Narrative shifts in translated autobiography

This study explores the changes that occur as a result of the repackaging of an autobiography in translation. The study is based on the autobiography Memories of a Mischling (2002) by Marianne Gilbert Finnegan and its translation into German by Renate Orth-Guttmann entitled Das gab’s nur einmal (2007). The analysis is carried out in two stages: the first one focuses on the ways that paratexts reframe the autobiographical I and present its narrative differently in translation. The paratextual analysis reveals a shift from personal to public narrative. The second stage investigates whether the narrative shifts revealed in the paratextual analysis also appear in the translation of the main text itself. Public narratives emerge as the common source for shifts in both paratexts and the main text.