3. EQUIVALENCE AND EQUIVALENT EFFECT (1950s/1960s)

- key issues: meaning and equivalence

ROMAN JAKOBSON

- structuralist, follows de Saussure’s relation (signifier + signified sign, examples: cheese, nectar)

- no full equivalence between code-units (cheese syr)- kinds of translation : interlingual, intralingual, intersemiotic- interlingual translation: - entire messages are substituted

code-units differ because they belong to different sign systems

- focus : differences in the structure and terminology of languages- languages differ essentially in what they must convey, and not in what they may

convey; in gender, aspect, semantic fields- poetry is untranslatable and requires creative transposition

EUGENE NIDA

- “Toward a Science of Translation”, “The Theory and Practice of Translation”- borrows concepts and terminology from semantics, pragmatics and Chomsky

- words acquire meaning through context and produce varying responses according to culture

- meaning : linguistic, referential (denotative), emotive (connotative)- techniques for determining the meaning of linguistic items:

o hierarchical structuring – differentiating series of words according to their level (animal > goat = dog)

o componential analysis – identifies specific features of a range of related words (mother, cousin sex, generation, lineality)

o semantic structure analysis – separating different meanings of a word according to its characteristics in context (spirit human, good/bad,…)

- the idea is to realize that the sense of complex terms depends on context

- Nida adopts Chomsky’s model:

phrase structure rules deep structure||

transformational rules deep structure + deep structure||

phonological & morphemic rules surface structure

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- Nida’s three-stage process of translation:

ST surface structure TT surface structure|| ||

ANALYSIS RESTRUCTURING|| translation ||

ST basic elements ---------------------- TT basic elements(kernels) TRANSFER

- kernels are produced by the process of back-transformation:surface s.: will of Godback-transform: B (object, God) performs A (event, wills)

- transformation into the surface structure happens in 3 stages: literal, minimal and literary transfer

- formal equivalence is oriented towards the ST structure and focuses on the message in form and content

o the message in the receptors language should match as closely as possible the different elements in the SL

- dynamic equivalence aims at complete naturalness of expressiono the goal is the closest natural equivalent to the source message

- 4 basic requirements of translation:o making senseo conveying the spirit and manner of the originalo a natural form of expressiono producing a similar response as the original

Criticism- equivalent effect or response is impossible- equivalent effect cannot be achieved when meaning is bound up in form, especially in

literary works- the problem of equivalence in translating cultural references- the techniques for the analysis of meaning are carried out systematically, but it is

doubtable whether it is so in practice- Nida’s work is considered theological and dynamic equivalence serves the purpose of

converting the receptors

NEWMARK

- “Approaches to Translation”, “A Textbook of Translation”- combining practical examples of linguistic theories of meaning with practical

applications for translation

- semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of TL allow, the contextual meaning of the original

o it interprets and explains (metaphor and idioms)

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- communicative translation attempts to produce an effect as similar as possible to the one of the original on its readers

- equivalent effect cannot be achieved if the text is out of TL space and time (e.g. modern translations of Homer)

- literal translation is the best approach – the translator should concentrate on especially difficult problems, and literally translate the rest

- if semantic translation results in an abnormal TT, communicative should be used

SEMANTIC TRANSLATION COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION

- remains within the ST culture - transfers foreign elements into the TL culture

- not fixed in time or space; new translations are needed

- rooted in its own contemporary context

- inferior to ST - may be “better” than the ST- accuracy of reproduction of the significance of the ST

- accuracy of communication of the ST message in the TT

Criticism- strong prescriptivism – translations are “smooth” or “awkward”, translation is “art”

(semantic) or “craft” (communicative)

WERNER KOLLER

- examines the concepts of correspondence and equivalence- correspondence:

belongs to contrastive linguistics (comparing two language systems and describing differences and similarities)

deals with langue – false friends, lexical and morphological interference refers to competence in foreign language

- equivalence: belongs to the science of translation relates to equivalent terms in specific ST-TT pairs (parole) refers to translation competence

- types of equivalences:1. DENOTATIVE – equivalence of the extra-linguistic content content

invariance2. CONNOTATIVE – related to the lexical choice stylistic equivalence3. TEXT-NORMATIVE – different text-types behaving differently4. PRAGMATIC – oriented towards the receiver communicative equivalence5. FORMAL – related to the form and aesthetics of the text expressive

equivalence

- the translator must set up a hierarchy of values to be preserved in translation:a) language functionb) content characteristicsc) language-stylistic characteristicsd) formal-aesthetic characteristicse) pragmatic characteristics

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4. THE TRANSLATION SHIFT APPROACH

- efforts to categorize the translation process

VINAY AND DARBELNET

- a comparative stylistic analysis of French and English- identifying different translation strategies:

a) DIRECT translationa. borrowing – the SL word is transferred directly to the TL (glasnost,

perestroika, apartheid, cherub, yacht)

b. calque – the SL expression or structure is transferred in a literal translation (skyscraper – neboder, superman – ubermensch, free verse – vers libre, Saturday – Dies Saturni, honeymoon – luna de miel)

c. literal translation – word-for-word translation; prescribed as “good translation”- inappropriate if it:

gives a different meaning has no meaning is impossible for structural reasons has no corresponding expression within metalinguistic experience corresponds to something at a different level of language

b) OBLIQUE translationa. transposition – changing one part of speech for another without changing the

sense (He will soon be back – Neće mu dugo trebati da se vrati)

b. modulation – changing the semantics and the point of view of the SL (the time when – le moment ou where)

- can be: abstract concrete, cause effect, part whole, part another part, reversal of terms, negation of opposite, active to passive, space for time

c. equivalence – languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means (slon u staklarni – the bull in the china shop)

d. adaptation – changing the cultural reference when a situation in the source culture does not exist in the target culture (a game of cricket – Tour d’ France - baseball)

- these categories operate on three levels: the lexicon, the semantic structure, the message (the utterance and its metalinguistic context)

- two further terms are introduced:o demarche - word order and thematic structureo charnières - connectors (cohesive links), deixis (demonstrative pronouns),

punctuation

- other parameters taken into account by Vinay and Darbelnet are:o servitude - obligatory transpositions and modulations due to a difference

between SL and TL

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o option - non-obligatory changes that are due to the translators own style and preferences

- the role of the translator is to choose among available options to express the nuances of the message

- five steps that should be followed in moving from ST to TT:1. identify the units of translation2. examine the SL text3. reconstruct the metalinguistic context4. evaluate the stylistic effects5. produce and revise the TT

- unit of translation lexicological unit + unit of thought = the smallest segment of the utterance whose signs are linked in such a way that they shouldn’t be translated individually

- examples: individual words – he, butgrammatically linked groups – the watch, to lookfixed expressions – from time to timesemantically linked groups – to glance away

CATFORD

- “A linguistic theory of translation”- analyzes language as communication, operating functionally in context, on a range of

different levels and ranks

- formal correspondent is any TL category (unit, class) which can be said to occupy the “same” place in the “economy” of the TL as the given SL category occupies in the SL

- it is a general system-based concept between a pair of languages

- textual equivalent is any TL text or portion of text observed on a particular occasion to be the equivalent of a given SL text or portion of text

- it is tied to a particular ST-TT pair

- translation shift is a departure from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the TL:

a) level shift something expressed by grammar in one language and lexis in another (to write – pisati, to finish writing - napisati)

b) category shifts :o structural I love jazz. – Mi piace il jazz. I’m hungry. – Ho fame.

o class a medical student – student medicine

o unit/rank the translation equivalent is at a different rank (clause, word, morpheme): when he came – došavši

o intra-system SL and TL possess approximately corresponding systems, but the translation involves selection of a non-corresponding term in the TL: advice – des conseiles (sg. pl.)

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CZECH WRITING

- introduction of the literary aspect- Jiri Levy deals with the translation of the surface structure of the ST and TT,

particularly poetry translation- literary translation is a reproductive and creative labor with the goal of equivalent

aesthetic effect- equivalence needs to be achieved among these features (priority depends on the type

of text): 1. denotative meaning, connotation, stylistic arrangement2. syntax3. sound repetition, vowel length, articulation

- minimax strategy – maximum effect with a minimum of effort Levy considers translation work to be pragmatic

- František Miko discusses different theoretical aspects of style in translation (“shift of expression”)

- he suggests an analysis of style under categories such as:4. operativity, iconicity, affectation, prominence, contrast

- Anton Popovič emphasizes that the shift analysis can be seen as a way of influencing the system of norms which govern the translation process

- the shifts arise from the tension between the ST and the translation ideal, which results from the translator’s conscious efforts to faithfully reproduce the aesthetic totality of the original

VAN LEUVEN-ZWART

- a model of shift analysis, attempting to systematize comparison and to build in a discourse framework above the sentence level1. comparative model involves a detailed comparison of the ST and the TT and a

classification of all the microstructural shifts

- divide selected passages into comprehensible textual units “transemes” (e.g. she sat up quickly – se enderezo)

- define the architranseme – the invariant core sense of the ST transeme, which serves as tertium comparationis (e.g. to sit up)

- compare each transeme with the architranseme to establish the relationship between the transemes

- if both transemes have a synonymic relationship with the architranseme, no shift has occurred

- the absence of a synonymic relationship indicates a shift in translation which can be:a) modulation one of the transemes tallies with the architranseme, but

the other differs semantically or stylistically (sat up quickly – has an extra element)

b) modification both transemes show some form of disjunction compared to the architranseme (you had to cry – hacia llorar – it caused you to cry)

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c) mutation it is impossible to establish and architranseme either because of addition, deletion or some radical change in meaning in the TT

- once all the shifts are identified and categorized on this level, their cumulative effect is then calculated by using a descriptive model

2. descriptive model a macrostructural model, designed for the analysis of the translated literature

- based on concepts borrowed from narratology and stylistics- attempts to interweave the concepts of “discourse level” and “story level”

with three linguistic metafunctions (interpersonal, ideational, textual)

- the analytical model involves totaling the number of instances of each kind of shift in 5000 word extracts and examining the patterns that emerge

- translation strategy is TT oriented, with an emphasis on acceptability in the target culture

- the comparative model is extremely complex – allocating eight different categories and 37 subcategories of shifts and keeping track is very difficult

- architranseme might be subjective- the statistical matching does not discriminate between the relative importance of

different examples of each shift category

5. FUNCTIONAL THEORIES OF TRANSLATION (1970s/1980s)

- in Germany, the emergence and flourishing of a functionalist and communicative approach to the analysis of translation

KATHARINA REISS

- views the text as the level at which communication is achieved and at which equivalence must be sought

- links three functions to their corresponding language dimensions and to the text types in which they are used

Language function

Language dimensions

Text focus TT should Translation method

Text type

Informative (representing objects and facts)

logical content-focused

transmit content

plain prose, explication as required

informative(reference work)

Expressive (expressing senders attitude)

aesthetic form-focused

transmit aesthetic form

identifying method, adopt the author’s perspective

expressive(poem)

Appellative (making an appeal to text receiver)

dialogic appellative-focused

elicit desired response

adaptive, equivalent effect

operative(advertisement)

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- the fourth type Reiss mentions is audiomedial text which supplements the other three functions with visual images, music, etc. (films, visual advertisements)

- Reiss lists a series of intralinguistic and extralinguistic criteria by which the adequacy of a TT may be assessed:

o Intralinguistic : semantic, lexical, grammatical, stylistic featureso Extralinguistic : situation, subject field, time, place, receiver, sender, affective

implications (humor, irony)

- the importance of those criteria varies according to the text type, for example:o translation of a content-focused text aims at preserving semantic equivalenceo a news item TT would place grammatical criteria in second placeo a popular science book would pay more attention to the individual style of the

ST

- example: Gulliver’s Travel originally written as a satirical novel (operative text), today read and translated as ordinary piece of fiction (expressive text)

Critisicm

- Reiss moves translation theory towards a consideration of the communicative purpose of translation

- Why should there be only three types of language function?- It is unclear how proposed translation methods are to be applied in the case of a

specific text – business and financial texts contain a large number of simple and complex metaphors, so “plain-prose” method is perhaps inappropriate

- Can text types really be differentiated? – a business report, classed by Reiss as strongly informative, can also show a strongly expressive side

- The translation method employed depends on more than just text type

HOLZ-MANTTARI

- the translational action model aims at providing a model and guidelines applicable to a wide range of professional translation situations

- translation is viewed as purpose-driven, outcome-oriented human interaction

- interlingual translation is described as translational action from a source text and as a communicative process involving a series of roles:

o initiator needs the translationo commissioner contacts the translatoro ST producer writes the STo TT producer the translatoro TT user uses TT, as teaching material or sales literatureo TT receiver the final recipient, for example, the students in the TT user’s

class

- each of these players have their own primary and secondary goals, e.g. for the translator, the primary might be to earn money and the secondary to fulfill the contract

- the translator may be a non-expert in both the text type and subject area

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- translational action focuses on producing a TT that is functionally communicative for the receiver

- what is functionally suitable has to be determined by the translator who has to make sure that the intercultural transfer takes place satisfactorily

- the needs of the receiver are the determining factors for the TT (e.g. a technical term in an ST might require clarification for a non-technical TT user)

- relevant features of the ST are described in terms of:o content factual information + overall communicative strategy - (tectonics)o form terminology + cohesive elements (texture)

Criticism

- The value of this work is the placing of translation within its sociocultural context, including the interplay between the translator and the initiating institution

- Criticism refers to the complexity of jargon- The model fails to consider cultural difference in more detail or in the kinds of terms

proposed by the culturally oriented models

HANS VERMEER

- “Groundwork for a General Theory of Translation”- skopos = aim, purpose (Greek word); a technical term for the purpose of translation

and of the action of translating

- skopos theory focuses on the purpose of translation, which determines the methods and strategies that are to be employed in order to produce a functionally adequate result, the translatum (the TT)

- knowing why an ST is to be translated and what the function of the translatum will be are crucial for the translator

- basic rules of the skopos theory:- a translatum is determined by its skopos- a TT is an offer of information in a target culture and TL, concerning an offer

of information in a source culture and SL- a TT does not initiate an offer of information in a clearly reversible way the

function of a translatum in its target culture is not necessarily the same as in the source culture

- a TT must be internally coherent TT must be translated in such a way that it is coherent for the TL receivers, given their circumstances and knowledge

- a TT must be coherent with the ST there must be coherence between the translatum and the ST

- according to skopos theory, the same text can be translated in different ways, according to the purpose of the TT and the commission which is given to the translator

- example: an ambiguity in a will written in French would need to be translated literally, with footnotes or comments; but if the will appeared in a novel, the translator might prefer to find a corresponding ambiguity in TL, without footnotes, so as not to interrupt the reading process

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- the skopos needs to be explicitly or implicitly stated in the commission which comprises a goal and the conditions under which that goal should be achieved (including deadline and fee), both of which should be negotiated between the commissioner and the translator

- skopos and adequacy (which describes the relations between ST and TT as a consequence of observing a skopos during the translation process) determine the nature of the translatum

- equivalence is reduced to functional constancy between ST and TT

Criticism

- the skopos theory can only refer to non-literary texts; literary texts are considered to have no specific purpose

- text type approach and the skopos theory are considering different phenomena and cannot be lumped together

- skopos theory does not pay enough attention to the linguistic nature of the ST nor the reproduction of the microlevel features in the TT

- unnecessary jargon that does little to further the translation theory (“translatum”)

CHRISTIANE NORD

- “Text Analysis in Translation”- aims at providing a model of ST analysis which is applicable to all text types and

translation situations

- examines text organization at or above the sentence level and distinguished between:a) documentary translation a document of source culture communication

between the author and the ST recipient the TT allows the TT receiver access to ideas of the ST, but the reader

is aware that it is a translation example: literary translation, culture-specific lexical units, literal

translation

b) instrumental translation an independent message transmitting instrument in a new communicative action in the target culture

intended to fulfill its communicative purpose without the recipient being conscious of reading or hearing a text that was used before in a different communicative situation function-preserving translations

example: a translated computer manual

- “Translating as a Purposeful Activity” – highlights three aspects of functionalist approaches that are particularly useful in translator training:

- the importance of the translation commission the translator needs to compare ST and TT profiles defined in the commission to see where the two texts may diverge

information about the intended text functions, the addressees, the time and place of text reception, the medium and the motive enables the translator to prioritize what information to include in the TT

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- the role of ST analysis the ST can be analyzed to decide on functional priorities of the translation strategy

list of intratextual factors: subject matter, content, presuppositions, composition, non-verbal elements (illustrations, italics), lexicon (dialect, register, terminology), sentence structure, suprasegmental features (stress, rhythm, stylistic punctuation)

- the functional hierarchy of translation problems: the intended function of the translation should be decided those functional elements that will need to be adapted to the TT

addresses’ situation have to be determined the translation type decides the translation style the problems of the text can then be tackled at a lower linguistic level

6. DISCOURSE AND REGISTER ANALYSIS APPROACHES (1990s)

- discourse analysis looks at the way language communicates meaning and social and power relations

HALLIDAY

- model of discourse analysis, based on systemic functional grammar- geared to study language as communication- meaning is in the writer’s linguistic choices and these choices are systematically

related to a wider sociocultural framework

- there is a strong interrelation between the surface-level realizations of the linguistic functions and the sociocultural framework

Sociocultural environment

Genre

Register(field, tenor, mode)

Discourse semantics(ideational, interpersonal, textual)

Lexicogrammar(transitivity, modality, theme-rheme/cohesion)

- the genre is conditioned by the sociocultural environment and itself determines other elements

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- register comprises:o field (what is being written about)o tenor (who is communicating and to whom)o mode (the form of communication)

- each of these variables is associated with a strand of meaning, or metafunctions, that form the discourse semantics:

o ideational meaning associated with the field, realized through transitivity patterns (verb types, active/passive structures etc.)

o interpersonal meaning associated with the tenor, realized through the patterns of modality (modal verbs, adverbs such as hopefully, possibly and evaluative lexis such as beautiful, dreadful)

o textual meaning associated with the mode, realized through the thematic and information structures (the order of elements in a clause) and cohesion (the way that text hangs together lexically)

- these metafunctions are realized by the lexicogrammar (the choices of wording and syntactic structure)

JULIANE HOUSE

- the model is based on comparative ST-TT analysis leading to the assessment of the quality of the translation, highlighting “mismatches” or “errors”

- a systematic comparison of the textual profile of the ST and TT register analysis according to their realization through lexical, syntactic and textual means

- textual means refers to:o theme dynamics – thematic structure and cohesiono clausal linkage – additive, adversativeo iconic linkage – parallelism of structure

- register is expanded in comparison to Halliday’s model:o field subject matter and social actiono tenor author’s provenance and stance, social role and social attitude

(formal/informal)o mode medium (spoken/written) and the degree of participation

(monologue, dialogue)

- the model:1. a profile of the ST register is produced2. a description of the ST genre realized by the register is added3. a “statement of function” is made (what information is being conveyed and

what is the relationship between sender and receiver)4. the same descriptive process is carried out for the TT5. the profiles are compared and the statement of errors is made, categorized

according to the genre and register6. a statement of quality of the translation is made7. the translation is categorized as over or covert type of translation

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- overtly erroneous errors denotative mismatches or target system errors- covertly erroneous errors dimensional errors of a situation

- overt translation does not purport to be an originalo the equivalence is sought at the level of language/text, register and genreo the individual text function cannot be the same for the ST and TTo example: the translation of Churchill’s speech after the WW 2, which is tied to

a particular source culture and historical context

- covert translation enjoys the status of the original source text in the target cultureo not linked to a particular ST culture or audienceo the function is to recreate, reproduce or represent the function that the original

text has in its linguacultural frameworko example: a tourist information booklet, a letter from a company chairman to

the shareholders

- in cases where covertly functional equivalence is desired, but where the ST genre does not exist in the target culture, the aim should be to produce a covert version

MONA BAKER

- “In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation”- looks at equivalence at a series of levels: word, above-word, grammar, thematic

structure, cohesion, pragmatic levelsa) thematic and information structure

- most attention is devoted to the textual functions- a comparison of nominalization and verbal forms in theme position are

incorporated- thematic structures are realized differently in different languages- example:

Analisou-se as relacoes da dopamina cerebral com as funcoes motoras.(Analyzed were the relations of dopamine with the motor functions.)The relations between dopamine and motor functions were analyzed. normalized English word orderAn analysis is carried out of the relations between dopamine and motor functions. Baker’s suggestion

I discussed this matter in Washington.theme rhemeDiscuti este assunto em Washington.theme rheme

- an important advantage of the systemic functional approach is that it is straightforward to implement – theme is in the first position

- the translator should be aware of the relative markedness of the thematic and information structures

- e.g. calquing a rigid English word order when translating into a VS language such as Spanish would produce a monotonous translation

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b) cohesion- Blum-Kulka suggests that increased explication of cohesive ties might be a

general strategy adopted by all translators- changes in cohesion in translation might bring about functional shifts in texts- example from Pinter’s “Old Times”: “Fat or thin?” Hebrew and other

languages would need to state whether the character referred to was a man or woman

- the web of cohesive ties may have to differ between ST and TT, since the networks of lexical cohesion will not be identical across languages

- the TT must hang together logically in the mind of the TT receivers

c) pragmatics and translation- pragmatics is the study of language in use- three major concepts:

o the coherence of a text depends on the receiver’s expectations and experience of the world example: “the flagship Harrods” = “the splendid Knightsbridge”, but the

receiver might not know this so the translator needs to make explicit link by adding the word “store” to both these expressions

o presupposition the linguistic and extralinguistic knowledge the sender assumes the receiver to have or which are necessary in order to retrieve the message example: Sit Leon Brittan in the European Parliament : ”let me now turn to

bananas” referring to the trade dispute between the EU and the US over banana imports

o implicature what the speaker means or implies rather than what he/she says this concept was developed by Grice and his maxims (quantity, quality,

relevance, manner) participants in conversations assume that the person to whom they are

speaking is following those maxims and therefore tend to be cooperative in what they say and how they say it

problems for the translator arise when the SL and TL work by different maxims

example: the Japanese Premier replies to the American concerns on textile exports by saying “I’ll handle it as well as I can”, which is understood by the US President as a literal promise to sort out the problem, whereas the Japanese phrase is a polite formula to ending the conversation

HATIM AND MASON

- “Discourse and the Translator”, “The Translator as Communicator”- focus in on the realization of ideational and interpersonal functions in translation- the model is incorporated into a semiotic level of discourse

- example from Camus’ “L’etranger”: j’ai crispe ma main my grip closedj’ai touché le ventre poli de la crosse the smooth underbelly of the butt jogged my palmj’ai tire I fired

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- the pattern of shifts in the TT made Mersault more passive than in the ST – but it might be because of the translator’s overall reading of the novel, in which Mersault’s passivity is a key feature

- shifts in modality (the interpersonal function) are also considered- example: problems with the recognition of a French conditional of allegation or

rumour “un plan de restructuration qui aurait été prépare par les administrateurs judiciaires” “a rescue plan which was probably by the receivers” – is often wrongly translated as “had been prepared”

- language and texts are considered to be realizations of sociocultural messages and power relations which represent discourse

- discourse modes of speaking and writing which involve social groups in adopting a particular attitude towards areas of sociocultural activity

- a semiotic function is performed by idiolect and dialect- example: the characters in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” speak Cockney

dialect – this purposely functional feature is a noteworthy object of the translator’s attention the peculiarities and connotations are unlikely to be replicated easily in any TT

culture

- Hatim and Mason’s work can be seen as a list of elements to be considered when examining translation

- they concentrate on identifying stable and dynamic elements in the text a more “stable” ST may require a fairly literal approach, while with a more dynamic ST, the translator is faced with more interesting challenges and literal translation might not be an option

Criticisms of discourse and register analysis approaches

- discourse analysis models are very popular among many linguistics-oriented translation theorists

- Hallidayan model is criticized for being over-complicated in its categorization of grammar and for its apparently inflexible one-to-one matching of structure and meaning

- House’s model raise question whether it is possible to recover authorial intention and ST function from register analysis

- While mismatches may indicate translation errors, they may also be caused by other translation strategies, such as explication or compensation

- Baker’s model languages with word order different than English need to be analyzed differently

- Linguistic differences are indicative of cultural differences and Venuti criticizes linguistic-oriented approaches for being a conservative model of translation that restricts translation’s role in cultural innovation and change

- Hatim and Mason analyze a range of text types, but their focus often remains linguistics-centred, both in its terminology and in the phenomena investigated

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