scholarly journals On Re-instantiation of Literary Dialects: A Systemic Functional Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 706
Author(s):  
Jing Chen
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
New Development ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
New Perspective

With the developments in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the functional approach to translation studies (TS) has offered new perspective into understanding how translation can be viewed as the re-instantiation of Source Text (ST) in another language system as Target Text (TT).In literary texts, language variations such as literary dialects have long been considered challenges in translation, but literary dialects are also believed to be “valued” linguistic elements since non-standard language such as dialects are socially related and may trigger linguistic stereotypes among readers. In tune with the new development in SFL, the current research focuses on the English translations of dialects in Li Jieren’s Si Shui Wei Lan (死水微澜) which is rich in Sichuan dialects and are with linguistically varied voices. The purpose of this article is threefold: firstly, to briefly present the linguistic features of ST, revealing author’s intentional arrangement in his choices of dialects; secondly, with case studies to compare and discuss the translators’ choices in re-instantiating dialects from the perspective of coupling and commitment; finally, to offer suggestions for translating literary dialects. This paper argues that SFL helps translators pinpoint the linguistic features that are valued in ST and inform translators of alternative renderings. This paper adopts a descriptive approach to the triplet on how translators re-coupled and re-committed the language variations in the ST into TT, and it serves as a manifestation of how SFL applies to TS from a new angel.

Dante’s ‘Shameless Whore’: Sexual Imagery in Anglo-American Translations of the Comedy

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edoardo Crisafulli
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Sexual Imagery ◽  
Original Language ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Anglo American

Abstract This article focuses on the strategies pursued by Anglo-American translators in dealing with Dante’s sexual imagery in the Comedy. The author attempts to explain why the original imagery — which condemns a corrupt Roman Catholic Church — has sexist connotations, and why it is reproduced in most translations in the corpus. “Fidelity” or adequacy with respect to sexual/sexist images seems striking in view of the fact that certa..n translators bowdlerize the source text or tone down the boldness of its vernacular style. It is suggested that the patriarchal nature of both the Italian and English languages explains why the use of sexist imagery is tolerated (or perhaps even encouraged) in literary texts. The findings of the analysis are then brought to bear on one important question: should the translation scholar aim to bring about “politically correct” changes in translation practice, that is, changes attenuating the offensiveness of the original language? The author advocates a descriptive approach, even though “gender and translation” seems more politicized than other areas of research within Translation Studies. The paper concludes that Translation Studies may benefit from the findings of gender studies, provided scholars in this area do not attempt to change actual translation practice and focus on the hermeneutics of translation. In fact, gender scholars can make an important contribution to Translation Studies by focusing on the ideological nature of the gendered construction of meaning.

The Concept of Function of Translation and its Application to Literary Texts

Target ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roda P. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Functional Approach ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Concept Of Function

Abstract Many translation theorists have adopted a functional approach to translation in an attempt to guide and explain the difficult choices a translator must make. This paper argues that it is the function of the translation, and not the functions of language or the function of the source text, that is the translator's guiding force. Having defined the function of translation as the application or use which the translation is intended to have in the context of the target situation, various functions that a literary translation may serve are examined. Finally, using the criteria of functions of language, functions of (source) text and functions of translation, an attempt is made to show that the type and degree of coincidence between the formal manifestations of the functions of language in the source text, the function of the source text and the translation depend on the precise function of the latter.

scholarly journals THE VARIATION OF INTERPERSONAL MEANING BREADTH OF BILINGUAL TEXT “SERIBU KUNANG-KUNANG DI MANHATTAN BY UMAR KHAYAM”

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Eka Yunita Liambo
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
First Variation ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Bilingual Text

<p class="Abstract">ABSTRACT</p><p class="IsiAbstrakabstractcontent"><em>The process of meaning realization to the target language may involve the change of meaning. This change leads to the variation of meaning depth, breadth, and height. This is caused by the differences of linguistic features between the target language and source language. Therefore, the difficulties of finding equivalent words in target language may force translators to use other words which do not have the exactly similar meaning. However, this becomes a phenomenon in translation studies. This research aims to know the variation of interpersonal meaning breadth of a bilingual text. The primary data of this research is the sentences of first bilingual text taken from Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Manhattan translated into A Thousand Fireflies in Manhattan. There were 281 sentences are analysed. The result shows that those sentences found to have different variations. The most frequently variations found in this short story are the first variations in which element functions in the source text and target text have one difference. First variation has 28,82% then followed by zero variation  with 23,48%. Whereas other sentences is classified as the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth variation of interpersonal meaning breadth with percentage of 18,14%, 4,62%, 3,20%, 14,23% and 7,47%. These variations occurring in the first bilingual text Seribu Kunang-Kunang di Manhattan translated into A Thousand Fireflies in Manhattan seems to be done to maintain the correspondence in the target language.</em></p><strong>Keywords: </strong>bilingual, breadth meaning, interpersonal, translation, variation of meaning,

scholarly journals A Functional Approach to Audio Description

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Functional Model ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Selection Of

The article discusses a functional approach to audio description (AD) and first proposes a classification of text types, followed by a model of source text (ST) analysis which encompasses three layers: the contextual, the macrotextual and the microtextual. The functional model helps identify the functional priorities in a given ST, which may then guide the audio describer’s decision-making process: the results of contextual and macrotextual analyses will assist the describer in the selection of the so-called macro strategy, while the microtextual analysis may help in making lower-level decisions called micro strategies. Although the model has been designed primarily for didactic purposes, its principles may also be useful for more experienced describers. Additionally, the model constitutes a theoretical conceptualisation of AD and attempts to better integrate AD within the field of translation studies.

Reframed narrativity in literary translation: an investigation of the explicitation of cohesive chains

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-171
Author(s):  
Xi Li ◽  
Long Li
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Hong Lou Meng ◽  
Different Types ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Chinese Classic ◽  
Logical Links

Abstract Explicitation is a key concept in translation studies referring to turning what is implicitly narrated in a source text into explicit narration in a target text; it has been widely studied from different aspects across language pairs and genres. However, while most previous studies investigate explicitation through a few indicators of explicitness, most of which are specific logical links and connectives, textual explicitness encompasses far beyond these. To date, little attention has been paid, especially in literary translation, to semantic explicitation, which is realized through cohesive chains in textual development. Since cohesive chains represent the development of events and characters throughout the text, it is assumed the more there are of them, the more tangible a text is in realizing its meaning within its context. This research, therefore, sets out to investigate the cohesive chains in a Chinese classic novel, Hong Lou Meng, and in its two English translations, The Dream of the Red Mansions and A Story of the Stone, with an emphasis on how the texts are manifested as narratives in the respective contexts with different readers. It has found a trend of explicitation in translation from Chinese source text to English target texts in terms of the numbers of cohesive chains and the lexical items forming the chains. It has also found differences in the distribution of different types of cohesive chains (identity chains and similarity chains), which represent distinctive patterns of realizing the context in each text. The interpretation of these different stylistic features in narrative reflects both typological differences and translators’ choices.

Clause complexing and characterisation: Joyce’s ‘Two Gallants’ Revisited

2020 ◽  
pp. 096394702095220
Author(s):  
He Huang
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Writing Style ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Literary Meaning ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Clause Complex

The application of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics to analyse literary texts has been a prevalent approach in the field of stylistics. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the three metafunctions, that is the experiential, the interpersonal and the textual metafunctions, on the level of the clause, ignoring the logical metafunction on the level of the clause complex. Therefore, the present study seeks to examine the composition of clause complexes and explicate how clause complexing is related to the reader’s interpretation of literary meaning, especially that of characterisation. To achieve this, a comparative method is adopted to explain in what sense the author’s actual choices of clause complexes differ from alternatives that could have been chosen and also in what sense the choices shape into a coherent pattern throughout the text. My case study is James Joyce’s short story ‘Two Gallants’, a text that has already been successfully investigated from the Hallidayan approach. My main findings suggest that the deceptively simple style of clause complexing in Joyce’s text is in fact loaded with semantic density and incongruity that serve the purpose of characterisation. The study aims to show that we would miss many subtle details in the text in terms of characterisation if we skip the construction of clause complexes. Accordingly, the reading of nuances between the clauses might offer us a new perspective not just to interpret Joyce’s short story and but also to better understand his writing style.

Translation theories in “the other Europe”

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-262
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Costantino
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Translation Study ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Linguistic Approach

Since the mid-1950s much research has been carried out in the field of translation theories in Poland. Although the results that emerged were often of considerable interest, Polish translation theories are often ignored by experts in the West. This article investigates the Polish contribution to theoretical discussions of translation. Early contributions to the debate, in 1955, characterized by a “linguistic” approach, warned against theories limiting the “unit of translation” to single words, thus neglecting the “text.” Linguist O. A. Wojtasiewicz stressed the semiotic, psychological, and cultural nature of translation. Around the mid-1960s a group of scholars from the “Poznań School” focused on literary translation. They saw literary translation as a semiotic process and produced a theoretical and descriptive research that could be defined as “target-oriented.” Their methods are typified by the particular attention given to diachronic and reception perspectives. Since the mid-1970s, in marked opposition to the “predominant role of literary texts” in Polish translation studies, F. Grucza and scholars from Warsaw University (“Warsaw School”) favored other areas of research, such as oral translation and specialized translation and interpreting. From the research carried out in Warsaw, a new perspective opened up within the linguistic approach, resulting in a new definition of the equivalence based on cognitive and pragmatic factors. This line of research also involved cognitive linguistics, as of the 1990s the most noteworthy innovation in Polish translation studies. Since 1990 the research field has become more varied: there are now more translation study centers (Cracow, Łódź, Lublin, Gdańsk…), and the field of investigation has broadened, now following on the heels of Western debate, with which there is now more contact.

scholarly journals ARIAS-BADIA, Blanca. Subtitling Television Series. A Corpus-Driven Study of Police Procedurals. Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Wien, Peter Lang, 2020, 248 pp., ISBN 978-1-78707-796-6 (print), ISBN 978-1-78707-798-0 (ePub)

Hikma ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-441
Author(s):  
Irene Hermosa Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Crime Fiction ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Television Studies ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature

The Audiovisual Translation (AVT) and Media Accessibility fields have found an ongoing interest in corpus research both for descriptive purposes (Matamala, 2008; Baños, 2013; Reviers, 2017) and for teaching purposes (Rica Peromingo, 2019; Baños, 2021). In an interdisciplinary fashion, Blanca Arias-Badia’s book Subtitling Television Series. A Corpus-Driven Study of Police Procedurals specifically takes on the task of describing the principal linguistic features of crime fiction television scripts and their corresponding Spanish subtitles. Its interdisciplinary nature lies on the combination of Television Studies, Linguistics and Translation Studies (TS). Notably, the author explores the notion of norms and patterns through the lens of these three disciplines, all by situating the source text and the target text in the spoken word to written language continuum. The book follows a clear structure of nine chapters including a theoretical and methodological contextualisation of the (quantitative and qualitative) morphosyntactic and lexical analysis of the Corpus of Police Procedurals [...]

scholarly journals Dances with Words: Issues in the Translation of Japanese Literature into English

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Richard Ninian Donovan
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Japanese Literature ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
English Translations ◽  
More Care ◽  
Syntactic Differences

<p>Chapter One: Literary Translation Studies, Japanese-to-English Translation, and Izu no odoriko This introductory chapter explores aspects of Translation Studies relevant to Japanese-to-English literary translation. I employ extended metaphors from the case study, Kawabata Yasunari's novella Izu no odoriko,to re-illuminate perennial TS issues such as equivalence, 'style' and disambiguation, contrasting the translating approaches of Edward G. Seidensticker and J. Martin Holman. The chapter concludes with an outline of the investigative path I followed in analysing the sourcetext (ST) and comparing it with the target texts (TTs): the English translations. I explain the thesis's systematic corpus approach in using an NVivo database to establish a set of potentially problematic translation issues that arise out of the interaction of source language-target language (SL-TL) features.  Chapter Two: A Taxonomy of Japanese Paradigmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English The Japanese and English languages have significant lexical and morpho-syntactic differences, which I contend give rise to potentially problematic translation issues. The chapter begins by differentiating cultural and linguistic features and explaining why the thesis will focus on the latter. The rest of the chapter presents a detailed analysis of ST exemplars of the most significant of the paradigmatic (lexical) features. Seidensticker and Holman's translations are analysed to determine how they have addressed the translation issues arising from these features.  Chapter Three: A Taxonomy of Japanese Syntagmatic Features and the Issues Arising for Translation into English This chapter continues the analysis of linguistic differences between Japanese and English in the context of literary translation. Here the focus is on the syntagmatic (structural)features of Japanese in comparison with English, again examining examples from the ST and comparing how the translators address the issues arising in their translating decisions.  Chapter 4: 'Shall We Dance?' Translation Acts in the English Translations of Izu no odoriko and Beyond The focus moves to the features of the translators' overall translation strategies, and how they apply these strategies in their translating decisions: so-called 'translation acts'. Conducting a close reading of the ST and TTs of a pivotal scene in Izu no odoriko, I draw on previous academics' frameworks to create a simple rubric for categorising the manifestation of these strategies at the discourse level. The chapter concludes by drawing together the theoretical and empirical strands of the thesis and demonstrating the relevance of this discussion to the English translation of Japanese literature. While acknowledging the necessarily subjective nature of the translational act, and the sophisticated techniques the translators employ to deal with complex issues, I propose that my analytic framework urges more care in the preservation of semantic and formal elements than can be observed in aspects of the translations examined.</p>

scholarly journals Translation Studies Today: Old Problems and New Challenges

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-327
Author(s):  
Vadim V Sdobnikov
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Interdisciplinary Science ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Cultural Turn

The article presents a review of the key trends in modern Translation Studies (TS) made after thorough analysis of the most fundamental works written in various fields of TS. The review proves that not only the range of problems within TS is now more diversified, which is related to many changes in the nature of translation activity, but Translation Studies are an interdisciplinary science now and uses data from neighboring disciplines. Specific “turns” have occurred in Translation Studies, and new paradigms of translation investigation have emerged. The most important phenomena in Translation Studies include “cultural turn” and the so called “anthropocentric turn” that has given birth to communicative-functional approach to translation. This approach implies “plunging” into the communicative situation of translation, and its analysis aimed at realizing the goal of translation by the translator/interpreter. It allows a more precise formulation of tasks solved by translators in both traditional types of translation (literary translation, religious translation, interpreting) and relatively new kinds of translation activity (audiovisual translation, localization). The article proves that translation proper is the main element of any activity performed by translators while any translation activity implies cultural adaptation of the text to the perception of the source text audience. The principal feature of Translation Studies is being practice-oriented, and their focus on the study of objective laws of translation activity. It enables translation scholars to understand peculiarities of various types of translation and to realize the essence of translation as a human activity.

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