Scriptures Fit for a King

This paper examines the use of translational doublets (multiple translations of a single expression presented together in a translated text) in the revised text of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible found in Oxford University MS. Bodley 277 (1420s or 1430s). The manuscript in question contains a large number of doublets found in no other copy of the Wycliffite Bible, and these appear to be the contributions of an independent revisor. The various functions that doublets have in this text are discussed, and it is argued that, in his use of doublets, the revisor focused primarily on clarifying or explaining details of the text’s literal, immediate meaning, especially in Old Testament historical books. It is suggested, moreover, that a large proportion of the revisor’s doublets reflect the interests of an aristocratic or royal audience, in line with the probable origin of MS. Bodley 277 (which was once owned by King Henry VI). Special attention is paid to the apocryphal 3 Ezra, for which Bodley 277 is the only copy of the Wycliffite Bible to include translational doublets and which appears in no other manuscript of the Later Version.

TRANSLATION PROCESS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF POLYVARIETY OF TRANSLATION

The research focuses on the process of translation in its psycholinguistic, cognitive and semiotic aspects. While observing students at the Institute of Translation and Interpreting at the Department of Russian language at the University of Heidelberg the author of this study came up with the idea to describe the process of translation, which consists of some conscious cognitive processes, in order to apply these to the translators’ and interpretors’ training. The theoretical basis taken for the concept of polyvariety of translation is the postulate under which essentially the entirety of translation and interpreting (T&I) theory can be subsumed – Roman Jakobson’s eminent postulate of “equivalence in difference”. This postulate firstly states the relation between source and target, which is based on a difference, i.e. on an implicative relation in the semiotic sense, and secondly equivalence consists in a diversity of translation variants which are in a relationship of difference to the original, since the translator understands partly unconsciously and partly consciously; always selectively and purposefully; partly cognitively and partly intuitively; always subjectively, which permits the availability of multiple translations of one and the same text by different translators with comparable translation competence which in their totality establish the polyvariety of translation. Such complex attitude at the process of translation opens a new sight on the theory of translation, builds a bridge between the theory and practice of translation and can be successfully applied to the didactic purposes.

Learner translation of metaphor

This article explores metaphor translation strategies of novice translators: university students translating from L1 Norwegian to L2 English. We first describe the translation strategies they employ in their translated texts, thereby offering evidence of what translators do with metaphor based on multiple translations of the same metaphor-dense source text. We then go beyond this descriptive analysis to discuss why these translators make their particular choices, analyzing the students’ in-class discussion and individual written reflections about their translations. We thus illuminate the challenges that the novice translators consciously perceive (that is, is metaphor a problem?), as well as their motivation for and evaluation of their translation solutions. In this way, we shed light on the concept of the ‘successful’ translation of metaphor.

Reproduction of encrypted messages in fiction from English into Russian

This article examines cases where translators are confronted with messagesm whose meaning is obscured by a simple cipher. Russian translators had to overcome certain difficulties while translating certain passages in the works of British (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie) and American (Edgar Allan Poe, Dan Brown) fiction writers. Substitution code (―The Gold-Bug‖, ―The Adventure of the Dancing Men‖), anagrams (―The da Vinci Code‖), as well as different kinds of text steganography (―The Gloria Scott‖, ―The Four Suspects‖) can be used to encrypt the information. Each case is illustrated with two examples. The translator has to depict not only the very process of deciphering a message, but also render its cryptic nature with the means of a target language (Russian). We show, that in half of the cases it is a mere translation of the deciphered text. It is a simpler way, because there is no need to create an analogue thereof. The grand purpose, however, remains unachieved. In two instances there were multiple translations of the same text (6 of ―The Gold-Bug‖ by E.A Poe and 9 of ―The Four Suspects‖ by A. Christie). This phenomenon can be explained not only by the popularity of the stories, but by the relatively small circulation of certain editions. We have undertaken a comparative analysis of these translations and have revealed discrepancies, concerning more and less significant translation units and, in some cases minor errors.

A Jesus of White Marble or a Jesus in the Flesh?

Despite the early loss of his Christian faith, Renan held onto a lifelong belief in the incommensurability of Christianity with Judaism and Islam. This entailed his perception of an unbridgeable chasm between Christianity and the two “Semitic religions.” Such insistence originated in his understanding of Jesus as a unique figure, one who stood at the very core of the world history of religions. It is in his Life of Jesus that he expressed most clearly his views on the founder of Christianity. First published in 1863, Renan’s Vie de Jésus would swiftly become, in the original as well as in its multiple translations, a nineteenth-century international best seller. The chapter reassess the roots of Renan’s project, as well as its impact. Finally, we compare Renan and the Jewish historian Joseph Salvador on the figure of Jesus.

CULTURAL REALIA IN THE SLOVAK AND CZECH MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS OF I. GONCHAROV’S NOVELS: DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION DECISIONS

The article defines the reasons influencing the translation decisions as to recreation of cultural realia in the Slovak and Czech multiple translations of I. Goncharov’s key novels. It has been found that ethnocultural elements of the text, first of all the realia, can be a source of mistakes when translated since the modern generations of readers do not possess the background knowledge on the level needed for the perception of important information contained in the classics’ works, in particular in those by I. Goncharov. That is why a contemporary translator must introduce the reader to the elements of the text connected with the life of people, their culture and world outlook when works of art are being translated. The knowledge of material and moral realia, customs and traditions is an integral part of the background knowledge of a writer, a translator and a reader as well. Much depends on a translator’s aspiration to realize the modern readers’ expectations and update the archaic realia when translated in order to bring the past times closer to the present days. This requires a translator’s freedom from an original. This way there is the only possible to preserve artistic peculiarities of an original since translators in the past strived to recreate the precise structure of a text (sentences) by means of literal translation. However, it was an illusion as to the correctness of translation. That is why translators should be aware of the fact that they should preserve the invariant part of the contents of an original, which should be the result of their work. Herewith, translators should maintain all artistic properties of a classic work.

Reinforcing each other: strategies to advance international interlibrary loan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the results of the 2019 international interlending survey conducted by the American Library Association, Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS) International Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Committee, the fourth such survey conducted by this group since 2007. Design/methodology/approach Committee members developed the survey instrument and collected data in Qualtrics. Questions from the 2015 and 2011 instruments were reused to support longitudinal data analysis, and new questions related to improving the sharing of resources across borders were added. The survey was distributed to libraries worldwide via multiple methods, and translations in six of the seven official International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions languages were provided. Findings Results reveal challenges to engaging in global resource sharing in the areas of discovery and request methods, policies and service models, copyright and licensing, delivery and payment. Strategies to overcome these challenges, as informed by both the survey results and recent literature, are shared. Reinforcing each other, these independently and organically developed solutions illustrate ways to further advance ILL. Practical implications The findings can aid ILL practitioners and the organizations to which they belong in improving the sharing of resources across borders. By optimizing this service, libraries can better support researchers in a globalized environment. Originality/value The 2019 RUSA STARS survey is the first survey on the topic of international ILL to offer multiple translations complimenting global distribution. It contributes to the literature by offering a broad and updated perspective on current international ILL practices, challenges impeding the sharing of library materials abroad and possible solutions.

Narrative Peculiarities in Translation: Lexical Units Pauvre and Bonhomme in G. Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary

The present research featured some narrative peculiarities, which could belong both to the narrator or other characters and violate the initial focalization. The paper focuses on zero focalization and evaluation of personages. The research objective was to analyze Russian equivalents of adjective pauvre and substantive bonhomme, which contain subjective evaluation in character’s nomination. The research featured fragments from G. Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary and its nine Russian translations. They were selected according to the continuous sampling method and then analyzed using the comparative method. The study was based on mono- and bilingual Russian and French dictionaries. The multiple translations often preserved the original evaluation, especially in case of pauvre. Unlike bonhomme, pauvre has more Russian equivalents. Therefore, lexical isomorphism was not always preserved in translation: in some cases, the evaluation was neutralized, or even opposed to the original one, and Russian variants acquired extra semantic and stylistic meanings. These flaws may change the initial narrator-character or character-narrator point of view. They could have resulted from the lack of Russian equivalents. In early translations, they might be explained by the translator’s choice of obsolete words with an archaic effect or adding extra semantic and stylistic information. In some cases, translators might have ignored the original meaning or could have been misled by the overall peculiarities of the narrative. The research can contribute to bilingual corpora of parallel texts, as well as to textbooks on comparative lexicology.

Competing Prose Psalters and Their Elizabethan Readers

Layouts and paratexts of Elizabethan prose psalters advocate two competing reading methods: reading sequentially according to the church calendar or selecting psalms by occasion. Marked psalters and bibles, however, show that Elizabethan readers often disregarded printed prescription, practicing either method, or both, as they chose. To capitalize on reader independence, printers eventually produced texts that encouraged comparative reading across multiple translations, culminating in the two-text psalter of the 1578 Geneva Bible. This episode in the history of devotional reading demonstrates the tendency of Elizabethans to slip the confessional categories into which their own texts, and later historiography, would place them.