin.

Resumen
El objetivo de esta investigación es ofrecer una traducción, del inglés al español, de "The Jacket",
dirigida a un público juvenil mexicano. Además, el propósito central es producir un comentario
sobre el procedimiento de traducción de esta obra literaria escrita por el poeta, novelista, ensayista
y escritor de cuentos Chicano Gary Soto. Fue necesario analizar las técnicas propuestas por los
teóricos de los estudios de traducción, que se emplearon para traducir esta obra especial.
Para lograr este objetivo fue crucial utilizar una disciplina de interpretación de textos llamada
Hermenéutica, que implica el análisis del contexto de la obra y del autor en relación a la cultura
meta. El análisis se centró en los aspectos estilísticos, retóricos, culturales y contextuales del texto
y las diferencias entre el texto base y el contexto meta en el que se introducirá la traducción.
Debido a la falta de interés por este movimiento literario, la traducción de este trabajo permitirá
el reconocimiento, quizá la aceptación, y la difusión de los escritos chicanos en la patria que forma
parte de su origen.

Keywords: Chicano, Translation, Target culture, Translation Problems,

Translation Techniques

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 Acknowledgements
I would really like to thank God for helping me throughout this time; for giving me
the opportunity to reach my goals, and for placing me in the exact time and place.
Para mis padres, Ángel y Noemí. Ustedes dos seres que no midieron su
esfuerzo, sino que han dedicado su vida en proveer todo lo necesario, por hacer
hasta lo imposible por verme feliz y cumplir mis sueños y metas. Por los valores y
el amor que sembraron en mi corazón.
Gracias a mis hermanos por sus sabias palabras, por motivarme y creer en mí.
Por su apoyo y amistad.
Gracias a Mauricio por estar conmigo durante este proceso, por su apoyo y
amor. Por su compañía a lo largo de mi ciclo universitario.
Thank you Molly for motivating me, for believing in me, for your willingness to
help me, and for accepting the challenge.
I also want to thank teacher Olivia for helping me throughout this process.
Thank you Grace Salazar for your unique and most valuable friendship, for your
advice and for not judging me.
A todos mis maestros de Lilex gracias por su aportaciones y su rico
conocimiento.
Un agradecimiento también a Salvador Alejandro Lira por sus sabios consejos y
por orientarme en el camino de investigación.
Gracias a los colaboradores de la Biblioteca del ITESM Campus Zacatecas por
brindarme apoyo. Gracias a mis compañeros y amigos del ITESM, Mayra, Martha
y Luis.
Gracias a la Dra. Anna D’Amore por su apoyo y motivación.

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Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3

Resumen ............................................................................................................. 3

Keywords: ........................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 6

Chapter 1: Theoretical framework ..................................................................... 10

I. Immigration issues ...................................................................................... 10

II. Chicanos in an Anglo American setting ..................................................... 12

III. Bloom’s literature prospect and Memoir as a literary subgenre ................ 15

IV. Chicanos’ issues in Mexico ...................................................................... 18

V. Translation: a way to expand literature...................................................... 20

VI. Translation of “The Jacket” proposed methodology ................................. 23

Chapter 2: Translation Commentary ................................................................. 25

I. Formality and rhetorical aspects of the text ................................................ 25

II. Translation of The Jacket: translation problems and techniques ............... 26

Chapter 3: Proposed Translation ...................................................................... 35

Chapter 4: Conclusions ..................................................................................... 39

I. summary and conclusion ............................................................................ 39

II. Recommendations ..................................................................................... 40

References ........................................................................................................ 40

Appendix ........................................................................................................... 43

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Introduction

In today’s world, rapid technological advances, economic development and

migration are elements that contribute to the creation of cultural differences. These

phenomena have influenced the emergence of new ideologies, trends, concepts,

literature, and subcultures. For instance, one such subculture that emerged in the

United States long ago and during recent decades has become more recognized is

the Chicano subculture.

The term Chicano refers to an American person of Mexican descent. Mexicans

upon arrival in the United States (or integration into the USA) faced a new culture,

a new language, a new ideology, and a new way of life. Nevertheless, they

preserved their values, language, customs, and other elements which made up

their identity and even today their legacy prevails. This mixture or blending of

cultures has produced what are now considered Mexican Americans or Chicanos.

They are similar but different to what is referred as the Anglo American culture.

Their identity traces back to Mexico, their “mother nation.” However, those who are

more conservative and traditional Mexicans often reject the new generation of

Mexican Americans or Chicanos. They despise the idea of a new culture of

“agringados,” or Americanized Mexicans.

Mexicans reject this new identity because of the fear of it being reflected in

themselves or because of the image they have created in their minds. For a

traditional Mexican, the Chicano denotes a shocking attitude that tends to manifest

itself in the recurring tendency to deny his origin.

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Chicanos, however, have conveyed this bicultural doctrine through artistic

expression. Several writers situated in a multicultural context with and in an Anglo-

dominant environment, allude to their mother culture through works. These

manifestations reveal a new conception of life due to the cultural clash that

Chicanos have endured. Being an American and also the descendant of Mexicans,

generates a constant conflict of identity in the Chicano.

For instance, Gary Soto is a Chicano writer who has written several pieces of

literature which contain a number of aspects denoting pride for his heritage. But

how can this literary richness and new world be transmitted to their “fellow

compatriots?” André Lefevere affirms that translation is a channel by which one

culture can penetrate into another (Lefevere,1992:2). This statement suggests that

a translation allows one culture to have influence over another or at least gain

recognition.

The content of the works written by Chicano authors, particularly Soto, have a

great similarity to that of some Mexican authors. The passions, traditions, customs,

language, and even superstitions, that constitute the character of Mexicans, have

been passed down from generation to generation.

The specific purpose of this research is to identify, analyze, and describe the

Chicano literary movement with the aim of recovering and recognizing it as an

alternate, perhaps complementary, perception of the Mexican culture. For this

reason it is necessary to analyze the social context of a work such as “The Jacket”

written by Gary Soto, an American writer of Mexican origin, in order to compare

similar characteristics between the Chicano and the contemporary Mexican.

7
To accomplish this objective, a translation along with a commentary will be done of

a work from Chicano literature. The commentary will not only focus on the context

of the work and author but it will also identify the problems which arose during the

translation procedure and solutions proposed to these difficulties will be considered

in accordance with Translation Studies theorists such as André Lefevere, Susan

Bassnett, Mona Baker, and Peter Newmark, among others.

There have been studies about Chicano language, sociology, arts and context.

In fact, there are also “Chicano Studies” University programs which focus on the

search and definition of their identity. Moreover, other investigations focus on the

stereotypes that Anglo Americans have about Mexican Americans and their

implications.

In 1978, there was an attempt to reveal the essence of Chicano literature to

Mexicans. La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico organized a symposium

with the objective of analyzing the scope of Chicano culture and conflicts.

Unfortunately, this event had no success, as only one writer presented his work.

More efforts followed to recognize and understand Mexican American literature. La

Universidad de Guadalajara had a Chicano Cultural congress in 1978. Years later,

in 1985, La Universidad de Colima organized international forums about the

Chicano culture.

In spite of the efforts to relate these cultures, there is still a lack of interest from

Mexicans in Chicano literature. In fact, many anthologies of Chicano literature have

been produced. These anthologies contain several works of Chicano authors like

Sandra Cisneros and Tino Villanueva. Axel Ramírez declares that probably the

most influential Chicano writer in Mexico has been Sandra Cisneros with her work
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The House on Mango Street, translated by Elena Poniatowska. But Gary Soto has

not been included in this recollection.

However, in Mexico, there have been several translations about Chicano

literature. For instance, El Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE), an institution

founded in 1934 by Daniel Cosío Villegas, has four different publications of works

by Gary Soto. They are Cebollas enterradas translated by Ilán Adler (2003);

Cruzando el Pacífico, translated by Carmen Corona Del Conde (2002); Tomando

Partido, translated by Ángel Llorente (2004); and Béisbol en abril, translated by

Tedi López Mills (2005). None of these translations have an academic or

investigation purpose.

These works are addressed to children as part of the collection “A la Orilla del

Viento.” Since the FCE annually organizes several contests such as “El Concurso

de Álbum Ilustrado A la Orilla del Viento,” publications under this collection are

presented in an album illustration contest (Fondo de Cultura Económica [FCE],

2016, para. 6).

Another inquiry that has been done about Gary Soto’s work is a Thesis by Israel

Nisihura in 2010, for the California State University, Sacramento, with the title

“Translating Across Genres: Gary Soto’s Cesar Chavez: A Hero For Everyone And

The Skirt.” The objective of this study was to prove that there are cultural

divergences when it comes to translating different literary genres.

The purpose of this thesis is to translate two texts originally published in English,

a short story and a non-fiction prose text, into Spanish. A major goal of this thesis is

to examine and prove that culture sets up considerable differences between the

translation of one literary genre and the other (Nisihura,2010:iv).

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However, there is a small amount of Soto’s work that has been translated into

Spanish, as there is a lack of interest in Mexicans in reading Chicano literature. For

instance, there is not a version of “The Jacket” in Spanish, even though in the

United States is a literary piece that is very common in some High School

American Literature classes.

The following research is divided into four chapters. The first chapter involves

the Theoretical framework whose content focuses on the author’s and work’s

context and the proposed methodology. Chapter two contains the translation

commentary, which describes the text’s formal, rhetorical, and stylistic aspects;

furthermore, it comprises the translation procedure. The third chapter includes the

proposed translation. Chapter four encloses the conclusions and further

recommendations of the research.

Chapter 1: Theoretical framework

I. Immigration issues
After the US independence, which took place in 1776, a political controversy arose

between the people who were considered native and people who recently came

from other countries and had citizenship. For this reason, most of Anglo Americans

claim this land as their property. Nevertheless, this nation has been considered as

the land of immigrants, who came from different parts of the world.

Most of these immigrants were European. Due to social issues, they migrated

from countries like United Kingdom and Germany. Mendoza and Shankar add,

“The majority of immigrants, leaving because of famines and social upheavals,

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came for the most part from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and

Scandinavia.” (Mendoza & Shankar, 2003:xvi).

Louis Mendoza and Subramanian Shankar in their research, Crossing into

America: The New Literature of Immigration (2003:xvii), discuss the Immigration

issues of the United States during the 1820’s, where many immigrants came to the

U.S. They were called “new” immigrants. They were mostly Italians, Polish and

Jews coming from eastern and central Europe. In the XXth century the intensity of

migration from countries like Mexico, Philippines, China, Korea, India was more

excessive.

Immigration has been a conflict in American society along history, as some of

the “old” immigrants, who settled earlier, oppose this phenomenon. Even in recent

years, the political perspective towards immigration has remained.

The contemporary politics are as complicated as ever. On the other hand, recent

immigration has generally been opposed by conservative movements desirous of

preserving a ‘traditional,’ if mythical, view of the United States as an Anglo-European

nation (Mendoza & Shankar,2003:xviii).

According to Mendoza and Shankar, American conservative groups aspire to

maintain their Anglo-European heritage. Nowadays, there is still a sense of

disapproval towards the new emerging subcultures in the U.S. For this reason,

they reject the idea of a Spanish speaking society in the United States. This

mentality can be perceived in new events that are currently taking place. For

instance, the Spanish version of The White House webpage was removed the first

day the new elected president took office. There is an evident discrimination

11
regarding justice, race, color, language, and identity towards immigrants and US

Citizens, who descend from immigrants.

II. Chicanos in an Anglo American setting

According to Ian Haney López’ book, Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for

Justice, teachers regarded Mexican American students in schools as mentally

impaired. He alludes to 1968 teachers’ point of view as being the following:

“Another ‘solution’ was to declare them mentally impaired…” (Lopez, 2004:17).

During times of the Chicano movements, students were segregated into

educational programs for people with mental impairments

Subsequently, the Chicano community movement started in 1968. Los Angeles

Mexican American high school students decided to go on strike. They were against

the injustice and racism they had to face in high school and in elementary schools.

Ian Haney Lopez recalls a quotation by Sal Castro, one of the main supporters and

leaders of Lincoln High School students. In this phrase, he advices his students to

write their complaints or memories regarding the hostile conditions they endured.

Before you even think about blowing-out, why don’t you write your grievances, all

these things that are wrong in the school, not only the things that are wrong in your

school, but the things that you remember were wrong in the elementary school

because, you see, you don’t want to change things just in high schools; you also

want to think about your little brothers and sisters and also your kids when you get

married. There has to be a change, a complete change (qtd. in López,2004:19-20).

Several whites considered Mexicans as an inferior race; they attributed many faults

to this ethnic group. Haney López (2004:62) implies that whites believed that

12
Mexicans had a lack of character, temperament, and will. This is a perspective that

has predominated along history, as a part of the Anglo community has categorized

Mexicans as lazy, dark, cowardly and criminal.

Throughout history, with poems, novels, essays, short stories, and memoirs,

many writers have manifested their ideas about migration and social problems.

Writers like John Steinbeck, among others, have written about the social and

economic system that led to the country’s issues. Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of

Wrath, seems to be a commentary about the government policies. This novel

portrays an account of the migrant workers in the fields of California. Steinbeck

appears to describe the life of many downtrodden laborers.

However, in the novel Tortilla Flat, Steinbeck represents Mexicans as thieves,

ruffians, drunkards, and vagabonds, but unexpectedly good at heart. Steinbeck’s

conception about Mexicans, can be interpreted in two different ways, either the

author parodied Mexicans identity in the Anglo American perspective or he

attempted to evoke the ways they have been categorized by Anglo Americans.

Not only have Anglo Americans manifested their position; also, several Mexican

American authors have also transmitted their experience, as members of their

subculture, through their work. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street

describes her family’s struggles to buy a house. On the other hand, Gary Soto has

dedicated his works to provide a picture of the Mexican American community. They

both have been influenced by their Mexican heritage.

There are many books, poems, essays, and short stories by Gary Soto

representing Chicanos. Baseball in April, Living Up the Streets, The Effects of

Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy are some of the works written by him. These texts
13
are portraits of ordinary people, especially Mexican Americans, in quotidian life

course; this literature describes what is like to grow up Chicano in the United

States of America.

Gary Anthony Soto is an American novelist, poet and memoirist born in 1952 to

Mexican American parents. He was born and raised in Fresno, California during a

difficult period. The United States were facing an economic crisis that emerged

from the Great Depression. World War II had just ended. Poverty predominated

along the country. Racism was worse than ever before.

His life was very tough as the life of most of other Mexican Americans, who

struggle with opportunities in life, to have a dream about something and to be able

to achieve their goals. The economic issues were one of the main barriers that he

faced. Just as many other children of Mexican heritage, he was raised in the midst

of poverty and facing racism. It seemed as if his people did not have the same

opportunities as others due to their racial background.

Haney López recalls a citation from Mario Garcia’s work, “Mexican Americans”,

which describes the conditions Mexicans were facing during the Great Depression,

he adds:

As the Great Depression set in, though, Los Angeles suffered a severe decline in

wages and a dramatic increase in unemployment. The economic crisis inflected

particular hardship on the Mexican community, forcing Mexicans to compete for work

and government assistance… (qtd. in López,2004:70)

Soto’s parents and grandparents were living these harsh conditions; they were

laborers in the agricultural orange and cotton fields in the San Joaquin Valley. After

14
his father’s death, his family struggled to survive; they took whatever job they could

in order to meet their needs. They lived the consequences of the calamities that

the nation was suffering.

Throughout his stories and poems, not only does he describe his journey as a

Mexican American growing up in the United States, but also he describes the

experience of an ordinary American who has dreams and expectations. He

portrays the meaningful moments that people withstand in daily life. Soto (2008)

declares:

I’m also a listener. I hear lines of poetry issue from the mouths of seemingly

ordinary people. And, as a writer, my duty is not to make people perfect, particularly

Mexican Americans. I’m not a cheerleader. I’m one who provides portraits of people

in the rush of life (para.10).

III. Bloom’s literature prospect and Memoir as a literary subgenre

Harold Bloom, an American theorist and literary critic and a Yale professor, in his

famous “The Western Canon” appeared to set the models of what is considered in

the USA as “authoritative” works and authors. He recalls Shakespeare, Tolstoy,

Whitman, Cervantes, and Nietzsche amongst many others as being the major

western writers (1994:2).

Bloom gives the impression of having a dogmatic and closed opinion regarding

what great writers are like. The canon, itself, is a sort of a guide, which includes the

material that should be read in schools. “Originally the Canon meant the choice of

books in our teaching institutions, and despite the recent politics of

15
multiculturalism, the Canon's true question remains: What shall the individual who

still desires to read attempt to read, this late in history?”(1994:15).

Moreover, he describes great works as, “Literature is not merely language; it is

also the will to figuration, the motive for metaphor that Nietzsche once defined as

the desire to be different, the desire to be elsewhere”(1994:12). Bloom implies that

literature should be unique, perhaps strange; he considers Shakespeare as the

center of “The Western Canon”.

Despite Bloom’s perspective portrayed in “The Western Canon”, there are

several sorts of literary texts. Each one of them belongs to a specific domain which

means that their content is mainly focused in one subject and therefore include a

determined language and a lexicon. Moreover, it is evident that in most of the

cases, they derive form the background of the author; in other words, writers

consider their background and environment to create their written piece.

Among this diversity of literature, there is a category called Memoir. This literary

genre is a subgenre of the autobiography. M. H. Abrams defines it as:

Autobiography is a biography written by the subject about himself or herself. It is

to be distinguished from the memoir, in which the emphasis is not on the author's

developing self but on the people and events that the author has known or

witnessed, and also from the private diary or journal, which is a day-to-day record of

the events in one's life, written for personal use and satisfaction, with little or no

thought of publication (Abrams,1999:22).

Therefore, the real significance of the memoir is the moments that a person lives in

a determined context. Memoirs are relevant for they denote important facts about

the author. The aim of this literary technique is to preserve the past through the

16
eyes of a person by opening a window to the readers. Memoir builds a link

between the audience and the author’s context. It is a meaningful account of life

experience and moments of the past brought to the present. The memoir can be a

great tool to understand history.

“The Jacket” is a memoir written by Gary Soto in 1983. It was previously

published in 1986 in Small Faces. Afterwards it was included in the collection in

The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy (Soto,2000:6). His life is perceived

along this memoir, for he portrays the difficulties that he faced during his childhood,

for instance poverty. The jacket was a symbol of poverty. It represented all the

problems that any person had to withstand daily. Moreover, Soto includes several

characteristics of his Hispanic heritage. His detailed description along the narration

comprises lexis pertaining to his Mexican roots.

It is a special piece of literature because its context derives from a new

subculture of a Mexican background in a dominant Anglo American setting.

Chicano Literature diverges from the Anglo Literature in relation with the authors’

background. Sheilla Schwartz suggests, “Besides, this literature differs from Anglo

literature in its continuous references to Mexico as the mother country, the place

where their culture began, and its mixture of Spanish and English languages”

(Schwartz, 1979:85).

Chicano literary activists have manifested their ideologies, through their works;

however, the Yale professor Harold Bloom disapproves “activist” writers who seek

to promote their feminist, liberalist, if communist, ideologies. He calls them “The

School of Resentment” (1994:20).

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 Thus, feminist cheerleaders proclaim that women writers lovingly cooperate with

one another as quilt makers, while African-American and Chicano literary activists go

even further in asserting their freedom from any anguish of contamination

whatsoever: each of them is Adam early in the morning (Bloom,1994:7).

Not only has Harold Bloom criticized Sandra Cisneros’ work by cataloging it as

“series of linked narratives,” which he does not consider a literary experience,

(Bloom,2004:7). In fact, he also evaluated Soto and categorically affirmed, “Gary

Soto couldn’t write himself out of a paper bag” (qtd in Soto,2000:200) This

declaration indicates that Soto is not a good writer or that there is a sense of

stupidity in his art.

Moreover, the article “it`s naughty! Haughty! It’s anti-culti-multi” was published

by Newsweek in 1994. Gary Soto was surprised as his name appeared in the

article; he interpreted the mood of the article as being extremely racist and

discriminatory. Gary Soto wrote in “What poets are like”, “The tone of the article

implies that “multicultural literature – and multicultural life, to boot- is corrupting our

country; that we are getting dumber and dumber because of the diversity of

literature taught in college classrooms” (Soto,2013:161). It is clearly that Chicano

writers and activists have struggled in life to fit in the American culture.

IV. Chicanos’ issues in Mexico

Although there are similarities between the Chicano community and the Mexican

Culture, in Mexico, there is also a bias towards this social group. According to

Mexicans, the Mexican Americans distorted the Spanish language by mixing it with

English language lexis.

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Furthermore, it was also a believed that Mexican Americans have a leaning

towards rejecting their Mexican roots. Alejandra Sánchez Valencia in her research

“Diferencias en las denominaciones de la comunidad méxico-americana” in the

Revista Iberoamericana de filosofía, presents the different ways Mexican

Americans were categorized by Mexicans. She suggests:

Hablamos de un México-americano que, al ser ciudadano estadounidense, debe

desarrollar sus estrategias de supervivencia en la nueva cultura; sin embargo en

México resultó chocante esa pretensión de “agringarse”, que se manifestaba, entre

otras cosas, en su lenguaje desviado de la lengua madre (Sánchez Valencia,

2000:120).

At present, there is not much interest from Mexicans in reading Chicano

literature. The problematic recedes in the concept that Mexicans have created

about Mexican Americans, as they continue to be rejected by their “fellow

compatriots”. Axel Ramírez in his Article “Espejos y Reflejos: Los chicanos y su

Literatura en México” in Revista Tema y Variaciones de Literatura, states:

Con muy contadas excepciones, en México, sólo algunos académicos que se

encuentran involucrados en el tema están interesados en lo que escriben los

chicanos, y desde luego, la interpretación que se hace de este corpus literario se ve

seriamente afectada por la mentalidad mexicana que abierta o solapadamente

continúa rechazando lo chicano (Ramírez, 2000:21).

Ramírez also suggests that the literature created by Chicanos is not accepted in

the Mexican culture because it is usually presented in the original language, in

English. “Otro problema muy fuerte que ha impedido dicha aceptación, es que la

19
literatura chicana llega usualmente escrita en inglés…” (Ramírez, 2000:21). This

problem was the cause of the immediate rejection of Chicano literature.

Octavio Paz in his book, El laberinto de la soledad, implies that Mexicans tend

to reject Mexican Americans due to their fear of contemplating themselves

portrayed in their fellow compatriots. He marked:

Si, nos encerramos en nosotros mismos, hacemos más profunda y exacerbada la

conciencia de todo lo que nos separa, nos aísla o nos distingue. Y nuestra soledad

aumenta porque no buscamos a nuestros compatriotas, sea por temor a

contemplarnos en ellos, sea por un penoso sentimiento defensivo de nuestra

intimidad (2003:21).

So, where do Chicano writers and poets fit? Could they only fit in the American

setting? Could they be accepted in the Mexican culture as well? How to present

Chicano Literature to Mexicans?

V. Translation: a way to expand literature

Octavio Paz (1990) asserts that language is no longer considered universal and is

revealed as a multiplicity of languages. But it was believed, that even so, men were

able to be understood, since a universality of the Spirit was presumed. In other

words, every human being possessed the same psyche and the same essence,

which means that feelings, emotions and experiences were similar, such aspects

which represented no communication problem.

Octavio Paz in his article “Traducción: Literatura y Literalidad” (1990) ensures

that this school of thought lost validity in the Modern Age by demonstrating cultural

dissimilarities between men. The customs, passions, as well as the ideologies are

20
considered the most representative aspects of the divergences. Octavio Paz states

that each language is a different view of the world and every civilization is a world.

These variances were revealed by translation. Paz affirms “La traducción refleja

estos cambios: ya no es una operación tendiente a mostrar la identidad última de

los hombres, sino que es el vehículo de sus singularidades” (1990, para. 2). He

continues arguing that the function of translation is now to depict these differences.

“Su función había consistido en mostrar las semejanzas por encima de las

diferencias; de ahora en adelante manifiesta que estas diferencias son

infranqueables” (1990, para. 2).

The translator is a mediator between the author and the reader. He eliminates

the limitations between two dissimilar cultures. André Lefevere suggests that the

developing of translation of literature “… can help us towards a greater awareness

of the world in which we live” (2003:xi). Translation brings new ideas, concepts,

innovations, and new genres from one society to another one. This discipline

invites one culture to welcome different ideologies and perceptions of life.

Moreover, on regards with spreading or sharing ideas, there has been a big

barrier among society. Language is one of the main dissimilitudes as there are

several spoken tongues all over the world. The language spoken by a determined

group of people is one of the main varieties between world cultures and a great

difficulty in terms of communication.

In order to eradicate these boundaries a new act of human exchange emerged,

translation. This discipline has been the subject of research throughout history.

This domain had no reputation due to the lack of foundations or studies conducted

21
on this field. It was not until the decade of 1980 that it began to acquire its

recognition as an academic discipline; but it was globally expanded in the 1990’s.

Susan Bassnett argues that:

What is generally understood as translation involves the rendering of a source

language (SL) text into the target language (TL) as to ensure that (1) the surface

meaning of the two will be approximately similar and (2) the structures of the SL will

be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be

seriously distorted (Bassnett, 2002:2)

In other words, the source text ST is translated from a language to another in

order to allow communication, but maintaining the meaning of the message.

Every piece of literature derives from culture; this suggests that culture is a key

element in the production of texts which include a variety of aspects originated

from the author’s context.

These components are identified as behaviors, customs, or beliefs and all of

these elements that could be manifested through language. When translating a

text, it is crucial to be familiar with the context of the ST because it is the outcome

of cultural aspects and symbolisms. These texts contain a wide variety of elements

of identity.

The translator’s duty is to receive the original message and decode it in order to

be able to render it into the TL. However, the translator has to take into account

several issues such as the context of the target readers. In other words, his job is

to produce a text which is suitable for a determined group of people, yet the idea of

the ST must be maintained.

22
A translator should consider the Source Culture (SC) context to determine whether

the translation is appropriate for the Target Culture (TC). Christiane Nord asserts

“In order to find out whether the text is suitable for the new situation in the target

culture, the translator has to take into consideration the factors and constituents of

the original situation” (2005:8).

The development of translation as a discipline has triggered a variety of issues,

especially in the way men conceive the diverse aspects of life. In other words,

Translation has shaped men’s perception of the world and what is known so far on

regards with it. Translation has had an influence on the insight that men have

about worldwide cultures. Lefevere asserts that “Translations have been made with

the intention of influencing the development of a culture” (2003:8)

The literature, which is translated, belongs to a particular social group. Readers

will be related to the context of the text’s author or writer. However, when it comes

to reading material that has been translated, it all depends on the translator. André

Lefevere states “all rewritings, whatever their intention, reflect a certain ideology

and a poetics and as such manipulate literature to function in a given society in a

given way” (Lefevere,2003:xi). Hence, an interpretation of a text is based on the

translator’s insight.

VI. Translation of “The Jacket” proposed methodology

This research aims to propose a commented Translation of The Jacket from

English to Spanish. In order to complete this objective it is important to perform a

hermeneutic research. Hermeneutics is the discipline whose aim is the

interpretation of written texts. This domain seeks to interpret writings by taking into

23
account the text itself and the context. It is believed that culture is a key element in

the interpretation procedure.

En este sentido, el trabajo hermenéutico sólo aspira a una interpretación que se

contrasta con el ejercicio de lectura. Texto y contexto se unifican, no solo si se habla

de un contexto creador del texto por sí mismo sino el contexto de la lectura del texto.

Por lo tanto, el factor de la cultura y las relaciones sociales toman papel

preponderante en el desarrollo del trabajo de interpretación (Lira &

D’Amore,2013:75).

Lira and D’Amore suggest that while Hermeneutics unites contexts, the

translator is in charge of unifying the Source and Target contexts. “Si el trabajo de

la hermenéutica es la unión de contextos, el traductor conforma la unión del

contexto creador y del contexto de lectura…” (Lira & D’Amore,2013:75).

They identify at least five levels in which the translator performs his duty of

unifying the source and target context. “…1) la obra (texto), 2) el contexto, 3) la

lengua a traducir, 4) la lengua traducida y 5) el contexto en el que se insertará el

texto” (Lira & D’amore,2013:75). Considering these five levels proposed by Lira

and D’amore, this research will analyze Gary Soto’s work “The Jacket,” the

context, the Source language, Target language, and the target culture, in order to

offer a translation addressed to Mexican young adults. Furthermore, a commentary

regarding translation procedure, problems and solutions will be written.

24
Chapter 2: Translation Commentary

I. Formality and rhetorical aspects of the text

Soto’s, “The Jacket” was written in 1984. It is a memoir pertaining to The Effects of

Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy: Recollections and short essays printed by Persea

Books in New York, 2000. He named this collection after one of his favorite writers

of all time, Knut Hamsun, who was born in Norway. Soto admires Hamsun

because he feels identified with him.

… I was very much following in the footsteps of Knut Hamsun, my favorite writer

at the time and one who still ranks up there for me. Like Norwegian-born Hamsun, I

was living through writer’s hunger not only for bread but also for words that would

rise like leaven and feed my neighbors (Soto:2000:x)

In the “The Jacket,” he presents the story about a fifth grader boy who receives

a new jacket that he will have to wear every day for three years. He starts to

perceive his new coat as an enemy because from the moment that he saw it, he

realized that it was not what he had expected. The jacket represented the

beginning of a miserable and scornful life in school because children and teachers

would laugh about his apparel.

If taking into account Newmark’s language functions, this memoir is categorized

as an expressive text, since it is a subgenre of the Autobiography. “The core of the

expressive function is the mind of the speaker, the writer, the originator of the

utterance. He uses the utterance to express his feelings irrespective of any

response.” (1988:39). The text was written in prose, which means that it does not

25
contain any rhythmical effects, as the speech is natural and it does not follow a

metric structure.

It is important to notice the stylistic features of the text. For instance, The Jacket

derives from the Autobiography text type. It contains several types of figures of

speech such as Similes, Metaphors, Personifications, Imagery, and Hyperboles.

He uses at least two lexical borrowings from Spanish. The author also uses an

unformal register, which means that his literary piece contains casual and not too

academic jargon.

John C. Paolillo defines register as “a variation in the form of linguistics

expressions according to the formality of the social context of use” (2000:215).

Register is the level of formality used by a writer or speaker in a determined

context and situation. Martin Joos (1967), in his book The Five Clocks, refers to

register as style and he distinguishes five levels: Frozen, Formal, Consultative,

Casual / Informal, and Intimate. “The Jacket” is located in Joos’ Casual / informal

level.

II. Translation of The Jacket: translation problems and techniques

Roman Jakobson (1959) in his article On Linguistic Aspects of Translation

describes three types of translation. Intralinguistic or paraphrasing is an

interpretation, in a same code of signs, of a word or Sentence in order to explain it

more accurately; On the other hand, the Interlinguistic translation is the

transcription of a text from one language to another; and Finally, Intersemiotic

translation consists of transmuting verbal to nonverbal signs, for example music,

movies and images.

26
This research focuses on Interlinguistic Translation, i.e., transpose a ST from one

language in order to generate a TT in another language. Additionally, within the

great range of Interlingual Translation, there are other types of translation:

technical translation refers to the translating technical and scientific texts; while the

aim of literary translation is to translate a literary text into another language.

Maurilio Pérez González in his article La Reflección traductora desde la

antiguedad Romana S. XVIII: una propuesta de interpretación, recalls Saint

Jerome’s famous phrase "…non verbum ex verbo sed sensum exprimere de

sensu"(qtd in Pérez,1996:112), which suggests that a translation demands a

transposition of literary character, whose systematics consists of translating sense

by meaning.

According to Esteban Torre (2001), Friedrich Schleiermacher affirms that a

literal translation brings the reader closer to the writer and the language of the

original text. On the other hand, a literary translation causes an acquaintance with

the language and the customs of the modern reader. It is important to notice that

the type of translation, which is to be rendered, depends on the reader’s needs.

The main difference between these types of translation lies in the idea of

translating meaning for meaning; the translator will execute his work using

techniques that manipulate the content in a way that the new version still

expresses the idea of the ST, even if you have to modify the lexicon and syntax.

On the contrary, the first type refers to transcribing a text literally, without making

drastic changes in the lexicon or syntax.

André Lefevere (1992) asserts that language is an expression of culture and

most of the words are inextricably linked to it, therefore, very difficult to transfer
27
them entirely to another language. This suggestion implies that the terms are

exclusive of a society. Mona Baker (1992) refers to these terms as 'culture-specific

concepts', as they arise from religious beliefs, customs, historical facts, including

food, and all aspects comprising a culture.

For example, for the translation of “The Jacket” it was necessary to adopt a

suitable methodology to find lexical, syntactic, and cultural problems in the ST and

find a solution to present a translation. This locution agrees with Susan Bassnett's

suggestion, which implies that it is necessary to determine the function of the

Source Language system SL with the Purpose of finding a system in the target

language TL with the same function (2002).

In the first paragraph of “The Jacket”, the first lexical problem that arises is in the

phrase: “when you either danced like a champ or pressed yourself against a

greasy wall, bitter as a penny toward the happy couples.” Perhaps translated as:

“cuando o bailabas como campeón o te recargabas en un muro sucio. Amargado

como un centavo hacia las parejillas felices.” In English, the word ‘bitter’ means

having a harsh taste; not sour, sweet, or salty; or in the sense of embittered it can

also signify a rancorous or antipathetic person. Since the little boy feels “jealousy”

towards the happy couples, what the author implied is that he has a sense of

antipathy towards kids in love because he is alone.

In Spanish, there are two different concepts for the word bitter, each of these

words have a different meaning. “Amargo”, is the word describing an unpleasant

flavor, and “amargado” means a person full of resentment. Their etymological

derivation is the same, but it is their morphology what grants them their meaning.

28
In this same phrase, the author uses the comparison; “bitter as a penny towards

the happy couples” The author compared his bitterness and the bitterness of a

penny. Notice that the kid’s bitterness refers to his resented character, whereas the

penny’s bitterness refers to its flavor. In both senses, it was possible for the writer

to compare his rancorous personality and the penny’s bitter taste since in English

this word is used in both cases because it has a similar denotation.

Penny’s equivalence in Spanish is “centavo”, of course, a penny or a centavo

can be bitter by their flavor but this term does not refer to its personality for it is an

object. The difficulty to render a transposition of this simile is because in Spanish it

would not make sense to translate this statement as “amargado como un centavo

hacia las parejillas felices” because a penny does not express feelings, it cannot

denote a rancorous or resented personality.

Peter Newmark suggests the use of “a near TL equivalent word to a SL word in

a context” (1988:84). Newmark refers to synonyms as a way to replace ‘amargado’

or ‘amargo.’ ‘Agrio’ is the closest synonym, since not only does it work as an

adjective for flavor, but also like an adjective describing a grumpy person. After the

interpretation and analysis of this phrase, the translation adopted would be “Agrio

como un centavo hacia las parejillas felices.”

The second difficulty is in the second paragraph “we were on the kitchen. Steam

on the windows from her cooking.” The syntax of this sentence is correct in English

since it is describing a moment in which the kitchen’s windows were covered with

steam. The writer omitted to use a verb to specify this moment as he only wrote

“Steam on the windows…” although this sentence fulfils a function, when

29
transcribing this into Spanish it would be ambiguous to transfer it as “ Estabamos

en la cocina. Vapor en las ventanas debido a que mi madre cocinaba.”

When a sentence lacks a verb due to the writer’s syntactic or stylistic choice, the

translator has the choice of adding a verb to the TT, if necessary, to avoid

ambiguity. To this, Newmark asserts:

In all these instances, the translator has a wide semantic choice if he wishes to

supply a verb, since stylistically the source language text in omitting the verb is

attempting to give a rather general impression of sudden: strong action. Obviously,

the selection is finally limited by the context, but contexts (unlike explicit words) often

exercise a wide rather than a close semantic constraint. When a verb is omitted it is

inevitably semantically underdetermined, but given its importance the translator must

supply it, if he decides that the reasons for its omission, which may be syntactical,

stylistic or pragmatic, do not apply in the target language (Newmark, 1988:127)

Peter Newmark (1998:126) names this technique Translation of missing verbs.

Considering Newmark’s suggestion, instead of omitting the verb in the TL text, it

was possible to transcribe the sentence as “ Estabamos en la cocina y había vapor

en las ventanas debido a que mi madre cocinaba” in this case the verb “haber”

,meaning “to be”, used as “there was” was added in the TT.

Note also, that in the same sentence in the ST it does not say “steam on the

windows from my mother’s cooking”, instead it says “steam on the windows from

her cooking.” It is possible to render it as “Había vapor en las ventanas debido a

que cocinaba” but if translated literally, it would be ambiguous because it is not

clear; it sounds as if the boy was cooking. In the ST it is clear that the one who is

cooking is the mother as the sentence makes reference to “her,” which can be

30
transcribed as “su”. Nonetheless, in Spanish, “su” is a neutral possessive

adjective which can also be used for his, her, their, and you (if used as “usted”).

Since it is necessary to specify who is the one who is cooking it was necessary to

return to the subject, which “her”, refers to. “Her” is referring to the mother;

consequently, it was rendered as “Había vapor en la cocina debido a que mi madre

cocinaba.”

In the fifth paragraph, Soto wrote, “ripping an L-shaped tear on my left sleeve.”

The L-shaped tear on the sleeve of the jacket appears to be cultural symbol. The

author felt he was a loser. Soto recalled this memory because it was meaningful

for him. The literal translation of this phrase would be “hizo una ruptura en mi

manga izquierda en forma de L.”

The L-shape tear does not represent anything itself, but hermeneutically it

portrays additional meaning. The author perceived the L-shaped tear as something

that denoted his “position,” he regarded his own being as a “loser” and the L-

shaped did nothing but remind him of his situation. The writer wanted to show that

his jacket made him look like a loser and to make things worse, the L-shaped tear

(L for loser) occurred.

Laura Cruz García (1995:6) affirms that it is impossible to maintain, in the TT,

the effect that the ST had on its readers. She adds, “será imposible alcanzar la tan

perseguida equivalencia dinámica en la traducción de textos literarios, ya que no

puede nunca un texto traducido producir el mismo efecto sobre sus lectores que

causó el original sobre los suyos.”

In order to translate this, the proposed methodology is to maintain the L for

“Loser” in the TT, since in Mexico the word loser is a loan word, which teenagers
31
frequently use in their lexical repertoire. Furthermore, in order to maintain the

effect, it was necessary to provide, what Newmark calls, supplementary

information. “…it consists of additional information, not given in the text, but which

the translator chooses to supply from his knowledge of the situation and the

cultural context” (1998:131). With this further information, the reader will

understand and have an acquaintance with the author’s intent.

If this supplementary information was written in the ST, the sentence would be

“ripping an L-shaped tear on my left sleeve, which to make things worse, made me

look like a looser.” The extra information is “…did nothing but remind me that I was

a looser.” In the original text, this additional data is not necessary because letter “L”

fulfils this gap.

However, when translated, it was essential to provide the additional evidence

because even though “loser” is a common word used in Mexico by Spanish

speakers, letter L itself would not evoke the same sense as in English. With the

extra data, the rewritten version of this sentence was rendered as “hizo una ruptura

en mi manga izquierda en forma de L, la cual no hacía nada más que recordarme

que era un perdedor.”

Lefevere (1992) establishes a relationship between culture and words which

means that members belonging to one society can solely understand the signs.

This is translation problem, since concepts originate particularly from culture; there

is a high probability that there will be not equivalence in the TL. Susan Bassnett

(1991) mentions that this type of problems occurs when the writer uses terms

linked to some dialect or sociolect.

32
For instance, in the sixth paragraph the author talks about grades, he mentions,

“got a D on a math quiz.” In the United States the grading scales is from F being

the lowest - A+ being the highest. In order to translate the D grade it is possible to

use an adaptation, i.e., a recognized equivalent between two situations. (Newmark,

1988:91). However, in Mexico there are several grading scales such as 1-10 and

1-100.

To avoid this difficulty of choosing the right scale to use, the proposed strategy

is Modulation, which Newmark defines as a variation or change of viewpoint

(1988:88). Hence, instead of translating the D for a 6 or a 60, the viewpoint would

change as “Casi repruebo el examen de matemáticas.” Which means, “I almost

failed the Math quiz”

In the tenth paragraph, the author uses the metaphor “in that jacket, which had

become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went.” The author meant to

say that he had to wear the jacket every day and he calls it “the ugly brother.” This

sentence does not represent a real problem, but it is necessary to explain its

translation. Of course, it would be feasible to render it as “esa chamarra, que se

convirtió en el odioso hermano que me acompañaba a todas partes.” Since brother

is literally translated as “hermano.”

In English, “jacket” is a neutral noun, whereas in Spanish “chamarra” is a

feminine noun; therefore, “el odioso hermano” is shifted to “la odiosa hermana.”

Newmark calls this technique, Shift or transpositions which is a procedure in which

grammatical changes such as gender might be done (1988:85). Thus, the

proposed outcome was “esa chamarra, que se convirtió en la odiosa hermana que

me acompañaba a todas partes.”

33
In this same paragraph, the writer refers to the United States as “America”. When

he says, “I told her that this was America…” In the American culture, it is correct to

refer to this nation as America because it is culturally accepted. However, if this

term is literally translated as “America”, in Mexico, it refers to the whole continent,

including North America, Central America, and South America.

Así pues, al traducir tendremos que dejar muy clara la enorme diferencia que

media entre todo un continente y un país, aunque hay muchos que tiran por la calle

del medio y usan siempre «América» para designar al país, con la pretensión

absurda de que signifique lo mismo que en inglés (Silva, 2010:554).

American citizens have used the concept “America”, as a shortened version of

The United States of America, but for the other countries that form part of the

continent, America refers to the continent not a single country. For that reason, it is

important to differentiate that Soto is referring to the U.S, not the entire continent.

Thus, for the sentence “I told her that this was America…” the recognized

equivalent (adaptation) of “America” in the TL is “Estados Unidos.” As a result, the

rewritten version would be “Le dije que estos son los Estados Unidos…”

Throughout the translation procedure, more problems were found. However, it

would be a lengthy process to explain each of these difficulties; therefore, only the

most problematic sentences were presented for in-text discussion

34
Chapter 3: Proposed Translation

“La chamarra” traducida por Diana Huizar Amaro

Mi ropa me ha fallado. Recuerdo el abrigo verde que usé en 5to y 6to año, cuando

o bailabas como campeón o te recargabas en un muro sucio. Agrio como un

centavo hacia las parejillas felices.

Cuando necesitaba una chamarra nueva, mi madre me preguntó cómo la

quería, describí algo como lo que usan los motociclistas: en piel negra,

estoperoles plateados y con las suficientes correas como para sostener un

pueblito. Estábamos en la cocina y había vapor en las ventanas debido a que mi

madre cocinaba. Escuchó todo el tiempo mientras meneaba la cena, que creí que

realmente entendió el tipo de chamarra que quería.

Al día siguiente, cuando llegué de la escuela, encontré colgada en el poste de

mi cama una chamarra color guacamole viejo. Tiré mis libros en mi cama y

lentamente me acerqué a la chamarra como si fuera un extraño a quien tenía que

saludar. Toqué la manga de vinilo, el cuello y le eché un vistazo al forro color

mostaza. Desde la cocina mi madre gritó que mi chamarra estaba en el closet.

Cerré la puerta mientras ella aún hablaba y saqué del armario el cesto de ropa con

la esperanza de que la chamarra que estaba en mi cama no fuera para mí, sino

para mi odioso hermano.

No tuve suerte, me rendí y desde mi cama observaba la chamarra. Tenía

ganas de llorar porque estaba enorme y horrible, por lo que sabía tendría que

usarla por mucho tiempo. Yo era pequeño, delgado como un arbolito y pasarían

varios años hasta que comprara una nueva. Vi mi chamarra nueva como enemiga
35
y pensaba cosas negativas antes de quitarme la otra, cuyas mangas me llegaban

hasta los codos.

Me la puse; bajé y subí el cierre varias veces y me doblé los puños de las mangas,

de tal manera que no cubrieran mis manos. Puse mis manos en las bolsas y agité

los brazos como si fueran las alas de un pájaro. Me paré frente al espejo, me vi de

frente, luego de lado y miré tras mi hombro como si alguien me hubiese llamado.

Me senté y luego me paré frente a la cama; peiné mi cabello para observar cómo

me vería haciendo algo normal. Me veía horrible, la aventé a la cama de mi

hermano y la observé durante un largo rato antes de ponérmela y salir al patio

trasero. Mientras pasaba junto a mi madre por la cocina, le sonreí en

“agradecimiento.” Con mis manos en los bolsillos pateé una pelota contra la cerca,

la cual trepé para ver el callejón. Lancé cáscaras de naranja a la boca de un bote

de basura y cuando se acabaron las cascaras, me puse a ver como desaparecía

el vapor blanco de mi respiración.

Me bajé de la cerca con las manos en los bolsillos. De rodillas, jugueteaba con

mi perro en el patio trasero; movía mis manos de arriba abajo mientras hacía

silbidos de pájaro. El perro saltó a mí y falló; saltó varias veces hasta que un

diente se encajó profundamente e hizo una ruptura en mi manga izquierda en

forma de L, la cual no hacía nada más que recordarme que era un perdedor. Alejé

a mi perro, Brownie, para analizar el desgarre, como lo habría hecho con una

cortada en mi brazo. No había sangre, solo un poco de pelusa. ¡Perro malo!,

pensé y lo empujé, cuando intentó morderme otra vez. Me puse de pie, me fui a mi

recámara y con la luz apagada, me senté en la cama con la chamarra en las

piernas.
36
Esa fue la primera tarde con mi nueva chamarra. A partir del día siguiente la usé

hasta 6to y casi repruebo el examen de matemáticas. Durante el recreo, Frankie T,

el terrorista del patio de juegos, me tiró al suelo y me dijo que no me levantara

hasta que se terminara. Mi mejor amigo Steve Negrete comía una manzana

mientras me miraba. Las niñas se voltearon para murmurar en los pasamanos.

Los maestros no eran de ayuda, me veían y hablaban sobre lo tonto que me

veía en mi chamarra nueva. Vi sus cabezas sacudirse de risa y las manos medio

cubriendo sus bocas. Aunque hacía frio, me quité la chamarra y jugué al futbeis

con una playera delgada. Traía la piel de gallina que mis brazos parecían braille.

Pero cuando regresé a clases me puse la chamarra y temblé hasta que me

calenté. Me senté sobre mis manos para calentarlas y mis dientes temblaban

como cuando se agitara una taza de dados. Cuando me calenté, me quité la

chamarra pero unos minutos después me la puse nuevamente porque sonó la

alarma de incendios. Caminamos hacia el patio donde nosotros los de 6to año

pasamos frente a los demás niños de los otros grados para recargarnos hasta

atrás en la barda. Todo mundo me vio, y aunque no lo dijeron en voz alta “¡No

mano, que feo está eso!”, escuché el murmullo del chisme y hasta carcajadas, que

estoy seguro eran por mí.

Entonces anduve con mi chamarra color guacamole, tan avergonzado, herido,

ni siquiera podía hacer mis tareas. Me sacaba calificaciones bajas en los

exámenes, olvidé las capitales de los estados y los ríos de Sudamérica, nuestra

amable vecina. Inclusive las chicas, que habían sido agradables conmigo, huyeron

como flores sueltas tras los chicos con chamarras geniales.

37
Llevé puesta esa cosa por tres años hasta que debido al desgastaste de las

mangas, mis antebrazos figuraban el cuello de una tortuga. Durante todo ese

tiempo, el amor no llegó a mí, ni siquiera una morenita con un vestido dominguero

que utilizó algún lunes. A la hora del receso me quedé con los niños feos quienes

se recargaban en la malla. Viendo a nuestro alrededor, en nuestras bocas

pusimos zacate y lo giramos como hélices. Vimos chicas caminando a solas y

parejas tomadas de la mano, sus cabezas parecían sujeta libros comprimiendo

aire juntas. Los vimos y giramos las hélices aún más rápido de manera que

nuestras caras parecían borrosas.

Culpo a esa chamarra por esos años terribles, culpo a mi madre por su mal

gusto y por comprar baratijas. Fue una época triste para mi corazón, todo el 6to

grado me la pasé en un árbol del callejón con un amigo. Con la esperanza de que

me sucediera algo bueno en esa chamarra, que se convirtió en la odiosa hermana

que me acompañaba a todas partes. Fue en ese entonces cuando comencé a

crecer, mi pecho se abultó con músculos y extrañamente me crecieron las

costillas. Hasta mis manos, que parecían martillos, se mostraban audazmente a

través de los puños de la chamarra y mis dedos se endurecieron para las peleas

venideras. Después de un día pesado de juegos, el desgarre en forma de L en la

manga izquierda se hizo aún más grande y pedazos de relleno salieron de la

herida. Finalmente la pegué con cinta adhesiva, pero en los días lluviosos o fríos

la cinta se despegaba y más relleno salía hasta que la manga se desgastó y se

hizo más corta.

En ese invierno, los codos de la chamarra se comenzaron a descarapelar y

pedazos verdes se desprendieron. Le mostré a mi mamá, quien aparentemente se

38
la pasaba en la estufa y con los lentes llenos de vapor. Me dijo que en México

había niños que querrían esa chamarra. Le dije que estos son Los Estados

Unidos y le grité que Debbie, mi hermana, no tenía una chamarra como la mía.

Salí corriendo listo para llorar, me trepé al árbol del callejón a pensar cosas

negativas mientras veía mi respiración salir y desaparecer.

Trozos de relleno aún salían ocasionalmente cuando jugaba rudo, cuando leía

en silencio o cuando presentaba exámenes de ortografía difíciles. Cuando se hizo

muy notorio que mi hermano comenzó a llamarme “camuflaje”, lancé la chamarra

por la cerca al callejón. Sin embargo, fui a recogerla después, la llevé a dentro, la

puse bajo mis piernas, y me puse muy triste.

Me hablaron para cenar, el vapor cubría los lentes de mi madre mientras

bendecía la mesa. Con la cabeza agachada, mi hermano y hermana, hacían caras

a sus vasos de leche en polvo. Me dio asco también, pero con muchas ganas

comí frijoles en pedazos grandes de tortilla, embarrados de mantequilla. Terminé y

salí con mi chamarra sobre el brazo. El cielo estaba frio, las nubes se

amontonaron dolidas. Me subí a la cerca, me bajé gruñendo y me dirigí hacia el

callejón. Me puse la chamarra, esa hermana odiosa que respiraba sobre mi

hombro ese día y desde entonces.

Chapter 4: Conclusions

I. summary and conclusion

The overriding purpose of this research was to offer a translation of “The Jacket”
with the objective of rendering a commentary concerning the translation problems
and strategies employed to solve them. To accomplish the goal it was crucial to

39
analyze the context of the author, the context of the work, and the context of the
target culture.
Chicano writers have faced a great identity dilemma for they, Mexican
descendants, find themselves in a multicultural, perhaps conservative, and
dominant Anglo American setting. They neither admit their roots nor do they
welcome the new life which The United States offer. Instead, they consider
themselves as a new, unique, and constituted neo-culture.
The context of “The Jacket’s” author and Mexico’s actual readers differ, but also
resemble each other in many ways. Gary Soto includes a lot of Mexican
characteristics such as beliefs, lexicon, ideologies, and references throughout his
works in English. Additionally, his works reflect the struggles that Chicanos have
endured to fit in America’s society.
By knowing the aspects which Chicano literature comprise, it is evident that this
type of works could be translated into Spanish, be understandable, and represent a
meaningful experience to Mexican readers. The spreading of Chicano literature
could have a positive result which would be manifested in Mexican acceptance of
this new being, which Octavio Paz calls “Compatriota.”(2003:21).

II. Recommendations
After completing this study, several recommendations for research emerged
regarding Chicanos and their work:
1. Major influential Chicano authors.
2. Chicano Literature in Education field.
3. Chicano Identity definition.
4. Investigation in these and other areas will help further understanding of the
differences and similarities between the Mexican and Chicano Culture.

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Appendix
THE JACKET

1 My clothes have failed me. I remember the green coat that I wore in fifth and

sixth grade when you either danced like a champ or pressed yourself against a

greasy wall, bitter as a penny toward the happy couples.

2 When I needed a new jacket and my mother asked what kind I wanted, I

described something like bikers wear: black leather and silver studs, with enough
43
belts to hold down a small town. We were in the kitchen, steam on the windows

from her cooking. She listened so long while stirring dinner that I thought she

understood for sure the kind I wanted. The next day when I got home from school, I

discovered draped on my bedpost a jacket the color of day-old guacamole. I threw

my books on the bed and approached the jacket slowly, as if it were a stranger

whose hand I had to shake. I touched the vinyl sleeve, the collar, and peeked at

the mustard-colored lining.

3 From the kitchen mother yelled that my jacket was in the closet. I closed the

door to her voice and pulled at the rack of clothes in the closet, hoping the jacket

on the bedpost wasn't for me but my mean brother. No luck. I gave up. From my

bed, I stared at the jacket. I wanted to cry because it was so ugly and so big that I

knew I'd have to wear it a long time. I was a small kid, thin as a young tree, and it

would be years before I'd have a new one. I stared at the jacket, like an enemy,

thinking bad things before I took off my old jacket whose sleeves climbed halfway

to my elbow.

4 I put the big jacket on. I zipped it up and down several times, and rolled the

cuffs up so they didn't cover my hands. I put my hands in the pockets and flapped

the jacket like a bird's wings. I stood in front of the mirror, full face, then profile, and

then looked over my shoulder as if someone had called me. I sat on the bed, stood

against the bed, and combed my hair to see what I would look like doing something

natural. I looked ugly. I threw it on my brother's bed and looked at it for a long time

before I slipped it on and went out to the backyard, smiling a "thank you" to my

mom as I passed her in the kitchen. With my hands in my pockets I kicked a ball

against the fence, and then climbed it to sit looking into the alley. I hurled orange
44
peels at the mouth of an open garbage can, and when the peels were gone I

watched the white puffs of my breath thin to nothing.

5 I jumped down, hands in my pockets, and in the backyard, on my knees, I

teased my dog, Brownie, by swooping my arms while making bird calls. He jumped

at me and missed. He jumped again and again, until a tooth sunk deep, ripping an

L-shaped tear on my left sleeve. I pushed Brownie away to study the tear as I

would a cut on my arm. There was no blood, only a few loose pieces of fuzz. Damn

dog, I thought, and pushed him away hard when he tried to bite again. I got up

from my knees and went to my bedroom to sit with my jacket on my lap, with the

lights out.

6 That was the first afternoon with my new jacket. The next day I wore it to sixth

grade and got a D on a math quiz. During the morning recess Frankie T., the

playground terrorist, pushed me to the ground and told me to stay there until

recess was over. My best friend, Steve Negrete, ate an apple while looking at me,

and the girls turned away to whisper on the monkey bars. The teachers were no

help: they looked my way and talked about how foolish I looked in my new jacket. I

saw their heads bob with laughter, their hands half covering their mouths.

7 Even though it was cold, I took off the jacket during lunch and played kickball in

a thin shirt, my arms feeling like braille from goose bumps. But when I returned to

class I slipped the jacket on and shivered until I was warm. I sat on my hands,

heating them up, while my teeth chattered like a cup of crooked dice. Finally warm,

I slid out of the jacket but put it back on a few minutes later when the fire bell rang.

We paraded out into the yard where we, the sixth graders, walked past all the other

grades to stand against the back fence. Everybody saw me. Although they didn't
45
say out loud, "Man, that's ugly," I heard the buzz-buzz of gossip and even laughter

that I knew was meant for me.

8 And so I went, in my guacamole-colored jacket. So embarrassed, so hurt, I

couldn't even do my homework. I received C's on quizzes and forgot the state

capitals and the rivers of South America, our friendly neighbor. Even the girls who

had been friendly blew away like loose flowers to follow the boys in neat jackets.

9 I wore that thing for three years until the sleeves grew short and my forearms

stuck out like the necks of turtles. All during that time no love came to me - no little

dark girl in a Sunday dress she wore on Monday. At lunchtime I stayed with the

ugly boys who leaned against the chain link fence and looked around with

propellers of grass spinning in our mouths. We saw girls walk by alone, saw

couples, hand in hand, their heads like bookends pressing air together. We saw

them and spun our propellers so fast our faces were blurs.

10 I blame that jacket for those bad years. I blame my mother for her bad taste

and her cheap ways. It was a sad time for the heart. With a friend I spent my sixth-

grade year in a tree in the alley, waiting for something good to happen to me in that

jacket, which had become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went. And

it was about that time that I began to grow. My chest puffed up with muscle and,

strangely, a few more ribs. Even my hands, those fleshy hammers, showed bravely

through the cuffs, the fingers already hardening for the coming fights. But that L-

shaped rip on the left sleeve got bigger; bits of stuffing coughed out from its wound

after a hard day of play. I finally Scotch-taped it closed, but in rain or cold weather

the tape peeled off like a scab and more stuffing fell out until that sleeve shriveled

into a palsied arm. That winter the elbows began to crack and whole chunks of
46
green began to fall off. I showed the cracks to my mother, who always seemed to

be at the stove with steamed-up glasses, and she said that there were children in

Mexico who would love that jacket. I told her that this was America and yelled that

Debbie, my sister, didn't have a jacket like mine. I ran outside, ready to cry, and

climbed the tree by the alley to think bad thoughts and watch my breath puff white

and disappear.

11 But whole pieces still casually flew off my jacket when I played hard, read

quietly, or took vicious spelling tests at school. When it became so spotted that my

brother began to call me "camouflage," I flung it over the fence into the alley. Later,

however, I swiped the jacket off the ground and went inside to drape it across my

lap and mope.

12 I was called to dinner: steam silvered my mother's glasses as she said grace;

my brother and sister with their heads bowed made ugly faces at their glasses of

powdered milk. I gagged too, but eagerly ate big rips of buttered tortilla that held

scooped-up beans. Finished, I went outside with my jacket across my arm. It was a

cold sky. The faces of clouds were piled up, hurting. I climbed the fence, jumping

down with a grunt. I started up the alley and soon slipped into my jacket, that green

ugly brother who breathed over my shoulder that day and ever since.

47