Analysis Of ' The Task Of The Translator '

I sit in this AP Language and Composition class trying to decipher the essence of the unending annotations and floods of random texts for the past quarter. Little did I know that I would be taking flight and soaring through the smallest details and threads of literary devices and techniques of analyzing language. Before this class, I looked at a book, aware that it was filled with potential symbolism and crucial themes that were definitely worth considering. Yet, I often paid far less attention to the way words are crafted in efforts to create a beautiful masterpiece. Who knew that the jargon used in Snow Falling on Cedars could significantly shape the overall tone of the book? From the years leading up to this class, the main goal I had

The Greek forces won the Trojan War. The story of the war is a cornerstone of Greek legend, and pervaded Greek literature and culture. Though the evidence for the Trojan War as historical fact is scarce, it was a formative event in Greek cultural memory, producing some of the classical world’s most famous heroes and narratives. The War was won, Helen was retrieved from Paris, whose violation of ξενία was redressed, the heroes attained the κλέος that many of them fought for – and yet the positive outcomes of the Trojan War are difficult to grasp. For the victims of the Trojan War, the tragedy is obvious; the War ended in genocide and total cultural destruction. But such a war, burnt into legend, should have left the victors far better off; and yet, the Greek heroes only suffer because of it. They die tragic, dishonourable deaths; their households are left in ruin; their families are torn apart. From both modern and classical perspectives, the Trojan War is a tragedy, a “harrowing destruction of life” (Euripides, Andromache, 291). The victory is pyrrhic, the loss of life is horrific, the reparations non-existent.

From a geopolitical perspective, the events of the Trojan War of the Bronze age are symbolically akin to those of the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Both conflicts forged endearingly poignant tragedies into the public psyche, the Vietnam War was the first war televised in color, thus it exposed the grim realities of war. Conversely, the slaying of the Royal maiden Iphigenia in preparation for the Trojan War was “terrible to all” (Hamilton 259). Just as Martin Luther King Jr. attested that “if America’s soul [became] truly poisoned the Autopsy [would] read Vietnam (King 2) and Kwame Ture deemed the Vietnam war “illegal and immoral”, the Oracle knew the corroded intentions of the Trojan War.Subsequently, the devastation of the war was anticipated, “Greek Ships sailed over a Quiet sea, but the evil price they had paid was bound to someday bring murder upon them.In both instances, War symbolized

In the poem “No Ordinary Sun,” the poet Hone Tuwhere, uses various language features to reveal the writer’s purpose, the horrific effect of a very possible WWIII that will be nuclear. Tuwhere uses three specific language techniques, (figurative language and Repetition) to effectively cast his message.

As most know, Greek Mythology is a very complex concept that is free for interpretation and is shown in multiple ways. Many believe Greek Mythology is fiction, whereas some believe that it is nonfiction. As seen in Barry Strauss’s The Trojan War: A New History, the author argues that the Trojan War was significant and then shows evidence from as of late that supports the concept of the Trojan War actually occurring. Throughout his book he explains and gives insight into what happened during the Trojan War and how it developed based off of Homer’s writing. Strauss’s sole purpose is to inspect what was previously said about the Trojan War and evaluate it enough to the point where he is able to make logical reasoning to determine the

INTRO: Despite difference of around 400 years between them Greek poet Homer and tragedian playwright Euripides explore many of the same themes in their works the Odyssey and Trojan Women (written by each respectively). Both works are inspired by the events of 12th Century BCE Trojan War that Homer previously explored in the Iliad. The two examine the worth of cunning over brute strength, the dangers of temptation and the role of women in their respective time periods. Despite having extremely similar central ideas, the techniques employed by each are markedly different. These differences arise as the result of changes in socio-historical contexts and format of each work’s presentation, for example the critical shift of the 5th century which saw the rise of sophistry and a certain scepticism in regard to Athenian leadership and the very existence of the gods.

The Trojan War is described as one of histories most legendary battles. This battle is told to have lasted ten years, resulting in the eventual collapse of Troy, under the siege of Greek forces. Modern knowledge of the Trojan War has survived mainly through the account given in Homer’s Illiad, and while having proved to be a rich source of inspiration for other writers, artists, and even filmmakers in recent history, much speculation still exists surrounding his account. I will analyze modern interpretations of the Trojan War and examine both speculation and support for Homer’s account. Concluding with sufficient evidence that has been collected surrounding this epic battle, proving Homer’s account of a massive battle between these two powerful city states to not be just a tale of myth and legend, but actual history.

Thucydides and Homer, though they lived a relatively short 300 years apart, wrote about very different Greek cultures. While the Greeks who Homer wrote about in The Iliad were, in many respects, dissimilar to the Greeks in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, this stands in marked contrast to the profound similarities that exist between contemporary cultures and those that Thucydides wrote of. There are, however, similarities between modern cultures and those in Homer’s writing, as well as differences between modern ones and those in Thucydides’ writing. Thucydides’ history is, therefore, a relational bridge between the cultures of ancient Greece and modern ones.

Brian Friel’s play Translations was the first production of the Field Day Theatre Company in Derry in 1980, which Friel co-founded with Stephen Rea. It describes the beginning of the process of Anglicization in a relatively remote Gaelic-speaking area during the 1833 Survey of Ireland, in which the English mapped Ireland, both culturally and geographically. Years of concerted anglicizing of the Irish by the British early in the 19th century led to the widespread fall into disuse of the native Gaelic tongue. National schools teaching exclusively in English began to open during the Survey of Ireland, and English culture encroached rapidly into Ireland. William Butler Yeats and Douglas Hyde write from the

agitator of the C19, and his main aim was to secure the repeal of the

Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers “The Odyssey” might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East, and etc. While Homer’s epic should not be read as a historical document which recounts the Trojan War hundred percent accurately, it can still be seen as document which embodies some historical truth. The novel as a whole explains the customs, economic standing, fighting styles and beliefs of the Greeks. Strauss’s writing style allows for the book to be accessible to both students and historians. He argues that just like Franz Ferdinand was the spark which ignited World War 1, Helen on the other hand was just a spark which escalated an existing tension between the Greeks and Trojans. Strauss’s personal input on the war itself gives the novel a different outlook on the Trojan War because, it allows for readers to see beyond the facts and make connections with ideas that Strauss had made with recent discoveries and Homers epic.

Originally published in the Wall Street Journal in 2010, Lera Boroditsky’s paper titled “Lost in Translation” analyzes the impact language has on thought. Formatted as more of a persuasive than truth seeking essay, Boroditsky begins by asking the reader if the language a person speaks shapes the way they think. This makes the reader believe as though she is truly trying to find an answer to this inquiry, but as the paper goes on, the reader is mostly introduced to evidence that supports Boroditsky’s stance and she merely touches upon the argument of the opposing side. Although Boroditsky does not include more counterarguments, “Lost in Translation” is a well written article which demonstrates that languages indeed shape the way people think through her use of the Rhetorical Triangle, inductive logic, and her stylistic choices.

Walter Benjamin’s essay, The Task of the Translator, is illuminating in the way in which it shatters any preconceived ideas that may view the act of translation as diminishing the value of the original. Benjamin has high regard for translation, placing it in the realm of art as a distinct form. He argues that art is not about the audience or the receiver that is, it is not primarily about communication. The purpose of art is not to instil a specific belief, impart information or to entertain certain sentiments in the reader thus, appreciation does not reside in generating a moral by interpreting its content. As an art form, translation for Benjamin is not about propagating ideas or beliefs but is about embarking on the task of attaining pure

In reading texts that describe the mythical story of the Trojan War, it would be difficult to ignore the tragedy that the story emanates in its character’s actions and their consequences. Homer’s Iliad explores the tragedy of Achilles, whose preoccupation with glory has its tragic consequences of death and grief. It also shows the War’s resounding effect on those outside of the battlefield and the families of the warriors, as does Euripides’ Women of Troy, reflecting on family as the unforeseen victims of war. Furthermore, the play Rhesus is shown to give a more elaborated perspective of tragedy for individual characters. An examination of the Trojan War from the Trojan and Roman perspective further reveals tragedy on both sides. The gods’

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm employment for interpreters and translators is projected to grow 46 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average of all occupations. Employment growth reflects increasing globalization and a more diverse U.S. population, which is expected to require more interpreters and translators.