Chapter 1_Main issues of translation studies

Key concepts
New discipline Previously relegated (*moved to a lower division _also sport) to language-learning Split between practice & theory 1st: Comparative Literature, Translation Workshops & Contrastive Analysis James S. Holmes: The name & nature of TS =>founding statement Now: Interdiscipline

1.1 THE CONCEPT OF TRANSLATION Translation =several meanings (subject field / product / process ) {Russo-American structuralist}: Roman Jakobson 1959/2004 : (1) Intra-lingual: rewording =>interpretation of verbal signs by signs of SL; (2) inter-lingual: translation proper =>interpretation of verbal signs by signs of TL; (3) Inter-semiotic: transmutation =>interpretation by non-verbal (eg music) Current question: Translation adaptation, version, etc.,: but in what ways? o Sandra Halverson (1999): Translation = Prototype Classification (ie basic core features =>prototypical translation / other elements=>periphery) o Anthony Pym (2004): Discontinuities in new modes (eg translationlocalization) o Theory from western perspective; =>Maria Tymoczko (2005, 2006): different words & metaphors in other cultures {conceptual orientation}: Goal of lexical fidelity not shared {India =>rupantar (= change of form) & anuvad (=speaking after, following) /Arab tarjama (=biography)/ China fan yi (= turning over)} 1.2 WHAT IS TRANSLATION STUDIES? Crucial in interhuman communication {access to scholarship & religion texts} As academic subject: 60 years ago. o Holmes: Translation Studies (1972 & 1988) =>complex of problems clustered round the phenomenon of translating o Mary Snell-Hornby (1988 & 1995): Integrated Approach (breathtaking) o Mona Baker Routledge Encyclopedia of T (1998): effusive (*expressing happiness, admiration etc in an enthusiastic way) of new discipline 2 visible ways where translation more prominent: 1. Specialized Translating & 2. Interpreting Courses o Conferences, Books & Journals: Babel_Netherlands, Meta_Canada, The Translator_(UK) etc Hungary, Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Morocco o Online journals: Journal of Specialized Translation & New Voices o Applied Linguistics, Comparative Literature etc (Continuum, John Benjamins, Multilingual Matters, Rodopi, Routledge & St Jerome) o The Linguist (Chartered Institute of Linguists), In Other Words (Translators Association) o International organizations (prospered) 1.3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLINE Cicero & Horace (1st cent. BCE) St Jerome (4th cent. CE): Greek Septuagint* into Latin} (*) Influence up until 20th century Bible: for 4000years + =>conflicting ideologies

China: Buddhist sutras 1st cent. CE Grammar-translation: Classical Latin & Greek_grammatical rules of TL =>unconnected & artificially constructed sentences, exemplifying Communicative approach (1960s & 1970s) USA 1960s: translation workshops Comparative Literature Contrastive Analysis: USA 1930s_to the fore in 1960s James 1980, Vinay & Darbelnet 1958 & Catford 1965 no sociocultural & pragmatic factors / generative or functional grammar (Ch 3, 5 & 6) gut link with translation. 1950s & 1960s: o Jean-Paul Vinay & Darbelnet: Contrastive Approach FrenchEnglish; o Alfred Malblanc 1963: French-German; o Georges Mounins 1963: Linguistic issues; o Nida 1964: Chomskys grammar (Bible translators) more scientific German Equivalent: Wolfram Wilss/Koller in Heidelberg/Leipzig School Name to be determined: Translatology 1.4 THE HOLMES/TOURY 'MAP' Holmes 1988/2004 Gentzler 2001: generally accepted founding statement Snell-Hornby (2006) agrees Attention to limitations by disparity across older disciplines Need to forge communication channels & reach scholars from whatever background (1988/2004) Overall framework (Gideon Toury):

o Pure Descriptive: (1) Product-oriented DTS: Existing translations: STTT pairs/several TTs of same ST =>build up into a larger body: period/language/text/discourse & diachronic/synchronic =>Holmes: eventual goal =a general history however ambitious. (2) Function-oriented DTS: In recipient sociocultural situation: contexts rather than texts =>books & influences they exerted =>Holmes: socio-translation studies (now cultural-studies) =>popular today (3) Process-oriented DTS: Psychology =>cognitive perspective (Think-Alouds) o DTS research => also in theoretical branch =>either general or partial theory restricted by:

1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. o 1. 2. 3. 4.

Medium: machines & humans {machine/computer working alone/as aid to humans/human translation written or spoken/interpreting consecutive or simultaneous Area: specific languages & cultures =>contrastive linguistics Rank: linguistic theories (word-sentence) =>text-rank more popular (Ch 5-6) Text-type: discourse types or genres; {literary, business, technical} (Ch.5) Time: history of translation Problem: eg equivalence Holmes : several restrictions at any one time Applied: training: aids: dictionaries, grammars & IT; criticism: evaluation of translations/marking of students/reviews policy: scholar advising on translation & society

Artificial divisions Holmes =>areas influence one another Merit {Toury}: clarification & division of labour between areas confused in the past Division =>flexible {eg technological advances} Crucial role: delineation of potential Still being employed {Pym, Hatim-Munday, Hornby: rewrote it} Present-day research different. Holmes: Focuses on theory (2/3 of his map) Policy =>ideology nowadays (even hegemony) Restrictions {both descriptive & theoretical branch by Toury discontinuous vertical lines} =>discource & text restriction Interpreting =>disputed (considered parallel field) Pym: map omits individuality of style, decision-making & working practices Yet, overcomes split between theory & practice =>himself literary translator & researcher {Kitty van Leuven-Zwart (1991) about split: 1. teachers afraid of theoritisation 2. translation as art not theoritizable} 1.5 DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THE 1970S Surge (*sudden increase in price, value, or interest ) in translation studies Different areas of the map come to the fore

Contrastive analysis falls by the wayside. Linguistic translation: strong in Germany, but Equivalence questioned (Pym Ch11) Germany: Text types & Purpose (Reiss & Vermeer; Ch 5) Hallidayan Discourse Analysis & Systemic Functional Grammar {translation as a communicative act inside a sociocultural context} early 90s, {Australia & UK} => scholars: Bell, Baker, Hatim & Mason Late 70s & 80s: Descriptive Approach of Comparative Literature Russian Formalism (Even-Zohar & Toury): Literary Polysystem =>different literatures & genres {translated & not} compete for dominance Belgium (Jos Lambert & & Andr Lefevere) & UK Susan Bassnett Theo Hermans: The Manipulation of Literature 1985_ Manipulation School Dynamic, culturally-oriented, sway for a decade, & linguistics looked very staid (*sedate & settled in habits sometimes to the point of dullness) 90s Canadian-based translation & gender research (Sherry Simon) Brazilian cannibalist school (Else Vieira) Postcolonial translation theory (Bengali scholars) USA (Venuti) 2000 globalization & resistance (Cronin, Baker)/Sociology & Historiography (e.g. Inghilleri) & New Technologies: A/V Translation, localization & corpusbased translation studies (Ch 11) Interdisciplinarity of recent research (Hornby, Pym, Hatim & Mason, Tymoczko)

Willard McCarty: (1999),

A true interdiscipline is . . . not easily understood, funded or managed in a world already divided along disciplinary lines, despite the standard pieties (=). . . Rather it is an entity that exists in the interstices (*a small opening, crack, or gap between two things) of the existing fields, dealing with some, many or all of them. It is the Phoenician trader among the settled nations. Its existence is enigmatic in such a world; the enigma challenges us to rethink how we organise & institutionalise knowledge. (McCarty 1999)
Challenges current conventional way of thinking Promotes new links between knowledge & technologies. McCarty: conventional disciplines =>primary or secondary relationship to the interdiscipline => Primary relationship: - Linguistics (semantics, pragmatics, applied & contrastive linguistics, cognitive linguistics), - Modern languages, - Comparative literature, - Cultural studies (incl. gender & postcolonialism) - Philosophy (language-meaning, hermeneutics, deconstruction), - Sociology o Relationship not fixed =>60: contrastive ling. /Today: culture& computing => Secondary relationships (Applied translation) - specialized courses: law, politics, medicine, finance, science - Computer-Assisted Translation} Threat: [P]artnerships unbalanced: status, money, spread of paradigms =>weaken status of translation & interpreting [research] as autonomous (Gile) Translation prejudices: {eg UK =>academic articles higher than translations}

Fascinating: Chesterman & Arrojo (2000): What shared ground there actually is in this potentially fragmenting area {ie away from prescribing what it actually looks like}