Bridging translation theory and practice

Perspectives ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Liu
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory

Semiotics East and West: an aesthetic-semiotic approach to translating the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry

Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangxu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Chinese Poetry ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Classical Chinese ◽  
Classical Chinese Poetry ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Sacrifice

Abstract For some Western translators before the twentieth century, domestication was their strategy to translate the classical Chinese poetry into English. But the consequence of this strategy was the sacrifice of the ideogrammic nature of these poems. The translators in the twentieth century, especially the Imagist poets and translators in the 1930s, overcame the problems of their predecessors and their translation theory and practice was close to that of the contemporary semiotic translators. But both Imagist translators and contemporary semiotic translators have the problem of indifference to the feeling of the original in their translations. For the problem of translating the classical Chinese poetry by the Westerners before the twentieth century and the Imagist poets and translators of the twentieth century, see Zhao and Flotow 2018. This paper attempts to set up an aesthetic-semiotic approach to the translation of the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry on the basis of the examination of both Eastern and Western translation studies.

On polarization

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian James Baer
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
Distinct State ◽  
The Cold War

Abstract The ideological incommensurability of the worldviews or master narratives represented by the two opposing superpowers during the Cold War and embodied in the image of an impenetrable iron curtain gave particular salience to translation theory while also questioning the very possibility of translation. At the same time, the neoimperialist projects of the two superpowers produced startlingly similar approaches to the instrumentalization of translation as a vehicle for propaganda and diplomacy. Presenting polarization as a distinct state of semiosis, the effects of which are highly unpredictable, this article explores the various ways in which the radical polarization of the Cold War shaped the theory and practice of translation both within and across the ideological divide. Plotting the entanglements of the light and dark sides of translation during this time challenges traditional histories of the field that construe the period as one of progress and liberation.

The translator’s immobility

Target ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Venturi
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
The One

Translations are facts of target cultures, but the perceived status of source texts has a bearing on how these are reflected or refracted in the target language. This proposition is particularly evident in the case of classics: when translators have to work on literary creations occupying a pivotal position in the source/target cultures, they adopt strategies of literalness and ennoblement which betray a quasi-religious awe—on the one hand, a desire to ruffle the surface of the revered original as little as possible; and on the other, a determination to reproduce the supposed ‘classical qualities’ of the classic even when they are not present in the source. In the following article, I examine how the ‘idea of classic’ influences translation theory and practice, substantiating my theoretical observations by looking at Italian translations of English classics. A marked—and historically determined—disparity between source and target readerships, and the translators’ reverence for their prestigious originals, conspire to produce Italian versions which are much more ‘wooden’ and ‘elegant’ than their English counterparts.

An Introduction to Modernist Non-Translation

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jason Harding ◽  
John Nash
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Literary Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Sociopolitical Issues

This first essay in the volume constitutes a substantial and wide-ranging introduction to this neglected topic, establishing the importance of untranslated fragments in modernist writing. The chapter expounds the complexities of the term ‘non-translation’, differentiating the practice from multilingualism, reading it alongside modern translation theory and practice. It situates modernist non-translation among a number of crucial contexts in intellectual history and literary theory: the ‘linguistic turn’ explored by contemporary philosophers, linguists, literary theorists, and critics; and examines broader sociopolitical issues relating to nationalism and language, the rise of English as an (imperial) global language, and the standardization of English. This introduction foregrounds key hermeneutical difficulties surrounding untranslatability and concerning reading or interpreting modernist non-translation, thus preparing the ground for the following chapters.

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