Preview

Theories of Translation

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3232 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theories of Translation
Theories of Translation

1.Introduction

Translation, oral or written, is probably as old as the spoken or written word. Throughout the ages, famous writers have tried their hand at ``the art of translating``. Translation is usually defined as the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by the means of an equivalent target-language text. It can be also described as an expression of a sense from one language to another as well as transmission of a written or spoken language to another. However, it is a very broad notion that can be comprehended in a lot of various ways. It is also a multi-staged, creative process. Translation offers us the experience and attitudes of another culture or mentality. We cannot imagine a world without the translations of literary master pieces from all countries. The role of translation is to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers among nations. It is a key process in the development of global connectedness. A translator has several identities. First, a translator is a reader, who should know the text and its social and cultural background. He/she should also try to understand the original author`s feelings and thoughts about life and art. Secondly, a translator is a writer, because he must master two or more languages, and have the professional writer`s knowledge about the languages. Thirdly, a translator is a creator who is able to understand the source text well and to recreate the text which is faithful to the source text. If he is a real artist and a good craftsman, his work may even surpass the original. Fourthly, a translator is a researcher. The literature translation is dependent on literature study, which is the premise of translation. A translator`s four identities are mixed and integrated. Nevertheless, regardless of the degree of embellishment, translation cannot avoid altering the work. An American professor, scholar, linguist and polyglot, Werner Winter wrote that perfect translation was



Bibliography: ………………..12 9. Contents………………………13

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Los De Abajo Analysis

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When a scholar or author writes, the ideas are conceived in the original language taking into consideration rhythm, colloquialisms and general culture. With translation some specific words or phrases can lost its power or cultural meaning. There is a real need regarding the translation of primary sources to share key information regardless language limitations. Nevertheless, research scholars should use the original sources in order to capture and comprehend the whole meaning of colloquialisms, context, and subtext of the whole…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    humanities final essay 3

    • 2852 Words
    • 8 Pages

    By analyzing the main works of these authors, one is led to realize how literature serves both authors, by communicating a certain meaning to readers allowing them to be better understood, and readers, by presenting them with a perspective-altering journey, but ultimately has the aim of conveying meaning and this is mainly due to the fact that literature alters perspective in the same way that journeys do. Meaning is something that is conveyed or signified, it is to give sense or significance but meaning is also something that one wishes to convey, especially by language and therefore through literature. The power of literature has no limit and enables authors as well as readers to make great realizations (like…

    • 2852 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Techniques

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A text which has been taken from one context and translated The process of translation allows new insights into the original text and emphasises contextual differences between the two.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is inevitable that a literary masterpiece is going to be translated to different languages by different translators, however, what matters is the quality of the translations produced in a particular language. The translator has to be aware of the writer’s style, diction, point of view, tone,… in order to produce an adequate, effective, and natural translation. It is the duty of translation critics to assess the quality of the translations produced in order for the translators to be able to enhance the quality of their translations. In this paper the translation of for whom the bell tolls written by Ernest Hemingway and translated by Dr. Ali Salimi has been evaluated.…

    • 12802 Words
    • 52 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This paper discusses the art of translation from English language into Macedonian language, precisely the difficulty that Macedonian translator might face if not aware of the complexity and importance of the process of translation. This unawareness is the leading reason for many common mistakes in English-Macedonian translation. At the very beginning I would like to pay attention on attitudes that linguists have about the process of translation. As Nida defines, translation consists of providing, in the receptor language, the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. In the popular mind, a translator is someone who has a good knowledge of both the language he/she translates from and the language he/she translates into. In other words, as long as a translator knows all the equivalents for the words in the text to be translated, there is no question about the ability of said person to produce a good, reliable translation. The concept in which the language is expressed needs to be understood before it can be translated into the targeted language appropriately. Some people still have the misconception that translation simple means converting words from the source content into the equivalent of the targeted language. In English translation, the translator is not merely dealing with the words, they are also considering the cultural aspect, the socio-political situation and the wording used by the source. This is because when most words are translated literally, it would make no sense in English translation or otherwise. English translation is a very complicated process wherein a lot of factors need to be considered. Baker notes that some of these factors may be strictly linguistic, like collocations and idioms, whereas other factors may be extra-linguistic like the pragmatic equivalence.…

    • 3247 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bookreviw

    • 2302 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Translation makes it possible for cultural inheritance and development. Therefore, translation studies should focus more on the cultural context in which the text lives instead of just stay on the linguistic and textual level. Actually, ever after Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere proposed the “Cultural Turn” in translation studies in their book Translation, History and Culture in the 1990s, scholars tend to study translation from cross-cultural perspective. They want to find out the factor in culture that influences the success of translation. As a kind of cross-cultural activity, translation is a process of culture communication and culture exchange. Ethics, on the other hand, influences and restrains human behavior and activity when communication happens. Scholars notice(过去式会不会好一点) this connection and begin their researches in translation ethics. Representatives in the western world are such as Berman, Pym, Venuti and Chesterman. Under the influence and restrain of ethics, translation studies turn to focus on the question about what to translate, why to translate, how to translate and what strategies should be taken in translation. Translation ethics studies the relationships between original works, translators, target works and their readers, discusses whether an original work is…

    • 2302 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Translating Standayini

    • 2257 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When translation occupies a problematic space in the instance of translating from a colonized’s language to a colonizer’s, the debate over the representation of the colonized ‘other’ does not arise if the translator herself is rooted in the culture of the colonized. The Bengali story Stanadayini is composed by the well known writer Mahasweta Devi, and translated into English as Breast-Giver by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak who has had her roots of cultural upbringing in Bengal. Yet there are remarkable aspects where the ‘other’ of the original text loses her voice in the translated version. A translated text may be morally committed to the original text to some degree but not wholly. There is a holy paradox between craft and credulity that heightens the tension in a piece of translation. As in the following instance there is an unintentional slip made by Spivak while translating Stanadayini as she writes :…

    • 2257 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Translation is the art of recomposing a work in another language without losing its original flavor. (Columbia Encyclopedia) Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual in another language(TL) (J.C.Catford). Translation is a kind of transcultural communication, and what translation needs is the reappearance of the spirits, as well as the artistic form of original text so as to make different language-learners fully understand and accept this information. Translation is divided into domestication and foreignization in western theory. Domestication is one of the translation strategies,which refers to the apply of transparent and fluent style in the translation, the maximum desalting of the strangeness of the original…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Translation is not only a linguistic activity but also a cultural one because it involves a study of culture. The western translators…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    interpretative translation – archaisation – which serves double purpose as it not only displays culture and language of the old, but also meets the demands put on the modern literature. Conclusion: it exemplifies how the power of time and cultural distances distorts the perception of the original. Key words:, archaisation, archaising reflex, polysystem, transfer, Translation Studies.…

    • 3228 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Literature, with its immense scope and appeal that goes beyond the horizon of zeitgeist, demands a touchstone with equally infinite bound, as it is a cultural product of humanity, and an offshoot of this is Comparative Literature which concerns itself with the basic structures which underlie every kind of literature. There is, “in theory, no limit to its scope.” (Pathak, 18). . Translation studies, another important offshoot of…

    • 14033 Words
    • 57 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    General Translation Theories

    • 4944 Words
    • 20 Pages

    While not everyone who drives an automobile needs to understand the theory behind the internal combustion engine, someone does need to know this theory. I may be able to drive my Pontiac without any knowledge of internal combustion engines, until the Pontiac breaks down. Then, I must find someone (presumably a mechanic) who does in fact know enough theory to get the Pontiac running again.…

    • 4944 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Translation and Technology

    • 55374 Words
    • 222 Pages

    Series Editors: Gunilla Anderman and Margaret Rogers, The Centre for Translation Studies, University of Surrey, UK Palgrave Textbooks in Translating and Interpreting bring together the most important strands of thinking in a fast-developing field. Volumes in the series are designed for Masters students in Translation Studies and Interpreting, as well as for upper-level undergradutaes considering a career in this area. Researchers and practitioners keen to refresh their knowledge of practice across the field will also find new material not readily accessible elsewhere. The series will include a core theory book and a number of individual volumes on specific topics covered in many MA courses. Titles include: C.K. Quah TRANSLATION AND TECHNOLOGY Forthcoming titles include: Ann Corsells PUBLIC SERVICE INTERPRETING AND TRANSLATING…

    • 55374 Words
    • 222 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Translation Approaches

    • 5305 Words
    • 22 Pages

    The development of trade and industry has always given rise to changes in the evolution of communities, bringing about new social forms and stratification of society. This in its turn accelerated the appearance of businesses and factories, arrival of new professions, and urbanization. Since the times of Perestroika (which was started in 1989 by Mikhail Gorbatchev) Russian society has been experiencing dramatic changes that affected the country's politics, economy and social life. In the past 15 years people's attitudes to certain things have changed gradually but profoundly. We have gotten so used to these new attitudes that it's hard to believe it hasn't always been like this.…

    • 5305 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    translation

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The invisibility of translator is related to theory of domestication and foreignization. In his experiences as a translator and at the same time his inspirations by German philosopher Schleiermacher, Venuti describes the role and activity of translator in British and American cultures.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics