Riassunto esame Letteratura Inglese, prof. Morbiducci, libro consigliato Translation studies

Chapter 3: Equivalence and Equivalent Effect

After the period of "fight" between free Vs literal, we can talk about the meaning of a particular issue like, for example, "equivalence". Roman Jakobson was maybe the first to talk about equivalence in his opera "The nature of linguistic meaning and equivalence". We could say that translation is a game of equivalence because a word in the source language corresponds to a word (with the same sense) in the target language. But translation is more complicated.

Jakobson follows the idea (Seassure) that the signifier and the signified, together, form the linguistic sign, but the sign is arbitrary. For the message to be "equivalent" in the source and target language, the code units will be different since they belong to two different sign systems (languages) which partition reality differently.

Example: house - Is feminine in Romance languages and neuter in German. Only in poetry does Jakobson talk about...

“untranslatable” and requires a creative transposition.

NidaHi is linked to the theory of “generative transformational grammar” by Chomsky. The most important idea of Nida is that a word hasn’t meaning without the context.

NIDA: The old terms such as “literal ore free translation” or “faithful translation” are discarded by Nida, in favour of two basic orientations or types of equivalence (formal and dynamic equivalence).

Formal equivalence: Focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content.

Dynamic equivalence: Is based in what that Nida calls “the principle of equivalent effect”, where the relationship between receptor and message should be the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message. The message has to be tailored to the receptor’s linguistic needs and cultural expectation and aims at complete naturalness (the closest natural equivalent to the source language message) of

translation. It focuses on conveying the meaning and intention of the original text while also ensuring effective communication with the target audience. According to Newmark, a successful translation should have the following characteristics: 1. Semantic translation: It should accurately convey the meaning and message of the original text. 2. Communication translation: It should effectively communicate the intended message to the target audience. In order to achieve these goals, translators need to consider various factors such as cultural differences, linguistic nuances, and the overall context of the text. By carefully analyzing and understanding these elements, translators can produce a translation that is both faithful to the original and accessible to the target readers.

translation.

Koller

He gives 5 different types of equivalence:

1. Denotative equivalence
2. Connotative equivalence
3. Text normative equivalence
4. Pragmatic equivalence (Nida dynamic equivalence)
5. Formal equivalence

Chapter 4

The translation shift approach

After 1950 the translation of source language to target language approach changes. In particular with 3 linguistic:

Vinay and Darbelnet: Analysis of French and English in direct translation and oblique translation. Direct translation includes 7 procedures: Borrowing, Calque, Literal translation, Transposition, Modulation, Equivalence and Adaptation. These seven procedures are operated on 3 levels:

1. The lexicon
2. Syntactic structures
3. The message

A list of five steps that the translator have to use is:

1. Identify the units of translation
2. Examine the source language text, evaluating the descriptive, affective and intellectual content of the units
3. Reconstruct the metalinguistic context of the message
4. Evaluate the stylistic effects
5. Produce and revise

When we can't use the literally translation we must use the oblique translation.

Catford: He create the term "shift" in the area of translation. Catford makes an important distinction between formal correspondence and textual equivalence. He consider two kind of shift:

• Shift of level that expressed grammar in one language and lexis in an other;
• Shift of category (that most of Catford's analysis divides in 4 kinds: structural, class, unit and intra-system);

Levy: He gives an important attention to the expressive function or style of text. (Attention to poetry)

Van Leuven-Zwart: His model is intended for the description of integral translation of fiction text and comprises two different model:

1. Comparative model: Divide in textual unit, define the architranseme (core sense), estabilished the relation between two transemes.
2. Descriptive model: Is a macrostructural model, designed for the analysis of translated literature.

Chapter 5 Functional theories of

translation process, it is important to consider the type of text being translated. Katharina Reiss identified three main categories for classifying texts: Informative, Expressive (Aesthetic), and Operative (Persuasive). There is also a fourth category, Audiomedial texts, which includes visual and spoken multimedia instruments. Each type of text can be classified into one of these three categories. For example, a poem is clearly an Expressive text, while an electoral speech is an Operative text. Some texts can also be hybrids of two categories, such as a sermon, which can be both Informative and Operative. When translating different types of texts, there are various approaches to consider: - An Informative Target Text should convey all the information in a simple and clear manner. - An Expressive Target Text should preserve the artistic form of the Source Text. - An Operative Target Text should aim to create an equivalent effect among the Target Text readers. In conclusion, the translation process should take into account the type of text being translated in order to effectively convey the intended meaning and impact to the target audience.La traduzione di questi testi richiede che il traduttore tenga presente che ci sono una vasta gamma di elementi che devono essere considerati, questi elementi sono Intralinguistici (lessico, grammatica...) ed Extralinguistici (tempo, luogo, destinatario...). Azione traduttiva L'azione traduttiva è un modello ideato da Holz-Manttari che ha lo scopo di fornire agli studenti, studiosi e traduttori in generale una serie di linee guida adatte a una vasta gamma di situazioni. Secondo questo modello, durante l'analisi di un testo di origine, il traduttore dovrebbe considerare una serie di elementi: - L'iniziatore: la prima persona (azienda o individuo) che richiede la traduzione di un testo - Il committente: chi contatta direttamente il traduttore - L'autore del testo di origine: chi ha scritto il testo originale - L'utente del testo tradotto: la persona che riceverà il testo tradotto (biblioteche o negozi) - Il destinatario del testo tradotto: chi alla fine leggerà il libro per interesse personale o studio Come abbiamo appena detto, il modello traduttivo mira a creare un testo tradotto adatto ein a hierarchical manner, with the first point being the most important. According to the Skopos Theory, the main focus of translation is to achieve the intended purpose or function of the target text. This means that the translator should adapt the text to the target context, taking into consideration the cultural differences between the source and target cultures. The theory emphasizes that the purpose of the target text may differ from that of the source text. Therefore, the translator should not simply follow the source text, but rather consider the specific purpose of the target text and adapt the translation accordingly. In addition, the Skopos Theory highlights the importance of coherence with the target text receiver's situation. The translator should ensure that the target text is coherent and appropriate for the intended audience. At the same time, the translator should also be coherent with the original source text, maintaining the essential meaning and message of the original. Overall, the Skopos Theory provides a framework for translation that prioritizes the purpose and function of the target text, while also considering cultural differences and maintaining coherence with both the target text receiver and the original source text.

Skopos Theory

The Skopos theory views the text as an entity with a specific purpose (or Skopos). According to this theory, the translator's task is to understand the purpose of the text and try to convey the same aim in the target text (TT), even if it requires making changes to the text structure.

However, some theorists argue that the Skopos theory is not applicable to literary texts, as they often lack a clear purpose and have complex structures that cannot be easily adapted. They also criticize the theory for not giving enough attention to the linguistic level of the source text (ST) and focusing too much on the purpose.

Nord and Translation-oriented Text Analysis

Christiane Nord developed a model that focuses on analyzing the ST as a whole. She examines the purpose, style, and other features of the text to provide different solutions for translation.

Nord identifies two different types of translators:

Documentary translation: In this kind of translation the TT reader already know that the text's reading has been translated from another language/culture, these are the cases of a text which the author wants to preserve as "exoticizing" or to maintain some cultural specific lexical items.

Instrumental translation: Contrary to the previous one, the instrumental translation let the reader know that the text has never been translated. In addition the translator should try to turn the translation suitable for the target culture, context and time.

Analyzing the text, the translator needs to compare the 2 profiles in order to see where they may be different, the main features to pay attention to are: the text function, the sender and receiver, the target time and place, the way the text will be exposed (speech or writing) and the purpose for which the text was written and why needs to be translated.

This model is thought to be applicable to all.

Text types and translation situations but actually there are cases in which the use of a fixed model may create some problems

Chapter 6

Discourse and register analysis approaches

In the 1990s the model of discourse analysis that had the greatest influence is Hallidayan's systemic functional model that is based on what he terms systemic functional grammar, is geared to the study of language as communication, seeing meaning in the writer's linguistic choice systematically relating these choice to a winder sociocultural framework.

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

Is a structure extremely complex.

ORDER:

Sociocultural framework

Genre

Register

Discourse semantic

Lexicogrammar

House's model of translation