Abstract
Some changes always take place in the process of transferring the meaning embedded in the source text into the target text. The present paper aims at investigating the formal dissimilarities between the source and target texts through the examination of all optional shifts made at word, phrase and clause/sentence levels. To this end, Pekkanen’s (2010) model was applied to the English translation of a Persian novel ‘Journey to Heading 270 Degrees’ into English. Optional shifts were identified and analyzed through a comparative linguistic analysis between the source and target texts. 926 instances of optional shifts were identified in translation of the novel into English, amongst which shifts of expansion-addition (203 instances) were the most dominant type. Moreover, it was revealed that optional shifts at a clause/sentence level with a total of 554 instances were more frequent than optional shifts at a phrase level (161instances) and word level (220 instances).
Highlights
How the source text is translated into the target language has been a constant concern in Translation Studies engaging translation scholars for years
Drawing on Pekkanen’s (2010) model, the present study explores into optional shifts thorough a linguistic comparative analysis of the Persian novel ‘Journey to Heading 270 Degrees’, a well-known novel on Iran-Iraq War written by 1Ahmad Dehghan, and its translation into English by Paul Sprachman
Following Glaser and Strauss’s grounded theory (1967) adopted by Pekkanen (2010), the analysis of optional shifts in this study was done at a word, phrase and clause/sentence levels
Summary
How the source text is translated into the target language has been a constant concern in Translation Studies engaging translation scholars for years. To explore into this issue, they may observe what translators do to better understand the translation process or they may analyze the translated texts to come up with the changes that occur during the process of translation. The dissimilarity observed between the source and target texts has been referred to by many scholars using various terms. Larson (1984) used the term skewing, while Vinay and Darbelnet (1991) refer to it as transposition, and Catford (1965) talked of shifts. The concept of shift though mainly associated with Catford (1965), has been dealt with by scholars like Leuven-Zwart (1989), Popoviĉ (1970), Toury (1995), Klaudy (2003), Chesterman (2004), and so many others. Catford (1965: 27) defines shift “as the fairly straightforward, even inevitable, result of deviating from formal equivalence”
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