Sense-for-sense translation
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Part of a series on |
Translation |
---|
Types |
Theory |
|
Technologies |
Localization |
Institutional |
Related topics |
|
Sense-for-sense translation is the oldest
History
Jerome did not invent the concept of sense-for-sense translation. It is believed that it was first proposed by Cicero in De optimo genere oratorum ("The Best Kind of Orator"). In this text, he said that in translating from Greek to Latin, "I did not think I ought to count them out to the reader like coins, but to pay them by weight, as it were."[4] Cicero did not mention sense-for-sense in his works but it is considered to be a type of "segmental" theory, which is attributed to him and Horace. This translation approach is based on segmentation, which considers the how long a segment (word, phrase, or sentence) is before moving on to the next.[5]
Jerome was not the originator of the term "word-for-word" either. It has possibly also been borrowed from Cicero as well, or possibly from Horace, who warned the writer interested in retelling ancient tales in an original way Nec verbo verbum curabit reddere / fidus interpretes: "not to try to render them word for word [like some] faithful translator."[6]
Some have read that passage in Horace differently.
Similar concepts
Paraphrase
In John Dryden’s 1680 preface to his translation of Ovid's Epistles, he proposed dividing translation into three parts called: metaphrase, paraphrase and imitation.[8] Metaphrase is word-for-word and line by line translation from one language into another.[9] Paraphrase is sense-for-sense translation where the message of the author is kept but the words are not so strictly followed as the sense, which too can be altered or amplified.[10] Imitation is the use of either metaphrase or paraphrase but the translator has the liberty to choose which is appropriate and how the message will be conveyed.[11]
Leaving the reader in peace
In 1813, during his “Über die Verschiedenen Methoden des Übersetzens” lecture,[12] Friedrich Schleiermacher proposed the idea where “[E]ither the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him, or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and he moves the author towards him”.[13]
Dynamic equivalence
In 1964,[
Communicative translation
In 1981,
Idiomatic translation
In addition to these concepts, in 1990, Brian Mossop presented his concept of idiomatic and unidiomatic translation.[23] Idiomatic translation is when the message of the source text is conveyed the way a target language writer would convey it, rather than staying to the way in which it was conveyed in the source text.[24] Unidiomatic translation is innovative and translates individual words.[25]
Domesticated translation
In 1994, also in modern translation studies, Lawrence Venuti introduced the concepts of domestication and foreignization, which are based on concepts from Friedrich Schleiermacher's 1813 lecture.[26] Domestication is the adaption of culture-specific terms or cultural context, where as foreignization is the preservation of the original cultural context of the source text (in terms of settings, names, etc.).[26]
Venuti also described domestication as being fluent and transparent strategies that result in acculturation,[26] where “a cultural other is domesticated, made intelligible”.[27] Schleiermacher's distinction between "bringing the author to the reader" (domestication) and "taking the reader to the author"[28] (foreignization), dealt with a social concern and Venuti's distinction between domestication and foreignization deals with ethical principles.[26]
References
- ISBN 9780195288803.
- ^ Douglas Robinson, ed., Western Translation Theory from Herodotus to Nietzsche (Manchester, UK: St. Jerome, 1997, 2ed 2002), 25.
- ^ ISBN 9781472921673.
- ^ Robinson, ed., Western Translation Theory, 9.
- ISBN 9781900650083.
- ^ Robinson, ed., Western Translation Theory, 15.
- ^ a b c For Boethius, Eriugena, Burgundio, and Denham, see Robinson, ed., Western Translation Theory, 35, 37, 42, and 156. For Sherburne, see T. R. Steiner, English Translation Theory, 1650–1800 (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1975), 89. André Lefevere's translation of Horace appears in Lefevere, ed., Translation/History/Culture: A Sourcebook (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), 15: "Do not worry about rendering word for word, faithful translator, but render sense for sense." This of course not only makes Horace's advice for the writer into advice for the translator, but anachronistically imports Jerome's coinage back into Horace's dictum, which actually preceded it by four centuries. For discussion, see also Douglas Robinson, Who Translates (Albany: SUNY Press, 2001), 170–174.
- ^ Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader. 3rd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2012.), page 38.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 3rd ed., 38.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 3rd ed., 38.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 3rd ed., 38.
- ^ Yves Gambier, Luc Van Doorslaer, Handbook of Translation Studies, (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub., 2010.), 40.
- ^ Gambier, Handbook of Translation Studies, 40.
- ^ Lawrence Venuti,. The Translation Studies Reader. (New York: Routledge, 2000.), page 129.
- ^ Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader. (New York: Routledge, 2000.), page 129.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 129.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 129.
- ^ Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, 129.
- ^ Peter Newmark, Approaches to Translation, (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981)
- ^ Newmark, Approaches to Translation, 31
- ^ Newmark, Approaches to Translation, 39
- ^ Newmark, Approaches to Translation, 39
- ^ Brian Mossop, "Translating Institutions and “Idiomatic” Translation." Meta: Journal des traducteurs 35, no. 2 (January 1990)
- ^ Mossop, “Translating Institutions,”, 343
- ^ Mossop, “Translating Institutions,”, 343
- ^ a b c d Gambier, Handbook of Translation Studies, 40.
- ^ Lawrence Venuti, "Genealogies of Translation Theory: Schleiermacher." TTR : Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction 4, no. 2 (1991)
- ^ Douglas Robinson, ed. Western Translation Theory From Herodotus to Nietzsche. (Manchester: St. Jerome., 2002)
Further reading
- Gentzler, Edwin (2001). Contemporary Translation Theories. 2nd Ed. London and New York: Routledge.
- Lefevere, André. (1992). Translation/History/Culture: A Sourcebook. London and New York: Routledge.
- Newmark, Peter. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall.
- Nida, Eugene A., and Charles R. Taber. (1969). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: Brill.
- Robinson, Douglas. (2001). Who Translates? Translator Subjectivities Beyond Reason. Albany: SUNY Press.
- Robinson, Douglas, ed. (2002). Western Translation Theory From Herodotus to Nietzsche. Manchester: St. Jerome.
- Steiner, T.R. (1975). English Translation Theory, 1650–1800. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
- Venuti, Lawrence. (1995). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. London and New York: Routledge (Read full version here)