“Translatability is an essential quality of certain works” as stated by Walter Benjamin in The Task of The Translator. In his essay, Benjamin argues that translatability is a quality of a select few works that are “significant” and have “risen to fame.” He puts on more emphasis on the literary works when translating than the ability of the translator. Benjamin also adds that languages shares an inner relationship that is only revealed when translation is done properly. In general, he indicates that the task of a translator is to “renew” great works.
However, when discussing translations, the primary focus should not be on the text itself but on the languages. Languages are unique. They have transformed significantly over time and are still undergoing changes. Moreover, each text is translatable, no matter what type of text nor the language that it is written or being translated into. Therefore, the true task of a translator is to provide readers an opportunity to explore the literary worlds of other cultures.
“Translation … serves the purpose of expressing the innermost relationship of language.” Here, Benjamin indicates that all languages are somehow related to one another. However, he indicates that this relationship is something that cannot be established. He believes that the only method of exploring this relationship is by translation. Benjamin is true that languages are related to each other, however it is not because languages have a discreet complex relationship with
we is student.The need and demands of interpreters have increased considerably, primarily due to an ever-growing internationalization and globalization. This growing demand for interpretation has also led to people’s thoughts of what makes a qualified interpreter. Hence, this essay will argue that, to be an excellent interpreter, one should not only have the proficiency in one or two languages but also should develop some essential skills, such as being able to comprehend the spoken text thoroughly, to predict the unfamiliar words, to develop effective note-taking skills as well as to interpret impartially and confidentially by clinging to the professional code of ethic.
Translators are literary ambassadors, bringing a foreign work to the audience of the target language. Since the beginning of the semester, I have started to translate a novel called Alasfuriah, literally means “bird’s nest.” The title is used metaphorically
First, all Newmark’s strategies used by the two Egyptian translators will be identified and counted, then the frequency of applying each translation strategy of Newmark’s strategies by each translator will be found out. However, the two translators’ tendency for applying domestication or foreignization strategies will be further investigated and determined as well to detect how each translator deals with cultural aspects and how they convey meaning from one culture to another one and this will answer the second and the third questions of this
Traditionally, approaches to translation studies have been focused upon the internal factors, i.e., the rules of linguistic conversion that guide the translation process. Translation is regarded as a process of seeking for linguistic equivalence between ST and TT, as Nida(1964) put it, the target text should be the closest natural equivalent to the original text.With the rise of “cultural turn” in translation studies, there emerges a new research trend that views translation as a culture-bound phenomenon, and places translation studies under a large historical and socio-cultural context.Various cultural theories begin to lend their forces to translation studies, resulting in a series of new approaches, such as cultural manipulative, feminism and postcolonial approaches to translation studies.Thus, translation is no longer viewed as a process of seeking for linguistic equivalence, but an interaction between two cultural systems.
Throughout the years, a lot of metaphors have been used to describe the work of translation. In this essay, the focus will be on the metaphor “Taduttore Traditore” (from the Italian: to translate is to betray).
Walter Benjamin’s (1892-1940) thoughts and philosophy of language and translation are haunted by ghost and influenced by Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. This can be seen in his magna opera: On Language as Such and on the Language of Man (1916) and The Task of the Translator (1923). The former essay deals directly with the linguistic theory; the latter is concerned with the translation theory as a form of art. Benjamin’s inspiration comes from both the death of his close friend Christoph Friedrich Heinle (1894-1914) and Kabbalah.
Domestication and foreignization came out to answer the question of how to bridge the gulf that had grown between the writer of the source-text which is written in a language that is very culture-bound and the target-text writer (Munday,2001). According to Venuti, domestication refers to “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language cultural values, bring the author back home”, while foreignization refers to “an ethnodeviant pressure on those (cultural) values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad.” (Venuti 1995: 20) Generally speaking, domestication designates the type of translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while foreignization means a target text is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original (Shuttleworth & Cowie 1997:59).
Burke 2007) Hence translation works is always dominated by ‘word-for-word’ translation, since translators can only understand and demonstrate the meaning of a word in the vocabulary known in the other language. Being reconstructed by totally different language structures, the meaning of every single word in a text can never be consistent with the translation. So in some donors’ view, translation is a form of loss, have great possibility in misunderstanding and misinterpret the original.
As you may know, translation and interpretation are a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural traditions. As this statement implies, translators and interpreters are permanently faced with the problem of how to treat the culture aspects implicit in a source text and of finding the most appropriate technique of successfully conveying these aspects in the target language. These problems may vary in scope depending on the cultural and linguistic gap between the two (or more) languages concerned.
“Translators have to prove to themselves as to others that they are in control of what they do, that they do not just translate well because they have a “flair” for translation, but rather because, like other professional, they have made a conscious effort to understand various aspects of their work.”
Translation is not limited to transfer of plain words but a global window through which man can acquire new cultures within his own sphere to go beyond his dormancy.
Klaudy (2007) defined pragmatic adaptation as “the adaptation of the translated work to the needs of the target language audience”. However, talking about needs of the TL audience, this definition does not take into consideration the needs of the sender and his/her intention and motives. Zauberga (1994) suggested that pragmatic adaptation means rewriting the ST according to the target culture situation “to achieve an adequate response of the readership.” The advantage of the definition is that it does not require interlingual activity. However, as its disadvantage, it take into account
Possible intro in part- There no questioning the diversity of language both in the number of languages and within each language its self. These varieties, brought on by differences in culture, class, region and ethnics play a vital role to humanity. It is important for language to change and adapt because of the Identity it provides culturally, regionally, and ethnically, the efficiency it provides in translations and usage, and the new concepts it must cover.
The task of the translator consists in finding that intended effect [Intention] upon the language into which he is translating
Cultural difference was used to be seen as an impassable gap between intercultural communications, but that was when people from various cultures didn’t get the chance to communicate. With the development of internet and transportation, people have become closer to each other and known better about other people’s cultures. Nowadays, culture has been even seen as a way to solve problems in the process of translation. Translators combine their linguistic strategies with cultural knowledge in translating and offer readers a chance to feel the foreignness with their mother language. This essay is going to talk about how translation problems are solved with the help of cultural awareness, and a case study will be done later