scholarly journals Finnegans Wake: Beyond the Limits of Translation

2021 ◽  
pp. 86-103
Author(s):  
Esmeralda Osejo Brito
Keyword(s):  
Creative Process ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Literary Production ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Finnegans Wake ◽  
Experimental Syntax ◽  
Linguistic Barriers

Many deem James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake an untranslatable novel. Despite this, the characteristics that appear to obscure its meaning, such as semantic multiplicity and experimental syntax, also make it particularly open to interpretation and resignification—thus, to translation. The present paper proposes a flexible, creative, playful, and free approach to its translation. I discuss the possibilities derived from such an approach through the analysis and translation of fragments of Finnegans Wake into Spanish, and I support this approach to the translation process with some of the most prominent research on the translations of Joyce’s works, up to date scholarship from Translation Studies, and relevant testimonies from Joyce himself and from translators and writers who have studied his literary production. I argue that Finnegans Wake is a text that tries to capture language itself, transcends linguistic barriers by resisting rigidity of meaning, and achieves an “openness” and freedom that, paradoxically, have somewhat limited the efforts to translate it. Therefore, I propose that if Joyce did not limit himself in his creative process, it is necessary that we, as readers and translators, accept without fear the challenges presented to us by Finnegans Wake and dare to create new art from it.

scholarly journals Trans(a)l(e)atory Studies or the Translator as a Performer: "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce in Polish Translation

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (41) ◽  
pp. 29-47
Author(s):  
Łukasz Barciński
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
James Joyce ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Musical Score ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Finnegans Wake ◽  
The Comparative Study

Following the interdisciplinary approach, the article presents the translator’s role from the point of view musical terminology, which becomes appropriated for the sake of translation studies. As a result, the study applies the musical term aleatory music denoting an indeterminate type of musical notation which allows considerable freedom in the interpretation of a musical score. From this perspective, the translator, confronted with the inevitable interpretative gaps and indeterminacies in the source text, is compared to a musical performer who interprets the indeterminate aleatory notation. This approach is defined as trans(a)l(e)atory studies which consist in the analysis of multiple interpretative possibilities of target text versions based on one source text. The prominent example of the performative aspect of the translation process defined in this way is Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, the Polish translation of which (Finneganów Tren by rendered by Krzysztof Bartnicki) is analysed. The comparative study focuses on indeterminate aspects of language such as puns, neologisms (including portmanteau words), iconicity, blends and the superimposition of languages.

Una aproximación empírica a la ­clasificación y traducción de las figuras retóricas en la publicidad

Babel ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Calzada Perez
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
New Rhetoric ◽  
Rhetorical Figures ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The One

Since ancient times the suasive value of rhetorical figures has been vastly studied. In fact, Aristotle himself argued that the aim of rhetoric was not just to persuade but to find the best methods of persuasion (Aristotle, Retorica, ed. 1990). These methods have been frequently used in advertising, where they are employed to capture the consumer’s attention and, consequently, to sell the advertised product. However (despite the frequent appearance of rhetorical figures in advertising), there is a scarcity of studies on the role of these persuasive mechanisms in the translation of publicity. Bearing upon the “new rhetoric”, the present paper has a twofold purpose. On the one hand, it aims to import a clear taxonomy of rhetorical figures from advertising into translation studies and subsequently to illustrate the transfer of these figures. On the other hand, it analyses the behaviour of rhetorical figures in the translation process by means of an empirical investigation whose goal it is to further categorise them in a systematic and rational way. Drawing upon the seminal work of McQuarrie and his collaborators, the paper performs a quantitative analysis of a corpus of 120 matching pairs consisting of English advertisements and their existing Spanish counterparts. Results evidence that a great majority of rhetorical figures are “translated”, thus confirming the globalising tendencies of advertising.

scholarly journals A Glimpse from the Chambord Staircase at Translation’s Role in Comparative Literature

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Koustas
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Canadian Literature ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
Selection Of

While the importance of the translation process remains recognized as a worthwhile activity in both Literary/Cultural Studies and in fiction, it is frequently overlooked in larger discussions of Canadian literature, including comparative studies. Such activities aim to blur the lines between Us and Them, between Other and Self, or between the Rest of Canada (the Roc) and Quebec, in other words, to align or combine the frequently cited legendary two staircases of Château de Chambord. However, in the process, they have obscured other boundaries, such as those between Comparative Literature and Translation. Studies in Comparative Canadian Literature, for example, frequently overlook, or at least downplay, the importance of translation, neglecting to consider, for example, the translation strategy used and the selection of translated works available for comparison.

scholarly journals Abu Bakr Salem's Saudi-Hadhrami Songs in Translation

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Extra Dimension ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Poetic Texts

This exploratory and descriptive study attempts to investigate Abu Bakr Salem’s songs and poems to see how demanding the process of translating such poetic texts is. Three of the most authentic songs of the Saudi-Hadhrami famous singer have been translated and discussed to achieve the study goals which are refreshing translation studies with this regard as well as checking whether these Arabic songs are translatable. The translator was given much freedom to render this kind of challenging text which is loaded with cultural elements and prosodic features in the light of Low’s (2005) Pentathlon Approach. The translator has done his best to manifest the aesthetic elements as far as possible. The findings are that folkloric Saudi-Hadhrami songs are untranslatable and the translation process is too complicated. Therefore, translators are not recommended to translate songs because a loss of meaning or form becomes something unavoidable. The intricacies lie mainly in manifold dimensions including cultural, colloquial, and prosodic aspects. In addition, the extra dimension of the music is beyond the translator's control.

scholarly journals A Study on Zeng Hu’s Translation of The Thorn Birds from the Perspective of Chesterman’s Norm Theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Chengyi Ma
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Vital Importance ◽  
Professional Norms ◽  
Norm Theory ◽  
Further Development

Based on the norm theory of Toury and Hermans, Chesterman makes a further development on the study of translation norms. In his theory, translation norms fall into two categories: expectancy norms and professional norms. Expectancy norms are from the expectations of target readers and influenced by the economic, political and cultural factors of the target society. Professional norms manipulate the translation process and are subject to expectancy norms. Professional norms can be further divided into accountability norms, communication norms and relation norms. Chesterman’s norm theory covers the ethical, social and skill norms during the whole translation process, which has great significance for translation studies and practice. The author of this paper has conducted an overall study on The Thorn Birds translated by Zeng Hu from the perspective of Chesterman’s norm theory, aiming to analyze the translator’s conformity to these norms and how these norms influence his translation. It can be concluded that translation is a norm-governed activity. During the translation of The Thorn Birds, the translator Zeng Hu has, in his own way, ingeniously conformed to the translation norms by Chesterman: he not only conforms to the expectancy norms by adopting different translation strategies and styles according to the target readers’ needs, but also applies professional norms to make his translation work well accepted by readers and enjoy lasting popularity. Thus, it can be seen that the instructional and normative effects of translation norms is of vital importance to the success of a translation.

scholarly journals Domestication and Foreignization in Key Cultural Text Translation: A Case Study of the English Translation of Lost in the Crowd

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mehri Ebrahimi ◽  
Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Dominant Strategy ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Cultural Terms ◽  
Cultural Texts

Translation of key cultural texts is a challenging area since these texts not only present intricacies of cultures but also distinguish them from each other. In spite of it, investigating the translation of key cultural texts is one of the neglected areas in the field of translation studies. In the light of Venuti’s (2008) concepts of domestication and foreignization strategies, this research examines translation of Islamic religious cultural terms in Lost in the Crowd by Al-e Ahmad from Persian into English. It also investigates possible relationship between the accuracy of translation and the choice of strategy. The findings of the study reveal that domestication was the dominant strategy opted for by translators in the translation process. Moreover, the findings show that majority of the Islamic Persian terms were rendered into English adequately but the rate of adequate translation using a domesticating strategy was much higher than foreignizing.

scholarly journals Film Novelization as Multimodal Translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 125-136
Author(s):  
Beata Mazurek-Przybylska
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Book Market ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Literary Adaptation ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Image Schemata ◽  
Multimodal Text ◽  
Effective Analysis

Novelization, i.e. a literary adaptation of a film, despite its widespread presence on the book market, was treated as a merely commercial phenomenon, and until the late 1990s, it did not inspire any academics research. The main objective of this paper is to show that the phenomenon of novelization can offer new opportunities for linguistics and to reconsider the place of novelization in adaptation and translation studies. It is claimed that the process of film-to-book transformation can be called a translation process. The term multimodal translation is adopted since transforming a multimodal text film into a monomodal one book involves a change of modalities and their density. What follows is an attempt to propose tools that can be used for the effective analysis of multimodal translation, which involve the classical Aristotelian view of the three-part plot of verbal texts and Elżbieta Tabakowska’s theory of cognitive translation. In order to illustrate the film–book translation process, an Interstellar film segment and its book counterpart are analyzed and the conclusion has been drawn that both the film and the book units use the same orientational image schemata. These findings prove that the extension of Tabakowska’s theory to multimodal texts is an adequate framework for the comparison of a film and its novelization.

scholarly journals Lucian Blaga – the translation theorist

Diacronia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen-Ecaterina Ciobâcă
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Poetic Translation ◽  
The 1950S

Our research focuses on the metatexts signed by Lucian Blaga as a translator. We prove that, due to the preference of Blaga for ethnocentric translation and his philosophy on poetic translation seen as interpretation, he is a translation theorist. The premise on which we base our research is represented by the remark belonging to Sean Cotter, according to which, in the case of Blaga, translation is a manner of challenging the linguistic policy imposed in Romania during the 1950s by the new regime. In this regard, we analyse the dichotomy margins vs centre in translation and the importance of the translation process in Romania during that decade. The pattern suggested by Lawrence Venuti in nowadays Translation Studies is reversed in the case of the translation subjected to our study: the translator abandons its “invisibility”, while ethnocentric translation becomes, in itself, a technique of resistance. The analysis of certain metatexts signed by Blaga proves that he had a modern philosophy on translation, which allows us to consider him a translation scholar avant la lettre. Thus, a careful analysis of metatexts signed by translators of that period would contribute to a greater visibility of trends existing in Romanian Translation Studies.

scholarly journals SKOPOS THEORY: A PRACTICAL APPROACH IN THE TRANSLATION PROCESS

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ika Kana Trisnawati
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Religious Texts ◽  
Specific Guideline ◽  
Skopos Theory

Numerous criticisms have been addressed toward the application of Skopos theory within translation studies. Issues such as vague concepts of translation, ‘dethroning’ the source text, oversimplification and inapplicability to achieve equivalence for literary and religious texts are some of many critiques for Skopos theory. In addition, from a student’s perspective, it is argued that there is no specific guideline to carry out the theory. However, here, I would like to present my perspective as a student practicing translation as well as a brief overview of Skopos theory, its criticisms as well as its usefulness in actual implementation.

Cultural Conceptualizations, Semantics and Translation

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2169
Author(s):  
Sajjad Kianbakht
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Model ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Frame Semantics ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Linguistic Barriers

Cultural conceptualizations are ‘negotiated’ and ‘renegotiated’ across time and space by different generations of speakers so that the members of the group are able to think, so to speak, in one mind (Sharifian, 2008b). What helps us to go beyond the linguistic barriers and consequently incorporate cognitive and cultural conceptualizations to the study of translation is the notion of Frame Semantics Theory which itself is a nascent approach in Translation Studies. Using Rojo’s analytical model (2002b), which focuses on the frames and cultural conceptualizations activated in the humorous texts, this research investigates certain translation problems that may occur in translating cultural elements of the book; "Funny in Farsi: a Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America" by Firoozeh Dumas (2003). Furthermore, the present research considers and examines several translation challenges under six sub-frames: Visual Frames, Situational Frames, Text type frames, Social frames, Institutional frames, and Generic frames. Upon analysis of the text and its corresponding translation, 70 problematic cases were detected, analyzed and then classified according to Rojo’s model (2002).

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