For much of his short life (1920-1959), the French writer Boris Vian will pay the price of a sin of youth: the pseudo-translation of an American novel, full with eroticism and violence, J’irai cracher sur vos tombes (1946). On the one hand, the novel will be the only commercial success obtained by the French author during his life; on the other, it will be repeatedly charged for offense against morality, forcing Vian to undergo several trials, with significant economic losses. Vian will also adapt his text for the theatre (1948), producing a version which could be labeled as an intersemiotic self-translation. In my paper, I will study the relations between the two texts: the “pseudo-translated” novel and the play. The analysis will show the desire to “redeem” the novel through its rewriting / manipulation: eroticism and violence will be largely mitigated, while the anti-racist theme will be brought to the fore.
