Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto Línguas e Literaturas Modernas INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION STUDIES Power Point 16 6 December 2007

Material for final test ITS: Chapter 5 Chapter 7 (7.4: read only) Chapter 8 (only 8.0, 8.1, 8.1.1) Chapter 9 (only 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.3, 9.4 and the Case study) Chapter 11 (only 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.4) BAT: Chapter 9 READ: Chapter 1 from Snell-Hornby, Mary. Translation Studies. An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, (copy available in Ass. Est.)

Toury and DTS Early work(1970s) was within polysystem theory. Sociocultural study of lit. translated into Hebrew between ; Early work(1970s) was within polysystem theory. Sociocultural study of lit. translated into Hebrew between ; 1980: In Search of a Theory of Translation 1980: In Search of a Theory of Translation 1995: Descriptive Translation Studies – And Beyond 1995: Descriptive Translation Studies – And Beyond

DTS: proposed methodology Focus is on description of translations, seen as texts in their own right, which occupy a place within the TL social and cultural system; translation strategies employed are a result of the position of Ts within the TC. Focus is on description of translations, seen as texts in their own right, which occupy a place within the TL social and cultural system; translation strategies employed are a result of the position of Ts within the TC. Translated texts exist as “replacements” of specific ST in the receiving culture, so the idea is to describe them, trying to identify possible regular patterns (norms) that govern decisions in translation. The aim is NOT to judge a TT as correct or incorrect. Translated texts exist as “replacements” of specific ST in the receiving culture, so the idea is to describe them, trying to identify possible regular patterns (norms) that govern decisions in translation. The aim is NOT to judge a TT as correct or incorrect.

In other words, once a text is published as the translation of another text, it is, de facto, accepted as equivalent to the ST. So, translation equivalence, becomes a fact, an empirical matter, (Gentzler:128) to be analysed rather than assessed against the ST for a presumed or ideal correctness.

Three-phase methodology for systematic DTS 1. Situate the text within the target culture system, looking at its significance or acceptability. 2. Compare the ST and TT for shifts, identifying relationships between ‘coupled pairs’ of ST and TT segments, and trying to formulate generalizations about the underlying concept of translation. (1995: coupled pairs are chosen ad hoc, i.e., they differ in different case studies; flexible approach) 3. Draw implications for decision-making in future translating. (Munday: 112)

NORMS of translation behaviour The objective of case studies is to “make generalizations regarding the decision-making processes of the translator and then to reconstruct the ‘norms’ that have been in operation in the translation.” (Munday:113) “Norms are options that translators in a given socio-historical context select on a regular basis.” (Baker quoted in Munday: 113)

Norms can be reconstructed from: Analysis of texts, which will reveal regular patterns of behaviour, i.e., recurring correspondences between ST and TT segments) Analysis of texts, which will reveal regular patterns of behaviour, i.e., recurring correspondences between ST and TT segments) Explicit statements about norms by translators, publishers, reviewers, etc. (which can, however, be biased). Explicit statements about norms by translators, publishers, reviewers, etc. (which can, however, be biased).

Laws of translation Law of growing standardization (TL patterns predominate) (esp. if T occupies a peripheral position in the target system) Law of growing standardization (TL patterns predominate) (esp. if T occupies a peripheral position in the target system) Law of interference (SL patterns predominate and are ‘copied’ in the TT) (esp. tolerated when T is from a prestigious culture into a minor culture) Law of interference (SL patterns predominate and are ‘copied’ in the TT) (esp. tolerated when T is from a prestigious culture into a minor culture)

Andrew Chesterman’s T norms Product or expectancy norms Product or expectancy norms (determined by: predominant translation tradition in TC, discourse conventions in similar TL genre, economic/ideological factors) Professional norms (regulate T process) - accountability Professional norms (regulate T process) - accountability - communication - relation (a linguistic norm)

The Cultural Turn* in Translation Studies Key text: Translation, History and Culture (1990) edited by Susan Bassnett and the late André Lefevere (* term used by Snell- Hornby in her article in this collection) It signals a move from: T as text (text-linguistics/pragmatic approach to T) To: Translation as cultural phenomenon which therefore must be analysed in its political and ideological context.

The cultural turn “This is a metaphor that has been adopted by Cultural-Studies oriented translation theorists to refer to the analysis of translation in its cultural, political and ideological context.” (Hatim and Munday, 2004:102) (Hatim and Munday, 2004:102)

This turn “was presaged by the work on polysystems and translation norms by Even-Zohar and Toury and by the Manipulation of Literature volume edited by Theo Hermans (1985). Since 1990, the turn has extended to incorporate a whole range of approaches from cultural studies and is a true indicator of the interdisciplinary nature* of contemporary Translation Studies” (Hatim and Munday, 2004:102) *e.g, T as rewriting (Lefevere), T and Gender (Chamberlain, Simon), Postcolonial TS (Susan Bassnett)

The translator’s invisibility QUESTION What do you understand by the expression ‘the translator’s invisibility’? How are translators invisible and why?

Lawrence Venuti and the translator’s invisibility Rethinking Translation. Discourse, Subjectivity, Ideology. London and New York: Routledge, The Translator’s Invisibility. A History of Translation. London and New York: Routledge, The Scandals of Translation. Towards an Ethics of Difference. London and New York: Routledge, 1998.

Preface to T’s Invisibility:  result of Venuti’s work as professional translator since the late 1970s Objectives:  to rewrite the history of English-language translation from the 17th century to the present;  to describe the marginal situation of translation in Anglo-American culture and how this came about ;  to challenge this situation by proposing alternative translation strategies.

Invisibility (from Venuti, 1995: 1) “Invisibility is the term I use to describe the translator’s situation and activity in contemporary Anglo-American culture. It refers to two mutually determining phenomena: one is an illusionistic effect of discourse, of the translator’s own manipulation of English; the other is the practice of reading and evaluating translations that has long prevailed in the United Kingdom and the United States.”

“A translated text, whether prose or poetry, fiction or nonfiction, is judged acceptable by most publishers, reviewers, and readers when it reads fluently, when the absence of any linguistic or stylistic peculiarities makes it seem transparent, giving the appearance that it reflects the foreign writer’s personality or intention or the essential meaning of the foreign text – the appearance, in other words, that the translation is not in fact a translation, but the “original”. The illusion of transparency is an effect of fluent discourse, of the translator’s effort to insure easy readability...”

Invisibility of T in Anglo-American culture is due to and furthered through: the dominance of fluency and the consequent illusion of transparency; the dominance of fluency and the consequent illusion of transparency; the way translations are read and judged in the TC; the way translations are read and judged in the TC; the “individualistic conception of authorship” prevalent in Anglo-American culture; (Venuti, 1995:6) the “individualistic conception of authorship” prevalent in Anglo-American culture; (Venuti, 1995:6) the “unfavourable legal status of translation, both in copyright law and in actual contractual arrangements” (Venuti, 1995:8) the “unfavourable legal status of translation, both in copyright law and in actual contractual arrangements” (Venuti, 1995:8) the power of the publishing industry / the low remuneration for T (both consequence and cause of low status of T activity and Tor). the power of the publishing industry / the low remuneration for T (both consequence and cause of low status of T activity and Tor).

Key players shaping T Publishers and editors (who decide on what to translate and usually select texts that can be easily assimilated into the TC) Publishers and editors (who decide on what to translate and usually select texts that can be easily assimilated into the TC) Copy editors Copy editors Author’s literary agents (sign of success: to be translated into English) Author’s literary agents (sign of success: to be translated into English) Translators Translators The result is, more often than not, a domesticating T.

Domestication and foreignization The strategies available to the translators (which determine the choice of text to translate as well as the T method) are domestication and foregnization. They date back to Schleiermacher (1813, On the Different Methods of Translating). Domestication dominates Anglo-American translation culture, which produces a flattening of translation style.

Venuti proposes the alternative of foregnization, i.e., translator selects different texts for translation, follows a translation method which is ‘non-fluent’ or ‘estranging’, trying to emphasize the foreign identity of the ST in the TT, thus making the presence of the translator visible and saving the ST from total assimilation/annihilation into the TT. Venuti recognizes that his is also an ideological agenda (1995:23) whose aim is ‘resistancy’, i.e., to resist dominant TL cultural values “so as to signify the linguistic and cultural differences of the foreign text.” (1995:23)

Venuti recognizes that foreignizing translations are partial too, maybe as partial as domesticating ones, but at least they are openly so, without pretending to be something else, or hiding their political and ideological agenda.