75
A Comparison of the Strategies for Trans-
lating Racial Terminology in Harper Lee’s 
Novels into Slovenian and German
Janko Trupej
Abstract
This article addresses the strategies used to translate terms for black people in the novels 
To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman into Slovenian and German; these literary 
works were translated into both languages during the same periods.  The extent to which 
the connotative meaning of a specific term from the original culture was preserved in a 
certain target culture is analysed and the potential influence of the translation strategies 
on the perception of the novels is discussed.
Keywords: To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, racial terminology, 
translation
ACTA NEOPHILOLOGICA          UDK: [821.111(73).09Lee H.:81'255.4=163.6=112.2]:323.14
DOI: 10.4312/an.58.2.75-92
76 Janko TrupeJ
INTRODUCTION
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird received critical acclaim immediately upon its 
publication in 1960 and has gone on to become a classic of American literature, 
but it has also been challenged numerous times, including due to the frequent use 
of racial slurs ( Johnson 6; Sova 277–278, Saney 59). Go Set a Watchman was writ-
ten in 1957—prior to Lee’s debut novel—but published only in 2015; it received 
a lively reception and stirred up some controversy because in this novel, Atticus 
Finch, who had been an admirable character in To Kill a Mockingbird, displays 
racist views—some reviewers (e.g. Gorman; McClurg; Mindock) also referred to 
the use of racial slurs.
This article is going to analyse how the issue of racial terminology was ad-
dressed in translations of Lee’s novels into Slovenian and German.1 According to 
Johan Heilbron’s classification, Slovenian is one of the languages with a peripheral 
position in the world system of translation, while German is a central language. 
The translation of To Kill a Mockingbird into the latter language was published in 
1962 and a revised version of that translation was published in 2015. The novel 
was translated into Slovenian for the first time in 1964, while the re-translation 
was published in 2015. The German translation of Go Set a Watchman was also 
published in the latter year, while the Slovenian translation of this novel was pub-
lished in 2016.
Theo Hermans (11) remarked that “[f ]rom the point of view of the target 
literature, all translation implies a degree of manipulation of the source text for a 
certain purpose.” Heilbron asserted that translators into central languages tend to 
employ domesticating translation strategies, whereas translators into peripheral 
languages more frequently use foreignizing translation strategies (cf. Zlatnar Moe, 
Žigon and Mikolič Južnič 122–123).2 The present analysis will show whether this 
is true for the Slovenian and German translations of To Kill a Mockingbird and 
Go Set a Watchman, which were published around the same time. Since in each 
language there are two versions of the former novel, the so-called re-translation 
hypothesis will also be tested: according to this theory, foreignization is more 
characteristic of re-translations than first translations of literary works (Tahir 
Gürçağlar 233–234).
The analysis will be done in accordance with the basic concepts of Kitty M. 
van Leuven-Zwart’s model for translation analysis: the texts are going to be com-
pared on the microstructural level first, followed by a discussion of the potential 
1 Part of the research for this article was conducted during the author’s post-doctoral research stay at 
the University of Tübingen, which was made possible by a grant from the DAAD.
2 Domestication makes the translation conform to the conventions of the target culture, whereas 
foreignization retains elements from the original that break the conventions of the target culture 
(Venuti).
77A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
consequences of the established shifts3 on the macrostructural level of a particular 
target text, i.e., the readers’ perception of certain aspects of the narrative. In order 
to have a frame of reference, the relevant racial terms in English, Slovenian and 
German are going to be discussed before commencing with the comparison of 
the texts.
THE RELEVANT RACIAL TERMS FOR BLACK PEOPLE IN 
ENGLISH, SLOVENIAN AND GERMAN
Five different terms for black people are used in To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set 
a Watchman: nigger, darky, Negro, colored and black. While the markedness of some 
of these terms has changed over time in the 20th century, others have had a similar 
connotative meaning for a long time. The term nigger is in the latter category—
it has been pejorative for centuries (Kennedy 4–5; Hughes 327; Asim 11; Hill 
51), and became even more controversial after the intensification of the African 
American Civil Rights Movement in the middle of the 20th century (Hughes 
329). The term darky is somewhat less offensive than the racial slur nigger, but it 
is as derogatory as coon or Jim Crow (Asim 79). For many years, Negro and colored 
were the standard terms for black people (Hughes 327; Hill 51), but in the second 
part of the 20th century, they gradually became pejorative and were substituted by 
black and African American as the most acceptable designations (Rattansi 116).4
The term Nigger has also been known as a racial slur in German for quite 
some time; for instance, in the encyclopaedia Meyers Großes Konversations-Lex-
ikon (689), published in 1908, it is defined as “a disparaging term for a Negro 
in America”.5 As Ulrike Kramer (82) notes, it is used as a racial slur in modern 
3 Shifts can be described as “[a]ll that appears as new with respect to the original, or fails to appear 
where it might have been expected” (Popovič; qtd. in Bakker, Koster and van Leuven-Zwart 271) 
or “changes which occur or may occur in the process of translating” (Bakker, Koster and van Leu-
ven-Zwart 269).
4 Until the mid-1960s, black was generally regarded as less acceptable, but then activists began to 
advocate for its use, and as soon as by the early 1970s it had gained wide acceptance (see Smith 
499–503). For instance, in a 1969 documentary by Horace Ové titled Baldwin’s Nigger, a black stu-
dent confronts renowned writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin for still referring to himself 
as a Negro instead of black. Baldwin responds as follows (qtd. in Trupej, “The Significance” 124): 
“I cannot change my vocabulary overnight. […] We’ve been called and call ourselves American 
Negroes for all nearly 400 years. […] Your generation, not mine, will call itself black. That’s good 
enough for me, that’s the whole point. My mother, my mother’s mother, called herself a nigger.” 
This issue was such a ‘hot topic’ that in 1972 even prominent comedian Richard Pryor talked about 
the transition from colored and Negro to black in his stand-up act, and he also acknowledged that 
some African Americans were not on board with this development: “In my neighbourhood, there 
used to be some beautiful black man […] and he’d be: […] ‘Black is beautiful.’ […] My parents go: 
‘That nigga crazy!’”
5 Citations not originally in English were translated by the author of the present article.
78 Janko TrupeJ
German also. While for many years, Neger was a standard term, generally used to 
refer to black people with darker skin (Arndt and Hamann 650), it gradually came 
to be perceived as pejorative (Arndt 654): according to Anke Poenicke (18), this 
process began in the 1970s in West Germany (BRD) and in the 1980s in East 
Germany (DDR). In modern times, the term Neger even came to be referred to as 
the German ‘N-word’ (Arndt 653). Another common term was Farbiger, gener-
ally used for black people of mixed ancestry (Sow, “Farbig/e” 684), which had its 
‘heyday’ in the 1950s and 1960s (Poenicke 18). It gradually also became pejorative 
and was replaced with Schwarzer as the most acceptable German term for black 
people (Sow, “Schwarz” 608).
The historical development of the relevant Slovenian terminology was estab-
lished by means of a corpus analysis and by checking relevant lexemes in diction-
aries, while the present attitudes towards different terms for black people were 
determined via a survey. It was established that while for a long time, zamorec was 
the standard and most widely used term for black people, the frequency of its us-
age began to decline soon after the establishment of a socialist system in Slovenia 
(one of the republics of Yugoslavia) after World War II, and at the latest during 
the 1960s, it came to be stylistically marked. Črnec became the standard term and 
is still widely used in the new millennium,6 although in recent decades, it has been 
replaced by temnopolt as the most politically correct term for black people. Out of 
the most offensive Slovenian terms for black people, the term črnuh has been used 
most frequently throughout history (see Trupej, “Zaznamovanost”).
ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF TO KILL A 
MOCKINGBIRD
The Slovenian translation (1964) and re-translation (2015)
Lee’s debut novel was first translated by Janez Sivec and decades later it was 
re-translated by Polona Glavan. Both of them used similar strategies for trans-
lating the terms Negro, colored, black and darky: in the vast majority of instances, 
these were translated as the noun črnec or the adjective črn. This was the standard 
term at the time of the first translation, whereas by the time the second translation 
was published, temnopolt had replaced it as the most politically correct term. Both 
translators thus neutralized the differences in the connotative meaning between 
6 A survey revealed that Slovenians generally still consider the term črnec to be quite acceptable: it 
received an average rating of 1.87 (with 1 being completely inoffensive and 5 being extremely of-
fensive), while temnopolt received an average rating of 1.17 (Trupej, “Zaznamovanost” 639). How-
ever, some disagree: for instance, prominent writer Gabriela Babnik (qtd. in Kolednik) mentioned 
the term črnec alongside nigger and črnuhar as offensive terms that Slovenians use for black people. 
79A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
the original terms, since at the time of the publication of the source text, the terms 
Negro and colored were considered neutral, while the terms black and darky were 
stylistically marked. In each translation there are a few omissions; for instance, 
both translators (Lee - Sivec 203; Lee - Glavan, Če ubiješ 187) omitted the term 
black in the following sentence: “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my 
Mayella!” (Lee, To Kill 190). They seemed to have deemed it unnecessary to em-
phasize the skin colour of the person referred to, since their translations of the 
term nigger (zamorec and črnuh, respectively) already conveyed this information. 
In both target texts, there are a few other deviations from the usual translation 
strategy. For instance, Sivec used the term črnopolt [black-skinned] for Negro on 
one occasion, and he also used the pejorative term zamorec once for the negative 
term darky as well as once for the neutral term colored. For the latter English term, 
Glavan used temnopolt six times, although it is not apparent why she used this 
term in a particular instance instead of her usual translation, i.e., črnec or črn.
There are more significant differences in the translation strategies for the term 
nigger. Sivec mostly translated it as zamorec; while Glavan also employed the latter 
term in one instance, she mostly opted for the more pejorative črnuh. However, 
Sivec and Glavan also used the term črnec for nigger eight and five times, respec-
tively; in most of these instances, this standard Slovenian term was employed 
when the racial slur was uttered by a positive Caucasian character in the presence 
of an African American character or by an African American character. For ex-
ample, both translators (Lee - Sivec 229; Lee - Glavan, Če ubiješ 211) opted for 
the term črnec when translating the following statement by Tom Robinson, the 
African American character on trial for his life: “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger 
like me, you’d be scared, too.” (Lee, To Kill 215). However, the pejorative terms 
zamorec (Lee - Sivec 91) and črnuh (Lee - Glavan, Če ubiješ 84) were used in the 
translations of the following exchange between the protagonist Scout Finch and 
her father, which illustrates the importance of preserving the negative connota-
tion of the term nigger:
“Do you defend niggers, Atticus?” I asked him that evening.
“Of course I do. Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.”
“’s what everybody at school says.”
“From now on it’ll be everybody less one—” (Lee, To Kill 83)
It can be said that the re-translation preserves the role that racial terminol-
ogy plays in the original to a great extent, whereas the same claim cannot be 
made about the first translation: although by the mid-1960s the term zamorec was 
somewhat stylistically marked, it was not (and still is not) one of the most offen-
sive Slovenian terms for black people. Therefore, the intensity of racist discourse 
in Sivec’s translation is significantly lower than in the source text.
80 Janko TrupeJ
Table 1: Racial terminology in the Slovenian translations of To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee [1960] 2010 Lee - Sivec [1964] 19847 Lee - Glavan 20158
nigger (48×) 39×zamorec
8×črnec
1×omission
42×črnuh
5×črnec
1×zamorec
Negro (54×) 52×črnec
1×črnopolt
1×omission
52×črn/-ec
2×omission
colored (28×) 26×črnec
1×zamorec
1×omission
22×črn/-ec
6×temnopolt
black (16×) 15×črn/-ec
1×omission
14×črn/-ec
2×omission
darky (2×) 1×črnec
1×zamorec
2×črni
The German translation (1962) and its revised version (2015)
To Kill a Mockingbird was first translated into German by Claire Malignon, and 
her translation was later revised by Nikolaus Stingl. The initial translation and its 
revised version do not differ as far as the translations of the terms Negro, colored, 
black and darky are concerned. The term Negro was consistently translated as Neger, 
the only exception being the statement “Tom was a black-velvet Negro” (Lee, To 
Kill 212), which reads “Tom war tiefschwarz” [Tom was ebony] (Lee - Malignon 
234; Lee - Malignon/Stingl 306). The term colored was translated either as the 
noun Farbiger or the adjective farbig, with the exception of one omission of the 
term. For the term black, either the noun Schwarzer or the adjective schwarz was 
used, except in one sentence, where the term Farbiger was used in both versions of 
the translation. The term Schwarzer was also used for the two instances of the term 
darky; thereby, the derogatory nature of the English term was not preserved, espe-
cially not in the revised translation, since by the time it was published, Schwarzer 
had become the standard term. Retaining the terms Farbiger and Neger had the 
opposite effect; while these had been the standard terms when the novel was first 
translated, by the time the translation was revised, they were considered pejorative.
There are some differences between the two versions with regard to the transla-
tion of the racial slur nigger. In the majority of cases, Malignon retained the term 
in the translation; however, after translating the first instance of it in the narrative 
7 See Appendix 1 for the table with references.
8 See Appendix 2 for the table with references.
81A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
as Nigger, she used Neger for the next four instances, and once more later on. 
These five instances are not uttered by an African American character, but rather 
by three different Caucasian characters, one of them being Scout Finch. When 
Stingl revised the translation, he changed these five instances of Neger into Nig-
ger. In both versions of the translation, there is one omission, which occurs in the 
following statement by Tom Robinson: “She says what her papa do to her don’t 
count. She says, ‘Kiss me back, nigger.’” (Lee, To Kill 214). The second sentence 
is transformed into reported speech in the German version: “Was Pa mit ihr tut, 
zählt nicht, sagt sie, und sie will, dass ich sie auch küsse.” [What her pa does with 
her doesn’t count, she says, and she wants me to kiss her too.] (Lee - Malignon 
236; Lee - Malignon/Stingl 309).
The fact that the term Nigger was used more often in the revised version of 
the translation than in the initial translation indicates a tendency for the German 
version of the novel to be closer to the source text. However, due to the terms 
Farbiger and Neger also having become pejorative by the time the revised trans-
lation was published, this version contains a considerably larger number of terms 
that many modern readers might find offensive than was the case for the initially 
published translation—or for the source text at the time of publication. Since over 
the decades, the terms Negro and colored underwent a similar transformation in 
connotative meaning as the two aforementioned German terms, it can be argued 
that the effects on the modern readership of To Kill a Mockingbird in English and 
German are comparable. 
Table 2: Racial terminology in the German translation of To Kill a Mockingbird and 
its revised version
Lee [1960] 2010 Lee - Malignon [1962] 19649 Lee - Malignon/Stingl 201510
nigger (48×) 42×Nigger
5×Neger
1×omission
47×Nigger
1×omission
Negro (54×) 53×Neger
1×schwarz
53×Neger
1×schwarz
colored (28×) 27×Farbiger/farbig
1×omission
27×Farbiger/farbig
1×omission
black (16×) 15×Schwarzer/schwarz 
1×Farbiger
15×Schwarzer/schwarz
1×Farbiger 
darky (2×) 2×Schwarzer 2×Schwarzer
9 See Appendix 3 for the table with references.
10 See Appendix 4 for the table with references.
82 Janko TrupeJ
ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF GO SET A 
WATCHMAN
The Slovenian translation (2016)
The year after the publication of Polona Glavan’s translation of To Kill a Mockingbird, 
her translation of Go Set a Watchman was published. Unlike in the former translation, 
where she mostly translated colored as črnec, in the latter translation she consistently 
opted for the term temnopolt—the most politically correct Slovenian term for black 
people. For both Negro and black, she constantly used either črnec or črn.
For the term nigger, Glavan mostly used the pejorative term črnuh, although in 
four instances, she also opted for črnec—in three of those cases, the term is used 
in a context that is negative. One such example can be found in the translation 
(Lee – Glavan, Pojdi 164) of the following sentence: “They want to get the niggers 
married to that class and keep on until the whole social pattern’s done away with.” 
(Lee, Go Set 177). The importance of preserving the offensiveness of the term 
nigger—which Glavan did by using črnuh in her translation (Lee - Glavan, Pojdi 
139, 165)—is illustrated by the following sentences: “What turned ordinary men 
into screaming dirt at the top of their voices, what made her kind of people harden 
and say ‘nigger’ when the word had never crossed their lips before? […] You will 
not believe me, but I will tell you: never in my life until today did I hear the word 
‘nigger’ spoken by a member of my family.” (Lee, Go Set 150, 178).
It can be said that Glavan mostly preserved the markedness of the racial ter-
minology from the time when the novel was written, since for nigger she used 
the most common severely offensive Slovenian term, whereas for colored and Ne-
gro—which were standard terms in the 1950s—she used the two least stylistically 
marked Slovenian terms. Black was not the standard term for African Americans 
when the manuscript was written, and for this term, the translator also did not use 
the most acceptable Slovenian term for black people, i.e., temnopolt, but rather a 
slightly more marked term.
Table 3: Racial terminology in the Slovenian translation of Go Set a Watchman11
Lee 2015 Lee - Glavan 2016
nigger (27×) 23×črnuh
4×črnec
Negro (60×) 60×črn/-ec
black (15×) 15×črn/-ec
colored (4×) 4×temnopolt/-i
11 See Appendix 5 for the table with references.
83A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
The German translation (2015)
The strategies that Klaus Timmermann and Ulrike Wasel used for translating the 
racial terminology in Go Set a Watchman were comparable to those used in the 
revised translation of To Kill a Mockingbird, which was published in the same year. 
Unlike in any other translation examined in this study, the strategy for translating 
the term nigger was completely consistent: all instances of the English term were 
retained in the translation. The translators were as consistent as far as the trans-
lation of the term black is concerned: either Schwarzer or schwarz was used. All 
instances of the term colored were also constantly translated as Farbiger or farbig. 
However, while the original term was not pejorative when Lee wrote the text, the 
opposite is true for the German term when the translation was done. The situa-
tion is similar for Negro, which was mostly translated as Neger, but on four occa-
sions—all of them in the chapter in which Scout Finch visits her family’s former 
housekeeper Calpurnia—Farbiger or farbig was used. While the English term was 
neutral when the novel was written, the German term was pejorative when the 
translation was published.
In an editorial note (Lee - Timmermann/Wasel 317), the use of the term Neg-
er was addressed: “The term ‘Negro’, which was used by Harper Lee, was faithfully 
translated as ‘Neger’ in the novel, since this is in line with the common use at the 
time that the manuscript was written, even though the term is nowadays regard-
ed as derogatory.” The circumstance that the term Farbiger underwent a similar 
change in connotative meaning was not acknowledged. Since both Negro and 
colored were considered neutral when the novel was written, but not when it was 
eventually published, it can be said that by using Neger and Farbiger, the effect on 
readers in the target culture is comparable to the effect on readers in the source 
culture at the time of publication; however, this is not the effect Lee initially in-
tended to achieve when opting to use the terms in question.
Table 4: Racial terminology in the German translation of Go Set a Watchman12
Lee 2015 Lee - Timmermann/Wasel 2015
nigger (27×) 27×Nigger
Negro (60×) 56×Neger
4×Farbiger/farbig
black (15×) 15×Schwarzer/schwarz
colored (4×) 4×Farbiger/farbig
12 See Appendix 6 for the table with references.
84 Janko TrupeJ
CONCLUSION
The strategies for translating the racial terminology in Harper Lee’s novels into 
Slovenian and German were somewhat different, which potentially influenced 
how readers in these languages perceived certain aspects of the story of a particu-
lar novel.
While in the first Slovenian translation of To Kill a Mockingbird, the severity of 
racist discourse was significantly softened due to the racial slur nigger being most 
frequently translated as zamorec, which was not one of the most offensive Slove-
nian terms for black people at the time, the re-translation is closer to the original 
in this respect, since the term črnuh was mostly used instead.13 In both transla-
tions, the differences in the connotative meaning of the other terms for African 
Americans (Negro, colored, black, darky) were largely neutralized by the use of črnec 
or črn, which was the standard way to refer to black people at the time of the first 
translation and was not perceived as offensive by the majority of Slovenians by the 
time that the second translation was published either. It can therefore be conclud-
ed that in the first translation, certain characters and southern society in general 
appear to be less racist than in the original, while for the second translation, this 
is true to a much lesser extent.
In the first German translation, all but six instances of the term nigger from 
the original were retained, while the revised version was changed so that only 
one instance of this racial slur was not preserved—this speaks of an effort for 
the connotative meaning of the target text to be closer to that of the source text. 
However, since in the revised version of the translation, none of the other terms 
for black people were changed, this may result in the modern readership per-
ceiving the text differently than readers in the 1960s—characters appear more 
racist. This is because at the time when the novel was first translated, the terms 
Neger and Farbiger were standard terms (as was true for Negro and colored when 
the original was published), whereas by the time the revised version was pub-
lished, these two German terms had become pejorative—as had both English 
terms. It can therefore be argued that modern readers of the German version 
of To Kill a Mockingbird perceive the racial terminology and its effects on char-
acterization in a similar manner as modern readers in the source culture—but 
unlike initial readers.
Since Go Set a Watchman was translated by the same translator who had also 
been responsible for the re-translation of To Kill a Mockingbird, it is not surprising 
that comparable strategies for translating racial terminology were used, the main 
difference being that the term colored was consistently translated as temnopolt this 
13 It should be noted that none of the most offensive Slovenian terms for black people carry a conno-
tative meaning as negative as the term nigger, which is associated with slavery, segregation, lynch-
ings, etc.
85A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
time. Because the markedness of the Slovenian terms is similar to that of the 
original terms at the time the manuscript was written, it can be concluded that 
by using them, the translator tried to achieve an effect comparable to the one the 
novel’s author originally intended.
Although the German translation of Go Set a Watchman was done by two dif-
ferent translators than the revised version of To Kill a Mockingbird, the translation 
strategies were comparable. Since along with the term nigger being constantly 
retained, the terms Neger and Farbiger or farbig were used for Negro and colored, 
it can be said of this translation also that readers perceived the racial terminology 
similarly to modern readers in the source culture, but not the way that the author 
originally intended almost six decades before her manuscript was published.
An effort for the translation to be closer to the source text is evident for both 
the Slovenian re-translation and the revised version of the German translation; 
therefore, this case study supports the re-translation hypothesis. However, the 
results of the analysis do not support the theory that in translations into central 
languages domesticating translation strategies tend to be employed, since in 
both German translations from this century there are more racial terms that 
break the conventions of the target culture than is the case for the Slovenian 
translations.14 However, it is not completely clear whether this was done inten-
tionally by the German translators or whether it is a consequence of not giving 
sufficient consideration to how the markedness of certain terms has changed 
over time.
Janko Trupej
Jurklošter
janko.trupej@gmail.com
14 The comparison of the strategies for translating racial terminology in Sinclair Lewis’s novel Kings-
blood Royal into Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian and German also revealed that the markedness of the 
terms for black people was preserved to a greater extent in German than in the two Slavic languag-
es (see Trupej, “The Significance”).
86 Janko TrupeJ
WORKS CITED
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Lee, Harper. Gehe hin, stelle einen Wächter. Translated by Klaus Timmermann and 
Ulrike Wasel. München, Penguin Verlag, 2015.
Lee, Harper. Go Set a Watchman. London, William Heinemann, 2015.
Lee, Harper. Ne ubijaj slavca. Translated by Janez Sivec. Murska Sobota, Pomur-
ska založba, 1984.
Lee, Harper. Pojdi, postavi stražarja. Translated by Polona Glavan. Ljubljana, 
Mladinska knjiga, 2016.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. London, Arrow Books, 2010.
Lee, Harper. Wer die Nachtigall stört… Translated by Claire Malignon. Berlin/
Weimar, Aufbau-Verlag, 1964.
Lee, Harper. Wer die Nachtigall stört… Translated by Claire Malignon. Adapted by 
Nikolaus Stingl. Reinbek bei Hamburg, Rowohlt Verlag, 2015.
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88 Janko TrupeJ
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Primerjava strategij za prevajanje rasnega izrazoslovja v romanih 
Harper Lee v slovenščino in nemščino
Članek se ukvarja s strategijami, ki so bile uporabljene za prevajanje poimenovanj za 
temnopolte v romanih Če ubiješ oponašalca in Pojdi, postavi stražarja v slovenščino ter 
nemščino; literarni deli sta bili v posamezen jezik prevedeni v istem obdobju. Analizirano 
je, v kolikšni meri je bil konotativni pomen določenega poimenovanja iz izvirne kulture 
ohranjen tudi v posamezni ciljni kulturi. Članek se ukvarja tudi s potencialnim vplivom 
uporabljenih prevajalskih strategij na dojemanje romanov.
Ključne besede: Če ubiješ oponašalca, Pojdi, postavi stražarja, Harper Lee, rasno izrazos-
lovje, prevajanje
89A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
Appendix 1: Racial terminology in the Slovenian translation of 
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee [1960] 2010/Lee - Sivec [1964] 1984
nigger 
(48×)
39×zamorec (60/68 (2×), 62/70, 82/91, 83/91 (2×), 83/92, 85/94, 92/101 (4×), 
93/102, 95/104, 112/122, 113/122, 113/123, 115/124 (2×), 120/129 (2×), 120/130 
(2×), 166/177, 184/196, 190/203, 193/205, 196/209, 199/212, 203/216, 207/221, 
214/228 (2×), 216/230, 240/255, 265/281 (3×), 275/292)
8×črnec (41/48, 73/82, 131/142 (2×), 139/149, 215/229, 216/230, 218/232)
1×omission (180/192)
Negro 
(54×)
52×črnec (9/16, 12/19, 60/68, 62/70, 83/92 (2×), 88/97, 98/107, 120/130, 130/141, 
131/141 (2×), 136/147, 172/184 (2×), 176/189, 178/190 (6×), 180/192, 181/193, 
186/199, 187/200, 188/201 (2×), 212/225 (2×), 212/226 (4×), 220/234, 225/239 
(6×), 225/240, 226/240 (2×), 231/245, 233/248, 243/259, 249/265, 260/276, 
261/277, 264/280, 276/292)
1×črnopolt (110/119)
1×omission (226/240)
colored 
(28×)
26×črnec (27/34, 82/91, 132/142, 138/148, 138/149, 139/150, 151/162, 177/189 
(2×), 177/190 (3×), 181/193, 191/203, 208/222, 222/236 (2×), 228/242, 230/244, 
237/251, 238/252, 242/257, 249/265, 250/265, 265/281, 297/314)
1×zamorec (50/58)
1×omission (177/189)
black 
(16×)
15×črn/-ec (97/107, 139/149, 140/151, 178/190 (2×), 180/193, 181/193, 225/239, 
225/240, 226/240, 243/258 (3×), 264/280, 304/322)
1×omission (190/203)
darky  
(2×)
1×črnec (255/271) 
1×zamorec (256/271)
Appendix 2: Racial terminology in the Slovenian re-translation of 
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee [1960] 2010/Lee - Glavan 2015
nigger 
(48×)
42×črnuh (60/62 (2×), 62/64, 82/84, 83/84 (2×), 83/85, 85/86, 92/92, 92/93 (3×), 
93/94, 95/96, 112/112, 113/112, 113/113, 115/114 (2×), 120/119 (4×), 131/131, 
166/163, 180/177, 184/181, 190/187, 193/189, 196/192, 199/195, 203/200, 
207/204, 214/210 (2×), 216/212, 218/214, 240/236, 265/260 (3×), 275/270)
5×črnec (41/44, 131/131, 139/138, 215/211, 216/212)
1×zamorec (73/75)
Negro 
(54×)
52×črn/-ec (9/15, 12/17, 60/62, 62/64, 83/84, 83/85, 88/89, 98/98, 110/110, 
120/119, 130/130, 131/130, 131/131, 136/135, 172/169, 172/170, 176/174, 
178/175 (5×), 178/176, 180/177, 186/183, 187/184, 188/185 (2×), 212/208 (5×), 
220/215, 225/221 (4×), 225/222 (3×), 226/222 (3×), 231/227, 233/229, 243/240, 
249/245, 260/255, 261/256, 264/259, 276/270)
2×omission (181/178, 212/208)
90 Janko TrupeJ
colored 
(28×)
22×črn/-ec (50/53, 82/83, 139/138, 177/174 (2×), 177/175 (4×), 181/178, 191/187, 
208/204, 222/218 (2×), 228/224, 230/226, 237/233, 238/234, 242/238, 249/245, 
250/246, 265/260)
6×temnopolt (27/32, 132/131, 138/137, 138/138, 151/149, 297/291)
black 
(16×)
14×črn/-ec (97/98, 139/138, 140/139, 178/175 (2×), 180/177, 181/178, 225/221, 
225/222, 226/222, 243/239, 243/240 (2×), 304/299)
2×omission (190/187, 264/259)
darky  
(2×)
2×črni (255/251, 256/251) 
Appendix 3: Racial terminology in the German translation of To 
Kill a Mockingbird
Lee [1960] 2010/Lee - Malignon [1962] 1964
nigger 
(48×)
42×Nigger (41/48, 82/93, 83/93 (2×), 83/94, 85/96, 92/103 (2×), 92/104 (2×), 
93/105, 95/107, 112/126, 113/126, 113/127, 115/129 (2×), 120/134 (3×), 120/135, 
131/145 (2×), 139/153, 166/183, 184/202, 190/210, 193/213, 196/216, 199/219, 
203/224, 207/229, 214/236, 215/237, 216/238 (2×), 218/241, 240/264, 265/292 
(2×), 265/293, 275/304)
5×Neger (60/69 (2×), 62/71, 73/83, 180/199)
1×omission (214/236)
Negro 
(54×)
53×Neger (9/14, 12/17, 60/69, 62/71, 83/94 (2×), 88/99, 98/111, 110/123, 
120/134, 130/144, 131/144 (2×), 136/150, 172/189, 172/190, 176/195, 178/196 
(4×), 178/197 (2×), 180/199, 181/199, 186/205, 187/206, 188/208 (2×), 212/233 
(2×), 212/234 (3×), 220/242, 225/248 (4×), 225/249 (3×), 226/249 (3×), 231/255, 
233/257, 243/269, 249/275, 260/287, 261/288, 264/291, 276/304)
1×schwarz (212/234)
colored 
(28×)
27×Farbiger/farbig (27/33, 50/58, 82/92, 138/152, 138/153, 139/153, 151/166, 
177/195 (3×), 177/196 (3×), 181/200, 191/210, 208/230, 222/245 (2×), 228/251, 
230/254, 237/261, 238/262, 242/267, 249/276, 250/276, 265/293, 297/327)
1×omission (132/145)
black 
(16×)
15×Schwarzer/schwarz (97/110, 139/153, 140/154, 178/196, 178/197, 181/199, 
190/210, 225/248, 225/249, 226/249, 243/268 (3×), 264/291, 304/335)
1×Farbiger (180/199)
darky  
(2×)
2×Schwarzer (255/282, 256/282)
91A Comparison of the Strategies for Translating Racial Terminology ...
Appendix 4: Racial terminology in the revised version of the 
German translation of To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee [1960] 2010/Lee - Malignon/Stingl 2015 
nigger 
(48×)
47×Nigger (41/64, 60/91 (2×), 62/94, 73/110, 82/123, 83/123 (2×), 83/124, 
85/126, 92/136 (4×), 93/138, 95/141, 112/165, 113/165, 113/166, 115/168 (2×), 
120/174, 120/175 (3×), 131/191 (2×), 139/201, 166/240, 180/260, 184/266, 
190/275, 193/279, 196/283, 199/287, 203/294, 207/299, 214/309, 215/311, 
216/311–12, 216/312, 218/315, 240/346, 265/383 (3×), 275/397)
1×omission (214/309)
Negro 
(54×)
53×Neger (9/20, 12/24, 60/91, 62/93, 83/124 (2×), 88/131, 98/145, 110/161, 
120/175, 130/190, 131/190, 131/191, 136/197, 172/249 (2×), 176/255, 178/257 
(4×), 178/258 (2×), 180/261, 181/261, 186/269, 187/271, 188/272, 188/273, 
212/305, 212/306 (4×), 220/316, 225/324 (4×), 225/325 (3×), 226/325 (3×), 
231/333, 233/336, 243/352, 249/360, 260/375, 261/376, 264/381, 276/397)
1×schwarz (212/306)
colored 
(28×)
27×Farbiger/farbig (27/45, 50/77, 82/121, 138/199, 138/200, 139/201, 151/219, 
177/256 (3×), 177/257 (3×), 181/261, 191/276, 208/301, 222/320 (2×), 228/328, 
230/332, 237/341, 238/342, 242/349, 249/360, 250/361, 265/383, 297/426)
1×omission (132/191)
black 
(16×)
15×Schwarzer/schwarz (97/144, 139/201, 140/203, 178/257, 178/258, 181/261, 
190/275, 225/324, 225/325, 226/325, 243/351 (3×), 264/381, 304/437)
1×Farbiger (180/261)
darky  
(2×)
2×Schwarzer (255/369, 256/369)
Appendix 5: Racial terminology in the Slovenian translation of 
Go Set a Watchman
Lee 2015/Lee - Glavan 2016
black 
(15×)
15×črn/-ec (49/48, 88/83, 103/96, 109/102, 110/103, 156/144, 175/161, 178/165, 
179/165, 197/181, 236/217, 246/226 (2×), 248/227, 249/229)
colored 
(4×)
4×temnopolt/-i (105/98, 109/102, 149/138, 177/163)
Negro 
(60×)
60×črn/-ec (3/7, 27/29, 72/69, 73/70, 74/70 (2×), 80/76, 101/95, 102/96, 115/108, 
143/133, 149/138 (2×), 155/144 (2×), 156/144 (2×), 158/146, 161/149, 166/154 
(2×), 168/155 (2×), 176/162, 176/163, 177/163, 178/165 (2×), 179/165 (4×), 
181/167 (2×), 189/174, 196/181, 199/184, 229/210, 241/222, 242/222 (3×), 
243/223 (6×), 245/225 (2×), 246/225, 246/226 (3×), 247/226, 247/227, 251/230, 
270/246 (2×), 270/247)
nigger 
(27×)
23×črnuh (108/101 (2×), 110/103 (2×), 150/139, 172/159, 174/161, 175/161, 
175/162, 178/165 (2×), 188/173, 229/210, 245/225, 248/227, 248/228, 251/230)
4×črnec (162/150, 167/154, 177/164, 252/231)
92 Janko TrupeJ
Appendix 6: Racial terminology in the German translation of Go 
Set a Watchman
Lee 2015/Lee – Timmermann/Wasel 2015
black 
(15×)
15×Schwarzer/schwarz (49/59, 88/102, 103/118, 109/125, 110/127, 156/177, 
175/198, 178/202, 179/203,197/223, 236/268, 246/280 (2×), 248/282, 249/284)
colored 
(4×)
4×Farbiger/farbig (105/120, 109/125, 149/169, 177/201)
Negro 
(60×)
56×Neger (3/9, 27/36, 72/86, 73/87, 74/87, 74/88, 80/95, 101/116, 102/117, 
115/132, 143/163, 149/169, 149/170, 155/177, 161/183, 166/188, 166/189, 
168/190 (2×), 176/199, 176/200, 177/201, 178/202 (2×), 179/203 (4×), 181/205, 
181/206, 189/214, 196/223, 199/226, 229/260, 241/274, 242/274, 242/275 (2×), 
243/276 (3×), 243/277 (3×), 245/278, 245/279, 246/279, 246/280 (3×), 247/281 
(2×), 251/286, 270/306 (3×))
4×Farbiger/farbig (155/177, 156/177, 156/178, 158/179)
nigger 
(27×)
27×Nigger (108/124, 108/125, 110/126 (6×), 110/127 (2×), 150/171, 162/184, 
167/189, 172/195, 174/197, 175/198 (2×), 177/201, 178/202 (2×), 188/213, 
229/260, 245/279, 248/282 (2×), 251/286, 252/287)