EXCERPTS ON TRANSLATION STUDIES.docx

EXCERPTS ON TRANSLATION STUDIES.docx

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EXCERPTSONTRANSLATIONSTUDIES

EXCERPTSONTRANSLATIONTHEORYANDPRACTICE

1.ABOUTTRANSLATORS:

traduttoreetraditore译者即逆者¡

Itisdifficult,ifnotimpossible,tospeakofdifferentapproachestotheproblemsoftranslationwithoutstatingclearlyandinsomedetailthenecessaryqualificationswhichtranslatorsmusthaveiftheyaretoproducesatisfactorytranslation.

（1）Languagecompetence,thatistosay,agoodcommandofboththesourceandthetargetlanguageisanobviousrequirementforatranslator.Itisparticularlyimportantforatranslatortowriteeffectivelyinthetragetlanguage,which,inmostinstances,shouldbehisownmothertongue,foritisrareindeedthatapersonacquiressuchanabilityinaforeignlanguage.

Thequestionisoftenaskedastowhatarethediagnosticfeaturesfordeterminingsufficientcompetenceinaforeignlanguagesoastoserveasatranslator.Thisisadifficultquestiontoanswersatisfactorily.Certainly,onemusthavesomefeelingfordifferenttypesofstyleinaforeignlanguage,butperhapsthemostreliableindexforadequacyandcompetenceinaforeignlanguageistheabilitytorecognizeplaysonwordsandespeciallythesubtledoublemeaningswhichcanbethebasisforsayingonethingwhilemeaninganother.

Dictionariescanbeofsomehelp,thoughtheyarenormallyatleast25to30yearsbehindthetimes,andtheyrarelyprovidesufficientinformationabouttherangeofusage.Sometranslatorstendtorelyonbilingualdictionaries.Unfortunatelytheseusuallydonotdefinethemeaningsofwords,butsimplysupplyglossesinacorrespondinglanguage,whichofenfailtohelptheuserformulateaccurateideasoftheactualmeaningsinvolved.Theirusefulnessliesmainlyinindicatingcommonlyacceptedterminologyand,occasionally,inhelpingtowidentherangeofalternativeoptionsopentoatranslatorwhenhetriestorenderanideaalreadyclearinconception.Manycompetenttranslatorsfinditfarmoreprofitable,whennotsureofthemeaningofawordinthetext,toresorttomonolingualdictionariesinthesourcelanguage,especiallythosewhicharecomprehensiveenough,withdetaileddefinitionsandsupportingquotations,toprovidepreciseunderstandingsoftheideasinquestion.

Languagecompetence,inthesenseofbeingabilingual,isnotenough,unlessitisalsomatchedbyaperson'sbeingbicultural.Thatistosay,onemusthaveanintimateknowledgeofthecultureinquestion.Onemustbeabletorecognizesubtleironiesandliteraryallusions.Dictionariesandencyclopediascanbeveryhelpfulindealingwithlexicalproblems,buttheyrarelygofarenoughinprovidingthekindofinformationwhichisnecessarytounderstandculturaldifferences.Unless,forexample,oneunderstandsthatinonelanguage-culturehumorisbaseduponunderstatement,whileinanotheritisusuallyamatterofoverstatement,atranslatorisverylikelytomissthepoint.

（2）Asufficientknowledgeoftherespectiveculturesandthesubjectmatterisindispensable.Theimportanceofsocio-culturalbackgroundinformation,whichcanhardlybeoveremphasized,hasbeentoucheduponaboveandwillbefurthertreatedinchaptereight.Butthequestionofsubjectmatterinformationisalsobecomingincreasinglyacuteinviewofthefactthatmoreandmoretranslatinginvolves"languageforspecialpurposes,"thatistosay,thetechnicaluseoflangguageinvolvinghighlyspecializedsubjects.Theexplosionofinformationwithinthelastcenturymeansthetherearenolongeranypolymaths,thatistosay,peoplewhohaveaneffectiveknowledgeofalldomainsoflearning.

Inthisconnection,oneparticularaspectisespeciallysignificant,namely,ahighrespectforone'signorance.Itisimportanttoknowwhenonereallyknows,butevenmoreimportanttoknowwhenonedoesnotknow.Inotherwords,recognizingthelimitationsofone'sknowledgeisaveryimportantingredientinsuccessintranslation.Unlessonerecognizesone'slimitations,andthereforeiswillingtoconsultreferencebooksandpersonswhomayknowmoreaboutthesubjectmatterinquestion,theresultsofatranslator'sworkarelikelytobefarbelowstandard.

Indealingwithaliterarytext,therangeofsubjectmattermaybeasdemandingoftranslatingscientifictexts.Inanovel,forexample,onemayatonepointbedealingwithvarioussortsofclouds.Withinafewparagraphs,thesubjectmayshifttodifferentkindsofhairdos,andwithinanotherpage,problemsofmentaldisorders,andlatertheintricaciesofmusicalscoresmaybetreated.

Tociteanexamplewhichmayseemtobetrivial,fromstoryaboutacocktailpartywhichtookplaceintheUnitedStates,oneChinesetranslatorrenderedthephrase"acocktailnapkin"as盖酒杯的餐巾.InChinese,therenderingmeansanapkinforcoveringaliquorglass.Nowcocktailnapkinsareoftenplacedunderglasses,heldbetweenthehandandtheglass,orputtootheruses,butnormallytheyareneverplacedontopoftheglasses.Evidentlythetranslator,notknowingwhatthethingis,hadresortedtoguesswork.Thismethodcertainlysavesagreatdealoftimeandisfar"easier"thanmakingthenecessaryinquiries,whichisoftenatime-consuming,laboriousprocess.Butitisjerry-building.Allserioustranslatorsavoidit,andanyonewhoiswillingtoundertakeserioustranslationmustalsoresistthetemptation.Intheend,afterall,itishonest,hardworkthatwillpay.Theconscientiouslaborthatoneputsininacquringinformationnecessaryforsatisfactorytranslationwillgraduallybuildupaformidablereservoirofknowledgethatwillmakepossibleaperformancebothreliableandefficient.

（3）Verbalimagination,thatistosay,acreativecapacitytodealwithvariouskindsofimageryisanoftenoverlookedprerequisite.Withoutacapacitytoproducenewandinterestingwaysofreferringtoobjectsandevents,atranslatorisalmostinevitablydestinedtobea"hacktranslator,"thatistosay,onewhoroutinelycranksouttranslationswhicharenotreallywrongbutwhich,atthesametime,arefarfrombeingontarget.

Oneofthebestwaystoevaluatethepotentialityforthiskindofverbalimaginationintranslationistoanalyzethewayinwhichapersonwritescreativelyinhisownmothertongue.Doeshewriteinafreshandvividway?

Doeshecomeupwithattractivesimilesandmetaphors?

Isheabletomakeastrikingpointbyasubtleshiftinthemeaningofaterm?

Ishesensitivetotheconnotationsofwords?

Arehisextendedfigurativeexpressionscongruent,ordoeshetastelesslymixhisfiguresofspeech?

Ifoneisnotadeptinexpressingideasinhisownmothertongue,heiscertainlynotlikelytodoaneffectivepieceofworkintranslating.

（4）Aproperunderstandingofthenatureofhistaskisasimportantasanyotherrequiste.Onemustbesensitivetocertainbasicprinciplesofinterlingualcommunication,andonthebasisoftheseprinciples,acquirethenecessaryskillthroughextensivepractice.Quiteclearly,atheoryoftransltionisnotenough.Onemustputitintopractice.Readingabookaboutswimming,skiing,orridingabicyclewillnotmakeonecompetentintheseactivitieswithoutpractice.Butpracticingasportwithoutaknowledgeofhowitshouldbeengagedincanresultinbadhabitswhichmaybedifficult,ifnotimpossible,toovercome.Accordingly,goingaboutthetaskoftranslatingwithafalseideaofwhatisreallyinvolvedmaynotonlyresultinpoortranslations,itmayseriouslyharmone'schancestocultivategoodhabits.

（5）Intellectualintegrityincombinationwithdevotiontothetaskisthemostimportantrequisiteofall.Onemustbewillingtoreflecthonestlytheintentoftheoriginalauthor.Anauthormustbepermittedtospeakforhimself.Toputwordsintohismouthortoalteranintent,basedonatranslator'sownvaluesorideas,issimplycheating.Ifatallpossiblethetranslatorshouldsharewiththeauthorabasicsympathyforthesubjectmatter.Undersuchcircumstancesidentificationwiththeintentoftheauthorismucheasier,butonemustalsobewillingtorenderthecontentofapassagewithwhichonedoesnotagree.

Allthesedesirablequalities,however,wouldbehardtoachieveifonedidnotpossessthemostfundamentalfactor:

devotiontoone'swork.Thisistheforcewhich,asitinvolvesthespirit,notjustthemind,willbeultimatelydecisiveinthemakingofagoodtranslator,ascanbefoundinsuchstrikingevidenceinthelifeofeverypastmasterofthisdifficultart.

JinDi&EugeneA.NidaOnTranslationpp.26-30

Atranslatorrequiresaknowledgeofliteraryandnon-literarytextualcriticism,sincehehastoassessthequalityofthetextbeforehedecideshowtointerpretandthentranslateit.Allkindsoffalsedistinctionshvebeenmadebetweenliteraryandtechnicaltranslation.BothSavory（1957）andReiss（1971）havewrittenthatthetechnicaltranslatorisconcernedwithcontent,theliterarytranslatorwithform.Otherwritershavestatedthatatechnicaltranslationmustbeliteral,aliterarytranslationmustbefree--andagain,othershavesaidtheopposite.AtraditionalEnglishsnobberyputsliterarytranslationonapedestalandregardsothertranslationashackwork,orlessimportant,oreasier.Butthedistinctionbetweencareful,sensitiveandelegantwriting--"properwordsinproperplaces",asSwiftputit--ontheonehand,andpredictable,hackneyedandmodishphrases--infact,badwriting--ontheother,cutsacrossallthis.Atranslatormustrespectgoodwritingscrupulouslybyaccountingforitslanguage,structuresandcontent,whetherthepieceisscientificorpoetic,philosophicalorfictional.Ifthewritingispoor,itisnormallyhisdutyto