Translation Style Research Articles

Style Shift in Korean Teledramas

La pragmatique de la communication interpersonnelle a été sous représentée dans le domaine de la recherche en traduction audiovisuelle (Mason, 1989). Cette lacune en recherche est regrettable si l'on considère des langues telles que le coréen, dans lesquelles les notions telles que la familiarité et le statut accueillent obligatoirement une représentation morphosyntactique. Un domaine particulièrement intéressant de la pragmatique coréenne est le changement stylistique, un phénomène par lequel les interlocuteurs changent leurs niveaux de parole pour des considérations stratégiques ou normatives. Cette étude examine 16 cas de de changements stylistiques qui ont lieu dans 64 épisodes de séries télévisées coréennes. Une analyse de ces scènes et leurs sous-titres en anglais révèlent que (1) le changement stylistique a lieu pour des raisons stratégiques, souvent pour dépeindre la froideur ou la rage des interlocuteurs ; (2) a lieu également pour des raisons normatives indiquant des changements importants de relations entre les interlocuteurs : (3) il est de surcroît utilisé pour transmettre des cadres relationnels discursifs ; (4) il est parfois redondant, surtout quand il est utilisé pour exprimer les crises de colère ; et (5) il est souvent négligé surtout lorsqu'il est utilisé en tant que dispositif dramaturge pour manifester un changement relationnel ou démontrer les difficultés qu'ont les personnages avec les ambiguïtés inhérentes dans les relations. Cette étude confirme les résultats de Hatim et Mason (1997) selon lesquels négliger les phénomènes pragmatiques est un problème potentiel dans le domaine des traductions audio visuelles et suggère un besoin plus grand pour la recherche descriptive et de meilleures pratiques dans ce domaine.

Modal particles explained

The present paper comprises a corpus-based study of translator style, comparing two German translations of the novel The Beautiful and Damned by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The translations, by Hans-Christian Oeser and Renate Orth-Guttmann, were both published in 1998. The study isolates the linguistic feature of modal particles in which the individual styles of the translators manifest themselves on the textual level and investigates the influence the translators’ microlevel linguistic choices have on the macrolevel of the novel. An electronic corpus was compiled, comprising The Beautiful and Damned and its two translations, both entitled Die Schönen und Verdammten. A quantitative analysis was carried out to discover potential patterns of the use of modal particles by the translators, and the results showed that while both translators use modal particles to the extent and in the general context one would expect, they differ considerably in their choice and use of individual modal particles. The subsequent qualitative analysis takes a pragmatic approach, and discusses the selected modal particle wohl according to its communicative function, its role in speech and thought acts and in the narrative, and in the context of the respective narrative points of view. Finally it is argued that the two translators differ in their translation styles to an extent that affects the novel’s macrolevel in that one translator provides a character study while the other focuses on societal issues.

Living at the level of the word Cicero's rejection of the interpreter as translator

This article argues that Cicero's rejection of the interpreter as a literal translator was not just a rejection of a particular style of translation but an attempt to keep translation of Greek literature in Rome an elite activity. I discuss the social status and role of Roman interpreters and their repeated association with limited education in our sources, finally concluding that the interpreter is despised as a translator by Cicero not necessarily because he translates literally, but because he is a potential rival translator from a lower social rank who may allow the spread of inappropriate translations of Greek material to Rome.

Pronoun capitalisation in the New King James Version: A style in translation and communication.

L'article avance qu'il aurait lieu de faire une distinction entre les pronoms parlant du Createur et ceux des choses creees dans nos oeuvres. Il a comme base la New King James Version (NKJV) de la Sainte Bible ou les traducteurs ont employe des majuscules pour les pronoms parlant de Dieu vis-a-vis de l'Authorised Version (AV), la New International Version (NIV) et la New Living Translation ou ceci n'est pas le cas. Bien qu'il ne rejette pas des versions utilisant les minuscules pour les pronoms de Dieu, l'article soutient que du a la presence des pronoms divins et humains dans la Bible, ecrire ceux-la en majuscules revele plus vite l'identite divine dans un passage. L'article voit ce style comme etant d'accord avec, et repondant a la vision de lan Finlay de la traduction biblique en tant qu'exercice continu qui peut aboutir a des traductions nouvelles en raison des nouvelles preuves sur les texts originaux, de nouvelles vues d'interpretation, de ouvelles idees pour ce qui constitue une communication adequate. L'auteur admire le style des traducteurs d'avoir accru la connaissance de Dieu chez le lecteur. D'autres raisons donnees dans l'article pour justifier sa position sont que Dieu est omnipotent, omnipresent en omniscient. L'article recommande ce style ou La Deite est mentionnee pour creer une conscience instantanee de ce qui est divin. L'auteur conclut que l'intention des traducteurs dans le style qu'ils ont adopte ne pouvait etre que de communiquer le message biblique avec un plus haut degre de clarte, etablir la superiorite de Dieu sur Ses creatures, et Lui rendre veneration.

Jeremy Munday.Style and Ideology in Translation: Latin American Writing in English

(2009). Jeremy Munday. Style and Ideology in Translation: Latin American Writing in English. Translation Review: Vol. 77-78, Special Latin American Issue, pp. 211-216.

Translation style and participant roles in court interpreting1

This paper investigates the translation styles of court interpreters in New York City and the styles' social and pragmatic implications for multilingual interactions in court. Interpreters are found to vary between using first or third person to represent the voice of a translated source speaker, thereby varying between adherence to explicit institutional norms that require first person and accommodation to non‐professional interpreting practices that favor the use of reported speech. In a quantitative and qualitative analysis, this variation is shown to be influenced by several pragmatic and social factors, and to index the interpreters' stances towards source speakers and towards the immigrant court users who are the recipients of translations from English. It is argued that translation styles have profound consequences for limited English speakers, as the insistence on institutional norms in translating to them is viewed as a gatekeeping behavior that may impede their full participation in the proceedings.

Quantifying Phraseological Style in Two Modern Chinese Versions of Don Quijote

Quantifying style, or stylometry, has always been one of the oldest traditions in Western literary studies. It seems, however, that such a well-explored and long-standing scientific methodology has been rarely applied to translations, as opposed to original literary texts. The present paper, which focuses on the stylistic use of phraseology in two contemporary Chinese versions of Cervantes’ Don Quijote, shall endeavour to address the two current problems in corpus-based translation stylistics, i.e., the lack of debate on the question of semantically-rich linguistic units in quantifying style of translations, and the need for testing the use of methods and techniques adapted from corpus statistics in detecting stylistic traits in translations. It is hoped that this study, which aims at expanding the current methodological framework for translation stylistics, will help in the development of this growing area of research in Translation Studies.

Incantations: Song, Spells and Images by Mayan Women by Ámbar Past, Xalik Guzmán

imiiiiiiiimmiiiii a simple chronologyand keeping the corresponding notes to a minimum, he creates a shapely, focused assemblage whose clear, precise translations chime likeringing glass. Econ?mou's translation style is direct and concise. It is somewhat lighterand less formalin itslanguage than thestylesofprevious translators ofCavafy likeRae Dalven, Edmund Keeley, and Philip Sherrard,or, more recently, Daniel Mendelsohn. Unlike Mendelsohn, Economou does not attempt to render the original end rhymes in a poem like "The City," yet his concernwith authenticity is everywhere apparent. In both this and poems such as "Ithaca" and "TheWindows," he followsCavafy's syntax closely and uses assonance to createmelodic sound patterns that suggest the music of the original, as in the charming "Craftsman of Wine Bowls," one of Cavafy's "tango" poems inwhich the regular pattern ofmidline spaces heightens rhyth mic momentum. Economou also deftly controls tone inpoems narrating illicitsexual liaisons, such as "Half an Hour" and "He Asked about theQuality," both ofwhich bring into tautbalance the subtle tension between the external and internal dramas that simultane ously unfold. An especially striking rendering is "The First Step"?an imagined dialogue between thepoet Eumenes and his mentor Theocri tus?for its sternyet tenderdefense of the artisticvalidity ofpoem-mak ing thatoccurs in obscuritywith no formal recognition from the literary establishment. Rita Signorelli-Pappas Princeton, New Jersey iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.i.iiii Incantations: Song, Spells and Images by Mayan Women. Ambar Past, ed. & tr., with Xalik Guzman Bakbolom& Xpetra Ernandes. El Paso, Texas. Cinco Puntos. 2009. 230 pages, ill. $26.95. isbn978-1-933693-09-5 When poet ?mbar Past decided to learn the Tzotzil Maya language while she was living in a village in southern Mexico, she became aware of the fact that a large body of poetry existed and was being passed along, generation to gen eration, by women who used the songs, hymns, and incantations in their day-to-day lives. For more than thirtyyears, Past studied the body of work, by tape-recording and then transcribing and translat ing thepoems fromTzotzil toSpan ish and English. The English translations in Incantations represent contribu tions ofmore than 150 indigenous women, for whom the poems are living texts thatreside in thebreath and conversations of everyday life. The collection not only preserves art, poetry, and a mind-set but also helps the world at large become aware of the deeply profound words, thoughts, and approach to lifeof theMayan women of south ern Mexico. Past's introduction provides social, political, and cultural con texts and describes the poverty stricken conditions inwhich many of the Mayan women live, own ing at best a few blankets, utensils, and articles of clothing. They have few rights and freedoms in their realm.And yet theyhave a richness of spirit that comes from being a part of a vital tradition extending back all theway to thePopul Vuh, one of four surviving codices of theancientMayans, whose scientific and religiouswritings were record ed in books printed on bark-based paper with the pages folded like IIIIII III 111111II III III IIIII III II III III III III IIIII III INIII III II accordions. The Mayan women's ^^^H hymns and songs resonatewith the ^^^H surviving codices and give rise to ^^^H a profound understanding of how ^^^H poetry and song were used in pre- ^^^H Columbian Central America. ^^^H Incantations, hymns, and ^^^H poems are included in thecollection. ^^^H The incantations tend tobe brief and ^^^H filledwith humor and pathos, as ^^^H they address pragmatic needs and ^^^H human realities. For example, there ^^^H are incantations to tools (the loom, ^^^H wool, thespindle)tohelp one do ^^^H one's job successfully, spell-like in ^^^H the sense that theybring to bear a ^^^H kind of phenomenal catalyst: some- ^^^H thing to trigger desired action in ^^^H the surrounding world. The incan- ^^^H tations are poignant because they ^^^H reflect a humble approach to the ^^^H world?one that is aware of the ^^^H limitations of one's own sphere of ^^^H influence, and one that is fully con- ^^^H versant with the loss of a baby, the ^^^H destruction of a harvest, and the ^^^H violence of a domestic partner. ^^^H One characteristic of Mayan ^^^H poetry is its close connection to the...

Jövendőmondás: Válogatott versek by Sándor KányádiSzarvas-Itató by Sándor Kányádi

imiiiiiiiimmiiiii a simple chronologyand keeping the corresponding notes to a minimum, he creates a shapely, focused assemblage whose clear, precise translations chime likeringing glass. Econ?mou's translation style is direct and concise. It is somewhat lighterand less formalin itslanguage than thestylesofprevious translators ofCavafy likeRae Dalven, Edmund Keeley, and Philip Sherrard,or, more recently, Daniel Mendelsohn. Unlike Mendelsohn, Economou does not attempt to render the original end rhymes in a poem like "The City," yet his concernwith authenticity is everywhere apparent. In both this and poems such as "Ithaca" and "TheWindows," he followsCavafy's syntax closely and uses assonance to createmelodic sound patterns that suggest the music of the original, as in the charming "Craftsman of Wine Bowls," one of Cavafy's "tango" poems inwhich the regular pattern ofmidline spaces heightens rhyth mic momentum. Economou also deftly controls tone inpoems narrating illicitsexual liaisons, such as "Half an Hour" and "He Asked about theQuality," both ofwhich bring into tautbalance the subtle tension between the external and internal dramas that simultane ously unfold. An especially striking rendering is "The First Step"?an imagined dialogue between thepoet Eumenes and his mentor Theocri tus?for its sternyet tenderdefense of the artisticvalidity ofpoem-mak ing thatoccurs in obscuritywith no formal recognition from the literary establishment. Rita Signorelli-Pappas Princeton, New Jersey iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.i.iiii Incantations: Song, Spells and Images by Mayan Women. Ambar Past, ed. & tr., with Xalik Guzman Bakbolom& Xpetra Ernandes. El Paso, Texas. Cinco Puntos. 2009. 230 pages, ill. $26.95. isbn978-1-933693-09-5 When poet ?mbar Past decided to learn the Tzotzil Maya language while she was living in a village in southern Mexico, she became aware of the fact that a large body of poetry existed and was being passed along, generation to gen eration, by women who used the songs, hymns, and incantations in their day-to-day lives. For more than thirtyyears, Past studied the body of work, by tape-recording and then transcribing and translat ing thepoems fromTzotzil toSpan ish and English. The English translations in Incantations represent contribu tions ofmore than 150 indigenous women, for whom the poems are living texts thatreside in thebreath and conversations of everyday life. The collection not only preserves art, poetry, and a mind-set but also helps the world at large become aware of the deeply profound words, thoughts, and approach to lifeof theMayan women of south ern Mexico. Past's introduction provides social, political, and cultural con texts and describes the poverty stricken conditions inwhich many of the Mayan women live, own ing at best a few blankets, utensils, and articles of clothing. They have few rights and freedoms in their realm.And yet theyhave a richness of spirit that comes from being a part of a vital tradition extending back all theway to thePopul Vuh, one of four surviving codices of theancientMayans, whose scientific and religiouswritings were record ed in books printed on bark-based paper with the pages folded like IIIIII III 111111II III III IIIII III II III III III III IIIII III INIII III II accordions. The Mayan women's ^^^H hymns and songs resonatewith the ^^^H surviving codices and give rise to ^^^H a profound understanding of how ^^^H poetry and song were used in pre- ^^^H Columbian Central America. ^^^H Incantations, hymns, and ^^^H poems are included in thecollection. ^^^H The incantations tend tobe brief and ^^^H filledwith humor and pathos, as ^^^H they address pragmatic needs and ^^^H human realities. For example, there ^^^H are incantations to tools (the loom, ^^^H wool, thespindle)tohelp one do ^^^H one's job successfully, spell-like in ^^^H the sense that theybring to bear a ^^^H kind of phenomenal catalyst: some- ^^^H thing to trigger desired action in ^^^H the surrounding world. The incan- ^^^H tations are poignant because they ^^^H reflect a humble approach to the ^^^H world?one that is aware of the ^^^H limitations of one's own sphere of ^^^H influence, and one that is fully con- ^^^H versant with the loss of a baby, the ^^^H destruction of a harvest, and the ^^^H violence of a domestic partner. ^^^H One characteristic of Mayan ^^^H poetry is its close connection to the...

Translation and ideology

This article attempts to investigate, in depth, the concept of ideology in translation. That is to say, the extent to which ideology can influence the translator's style and choice of words that will, consequently, shape the receivers’ worldviews. In recent years the issue of ideological leanings and the implications of ideology on translation have received particular attention. Owing to the importance of this issue of ideology, and as an example of the issues that both the translating practitioner and theorist must deal with, this article provides a detailed, comparative analysis of a translation of the first, formal speech delivered by bin Laden on 7 October 2001 concerning the events of September 11 and his conflict with the United States. The analysis assesses the probability of a translator's ideological intervention in the text and other technical, linguistic problems.

Chiri Mashiho's Performative Translations of Ainu Oral Narratives

This paper analyses ‘Karafuto Ainu no setsuwa’[The Tales of Karafuto-Ainu], a collection of Japanese translations of Ainu narratives by the Ainu-Japanese linguist and ethnologist Chiri Mashiho. Most of the material for Chiri's translations came from a collection of Ainu folktales, entitled ‘Materials for the Study of the Ainu Language and Folklore’ (1912), compiled by Polish scholar Bronislaw Pilsudski. The paper argues that Chiri and Pilsudski had unique life experiences that affected their views of the Ainu culture, and by reading Chiri's text against that of Pilsudski's, the author demonstrates how Chiri responded to the challenge of keeping alive the performative qualities of the oral Ainu tradition and thereby created a unique style of translation.

Translating Postcolonial English: The Italian Translation of D. Walcott’s The Odyssey: A Stage Version

In postcolonial writing the English language is often intentionally appropriated: it ceases to represent the vehicle of expression of ‘Englishness’ only and becomes the means of communication of a wider part of the world. Therefore, many strategies are used in postcolonial works as a means of cultural assertion on the part of the writers. Such strategies, however, are extremely difficult to convey in languages which are not directly concerned with issues such as postcolonial resistance to colonial control in literature, as in the case of Italian. Using as a case study the only Italian translation of Derek Walcott’s The Odyssey: A Stage Version, I will analyse in this paper a number of strategies employed in the Source Text (ST), concurrently analysing the difficulties related to their translation into Italian. Besides the tools provided by stylistics, structural grammar, translation studies and postcolonial studies, the frameworks of ethnostylistics and translational stylistics are particularly useful in the scrutiny of this text.

Tyndale's Gospel of St John: Translation and the Theology of Style

ABSTRACTBuilding on Rowan Williams's claims about William Tyndale's importance for English Reformation theology, this paper outlines a theological matrix within which we can situate and interpret Tyndale's translation work. Focusing on Tyndale's translation of the fourth Gospel in his 1534 New Testament, the central claim is that in light of more recent developments in biblical interpretation, the very style of Tyndale's translation has evident theological implications with compelling resonances for contemporary Anglicanism. This analysis of the theology of Tyndale's literary style also attempts to contribute to the ongoing reassessment of Tyndale's reputation. Tyndale's biographer, David Daniell, has lamented that ‘Tyndale as theologian… has been at best neglected and at worst twisted out of shape’, while ‘Tyndale as conscious [literary] craftsman has been… denied’. As a close reading of Tyndale's Gospel of John shows, Tyndale the theologian and Tyndale the craftsman can and should be approached as one and the same.

Review of Gareth Sparham (tr.), Abhisamayālaṃ kāra with Vṛ tti and Ālokā

The following article reviews a partial translation of the first chapter of two commentaries on Maitreyanātha’s Abhisamayālaṃkāra - the Abhisamayālaṃkāravṛtti by Ārya Vimuktisena, and the Abhisamayālakārālokā by Haribhadra. The publication of these two important commentaries in a single volume is useful in that it allows the reader to compare the similar views of the two commentators (known to Tibetans as the Ārya-Hari tradition), yet explore the differences between the longer and shorter versions of Prajnāpāramitā sūtras that they explain. Sparham’s translation style is quite literal, and more technically accurate than that of Edward Conze, the well-known earlier translator of numerous Prajnāpāramitā sūtras. Although increased use of subdivision headings from the Abhisamayālaṃkāra would have helped readers navigate their way through some of the longer sections, Sparham has nevertheless provided English readers with perhaps the most important contribution to Prajnāpāramitā studies since Conze’s The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, published over 30 years ago.

Paul of Callinicum and his Place in Syriac Literature

This paper seeks to build upon recent work on Syriac-Greek translations by taking a closer look at the texts ascribed to Paul of Callinicum. Paul is generally held to have been the translator of the otherwise lost writings of Severus of Antioch and, fortunately, his work can be attached to a fairly specific date. By analysing the citations from Cyril of Alexandria within the Severan corpus, this study describes the style of translation that Paul used, principally in terms of his level of verbal and grammatical fidelity to the Greek. His approach is then compared with parallel texts from the fifth century, as well as with the seventh century translator Athanasius of Nisibis, in the hope of pinning down more exactly the nature and extent of the developments in Syriac translation technique which are generally visible between the fifth and the seventh centuries. Broadly, it is suggested that Paul’s era, which coincides with that of Philoxenus, was one of rapid change in approaches to Greek-Syriac translation and that Paul himself was a major player in the move towards to the literalistic mirror translations of the later period.

Touching upon the translation of the style of irony (English-Arabic)

Un des sujets les plus delicats dans le domaine de la traduction consiste a traduire un style ironique. Ceci s'explique par la difficulte a la deceler et a la comprendre d'abord dans le texte source et a trouver ensuite, dans la langue cible, une eventuelle version traduite, correcte et equivalente, qui reflete des fonctions stylistiques et des implications similaires dans la langue cible (ici l'arabe). La complexite et la subtilite de l'ironie, en particulier quand elle est basee sur la culture, la rendent difficile a traiter dans une traduction. Il ne s'agit pourtant pas d'un probleme de traduction insurmontable. Cet article examine de facon approfondie les differentes definitions donnees a l'ironie dans la langue anglaise. Puis, il etudie ses differents types en general. Huit de ces types interchangeables ont ete selectionnes, illustres en detail et traduits en arabe, les problemes de traduction etant releves, puis resolus. L'article se termine par un cadre de procedures de traduction et d'etapes suggerees afin d'aider les traducteurs a surmonter les problemes de traduction du style ironique anglais en arabe.

Women's Translation Styles in Novels

Women's Translation Styles in Novels

Un Testimone Glossato In Volgare Toscano Antico Dei Vangeli

The results of recent research display an unequal distribution of early Bible translations in the Italian peninsula with a definite focus on Tuscany. Through the text analysis of a Florentine testimony, Corsiniano 1830 (kept at the Biblioteca Corsiniana in Rome), the present article wishes to sketch the aspects of a presumable Bible translation attitude and style of Italian scriptural texts in the Middle Ages. Diplomatic and interpretative transcriptions form the basis of the linguistic examination of the translation.

The translation of style: linguistic markedness and textual evaluativeness

The translation of style: linguistic markedness and textual evaluativeness

The translation of style: linguistic markedness and textual evaluativeness

The translation of style: linguistic markedness and textual evaluativeness