Prose Translation Research Articles

The types of modulation as a technique of prose and poetry translation

The paper considers the types and reasons of using such technique of translation as modulation. Modulation is defined as a variation through a change of viewpoint in the target text. This technique is investigated on the basis of the Ukrainian translations of the classical prose and poetry of the 19-20th centuries. Two major types of modulation are singled out: the substitution of cause by effect and the change of the point of view. In the translation of prose texts by D. Thomas and A. Lawrence both types are used, thus revealing the creative approach and the ability to imagine the described situation. The use of modulation is determined by the described situation and the use of extended metaphors. Literal translation is not relevant in this case, as it does not reveal the emotional state of the main character. In such case the subject of the source-text sentence becomes the object in the target-text utterance. A somewhat different approach can be applied in discussing poetry translation. The analysis of translations of E. Poe’s and R. Kipling’s poems by such outstanding people as D. Palamarchuk and M. Strikha shows that both varieties of modulation are used to retain the rhyme and reduce the number of words in the lines. In the analyzed poems the technique of modulation is applied in rendering extended metaphors as well as antithesis to increase the emotional effect. Modulation is one of the features of Maxim Strikha’s style of poetry translation. By means of this technique, the translator foregrounds the main idea of the sentence (stanza) – the idea of strong love (E. Poe), of nobleness and decency (R. Kipling).

Особенности передачи этномаркеров в переводах прозы О. Бокеева

The article analyzes the structural and other formal differences between the translated text and the original work. The discrepancy in the semantic relation is revealed due to the impossibility of translating individual elements of the original text, which is recognized as inevitable in the conditions of ethnocultural specificity, differences in sets of expressive means inherent in different languages. In addition, the translator's personality, experience and skills also influence the completeness and accuracy of the translation of the original work. The relevance of the research lies in the fact that since ancient times translation has been a source of necessary knowledge and the foundations of culture. The role of translation is to mediate between different cultures and languages. The value of translating a prose text is constantly increasing. This procedure, which consists in translating into another language what is contained in the original text, is undoubtedly a complex operation and requires appropriate skills. When translating prose texts, one should be guided, first of all, by the principle of communication. It is necessary to identify three important rules that should be followed when translating ethnomarkers of prose texts: information should be transmitted clearly and responsibly; the target text should be adapted for recipients; it is important that the translation can fulfill its role, that is, transmit information, taking into account the ethnic realities of the language being studied. The purpose of the study is to consider the role of ethnic aspects and problems in the translation of prose texts using the example of O. Bokeeva. This type of translation requires subject, language and cultural competence. This procedure creates special difficulties associated with various translation features. It should be noted here that statements devoid of socio-cultural context may be structurally correct, but inappropriate from the point of view of ethnic requirements. Тhe process of moving away from the perception of translation as an interlanguage system to culturally oriented aspects underlies the prosaic analysis of text translation. The absolute position of the original as a source of meanings extracted from the language should focus on the concept of equivalence. The structuralism of prose translation assumes that the main task is to determine the essence and conditions that generalize the behavioral characteristics of an ethnic group, as well as the context of the use of terms of its representatives. The practical significance lies in the analysis of the prose translation of O. Bokeev's works along with the consideration of the problems of the transfer of ethnomarkers.

Christendom and Anti-Hellenism: Walter Shewring's Sallies

Christendom and Anti-Hellenism:Walter Shewring's Sallies David Ricks (bio) Walter Shewring (1906–1990) is a classic case of "the translator's invisibility." His prose translation of the Odyssey (1980) has been widely used and intermittently praised, but few readers can have given a thought to this translator, or even to his idiosyncratic discussion of Homeric translation modestly placed at the back of the book.1 Yet the back story to this late-life enterprise in Englishing Homer (Ronald Knox's downright verb still possesses utility) is not without interest, for Shewring's stance when it came to the place of the classics was avowedly off-center, indeed counter-cultural. And at a time when tenured classical scholars assail their own field for its failings, to the point even of denying its legitimacy, a glance back at some earlier debates (relating to, among other things, the rival claims of Greek and Latin; the place of modern languages and especially of Italian; and the quarrel of the ancients and the moderns) may be of interest. At the same time, Shewring's presence has always been a somewhat occluded one: everyone knows the Perpetua font created by Eric Gill, few that it was created for Shewring's 1929 edition of the Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity. Attention, then, to Shewring's skirmishes—and to his silences—may, then, have some value. Shewring was and was not part of the classical establishment. A son of the manse and of the provinces, he (like the present writer) attended Bristol Grammar School, where he won the poetry prize three times and dared to correspond with Housman. In 1924 he proceeded Scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he won two University prizes; nor was it dishonor to be honorably mentioned for a further prize won by a Mr. Syme of Magdalen. I think it likely, from the fact that Shewring co-authored the article on prose rhythm in the 1949 Oxford Classical Dictionary with J.D. Denniston, that he had gone [End Page 71] to the latter for composition; and a pair of articles on Greek prose rhythm published in Classical Quarterly in 1930–1 are still cited by Dover in the current OCD. (A further one appeared in the Journal of Theological Studies.) A volume of Greek and Latin versions appeared in 1938. So far, so conventional. But in the meantime life-changing events occurred. At the avant-garde bookshop in Bristol owned by Douglas Cleverdon (later an influential producer for the BBC's Third Programme and a colleague of D.S. Carne-Ross) Shewring was swept off his feet by Eric Gill, whose lifelong disciple he became. He was also taken up by the influential theorist of homosexuality, André Raffalovich, and his companion, the strikingly original Nineties poet John—by now Canon John—Gray; and in 1926 he made his submission to Rome. Around that time, he was rebuffed in his courtship of a young woman who (it would seem) appears in the Latin dedication to his Odyssey more than half a century later and who is mentioned in a late poem.2 (Shewring's first poems had appeared as early as 1927 and then—with illustrations by David Jones—in 1930.) "On the rebound" scarcely describes the journey north to Ampleforth Abbey, where (with a break as a conscientious objector working the land during the Second World War) Shewring lived out his days as a schoolmaster. The entirety of a report on one boy—"Ignorant, indolent, insolent"—lives in legend. But from his marginal position Shewring exercised a Joycean exile and cunning. Contributions, if they did not exactly flow from his pen, were shot from it periodically, on more subjects than most people could hope to have an opinion on, or than I can mention here. I shall concentrate on certain positions—I would call them positions rather than simply postures—which Shewring took in a slim and elegant volume of essays called Topics (1940) and, concurrently, in an unfinished book, the ruins of which exist in a handful of copies deposited in British libraries.3 Both volumes are well worth reading, and re-reading: here I can...

A Study on Functional Equivalence in Translation of Lyric Prose — A Case of Autumn in Peiping by Zhang Peiji

The Functional Equivalence Theory put forward by Eugene Nida, an American translation theorist, notes that translation is a process of using the closest and most natural equivalent in the target language to reproduce the information of the source language. It emphasizes the equivalence of information content and form, and prose translation aims to convey information and reproduce the style of the source text. Therefore, the Functional Equivalence Theory has great application space in the text analysis of prose translation. In this paper, the author discusses how to apply the theory of Functional Equivalence to the translating of modern Chinese lyric prose into English. Taking Autumn in Peiping translated by Zhang Peiji as a case study, the author of this paper explores how the translator achieved equivalence in lexical, syntactical and stylistic aspects on the ground of citing typical examples. The method of qualitative research is used in this paper. In the framework of the Functional Equivalence Theory, the author tries to analyze and evaluate how word choice, sentence structure and style function in conveying the meaning of the source text. It is found that the theory of Functional Equivalence is of guidance in analyzing the translation effect of Autumn in Peiping. Lexically, equivalence is realized through correspondence, non-correspondence and zero in semantic translation. Syntactically, the translator used different sentence structures and cohesive devices to convey the intended meaning. Stylistically, some workable strategies are adopted to deal with translation difficulties in expressive function and aesthetic appeal.

A Register Theory Analysis in Zhang Peiji's English Translation of Prose "Peanuts"

Halliday's register theory mainly analyzes the relationship between situational context and language, which can be used to guide the translation of some texts to a certain extent. Nowadays, the research on the application of register theory in translation is rising, but the number of relevant studies on the guiding role of register theory in modern and contemporary prose translation in China is still small. Based on Mr. Zhang Peiji's English translation of the famous local prose "Peanuts", this paper aims to analyze the equivalence and error of the three elements in register theory, so as to explore the importance of realizing the equivalence of the three elements and the guiding role of register theory in prose translation, finally making contributions to the spread of Chinese culture.

ИНТЕРАКТИВНЫЕ ЭГОЦЕНТРИКИ В РУССКИХ ПЕРЕВОДАХ АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНОЙ ПРОЗЫ: СЕМАНТИКА, ПРАГМАТИКА, ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ

The article focuses on semantic and pragmatic aspects of using interactive egocentric units (such as personal deixis and discourse markers) in Russian literary translations of English prose. These units are usually employed to create images of the narrator and its addressee in a text and to realize their virtual contact. The research based on the analysis of original narratives and their numerous translations (made from the end of XIX to the beginning of XXI century) describes the repertoire of lexical and grammar units performing interactive function in English and Russian texts. The article presents new classification of egocentric units, based on their functions in texts. The widespread trends in translating egocentric units are described in the article. Seven translations of Edgar Poe’s “Hop-Frog” are used as the material for examples.

New Books across the Disciplines

New Books across the Disciplines

PRAGMATIC ADAPTATION OF THE ORIGINAL AND ITS CONTENTS’ FUNCTIONAL INVARIANT (exemplified by contemporary American prose translations)

PRAGMATIC ADAPTATION OF THE ORIGINAL AND ITS CONTENTS’ FUNCTIONAL INVARIANT (exemplified by contemporary American prose translations)

Пісні та особливості їх перекладу у контексті міжкультурної комунікації (на матеріалі української народної пісні «Щедрик» та англомовної пісні «Soon May the Wellerman Come»)

Intercultural communication is a set of all forms of communication between representatives of different cultures. The goal of intercultural communication is to establish interaction between cultures, with language as a link. The effectiveness of intercultural communication depends on an adequate understanding and interpretation of symbols and markers of social space, as well as on the use of linguistic means to convey their meaning. The article deals with the role of a song in the formation of a national-ethnic consciousness and emphasizes the importance of song exchange between representatives of different cultures in the process of progressive globalization. It is stated that a song, as one of the most important musical genres, is able to accurately and figuratively reflect various aspects of people's lives, as it has verbal lyrics. Songs reflect the most important values, ethical views, social ideas and changes of a certain era, create patterns of behavior, establish cultural norms and and transmits them to the next generations. The study identifies the necessity of translating foreign songs in the context of building strong relationships in intercultural communication. Song lyrics is a special genre of poetry. The need to preserve the rhythm and rhyme on the one hand, and the words as well as the meaning behind them on the other, make the translation of a song so difficult. When translating poems, significant changes to the original text are inevitable. In this regard, many difficulties arise in translation, and to overcome them a translator must have special skills and a certain amount of experience. In this article, three types of song translation are distinguished: word-for-word or "informative" translation, interpretation, and equirhythmic translation. The latter is characterized by the preservation of the melody and the reproduction of the lyrics of the song as accurately as possible. The factors that determine the choice of one particular method have been specified in this article as well. If the goal is simply to understand the meaning of a foreign song, a semantically close prose translation is suitable. But if the song is to be performed in another language, it is necessary to achieve «singability» of the translated text. In addition to the difficulties caused by the need to reflect certain ethnic realities properly, the factors that make the translation of songs so difficult are: the different length of lexical units in the source language and the target language, which makes it difficult to preserve the rhythm of the song; pauses in the melody, which can cause a break in the semantic segment; parallel constructions and multiple repetitions, which can lead to unnatural translation; use of realia and connotative meanings of words that is difficult to reflect in the target language, etc. In order to describe the lexical-grammatical transformations used in the process of translation, the Ukrainian and English songs having a national-cultural component have been analyzed in the article. In the studied material, such translation transformations as modulation, addition, omission, calquing, transcription and complex transformations affecting both the lexical and grammatical levels and completely changing the structure of original sentences have been observed. The analyzed translations have a high quality, and they are good examples of a proper equirhythmic translation.

Lars Erik Blomqvist (1942 07 03 ‒ 2021 10 10)

Lars Erik Blomqvist was an outstanding Swedish Slavist and celebrated translator of Russian literature. He was awarded numerous prizes for his work as a translator, honored as the best lecturer at Uppsala University, bestowed the degree of doctor honoris causa by Stockholm University, and was one of the founders of the celebrated seminar at Södertörn University focused on the translation of prose and poetry. He translated the works of Bulgakov, Erenburg, Leonov, Aitmatov, Pristavkin, Pjecuch, Pilnyak, Grossman, Bitov, and many others, including the works of Russian classics — Radischev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Sologub. One of the highlights of his translations is the anthology of Russian poetry Från Derzjavin till Brodsky (1989), which was a joint project with Hans Björkegren. Lars Erik visited Vilnius University numerous times, where he gave lectures and master classes on the translation of fiction.

APPLICATION OF TRANSLATION SKILLS WHILE TRANSLATING THE NOVEL “KHAYOT NAVOSI”

The article deals with the Uzbek translation of the novel “Tronca” (1963) (“Khayot Navosi”), written by Ukrainian writer Oles Gonchar. The researcher also comments on the specifics of the fiction prose translation on the example of this particular novel translation. Oles Gonchar is one of the great and famous writers of Ukrainian literature. His novel “Tronca” (“Khayot Navosi”) is considered to be one of the most beautiful works of his time. This work was translated into Uzbek by Lola Tajieva. The work is written with enthusiasm and passion for the Motherland and humanity. The author expresses his love for his country and his people, presenting his beautiful and noble soul feelings in the tones harmonious to his short stories. The translation also masterfully conveys the feelings of love for the motherland, passionate feelings highlighting the harmony of a form and content, that is, the original style has not been lost in the course of translation. The author analyzes the difficulties of translating not only the text of the novel, but also proverbs and sayings, sentences related to national values, figurative images, adjectives and analogues, translating of retrospection and re-expressing some actions and images. O.Gonchar depicts positive images in harmony with their external beauty and spiritual world, and the translator has kept this style of the author. The article is dedicated to this. The researcher notes that the story of the Uzbek writer Asad Mukhtor “Chinor” was written in this literary and artistic style, and his glorious love for the people, especially working people is expressed with high pathos. The comparative analysis of the two translations emphasize that these two works may serve as a bridge between peoples.

French translations of “Eugene Onegin”: on the conveyance of stylistic patterns

This research is dedicated to the topic of multivariate translations. Leaning on the text corpus that contains 16 French translations of A. S. Pushkin's novel “Eugene Onegin”, analysis is conducted on the peculiarities of conveying certain characteristic stylistic patterns in French texts alongside other stylistic techniques of the original, as well as changes in translations depending on the poetic form chosen by the translator. The selected extensive material trace traces the evolution of translators’ approach towards the stylistics of Pushkin's text over time. The article focuses on the chapters III and VIII of the novel. Comparative analysis demonstrates the dependence of the stylistic aspect of translation on the poetic form chosen by the translator. Prose translations provide more accurate stylistic equivalents than translations of the verses. Poetry translations are divided into two groups: 1) accurate compliance with the of Onegin’s verse; 2) departure from the rhyme pattern of the original. The frequency of transmitting stylistic techniques of the original in both groups does not demonstrated significant systematic differences. The author determines the consistencies in conveying certain stylistic patterns in various French translations. Periphrases, comparisons, inversions, and metaphors most of the time receive stylistically accurate equivalents in all translations; while metonymy and polysyndeton with conjunction “and” do not. The scientific novelty lies in examination of the text corpus that contains virtually all existing full translations of the novel “Eugene Onegin”.

Niveurmôrre: Versions françaises du “Corbeau” au XIXe siècle

Niveurmôrre: Versions françaises du “Corbeau” au XIXe siècle

Epizódok II. Ottokár 1273. évi hadjáratából

The paper introduces the principles of the translation of a running project that is aiming to publish all excerption of the Styrian Rhymed Chronicle with Hungarian regards. While giving a short overview about the research areas applying this source, chapters XCVI–XCVII. are also published in Hungarian as a prose translation. These chapters describe remarkable scenes of the campaign 1271 of Ottokar II against the Hungarian Kingdom and Styria as well as they refer to the murder of prince Béla of Macsó (Mačva) and describe the morals and the political infl uence of his mother, the daughter of Béla IV, Anna of Macsó (Mačva).

Prose Translations of Ghalib’s Persian Poetry

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib is amongst the most eminent poets & writers of India. His poetry & letters, both in Persian & Urdu, remain a significant part of India’s literary history. Ghalib not only proved his command in Urdu poetry but also showed his abilities and mastery in Persian verse. He was proud of his Persian poetry and is rightfully considered amongst the most prominent Persian poets of his time. Many translators and critics have attempted to translate & write commentaries on his Persian poetry, both in prose and versified. Amongst these critics & translators, several individuals had the potential of taking forward the translations of Ghalib’s Persian Poetry into Urdu and produced many notable translations. In This study, we shall first introduce their translations and then present a comparative analysis of their prose translations to determine which translator was more successful in terms of considering all the minute textual details.

The Textual and Cultural Features in High-quality Translation of Literary Prose

The quality of translation has been paid more attention in recent years, especially that of literary prose. The author aims to analyze the importance of textual and cultural features in high-quality translation of literary prose by using text typology theory and skopos theory. The author’s own revised translation of Eileen Chang’s literary prose is cited as an example in this essay.

Methods of teaching prose translation

Translation is one of the most important forms of interethnic communication. But its creative nature, its art of reproduction, does not change. The scope and development of translation depends on the level of enlightenment of each nation and, in turn, has an effective impact on the social thinking of the nation.Translation is not only a bridge of friendship in the history of mankind, but also a broad path to culture and enlightenment. Translation is a difficult but interesting art. What a pleasure it is to translate a work of art created in a language that is foreign to us into our own language, to create an artistic idea. This article describes methods of translation of prose, and translation theory.

Poetry co-translation and an attentive cosmopolitanism: internationalising contemporary Japanese poetry

The majority of Japanese poetry currently reaches a limited readership outside of Japan. As a result, many contemporary Japanese poets are searching for ways to have their poems translated into English and published in English-language journals. Achieving satisfactory translation results, however, is considerably more complicated than switching words from one language into another and scholarship on the subject of translating Japanese poetry is often vexed. This scholarship frequently traverses much of the same ground as the debate about Japanese prose translation where, depending on their approach, translators may be labelled ‘literalists’ or ‘libertines’. This paper argues that co-translating Japanese poetry may be as much about sharing ideas and ideologies as about lineation, cadence or word choice. Co-translating Japanese poetry has the power to build cross-cultural understandings and to explore and promote ways of understanding Japanese identity. We argue that while translation is often undertaken by the translators in their country of residence, the experience of genius loci and undertaking co-translation in situ may best accommodate such a cross-cultural synergy.This paper draws on our collective experiences in a series of translation workshops at Meiji University. These were organised by Rina Kikuchi, a literary scholar and translator from Japan. Among other Australian poets and scholars, Paul Hetherington and Cassandra Atherton were paired with Japanese poets for co-translation purposes. They co-translated Japanese poetry into English and had their own poems translated into Japanese with the assistance of Kikuchi who acted as the lynchpin for the workshops. The experience was celebrated in a series of poetry readings in Tokyo and Nara. Significantly, although neither Hetherington nor Atherton is fluent in Japanese, they found the process of co-translation to include what one may call an attentive cosmopolitanism, incorporating respect and understanding for different cultural assumptions and poetic ideas.

New Books across the Disciplines

New Books across the Disciplines

Translations Of Category Plots Into Uzbek Literature

A series of plot works of a formative nature are common in Eastern literature. The works of Firdavsi, Nizami Ganjavi, Khisrav Dehlavi, Alisher Navoi, consisting of seven works depicting the image of Bahrom, have been published in different versions in oral literature. Such works, which contain many incisive events in one work, were loved and read by the people of their time. In Uzbek literature, such works have been translated and reworked from Persian-Tajik. This article provides information on a prose translation of “Bahrom and Gulandom”. Information is provided on the authors who carried out the translation and on the process of its publication in lithographic printing. The study of works of Uzbek literature, such as “Bahrom and Dilorom”, “Bahrom and Gulandom”, analyzes some aspects of tradition and originality.