INFLUENCE OF A MEDIATING TRANSLATION IN TRANSLATING ADDRESS FORMS IN THE MALAYALAM NOVEL, CHEMMEEN INTO FRENCH

Abstract

Chemmeen (1956), a Malayalam novel by Thakazhi, narrates a love story set in a fishing village. Its first English translation was done by Menon in 1962. This translation became the source text for a French translation in 1965. The French translation, being an indirect translation from Malayalam through English, mirrors largely the English version. This study focusses on studying how the various terms of address employed in the original Malayalam text have been translated into English and if they have influenced the French version. Newmark’s (1988) typology of translation procedures is employed to identify the procedures adopted in translating the terms of address into the mediating translation. Koller’s type of equivalences is applied to study what sort of equivalence has been achieved and the extent the mediating translation has influenced the French translation. The findings show that the English translation has, for the most part, communicated the address forms by providing descriptive and functional equivalents that do little to capture the original essence of the terms, resulting in their cultural significance not adequately portrayed. The French version, based on the English translation, has been clearly influenced by the mediating translation and hence does not convey the fishermen’s socio-cultural dimension effectively.