© Markus Lång 2001

This review was first published in Lewis Carroll
Review, issue 19 (January, 2001), pp. 7–9.
Quotations to be made according to the Web version.
A Finnish-language version was published
in Kulttuurivihkot, issue 5/2001 (vol. 29), p. 29,
and reprinted in Valitetut teokset, pp. 395–398.

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Lewis Carroll Liisa Ihmemaassa Translated into Finnish by Tuomas Nevanlinna Illustrated (colour) by Helen Oxenbury Helsinki, Otava, 2000. FIM 164,00 Printed in Italy 243 mm × 203 mm, 208 pages, hardback, bound ISBN 951-1-16896-7

 

A vital classic can be recognized from the fact that it keeps inspiring new interpretations. This recently published Finnish edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with its new translation and new illustrations, utilizes two possibilities.

Both branches of interpretation have an almost centenarian tradition behind them in Finland: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been translated several times (by Anni Swan, by Kirsi Kunnas & Eeva-Liisa Manner, and by Alice Martin) and published with illustrations by several different artists (by John Tenniel, by Tove Jansson, and by Anthony Browne). It is not difficult to understand that such a rich tradition of interpretations can be both a challenge and an encumberance: each newcomer must surpass all his or her predecessors so as to defend his or her place. In the new edition, this has been better attained by the illustrator than by the translator.

Besides the original Alice illustrations drawn by John Tenniel, the books have inspired — especially in English-speaking countries — numerous other artists as well, and sometimes even new translations are supplied with new illustrations. The classical drawings by Tenniel have, however, stood the test of time, and have been printed in the first editions of all the previous Finnish translations (with the unhappy Kynäbaari forgery as an exception).

Helen Oxenbury’s style is far from that of Tenniel, as already noted by Alan White (Lewis Carroll Review, October, 1999). Some pictures by Oxenbury are black-and-white, too, but mostly they are light watercolours spreading over the whole page or even the opening. The protagonist is not a child of the Victorian age but a charming modern little girl who has been depicted in a lively and unforced manner. Also the other characters of the Wonderland have received a new but quite familiar dress. The pictures form a harmonious whole, supporting and clarifying the story-line.

From the illustrations as well as the translation it can be deduced that this book is intented for younger readers than that of Alice Martin (1995). This volume is large, the pages are thick paper, and the book is quality Italian printing. This book will have excellent visual appeal for children, as the pictures are by no means frightening; rather, they are quite grandmotherly, in the positive meaning of the word.

The new translation, too, strives to be intelligible for children. Alice Martin’s translation was very accurate and faithful, and it was indeed made by a translator for adult readers, taking its place in the literary canon. It is difficult to exceed the inventive translation of Ms. Martin, and Mr. Nevanlinna’s position is not to be envied. In any case, he has pursued an interpretation suitable for children more obviously than Martin did, but he has not altered the content as much as Kunnas & Manner.

Nevanlinna’s best inventions concern details. He has invented new funny translations for some names: the Hatter is Hattu Hassinen, March Hare is Maaniskuun rusakko (portmanteau word combining maaliskuu ‘March’ and maaninen ‘manic’), Caucus-race is junttajuoksu (literally ‘Junta-race’), Mock Turtle is Vilpikonna (combining kilpikonna ‘turtle’ and vilppi ‘deceit’), and Cheshire Cat is Hangon kissa (in the city of Hanko they make crackers that have a very broad smile pressed upon them). Nevanlinna has brought the story into Finnish surroundings by using Finnish poems — like Vaarilla on saari for “Father William” — as bases for the parodic poems. The parodies do not, however, show so intimate a relation to them as those of Martin.

Carroll’s noble literary style has not been transformed into as fluent Finnish as one could desire. The translation has a certain flavour of commonplace in it, and some colloquialisms grate on the reader’s ear. Some poems, especially the opening poem “All in the golden afternoon”, might have needed still more polishing and tuning of the rhymes in the translation. One expects wittiness of style from a classic. Some puns have been translated more aptly in the previous translations, like “Syökö kissa yökön? Syökö yökkö kissan?” (“Do cats eat bats? Do bats eat cats?”) by Kunnas & Manner, which reads here: “Syövätkö kissat noita lepakoita? Syövätkö lepakot kissoja?”

There are, of course, some very hilarious scenes in Nevanlinna’s translation, too. His version of “How doth the little crocodile” is worth quoting in toto:

Kuinka voikaan krokotiilin pyrstökin niin loistaa! Varmaan vesi armaan Niilin harmaan siitä poistaa.   On liskon yhä kohteliaan kitaovi auki: ”Olkaa hyvä, sisään vaan, arvon herra hauki!”

How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale!   How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws!

Note especially the ingenious use of internal rhyme: varmaan–armaan–harmaan. (Alice Martin wrote here an unrivalled parody of a famous poem by Aleksis Kivi, using archaic rhyme.)

On the other hand, Nevanlinna has translated the end of “Father William” so freely that Oxenbury’s last illustration — balancing an eel on the end of a nose — does not match with the content of the poem.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland provides substance both for children and for adults within its many levels. The vivid and fantastic turns are put in enticing and poetic language. Alice changes her form like Proteus and therefore it seems apposite that her story keeps presenting itself in many forms. According to the American philosopher Charles S. Peirce, the life is in diversification, and if we are to believe him, we must conclude that Carroll’s Alice has proved to be a very tough-lived traveller of our culture.