PECULIARITIES OF COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ORIGINAL AND TRANSLATION OF E.SETON-THOMPSON’S SHORT STORY ‘THE ВIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY’
The role of Ernest Seton-Thompson as a writer who started the genre of animal short-story and his contribution into the national Canadian literature are discussed in the article. Peculiar features of animal-personages from his short-stories which are close to people were singled out. The peculiarities of the literary translation which aim is to reflect ideas, feelings transforming the author’s images with the help of another language material, the main features that make it different from a classical one were stated. Contemporary scholars who scrutinize this aspect in modern translation studies were found out. The notion of adequacy in the process of a literary text translation, the necessity and strive of the translator to reflect the sense, embodied in artistic images, to preserve genre and style and structural-compositional peculiarities of the original text in the context of comparative analysis of the literary text were noted. The differences between the original text of E.Seton-Thompson’s short-story “The Biography of a Grizzly” and its translation by М.Chukovsky were analyzed in the given article. The translation can be called adequate as some change of content and form of the original text by means of the target language did not impact into general perception of the short-story in its translation. The translator conveys the author’s ideas provoking reader‘s reaction to the story. М.Chukovsky preserved its content, the system of images and the author’s style and plot identity of the original text. Peculiarities of his translation, main structural-grammar and lexical transformations used in the translation were marked. Among the most frequently used transformation techniques actual division of the sentence, grammar changes, change of the sentence parts, concretization, generalization, addition, omission and antonymic translation are noted.
- Research Article
- 10.15421/382012
- Dec 22, 2020
- English and American Studies
The role of S. Leacock as a representative of English-Canadian literature and peculiarities of his creative works are given in the article. The peculiarities of the literary translation which aim is to reflect ideas, feelings transforming the author’s images with the help of another language material, the main features that make it different from a classical one were stated. The scholars who scrutinize the problems of a literary text translation in the contemporary linguistics was found out. The differences between the original text of S. Leacock’s short-story «The Man in Asbestos: an Allegory of the Future» and the text of translation and its translation by A. Yevsa were analyzed in the article. The translation can be called adequate as some change of content of the original text by the target language means did not impact into general perception of the short-story in its translation. The translator conveys the author’s ideas provoking reader’s reaction to the story. A. Yevsa preserved its content, the system of images and the author’s style, emotional atmosphere and plot identity of the original text and the choice of linguo-stylistic devices used in the original text. General peculiarities of the translation into Ukrainian, main grammar and lexical transformations used by A. Yevsa were marked, among which are generalization, concretization, compensation, semantic development and combination of sentences prevail.
- Research Article
- 10.25264/2519-2558-2022-13(81)-120-125
- May 26, 2022
- Naukovì zapiski Nacìonalʹnogo unìversitetu «Ostrozʹka akademìâ». Serìâ «Fìlologìâ»
The article reflects the results of scientific and philological research, which made it possible to analyze the ways of translating the image of Ukraine in English translations of Ukrainian poetry. Based on the generalization of the research results of scientific sources, the concept of literary translation as a linguistic problem is revealed. A special connection between the artistic image and the linguistic category on the basis of which it is formed is noted. The main requirements for the translation of works of art are highlighted, among them: accuracy, conciseness, clarity and literacy. It has been established that the main difficulty of literary translation is the accurate understanding of lexical units and the relationship between what the author wanted to convey to the reader and what the translator translated. Two aspects of the Ukrainian poetry translation are highlighted: linguocognitive and linguocultural. It is determined that the linguistic and cultural aspect of translation analysis allows to identify the features of reflection in the English poetic translation of the value dominants of Ukrainian ethnoculture based on the comparison of the cultural concept name, symbols of culture and emotional expression, and linguocognitive allows to highlight the features of the concepts system reflection of the Ukrainian author in the figurative system of English translations of his lyrics. The concept and role of the cultural concept UKRAINE in English translations, which is expressed by lexical means of a particular language, are studied. There are four components of the cultural concept: conceptual, value, symbolic and figurative. It is revealed that the elements of imagery and symbolism are structural parts of the cultural concept. It has been found that the translator’s understanding of the author’s system of concepts is a condition for reproducing the image of his country in translation. The symbols of Ukrainian culture in poetic works are analyzed, which are multi-valued subject images that express values and worldviews. The artistic symbol is considered to be one of the types of figurative concept with a multilevel structure of reference and the main aspects of its analysis should include determining the depth of the original symbol and its culturological components. Analysis of the translation of symbols showed that the most commonly used way of reproducing Ukrainian poetic symbolism is tracing, less commonly used methods of transcription, transliteration and equivalent translation. It is determined that the symbolism reproduced in the translation cannot convey all the cultural components and semiological depth, because the associative connections with the place of its origin are interrupted. It causes a symbolic appropriation of the image of Ukraine in the target culture, and at the same time conveys its ethnic uniqueness. The main ways of conveying the image of Ukraine in translations of Ukrainian lyrics are revealed, as a result of which literary translation adapts to the norms of the language of translation and becomes accurate and clear. The following lexical transformations in translation have been singled out: transcription, transliteration, equivalent translation, tracing and contextual substitution method. A comparative analysis of the translation of symbols and images of Ukraine in translations of Ukrainian poetry. Comprehensive research has shown that the most prevalent methods of translation are contextual substitution, equivalent translation and tracing. Thus, the article fulfills all the tasks are fulfilled in the work and it is also determined that the components of symbolism and imagery are a structural part of the concept of UKRAINE in general.
- Research Article
- 10.22363/2618-897x-2023-20-3-548-566
- Sep 30, 2023
- Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices
The interpretation of biblical concepts is a complex translation problem, the method of literal translation cannot solve it. The search for lexical matches in the target language is not always systematic. A comprehensive solution to this problem is possible within the framework of the conceptual theory of metaphor, which allows you to rethink the process of translating biblical concepts. The article explores the implementation of the concept «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀµνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») in the translations of the Gospel of John into English, German and Russian in the light of modern research on the conceptual theory of metaphor. The purpose of the study is to analyze the degree of implementation of the concept «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀµνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») in translations of the Gospel of John. The work uses the MIPVU method to identify metaphors in the original text of the Gospel of John, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis to assess the adequacy of the translation of the concept « the Lamb of God» in the context of the biblical conceptual field. As a result of the study, it was revealed that in the English, German and Russian translations of the Gospel of John, the concept of the «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») of the original text is not fully implemented. The absence of a separate lexical unit leads to confusion in the translations of the «Lamb» («ἀμνὸς») from the Gospel of John and the «Lamb» («ἀρνίον») from the Apocalypse, which distorts the meaning of the translations. The application of the MIPVU method to identify metaphors in the biblical text, as well as an integrated approach to the translation of biblical concepts, is a developing direction in modern translation studies. Modern advances in the field of metaphor theory make it possible to create new translations of the Bible that are accessible to readers who are not familiar with the biblical conceptual field.
- Research Article
- 10.1051/shsconf/202213400155
- Jan 1, 2022
- SHS Web of Conferences
The paper describes different approaches to lexical and grammatical transformations in modern translation studies. It sheds new light on traditional approaching Chinese translation studies. Using experience of teaching students studying the French and the German languages the authors provide several reasons for proposing the Russian traditional classifications of lexical and grammatical transformations into courses of translation from Chinese practical. According to this approach, there are such types of transformations as lexical and grammatical, as well as complex (or mixed) ones. Such consistent and universal perspective is aimed to help students to understand grammatical and lexical asymmetry of the source and the target languages and it can be of great use in writing research papers.
- Research Article
2
- 10.25205/1818-7935-2021-19-1-142-158
- Jan 1, 2021
- NSU Vestnik. Series: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication
In this article we consider the lexical variability of the French translations of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”. The research material includes the following lexical classes: color designations, flora and fauna names, as well as warfare terms. Lexical units are selected manually and processed with the help of a self-compiled parallel corpus of translated texts. A distinctive feature of the monument’s translations into foreign languages is the absence of the original text, which leads to a situation of multiple “original” texts. We have analyzed 11 texts of French translations of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (some of the translations considered were unknown in Russian scientific practice), as well as the original Russian texts used by the translators (in case they were presented as parallel texts or mentioned in paratexts). We are faced with the situation of translation multiplicity, an actual area of research in modern translation studies, so we also considered the problem of multiplicity of original texts. The study revealed more than 30 occurrences of color designations lexemes, 99 uses of animal and plant names, as well as more than 100 occurrences of military lexical units. The features of translations of each lexical class were considered separately and the results of the analysis were compared. A number of reasons for lexical variability have been identified: differences in the original texts (reconstructions and translations into modern Russian), the abundance of “dark places” in the text of the monument (word boundary ambiguity in different reconstructions or lexemes that do not have a clear interpretation in modern Russian), different times of publication of the translation (during the period between 1823 and 2005), individual interpretations of the source text. A question about the correspondence of the translation devices used in recent translations of the “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to the universal features of translation proposed by M. Baker, A. Berman and U. Eco has been raised. Most of them are applicable to the French translations of the famous epic. However, in some cases less common correlations have been found (meaning discrepancy, metonymic synonym, etc.).
- Book Chapter
- 10.36074/ikitp.monograph-2024.03
- Aug 20, 2024
The modern stage of the world development can be characterized by a significant increase in the role of science and technology, in connection with which the problem of translating scientific and technical texts is becoming more and more urgent. That is why, among the important problems of modern translation studies, the development of such a field as the translation of scientific and technical texts occupies an important place, since the flow of scientific information, the exchange of experience between specialists of various fields, and the organization of international symposia and conferences require the active work of qualified translators. An essential feature of the language of scientific and technical texts, which distinguishes them from colloquial language or the language of fiction, is the use of certain lexical, grammatical and stylistic techniques. Translation of literature in this direction requires special skills and abilities, as it is necessary to convey the accuracy and brevity of the expression of thought, on the one hand, and preserve strict logical consistency and completeness of expression on the other. Among the factors that make scientific and technical translation from English into Ukrainian difficult, it is necessary to include differences in the grammatical systems of languages, which necessitates mastering certain translation transformations, orienting oneself in ways and methods of translating unique constructions. Difficulties in translation include the presence of ambiguous terms, grammatical homonymy in the original language, preservation of genre and style features during translation, which vary depending on the type of text (a monograph, an article from a special magazine, a technical description, a patent, a technical reference book). Such researchers as V. I. Karaban and I. V. Korunets were engaged in studying the peculiarities and problems of translation of scientific and technical literature. But, unfortunately, the degree of study of the proposed topic is insufficient, since the techniques and methods of translation of the accompanying technical documentation have not been fully explored [5], [7]. The relevance of our research is due to the interest of scientists and translators in the problem of scientific and technical translation, increasing the significance of the translation of scientific and technical literature as a way of exchanging and spreading information in the world. In addition, the study of the main issues of translation of scientific and technical literature makes it possible to master the techniques, means and methods necessary to achieve an adequate, equivalent translation.
- Research Article
- 10.18524/2307-4604.2023.2(51).296828
- Dec 19, 2023
- Writings in Romance-Germanic Philology
The description of literal translation problematics is an age long tradition. Notwithstanding this fact, many dimensions of literalisms have been open for academic research both in theoretical and practical aspects. The article focuses on such kind of literalisms as stylistic literalisms and explores their definition and typology. The subject matter of this article is crucially topical and reflects the current demand of modern theory of translation for new and profound research in this sphere. The objective of the article is to describe stylistic literalisms through the prism of modern Translation Studies. The objective determined the tasks of the research: to clarify and describe literalisms and the factors of their creation, to define the term “stylistic literalism” and to classify their multifaceted essence. Our study relies substantially on the application of linguistic descriptive methodology and devices. The innovation of this article relies in specifying the quintessence of “stylistic literalism” notion which is relevant for understanding the translation interference mechanism and crucial for modern Translation Studies; highlighting and analyzing different types of stylistic literalisms; grounding the comprehensive definition of literalism — key term of modern Translation Studies. The article claims that stylistic literalisms are the result of interference between two languages which leads to violation of target language stylistic norms. Various factors of stylistic literalisms origins contribute to their types selection: difference in relative frequency of definite word; ignorance of the erase metaphor degree; distinction in stylistic tone of source and target texts; stylistic discrepancies among words of different languages or within the boundaries of one target text; disparities in connotations; vague and sloppy phrases in translation text.
- Research Article
- 10.15421/382414
- Jul 6, 2024
- English and American Studies
The article generally analyzes the translation methods of abstract nouns in the fantastic work “The Hunger Games” by S. Collins using equivalent translation and lexical transformations. This question is relevant for modern translation studies since abstract nouns play asignificant role in the systems of modern languages of the world and are a large group among other classes of nouns. The author explores the specifics of translating abstract concepts in the context of fantasy literature and considers various strategies that can be used to preserve the meaning and emotional nuance of the original. Based on examples from The Hunger Games, the author shows which vocabulary transformations can be used to achieve the most accurate and effective translation. The results of the study indicate the importance of a careful approach to the translation of abstract nouns in the fantasy genre and the use of various translation strategies. The relevance of the research, therefore, is determined by the insufficient degree of study of the problem of translating abstract nouns in fiction from English to Ukrainian. We see the prospects of the research in the analysis of lexical transformations in the translation of textfragments with abstract nouns in the Ukrainian language.
- Research Article
- 10.21603/sibscript-2023-25-4-522-533
- Sep 26, 2023
- SibScript
Author’s individual style and its preservation in translation are a relevant issue of translation practices. This research is the first attempt in domestic linguistics to study Zadie Smith’s individual style and its manifestation in translation based on M. Yu. Mukhin’s analysis model. The methodology involved the methods of semantic interpretation, comparative analysis, content analysis, quantitative calculations, and linguistic analysis based on the conceptual profile model. The study featured Z. Smith's novel On Beauty and its translation performed by O. Kachanova and A. Vlasova. The analysis revealed the most frequent linguistic and stylistic means and denotative spheres and classes, e.g., such lexical means as simile, interjection, metaphor, allusion, and lexical repetition; various phonographic means, e.g., capitalization, graphic imagery, excessive punctuation, and graphon used to portray a wide variety of accents, etc. The official Russian edition conveyed the actual meaning and the lexical speech portraits by an effective use of various translation transformations, e.g., word order, lexical substitution, compensation, etc. In most cases, literal translation proved to be appropriate as it preserved the metagraphemic of the original text. However, the graphic fixation of the characters’ speech not always found its reflection in the translation text.
- Research Article
- 10.24195/2616-5317-2020-31-2
- Dec 1, 2020
- Naukovy Visnyk of South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky: Linguistic Sciences
Translation of fiction, and in particular — translation of poetic works plays an extremely important role in modern translation studies. In the process of global more and more people are learning foreign languages and showing a deep interest in the cultural heritage of other countries, including literature. This explains the increased interest of readers in the poetry of foreign authors. The complexity of literary translation is due to the fact that the translator must not only have the basic translation skills, but also must have the creative abilities and background knowledge to fully reproduce all the artistic means that are found in the original text. The objective of the article is to analyze the reproduction of tropes in translation of the poetic work of E. A. Poe “Dreams” from English into Chinese to identify tactics, techniques and transformations allowing to reproduce artistic means in translation. According to the results of the study, it was found out that in the poetic work “Dreams” the following artistic means were employed: epithet, metaphor,personification, comparison and rhetorical question. Despite the difference in the mentalities of the English and Chinese people, the translator used the tactic of national coloring preservation while rendering in translation all the above-mentioned artistic means. This tactic made it possible to fully implement the desired emotional impact on the target audience and convey the mood and attitude of the original author. In the five cases out of the twelve, the translator resorted to the transformation of the addition to deepen the emotional impact on the recipient. It may be concluded that the translator hasn’t only achieved the goal but also managed to preserve the main function of the work of art — an aesthetic impact on the reader, and besides successfully re-created eleven of the twelve artistic means at work.
- Research Article
- 10.18502/kss.v4i2.6363
- Jan 30, 2020
- KnE Social Sciences
The purpose of this article is to reveal the specifics of the translation of cross-cultural texts by the Czech writer Ota Pavel. The main research methods are a description of potential difficulties and possible solutions, a comparative analysis of the translation and the original, contextual analysis, the use of analog texts to indicate the genre nature of the translated text. The main conclusions of the article are as follows: to convey the style of Ota Pavel, the translator must recreate the model of the world presented in the original text, which includes the specific features of Czech and Jewish cultures, by transmitting such characteristics of the text as slow narration, an abundance of retreats, repetitions, details, comparisons, specific Jewish humor using such translation tools as historical and cultural translation comments and compulsory translation transformations. The latter include: lexical transformations (translational transcription, tracing, lexical-semantic substitutions); lexical and grammatical transformations (explication, transformation); grammatical transformations (syntactic assimilation, division of sentences, combining sentences, grammatical replacements).
 Keywords: cross-cultural texts, analog texts, contextual analysis, adaptation, translation transformations
- Research Article
- 10.18524/2307-4604.2021.1(46).234395
- Aug 2, 2021
- Writings in Romance-Germanic Philology
The article deals with the research of lexical transformations in the translation of Tony Morrison's novel "Song of Solomon". The main types of lexical transformations used in the translation from English to Ukrainian were highlighted. Also, it was proposed to define the term "translation transformations" based on the analysis of the views of various scholars on this issue. Three concepts are mentioned, according to which the term transformation is fixed. The multifaceted nature of the covered issue made it possible to give reasons for the use of lexical and semantic transformations and why transformations are useful for translators. The analysis was performed on the basis of a classification developed by J. Retsker. According to the famous researcher, there are seven types of transformations: concretization, differentiation, generalization, semantic development, antonymous translation, integral transformation and compensation of losses in the process of translation. Each of the types is analysed and examples of transformations in the process of translation of the work of art are presented. Despite the large number of works covering this issue, the problem of translating prose texts is relevant. There is a need to systematize and study the types of lexical and grammatical transformations, used in translating literary texts, in practice. The various scientists’ approaches to establishing the transformation types are analysed. It is revealed that due to differences in the syntactic, grammatical and morphological structures of the English and Ukrainian languages, lexical and grammatical transformations are widely used in translation. Lexical transformations are the deviations from direct vocabulary equivalents. The lexical transformations are mainly caused by the fact that the volume of the lexical units of the original language and the language of translation do not coincide. The concept of lexical transformations and their classification is defined. It is revealed that due to differences in the syntactic and morphological structures of the English and Ukrainian languages, lexical transformations are widely used in the translation. Among lexical transformations in the translation, the most common are generalization, concretization, compensation, antonymic translation.
- Research Article
- 10.24919/2308-4634.2018.151955
- Dec 22, 2018
- Молодь і ринок
The research consists in determining the specifics of the official-business style translation. The translator must follow the strict rules and proper use of standard language templates, as well as know the features of official business communication, correspondence and business etiquette skills. The translator’s actions for creating a translation text are called the translation process. It includes two stages: the study of the translator’s content of the original text and the choice of the translation option. As a result of these stages, the transition from the original text to the text of the translation is carried out. The main features that must be taken into account during the translation are the use of vocabulary in the literal sense, the presence of phrases, stable phrases, cliches, words of foreign origin, modal verbs, adjectives, infinitive forms, abbreviations, non-equivalents vocabulary. The most important translation requirement is adequacy. In case of absence of corresponding words, lexical transformations can be used. The grammatical features of texts of official-business content include standardization, the prevalent use of simple and complex sentences, passive constructions. In the case of a translation from English into Ukrainian, sentences often do not coincide in structure, which may be caused by differences in the order of words, parts of the sentence, time, state and numbers. Therefore, it is necessary to use grammatical transformations. Their use should be aimed at an adequate transmission of the content of the original text taking into account all the rules of translation.The research of the translation of the official-business style gives reason to confirm that, as one of the most difficult types of translation, it needs a lot of awareness, erudition and background knowledge. The main requirement is to transfer thoughts and objectivity of facts, to define the form clearly and to use translation transformations correctly because they are an essential component of translation competence.
- Research Article
- 10.12958/2227-2844-2024-2(361)-113-119
- Jan 1, 2024
- Bulletin of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University
The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities and translation transformations application while rendering psychologism from English into Ukrainian. The main scientific results are obtained applying a set of general scientific and special methods of research, namely: analysis and generalization of scientific literature on the problems of psychologism rendering in the process of translation; theoretical generalization, analysis and synthesis; holistic and integral approaches to the study of translation transformations; comparative, descriptive and analytical methods. Psychologism is an important element of a literary work that allows the reader to understand the inner world of the characters, their thoughts, feelings and experiences. When psychologism rendering, linguists often apply the following techniques to reproduce the psychological state of a character: using an internal monologue, dialogues, descriptions of appearance or the environment; using stylistic devices: metaphors, epithets, hyperbole and similes to enhance the psychological effect; taking into account cultural peculiarities. The author highlights that to achieve adequate translation the translator uses transformations to ensure that the translation text conveys all the information contained in the source text to the fullest extent possible, strictly adhering to the norms of the target language. The most frequently used translation transformations in the reproduction of psychologism are lexical transformations that adequately convey the semantic, stylistic and pragmatic features of the lexical unit, taking into account the norms of the target language. The main transformations in this group are semantic development, conceptual substitution, decompression and compression. As the analysed examples show, these transformations are often combined with each other and acquire the character of complex translation transformations, which is a necessary tool for preserving the specificity of psychologism in the English literary discourse text translation into Ukrainian.
- Research Article
3
- 10.5204/mcj.686
- Aug 12, 2013
- M/C Journal
IntroductionWith the proliferation of remixed (audio-visual) texts such as fan music videos, slash video, mash-ups and digital stories utilising existing and new visual and audio material on sites such as YouTube, questions are opened as to the efficacy of current forms of media textual analysis. Remixed texts have been positioned as a new and transformative form of art that, despite industry copyright concerns, do not compete with existing texts but makes use of them as ‘found material’ in order to produce an ostensibly intertextual experience (Lessig). Intertexts include pastiche, parody and/or allusion to extant texts and, at the same time, acknowledge that no text is purely original but is built on its ostensible or tacit relationality with a broad range of other texts—relationalities which may be activated in reading or be coded into the text. Remixes are often the work of fan audiences who seek to engage in a participatory manner—a particular reading position that shifts into the act of writing—with texts, television, film and music of which one is a member of an avid audience or a community audience that engage with each other through collaborative production of new texts based on old. The remix is a substantial outcome of such readerly, writerly and collaborative engagement whereby meanings drawn intertextually from the original text are re-produced, expanded upon, critiqued or re-framed through several different activities which may include: re-ordering existing audio-visual material in a way which, according to Constance Penley, was once done by Star Trek fans using magnetic tape and two video recorders to produce new narratives and interpretative frames by cutting and suturing material in an order different from that broadcast (Penley);presenting new meanings to texts, stories or narratives by taking visual material either in short cuts or long scenes and layering over popular music audio tracks, which is commonly done by television fans, such as fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the early 2000s, who produce new meanings or re-emphasise old ones around relationships by bringing together (sometimes cheesy) songs with televised footage (Cover, More Than a Watcher). In both cases, the texts are both new and old—they are a remix of existing material, but the act of remixing produces new frames for the activations of meanings or new narratives, that sit between the interactive and the intertextual. The fact that these forms can be traced back to pre-digital technologies of the 1970s (in the case of Penley’s Star Trek fan videos) or the pre-YouTube and Web 2.0 participatory sharing (in the case of Cover’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan videos, distributed through newslists, email and private website) indicates the deep-seated cultural desire or demand for participatory engagement and co-creative forms of encountering texts (Cover, Interactivity). In light of this new form of participatory communication experience, there has emerged a methodological gap requiring new frameworks for researching and analysing the remix text as a text, and within the context of its interactivity, intertextuality, layering and the ways in which these together reconfigure existing narratives and produce new narrative. This paper outlines some approaches used in teaching students about contemporary interactive and convergent digital texts by undertaking practical textual analyses of sample remix audio-video texts. I will discuss some of the more important theoretical issues concerning the analysis of remix texts, with particular attention to notions of interactivity, intertextuality and layering. I will then outline some practical steps for undertaking this kind of analysis in the classroom. By understanding the remix text through a metaphor of layering (drawn from Photoshopping and digital manipulation terminology), a method for ‘remix analysis’ can be put forward that presents innovative ways of engaging with textuality and narrative. Such analyses incorporate narrative sourcing, identification of user-generated content, sequencing, digital manipulation, framing and audio/visual juxtaposition as starting points for reading the remix text. Remix analyses, in this framework, optimise a reflective engagement with contemporary issues of copyright and intellectual property, textual genealogy, intertextuality, co-creative production and emergent forms of interactivity. Interactivity and Intertextuality For Lawrence Lessig, remix is a form of creativity that puts in question the separation between reader and writer. It emphasises instead the participatory form in which read-write creativity (or co-creativity) becomes the normative standard of high-level engagement with extant texts through both selection and arrangement (56). Remix culture, for Lessig, makes use of digital technologies that have been developed for other purposes and practices and delivers forms of collage, complexity, and co-creativity directed towards a broader audience. The role played by YouTube as a sharing site which makes available the massive number of remixed texts is testament to the form’s significance as an interactive, intertextual creation or co-creation. As Burgess and Green have argued, consumer co-creation is fundamental to YouTube’s mission and role in the distribution of texts (4-5). It is more than a peripheral site for re-distribution of either existing texts or private video-logs but, today, operates as a mainstream component in a broader media matrix. In this matrix, the experience of textual audiencehood is re-coded as participatory engagement with prior texts, in order both to reflect on those texts and to produce new ones in a co-creative capacity. This is not to suggest that YouTube is not complicit in copyright regimes that actively seek to restrict participatory and co-creative artistic practice in favour of older models of textual ownership and control over distribution (Cover, Audience Inter/Active). Its digital capacity to police remixed texts that have been marked by corporate copyright holders as unavailable for further use or manipulation has been a substantial development on the side of traditional copyright in the push-pull struggle between free co-creativity and limiting regimes (Cover, Interactivity), although this does not altogether stem the production of the remix as a substantial experience of artistic practice and of user participatory engagement with media matrices. Central to understanding and analysing the remix as a text in its own right is the fact that it is interactive, a point which leads to the assertion that analytic tools suited to traditional, non-interactive texts are not always going to be adequate to the task of unpacking and drawing out thematic and conceptual material from a remix’s narrative. Although interactivity has been difficult to define, the form of interactivity in which we see the remix is that which involves an element of co-creativity between the author of a source text and the user of the text who interacts with the source to transform it into something new. Spiro Kiousis has argued that while definitions of interactivity are amorphous, there is value in the concept “as long as we all accept that the term implies some degree of receiver feedback and is usually linked to new technologies” (357). For Lelia Green, however, interactivity implies the capacity of a communication medium to have its products altered by the actions of a user or audience (xx). In the case of the latter, interactivity covers not only the sorts of texts in which audience or user engagement is required as a built-in part of the process, such as in digital games, but those texts, forms, mediums and experiences in which existing texts are manipulated, revised, re-used or brought together, such as in the remix. Drawing on Bordewijk and van Kaam, Sally McMillan delineated the concept of interactivity into a typology of four intersecting levels or uses: Allocution, in which interactive engagement is minimal, and is set within the context of a single, central broadcaster and multiple receivers on the periphery (273). This would ordinarily include most traditional mass media forms such as television and the selection of channels.Consultation, which occurs in the use of a database, such as a website, where a user actively searches for pre-provided information but does not seek to alter that information (273). Access here does not alter the content, source, narrative or information that has been requested. Drawing information from Wikipedia without the intent of editing information may alter the metadata or framework through providing the site with tracking information, but in this case the textuality of the text as accessed is not transformed through this level of interactivity.Registration, which does record access patterns and accumulates information from the periphery in a central registry which alters the information, significance or context of the material (273). McMillan’s early Web 1.0 example of registrational interactivity was the internet ‘cookie’, which tracks and customises content of internet sites visited by the user. However, as a category of interactivity in which the narrative or form of the text itself is altered in its reading or use, it might also be said to include the electronic game as well as forms of communications engagement which access a source text, manipulate, customise or re-form it using commonly-available or sophisticated software, and re-distribute it through digital means. Here, the narrative is knowingly acted upon in ways which alter it for other uses. Conversational, which occurs when individuals interact directly with each other, usually in real-time in ways which mimic face-to-face engagement without physical presence at a locale (273). An online written chat using a relay platform provided by a social network
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