Tr and non-lit

Translation Theory and the NON L iterary text Belinda Maia Universidade do Porto

Acknowledgements This lecture is based to a large extent on: MUNDAY, Jeremy. 2001. Introducing Translation Studies – Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routledge VENUTI, Lawrence. (Ed.) 2000. The Translation Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge. BUT the implications for the NON literary text are my own responsibility

A few general distinctions Translating v. interpreting Source language/text – SL / ST Target language/text - TL / TT Intralingual v. interlingual v. intersemiotic translation Translation as language learning Contrastive linguistics Comparative literature

“ Translation Studies” – self-perception Many people today think that Translation Studies is mainly: Literary theory Cultural studies And, possibly: Communication studies Stylistics & Genre analysis

Translation Theory - TT – perspective from Philosophy Linguistic philosophy - attempts to discover WHAT language means: the ideal language(s) of logic etc. 'ordinary language' philosophy Philosophy of language – attempts to find out HOW language means: certain general features of language such as meaning, reference, truth, verification, speech acts and logical necessity Philosophy of linguistics - the study of language through linguistics

TT – perspective from Philosophy of Linguistics Structuralism - language reflects structure of thought, culture and society Transformational-Generative grammar - underlying universal language Functionalism - Language and its social functions Cognitivism - Language as it reflects our cognitive appraisal of the world, categorization of experience and use of metaphor

TT – perspective from Linguistics Linguists perceive it as related to: Contrastive linguistics Pragmatics Discourse Analysis Stylistics Once dismissed as useless to TT– a ll of these areas have been re-animated by corpora linguistics

TT – perspective from Information Technoclogy IT specialists are increasingly fascinated by human language and: Machine assisted translation Machine Translation Knowledge Engineering Information Retrieval Artificial Intelligence

TT - the professional perspective Translator training Interpret er training Translation aids Translation criticism Translation quality Translation policy Professional translation standards

Translation Theories The objectives of this seminar are: To give a general outline of translation theories in this century To show how these theories apply to non literary texts To demonstrate that translation practice can benefit from theory

Translation theories Most TT is: Product-orientated – focuses the translation Function-orientated – examines the context and purpose of the translation Process-orientated – analyses the psychology of translation and process But usually has elements of all three

Partial theories of translation Medium restricted – man or machine? Area restricted – specific languages/cultures Rank-restricted – word/sentence/text Text-type restricted –different genres Time-restricted – historical view Problem-restricted – specific problems, e.g equivalence

Problems Position of Translation Studies in academia Split between theory and practice Translation teachers' fear of theory Researchers still encouraged to focus on literature Therefore teacher/researcher faced with dilemma

Early distinctions People have been arguing for centuries about literal v. free v. faithful translation word-for-word v. sense-for-sense For example: Cicero, St Jerome, St Augustine, Martin Luther, Étienne Dolet, Alexander Tytler, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schlei e rmacher, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Arthur Schopenhauer See Robinson (1997/2002)

Bible translation Bassnett (1991: 45-50) - "The history of Bible translation is accordingly a history of western culture in microcosm". St. Jerome's translation into Latin in 384 A.D. John Wycliffe (1330-84)and the 'Lollards' William Tyndale (1494-1536) – burnt at stake Martin Luther – New Testament 1522, Old Testament 1534 Try Biblegateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible

The Qur’an See University of Southern California : http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ Warning: "Note that any translation of the Qur'an immediately ceases to be the literal word of Allah, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur'an in its original Arabic form. In fact, each of the translations on this site is actually an interpretation which has been translated ."

Science in Translation a historical view Scott L. Montgomery. 2000. Science in Translation. Movements of Knowledge through Cultures and Time. University of Chicago Press. Describes how scientific texts have been translated, ‘adapted’, ‘revised’ and added to down the centuries e.g. Western Astronomy Greek and Arabic Science Japanese Science

Further reading HERMANS, Theo & Ubaldo Stecconi. 2002. 'Translators as Hostages to History'. From the European Commission’s 'Theory meets Practice' Seminars – at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/theory/lectures/2001_01_18_history.pdf

‘ Linguistic’ theories of translation Language Universals v. Linguistic Relativism Science of translation Equivalence Semantic and communicative translation Korrespondenz and Äquivalenz Translation ‘shifts’ Discourse and register analysis

Language Universals v. Linguistic Relativism Language Universals – presuppose that languages and/or our capacity for language are universal and/or innate long history leading to Chomsky and beyond Language Relativism – different languages show us different ways of viewing the world Sapir-Whorf theory and most translation theory

Science of translation Nida (1964) Linguistic meaning Referential or denotative meaning Emotive or connotative meaning Hierarchical structuring Componential analysis Semantic structure analysis Formal and dynamic equivalence Applications to Bible translation

Chomsky and TT From Nida & Taber (1969:33)

Equivalence Roman Jacobson (1959/2000) > “Equivalence in difference is the cardinal problem of language and the pivotal concern of linguistics ’ Discusses equivalence at level of obligatory grammar and lexicon, for example: gender aspect semantic fields

Equivalence at word level Baker (1992) – Chapter 2 Morphology – lexical and syntactic Lexical Meaning Propositional v. Expressive meaning Presupposed meaning Evoked meaning dialect – geographical, temporal, social Register – field/tenor/mode of discourse Semantic fields and lexical sets

Equivalence above word level Baker (1992) – Chapter 3 Collocation Collocational range and markedness Collocation and register Collocational meaning Idioms and Fixed Expressions

Grammatical equivalence Baker (1992) – Chapter 4 Grammatical vs. Lexical categories The Diversity of Grammatical Categories: Number Gender Person Tense and Aspect Voice Word Order

Newmark (1981) Semantic / communicative translation at level of: Transmitter/addressee focus Culture Time and origin Relation to ST Use of form of SL Form of TL Appropriateness Criterion for evaluation

Koller (1976/89) Korrespondenz and Äquivalenz Denotative equivalence Connotative equivalence Text-normative equivalence Pragmatic equivalence Formal equivalence

Vinay & Darbelnet (1977/2000) Translation ‘shifts’ Direct translation: Borrowing Calque Literal translation Oblique translation Transposition Modulation Equivalence Adaptation Function at the level of t he lexico n, syntax and message

Translation ‘shifts’ Catford (1965/2000) level shifts category shifts: structural class unit or rank intra-system Van Leuven-Zwart (1989/90) 8 categories and 37 sub-categories !

Linguistic theories and translation Most of these theories are considered ‘linguistic’ and are useful for teaching translation Most translation occurs at the linguistic level at some stage of the process However, too much stress on linguistic levels can have negative effect at the text level

Halliday Functional-Systemic linguistics

Textual equivalence Baker (1992) Chapter 5 Thematic and Information Structures Theme and Rheme Sentence analysis – S Od Oi Cs Co Cp Adj Conj Disj Information Structure: Given and New Word Order and Communicative Function

Textual equivalence Baker (1992) Chapter 6 Cohesion Reference Substitution and Ellipsis Conjunction Lexical Cohesion

Translation Quality Assessment House (1997)

Focus on the function of the text Baker (1992) Chapter 7 - Pragmatic equivalence Reiss (1970s) – Functional approach Holz-Mäntarri (1984) – Translational action Vermeer (1970s) and Reiss & Vermeer (1984) – ‘Skopos’ theory Nord (1988/91) – Text Analysis in Translation

Pragmatic equivalence Baker (1992) Chapter 7 Coherence Presupposition Implicature Grice's maxims of Quantity Quality Relevance Manner Politeness

Reiss (1970s) Functional approach C lassification of texts as : 'informative‘ 'expressive‘ 'operative‘ 'audiomedial'

Reiss > Chesterman (1989) Text types and varieties

Holz-Mäntarri (1984) Translational action A communicative process involving: The initiator The commissioner The ST producer The TT producer The TT user The TT receiver

Reiss & Vermeer (1984) – ‘Skopos’ theory Focuses purpose or skopos of translation Rules A TT is determined by its skopos A TT is message in a target culture/TL concerning a message in a source culture/SL A TT is not clearly reversible A TT must be internally coherent A TT must be coherent with the ST

Nord (1988/91) Text Analysis Functional approach The importance of the translation commission The role of ST analysis The functional hierarchy of translation problems

Polysystem Theory Focus - social and cultural norms Even-Zohar (1978/2000) Toury (1995) Chesterman (1997) Lambert, Van Gorp, Hermans and the Manipulation school (1985 & 1999)

Even-Zohar (1978/2000) Even-Zohar consider s translated literature to include : children's literature thrillers other popular works of fiction, (auto-)biography CONSIDER: informative writing o f all kinds – e.g. travel, art and sport, journalism, university textbooks.

Toury (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies I mportant point in Translation Studies I t encouraged the description of all kinds of translation and provided a wide basis on which to conduct research. The tertium comparationis = attempt to postulate 'neutral translation' v. culturally and socially 'loaded' real translations BUT proved unsatisfactory and abandoned

Toury’s norms initial norm ST norms = adequate translation TT norms = acceptable translation preliminary norms translation policy – selection of texts directness of translation – is ST an original? operational norms matricial norms or completeness of the TT textual-linguistic norms.

Toury’s ‘laws’ The law of growing standardization - suggests that the TT standards override those of the original text. This will happen when the TL culture is more powerful. The law of interference - suggests that the ST interferes in the TT by default. This will happen when the SL culture is more powerful.

Chesterman’s norms (1997) Expectancy norms – expectations of readers Allow evaluative judgements Validated by a norm-authority Professional norms Accountability norm – ethical norm Communication norm – social norm ‘ Relation’ norm – linguistic norm (between SL and TL)

Polysystem theory and the NON Literary text Even-Zohar, Toury, Chesteman, and others see ST and TT as part of a much wider social and cultural context Although they may consider literary text primary, their theories and suggestions are applicable to all texts

Cultural Studies Bassnett & Lefevere (1991) dismissed ‘linguistic theories’ as having ‘moved from word to text as a unit, but not beyond’ and talked of ‘painstaking comparisons between orginals and translations’ which do not consider the text in its cultural environment. (Munday, 2001: 127)

Lefevere (1992) Power and patronage Professionals within the literary system Patronage outside the literary system The ideological component The economic component The status component The dominant poetics Literary devices The concept of the role of literature

Examples Edward Fitzgerald's 'improvement' of work by Omar Khayyam An 18th century translator's ‘ improvement ’ of Camões' Os Lusiadas Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland - 'softened' for children Censorship of ‘bad’ language Can you think of examples?

Simon (1996) Translation and Gender ‘ Masculine language of translation theorists O vert attempts to promote a feminist stance through translation practice C ontribution women have made by translating works of literature over the centuries R elationship of women and culture as seen through translation the translator is 'self-effacing' creates a 'new' work with a feminine point of view L ink between feminist and postcolonial studies

Postcolonial Translation Theory Spivak (1993/2000) and Niranjana (1992) C ultural implications - translating between : C olonized and colonizing P olitically powerful and weaker languages and cultures P ower relations T ranslational and transnational factors

Example Spivak (2000) translates out of Bengali into English T ry to imagine how a n educated bi-lingual ( English/Bengali ) woman with international feminist connections might try to translate poetry by Mahasweta Devi – a poet in an Indian village . http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Contents.html#Authors

Other Situations Brazilian cannibalism (1960-1999) Colonized devours colonizer and is enriched Cronin (1996) The Irish language and English imperialism over the centuries

Cultural Studies ETC My suggestion - surf the Internet with: cultural studies communication studies comparative literature literary studies translation studies

Cultural Studies and the NON Literary text Cultural Studies theorists: Rarely refer to NON Literary text Then tend to claim any ‘interesting’ text as ‘literary’! YET Cultural Studies should – by its very nature – go beyond literature – or at least Literature.

Reaction against TL orientated texts What can be done to avoid too much standardization? How can one avoid social or cultural bias? How can one truly represent the original?

Antoine Berman (1984) ‘the Experience of the Foreign’ Berman’s ‘negative analytic’ of translation focuses the following: Rationalization Clarification Expansion Ennoblement Qualitative impoverishment Quantitative impoverishment

Antoine Berman (1984) ‘the Experience of the Foreign’ The destruction of rhythms The destruction of underlying networks of signification The destruction of linguistic patternings The destruction of vernacular network s or their exoticization The destruction of expressions and idioms The effacement of the superimposition of languages

Venuti (1995) The Translator’s Invisibility C riticizes those, like Toury, who aim to produce value-free norms and laws of translation. I nterpretes Lefevere's notions of patronage and its influence in the context of Anglo-American publishing Uses 'Invisibility' to describe the translator's situation and activity in contemporary Anglo-American culture

QUESTIONS Can the Translator be ‘Invisible’? Should the Translator be ‘Invisible’? If, so – when? Give examples Can the Translator be ‘invisible’ and creative? If, so – when? Give examples

Pride, Prejudice ...... and Power Consider: How literary translators’ describe their work – Pride How reviewers and the public receive translations - Prejudice The publishing industry and the effect of globalization – Power

Philosophy and translation Philosophers often find translation fascinating - a few examples: Walter Benjamin (1923/2000) Ezra Pound (1929/2000) Steiner (1975/92/98) Derrida & Deconstruction (1960 >)

Walter Benjamin (1923/2000) Benjamin's metaphor - liberation of the original text through translation. Believed in interlinear translation > reveals the original in all its complexity TL is 'powerfully affected by the foreign tongue‘ A n extreme example of foreignization B elieved this would allow 'pure language' to emerge from the harmonization of the two languages.

Ezra Pound (1929/2000) – and his followers Ezra Pound influenced much literary translation Idea that one does not need to know the SL well – it is enough to feel the ‘spirit’ Belief in archaizing and foreignizing to effect Led to ‘literary translation workshops’ - inspiration Leads to very good translation – OR pretentious and impenetrable texts!

Steiner (1975/92/98) Beyond Babel H ermeneutic motion Initiative trust Aggression Incorporation Compensation I mbalance between ST and TT R esistant difference of the text E lective affinity of the translator

Derrida & Deconstruction (1960 >) O bjective of Derrida - and Deconstruction - to demonstrate the instability of language in general and the relationship between signified and signifier in particular. 'Deconstruction' can and has been used to 'deconstruct' much more than 'traditional literature‘ . E.g. P olitical discourse P hilosophy P sychology & S ociology Science

Philosophy and the NON Literary text At first sight, these theories would seem to be furthest from the NON Literary text BUT – consider implications for: Knowledge engineering Ontologies Semantic frameworks Descriptive terminology

Interdisciplinary Translation Studies In practice - Literary translation is confined to Modern Languages departments NON Literary translation is essentially interdisciplinary in: Use of language Use of text Use of technology Snell Hornby (1995) - Text types

Technology and Translation Desktop Publishing Translation memories Terminology databases Translator’s Workbench Machine translation Information resources

Other aspects Bert Esselink –Localizaton Yves Gambier –MultMedia Translation, Conference Interpreting, Translation in Context Daniel Gouadec –Terminology and Translator Training Don Kiraly - A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education – Empowerment from Theory to Practice .

Anthony Pym Perhaps one of the best examples of multi-disciplinary work and interests Have a look at his homepage http://www.fut.es/~apym/

Bibliography BAKER, M. (ed) 1977. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Part II: History and Traditions. London and New York: Routledge. BAKER, M. (ed) 1977. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation. BASSNETT, Susan. 1991. Translation Studies. Revised Edition. London and New York: Routledge. TR. BASSNETT, S & A. Lefevere (eds.) 1990. Translation, History and Culture, London and New York: Pinter. TR. BASSNETT, S & H. Trivedi (eds.) 1999. Post-Colonial Translation: Theory and Practics, London and New York: Longman. BENJAMIN; W. 1923/2000 The task of the Translator, translated bz H. Zohn (1969) in L. Venuti(ed.) 2000, pp. 15-25. BERMAN, A. 1985/2000. Translation and the Trials of the foreign, in L. Venuti(ed.) 2000, pp. 284-97. CAMPOS, H. de. 1992. Metalinguagem e outras metas: Ensaios de teoria e crítica literária, S. Paulo: Perspectiva. CATFORD, J.C. (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Academic Press. CHESTERMAN, Andrew. 1997. Memes of Translation. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co. CHESTERMAN, A. 1989. Readings in Translation Theory. Helsinki: Finn Lectura.

CRONIN, M. 1996. Translating Ireland: Translation, Languages and Culture, Cork: Cork University Press. DERRIDA, J. 1985. 'Des tours de Babel', in J.F. Graham (ed.) pp. 209-48. ESSELINK, B. 2000. A Practical Guide to Localization. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co. EVEN-ZOHAR, I. 1978/2000. 'The position of translated literature within the literary polysystem', in in L. Venuti(ed.) 2000, pp. 192-7. FAWCETT, P 1995. Translation and Language: Linguistics Approaches Explained, Manchester: St. Jerome. GENTZLER, Edwin. 2001. Contemporary Translation Theories. 2nd Edition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. GRAHAM, J.F.(ed) 1985. Difference in Translation, Ithaca, NY: Cornell UniversityPress. HALLIDAY, M.A.K. 1978. Language as Social Semiotic, London and New York: Arnold. HATIM, Basil. 1997. Communication across Cultures - Translation Theory and Contrastive Text Linguistics. Exeter: University of Exeter Press. HATIM, Basil & MASON, Ian. (1990) Discourse and the Translator. Harlow: Longman. HERMANS, T. (ed.) 1985. The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation, Beckenham: Croom Helm. HERMANS, T. 1999. Translation in Systems, Manchester: St.Jerome. HOLMES, James S. (1988) Translated! Amsterdam : Editions Rodopi. HOLZ-MÄNTARRI; J. 1984. 'Translatorisches Handeln - theoretsche fundierte Berufsprofile' in M. Snell-Hornby (ed.) Übersertzungwissenschaft: Eine neuorienterung, Tübingen: Franke, pp 348-74. HOUSE, J. 1997. Translation Quality: A Model Revisited, Tubingen: Gunter Narr.

JAKOBSON; R. 1959/2000. 'On linguistic aspects of translation', in L. Venuti(ed.) 2000, pp.113-18. KIRALY, Don. 2000. A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education – Empowerment from Theory to Practice. Manchester/ Northampton: St. Jerome Publishing. KOLLER, W. 1979. 'equivalence in translation theory', in A. Chesterman (ed.) pp. 99-104. LAMBERT, J-R. & H. van GORP 19865. 'On describing translation`', in T. Hermans (ed.) 1985, pp 42-53. LEFEVERE, André. (1992) Translation / History / Culture - a sourcebook. London and New York. Routledge. LEFEVERE, André. (1992) Translation, Rewriting & the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London and New York. Routledge. Leuven- Zwart, Kitty & Ton Naajikens 1991 (eds.) Translation Studies: the State of the Art. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi. MUNDAY, Jeremy. 2001. Introducing Translation Studies – Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routledge. NEWMARK, Peter. (1988) A Textbook of Translation . New York. Prentice-Hall. NIDA, E. 1964. Towards a Science of Translating, Leiden: E.J. Brill. NIDA, Eugene A. & TABER, Charles R. (1969) The Theory and Practice of Translation, Leiden: E.J.Brill. NIRANJANA; T. 1992. Siting Translation: History, Post-Structuralism, and the Colonial Context, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. NORD, Christiane. 1997, Translating as a Purposeful Activity. Manchester: St. Jerome Pub.Co. PYM, A. 1998. Method in Translation History, Manchester: St. Jerome Pub.Co. REISS, Katharina. 2000. Translation Criticism – The Potentials & Limitations. Manchester: St. Jerome Pub.Co. REISS, K. 1977/89 'Text types and translation assessment' in A. Chesterman (ed) pp 160-71.

REISS, K. & H.J. Vermeer 1984 Grundleging einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie, Tübingen: Niemeyer. ROBINSON, Douglas. 1997. Becoming a Translator: An Accelerated Course. London and New York: Routledge. ROBINSON, Douglas. 1997/2002. Western Translation Theory - from Herodotus to Nietzsche. Manchester/Northampton: St. Jerome Publishing. SCHULTE, Rainer & BIGUENET, John. (Eds.) (1992) Theories of Translation - An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida. Chicago and Longon : Univ. of Chicago Press. SNELL-HORNBY, Mary. (1988) Translation Studies - An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia. John Benjamins. SIMON, S. 1996 Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission, Londond and New York: Routledge. SPIVAK, G. 1993/2000 'The Politics of translation', in L. Venuti(ed.) 2000, pp. 397-416. STEINER, George. 1992 After Babel . (New Edition). Oxford University Press. TOURY, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies - and Beyond. Amsterdam : John Benjamin Pub. Co. VENUTI, Lawrence. (1995) The Translator's Invisibility . London and New York : Routledge. VENUTI, L. 1998. The Scandals of Translation, Towards an Ethics of Difference, London & New York: Routledge. VENUTI, Lawrence. (Ed.) 2000. The Translation Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge. VINAY J.P. & DARBELNET, J (1958) Stylistique Comparée do Français et de L'Ánglais, Paris: Didier. A classic text which compares English and French language structures.

Links Anthony Pym’s homepage http://www.fut.es/~apym/ The virtual symposium "INNOVATION IN TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER TRAINING (ITIT) " at - http://www.fut.es/~apym/tti.htm . Post-Colonial Studies at Emory Web site http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Contents.html#Authors Biblegateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible University of Southern California : http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

European Commission’s translators’ workshop /seminar /interesting articles: http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/theory/index_en.htm http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/theory/workshops_en.htm http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/theory/seminars_en.htm http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/reading/articles/theory_and_practice_en.htm

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