Literary Translation Research Articles

Metaphorical Elements of Translation in A Mind at Peace Novel by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar

Any high-quality literary work provides an artistic effect on the reader, and what is expected from translation is to provide the same effect on the reader of the translated work. This might be the only way for the translation to be considered as successful. In literary translation, words, expressions or entire sentences can have connotative and figurative meanings besides their denotative meaning. The meaning of a word in a dictionary, in a sentence, or in a text can differ from each other. Sometimes a word can have multiple meanings depending on the context. All these factors affect the translatability of a work. The translatability of a literary work depends on its genre, the style of its author, and the period in which it was written. Words, expressions, phraseological units, idioms, etc. created in the source text have not only a linguistic aspect but also many social, cultural and historical aspects. In other words, they are related to social, cultural and historical events. The complex structure of literary works complicates the process of literary translation itself. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of metaphors in a literary text by analyzing A Mind at Peace work and suggest new metaphorical translation ideas. The study has been conducted by using the text analysis method. The research material is the metaphorical units used in the Russian translation of A Mind at Peace A. H. Tanpinar’s work. The work was translated into Russian by Apollinaria Avrutina in 2018. The study gives an insight to the problem of translating metaphors, which one of the elements of the complex structure of a literary work by discussing the classification of metaphor translation techniques developed by T. A. Kazakova.

A lexicon-based diachronic comparison of emotions and sentiments in literary translation: A case study of five Chinese versions of David Copperfield.

In the Chinese context, translations have served as a useful conduit for providing access to wider literature authored in other languages. A prominent question has been whether translators' linguistic choices are influenced by factors such as translators' social and cultural background and emotions towards the texts they are translating. When multiple translations of the same text over a span of time are produced, another layer of complexity is introduced, and research such as the present study, must examine how or whether variation in the expression of emotions within translations produced over a period of time is discernible. To this end, the present study made use of Lexicon-based Sentiment Analysis (LBSA), a common natural language processing (NLP) approach, to study people's attitudes, opinions or emotions towards a certain person or thing. LBSA has attracted much attention in the literary works or translated works for analyzing reader response and appraisal of the works themselves. The present study undertook a diachronic comparison of emotions and sentiments in five translations of David Copperfield based on the emotion lexicons. The corpus of the study comprised translations of five books and 3,084,599 tokens. We applied the computational method of emotion and sentiment analysis to the emotion words in the five translations. In addition, we used python and R package to analyze the positive and negative words in five versions. The study revealed that translators as social beings in the target world express unique reactions towards the same emotion in the original text as well as in literary translations. Yet, the modern vernacular Chinese versions also showcase a similarity in the expression of emotions thus demonstrating the decisive role of the overall flow of emotion in the original plays and in translation. The contribution of the study is significant as it is a pioneering investigation given that it undertakes a sentiment and emotion analysis of literary translations in Chinese.

Charting literary translator collaborations in digital contexts

Abstract This study explores collaboration in literary translation, suggesting a wider understanding of the translation process to also examine collaboration in various stages such as text selection, attracting publishers, self-publishing or promoting translations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted for two research projects, the article outlines five literary translator collectives that have emerged outside of professional associations and that reflect changes in the publishing field. It discusses their origins, activities and modes of collaboration. The discussion sheds light on the distinct goals of these collectives, highlighting the diversity between market-oriented and socially driven approaches, their use of digital tools and the impact of the collaboration in the translation process and publishing sphere. The article underscores the significance of further research on literary translator collectives. It serves as a foundational exploration, pointing towards future research avenues into innovative modes of collaboration among literary translators and their influence on the global publishing landscape.

Between Partial Translation and Summary Translation in Translating the Sundanese Folklore into English

The strategies of partial translation and summary translation are related but not exactly the same. There are some characteristics indicating each of them. This research article is about the translation of the most popular Sundanese folklore, which is written in the Sundanese language and translated into English. It deals with literary translation as the data source is folklore, and folklore is included as literary work. Using content analysis of the descriptive qualitative research method, this research aims to identify what information in the source text is partially translated and which information is summarized. The theory used is one of the pragmatic strategies given by Chesterman: the strategy of partial translation. The results show that the strategies used in identifying the missing information are partial translation, summary translation, and the combination of partial translation and summary translation. The partial translation is used to avoid repetition, eliminate very detailed information or complex information, and change explicit information into implicit information. The summary translation is used to create a short summary of information involving the key points or messages given in the source text by adopting the syntactic form of the target text based on the grammatical rules.

Orality in Translating Biblical Hebrew Proverbs in Sesotho

This paper evaluates how Sesotho translators have translated Biblical Hebrew proverbs in the 1989 Sesotho translation of the Bible. Because this 1989 translation is undergoing revision by the Bible Society of South Africa, it is important to determine the success of the translation. The orality of proverbs relates to their origin as orally transmitted sapiential sayings. In evaluating how some of the Biblical Hebrew proverbs are translated in Sesotho, the literal translation of 1909/61 will be compared to the 1989 dynamic equivalent translation. Using complexity thinking as a theoretical framework, the paper argues that the Hebrew proverbs are better translated in the 1989 version than they are in the 1909/61 version of the Bible in Sesotho in terms of numerous features of orality. In the 1989 version and its revision, proverbs are translated in a poetic format. This means that the translated proverbs in this version of the Bible, informed by the principles of orality, exhibit Sesotho poetic features or structures. The article is divided into the following components: proverbs in Hebrew and Sesotho, theoretical frameworks, how the theoretical frameworks are used to translate certain Hebrew proverbs in the 1989 version, and conclusions.

Analysis of Word Choice Errors in Saudi EFL Students’ Spoken Language

The purpose of this research paper is to identify and analyze word choice errors committed in spoken English by Saudi EFL students at King Khalid University. It also seeks to identify the origins of the errors and to suggest relevant solutions to assist learners in developing lexical competence and reducing the occurrence of these errors. The research focuses on five different forms of word choice errors. These errors consist of errors of redundancy, literal translation, subject /verb agreement, collocation, and inappropriate usage of formal and informal words. To gather data, the study is based on conducting structured interviews with three EFL-speaking teachers. It also employs a speaking test as a data collection technique from fifteen EFL learners chosen at random, who are required to speak one by one in front of the class for 3-6 minutes. Their oral performance is recorded by mobile phones. According to data analysis, the most common error category is literal translation (33.97%), which is followed by collocation errors (24.88%) as well as subject/verb agreement (18.66%). Furthermore, there are redundancy errors with a percentage of (12.44%). The last type of error committed is inappropriate use of formal and informal language, which has a percentage of (10.04%). The study attributes these errors to a variety of causes, including the Arabic language's impact as well as ineffective teaching techniques and learning strategies. The study offers several recommendations and pedagogical implications to help EFL learners overcome and minimize word choice errors.

Research on the C-E Translation of the Culture-Loaded Words in Hainan Folktales

Hainan folktales are precious folk cultural heritage in Hainan Province. Using culture translation theory as the theoretical framework, this paper studies the C-E translation strategies of material culture-loaded words, ecological culture-loaded words, social culture-loaded words, linguistic culture-loaded words in Hainan folktales. After the research, it is found that when translating these culture-loaded words into English, strategies such as literal translation, free translation, amplification, transliteration, and explanatory translation are frequently used. This research contributes to a better dissemination of Hainan culture and displaying the image of Hainan.

10 Things You Should Not Forget When Adapting a Test Into Spanish

Abstract: Adapting a test from one language to another is no easy task. The literal translation of the items is certainly not enough since the meanings and references change from one language to another. In the case of Spanish adaptations, the problem becomes even more complex, as there are many varieties of Spanish, almost as many as Spanish-speaking countries. This article presents 10 tips for adapting tests to Spanish regarding the morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic elements that should be considered when adapting an instrument to Spanish. These tips are based on experience with the adaptation of various instruments, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WISC-III, WAIS-IV, and WISC-V) and the Big Five from English, and the ELFE scale, MARKO-D, and the Berlin Intelligence Test from German.

Translation Strategy in TikTok Terms: English and Indonesian Version

People communicate through social media using various languages. One social media application that has gained a lot of users during this pandemic time is TikTok. This translation and the popularity of TikTok bring the writer to discuss about the translation of TikTok terms from English to Indonesian. The purposes of this research were to analyze the principle of translation, strategy of translation and the most dominant strategy used by the translator in translating TikTok terms from English to Indonesian. This research used qualitative methodology. The technique of analyzing data in this research used qualitative approach. This study uses the theory of Chesterman of Translation strategy. The writer collected 50 TikTok terms from the app. The terms consist of 18 words, 21 phrases and 11 clauses. The writer found out some principles in terms used in Indonesian version of TikTok app which is translated from the English version: meaning, idiom, and source language influence. From 50 data collected, the writer found 6 kinds of translation strategies and used in translating terms from English version of TikTok app to Indonesian version. The translator employed literal translation strategy in 28 collected data, calque strategy in 10 collected data, loan strategy in 1 collected data, naturalization in 1 collected data, and unit shift in 4 collected data.

Missionary publications of the Translator Commission of St. Gurias Brotherhood (1867–1915)

The missionary activities within the cultural life of Kazan region was related to book production, distribution and use. The authors focus on the book missions and, in particular, on the contribution of St. Gurias Brotherhood Translator Commission to publishing translated missionary books in Russia’s native languages. They analyze the repertoire of missionary books published by St. Gurias Brotherhood in 1867–1915 categorized by target regions and related strategy of translations of religious, secular, popular and educational literature into the languages of the Russian Empire. The authors attempt to evaluate the significance of the Translator Commission endeavors in the missionary and secular educational fields. The Translator Commission activities, aimed at the spread of Christianity, facilitated the development of alphabets of previously “oral” nations in the eastern Russian regions, and of book publishing in the native languages. The missionary publications of St. Gurias Brotherhood Translator Commission had a significant impact on development of the book culture of the nations of Kazan region.

Madame de Sevigné i król Jan III Sobieski – mistrzyni i mistrz epistolografii francuskiej i polskiej XVII w.

Madame de Sévignéand King John III Sobieski –the masters of 17th century French and Polish epistolography Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marchionesse de Sévigné (1626–1696) and John Sobieski (1629–1696) lived during almost the same period of time. The marchioness was three years older, they died in the same year. Lady de Sévigné became a famous epistologra- pher already during her life and shortly after she died. Sobieski’s letters got published only in the 19th c. and their literary value was underlined for the first time by a renown translator of French literature, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, who compared the king’s letters with those of madame de Sévigné. What the marchioness’s and the king’s letters have in common is that these were all private letters to their closest and beloved ones -marchioness’s to her daughter, lady de Grignan and Sobieski’s to his wife, Maria Kazimiera d’Arquien. Due to the distance and longing, a uniquely inspiring epistolography was created. There are of course a lot of differences between their letters, however a number of common threads may be noticed. Many times did lady de Sévigné and Sobieski express a strong belief that their feelings towards the addressees are rare and extremely strong. Similarly, they considered them to possess exceptional traits, not only physical beauty but also outstanding spiritual and mental qualities. In their letters they often articulated their concern about health issues, emphasising that their own physical state depends very much on the condition of their beloved ones. In- spired by Molier’s comedies they knew very well from books and theatres, they would also refer critically to doctors’ opinions. The marchioness was also delighted with her daughter’s knowledge of medical issues and her interest in the philosophy of Descartes, describing it as “cartesienne” and call- ing the philosopher her spiritual father. Although Sobieski’s letters do not contain any philosophical reflection, he is known to be familiar with Cartesianism and to have kept the works of Descartes in his library. What is characteristic for both collections of letters and also unique for this period, is a close and warm relation with children’s world – marchioness’s grandchildren and So- bieski’s children. The grandmother and father used to take a lot of interest in their health, cared about their illnesses, gave advice on intellectual development. In the marchioness’s and the king’s letters some pre-romantic elements are also present which are visible in their attitude towards the nature – e.g. Lady de Sévigné mentioning her night walks under the moonlight and Sobieski contemplating the sunset.

Building a Parallel Corpus for Chinese Folk Songs Translation Studies: A Case Study of Northern Shaanxi and Hua’er Folk Songs

Folk songs, collaboratively created by the public and transmitted orally, have gained widespread popularity. The translation of folk songs primarily centers on lyrics translation, a subset of literary translation. Recent advancements in corpus technology have highlighted the significance of corpus-based research approaches for the analysis of literary translation. The corpus method, now employed as a hybrid research approach, enables the generation of quantitative data for descriptive translation studies. Scholars are increasingly using parallel corpora containing both the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) to explore translation universals across diverse texts. Despite the growing body of literature on the translation of Chinese folk songs, most studies have involved straightforward analyses of a limited number of translated texts without the utilization of quantitative approaches. This article aims to bridge this gap by presenting a prospective study on the creation of the Chinese-English Parallel Corpus of Northern Shaanxi and Hua’er Folk Songs (CEPCNSHFS). The study covers essential aspects such as sampling, corpus structure, corpora selection, and corpora processing. Moreover, to assess the practical utility of the CEPCNSHFS, a pilot study was conducted. The primary contributions of this article reside in the potential of the CEPCNSHFS to support diverse research topics, including the exploration of translation language characteristics, styles, and methods employed in translating Northern Shaanxi and Hua’er folk songs, both of which hold significant positions within Chinese folk song traditions.

The Translation Techniques on Rupi Kaur’s The Sun and Her Flowers Based on the Lefevere's Perspective

This topic was chosen to analyze the translation techniques in translating the poem-poetry anthology entitled The Sun and Her Flowers wrote by Rupi Kaur, translated into Indonesian by Ni Made Purnamasari. In analyzing the poem, the writer employs the theory of Lefevere's (1975), which includes seven techniques, they are 1) phonemic translation, 2) literal translation, 3) metrical translation, 4) poetry into prose translation, 5) rhymed translation, 6) blank verse translation, and 7) interpretation. The method is used in this research is descriptive qualitative, applies documentationstrategies. The writer collects data through multiple phases: collection, analysis, and identification. The Lefevere's perspectives are employed to figure out the techniques of translation to translate the anthology. 20 poems were chosen for this research as the sample. The resultsrevealed that 18 poems applied literal translation, 1 applied metrical translation, 2 applied rhymed translation, 3 applied blank verse translation, and 5 applied interpretation translation. The number of translation techniques used in each poem is as follows: 1 poem uses 3 translation techniques, 7 poems use 2 translation techniques, and 12 poems use only one translation technique.

An integrated approach to the analysis of NRSA for translation. Mansfield Park in Spanish and German

In Jane Austen’s novels conversation provides internal evidence of the “moral and social nature of characters” (Morini, 2009, p. 9). Among the interplay of speech presentation forms (Page, 1972/2011), Narrative Report of Speech Acts (Leech & Short, 2007) has drawn less scholarly attention than others, for example Free Indirect Speech. However, NRSA condenses information about two communicative acts and therefore two addressers, namely the reporting narrator and the reported speaker (the character). Investigating this superposition of voices requires an integrative approach combining a speech-act theory analysis of the character’s speech with an analysis of both the character’s and the narrator’s dialogic stance, here set in the system of Engagement in Martin and White (2005). This paper aims to present this approach and to apply it to the description of Mansfield Park and its translations into Spanish and German. A sample of instances of NRSA and their translation solutions is analysed. While the most frequent type is literal translation, with both layers of meaning successfully reproduced, instances of translation shifts have been identified involving illocutionary force (addition, elimination or change of illocutionary features) and/or engagement value, combined with changes in certain cooccurring distancing devices. Such shifts suggest possible distortions to characterization cues.

The Quality of The Translation by Instragam Account Abu Azzam (@abuazzamtv) of The Arabic Clips to Indonesian

The videos published on Instagram have a significant impact on changing society in this era. The current communication channels can influence society, especially Muslims, towards either good or evil, depending on what they see on these social media platforms. If the translation is accurate and understood by the viewers, where it suits the target language without distorting its meaning from the source language, using translation in video clips makes it easier for viewers to understand the intended message in Arabic videos. However, sometimes reading the translation does not enhance understanding but rather confuses the viewers, making it difficult for them to grasp the meaning. One contributing factor is that the translator faithfully presents the source text message, but viewers find it challenging to comprehend the translation. The objectives of this research are as follows: 1) To determine the method used by Abu Azam for translation. 2)To assess the quality of Abu Azam's Instagram account in translating Arabic lesson clips into Indonesian. The research methodology employed is qualitative, using content analysis. The findings indicate the following: 1) Out of 7 video clips, 4 utilize literal translation, 2 employ communicative translation, and 1 uses free translation. 2) In terms of translation accuracy among the 7 video clips, the researcher found that 6 video clips effectively convey the messages, while 1 video clip has some shortcomings in conveying the messages. Regarding acceptability, 4 video clips received a satisfactory rating, 2 received an unsatisfactory rating, and 1 video clip received an unacceptable rating. In terms of comprehension, all 7 video clips were highly understandable, with the viewers easily comprehending the translations.

Across languages, across media. A comparative analysis of linguistic variation in literary translation and transmedial adaptation of a Chinese-American fictional character

This study explores translation and transmediality by examining the adaptation of Charlie Chan’s literary and cinematic portrayal in English and Italian. As a Chinese American fictional detective created by E.D. Biggers in the 1920s (often accused of stereotyping the minority he represents), Charlie Chan navigates various cultural contexts, providing a rich ground for intermedial comparisons. By employing an intercultural and intermedial approach to Translation Studies, this research sets out to understand how linguistic variation is represented across languages and media. The analysis intertwines multiple levels of translation, as it investigates the passages from English source to Italian target version of both novel and film (interlingual translation), as well as the novel-film adaptation as a form of rewriting (and therefore of medium translation). In particular, the focus will be on how Chan’s language variation, with specific attention to those traits that are supposed to delineate his fictional ‘Chineseness’, may have changed across these multiple translational passages. The findings of this research reveal that the different versions preserve and adapt to various extents Chan’s portrayal, and that both different languages and media contribute to a nuanced understanding of the complexities in the (stereotyped) representation of the image of minority characters.

GPT를 활용한 중-한 문학번역에 대한 고찰

This study investigates the use of advanced machine translation technologies like GPT in literary translation. It highlights the importance of conveying an author's intent and cultural nuances, a task traditionally reliant on human translators. The paper focuses on translating idioms from the Chinese novel “To Live(活著)” using GPT and traditional machine translation (MT), comparing their outputs. Findings indicate that GPT, through user interaction, offers a nuanced understanding of context and idioms, showcasing its effectiveness in handling complex expressions. The paper underscores the importance of appropriate prompt setting in AI translation, suggesting future research at the nexus of technology and literary expression. It concludes that the quest for more precise and nuanced translations will advance through a synergistic relationship between AI and human translators.

Framework for Cloud Computing Adoption in the Malaysian and Libyan Hospitality Industry

Cloud computing, a paradigm that provides on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources, is revolutionizing various sectors. Cloud computing supports the hospitality industry by offering scalable, on-demand resources that enable streamlined operations, personalized customer experiences, and cost-effective infrastructure management. This paper provides a comprehensive explanation to address the challenges associated with cloud computing adoption in the Malaysian and Libyan hospitality industries while focusing on providing a comprehensive framework for successful cloud computing adoption in the hospitality industry. It also provides literature and definitions with regard to the desired variables. It proposes a conceptual framework that can be applied within Malaysian and Libyan hospitality industries. The conceptual framework explains technological factors, organizational factors, environmental factors, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, with respect to cloud computing adoption decision.

生态翻译学视角下的电影字幕翻译

Eco-translatology holds that, under the constraints of language, culture, and communication in the interactive context, translators should adapt to the translation ecological environment and choose translation strategies reasonably, in order to achieve translation ecological balance. As one of the genres of literary translation, film subtitle translation is also an effective way to promote Chinese culture to go global. Taking the film Chang An as an example, this paper discusses the application of the “three-dimensional transformation” of Ecotranslatology in subtitle translation. It points out that translators should not only consider the commonalities between translation of subtitle and general literature, but also adapt to its specificities, and pay attention to the transformation of the two languages in terms of linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions, so as to facilitate cross-cultural communication.

Critical Translation in World and Comparative Literature

Abstract ‘Critical Translation in World and Comparative Literature’ outlines a theory of the ‘world work’ as constituted by the source text and all its translations simultaneously. The world work is brought into being by processes that Reynolds calls ‘prismatic translation’, and sees as arising from the interplay of what he calls ‘translationality’ and ‘Translation Rigidly Conceived’. The mode of existence of the world work poses particular challenges for the practice of world and comparative literary study: Reynolds proposes a theory of ‘critical translation’ to meet these challenges, and exemplifies it from the collaborative Prismatic Jane Eyre project.