THE TRANSLATION OF THEMES FROM ENGLISH INTO VIETNAMESE: THE CASE OF THE AMERICAN NOVEL “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD” AND THE VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION “GIẾT CON CHIM NHẠI”

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine how Themes in English are translated into Vietnamese. The data for the study are taken from the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by the eminent American novelist Harper Lee and the Vietnamese version ‘Giết con chim nhại’ translated by two Vietnamese translators Huỳnh Kim Oanh and Phạm Viêm Phương. The theoretical framework employed in the study is Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The unit of analysis is independent major clause simplexes in the source text (ST) and their corresponding major independent clause simplexes in the target text (TT). The aspects of analysis and comparison are simple and multiple Themes in declarative, imperative and interrogative clause simplexes. The study shows that most Themes in English clause simplexes are closely translated and retained as Themes in corresponding Vietnamese clause simplexes. The study also indicates that there are a number of translation shifts which are partly due to the differences in clause structure of English and Vietnamese, partly due to the semantic complexity (ambiguity) of some ST question words, and partly due to the translators’ negligence of the role of Theme and its delicate choices in constructing textual meaning in the clause and developing meaning in the texts. It is clear from the study that SFL is highly relevant to translation theory and translation practice: It can stand to benefit the translator from analysis of the ST, to discussion of translation problems, to explanation for establishment of points of translation equivalence and translation shift between the choices in the TT and those in the ST, and to synthesis of the TT – the final product of the translation process.