Translation Studies and AVT Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies

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1 Translation Studies and AVT Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies WEEK 4 - LECTURE 1 Dr. Margherita Dore margherita.dore@uniroma1.it

2 Overview The Hallidayan model of language and discourse House s model of translation quality assessment Thematic structure Cohesion Pragmatics Context and discourse

3 Michael A. K. Halliday Halliday is a British-born Australian linguist who developed the systemic functional grammar (SFL) model of language. It is geared to the study of language as social semiotic. It sees meaning in the writer s linguistic choices and systematically relates these choices to a wider sociocultural framework.

4 The Hallidayan Model of Language and Discourse The Hallidayan model of language (Munday 2012: 138)

5 Variables of Register Analysis Register variables and their typical realizations (Munday 2012: 139)

6 House s Model of Translation Quality Assessment Scheme for analysing and comparing ST and TT (J. House 1997: 108)

7 Application of House s model Step 1: ST register profile Step 2: Description of the ST genre Step 3: Statement of the ST s function Step 4: TT profiling (steps 1-3) Step 5: Comparison of ST and TT profiles (errors, mismatches) Step 6: Statement of quality for the TT Step 7: Categorization of the TT as over or covert translation

8 House s Model of Translation Quality Assessment Overt translation The TT does not pretend to be (and is not represented as being) an original and is clearly not directed at the TT audience Covert translation is a translation which enjoys the status of an original source text in the target culture (House 1997: 69) Cultural filter Modification of cultural elements so that the TT seems an original.

9 Cover Translation - Example 1 M. Dore (2010) translation of St Paul s Cathedral Souvenir Guide

10 Cover Translation - Example 1 M. Dore (2010) translation of St Paul s Cathedral Souvenir Guide

11 Mona Baker In her influential book In Other Words (1992/2011), Baker looks at equivalence at a series of levels: at the level of lexical meaning, above word level, at the level of grammar, textual equivalence and pragmatic equivalence Baker s later work includes important work on narrative theory and translation.

12 Pragmatics and Translation Pragmatics is the study of language in use (Baker 2011: 230) Coherence Presupposition Implicature, from Grice s maxims: Quantity, give the right amount of information Quality, say only what you believe to be true Relevance, be relevant to the conversation Manner, say things in an appropriate way Politeness, be polite with your comments Do these change in translation?

13 Thematic Structure Part of Halliday s textual function Relates to order of elements and information structure Thematic structure is realized differently in different languages Translator should be aware of the relative markedness (prominence or unusualness) of the structures which can help understand the choices made by speakers and writers when conveying a message The translator then decides whether it is appropriate to translate using a particular marked form

14 Cohesion Five types of cohesion from M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan (1976) Cohesion in English, Longman: Reference (e.g. pronouns, comparatives, demonstratives) Substitution Ellipsis Conjunction Lexical cohesion (repetition, synonymy, collocation ) Tendency to explicate in translation?

15 Translate the following riddle: The riddle Exercise 1 A father and son have a car accident and are both badly hurt. They are both taken to separate hospitals. When the boy is taken in for an operation, the doctor says 'I can not do the surgery because this is my son'. How is this possible? Un padre e un figlio hanno un incidente e entrambi rimangono feriti. Vengono portati in due ospedali diversi. Quando il ragazzo viene portato in sala operatoria, il medico dice: Non posso operarlo perché è mio figlio. Come è possibile? The doctor s is the boy s mother

16 Hatim and Mason In their Discourse and the Translator (1990) and The Translator as Communicator (1997), Hatim and Mason apply Halliday s linguistic model to the analysis of translation, paying particular attention to the realization in translation of ideational (e.g. transitivity) and interpersonal functions (e.g. modality) as well as cohesion. Translation analysis aims to identify marked (prominent or unusual) forms and dynamic and stable elements in a text. More stable elements may be translated literally while more dynamic elements require more creative responses on the part of the translator.

17 Context and Discourse Higher levels of sociocultural and historical context and of discourse Discourse = modes of speaking and writing which involve social groups in adopting a particular attitude towards areas of sociocultural activity (e.g. racist discourse, bureaucratese, etc.) (Hatim and Mason 1997: 216)

18 Food for Thought Quality and errors are central to House s model. Yet her model is written from a strongly academic viewpoint. Compare how translation errors are categorized by translator associations, translator agencies and organizations. What criteria do they give for revising translations and assuring quality? Look also at the criteria by which your own translations may be evaluated. Assess the advantages and weaknesses of these classifications, and how they compare to House s model. How much cultural filtering do you note in texts translated into your languages?

19 Bibliography What we studied so far: Munday, Jeremy (2012, Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications, 3rd edition, Routledge, London/New York CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

20 Translation Studies and AVT Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies WEEK 4 - LECTURE 2 Dr. Margherita Dore margherita.dore@uniroma1.it

21 Overview Polysystem theory Descriptive translation studies Norms of translation behaviour Laws and universals Chesterman s norms Manipulation school

22 Itamar Even-Zohar Israeli scholar based in Tel Aviv (work 1978/2004, 2005) In the 1970s he developed the polysystem theory of translation based on Russian Formalist Theories in the 1920s. His theory moves away from the isolated study of individual texts towards the study of translation within the cultural and literary systems in which it functions. A system is a multi-layered structure of elements which relate to and interact each other' (Routledge Encyclopedia of TS).

23 Polysystem Theory (Literary) Polysystem = a multiple system, a system of various systems which intersect with each other and partly overlap, using concurrently different options, yet functioning as one structured whole, whose members are interdependent (Even-Zohar 2005: 3) Translated literature operates as a system within the overall literary polysystem in the way the TL selects works for translation and in the way translation norms, behaviour and policies are influenced by other co-systems

24 Polysystem Theory Conditions when translation is in primary position in polysystem (Munday 2012: 168, following Even-Zohar 1978/2004)

25 Polysystem Theory Strong literary tradition Translated literature Condition when translation is in secondary position in polysystem (Munday 2012: , following Even-Zohar 1978/2004)

26 Criticism on Polysystem Theory Advantages Literature is studied in context It moves away from the isolated study of individual texts towards the study of translation within the cultural and literary systems in which it functions Non-prescriptive definition of equivalence Disadvantages Overgeneralization and little evidence Over-reliance on Formalist models Too abstract Objectivity? Only literature

27 Gideon Toury Israeli scholar who worked with Even-Zohar in Tel- Aviv and built on polysystem theory to develop a general theory of translation Founder of the branch of empirical Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) with the aim of reconstructing the norms that are in operation in the translation process through the cumulative identification of norms, of probabilistic laws or universals of translation

28 Descriptive translation studies (DTS) Translations = facts of target cultures Replicable framework and methodology for research: Situate TT within target culture system Textual analysis of ST-TT pair Attempt generalizations about patterns identified Adequate vs Acceptable translation

29 Norms of Translation Behaviour Norms are sociocultural constraints specific to a culture, society and time Cline of rules<>idiosyncracies of translation constraints and behaviour (Munday 2012: 172)

30 Toury s Norms Initial, preliminary and operational norms (Munday 2012: 174, following Toury 1995)

31 Toury s Laws and Universals Identification of probabilistic laws of translation (Toury 1995) Law of growing standardization (stating that potential SL (in the ST) choices are sometimes ignored) Law of interference (negative: which states that the lexical syntactic form of the ST influences the TT and produces non-normal patterns; positive: non-abnormal patterns accepted in the TT). Law of reduced control over linguistic realization (constraining factors Munday 2012: 179)

32 Toury s Universals The term universals is used to refer to features that are considered to characterize translated language and texts in whatever language pair such as lexical and syntactic simplification, explicitation and normalization to TL patterns. Such patterns have been investigated in corpusbased translation studies to identify the deduction of universals.

33 Chesterman s Norms Product or expectancy norms, expectations of readers of a translation re. what it should be like (factors: tradition, conventions, ideology, market) -> evaluation of TT; violation of norm Professional norms (subordinate to expectancy norms) Accountability (ethical) -> integrity, responsibility Communication (social) -> maximum communication Relation (linguistic) -> (ST-TT) Validated by authorities (teacher, critic, reviewer, professional association, institution )

34 S-universals Chesterman s Universals Universal differences between translations and their source texts (patterns of shifts in any ST-TT pair): TT is longer than ST Normalization of dialect Explicitation Reduction of repetition Retranslation may be possible T-universals Analysis of TT only: TT is simplified at lexical level Unusual patterns (collocations) Reduced use of source culture-specific reference

35 Translation Shifts Example 1 Names in Harry Potter translated into Italian: Italiano English Grifondoro Corvonero (Pecoranera) Tassorosso Serpeverde Professor Silente Professor Allock Professor Malocchio Moody Professor Piton Neville Paciock Oliver Baston Gryffindor Ravenclaw Hufflepuff Slytherin Professor Dumbledore Professor Lockhart Professor Mad-Eye Moody Professor Snape Neville Longbottom Oliver Wood

36 Manipulation School A group of scholars that in 1985 launched a collection of papers titled The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation (edited by Theo Hermans) Exact methodology for case study analysis: Preliminary data (title, partial or complete translation) Macro-level (division of text, over authorial comments) Micro-level (linguistic shits) Systemic shifts (identification of norms, intertextual and intersystemic relations)

37 Translation Shifts Example 2 Italian translation of culture-specific allusion in Friends

38 Food for Thought Consider the position of translation in the polysystem of your own country. Would you say that it occupies a primary or secondary position? Analyse suitable ST-TT pairs and compare the results. How feasible are Toury s proposed laws of translation and Chesterman s S-universals and T-universals?

39 Bibliography What we studied so far: Munday, Jeremy (2012, Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications, 3rd edition, Routledge, London/New York CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7