ENG 414 Translation Theory and Practice Ms Khareen

ENG 414 Translation: Theory and Practice Ms. Khareen Culajara University of Mindanao Digos

Translation Studies �Translation is a discipline in its own right: not merely a minor branch of comparative literary study, nor yet a specific area of linguistics but a vastly complex field with many far-reaching ramifications.

Translation Studies �ISSUE: Translation is perceived as an intrinsic part of the foreign language teaching process, it has rarely been studied for its own sake.

Translation Studies �What is generally understood as translation involves the rendering of a source language (SL) text 2 into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted

Translation Studies �It is hardly surprising that such a restricted concept of translation goes hand in hand with the low status accorded to the translator and to distinctions usually being made between the writer and the translator to the detriment of the latter.

Hilaire Belloc (1931) “The art of translation is a subsidiary art and derivative. On this account it has never been granted the dignity of original work, and has suffered too much in the general judgment of letters. This natural underestimation of its value has had the bad practical effect of lowering the standard demanded, and in some periods has almost destroyed the art altogether. The corresponding misunderstanding of its character has added to its degradation: neither its importance nor its difficulty has been grasped. ”

Translation Studies �Translation has been perceived as a secondary activity, as a ‘mechanical’ rather than a ‘creative’ process, within the competence of anyone with a basic grounding in a language other than their own; in short, as a low status occupation. �What is analysed in such studies is the product only, the end result of the translation process and not the process itself.

“Servant-translator” �a term widely popular in the English-speaking world in the 19 th century

Theory and practice of translation in the 18 th century �Alexander Tytler: Essay on the Principles of Translation � first theoretical essay on translation in English

A shift of status of the translator But although in the early 19 th century translation was still regarded as a serious and useful method for helping a writer explore and shape his own native style, much as it had been for centuries, there was also a shift in the status of the translator, with an increasing number of ‘amateur’ translators (amongst whom many British diplomats) whose object in translating had more to do with circulating the contents of a given work than with exploring the formal properties of the text.

The translator: self-denial and repression of creative impulses � Dante Gabriel Rossetti could declare in 1861 that the work of the translator involved self-denial and repression of his own creative impulses, suggesting that, “…often would he avail himself of any special grace of his own idiom and epoch, if only his will belonged to him; often would some cadence serve him but for his author’s structure—some structure but for his author’s cadence…”

The translator: Has the liberty �Edward Fitzgerald, on writing about Persian poetry in 1851, stated “It is an amusement to me to take what liberties I like with these Persians, who, (as I think) are not Poets enough to frighten one from such excursions, and who really do want a little Art to shape them. ”

The translator: as a servant, or as a master? �These two positions, the one establishing a hierarchical relationship in which the SL author acts as a feudal overlord exacting fealty from the translator, the other establishing a hierarchical relationship in which the translator is absolved from all responsibility to the inferior culture of the SL text are both quite consistent with the growth of colonial imperialism in the nineteenth century.

The th 20 century translator From these positions derives the ambiguity with which translations have come to be regarded in the twentieth century.

The th 20 century translator �For if translation is perceived as a servile occupation, it is unlikely to be dignified by analysis of the techniques utilized by the servant, and if translation is seen as the pragmatic activity of an individual with a mission to ‘upgrade’ the SL text, an analysis of the translation process would cut right across the established hierarchical system.

Translation in the academe �Further evidence of the conflicting attitudes towards translation in the English-speaking world can be drawn from the way in which educational systems have come to rely increasingly on the use of translated texts in teaching, without ever attempting to study the processes of translation.

We read translated texts! � Hence a growing number of British or North American students read Greek and Latin authors in translation or study major nineteenth-century prose works or twentieth-century theatre texts whilst treating the translated text as if it were originally written in their own language. This is indeed the greatest irony of the whole translation debate: that those very scholars who reject the need to investigate translation scientifically because of its traditional low status in the academic world do at the same time teach a substantial number of translated texts to monolingual students.

We read translated texts!

19 th century: how to define “translation”? �The nineteenth-century legacy has also meant that translation study in English has devoted much time to the problem of finding a term to describe translation itself.

Theodore Savory �Theodore Savory: Translation is an art. �Eric Jacobsen: Translation is a craft. �Others: Translation is a science.

Horst Frenz �Horst Frenz even goes so far as to opt for ‘art’ but with qualifications, claiming that ‘translation is neither a creative art nor an imitative art, but stands somewhere between the two. ’

Issue with the definition �‘Craft’ would imply a slightly lower status than ‘art’ and carry with it suggestions of amateurishness, while ‘science’ could hint at a mechanistic approach and detract from the notion that translation is a creative process.

Anton Popovič � 1976. �Anton Popovič’s Dictionary for the Analysis of Literary Translation is a work that sets out, albeit in skeletal form, the basis of a methodology for studying translation.

Translation studies and linguistics �Since the early 1960 s significant changes have taken place in the field of Translation Studies, with the growing acceptance of the study of linguistics and stylistics within literary criticism that has led to developments in critical methodology and also with the rediscovery of the work of the Russian Formalist Circle.

Translation studies and linguistics �The most important advances in Translation Studies in the twentieth century derive from the ground-work done by groups in Russia in the 1920 s and subsequently by the Prague Linguistic Circle and its disciples.

Translation studies and linguistics � Vološinov’s work on Marxism and philosophy, Mukařovský’s on the semiotics of art, Jakobson, Prochazka and Levý on translation have all established new criteria for the founding of a theory of translation and have showed that, far from being a dilettante pursuit accessible to anyone with a minimal knowledge of another language, translation is, as Randolph Quirk puts it, ‘one of the most difficult tasks that a writer can take upon himself. ’

translation involves far more than a working acquaintance with two languages �Levy: �A translation is not a monistic composition, but an interpenetration and conglomerate of two structures. On the one hand there are the semantic content and the formal contour of the original, on the other hand the entire system of aesthetic features bound up with the language of the translation.

J. C. Catford’s short study in 1965 tackled the problem of linguistic untranslatability �“In translation, there is substitution of TL meanings for SL meanings: not transference of TL meanings into the SL In transference there is an implantation of SL meanings into the TL text. These two processes must be clearly differentiated in any theory of translation. ”

Translation studies �Translation Studies, therefore, is exploring new ground, bridging as it does the gap between the vast area of stylistics, literary history, linguistics, semiotics and aesthetics. But at the same time it must not be forgotten that this is a discipline firmly rooted in practical application.

Lefevere: Translation as theory and practice �When André Lefevere tried to define the goal of Translation Studies he suggested that its purpose was to ‘produce a comprehensive theory which can also be used as a guideline for the production of translations’, 15 and whilst some may question the specificity of this statement, his clear intention to link theory with practice is indisputable.

Lefevere �The need for systematic study of translation arises directly from the problems encountered during the actual translation process and it is as essential for those working in the field to bring their practical experience to theoretical discussion, as it is for increased theoretical perceptiveness to be put to use in the translation of texts.

Lefevere �To divorce theory from the practice, to set the scholar against the practitioner as happened in other disciplines, would be tragic indeed.

4 interests in Translation �Although Translation Studies covers such a wide field, it can be roughly divided into four general areas of interest, each with a degree of overlap. Two are product-oriented, in that the emphasis is on the functional aspects of the TL text in relation to the SL text, and two of them are process-oriented, in that the emphasis is on analysing what actually takes place during translation.

(1) History of Translation �The first category involves the History of Translation and is a component part of literary history. The type of work involved in this area includes investigation of theories of translation at different times, the critical response to translations, the practical processes of commissioning and publishing translations, the role and function of translations in a given period, the methodological development of translation and, by far the most common type of study, analysis of the work of individual translators.

(2) Translation in the TL culture �The second category, Translation in the TL culture, extends the work on single texts or authors and includes work on the influence of a text, author or genre, on the absorption of the norms of the translated text into the TL system and on the principles of selection operating within that system.

(3) Translation and Linguistics �The third category Translation and Linguistics includes studies which place their emphasis on the comparative arrangement of linguistic elements between the SL and the TL text with regard to phonemic, morphemic, lexical, syntagmatic and syntactic levels. Into this category come studies of the problems of linguistic equivalence, of language-bound meaning, of linguistic untranslatability, of machine translation, etc. and also studies of the translation problems of non-literary texts.

(4) Translation and Poetics � The fourth category, loosely called Translation and Poetics, includes the whole area of literary translation, in theory and practice. Studies may be general or genre-specific, including investigation of the particular problems of translating poetry, theatre texts or libretti and the affiliated problem of translation for the cinema, whether dubbing or sub-titling. Under this category also come studies of the poetics of individual, translators and comparisons between them, studies of the problems of formulating a poetics, and studies of the interrelationship between SL and TL texts and author —translator— reader. Above all in this section come studies attempting to formulate a theory of literary translation.

Evaluation �There is, of course, one final great stumbling block waiting for the person with an interest in Translation Studies: the question of evaluation. �For if a translator perceives his or her role as partly that of ‘improving’ either the SL text or existing translations, and that is indeed often the reason why we undertake translations, an implicit value judgment underlies this position.

Evaluation �All too often, in discussing their work, translators avoid analysis of their own methods and concentrate on exposing the frailties of other translators.

Evaluation �Critics, on the other hand, frequently evaluate a translation from one or other of two limited standpoints: from the narrow view of the closeness of the translation to the SL text (an evaluation that can only be made if the critic has access to both languages) or from the treatment of the TL text as a work in their own language.

No strict criteria for evaluation. �There is no universal canon according to which texts may be assessed. There are whole sets of canons that shift and change and each text is involved in a continuing dialectical relationship with those sets. There can no more be the ultimate translation than there can be the ultimate poem or the ultimate novel, and any assessment of a translation can only be made by taking into account both the process of creating it and its function in a given context.

The criteria for the translation process and the function of the TL text have varied enormously through the ages. �The 19 th English concern with reproducing ‘period flavour’ by the use of archaisms in translated texts, often caused the TL text to be more inaccessible to the reader than the SL text itself. �The 17 th century French propensity to gallicize the Greeks even down to details of furniture and clothing was a tendency that German translators reacted to with violent opposition.

The criteria for the translation process and the function of the TL text have varied enormously through the ages. �Chapman’s energetic Renaissance Homer is far removed from Pope’s controlled, masterly 18 th version.

The problem of evaluation �The problem of evaluation in translation is intimately connected with the previously discussed problem of the low status of translation, which enables critics to make pronouncements about translated texts from a position of assumed superiority.

Binangkal, Penelope Corazon Almerino Penelope, kaon og binangkal. Wala’y pulos kanang magsige’g Ginansilyo-kanang magsige’g Paabot nianang tawo nga galisud Og tultol sa iyang panimalay. Wala to siya gilamat uy. Daghan tong Gihapit-hapit. Daghan pud Ang nangapyot ato niya. Barug dinha ug sulunga ang tindahan nilang Nang Kikay Ug pakyawa ang iyang mga Binangkal. Kon kahibalo ka Moluto, hala, pagluto og daghan. Haaay, Penelope. Kon tinuod man gani Nga nasaag o gilamat gyud siya, Dili gihapon niya mapanas Ang mga gabii sa imong pagtukaw, Ang imong mga daman, Ang imong kahingawa. Kit-kita ug ub-uba Unya ang mga binangkal. Kit-kita gyud. Ub-uba. Ang sobra, tipigi. Inig uli ato niya, inig tungtong Niya tungod nianang pultahan, Gubata dayon og binangkal.

Eat Binangkal, Penelope It is futile to always crochet, to always wait for someone who can’t find his way home. He was not bewitched. He had strayed in many places. Many also clung to him. Get up and raid the store of Nang Kikay and buy all of her Binangkal, If you can cook, then make plenty of them. Oh, Penelope, if it is true that he got lost or bewitched he can never erase the sleepless nights, your nightmares, your anxieties. Bite and munch the Binangkals And save what is left, When he arrives and steps in the doorway, Attack him with Binangkal.

Balaki Ko ‘Day Samtang Gasakay Ta’g Habal Adonis Durado

Balaki Ko ‘Day Samtang Gasakay Ta’g Habal Adonis Durado Balaki ko day Samtang gasakay ta’g habal. Idat-ol og samut Kanang imong dughan Nganhi sa akong buko Aron mas mabatyagan ko ang hinagubtob Sa imong kasing. Sa mga libaong nga atong malabyan. Gaksa ko paghugot Sama sa lastikong Mipungpong sa imong buhok. Ug sa kainit sa imong ginhawa Ang mga balili unya Nga naghalok sa ‘tong batiis Isipon tang kaugaligong mga dila. Dayon samtang nagakatulin Kining atong dagan, Mamiyong tag maghangad Ngadto sa kawanangan Aron sugaton ang taligsik Sa uwan, dahon, ug bulak.

This is Just To Say William Carlos Williams I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold.

The Translator’s Work Enani (1994: 5) defines the translator as "a writer who formulates ideas in words addressed to readers. The only difference between him and the original writer is that these ideas are the latter's".

The Translator’s Work Another difference is that the work of the translator is even more difficult than that of the artist. The artist is supposed to produce directly his/her ideas and emotions in his/her own language however intricate and complicated his/her thoughts are. The translator's responsibility is much greater, for s/he has to relive the experiences of a different person.

The Translator’s Work Chabban (1984) believes that, however accurately the translator may delve into the inner depths of the writer's mind, some formidable linguistic and other difficulties may still prevent the two texts from being fully equivalent. Therefore we do not only perceive the differences between a certain text and its translation, but also between different translations of the same text.

The Translator’s Work On the procedural level, El Shafey (1985: 95) states: "A translator first analyzes the message, breaking it down into its simplest and structurally clearest elements, transfers it at this level into the target language in the form which is most appropriate for the intended audience. A translator instinctively concludes that it is best to transfer the "kernel level" in one language to the corresponding "kernel level" in the "receptor language. "

Translation Skills for Novice Translators

Reading Comprehension While we are translating, we do not think of our activity as being broken down into phases. After doing our first translations, many automatic mechanisms come into plays that allow us to translate more quickly; at the same time, we are less and less conscious of our activity.

Reading Comprehension The first phase of the translation process consists of reading the text. The reading act, first, falls under the competence of psychology, because it concerns our perceptive system.

Simply reading a text is, in itself, an act of translation. When we read, we do not store the words we have read in our minds as happens with data entered using a keyboard or scanner into a computer. After reading, we do not have the photographic or auditory recording in our minds of the text read. We have a set of impressions instead. We remember a few words or sentences precisely, while all the remaining text is translated from the verbal language into a language belonging to another sign system, which is still mostly unknown: the mental language.

Holmes (1988) suggested that the translation process is actually a multi-level process; while we are translating sentences, we have a map of the original text in our minds and, at the same time, a map of the kind of text we want to produce in the target language. Even as we translate serially, we have this structural concept so that each sentence in our translation is determined not only by the original sentence, but also by the two maps—of the original text and of the translated text—which we carry along as we translate.

Holmes (1988) suggested that the translation process is actually a multi-level process; while we are translating sentences, we have a map of the original text in our minds and, at the same time, a map of the kind of text we want to produce in the target language. Even as we translate serially, we have this structural concept so that each sentence in our translation is determined not only by the original sentence, but also by the two maps—of the original text and of the translated text—which we carry along as we translate.

Novice translators as well as student translators are advised to master the following basic reading comprehension skills. �Read for gist and main ideas. �Read for details. �Identify the meaning of new words and expressions using one or more components of the structural analysis clause; prefixes, suffixes, roots, word order, punctuation, sentence pattern, etc.

Novice translators as well as student translators are advised to master the following basic reading comprehension skills. �Identify the meaning of new words and expressions using one ore more of the contextual analysis; synonyms, antonyms, examples, etc. �Identify the writer's style: literary, scientific, technical, informative, persuasive, argumentative, etc. �Identify the language level used in the text: standard, slang, religious, etc. �Identify cultural references in the choice of words in the text.

Cultural Translation Culture and intercultural competence and awareness that rise out of experience of culture, are far more complex phenomena than it may seem to the translator. The more a translator is aware of complexities of differences between cultures, the better a translator s/he will be.

Cultural Translation Long debate have been held over when to paraphrase, when to use the nearest local equivalent, when to coin a new word by translating literally, and when to transcribe. All these "untranslatable" cultural-bound words and phrases continued to fascinate translators and translation theorists.

Cultural Translation: Eugene Nida's definitions of formal and dynamic equivalence in 1964 consider cultural implications for translation. According to him, a "gloss translation" mostly typifies formal equivalence where form and content are reproduced as faithfully as possible and the TL reader is able to "understand as much as he can of the customs, manner of thought, and means of expression" of the SL context. Contrasting with this idea, dynamic equivalence "tries to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture" without insisting that he "understand the cultural patterns of the source-language context". According to him problems may vary in scope depending on the cultural and linguistic gap between the two (or more) languages concerned.

”Cultural Turn” It can be said that the first concept in cultural translation studies was cultural turn that in 1978 was presaged by the work on Polysystems and translation norms by Even -Zohar and in 1980 by Toury. They dismiss the linguistic kinds of theories of translation and refer to them as having moved from word to text as a unit but not beyond. They themselves go beyond language and focus on the interaction between translation and culture, on the way culture impacts and constraints translation and on the larger issues of context, history and convention.

On First Looking at Chapman’s Homer by John Keats Much have I travel’d in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdom seen; Round many western islands have I been Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Oft of one wide expanse had I been told That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne; Yet did I never breathe its pure serene Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes He star’d at the Pacific – and all his men Look’d at each other with a wild surmise – Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

“Skopos Theory” by Vermeer �In the mid 1980 s Vermeer introduced skopos theory which is a Greek word for ‘aim' or ‘purpose’. �It is entered into translation theory in as a technical term for the purpose of translation and of action of translating.

“Skopos Theory” by Vermeer �In 1984, Reiss and Vermeer concentrated on the basic underlying ‘rules' of this theory which involve: 1 - A translatum (or TT) is determined by its skopos, 2 - A TT is an offer of information in a target culture and TL considering an offer of information in a source culture and SL. �This relates the ST and TT to their function in their respective linguistic and cultural context. The translator is once again the key player in the process of intercultural communication and production of the translatum because of the purpose of the translation.

“Skopos Theory” by Vermeer �In 1984, Reiss and Vermeer concentrated on the basic underlying ‘rules' of this theory which involve: 1 - A translatum (or TT) is determined by its skopos, 2 - A TT is an offer of information in a target culture and TL considering an offer of information in a source culture and SL. �This relates the ST and TT to their function in their respective linguistic and cultural context. The translator is once again the key player in the process of intercultural communication and production of the translatum because of the purpose of the translation.

Assignment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Vinay and Darbelnet and their definition of equivalence in translation - Jason Jakobson and the concept of equivalence in difference - King Catford and the introduction of translation shifts - Marielle Baker's approach to translation equivalence – Anabel Venuti’s foreignization and domestication – Christine Hervey & Higgins cultural transposition (a scale of degrees) – Emmarie