Narrative Shifts in Translated Autobiography

Memories of a Mischling (2002) by Marianne Gilbert Finnegan and its translation Das gab’s nur einmal (2007) by Renate Orth-Guttman are an interesting case of audience shift from English to German. In her article, Winters focuses on paratexts to describe how the narrative ‘autobiographical I’ has been manipulated by the publisher and translator to shift the attention of the public from the narrator’s personal experience to her father’s figure (Robert Gilbert was a famous German composer before the Third Reich), and to add information to the translated text for greater historical accuracy. In conclusion, German public narratives set the frame for the translation and distribution of these Memories, which resulted in a less ‘autobiographical reading’ than the original.