LECTURE IV Translation Theory and Text Linguistics I Concentrating on the text – what does it mean in the translation process? Translators have never translated.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics I

Concentrating on the text – what does it mean in the translation process?

Translators have never translated anything else but texts and the result of translation has never been anything else but a text.

Sámuel Brassai (1800-1897): „...Instead of the useless struggle and wrestling with words, which in the majority of cases is doomed to failure, turn your attention to the sentence. Your phrases should awaken the reader of your translation to the same thought, image and emotion as was the intention of the author of the original. Then your translation will be a true one even if a dictionary editor would not take the courage to put the words in the translated

sentence next to those in the original...”

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics II

Disregarding the text: 50s – early 70s• methods of linguistics used for the study of a huge number of specialised texts

translated from one language into another → researchers treating texts with neglect, looking for equivalents between SL and TL at lower levels (words, phrases, grammatical structures);

• mainly Russian TTists (Retsker, Fyodorov and others): search for regular correspondences valid independently of situation, context and text;

• Positive aspect: called the attention to the presence of objective regularities in translation, an activity seemingly made up of a series of subjective decisions;

• Limitations: only the two linguistic systems taken as a basic point of departure, predicting translation problems behind each particular difference between the two languages in question;

TT in the 50s-70s has more to do with contrastive linguistics than TT proper.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics III

Returning to the textText linguistics appearing in the late 60s/early 70s – overlap with TT;Eugène Albert Nida – Charles Russel Taber: The Theory and Practice of Translation (1969)

- a milestone in translation research emphasing the importance of making the text a central issue: special tools in each text to mark some relations that vary from language and appear in units longer than a sentence

8 universal features of text to be taken into account in translation:1. the marking of the beginning and the end of a discourse2. the marking of major internal transitions3. the marking of temporal relations between events4. the marking of spatial relations between events and objects5. the marking of logical relations between events6. the identification of participants7. highlighting, focus, emphasis, etc.8. author involvement

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics IV

Research methods of text lingusitics increasingly applied to TT in the 70s/80s:study of internal text structure vs various text types (external approach)The internal text structure approachLeonora Chern’achovskaya in Perevod i smyslovaja struktura ‘Translation and

semantic structure’ (1976): transfer procedures are dictated not by the lexical and grammatical differences between the two languages but by the drive for the preservation of the semantic structure: topic (what is already known) , comment (new information) and focus (the emphatic part within the

comment): different linguistic expressions in languages. This semantic structure (the invariant of translation) must be preserved at

all costs in the lexical and grammatical transfer procedures.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics V

Text types as points of departure (the external approach) Mainly in Germany;

Katharina Reiss: set up an übersetzungsrelevante Texttypologie ‘translation-oriented text typology’ in her book Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Übersetzungskritik ‘Possibilities of and Limits to Translation Criticism’ (1971)

Three basic functions of language: description, expression and appeal.

One of them is generally predominant:

• description - in content-focused texts

• expression - in form-focused texts

• appeal – in appeal-focused texts

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics VI

The translation of content-oriented textsPress news, commentaries, instruction manuals, patent descriptions, lists

of goods, studies, theses, presentations, etc. convey information on the real world;

the translator’s primary task is to reflect the SL content as fully as possible, using the most common tools of the TL so that the reader’s attention should not be distracted by anything.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics VII

The translation of form-oriented texts In this text type it is not just what its author says that matters but also the

way the author’s message is formulated.

Different kinds of texts: literary prose works (essays, biographies, reviews), prose fiction (short stories, novels) and all poetic genres

The translator’s primary task is to reflect the form as faithfully to the original as possible, and content is of secondary importance. As the form is very closely related to the SL, it cannot be blindly transposed into the TL.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics VIII

The translation of appeal-oriented texts Both the content and the form aim to elicit some response from the reader,

likes or dislikes, to urge the reader to take a specific action (e.g. shopping) or to give up an activity (e.g. smoking, drug-taking).

Commercials, advertisements, propaganda texts, political slogans, partisan appeals, etc.

Important to convey the function of the text in the TL, not the content or the form of the SL text.

Advertising a product may require different references from country to country, and the SL form may also have to be changed in order for the text to preserve its appellative function.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics IX

Marieke De Mooij: Translating Advertising Painting the Tip of an Iceberg

The Translator, Vol.10, No 2 (2004) 179-98

Effective advertising uses a culturally appropriate advertising style. In Europe and Asia these styles are very different from US advertising style, of which rhetoric is an integral part. It is not only languages that vary across the globe; consumers’ needs and the way advertising appeals to these needs, also do.

E.g., the Coca-Cola Company, a prototypical global advertiser, decided in 2000 to get closer to local markets.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics X

De Mooij 2„Translating advertising copy is like painting the tip of an iceberg and hoping the

whole thing will turn red. What makes copy work is not the words themselves, but subtle combinations of those words, and most of all the echoes and repercussions of those words within the mind of the reader. These are precisely the subtleties which translation fails to convey. Advertising is not made of words, but made of culture.”

Advertising across culturesIn different cultures people have different structures of knowledge about objects,

events, people or phenomena.American advertising theory: advertisements viewed as persuasive

communication.Asian countries: its role is to build a relationship between the company and the

consumers. An indirect approach serves that purpose better than a direct approach which turns consumers off instead of persuading them.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XI

De Mooij 3LanguageIdeal global ad: the same everywhere and in EnglishAssumption: most people know enough English to understand the message.

2nd best approach: to translate advertisingAdvertising, however, is more than words:The spread of English as a 2nd language is overestimated.E.g. a UK commercial for Bacardi Breezer aired in the Netherlands – reference to

a tomcat. Tomcat in Dutch: kater, also ‘hangover’ (probably not intended to be communicated as an effect of the alcoholic beverage advertised). The tomcat in the advert is asked whether he has been chasing birds (‘chasing women’ in English), a wordplay hardly understood by most people in the Netherlands.

“Philips invents for you” understood as to mean “Philip invites you”.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XII

De Mooij 4English is the only language in the world that spells I with a capital letter.

There is no Chinese or Japanese equivalent for the English I: different words used to refer to the self depending on the situation, the speaker’s and listener’s gender, age and other social attributes.

Ultimate consequence: the more meaningful advertising is in its source culture, the less translatable it becomes.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XIII

De Mooij 5Transferring brand names

Can be hazardous: Ford Nova in Spanish ‘doesn’t go’

Transferring/translating brand names into Chinese: 3 ways

1/ pronunciation-oriented, without any specific meaning: Nokia → Nuojiya;

2/ creating a meaningful name: Coca-Cola → kekou kele ‘tasty and happy’, Hewlett Packard → Hui ‘benefit’, pu ‘popular’;

3/ replacing a brand name with another one with the desired attributes: Finnish machinery brand name Kone → Tong Li ‘general power’

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XIV

De Mooij 5

ConclusionA concept or idea relevant for one culture isn’t necessarily relevant for

others. Historically, much attention has been paid to advertising copy because of the Anglo-European heritage of advertising practice and theory. This has made people belive that most advertising can be translated.

Changing beliefs: if advertising is translated at all, the translator should closely cooperate with the copywriter and not only translate but also advise about culture-specific aspects of both languages.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XV

The translation of audio-medial textsThe text comes across to the recipient (viewer, listener) through a channel

whose peculiarities have to be taken into account:radio and TV genres, theatrical works from operetta through musicals to

opera, from comedy to tragedy. E.g., translating the lyrics of a song, the translator must not stick to either the content or the form of the original if its TL version does not correspond to the melody and rhythm of the music or it cannot be sung at all. (See My Fair Lady in E and H: The rain in Spain stay mainly in the plain...)

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XV

The Rain in Spain…• Servants: Poor Professor Higgins!

Poor Professor Higgins! Night and day He slaves away! Oh, poor Professor Higgins! All day long On his feet; Up and down until he's numb; Doesn't rest; Doesn't eat; Doesn't touch a crumb! Poor Professor Higgins! Poor Professor Higgins! On he plods Against all odds; Oh, poor Professor Higgins! Nine p.m. Ten p.m. On through midnight ev'ry night. One a.m. Two a.m. Three...! Quit, Professor Higgins! Quit, Professor Higgins! Hear our plea Or payday we Will quit, Professor Higgins! Ay not I, O not Ow, Pounding pounding in our brain.Ay not I, O not Ow, Don't say "Rine," say "Rain"...

• Eliza: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! Henry: By George, she's got it! By George, she's got it!Now, once again where does it rain?

• Eliza: On the plain! On the plain! • Henry: And where's that soggy plain?

Eliza: In Spain! In Spain! • The three: The rain in Spain stays mainly in

the plain! The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!

• Henry: In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire...? Eliza: Hurricanes hardly happen. How kind of you to let me come!

• Henry: Now once again, where does it rain?Eliza: On the plain! On the plain!

• Henry: And where's that blasted plain? Eliza: In Spain! In Spain!

• The three: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XVII

• Lenn délen édes éjen édent remélsz!• (Henry Higgins) Lenn délen édes éjen

édent remélsz.• (Eliza Doolittle) Lenn délen édes éjen

édent remélsz.• (Henry Higgins) Helyes a beszéd!

Helyes a beszéd!• (Eliza Doolittle) Lenn délen édes éjen

édent remélsz.• (Henry Higgins) Remekül beszél!

Remekül beszél!Kérek egy é-t egy széles é-t!

• (Eliza Doolittle) Meseszép! Meseszép!• (Henry Higgins) Lenn tenger és fent

ég!• (Eliza Doolittle) Kék ég! Kék ég!• (Mindenki) Lenn délen édes éjen édent

remélsz.És énekelve édesebbet remélsz.

• (Henry Higgins) Hol harsány hegedűk hangját

• (Eliza Doolittle) Hegedűk hetykén húzzákEgy hetyke h, és keskeny é.

• (Henry Higgins) Kérek egy é-t egy széles é-t!

• (Eliza Doolittle) Meseszép! Meseszép!

• (Henry Higgins) Lenn tenger és fent ég!

• (Eliza Doolittle) Még kék! Még kék!

• (Mindenki) Lenn délen édes éjen édent remélsz.És énekelve édesebbet remélsz.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XVIII

The Typology of Specialised Texts IVannikov Yu. V. : 12 features by which scientific and special technological texts

can be identified and can serve as points of departure for the translator.1/ On the basis of linguistic organisation:

1/1. Rigorously organised texts with a strictly bound linguistic formulation.

1/2. Texts with a soft structure allowing the translator greater variety.

2/ On the basis of the functional style:2/1. Scientific texts2/2. Technical texts2/3. Official texts2/4. Legal texts2/5. Journalistic texts

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XIX

The Typology of Specialised Texts II3/ On the basis of functional register

3/1. Scientific texts3/1.1. Academic texts3/1.2. Texts intended for instuction3/1.3. Encyclopedic texts

3/2. Technical texts3/2.1. Technical descriptions3/2.2. Instructions3/2.3. Technological-informative texts

3/3. Official texts3/3.1. Official instructions3/3.2. Management texts3/3.3. Official correspondence

3/4. Legal texts3/4.1. Technical documentation3/4.2. Description of inventions3/4.3. Texts of patent management

3/5. Journalistic texts3/5.1. Scientific journalism3/5.2. Popular science texts

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XX

The Typology of Specialised Texts II4/ On the basis of manner of expounding

4.1. Narrative texts4.2. Descriptive texts4.3. Explianatory texts4.4. Argumentative texts

5/ On the basis of logical content5.1. Exposition/Discussion5.2. Justification5.3. Conclusion5.4. Definition, etc.

6/ On the basis of subject-related contents6/1. Texts in exact sciences6/2. Texts in natural sciences6/3. Texts in social siences

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XXI

The Typology of Specialised Texts III

7/ According to the manner of communication7/1. Texts intended for oral communication7/2. Texts intended for written communication

8/ According to genre (within the scientific style)8/1.1. Book8/1.2. Monograph8/1.3. Article8/1.4. Dissertation8/1.5. Lecture8/1.6. Study8/1.7. Presentation8/1.8. Contribution

9/ According to the primary or secondary character of the information9/1. Primary information9/2. Secondary information9/2.1. Report9/2.2. Annotation9/2.3. Review9/2.4. Bibliographical description9/2.5. Bibliography

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XXII

The Typology of Specialised Texts IV

9/ On the basis of the primary or secondary nature of the information9/1. Primary information9/2. Secondary information9/2.1. Report9/2.2. Annotation9/2.3. Review9/2.4. Bibliographical description9/2.5. Bibliography

10/ On the of features of style and expression10/1. Stylistically rich/colourful texts10/2. Stylistycally poor/not colouful texts

11/ On the basis of general pragmatic features11/1. Texts addressed to SL readers11/2. Texts addressed to TL readers11/3. Texts addressed to any audience

12/ On the basis of specific pragmatic features12/1 Informative texts12/2 Normative texts12/3 Instructive texts 12/4 Systematising texts

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XXIII

Comment on Vannikov’s classificationAuthor’s aim: to rationalise the translation process, it suggests some theoretical stand: the description of the main features of

a text means a solution to the problems of translation. But: no matter how carefully the aspects of text description and

classification are selected, this will explain just a tiny bit of why the translator has applied this or that method of transfer, because:

the internal organisation/structure/coherence of a text depends on a large number of rules that are typical of the given language and are independent of text types.

It is the similarities and dissimilarities between the internal structures of texts in the SL and TL that the translator should bear in mind.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XXIV

Attempts to integrate the two approaches:• Aim of translation is of primary importance,• Cultural transfer role of translation,• Fidelity and coherence (intratextual and intertextual) are of secondary

importance,• Shifts in translation: external, i.e. open and visible organisation

(cohesion) vs. internal, i.e. logical/content-related organisation (coherence). Shifts in cohesion are necessary in translation, shifts in coherence are treated as mistakes.

• Transfer in 2nd language acquisition: incorrect transfer of mother-tongue features to the foreign language,

• Transfer in translation: incorrect transfer of mother-tongue textual features from the SL text to the TL one.

LECTURE IVTranslation Theory and Text Linguistics XXV

Research into „quasi-correctness”Explores the differences between authentic/primary and translated/secondary texts:

subtle and hardly perceptible on the sentence level, the whole of the translated text is (slightly) odd („translationese”).

Derives from:

1/ the difference in coherence devices between SL and TL (e.g., pronouns);

2/ slight shifts in emphasis, distortions in functional sentence perspective, shifts in topic-comment relations;

Research on “translationese” is different from traditional interference research:

1/ studies the influence of a foreign language on the level of the whole text (not just words, phrases or grammatical structures),

2/ object of research: texts produced by professional translators in their native language (not mistakes made by learners of a foreign language at any stage of their studies

Translation Theory and Text Linguistics XXVI

Scepticism to text-level approach

Peter Newmark: A Textbook of Translation (Newmark 1988: 36-7)

“Many translators say you should never translate words, you translate sentences or ideas or messages. I think they are fooling themselves. The SL texts consist of words, that is all that is there, on the page”.

In his opinion, it is the advancement of text linguistics that makes translator researchers take the text as a basic unit. The everyday practice of translation, however, reveals that the translator always tries to select the smallest possible unit for translation and resorts to the whole text only if he is stopped by some difficulty or wants to check the end-product.

Translation Theory and Text Linguistics XXVII

The central role of text linguistics in translation studiesTT has adopted the key terms of text linguistics.

Basil Hatim, Ian Mason: Discourse and the Translator (1993):

explaining terms such as text, discourse, cohesion, coherence, anaphoric/cataphoric reference, context, etc.

Mary Snell Hornby: Translation Studies – an Integrated Approach:

three types of translation: literary, general, and special + several subtypes from the Bible to scientific-technical texts.

Central role attributed to text linguistics, from which arrows point to all text types.

“Of basic importance is text linguistics in all its aspects, from the analysis of the macrostructure, thematic progression and sentence perspective to coherence and cohesion.” (34-5)