Lingue e Culture Straniere

Lingua Inglese 2

A.A. 2015-16

Enrico Grazzi

Notes on translation

1

In the beginning:

literary and religious

translations

The Book of Kells, Erat antem hora tercia,

Trinity College, Dublin 2

Sonia Colina (2003): “(…) A translated text belongs to two superimposed communicative contexts”. One surrounding the text produced for Target-culture receiversOne surrounding the source text receivers.3

John Dryden‘Tis almost impossible to

translate verbally, and well, at the same time (…) In short,

the verbal copier is encumbered with so many difficulties at once that he

can never disentangle himself from all. He is to consider at the same time the thought of his author, and his words, and to find out the counterpart to each in another language (…)

Preface to Ovid’s Epistles, Translated by Several Hands (1680) 4

John Dryden on Translation

Metaphrase

(word-for-word translation)

Imitation

(loose approximation of an author’s emotions or passions)

Paraphrase(expresses the sense of the original without being

enslaved by the words)

5

Translation Equivalence

J.C.Catford (1965) Translation may be defined as follows: the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL).

Nida and Taber (1969) Transalting consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.

6

K.Reiss (1971) Translation-related text-

typologyLanguag

e function

Representation Expression Appeal

Language

dimension

Logical Aesthetic Dialogic

Text type Informative Expressive Operative

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8

“I was born in Colorado, in Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, when my dad was a pilot in World War II.  Now, I'm not one to

read into things, but guess which wing of the hospital the maternity ward was in? 

I'm not making this up.  I was born in the West Wing!”

From John Kerry’s speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention 9

a. “In Parliament he fought for equality, but he sent his son to Winchester”

“When his father died his mother couldn’t afford to send him to Eton [, that expensive private school which still produces most of the elite in politics and business]”

b. “When his father died his mother couldn’t afford to send him to Eton anymore.”

“In Parliament he fought for equality, but he sent his son to [the school in] Winchester”

Prospective translation

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Hans J. Vermeer (1986): (…) a translation is not the

transcoding of words or sentences from one language into another,

but a complex action in which someone provides information

about a text under new functional, cultural and linguistic conditions and in a new situation, whereby

formal characteristics are imitated as far as possible.

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Nord (1977): Situational features to be identified through ST analysis

Function of ST

Addressees of ST

Time of reception

Place of receptionMedium of transmission

Motive for production of ST (e.g. to announce a conference)

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Translation activities, step by step

Pre-translation (identify pragmatic factors of the ST/TT)

Focus on unclear terminology

Focus on language sections (translation difficulties and problems)

Post-translation review (professional awareness)

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Componential translation grading criteriaHolistic rating of translational competence

Meaning

Target language

Vocabulary

Functional and textual adaptations

Revision process14