My name is Emer O’ Connor and I am a BA (Hons) student in University College Cork. I study both Spanish and Economics. This project is part of the HS3004 Translating Business, Culture and Society in the Hispanic World. The project that I have chosen to translate for this module is the novel ‘Julia, Pablo y el Cubo de Rubik’ by José Ovejero. (see appendix) It gives an insight to the everyday people of Madrid living after the Franco regime. This project opened my eyes to a new and different perspective on translation, and the classes which I enjoyed tending gave me a new insight into how interesting translation can be. I have now learned that key aspects such as context, audiences, and especially language play a huge role in the translation world. Whether it be a newspaper article, a travel leaflet or a novel, translation is a major aspect in our lives.
Introduction
‘Julia, Pablo y el Cubo de Rubik’ is about the story of a young adolescent girl living in the transition years in Madrid. She came from a family with mixed political views. Her grandfather was a fascist and for this reason, she could not tolerate him. However, her father a borderline alcoholic, did not support Franco. Every year on her birthday they celebrated the death of Franco with a bottle of champagne. Although, after Franco died, he did in fact support the new politicians who were part of the old fascist regime. This is one of the dilemmas that marks this time of the transition. Julia decides to move out and live by herself in a flat where she meets Pablo who is a communist but not very political. She soon realises that the only interest that he has is in music and drugs and Julia becomes more involved in her political views and will leave no one stop her from fighting for what she believes in.
