- •Theory of translation
- •Contents
- •Part I. General issues of translation chapter 1. What Is Translation? § 1. Translation studies
- •§ 2. Semiotic approach
- •§ 3. Communicative approach
- •§ 4. Dialectics of translation
- •Inseparability of form and meaning.10
- •4.Translation and culture are inseparable.
- •§ 5. Translation invariant
- •§ 6. Unit of translation
- •Chapter 2. Types of translation § 1. Classification criteria
- •§ 2. Machine translation
- •§ 3. Translation and interpreting
- •§ 4. Functional classification
- •Chapter 3. Evaluative classification of translation § 1. Adequate and equivalent translation
- •§ 2. Literal translation
- •§ 3. Free translation
- •§ 4. The concept of ‘untranslatability’
- •Chapter 4. Translation Equivalence § 1. Types of equivalence
- •Equivalence
- •§ 2. Pragmatic level
- •§ 3. Situational level
- •§ 4. Semantic paraphrase
- •§ 5. Transformational equivalence
- •§ 6. Lexical and grammatical equivalence
- •§ 7. The levels of equivalence hierarchy
- •Chapter 5. Ways of Achieving Equivalence § 1. Types of translation techniques
- •§ 2. Translation transcription
- •§ 3. Transliteration
- •§ 4. Cаlque translation
- •§ 5. Grammar transformations
- •§ 6. Lexical transformations
- •§ 7. Complex transformations
- •Chapter 6. Translation Models § 1. Translation process
- •§ 2. Situational model of translation
- •§ 3. Transformational model of translation
- •§ 4. Semantic model of translation
- •§ 5. Psycholinguistic model of translation
- •Notes to part I
- •Part III. Grammar problems of translation
- •Chapter 1. Formal differences between source text and target text
- •Chapter 2. Translating finite verb forms §1. Translating tense and aspect forms
- •§2. Translating passive voice forms
- •§3. Translating the subjunctive mood forms
- •Chapter 3. Translating non-finite verb forms §1. Translating the infinitive
- •§2. Translating the gerund
- •§3. Translating the participle
- •§4. Translating absolute constructions
- •Chapter 4. Translating causative constructions §1. Types of causative constructions
- •§2. Constructions with causal verbs
- •§3. Constructions with the verbs to have, to get
- •§4. Causative constructions with non-causal verbs
- •Chapter 5. Translating pronouns §1. Translating personal pronouns
- •§2. Translating possessive pronouns
- •§3. Translating relative pronouns
- •§4. Translating the pronoun one
- •§5. Translating the pronouns каждый / все
- •§6. Translating partitive pronouns some / any
- •§7. Translating demonstrative pronouns
- •Chapter 6. Translating the article
- •§1. Translating the indefinite article
- •§2. Translating the definite article
- •§3. Translating the zero article
- •Chapter 7. Translating attributive clusters §1. Features of the attributive phrase
- •§2. Translating the attributive cluster.
- •Chapter 8. Syntactic changes in translation §1. Communicative structure of the english and russian sentence
- •§2. Word order change due to the functional sentence perspective
- •§3. Sentence partitioning and integration
- •Chapter 9. Difference in english and russian punctuation §1. Principles of punctuation in english and russian
- •§2. Differences in comma usage
- •§3. Using the dash
- •§4. Using quotation marks
- •§5. Using the colon and semicolon
- •§6. Using the ellipses
- •§2. Interaction of word semantic structures
- •§3. Word connotation in translation
- •§4. Intralinguistic meaning
- •Chapter 2. Translating realia §1. Culture-bound and equivalent-lacking words
- •§2. Types of culture-bound words
- •§3. Ways of translating culture-bound words
- •§4. Translating people’s names
- •§5. Translating geographical terms
- •§6. Translating published editions
- •§7. Translating ergonyms
- •Chapter 3. Translating terms §1. Translation factors
- •§2. Translation technique
- •§3. Terms in fiction and magazines
- •Chapter 4. Translator’s false friends
- •Chapter 5. Phraseological and metaphorical translation §1. Metaphor and the phraseological unit
- •§2. Interlingual metaphoric transformations
- •§3. Ways of translating idioms
- •§4. Challenges in translating idioms
- •Chapter 6. Metonymical translation §1. Definitions
- •§2. Lexical metonymic transformation
- •§3. Predicate translation
- •§4. Syntactic metonymic transformations
- •Chapter 7. Antonymic translation §1. Definition
- •§2. Conversive transformation
- •§3. Shifting negative modality
- •§4. Reasons for antonymic translation
- •Chapter 8. Differences in russian and english word combinability §1. Reasons for differences in word combinability
- •§2. Translation of adverbial verbs
- •§3. Translating condensed synonyms
- •Chapter 9. Translating new coinages: differences in russian and english word building
- •§1. Compounds
- •§2. Conversion
- •§3. Affixation
- •§4. Abbreviation
- •Notes to part IV
- •Part V. Pragmatic problems of translation
- •Chapter 1. Translation pragmatics
- •§1. Concept of pragmatics
- •§2. Text pragmatics
- •§3. Author’s communicative intention
- •§4. Communicative effect upon the receptor
- •И молвил он: «в былое время
- •На голове стою.»
- •§5. Translator’s impact
- •Chapter 2. Speech functions and translation §1. Language and speech functions
- •§2. Interpersonal function and modality in translation.
- •§3. Expressive function in translation
- •§5. Conative function in translation
- •Chapter 3. Functional styles and translation §1. Functional style, register: definition
- •§2. Translating scientific and technical style
- •§3. Translating bureaucratic style
- •§4. Translating journalistic (publicistic) style
- •Chapter 4. Rendering stylistic devices in translation
- •§1. Translation of metaphors and similes
- •§2. Translation of epithets
- •§3. Translation of periphrase
- •§4. Translation of puns
- •“Bother! Said Pooh… “What’s that bit of paper doing?”
- •§5. Translation of allusions and quotations
- •Chapter 5. Translation norms and quality control of a translation §1. Norms of translation
- •§2. Quality control of the translation.
- •Chapter 6. Translation etiquette §1. Professional ethics, etiquette, and protocol
- •§2. Code of professional conduct
- •§3. Protocol ceremonies
- •Notes to part V appendix 1. Russian-English Transliteration Chart
- •Appendix 2. Russian-English-Chinese Transliteration Chart
- •Учебное издание Зоя Григорьевна Прошина теория перевода
- •Part II. History of translation Chapter 1. Western traditions of translation § 1. Translation during antiquity
- •§ 2. Translation in the middle ages
- •§ 3. Renaissance translation
- •§ 4. Enlightenment translation (17-18th c.)
- •§ 5. Translation in the 19th century
- •§ 6. Translation in the 20th century
- •Chapter 2. History of russian translation § 1. Old russian culture and translation
- •§2. Translation in the 18th century
- •§ 3. Russian translation in the first half of the 19th century
- •§4. Translation in the second half of the 19th century
- •§5. Translation at the turn of the century
- •§6. Translation in the 20th century
- •Notes to part 2
Chapter 4. Rendering stylistic devices in translation
Tropes are ornamental lexical means of figurative language, or figures of speech. In the Russian linguistic tradition, they are the subject matter of stylistics, whereas English linguists consider them to be the subject of rhetoric. Tropes are mostly used in the literary style (prose, poetry and drama), but also journalistic style (newspaper, journalism, oratory, propaganda), in advertising and everyday conversation.
This chapter will discuss the following tropes: metaphors, similes, epithets, paraphrase, puns and allusions.
The crucial strategy of a translator in rendering all these types of trope is to make a similar impact upon the reader/listener of the target text as did a source text on its receptor.
§1. Translation of metaphors and similes
Metaphor is a transference of some quality from one object to another.267It is an implicit comparison of two unlike objects. The purpose of metaphor is to liven up the text, make it more colorful, dramatic and witty - that is, metaphor carries out an emotive function.268
Simile is a more cautious form of metaphor. It is a comparison of two objects when the linkage is made explicit, like drumming like a noise in dreams.
Metaphor is inherent in language. In this case it can go unnoticed in everyday conversation, like she attacked my views; an ailing economy; to have a load taken off one’s mind. Language metaphors are stock metaphors. They are trite and typical for many users, and fixed by the dictionary, as mostly idioms.*They are sometimes called dead metaphors.
Other metaphors are occasionally constructed in individual speech. They are neologistic and euphemeral unless they become language metaphors by being diffused through popular speech and, later, the media.
Metaphor is the main feature of imaginative writing. In his/her work, a translator must be fully aware of its sense and the emotive effect it produces through its image. Both sense and image should be preserved as much as possible.
Peter Newmark, an outstanding British theorist of translation, suggests the following procedures for translating metaphor, in order of preference:269
Reproducing the same image in the target language. This procedure is employed if the image has comparable frequency and similar associations in the appropriate register. For example, ray of hope – луч надежды. But associations may differ from language to language, becoming tricky for translation. For an English-speaking person, the image of duck is associated with a darling: Look Jenny! What a little duck of a dog! (R. Hitchin) – Смотрите, Дженни, какая прелестная собачка!* For a Russian receptor, the image of duck raises negative connotations: Ольга Федоровна чудовищно растолстела, была обжорлива, как утка, и нечистоплотна. (В. Вересаев) Выбежала из светлицы Настя, и, лениво переваливаясь с ноги на ногу, как утка, выплывала полусонная Параша. (П.Мельников-Печерский)
Replacing the image in the source language with a standard target language image. What you hear is not genuine. She makes clouds with one hand, rain with the other. She is trying to trick you, so you will do anything for her. (A. Tan) – Ее слова лживы. Левая рука не знает, что творит правая. Ей хочется поймать тебя в ловушку, чтобы ты делала для нее все, что ей угодно. This procedure is not infrequent in translating similes: ноги как ватные – legs like jelly. The tongue is a fire. – Язык как бритва. Sometimes the image substitution helps the translator to play upon the extended metaphor: She was inclined to think … that her brother was the apple of Mrs. Ashbury’s eyes, and (that she thought) the apple was full of worm-holes. – Она была склонна думать, что миссис Эшбери … носится со своим сыном как с писаной торбой, и что торба эта гнилая.
Translating metaphor with a simile, retaining the image. Books are mirrors. – Книги как зеркало. Translating a metaphor (simile) by simile plus sense (i.e. plus explanation of the sense). This transformation is used if there is risk that a simple transfer of metaphor will not be understood by most readers.
Converting metaphor to sense, that is explicatory translation: I guess I keep hoping that if we stay right where we are, she’ll come back, and we can turn the clock back. (D. Steel) – Мне кажется, я все еще надеюсь, что если мы останемся здсь, она вернется и все будет как прежде. This procedure is justified only in case of a dead metaphor. In other cases, the expressiveness of the metaphor should be compensated in a nearby part of the text.
Deletion, or reduction. This transformation is employed only if the metaphor is redundant. A deletion of metaphor can be justified only on the ground that the metaphor’s function is being fulfilled elsewhere in the text.
Using the same metaphor combined with sense. Calque translation of metaphor supported by explanation is recommended only if the translator lacks confidence in the metaphor’s power and clarity.