Do women and men translate differently? A quantitative study of stylistic differences in four translations of "Madame Bovary"

Abstract

Gender differences in oral communication are a linguistic fact. The objective of this study is to find out if such differences exist even in written communication, focusing here on the translation of prose texts. Based on a quantitative research model, the investigation aims to find out if gender has an influence on linguistic style in translation. The material examined consists of four different translations from French into English of the same source text, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. The results of the study can not support the assumption that gender has a significant influence on linguistic style in translation.