Translating the Delicate Beauty of Finnish Summer Night in Poetry : Dynamic and Formal Equivalence in Eino Leino's Nocturne and Two of its Translations

Abstract

In this thesis, I analyse Eino Leino’s poem Nocturne and two English translations of it by Aina Swan Cutler and Keith Bosley using Eugene Nida’s formal and dynamic equivalence theory. The translations of the poem differ greatly in their form and word choices, which make them important to dissect. One of the most notable differences between the translations is that Swan Cutler abstains from replicating Leino’s poem’s rhyme scheme, as opposed to Bosley who replicates the rhyme and rhythm in his translation. I have read the poems side by side and compared them to each other, finding examples to analyse which best show the differences between the source text and the translations. The examples have been compiled into tables and then analysed separately. The analysis shows that Swan Cutler’s translation leans more toward dynamic equivalence and Bosley’s translation more toward formal equivalence. The results of this thesis are only applicable to the poem that I have chosen to analyse in this paper, and with further studies the results will vary based on the chosen poetry and translations.