Translating ‘others’ as ‘us’ in Huckleberry Finn: dialect, register and the heterogeneity of standard language

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yu
Keyword(s):  
Power Structures ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Chinese Translation ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Standard Language ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn ◽  
Huckleberry Finn

Studies on the translation of literary dialects have devoted much attention to linguistic features used in the recreation of source text dialects. Only limited discussions can be found on what strategies have been used in the translation of the source text (ST) standard language that the ST dialect is contrasted with. This is because studies on dialect translation have often rested on two assumptions: that standard language in the ST is always translated into a standard neutral target variety and that the use of standard language invariably leads to the erasure of literary effect in the target text (TT). Both assumptions are related to the misconception that standard language is a single neutral register. This article challenges these assumptions by proposing that translating dialect requires translating both sides of the dialect variation, that is to say, translating both the dialect itself and the standard language against which it is set in relief. Drawing particular attention to the translation of the standard side of the variation, this article sets out to achieve two purposes: (1) to explain how register varieties from standard language can function as sociolects in dialect translation, and (2) to build a dynamic model that incorporates both sides of the linguistic variation into the translation process. The following case study on the canonized Chinese translation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Zhang Yousong and Zhang Zhenxian shows how social hierarchies and power structures in Twain’s work have been reversed in the translation so as to construct social ‘others’ as ‘us’ and a socially elevated version of ‘us’ – a ‘better us’.

scholarly journals Translating national history for children: a case study of a classic

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-116
Author(s):  
B.J. Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Race Relations ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
National History ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn ◽  
Black Characters ◽  
History Of ◽  
Child Readers ◽  
Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is arguably about the history of theUnited States in terms of slavery and race relations. How, then, can this be translated to another language and culture, especially one with a very different background in regard to minorities? And in particular, how can this be translated for children, who have less knowledge about history and slavery than adult readers? In this essay, I analyse how Twain’s novel has been translated to Swedish. I study 15 translations. Surprisingly, I find that instead of retaining Twain’s even-handed portrayal of the two races and his acceptance of a wide variety of types of Americans, Swedish translators tend to emphasise the foreignness, otherness, and lack of education of the black characters. In other words, although the American setting is kept, the translators nevertheless give Swedish readers a very different understanding of theUnited Statesand slavery than that which Twain strove to give his American readers. This may reflect the differences in immigration and cultural makeup inSwedenversus inAmerica, but it radically changes the book as well as child readers’ understanding of what makes a nation.

scholarly journals Respectus Philologicus, 2009 Nr. 16 (21) A

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-238
Author(s):  
Gabija Bankauskaitė
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Literary Fiction ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Standard Language ◽  
Royal Court ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Verbal Metaphor ◽  
Scientific Life

CONTENTS I. DISCOURSE: THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS OF GENERATION, PERCEPTION AND IMPACTAgnieszka Miksza (Poland). The Politics of Reading and Writing. Jeanette Winterson’s Dialogue with Herself and the Reader... 11Olga Glebova (Poland). Recontextualisation as an Interpretive Strategy in Contemporary Novelistic Discourse ... 19Wojciech Majka (Poland).Understanding as Context for Disclosure ... 30Jurgita Vaičenonienė (Lithuania). Cultural Translation and Linguistic Metaphor: A Case Study of Verbal Metaphor Translation ... 38Regina Koženiauskienė (Lithuania). The Manipulation of Headlines: The Opposition of Text and Context... 50Erika Rimkutė, Neringa Pakalnytė (Lithuania). Topics and Linguistic Features of Social Advertisements...57Dovilė Vengalienė (Lithuania). The Cultural Aspects of Auto-Ironic Blends Referring to Lithuania and America in News Headlines ... 73Solveiga Sušinskienė (Lithuania). Nominalization as a Micro-Structural Item of English Scientific Discourse ...84 II. LITERARY FICTION: INTERPRETATION POSSIBILITIESUgnius Keturakis (Lithuania). Two Ways Leading to Modern National Culture: Vincas Kudirka and Jurgis Baltrušaitis... 93Marek Smoluk (Poland). The English Royal Court through the Eyes of Erasmus ... 105Ingrida Žindžiuvienė (Lithuania). Location and Space in Don Delillo’s Cosmopolis and Antanas Škėma’s Balta drobulė ... 112 III. CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH INTO LITHUANIAN LINGUISTICS: LINGUISTIC AND EXTRALINGUISTIC APPROACHESJonas Andrijauskas, Lina Bačiūnaitė-Lužinienė, Vytas Kriščiūnas (Lithuania). The Employment of New Technologies in Diachronic Toponymy ... 123Saulė Juzelėnienė, Giedrė Baranauskaitė (Lithuania). The Expression of Semantic Group of Movement in the Air in the Lithuanian and English Languages... 135Robertas Kudirka (Lithuania). The Formant Structure of the Accented Long and Short Vowels in the Lithuanian Standard Language... 141Jurga Kerevičienė (Lithuania). Dativus iudicantis in Lithuanian and its Equivalents in English ... 153Daiva Aliūkaitė (Lithuania). Accuracy of Standard Language Images: the Problem of Quasistandard... 160Nijolė Tuomienė (Lithuania). Declension of the ā- and iā Stem nouns in the Peripheral Ramaškonys Subdialect... 188Rima Bacevičiūtė (Lithuania). Tendencies and problems of instrumental analysis of sounds in lithuanian dialectology... 202 IV. SCIENTIFIC LIFE CHRONICLEBirutė Briaukienė (Lithuania). 110 Years to “Lietuviška gramatikėlė”...216Daiva Aliūkaitė, Gabija Bankauskaitė-Sereikienė (Lithuania). Young Linguists of the Lithuanian Language Gathering — a Part of Jubilee Events at VU KHF ...221 V. REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLICATION... 226VI. OUR AUTHORS... 234

Language localization in scientific drug information

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Cornelia Wermuth
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Drug Information ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Drug Manufacturer ◽  
Medical Discourse ◽  
European Medicines Agency ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Written Materials

Although localization is, in the first place, related to the cultural adaptation and translation of software and websites, it is important for written materials as well. In this paper we investigate how specialized medical discourse used in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) is localized in patient leaflets (PL). Both documents are issued by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and provide detailed information on the product compiled and distributed by the drug manufacturer, after EMA review and approval. We describe by means of a case study the formal and linguistic features of SmPCs and PLs and we investigate how the specialized source text is localized in its patient-friendly version. The aim of this investigation is to increase awareness and understanding of localization strategies adopted on the intralingual level in the communication of scientific-medical knowledge to a non-expert audience.

scholarly journals Exploring Pharmacy Students’ Techniques in Translating Pharmaceutical Texts from English into Bahasa Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22
Author(s):  
Ahmad Kailani ◽  
Dina Rafidiyah
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Translation Methodology ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia

Translating an L1 (source text) into a target language would be a daunting task and time-consuming work for students who are non-native speakers. It might be more challenging when the L1 text is a discipline specific text. Many words and specific terms are difficult to translate, and often unintended meanings emerge during this translation process. Although there has been considerable research on the translation studies, there has been still little study on how translators cope with the challenges. To fill this void, this case study is aimed to describe techniques employed by students majoring pharmacy in translating direction for use texts from English into Bahasa Indonesia. Adopting Vinay’s and Darbelnet’s (1996) translation methodology, this research is aimed to describe the translation process that students already undertook in order to produce texts that appropriately work in a particular social context. There are four drug brochures taken as samples of analysis. These texts are students’ assignment for the topic of translation.  This is a group work and part of the whole assessment. The study provides detailed and specific examples of how students tackle the challenges of translating discipline specific texts into equivalent languages that are socio-culturally and linguistically acceptable. HIGHLIGHTS: Translating a text is not simply to transfer the meaning of source text into the target text, but it requires the translator to have sufficient discipline specific knowledge. The challenges and problems faced by translators would be different from one another since each discipline specific text requires different strategies.

scholarly journals Eco-translatology-based Analysis of Children’s Literature Translation—A Case Study: Peter Pan

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Wentao Guo
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Peter Pan ◽  
Ternary Relation ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Peripheral Position ◽  
Important Position

Children’s literature occupies a peripheral position in literature system according to the polysystem theory so that the translators of children’s literature can manipulate the texts with great liberty. The translator of children’s literature in the ternary relation of translation, namely the source texts, the translator and the target text, is in a relatively important position. Thus, it is a feasible way to analyze the translation of children’s literature from the translator-centered perspective. Eco-translatology is a translator-centered translation theory, aiming to analyze how the translator selects and adapts during the translation process in the translational eco-environment. In this paper, the author will adopt Eco-translatology as the translation framework to analyze the translation of children’s literature, and try to explore how ‘children’, an important factor in the translational eco-environment, influences the translator’s selection and adaptation in the process of translating children’s literature. Furthermore, the author will take Peter Pan as a case study, comparing two Chinese versions of this book to analyze how the two translators adapt and select differently from those three dimensions during the translation process, as one follows the target-reader-oriented strategy and the other one follows the source-text-oriented strategy.

Translation of Lu Xun’s Essays — between Fidelity and Freedom

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
LILI HAN ◽  
LOLA GERALDES XAVIER
Keyword(s):  
Polytechnic Institute ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Chinese Translation ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Translation Techniques ◽  
New Perspective

Abstract This paper aims to examine the perspective of fidelity vs. freedom, from the study of the Portuguese translation of Lu Xun’s essays, produced by third year students of the Portuguese-Chinese Translation and Interpreting course of the Leiria Polytechnic Institute, Portugal, during their study in 2014 at the School of Languages and Translation of the Macao Polytechnic Institute. Their translations were published in Estudio dos Três Sabores.During the whole translation process, the inexperienced young translators tried to put into practice translation techniques – considering various possibilities, making revisions and writing self-reflections, while confronting fidelity to the source text with the freedom afforded by cultural and linguistic differences. By analysing the various solutions found by these translators, this paper attempts to point out the dilemma of translation and to bring a new perspective in terms of fidelity and freedom in translation.

scholarly journals Analisis Teknik Penerjemahan pada Abstrak Jurnal IJAI 6(1)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Ismail Yusuf Panessai ◽  
Dedy Iskandar ◽  
Afriani ◽  
Pratiwi ◽  
Eddy Effendi
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Scientific Paper ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Journal Abstract ◽  
Translation Technique ◽  
Translation Techniques ◽  
Main Factor

Penerjemahan berperanan penting dalam sebuah komunikasi. Penerjemahan adalah serangkaian tindakan analitis terhadap teks sumber (TSu) untuk dialihbahasakan kedalam teks sasaran (TSa) yang sepadan sehingga menghasilkan terjemahan yang baik dan dapat di mengerti oleh pembaca. Penerjemahan tidak hanya sekedar mengubah kata, tetapi juga mentransfer kesepadanan budaya dengan budaya bahasa TSu dan penerima bahasa tersebut dengan sebaik-baiknya. Salah satu naskah yang selalu menggunakan proses penerjemahan adalah adalah abstrak. Abstrak bertujuan untuk memberikan gambaran umum tentang isi sebuah tulisan karya ilmiah. Karya ilmiah ini merupakan studi kasus penerjemahan abstrak artikel yang diterbitkan di International Journal of Artificial Intelligence (IJAI) pada Terbitan 6(1) tahun 2019. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan proses penerjemahan yang dilakukan pada teks sumber (TSu) ke dalam teks sasaran (TSa) untuk menghasilkan terjemahan yang sepadan dan juga metode atau teknik yang muncul dalam penerjemahan teks sumber (TSu) kedalam teks sasaran (TSa). Dari penelitian yang dilakukan dapat disimpulkan bahwa dalam proses penerjemahan yang dilakukan pada teks sumber (TSu) ke dalam teks sasaran (TSa) harus mempertimbangkan faktor-faktor yang terkandung di dalam teks tersebut agar mendapatkan hasil terjemahan yang sepadan dan dapat difahami dengan baik oleh pembaca. Faktor utama yang sangat mendukung adalah bahwa penerjemah harus mengetahui istilah-istilah dalam TSu dan memahami penggunaan istilah tersebut sehingga penerjemah bisa dengan mudah menerjemahkan naskah TSu ke dalam TSa. Selain itu, teknik penerjemahan yang banyak digunakan dalam kedua naskah adalah teknik transposisi, teknik meminjam kata baik murni maupun dengan perubahan serta teknik adaptasi dan calque.   Analysis of Translation Techniques in the journal abstract of IJAI 6(1) Abstract: Translation plays an important role in communication. Translation is a series of analytical actions on the source text (TSU) to be translated into equivalent target text (TSA) so as to produce a good translation and can be understood by the reader. Translation does not just change the word, but also transfers the cultural correspondence to the culture of the TSu language and its recipient as best as possible. One of the texts that always uses the translation process is an abstract. Abstract aims to provide an overview of the contents of a scientific paper. This scientific work is a case study of translating article abstracts published in the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence (IJAI) in Issue 6 (1) in 2019. The purpose of this research is to describe the translation process carried out on the source text (TSu) into the target text (TSa) to produce an equivalent translation and also the methods or techniques that appear in the translation of the source text (TSu) into the target text (TSa). From the research conducted, it can be concluded that in the translation process carried out on the source text (TSu) into the target text (TSa) must consider the factors contained in the text in order to get a translation result that is equivalent and can be well understood by readers. The main factor that is very supportive is that the translator must know the terms in TSu and understand the use of these terms so that the translator can easily translate the TSu script into TSa. In addition, the translation techniques that are widely used in the two texts are transposition techniques, techniques for borrowing words both pure and with changes as well as adaptation and calque techniques. Keywords: Abstract, Translation Technique, Journal, TSu ≈ TSa.

Were Tom and Huck On-Shelf? Public Libraries, Mark Twain, and the Formation of Accessible Canons, 1869––1910

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette A. Lear
Keyword(s):  
Gilded Age ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Mark Twain ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Huckleberry Finn

Public libraries are "accessible canons" for their communities. As part of their efforts to connect people and ideas, librarians purchase classic and bestselling books from "selective," "personal," "nonce," and other canons. They also create bibliographies, professional standards, and other tools that help shape reading habits. Thus libraries embody complex, ongoing processes of canon using and canon forming. This essay illustrates the canonical activities of American public libraries during the early years of the profession. It describes the American Library Association Catalog, local finding lists and accession records, and other primary sources that shed light on collection building during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Taking Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) as a case study, it presents statistics on library ownership during the author's lifetime from more than seven hundred communities across the United States. Tables focus on nine titles: The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, The Gilded Age, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. Statistical analysis reveals that "controversial" items such as Huckleberry Finn were widely available in Gilded-Age and Progressive-era public libraries, thus calling into question some assumptions about censorship of Twain's work. Also, library holdings of some titles varied by decade and geography, demonstrating that libraries implemented "national" and "recognized" canons unevenly. In sum, the essay shifts attention toward the operationalization of literary canons and provides empirical evidence of Mark Twain's presence in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century literary landscape.

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