scholarly journals Repetition in Literary Arabic: Foregrounding, Backgrounding, and Translation Strategies

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisham A. Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Mental Image ◽  
Base Material ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Stylistic Development ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Item Repetition ◽  
Three Stages

Abstract The paper investigates lexical repetition in Arabic original literary texts and English translations. The empirical base material consists of a three-part autobiography (al-Ayyām, by Tāhā Hussein) and its translation (The Days). The method involves a mapping of the target text (TT) onto the source text (ST) so as to see how instances of lexical repetition are rendered into the translations and what are the strategies and norms involved in determining certain translation choices. Three types of lexical repetition are studied: lexical-item repetition, lexical-doublet repetition and phrase repetition. Lexical repetition serves two major functions, namely textual and rhetorical. The textual function concerns the potential of repetition for organising the text and rendering it cohesive, while the rhetorical foregrounds a mental image or invokes emotions in emotive language. It is observed that the translation of the autobiography’s second part is characterised mainly by the absence of lexical repetition, contrary to the translations of the first and third parts. Thus, the target text misrepresents the original author as passing through three stages of textual, stylistic development. As to the translation strategies, the findings suggest that the translators vary the ST by using different patterns of reference. Rhetorical repetition is backgrounded by at least one translator who replaces it with pervasive variation. It is argued that the ambivalence of their approaches leads to a misrepresentation of the original text (and perhaps the author) as rather uneven.The strategies for translating lexical repetition highlight the translators’ individual attitudes towards the ST’s norms and their adherence to the linguistic and cultural norms prevalent in the TL environment. On the whole, there is a variation in the degree of bias towards the norms of either SL or TL. In terms of Toury’s norms model, it may be safe to claim that the general trend of translational norms seems to lean more towards the acceptability pole than the adequacy pole, i.e., a TL-oriented strategy is opted for.

A Comparative Study of Two Major English Translations of The Journey to the West: Monkey and The Monkey and the Monk

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Ji
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
English Language ◽  
Original Novel ◽  
Original Text ◽  
The West ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Textual Features ◽  
Journey To The West

As two major English translations of a famous sixteenth-century Chinese novelThe Journey to the West, Monkeyby Arthur Waley andThe Monkey and the Monkby Anthony Yu differ in many respects due to the translators’ different concerns and translation strategies. Whereas Waley’s translation omits many episodes and significantly changes textual features of the original novel, Yu’s translation is more literal and faithful to the original. Through a comparison of the different approaches in these two translations, this paper aims to delineate important differences in textual features and images of protagonists and demonstrate how such differences, especially the changing representation of Tripitaka, might affect English-language readers’ understanding of religious references and themes in the story. It also seeks to help us reconsider the relationship between translations and the original text in the age of world literature through a case study of English translations ofThe Journey to the West.

scholarly journals THE TRANSLATION OF ARABIC RELIGIOUS – CULTURAL COLLOCATIONS IN LITERARY TEXTS INTO ENGLISH: AN APPLICATION OF DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION TRANSLATION STRATEGIES

2019 ◽  
pp. 155-165
Author(s):  
Adham Mousa Obeidat ◽  
Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi
Keyword(s):  
Literary Work ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Cultural Concepts ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Effective Translation

Since the goal of translation is to bridge the gap between two cultures, translators need to pay attention to literary works. Here lies the importance of good translation to convey cultural messages. The mistranslation of cultural concepts in a literary text may cause misunderstanding of this culture by the TL readers. Therefore, to produce a well-translated literary work, translators need to investigate the expressions that relate to culture such as religious beliefs. The vital role of cultural collocations in a language requires translators to apply effective translation strategies. Domestication and foreignization are two important strategies in translating cultural collocations in a literary text. The authors of this study have applied these strategies to investigate whether religious-cultural collocations in a literary text are domesticated or foreignized. The sentences that have religious-cultural collocations are chosen from an Arabic novel. The collocations are analyzed along with two versions of translation, then the English translations are compared. As a result of the discussion, the two translators tend to apply the domestication strategy more frequently. It is found that since religious-cultural collocations are difficult to be understood by the target language readers, the translators tend to reduce their strangeness and domesticate them.

Eerst Vertalen, Dan Lezen? De Invloed Van Vertalen Op De Leesattitude

1993 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Stella Linn
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Reading Attitude ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Antonio Colinas ◽  
The University ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
Julio Llamazares

We may assume that there is a relationship between the various ways in which literary texts can be interpreted, and the strategies that can be applied in their translation. Inevitably, translation strategies only pay attention to a limited number of aspects of the original text. It is, indeed, impossible to preserve all the aspects of a literary text in translation - the whole contents, the exact form, the rhythm, metaphors, puns and so on. This implies that the translator always has to choose so as to keep the features he considers most important, while giving up others. Since translation is a special kind of interpreting and reading, reading and translation strategies are bound to be interrelated. This paper deals with the influence of translating on the reading competence (and vice versa) and shows that when one is translating a text, one becomes more aware of the different ways in which it can be read and interpreted, and this, in turn, makes the translator more conscious of the choices (s)he can make. It is possible, then, to establish a 'hierarchy of priorities' in which the translator can take translation decisions more deliberately. I became aware of this influence of translating on reading attitude when I was leading a translation project at the University of Groningen, in which a group of students translated a number of poems of the Spanish poets Antonio Colinas and Julio Llamazares into Dutch. It appeared that during the classes, while we discussed the first Dutch versions of the poems, the students became gradually aware of a number of features they had not realized before, such as the intentional ambiguity of Colinas' word order, the use and significant position of certain key words, the musical qualities of the poems and the etymology of certain terms. This changing attitude brought about a number of modifications in our translations: the source texts were followed with more precision, importance was given to the preservation of various interpretations and the identification of key terms, the etymology of words was maintained wherever possible, the students tried to keep rhythm and musical effects and became sensitive to word order. This experience shows us that translation can have a useful place in the teaching of foreign languages, in that it sharpens the reading attitude, stimulates the analyzing and interpreting competences, and makes students more aware of the various choices they have when translating, and of the consequences these bring about.

TRANSLATION AS MENTAL INTERPRETATION ACTIVITY IN LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (28) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
Svitlana Gruschko
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Cross Language

In the article the phenomenon of translation is regarded as mental interpretation activity not only in linguistics, but also in literary criticism. The literary work and its translation are most vivid guides to mental and cultural life of people, an example of intercultural communication. An adequate perception of non-native culture depends on communicators’ general fund of knowledge. The essential part of such fund of knowledge is native language, and translation, being a mediator, is a means of cross-language and cross-cultural communication. Mastering another language through literature, a person is mastering new world and its culture. The process of literary texts’ translation requires language creativity of the translator, who becomes so-called “co-author” of the work. Translation activity is a result of the interpreter’s creativity and a sort of language activity: language units are being selected according to language units of the original text. This kind of approach actualizes linguistic researching of real translation facts: balance between language and speech units of the translated work (i.e. translationinterpretation, author’s made-up words, or revised language peculiarities of the characters). The process of literary translation by itself should be considered within the dimension of a dialogue between cultures. Such a dialogue takes place in the frame of different national stereotypes of thinking and communicational behavior, which influences mutual understanding between the communicators with the help of literary work being a mediator. So, modern linguistics actualizes the research of language activities during the process of literary work’s creating. This problem has to be studied furthermore, it can be considered as one of the central ones to be under consideration while dealing with cultural dimension of the translation process, including the process of solving the problems of cross-cultural communication.

Understanding and translating Confucian philosophy in the Analects: a sociosemiotic perspective

Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Min
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Intercultural Understanding ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Confucian Philosophy ◽  
The Analects

Abstract As the representative of Chinese classical works, the Analects represents a source of difficulty in both understanding and interpretation of Confucian philosophy. Confucian philosophy as a philosophy of creativity and otherness is closely related with the social and cultural values in society. Therefore, the study of Confucian philosophy in the Analects cannot be separated from the descriptive study of the effects of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, contexts, language use, and the effects of language use on society. This article attempts to explore how the meaning of Confucian philosophy in the Analects is interpreted and accepted by Western readers through complex social semiotic interactions. The article focuses on the interpretation of Confucian philosophy as a reflection of cultural assumptions, values and prohibitions, and the manipulation of the social semiotic resources in the process of understanding, translation, and acceptance of Confucian philosophy in the Analects through a discussion of its original text, different versions and the reasons behind the social semiotic activities. The article concludes with a consideration of significant social semiotic interactions that influence the translator’s interpretation and reader’s acceptance of Confucian philosophy so as to facilitate intercultural understanding.

Instantiation and individuation in Buddhist scripture translation

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-246
Author(s):  
Pin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Buddhist Scripture ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Heart Sutra

Abstract This paper analyses and compares the systemic functional features of the Sanskrit original text and the Chinese and English translations of the Buddhist scripture Heart Sutra, focusing on the ideational components that are manifest on the strata of discourse semantics and lexicogrammar. Results show that there are both expected equivalence and significant differences among the Sanskrit original text and the two translated texts. The accounts for the equivalence and differences are twofold (on two hierarchies): in terms of instantiation, the translators go along different re-instantiation routes in finding corresponding potentials between the source text and their respective target texts; in terms of individuation, the English and Chinese translators’ personal and social identity has an immediate influence on their respective reproductions of the text.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH PROSE INTO UKRAINIAN (ON THE BASIS OF THE COLM TOIBIN’S NOVEL ‘HOUSE OF NAMES’)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (10(78)) ◽  
pp. 156-159
Author(s):  
Iryna Dumchak ◽  
Sofiia Shemerliuk
Keyword(s):  
Literary Texts ◽  
Original Text ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Original Language ◽  
English Prose

The article deals with the peculiarities of transformations in the process of translation of English prose into Ukrainian. Despite the large number of works covering this issue, the problem of translating prose texts is not dismissed. There is a need to systematize and study the types of lexical and grammatical transformations, used in translating literary texts, in practice. To observe the process of formation of inter-language transformations, the novel by an Irish writer Colm Toibin ‘House of Names’ has been chosen. The various scientists’ approaches to establishing the transformation types are analyzed. It is revealed that due to differences in the syntactic, grammatical and morphological structures of the English and Ukrainian languages, lexical and grammatical transformations are widely used in translation. Lexical transformations are the deviations from direct vocabulary matches. The lexical transformations are mainly caused by the fact that the volume of the lexical units of the original language and the language of translation do not coincide. Among lexical transformations, the most common are generalization, concretization, compensation, lexical additions. Grammatical transformations are to transform the structure of a sentence in the translation process according to the rules of the source language. The transformation can be complete or partial depending on whether the structure of the sentence changes completely or partially. The article presents the examples of the grammatical transformations of inversion, replacement, addition and omission comparing the original text and its translation.

scholarly journals Chinese Adversative Bèi Passive and Its English Translations in Literary Texts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies ◽  
Lester Zixian LIU
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Semantic Equivalence ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Narrative Perspective ◽  
English Translations

This research aims at finding the commonalities and distinctive features of translating bèi (被) passive into English in the context of literary texts and investigating different approaches translators adopt. Twelve English translation in the Spring 2015 edition of Pathlight will be analyzed as a way to develop translation resources. The main approaches to translation are: (1) retaining the original passive sentences and/or passive construction, (2) changing to corresponding active sentences, (3) changing into active sentences with the same narrative perspective, and (4) paraphrasing the original passives. Translation of adversative bèi passive sentences is evaluated from the perspectives of semantic equivalence and aesthetic effect in order to investigate whether they effectively and successfully express the original adversative meaning and represent the original aesthetic effect. Reasons for ineffective and unsuccessful semantic equivalence are analyzed, that include translators failing to recognize the adversative expression of bèi passive, and not paying sufficient attention to preserving the original lexical terms which express the adversative connotation and present the literary effect and adversative resultative compounds in bèi passive.

scholarly journals Deconstruction of the Construction: Derridean Study of Selected Shakespeare’s Comedies

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 90-120
Author(s):  
Seyyedeh Zahra Nozen ◽  
Pegah Sheikhalipour
Keyword(s):  
William Shakespeare ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Merchant Of Venice ◽  
Twelfth Night ◽  
The Merchant Of Venice ◽  
As You Like It ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
The One

Since it was first introduced by Jacques Derrida in the late 1960s, deconstruction, as a method of reading, has been applied to literary texts by critics to reveal the hidden messages of texts and provide opportunities to rethink textual and cultural norms and conventions. While the western tradition has always prioritized tragedy over comedy due to its elegance and graveness, this research tends to focus on comedy as an entity in itself. Tragedy, especially in the Shakespearean sense of the word, has been considered by critics as a “construction” that is well-wrought and perfect in nature. Comedy, on the other hand, is notable for laughing at the laughable and mocking the unfit. Put differently, there has always been a latent, freewheeling “deconstruction” within comedy, especially the Shakespearean. There is, thus, an attempt here to prove, on the one hand, how comedy can be put forth not as an inferior genre but as a supplement to tragedy and, on the other, how comedy moves toward deconstruction and how it tends to subvert or deconstruct the constructions. Investigating a selection of Shakespeare’s comedies including As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night, this study compares and contrasts Shakespearean comedy in light of some Derridean concepts. Along with it, Shakespearean ideas and concepts which are interconnected with those of Derrida are introduced and are buttressed through some meticulously chosen excerpts. Bearing in mind that Derrida is in a habit of deconstructing the so-called established creeds, Shakespeare’s texts are exposed to a deconstructive reading to examine how deceptively simple ideas are dealt with in his selected comedies. Also, as numerous enigmas have for years revolved around the personality of William Shakespeare, this study also aims to take up certain critical idioms of the Derridean canon, elaborate on them and then relate them to the selected plays from the Shakespearean oeuvre in order to disclose some personal aspects of Shakespeare’s personality as a historical figure.

scholarly journals The Disappearing Medium: Remarks on Language in Translation

2011 ◽  
pp. 165-179
Author(s):  
George Varsos
Keyword(s):  
Walter Benjamin ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Recent Criticism ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
German Romanticism ◽  
Alternative Strategies ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Language And Culture

This essay discusses problems pertaining to the disappearance of the language of the original text in the case of literary translation. After a reminder of recent criticism directed against ethnocentric translation strategies, the question is raised of the theoretical promises of alternative strategies. The text examines the different ways in which the relations between language and culture are theorized, taking two lines of inquiry that have strongly infl uenced contemporary translation theory: that of German Romanticism and that of Walter Benjamin.

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