Translation Theory and Practice an Overview

1
Translation Theory and Practice - an Overview

• LECTURE 2 of 2
• Yves Le Juen
• University of Sussex
• October 2006

2
A reprise - from Lecture 1

• (Good) Translation is a matter of sensibilisation
  leading to sensibilité
• Sensibilisation ?
• Sensibilité ?
• ? Sensitivity, sensibleness, sentience, sensation
• Consciousness raising
• Sensibility

3
Polarities ... ?

• POLARITIES IN THE (THEORY) LITERATURE
• Woman v. Muslim - is this a polarity?
• Bus v. elephant
• Accuracy v. fluency
• Accuracy v. appropriacy (Sh vs. mde)
• Source text v. source language
• Target text v. target language
• Source text v. target language
• Target language vs. target text (TT)
• So ... whats a wrong translation ?

4
The Homework !

• . Typographical errors (stain resistent)(irresist
  ably drawn)(sriking photo)
• . Phonological/mishearings First Choice Row
  Materials
• . Terminological (Lexis) - acido cloridrico
  cloric toasted oak
• . Endings - and diluted with water
  (Morphology)(Phonol dilute it?)
• . Sense (Semantics) Ideal saved at 10-12C
  (kept ? served ?)
• . Pragmatic knowledge valley dominated from
  Clavijo Castel and having use a extending
  skin contact
• . Discourse/literary skills ...the better to
  return and take the object of its desire, the
  land, which after vain attempts to withstand
  these advances, gradually wavers, is won and
  abandons itself ...
• . Brest for fun (Breast is Best - Min. of
  Health c. 1950)

5
BIAS - AND BALANCE

• There isnt a polarity so much as a scale

6
Intralingual Translation

• Translating within your own language.

7
Intralingual Translation

• Translating within your own language.
• Intralingual 1
• GIST translator edits and reduces to the
  basics needed for understanding.

8
Intralingual Translation

• Translating within your own language.
• Intralingual 1
• GIST translator edits and reduces to the
  basics needed for understanding.
• Example
• Person 1 Hi! Your friend looks really good in
  that top ... Im half certain Ive met her before
  somewhere - was that her husband...?
• Person 3 What did he say ?
• Person 2 He fancies you.

9
Intralingual Translation

• Translating within your own language.
• Intralingual 2
• EXEGETICAL translator fills in details s/he
  thinks are necessary for the target audience of
  the finished translation.

10
Intralingual Translation

• Translating within your own language.
• Intralingual 2
• EXEGETICAL translator fills in details s/he
  thinks are necessary for the target audience of
  the finished translation.
• Example
• Person 1 Station, please ?
• Person 3 Left, left, not Sainsburys, 2nd right.
• Person 2 What did he say ?
• Person 3 Its the way I thought - its the route
  we used for Freddies Requiem Mass, that time.

11
Working between languages horses and courses

• A steeplechase horse may not be a sprinter.

12
Working between languages horses and courses

• A steeplechase horse may not be a sprinter.
• You pick horses for courses.

13
Working between languages horses and courses

• A steeplechase horse may not be a sprinter.
• You pick horses for courses.
• A translation is a process, and not
  happistance.

14
Working between languages horses and courses

• A steeplechase horse may not be a sprinter.
• You pick horses for courses.
• A translation is a process, and not
  happistance.
• A translation is also a product.

15
Working between languages horses and courses

• A steeplechase horse may not be a sprinter.
• You pick horses for courses.
• A translation is a process, and not
  happistance.
• A translation is also a product.
• What are some of these products like ?

16
Translation as product some types

• Interlineal (no, not Intralingual again!)
• Literal
• Free
• Faithful
• Balanced
• Idiomatic

17
Translation as product some types

• Interlineal
• Literal
• Free
• Faithful
• Balanced
• Idiomatic
• All are good in the right place, and bad in the
  wrong one !

18
Translation as product some types

• Yes, all are good in the right place, and bad in
  the wrong one
• But a good can have bad bits
• Though in a bad translation, people seldom notice
  the good bits.
• So whats this INTERLINEAL one, then ?

19
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Imagine you are a machine say a computer.

20
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Imagine you are a machine say a computer.
• You dont think, as such, but you can be set and
  programmed.

21
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Imagine you are a machine say a computer.
• You dont think, as such, but you can be set and
  programmed.
• You need instructions, parameters, settings, and
  data to process.

22
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So your text for translation is VERY SL-biased

23
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So your text for translation is VERY SL-biased
• And your approach is very cold, abstract, and
  hands-off.

24
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So your text for translation is VERY SL-biased
• And your approach is very cold, abstract, and
  hands-off.
• The product of translation is really only for a
  linguist, or a programmer, or sometimes a
  psychiatrist.

25
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Louise Haywood (Cambridge) proposes the following
  Italian expression to work on
• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.

26
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• What would an InterlineaL Translation look like?

27
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• What would an Interlineal Translation look like?
• To her pleases much the story of the Boccaccio

28
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• What would an Interlineal Translation look like?
• To her pleases much the story of the Boccaccio
• Now, IS THAT A GOOD TRANSLATION?

29
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• What would an Interlineal Translation look like?
• To her pleases much the story of the Boccaccio
• Now, IS THAT A GOOD TRANSLATION?
• YES, if youre an ANALYST of any sort (machine or
  human).

30
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• To her pleases much the story of the Boccaccio
• YES, if youre an ANALYST of any sort (machine or
  human)
• Gendered Dative humanoid animate personal pronoun
  / VPPresent /AdvIntensifier / Definite Article
  DeterminerNP Direct Object / Genetive Definite
  Article Determiner (proper)NP

31
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• Le piace molto la novella del Boccaccio.
• To her pleases much the story of the Boccaccio
• YES, if youre an ANALYST of any sort (machine or
  human)
• Gendered Dative humanoid animate personal pronoun
  / VPPresent /AdvIntensifier / Definite Article
  DeterminerNP Direct Object / Genetive Definite
  Article Determiner (proper)NP.
• NOT particularly useful, if youre practically
  anyone else.

32
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?

33
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.

34
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analytical activity is called parsing

35
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analysitical activity is called parsing
• Your brain does it semi-consciously

36
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analysitical activity is called parsing
• Your brain does it semi-consciously
• You do it in series

37
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analysitical activity is called parsing
• Your brain does it semi-consciously
• You do it in series
• You do it in parallel

38
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analytical activity is called parsing
• Your brain does it semi-consciously
• You do it in series
• You do it in parallel
• You do it in 2 or more languages

39
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analytical activity is called parsing
• Your brain does it semi-consciously
• You do it in series
• You do it in parallel
• You do it in 2 or more languages
• How do we know that?

40
INTERLINEAL TRANSLATION

• So whats the point then ?
• One point is for Interpreters.
• This analytical activity is called parsing
• Our brain does it semi-consciously
• We do it in series
• We do it in parallel
• We do it in 2 or more languages at once
• How do we know ?
• People research interpreter errors !

41
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• A reminder
• Literal
• Free
• Faithful
• Balanced
• Idiomatic

42
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Using Haywoods phrase again
• Literal
• would get you
• The story of Boccaccio pleases her greatly
• The Themes in a better place
• It still reads stilted, i.e. translation-ese
• The informations right
• But theres still a Source Text (ST) bias
• Were still in the world of calque (Week 1)

43
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Using Haywoods phrase again, the term
• Faithful (weve skipped over Free, for a
  moment)
• would get you
• She likes the story by Boccaccio very much
• The Subject (She) is ahead of the Theme (the
  Story) (but youd not really say that, only write
  it?)

44
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Using Haywoods phrase again, the term
• Faithful(weve skipped over Free, for a moment)
• would get you
• She likes the story by Boccaccio very much
• The Subject (She) is ahead of the Theme (the
  Story)
• Its less translation-ese
• Theres less of a ST bias

45
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Using Haywoods phrase again, the term
• Faithful (weve skipped over Free, for a
  moment)
• would get you
• She likes the story by Boccaccio very much
• The Subject (She) is ahead of the Theme (the
  Story)
• Its less transaltion-ese
• Theres less of a ST bias
• BUT theres more of a TL bias.

46
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Now for the Free translation, still using
  Haywoods phrase
• This would get you
• She thinks the Boccaccio's ace
• Its accurate to the sense and purpose of the
  ST
• Theres a definite TL bias.
• Some British lips might curl at the Americanism
  being used.

47
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Hmmm.
• Something between the two, perhaps between
  ploddy old Faithful and perhaps campy young Free
  we might go for the Balanced

48
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Hmmm.
• Something between the two, perhaps between
  ploddy old Faithful and perhaps campy young Free
  we might go for the Balanced This would get
  you
• She really likes the Boccaccio story.

49
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Hmmm.
• Something between the two, perhaps between
  ploddy old Faithful and perhaps campy young Free
  we might go for the Balanced This would get
  you
• She really likes the Boccaccio story.
• Its accurate to the sense and purpose of the
  ST

50
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Hmmm.
• Something between the two, perhaps between
  ploddy old Faithful and perhaps campy young Free
  we might go for the Balanced This would get
  you
• She really likes the Boccaccio story.
• Its accurate to the sense and purpose of the
  ST
• Theres a respect for TL expectations.

51
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Hmmm.
• Something between the two, perhaps between
  ploddy old Faithful and perhaps campy young Free
  we might go for the Balanced This would get
  you
• She really likes the Boccaccio story.
• Its accurate to the sense and purpose of the
  ST
• Theres a respect for TL expectations.
• It would probably back-translate (Week 1 handout)
  fairly well.

52
OK - So if not Interlineal, what ?

• Last but not least, we may WANT to go overboard.
  Consider
• She's mad about the Boccacio.
• Its no longer strictly accurate (the story
  is, at best, implied)
• Its very biased to a sub-section of the
  translations readership (i.e. might horrify the
  majority).
• It would probably back-translate (Week 1 handout)
  fairly badly, indeed Babel-Fish gives it as È
  pazza circa il Boccaccio, i.e.  It is crazy
  approximately the Boccaccio. Indeed.This
  translation style is called idiomatic. But
  does the ST call for it (appropriacy) ?

53
MORE ON GENRES

• In Lecture 1, we looked at Genre purely in
  text-type terms, with sub-genres too
• e.g. Literary novel (epistolatory novel,
  whodunnit, sci-fi)
• Literary poetic(ode, villanelle, haiku, sonnet)
• Historical
• Philosophical
• Technical / scientific
• Journalistic
• (Auto)biography

54
MORE ON GENRES

• In Lecture 1, we looked at Genre purely in
  text-type terms, with sub-genres too
• e.g. Literary novel (epistolatory novel,
  whodunnit, sci-fi)
• Literary poetic(ode, villanelle, haiku, sonnet)
• Historical
• Philosophical
• Technical / scientific
• Journalistic
• (Auto)biography
• But theres also function to consider, as well as
  form

55
MORE ON GENRES

• Genres as coloured specs.
• literary / fictional genres are about imaginary
  worlds and characters not controlled by the
  physical world outside but by the imagination of
  the author and that of the reader, by extension.
  

56
MORE ON GENRES

• Genres as coloured specs.
• literary / fictional genres are about imaginary
  worlds and characters not controlled by the
  physical world outside but by the imagination of
  the author and that of the reader, by extension.
  
• religious / devotional are as above BUT the
  attitude of the writer is that this world exists,
  internally to people, its not simply fiction. It
  has a reality, at least for them.

57
MORE ON GENRES

• Genres as coloured specs.
• literary / fictional genres are about imaginary
  worlds and characters not controlled by the
  physical world outside but by the imagination of
  the author and that of the reader, by extension.
  
• religious / devotional are as above BUT the
  attitude of the writer is that this world exists,
  internally to people, its not simply fiction. It
  has a reality, at least for them.
• theoretical / philosophical genres concern
  themselves with a world of thought whose ideas
  are believed to exist independently from the
  individual minds that think them. Reason is a
  limiting force here - not faith.

58
MORE ON GENRES

• Genres as coloured specs.
• literary / fictional genres are about imaginary
  worlds and characters not controlled by the
  physical world outside but by the imagination of
  the author and that of the reader, by extension.
  
• religious / devotional are as above BUT the
  attitude of the writer is that this world exists,
  internally to people, its not simply fiction. It
  has a reality, at least for them.
• theoretical / philosophical genres concern
  themselves with a world of thought whose ideas
  are believed to exist independently from the
  individual minds that think them. Reason is a
  limiting force here - not faith.
• empirical / descriptive genres say they deal with
  the real objective world as experienced by
  specialist observers. They aim to give an
  objective account of physical phenomena.

59
MORE ON GENRES

• Genres as coloured specs.
• literary / fictional genres are about imaginary
  worlds and characters not controlled by the
  physical world outside but by the imagination of
  the author and that of the reader, by extension.
  
• religious / devotional are as above BUT the
  attitude of the writer is that this world exists,
  internally to people, its not simply fiction. It
  has a reality, at least for them.
• theoretical / philosophical genres concern
  themselves with a world of thought whose ideas
  are believed to exist independently from the
  individual minds that think them. Reason is a
  limiting force here - not faith.
• empirical / descriptive genres say they deal with
  the real objective world as experienced by
  specialist observers. They aim to give an
  objective account of physical phenomena.
• persuasive / prescriptive genres aim to influence
  the reader/viewers in textually determined ways.
• (so the text form, implicitly, is part of the
  message).

60
MORE ON GENRES

• So what ?

61
MORE ON GENRES

• So what ?
• So the translator needs to be aware of, and
  respect, the relationship between the reality of
  the writer and the reality of the reader of the
  translation.

62
MORE ON GENRES

• So what ?
• So the translator needs to be aware of, and
  respect, the relationship between the reality of
  the writer, and the reality of the reader of the
  translation.
• Remembering the writer may be God or a Prophet or
  a State or Nation-State (etc).

63
MORE ON GENRES

• - And ?

64
MORE ON GENRES

• - And ?
• - And were here to read the writer, not the
  translator. Arguably.

65
MORE ON GENRES

• - And ?
• - And were here to read the writer, not the
  translator. Arguably.
• - Thats a circular argument ! I cant read the
  writer, which is exactly why Im reading the
  translation!

66
MORE ON GENRES

• - And ?
• - And were here to read the writer, not the
  translator. Arguably.
• - Thats a circular argument ! I cant read the
  writer, which is exactly why Im reading the
  translation!
• - You should be able to read a translation and
  read the writer without reading the translator.

67
MORE ON GENRES

• - And ?
• - And were here to read the writer, not the
  translator. Arguably.
• - Thats a circular argument ! I cant read the
  writer, which is exactly why Im reading the
  translation!
• - You should be able to read a translation and
  read the writer without reading the translator.
• (Postcolonialist, feminist, gay and other
  writers may take exception to that statement,
  though. More below).

68
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Translation theorizing has existed 3000 years.
• Many an ars poetica (Ovid, Aristotle) is in fact
  a translation wish-list.

69
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• In addition to Poets translating other Poets (see
  e.g. Seamus Heanys Beowulf)
• Poets translate themselves (Samuel Beckett)
• Novelists write on translation (Umberto Eco)
• Translators write original novels.

70
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Working diachronically, then, certain
  translator-commentators have coined or developed
  interesting concepts, dualisms and theories.

71
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Working diachronically, then, certain
  translator-commentators have coined or developed
  interesting concepts, dualisms and theories.
• Usually, because synchronically they have been
  keeping abreast of theorizing in other areas.

72
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Working diachronically, then, certain
  translator-commentators have coined or developed
  interesting concepts, dualisms and theories.
• Usually, because synchronically they have been
  keeping abreast of theorizing in other areas.
• Eugene Nida (1964) and Nida Taber (1969) (USA)
  borrowed from early Chomsky writings in evolving
  a distinction between

73
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Working diachronically, then, certain
  translator-commentators have coined or developed
  interesting concepts, dualisms and theories.
• Usually, because synchronically they have been
  keeping abreast of theorizing in other areas.
• Eugene Nida (1964) and Nida Taber (1969) (USA)
  borrowed from early Chomsky writings in evolving
  a distinction between
• - Referential meaning (denotation) - i.e. words
  as signs or symbols and
• - Connotative meaning (connotation) (emotional
  reactions generated in the reader by
  such-and-such a word).

74
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Working diachronically, then, certain
  translator-commentators have coined or developed
  interesting concepts, dualisms and theories.
• Usually, because synchronically they have been
  keeping abreast of theorizing in other areas.
• Eugene Nida (1964) and Nida Taber (1969) (USA)
  borrowed from early Chomsky writings in evolving
  a distinction between
• - Referential meaning (denotation) - i.e. words
  as signs or symbols and
• - Connotative meaning (connotation) (emotional
  reactions generated in the reader by
  such-and-such a word).
• Rather passé now ? Alas, no! Not all
  translators consider the reader not all
  translators (can) read below the surface of their
  Source.

75
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Some people to read
• George Steiners 1983 classic After Babel, OUP
  251-164, discussed translatability, replacing
  sterile literal vs. free discussion with
  hermeneutic movement model (translation as
  interpretation and transfer)

76
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Some people to read
• Hatim and Mason 1997 write on ideology in
  translation (ideology an idea with an agenda
  ?), e.g. the need to (avoid)(include) the tacit
  assumptions, beliefs and value systems which are
  shared collectively by social groups (HM
  1997144)

77
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Some people to read
• Venuti (1995, 1998, 1992, 2000) raises questions
  around the invisibility of translators
  (acknowledgement, praise, financing)
• and reflects on choices around domesticating or
  foreignizing translations (esp. of
  colonial/postcolonial writings)

78
Thoughtful writing (theory?) on Translation

• Some people to read
• Chamberlain (1988, 2000) and Levine (1991) write
  (respectively) on the anti-feminine sexualisation
  of translation (les belles infidèles, where
  e.g. the masculine source is original and
  trustworthy) (Chamberlain) and means to redress
  the (anti-feminine) ideology of original texts by
  recontextualising the Target Text and disrupting
  the target reader (Levine) .

79
Last Words EQUIVALENCE and COMMENTAIRE

• Discovering the joys and perils of Equivalence in
  translation and avoiding or compensating
  Translation Loss is what your Tutors will help
  you do.
• Writing a Commentaire de traduction charting you
  successes, failures and glimpses below the
  surface of Source Texts will be another product
  of the course.
• Classes proper start next week (Eng/Fr) and then
  alternate with Fr/Eng same time/place,
  different Tutors.
• Good courage!