Cultural Functions of Translation: Sustainable Development in the Context of Globalization

2011 ◽  
Vol 347-353 ◽  
pp. 426-430
Author(s):  
Da Lai Wang
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Cultural Functions ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Target Culture

This paper aims to account for sustainable development of different cultures in the context of globalization from the perspective of cultural functions of translation, which wield enormous power in constructing representations of the foreign culture and have far reaching effects in the target culture. According to cultural communication of translation, the major task of translation is to turn the cultural information in one language into another. Therefore, in the process of translating, the translator should try his utmost to allow his target language reader to acquire cultural information of the source text in order to promote mutual understanding between Western people and Eastern people and make different cultures co-exist peacefully and achieve sustainable development.

scholarly journals Translating Connotative Meaning in the Translation of the Holy Quran: Problems and Solutions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies ◽  
Noureldin Mohamed Abdelaal
Keyword(s):  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Connotative Meaning ◽  
Expressive Meaning ◽  
Semantic Complexity ◽  
Holy Quran ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
The Holy Quran ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Equivalence Problems

Connotative meaning is one of the most challenging aspects in translation, especially between two different cultures such as English and Arabic. The problem is more aggravated when the translation occurs from a sacred and sophisticated text such as the Holy Quran. As a result, losses in translation occur. This study, therefore, is an attempt to identify the losses in the translation of connotative meaning in the Holy Quran, propose strategies to reduce such losses, and identify the causes of such losses. For this purpose, seven examples were extracted from the Holy Quran and were qualitatively analysed. The analysis of the extracted data revealed that connotative meaning was quite challenging in translation and losses occurred. These problems in preserving the connotative meaning of the source text (ST) word or playing it down are due to two main causes: the first cause is the lack of equivalence, while the second one is the translator’s failure to pick the most appropriate equivalent. Non-equivalence problems were mainly represented in lack of lexicalization, semantic complexity, culturally-bound terms, difference in expressive meaning, and difference in distinction of meaning between the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). Some strategies were suggested to reduce such loss in the translation of connotative meaning. These strategies include footnoting, transliteration, periphrastic translation, and accuracy of selecting the proper equivalent that can be achieved by triangulation procedures such as peer-checking and expert-checking.

scholarly journals THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PECULIARITIES OF TRANSLATING CULTURE-SPECIFIC TERMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-497
Author(s):  
B. Mizamkhan ◽  
◽  
T. Kalibekuly ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Cultural Connotations ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Cultural Linguistics

The term “culture-specific vocabulary” appeared in the 1980s. Problems of translating culture-specific terms from one language to another have always been a serious issue for translators. It causes even more problems if the languages being compared belong to different language groups and represent different cultures. Nevertheless, the study of culture-specific vocabulary helps to achieve the adequacy of translation, which in turn helps speakers of different languages ​​and cultures to achieve mutual understanding. The above emphasizes the relevance and timeliness of the study of translation from the point of view of cultural linguistics. This paper will examine the peculiarities of translating culture-specific terms from Kazakh into English. It provides different methods of translating cultural connotations, taking into account the ways of living and thinking, as well the historical and cultural backgrounds embedded in the source language (hereafter SL) and target language (hereafter TL). These methods will be analyzed using specific examples, originals and translations of such works as “The Path of Abai” by Mukhtar Auezov and “Nomads” by Ilyas Yessenberlin. Therefore, the main aim of the paper is to try to explain main approaches and theories needed for adequate understanding of different cultures through translation.

scholarly journals Translation Strategy of Proper Name

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-164
Author(s):  
M. Agus Suriadi ◽  
Ni’ mah Nurul Ihsani
Keyword(s):  
Proper Names ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Copy Strategy ◽  
Target Culture

Massive discussion has been done related to the translation strategy, including the proper name. This study discussed the types of a proper name and the translation strategy of a proper name in an English-Indonesian Novel Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secret. The data will be presented qualitatively by using Peter Newmark and Lincoln Fernandes theories. Six data are frequently typed into addressing name, four are typed as a geographical place, and one as an object name. Moreover, the most strategies used to engage the equivalence effect are copy strategy with seven data, rendition strategy with three data, and re-creation strategy with one datum. Therefore, the copy strategy can be a solution to deliver proper names into TL because it preserves the proper name and introduces the foreign name of foreign culture to the target language and target culture. Moreover, if a proper name has its equivalence meaning in TL, it might be translated by rendition strategy.

scholarly journals A critical analysis of domestication in Makhambeni’s translation of Chinua Achebe’s novel No longer at ease (1960)

Literator ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Masubelele
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Text Message ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
Igbo Culture ◽  
Language Norms ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Target Culture

Through translation the target reader is exposed to other cultures. Translators, therefore, have to use the target language to convey the source text message to the target reader. There are various choices at their disposal as to how they wish to convey the source text message. They may choose to adopt the norms and conventions of the source text message, and therefore those of the source language and culture, or choose those of the target language. Commonly, adherence to the target language norms and conventions leads to a strategy in which the foreignness of both linguistic and cultural conventions is reduced. According to Venuti (1995) this is domestication. Since translations are rarely equivalent to the original, this article seeks to examine how Makhambeni uses Venuti‟s domestication as a translation strategy, with the purpose of rewriting the original to conform to functions instituted by the receiving system. The descriptive approach to translation, which advances the notion that translations are facts of the target culture, will be used to support the arguments presented in this article. It will be shown that, although Achebe has used a lot of Igbo expressions and cultural practices in his novel, Makhambeni has not translated any of the Igbo expressions and cultural practices into Zulu. Instead Makhambeni used Zulu linguistic and cultural expressions such as similes, metaphors, idioms, proverbs and of cultural substitutions to bring the Igbo culture closer to her audience. It will be concluded that through the use Zulu linguistic and cultural conventions Makhambeni has effectively minimised foreign culture and narrowed the gap between the foreign and target cultures. She has successfully naturalised the Igbo culture to make it conform more to what the Zulu reader is used to.

Translation and Comparison

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
László Kontler
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Reception Theory ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
History Of ◽  
Communicative Act ◽  
Early Modern Times

This article attempts to refine the understanding of translation, thus contributing to evaluate its role in reception theory and in the history of ideas. A discussion of on the character, theories, and practices of translation in early-modern times is its entry point of analysis. During this period, what mattered in the first place was not the extent to which the translated text succeeded or failed in making the source text and its "original" ideas accessible in the target language, but rather the extent and the way in which the source text was instrumental in pursuing the agenda set by the translator or others in compliance with specific contexts. Such a perspective on translation seems also appropriate to current modes of inquiry for which translation is not an instance of inter-cultural communication, aiming to penetrate the Other in its fullness and make it intelligible in its otherness, but a communicative act whose purposes are predominantly intra-cultural and consist in supporting domestic agendas to which the translated text looks instrumental.

scholarly journals Normalization Techniques For Translating Cultural - Specific Expressions

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Nuchanad Imjidee ◽  
Soh Bee Kwee
Keyword(s):  
Da Vinci ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Target Culture

For readability of audience in target culture (TC), cultural-specific expressions (CSEs) which have been embedded with specific characteristics, need specific techniques to transfer them into target language (TL). This study aims to identify normalization techniques (NTs) from domestication strategies to show that they are particularly necessary for CSE translation. Based on the previous studies of different scholars, the overlap between domestication and normalization is clarified, following by the clarification of the relation between normalization and the use of translator’s subjectivity, as well as the distinction between CSEs and universals for simple explanation on what normalization and CSE are. Last but not least, the overlapping NTs, classified from domestication strategies will be unified. Finally, illustration of normalization of CSEs, selected from Thai target text (TT) and its English source text (ST), The Da Vinci Code (DVC), a novel by Dan Brown, will give an overt explanation of how each NT is used to deal with CSEs in order to show relation between characteristics of CSEs and each NT. This will answer why NTs are necessary.

scholarly journals Skopos and (Un)certainty: How Functional Translators Deal with Doubt

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Nord
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Decision Point ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Binary Decision ◽  
Language Norms ◽  
Translation Type ◽  
Target Culture

There are no rules for translation. Translation is a decision-making process, and each decision point involves uncertainty. In the following article, I would like to show how, from a skopos-theoretical perspective, a top-down procedure can at least reduce uncertainty to some degree. The top level is that of the translation brief, which determines the choice of translation type and form. This is a binary decision. A documentary translation usually “documents” the pragmatics of the source text, whereas an instrumental translation gets a pragmatics of its own, for example with regard to deixis. At the next level, the translator has to deal with cultural norms and conventions. Here, the decision becomes more complex because the brief may require the reproduction of some source-culture behaviours and the adaptation of others to target-culture conventions, both in documentary and instrumental translations. The next level is that of language. We may safely assume that most translations are expected to conform to the norms of the target-language system, but there may be cases where source-language norms have to be reproduced, for example in an interlinear translation for linguistic purposes. At the last two levels, the remaining doubts have to be resolved first in line with contextual restrictions and, ultimately, the translator’s personal preferences, if necessary.

scholarly journals Source Culture and Target Culture in English Language Teaching: A Study of Intercultural Pragmatics and Students’ Learning Outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazrat Umar ◽  
Maria Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Intercultural Pragmatics ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Target Culture ◽  
Experimental Group

The study explores the role of intercultural pragmatics in theimprovement of students’ reading comprehension of English. This is anexperimental research conducted upon 50 eighth-grade Pashtun studentsaged around 12 and 13 years. The experimental group (n=25) was taughtan intercultural curriculum which included topics from the British culture(target culture) and Pashtun culture (source culture) in addition to theform of language. The control group (n=25) was treated traditionally inwhich the focus was on the structure and form of language. The pre- andpost-tests were administered to both groups. After comparing the meanscores of the tests, it has been found that the experimental group showedgreater improvement in their English language proficiency as comparedto the control group. It is recommended that topics from both the sourceand target cultures written in the target language be included in theEnglish curriculum. Further, training programs for language teachersshould include intercultural pragmatics in their syllabi. Further researchmay be conducted in the same area in different places with participantsfrom different cultures and age groups.

Creativity in collaborative poetry translating

Target ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-306
Author(s):  
Sergio Lobejón Santos ◽  
Francis Jones
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Work In Progress ◽  
Literal Translation ◽  
Original Poems ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Target Culture

Abstract This study examines how creative solutions to translation problems are negotiated and selected in ‘poettrios’ (teams consisting of a source poet, a target-language poet and a bilingual language mediator working from pre-prepared, literal translation drafts of poems), and compares creativity in this mode to that in solo poetry translating (Jones 2011). The interactions and outputs taken from real-time recordings, work-in-progress drafts and participant interviews from several poettrios translating original poems from English into Dutch and from Dutch into English in two workshops were coded and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show that creativity in poetry translating is an eminently cognitive activity in which creative solutions typically emerge through the incremental contributions of the complementary expertises of the individual poettrio members, with occasional radical leaps. In this incremental scaffolding process, and similarly to solo translating, poettrios first consider non-creative options, then creative adjustments and, finally, creative transformations. Radical solutions are generally only accepted when a departure from the source-text surface meaning is deemed necessary to achieve the double aim of retaining the source poem’s message while producing an acceptable poem in the target culture (Holmes 1988).

UNGKAPAN MAKNA MAKIAN DALAM BAHASA MINANGKABAU DAN BATAK: STUDI KOMPERATIF

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-94
Author(s):  
Usmala Dewi Siregar
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Actual Meaning ◽  
Different Cultures

Abstract: Invective expression is different from its literal meaning. Invective expression reflect the speaker`s culture, customs, and social and historical backgrounds. Therefore, without knowing a target language, culture aspects as well as expressions, the meaning of expressions can not be concluded from the dictionary definition, speakers of foreign culture often face problems in understanding the actual meaning of the meaning of expressions, especially invective expressions. In the Minangkabau culture that uses invective expressions in their daily conversations, understanding that is not a problem. However, problems may occur when the two different cultures try to understand each other's expressions. Therefore, this study analyzed invective expressions in Minangkabau and Batak languages. In addition, the writer also examined aspects of the culture and situation of the intended expressions used by speakers of each language. The researcher used qualitative methods and the data gets from the informants of both cultures. These findings reveal two categories, namely, first, invective expression in Minangkabau and Batak languages with same literal and actual meaning. Second, invective expression  in Minangkabau and Batak languages with same literal meaning but different actual meaning.Abstrak: Makna kiasan berbeda dengan arti harfiahnya. Makna kiasan mencerminkan budaya, adat istiadat penutur, dan latar belakang sosial dan historis. Oleh karena itu, tanpa mengetahui aspek budaya target dan juga ungkapan, makna ungkapan tidak dapat di simpulkan dari definisi kamus, penutur bahasa asing sering menghadapi masalah dalam memahami arti sebenarnya dari makna ungkapan khususnya ungkapan makian. Dalam budaya Minang yang menggunakan ungkapan makian dalam percakapan sehari-hari mereka, memahami itu bukanlah masalah. Namun, masalah mungkin terjadi ketika kedua budaya yang berbeda mencoba memahami ungkapan satu sama lain. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini menganalisis ungkapan makian dalam bahasa Minang dan Batak. Selain itu peneliti juga meneliti aspek budaya dan situasi tujuan ungkapan di gunakan oleh penutur bahasa masing-masing. Peneliti menggunakan metode kualitatif dan  Data bersumber dari  informan kedua budaya. Temuan ini mengungkapkan dua kategori yaitu, pertama, Ungkapan makian dalam bahasa Minang dan Batak dengan makna literal dan makna aktual yang sama. Kedua, Ungkapan makian dalam bahasa Minang dan Batak dengan makna literal yang sama tapi makna aktual berbeda.

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