Lecture I

Theory of Translation

Translation is rendering from one language into another; also: the product of such rendering.

(Merriam -Webster’s Dictionary)

Translation is mean of interlingual communication which renders meaning across cultures.

Nida and Taber’s definition of translation:

“Translating consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in the terms of style.”

According to Catford:

Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL).

Interlanguage (Interlingual) translation, translation from one language to another, i.e. substituting verbal signs of one language by verbal signs of another language, or switching from one language code to another one.

Intersemiotic translation, translation of the verbal sign by non-verbal sign, i.e. substituting signs of one semiotic system by signs of a different semiotic system. In its broad meaning, the term implies transmutation and can be illustrated by decoding some ideas and themes expressed, for example, in a poem through the “language” of music or dance.

The term translation can refer to:

•an activity

•a product

•the scholarly field that studies both the activity and product

The aim of translation: to produce the text or message in the TL which is equivalent to the original text or message in the SL both semantically and pragmatically. In translation we deal with two languages (two codes) and to verify the info they give us about the extralinguistic objects we should consider extralinguistic situation, and background information.

The history of translation dates back to the beginning of history of mankind.

The Sumerian poem, Gilgamesh - first poem to be translated into Asian languages. Second millennium BC.

3rd century BC - the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek. It was ordered by the Egyptian king Ptolemy II .

The dragomans (an interpreter or guide, especially in countries speaking Arabic, Turkish, or Persian) had been employed to accompany the trade caravans and help in negotiating, selling and buying the necessary goods for Egypt.

Peter Newmarks’ (1988) concept of theory of translation is as follows:

“Translation theory is the body of knowledge that we have about translating, extending from general principles to guidelines, suggestions and hints.”

The theory of translation provides the translator with the appropriate tools of analysis and synthesis, makes him aware of what he is to look for in the original text, what type of information he must convey in TT and how he should act to achieve his goal.

During this historical process communication between communities gradually increased and translation process improved. The discipline of Translation Studies emerged from the needs of society, and has tried to respond to its challenges.

Translation Studies as a field of research with scientific methods is a new phenomenon. Even though translation has been discussed by translators and scholars for more than 2000 years, it was only after the 2nd World War that this field of study turned into something scientific.

The nature of the translator’s activity = creative activity. The translator faces a number of choices and decisions.

decisions are partly subjective, partly objective (some of the translator’s subjective choices are based on objective factors)

“their ambition to explain translation phenomena and create theories is closely related to the very nature of this activity, regulated, on the one hand, by certain objective rules, and permitting, on the other, a number of subjective choices” (Klaudy, 2003, p.23)

the 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of several linguistic translation theories.

The medium of the translator’s activity = two languages

communicating in two Ls at the same time can never be as instinctive and unconscious as communicating only in one

in translation, even the most instinctive translator develops ideas about the relationship between the two Ls, their similarities and differences, their relationship with reality, the similarities and differences in the way the two Ls segment reality linguistically, etc.

The object of the translator’s activity = the text Theories are related to the object of the translator’s activity, i.e. the text, because

every text (e.g., a piece of literature, a scientific research article, an advertisement or an editorial), allows for several possible interpretations

the translator often has to defend his own interpretation of the text against the potentially differing interpretations of critics, readers, and the public at large.

The scholarly field that studies translation and interpreting and related phenomena is known as:

English Terms:

Science of Translating (Nida, 1964)

Theory of Translation (Catford, 1965)

Translation Studies (Holmes, 1972)

Interpreting Studies (Gile, 1992)

Hungarian Terms:

Forditástudomány, forditáselmélet

Transzlatológia, traduktológia

Transzlatorika