Chapter 9 The role of the translator: visibility, ethics and sociology Date: 2010/ 11/ 24 Instructor : Prof. 張月珍 Presenter : Eliza ( 李汶誼 ) Student No : M9947006
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Chapter 9
The role of the translator:
visibility, ethics and sociology
Date: 2010/ 11/ 24
Instructor : Prof.張月珍 Presenter : Eliza ( 李汶誼 )Student No : M9947006
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9.0 Introduction
This chapter focuses on:(1) The position and involvement of the translator
(2) Others involved in the translation process.
Key concepts (part 1)
(1) Venuti’s ‘invisibilty’ of the translator (9.1.1)
(2) Venuti’s ‘foreignizing’ & ‘domesticating’translation strategies (9.1.2)
(3) Berman’s ‘negative analytic’ of translation(9.1.3)
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9.1 The cultural and political
agenda (目標) of translation
Venuti insists that translation studies should be
broadened to take account of the value-driven (價
值趨動) nature of the sociocultural framework.
Venuti contests Toury’s DTS due to its aim of
producing ‘value-free’ norms of translation.
Toury’s method must still turn to cultural theory
in order to analyze the norms.( Norms: linguistic / literary values, beliefs
ideological force of specific groups)
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9.1.1 Venuti and the ‘invisibility’
of the translator (譯者的隱形)
Invisibility: the translator’s situation and activity in
contemporary Anglo-American culture. Two ways:
(1) the way translators tend to translate
‘fluently’ & ‘readable’流暢、易讀
illsusion of transparency (透明的幻覺)
(2) the way the TT are read/expected in the TC
TT is considered acceptable when it reads fluently
TT is seen as derivative and secondary.
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9.1.2 Domestication & Foreignization(歸化 和 異化)
Venuti discusses invisibility with D&F strategies. can be traced back to Schleiermacher (Ch2)
choice of text & translation method
D- dominates Anglo-American translation culture.
an ethnocentric reduction of the ST to TC values
(1)Translating in an ‘invisible’ style in order tominimize the foreignness of TT.
(2)Domestication further covers adherence to domestic
canons by carefully selecting the texts.
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Foreignization excludes dominant cultural values in TC.
‘an ethnodeviant pressure on values to show thedifferences of the SC, sending the reader abroad.’
Foreignization can restrain the ‘violently’ domesticatingvalues of the English-language world.
resistancy (抵抗) : a non-fluent or estranging style,
designed to make the translator visible
(Venuti: 1998) The Scandal of TranslationAlso be called ‘minoritizing’(少數化) translation.
cultivate a varied and heterogeneous discourse
Ex: 19th Tarchetti, minor Italian writer.
He deliberately included foreignizing elements, such asmodern American slang, calque (仿造詞、譯借),ST syntax .
Contradiction of f oreignization: subjective & relative term
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9.1.3 Antoine Berman: the ‘nagative
analytic’ (否定分析) of translation
(1984/92) The Experience of the Foreign( 異質 ):
Culture and Translation in Romantic Germany
(1985/04 ) ‘Translation and the trials of foreign’
Venuti: from experience trial
(1) a trial for the TC in experiencing the
strangeness of the foreign text and word;(2) a trial for the foreign text being uprooted
from its original language context.
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Berman opposes ‘naturalization/ domestication.’
The properly ethical aim of the translating act isreceiving the foreign as foreign. (保留異質)
He considers that there is a ‘system of textualdeformation’(文本變形系統) in TT that prevents
the foreign coming through.
Negative analytic: focuses on ethnocentric,annexationist (併吞), and hypertext (imitation,
adaption) transaltion, where the deforming
forces is freely exercised.
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Berman thinks that translators are inevitably
exposed to ethnocentric forces.
determine ‘desire to translate’ & form of TT
only by (1) psychoanalytic analysis of the
translator’s work, and by (2) making the
translator aware of the tendencies, that such
tendencies can be neutralized.
Berman centered on the translation of fiction.
(main problem: respect F & avoid arbitrary D )
the linguistic variety of novel,
the way translation tends to reduce variation.
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Berman’s 12 ‘deforming tendencies’ of TT
(1) Rationalization(理性化): syntactic structure
(2) Clarification(澄清): explicitationto make sth. in ST unclear clear
(3) Expansion: TTs tend to be longer than STs.
‘Empty’ explicitations destroy rhythm, voice.
(4) Ennoblement: to rewrite in a more elegant way
(5) Qualitative impoverishment (質的弱化): TT
equivalents lack their signifying or iconic features.(6) Quantitative impoverishment: loss of lexical
variation (詞類變化喪失) ex: face/ face/ face?
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(7) The destruction of rhythms
(8) The destruction of underlying networks of
significance (內在意涵的網絡)(9) The destruction of linguistic patterns (語言結構)
‘incoherent, asystematic’ bc. The adoption of (1)(2)(3)
(10)The destruction of vernacular (方言) networksor their exoticization (異國風)
(11) The destruction of expressions and idioms
(12) The effacement of the superimposition of languages: translation tends to erase traces of
different forms of language that coexist in the ST.
the ‘central problem’ in the translation of novel
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Positive Analytic (肯定分析)
Negative analytic (universals普遍性)
v.s. positive analytic (literal translation)
Literal : attach to the letter (of works)
His use of literal and letter and his reference to the
‘signifying process’ (意指過程)
Sausssurean perspective (semiology & linguistics)
http://youtien.pixnet.net/blog/post/10632411
Berman’s work is important in: philosophical ideas + translation strategies
(many examples drawn from existing translations)
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Key concepts (part 2)
Literary translators’ accounts of their work:
‘ear’, ‘voice’, and ‘creativity.’
The translator as ‘intervenient being.’
The power network of the publishing industry.
The reception of translation – paratexts,
reception theory and translation reviewing.
The sociology of translation focuses on the
role of the translator.
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9.2 The position and positionality
of the literary translator
Venuti’s ‘call to action’ (to adopt ‘foreignizing’
strategies) may be a reaction to those
contemporary translators.
Rabassa(’78/84): accuracy and fluency, by ear
Peden(’87): listen to the voice of the ST
it determines all choices of translation
Felstiner(’80): stresses and emphases
Grossman(’03): hearing / Don Quixote
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Relatively few translators have written in detail
about their practice.
the ‘invisibility’ of translator may change:
(2003) Giovanni’s account (worked with Borges)
(2005) Rabassa’s memoir
(1980: Felstiner)
Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu
(1991: Levine)
The Subversive Scribe: Translating Latin
American Fiction (顛覆的抄寫員)
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Felstiner the work that goes into producing a translation
‘becomes invisible once the poem stand intact ’ Levine
‘translator & collaborator’ (譯者&合作者)
‘subversive scribe’ ‘destroying’ the form of the original but
reproducing the meaning in a new form
Levine adopted a feminist and poststructuralist view of
the translator’s work, the language of translation also
plays an ideological role.
‘ A translation should be a critical act…’
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The translator as ‘intervenient being.’ -- by Carol Maier
Growing themes: the creativity of translation &the crossover between TS and creative writings
Translation is affected by
(1) the ideology of sociocultural context, and(2) the stance and positionality of translators
(2003: Tymoczko)
‘Ideology and the position of the translator: …’
She echoes Homi Bhabha’s ‘third space’,
translators as neutral mediator (X)
with ideological positioning (O)
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The ideology of a translation lies not simply in
the text, but in the stance of the translator, and
in the relevance to the receiving audience. TRor’s ideological & cultural affiliations (歸屬).
Tymocako rejects the ‘Romantic’ and ‘elitest’
western notion of uncommitted translators. the injustices of the publishing process &
antagonism toward translation theories
Peter Bush importantly points out that the
literary translation is an economic activity.
(9.3)
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9.3 The Power Network of the
Publishing Industry
Fawcett (1995) – ‘power play’ by editors results in domesticating translation editors’ main concern: ‘read well’ in the TL
the ST author being omitted ex: ‘The Joke’ case of Milan Kundera: thetranslator unravel the distorted chronology
the author’s literary agent
The decision whether to translate a work the imbalance as another example of the cultural hegemony (文化霸權) of Anglo-
American publishing and culture.
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9.4 Discussion of Venuti’s Work
Pym counters Venuti’s theories in aspects of …
‘Call for action’: Can other translator survive by using
this strategy (visibility)? YESSSSS
Domesticating tendencies of translation
a prevailing tragedy, unrelated to the relativepower of source and target culture
Eng-lan book mkt is much bigger Eng-culture may
be receiving via distribution without translation
‘Resistancy’: Fluency / non-tolerance are generally
expected in TT (Toury’s law of tolerance of
interference). not surprising in US/UK translation
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Pym admits… Venuti ‘DOES enable us to discuss
translators as real people in political situations.’
But, Venuti DOES NOT offer a specific
methodology to apply to the analysis of
translation.
Venuti’s general premises can be investigated
in many ways:(plz refer to p154)
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9.5 The Reception and Reviewing
of Translations
(1994) Meg Brown: She clearly made the link btw theworkings of publishing industry and the reception of a
given work. reception theory & horizon of expectations
examine the reception look at reviews the invisibility/ relegation of translator :
Focus on fluency +
Lack of discussion/review on translation
Why !!!? (Robert Coover) ‘Whenever cuts …… ’
(1990: Carol Maier) : foreign↓ Reason (1) (2) (3)
practice of review
need‘theory + criticism
’
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Analysis of reviews in translation
(1987/97) Genette’s Paratexts
(1) peritext : in the same place, ex: title, preface
(2) epitext: in a limitless space, ex: marketing material,
reviews, critical discourse written by others.
The paratext is subordinate to the text, but it’s crucial!!!
(1982) Jauss’s analytical approach of reception
(1) analyze reviews synchronically (共時分析)
to examine a range of reviews of a single work
(2) analyze reviews diachronically (歷時分析) examine
reviews of books of an author over a long period of time.
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Case Study Focusing on the epitexts of a book in English translation –
Marquez’s Strange Pilgrims.
The marked difference btw the reception in US & UK.
Q1: How visible is the translator in reviews?
TR’s words are deemed as the ST author’s words. (Bayley)
while not invisible, is rarely focused in reviews
Q2: How is the translation judged by English-languagereviewers? the translation is read as if it had originally
been written in English
Q3: Do reviewers comments suggest that Marquez’ssuccess is due to what Venuti might term ‘ethnocentricdomestication’ and ‘violence’? (O) incorporateMarquez into the US/Eu literary culture (Bayley)
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Discussion of the case study Synchronical analysis (a study of many reviews)
a straightforward method literary ‘elites’ reaction to translation’
Origin of Venuti’s comments/ ideas about
(1) ‘invisibility’ of translator
(2) ‘cultural hegemony’
This study method can be modified:
This kind of study still needs to be developed.
The reception of a text NOT ONLY affected by
reviewers, but entails a much wider range (in
institutions & other cultures)
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9.6 The Sociology andHistoriography(史評) of Translation
Recently, the study of translators, rather thanthe texts and cultures, has become the focus.
Increase in works of Trans- historiography. (Ch2)
The sociology of translation.
mainly borrowed from Pierre Bourdieu’s
concepts of field, habitus, capital, illusio.
adopted by some scholars as a means of
theorizing the role of the translator
B di ’ C U d b
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Bourdieu’s Concepts Used by
Translation Studies 場域(field):小型社會,如:教育/政治/ 社會場域。
(1) 譯者權力鬥爭場所。 (2) 是個人投資其文化資本,並運作其慣習的脈絡
慣習(habitus): 個人&集體間的連結點。第二天性。
(1) 譯者的社會、身分認同、認知,會 結構場域 或 被場域結構
(2) 指的是一套 稟性(disposition)系統,促使行動主體以某種方式行 動和反應,也就是人們知覺與鑑賞的基模,一切行動導生於此。
社會化即慣習的養成和內化。
資本(capital)
經濟資本、文化資本
( 知識
)、 社會資本
( 社交
)、 象徵資本
(威望
) 可累積和移轉的象徵及實質資本。
幻像(illusio): 進行( 權力鬥爭) 遊戲前,不同的目標、感知
意識的文化限制
整理自《布赫迪厄社會學的第一課》及 Introducing Translation Studies
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Simeon’s “The pivotal status of translators’
habitus” (1998) ‘voluntary servitude’
(2005) Moira Inghilleri’s “The Translator”
more positive
Bordieu’s theorization can help us be able to
transform the forms of practice. Sociology is the main ‘new perspective’ in TS.
Chesterman ‘s “Questions in the sociology…”
stresses that the importance of this approachlies in focusing on translation practice.
how translators act as they carry out tasks
what is the interrelation btw these agents