Mark Twain in German-Language Newspapers and Periodicals

German translations for German-Americans

After two phases of intensive immigration, people of German heritage and background had firmly established themselves in the United States by the second half of the 19th century. In this context, it may seem surprising that, even as late as the 1880s, a number of German periodicals regarded it as necessary to provide translations of certain types of texts for a segment of the German-speaking population. As this passage from a Midwestern paper illustrates, this need persisted into the second decade of the 20th century. Although it seems to refer to official publications, the existence of translations of texts by Mark Twain shows that it also applied to literary material:

"Es giebt unter den in Deutschland geborenen Bürgern eine ganze Anzahl, die, obwohl der englischen Sprache für den gewöhnlichen Verkehr mächtig, doch ihre Schwierigkeiten haben, wenn sie Abhandlungen in der Schriftsprache lesen sollen. Dabei stehlen sich leicht Dunkelheiten und Mißverständnisse ein, wie das bei einer fremden Sprache, besonders wenn man sie in vorgerückten Jahren lernt, gar nicht zu vermeiden ist. Die in deutscher Sprache erscheinenden Zeitungen unseres Landes leisten schon aus diesem Grunde eine verdienstvolle Arbeit in der Aufklärung ihrer Leser."

[There are quite a number of German-born citizens who, although conversant in the English language, have their difficulties when they have to read treatises in in printed format. In such an endeavor, obscurities and misunderstandings may easily creep in, as is unavoidable when a person learns a foreign language at an advanced age. For this reason alone, the German-language newspapers in our country do a commendable job in enlightening their readers.]

"Wie der Krieg nach Amerika kam." Der tägliche Demokrat. (Davenport, Iowa), 05 Oct. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, p. 3, c. 1.Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027107/1917-10-05/ed-1/seq-3/>