Jakten på terminologien

Translating Redmond O’Hanlon’s novel Trawler offered some extra challenges, as it also started a fervent hunt for terminology. My dismay was profound when I discovered that a fishery nation like Norway had no English– Norwegian marine dictionary or handbook. Handbooks and dictionaries for specific terminologies of medicine, chemistry, technology, law etc. are a must for translators of non-fiction and science. But even literary translators are totally dependent on such handbooks. Fiction covers almost every aspect of life and work. This crazy novel Trawler, about life out in the Arctic Ocean in violent hurricane, contains hundreds of specific terms and names pertaining to seine-fishing, unknown deep-sea fishes and life on board a modern trawler. Hunting around for the correct Norwegian terms and expressions, I met with many professionals and specialists, people sharing my surprise and frustration and agreeing that such a deficiency could seriously harm both mutual understanding at sea and the academic level of research in this field. A fishery nation like Norway should be able to stop the creation of a new kind of pidgin at sea similar to the former Pomor language. The Pomor language was in its time very inventive, although clearly reflecting the fact that the Russians believed they spoke Norwegian, while the Norwegians believed they spoke Russian.