Theory of Translation

 

He spoke in no uncertain terms. (Susan Howatch)

Он говорил весьма решительно.

 

Metonymic Translation

 

Metonymic translation is based on contiguity of notions and is less unusual than is generally believed and takes its place among other linguistic transformations.

Bare and lurid light of street lamps. (C.P. Snow)

Резкий и мрачный свет фонарей.

 

The street lamps had no shades and therefore their light was fierce (cause and effect).

На уличных  фонарях не было щитов, и свет их был нестерпимо ярок.

 

That worthy gentleman turned mirth into a cough at just the right time.

(Dickson Carr).

Этот достойный  джентльмен как раз вовремя подавил смех кашлем.

 

The translation is based on the principle of contiguity. A similar relation appears in the following example.

 

The odious Mrs. Ruscombe had had the effrontery to come up to her to commiserate, with her false honeyed smile.   (G. Heyer).

Отвратительная  миссис Раском имела наглость подойти  к ней со своей неискренней сладкой улыбкой, чтобы выразить ей свое соболезнование.

 

Another linguistic feature is to be mentioned here. Metonymy as a means of forming derivative referential meanings is widely used in English but cannot always be preserved in translation.

 

From Winnipeg the railroad sweeps westward in a wide curve… than the steel bends of northward. (F. Mowat).

От Виннипега  железнодорожный путь широкой дугой  идет на запад… Затем рельсы сворачивают на север.

 

The English language uses a metonymic denotation – the material “steel” stands for “rails, railway line”.

 

Coalfields go into action.

Шахтеры бастуют.

 

“Coalfields” – the place of work – stands for the people who work there. Such use is common in English newspaper style.

In all these cases there is a reversal of relationship, in other words, metonymy is rendered metonymically and a comeback to the original notion is thus achieved. But in other cases (as shown above) metonymic translation does not call forth the initial notion but is used a transformational device.

 

I was photographed against autumn. (M.Drabble).

Я была сфотографирована на фоне осеннего пейзажа.

 

The translation of “against autumn” на фоне осени is unacceptable in Russian.

 

Paraphrasing

 

When all other kinds of lexical and grammatical transformations fail, paraphrasing becomes indispensable. Paraphrasing implies rendering the content of the utterance by different semantic and grammatical units. This type of transformation is especially common in translating orders, commands, clichés and phraseological fusions but it is used in other cases, as well.

 

No parking (here) – Стоянка автомобилей запрещена.

 

No reason in the world to get upset.

Нет совершенно никаких оснований расстраиваться.

 

…the Germans proposed to surround all strongholds with deep minefields and fill up the country between them with mines whereas it was “tankable”.

(Desmond Young).

… немцы предполагали окружить все укрепленные пункты глубокими минными полями, а интервалы  между ними всюду, где могли пройти танки – отдельными минами.

 

The absence of a corresponding suffix in the Russian language sometimes necessitates paraphrasing.

 

They (the demonstrators) had run into a solid wall of riot-equipped Washington policemen. (C.Bernstein and B.Woodward).

Участники демонстрации натолкнулись на сплошную стену вашингтонских  полицейстих, специально снаряженных для борьбы с уличными беспорядками.

 

A compound adjective formed by the suffix –ed requires paraphrasing.

 

…”the Communists”, said Mr. Mc Lennan, “are illegally kept off the air”.

...«Коммунистов»,  сказал Мак Леннан, «совершенно незаконным образом лишают права выступать по радио».

 

This example fully reveals the nature of paraphrasing: the cliché “to keep off the air” is translated by a corresponding Russian cliché – лишать права выступать по радио, conveying the same idea by different grammatical and lexical means.

The five types of lexical transformations considered in this chapter: concretization, generalization, antonymic translation, metonymic translation and paraphrasing practically cover the field. Additions and omissions may be added to them.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

STYLISTIC PROBLEMS

 

Different Aspects of Stylistic Problems

 

Stylistic problems of translation may be approached from several angles: styles of language, their peculiarities, their goals and their interrelation; stylistic meaning of words; stylistic devices, their nature and structure, their expressive function; foregrounding of linguistic means for stylistic purposes and its attention-compelling function.

The translation of texts belonging to different functional styles of the language presents a vast comprehensive problem.

A style of language is dependent upon the sphere of communication and the aim of communication which determine the peculiar choice of language means. These means are interrelated and form a system is characteristic of each style. Texts belonging to different styles of language possess distinctive stylistic features and thus are easily recognizable although they may to some extent vary from language to language. These features can be classified as leading or subordinate, obligatory or optional. The leading or dominant features form a common core in the S and T languages. They are reflected in the composition of each text, in its syntactic structure, in the choice of linguistic means and stylistic devices. The same means naturally occur in different styles but their use and functions are different.

 

Official Style

 

Official style is a sub-system of the language, a form of communication functioning in the sphere of official relations. The aim of communication in this stile is to reach agreement between two or more contracting parties. The term of such agreements must be formulated clearly and unambiguously in order to exclude any possibility of misinterpretation. Consequently this style is characterized by the use of words in their direct referential meaning and by the absence of words of emotive meaning. Another outstanding feature of this style is the abundance of special terms, clichés and set expressions of a special nature which make this style distinct from other styles and easily recognizable. Some of them have their counterparts in the target language are to be used by the translator, e.g.

The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. (Charter of the United Nations, article 53).

Совет Безопасности использует, где это уместно, такие региональные соглашения или органы для принудительных действий под его руководством.

The corresponding Russian text is very close to the English text. Yet in three cases there is no formal correspondence due to morphological and syntactical factors:

• The special form “shall + infinitive” (shall utilize), typical of official style, corresponds to the Present indicative (использует) – its Russian counterpart in official style.
• The parenthetical phrase “where appropriate” precedes the notional verb (utilize) while in Russian it comes after the verb использует.
• The attributive combination N₁ + N₂ (enforcement action) has its counterpart “an adjective + noun group” – принудительных действий.

In accordance with the aim of communication the translation of official documents requires utmost precision. Equivalence in the rendering of form is to a considerable extent ensured by the existence of correlated SL and TL patterns, but it cannot be achieved at the expense of the Russian language. For example, synonymous pairs which have an age-long tradition in literary English are also frequently used in official style: the treaty was declared null and void; just and equitable treatment; in good and due form, etc. such use of synonymous pairs in official documents is not so widespread in Russian official stile as they are regarded as pleonastic and therefore they are commonly translated by one word: договор был объявлен недействительным, справедливое отношение, в надлежащей форме.

Scientific Prose Stile

 

What has been said in connection with the translation of official documents can be applied to the translation of scientific prose – physical and natural sciences. In the humanities and in popular science prose a certain emotive and subjective element is apparent.

 

The terrestrial globe is a member of the system, the third in distance from the sun. The earth revolves about the sun, the mean distance of the earth from the sun being a most important astronomic constant.

Земной шар входит в солнечную систему и является третьей планетой по удаленности от Солнца. Земля вращается вокруг Солнца, причем среднее расстояние Земли от Солнца является весьма важной астрономической константой (постоянной величиной).

 

The translation practically does not depart from the SL text. The content is scrupulously rendered, equivalence is absolute. Yet owing to differences between the two languages the following changes have been made:

The construction with the nominal predicate – link verb + predicative (is a member of) is translated by a verbal predicate which is an accepted cliché – входит в; the elliptical construction (the third in distance) is translated by a coordinate clause – и является третьей планетой по удаленности от Солнца; the absolute construction (the mean distance of the earth from the sun being a most important astronomic constant) is also rendered by a coordinate clause – причем среднее расстояние Земли от Солнца является весьма важной астрономической константой. The additions the Russian translation are justified because they are necessitated by structural differences.

 

Newspaper and Publicist Styles

 

These styles possess many features in common yet texts belonging to these styles present considerable variety and may be divided into two groups: texts containing information and texts commenting on it.

News in brief and information articles (newspaper style proper) are devoid of emotive and individual colouring, hence wide use of impersonal passive and Nominative with the infinitive constructions which are also impersonal in character. Clichés form an outstanding feature of this type of text. They are characterized by a considerable compactness of form which is due to want of space. Condensation in its extreme form is especially apparent in headlines and that is the reason why headlines have their own structural peculiarities: omission of auxiliaries, a wide use of verbals, of attributive models, etc., all making for compactness.

Articles containing commentaries (publicist style proper) chief among them editorials, possess a distinct emotive colouring. Their vocabulary is literary and their syntax is rather complicated. Their objective is to influence public opinion, not to inform the reader but to convince him that the paper’s interpretation is correct and to bring him round to its point of view, to condition his views and opinions. This fact explains the use of various expressive means.

Eleven Die in Zagreb Floods

Eleven people are known to have died and tens of thousands are homeless after floods which struck Zagreb on Monday.

 

This brief note possesses a number of peculiar features which have no equivalents in Russian newspaper style: the use of the Present tense instead of the Past; the use of the Nominative Infinitive construction (a secondary predicate according to L.Barchudarov); clichés which are not identical with the Russian clichés. This being the case, several transformations have been resorted to in the translation of the above brief note.

Наводнение в Загребе

Согласно сообщениям, вчера в Загребе в результате наводнения погибло одиннадцать  человек, и десятки тысяч остались без крова.

 

The information contained in the original text is rendered equivalently, no sign item has been omitted but the norms of the Russian newspaper style have caused the omission of some lexical units and the use of substitutions.

Commenting articles, as has been pointed out, bear a distinctive emotive colouring due to the expressive means in them, though these means are hardly ever original. The use of trite metaphors, for example, is more frequent in English newspapers than in Russian papers. That is why trite metaphors are not infrequently substituted or even omitted in translation.

The metaphor used in the following example is toned down in the translated text.

The Industrial Relations Bill is an attempt to slit the throat of trade-unions.

Законопроект  об отношениях в промышленности –  это попытка задушить профсоюзы.

Although the metaphor “to slit the throat” has a corresponding equivalent in the Russian phrase перерезать горло Russian usage does not admit the combination перерезать горло профсоюзам.

That is why the translation substitutes the less picturesque verb задушить which expresses the same meaning and is traditionally used in similar contexts as a sort of cliché.

Different expressive devices (allusions among them) are used in newspaper articles to condition the reader’s views and opinions.

The phrase “the winter of discontent” from Richard III by Shakespeare is widely used in different political contexts and is often adapted to the situation, e.g.

 

Some Trade-Unions warn the Government that it will be a winter of discontent.

The definite article has been substituted by the indefinite, and the possessive pronoun is omitted.

In the following example the adaptation is more conspicuous: the word summer is substituted for winter and the possessive pronoun is also omitted.

 

In former French Africa it was the summer of discontent. One hundred thousand citizens of Chad, led by their president, took to the wind-blown streets of Fort Lamy to protest French involvement in Chad’s internal affairs.

В бывшей французской Африке лето было тревожное. Сто тысяч граждан республики Чад с президентом во главе вышли на занесенные песком улицы Форт Лами в знак протеста против вмешательства Франции во внутренние дела республики.

 

In this case the pragmatic aspect of translation comes to the fore. The Russian reader may not recognize the allusion and it will not call forth the necessary response on his part, whereas the allusions, even in its altered form, is familiar to the English reader. This consideration justifies its omission.

 

Rendering of Form in Translating Emotive Prose

 

The requirements of equivalence in the translation of emotive prose differ considerably from these in other styles where form merely serves to convey the content of the utterance and do not fulfill any expressive and aesthetic function (publicist style in all its genres being to a certain extent an exception). In these styles stylistic means and devices are merely used as their indispensable markers. But in the Belles-Lettres style form and content are inseparable whole; their common goal is to affect the reader emotionally, to appeal to his feelings and to stir his imagination, to arouse his sense of values both ethical and aesthetic. The approach to the problems of equivalence is broader and more flexible in this style. Losses may be greater here but so are the possibilities of compensation because the object in view is to produce as forceful a stylistic effect as that produced by the original. While in the translation of official, scientific and newspaper texts the losses are grammatical or lexical, in the translation of Belles-Lettres texts the losses are also stylistic affecting the expressive value of the translated text. This point may be illustrated by the following example taken from H.W.Morton’s book “In Search of London”, the style of which comes very close to imaginative prose. It is a picturesque and impressive description of the funeral of Henry V.

As the two miles of pompous grief passed through the streets of London, every citizen stood at his doorway holding a lighted taper.

В то время  как торжественная похоронная процессия, растянувшаяся на две мили, двигалась по улицам Лондона, в дверях каждого дома стоял его хозяин с зажженной свечой в руках.

 

The striking metonymical transference of meaning (two miles of pompous grief) cannot be preserved in translation. The combination две мили торжественной скорби is against the norms of Russian valency. The loss in expressiveness is evident here but absolutely unavoidable.

Emotive prose abounds in images which are created by a variety of stylistic devices. A writer’s imagery is always subjective, striking and original his images bear the imprint of his individuality. The choice of stylistic devices and the system of imagery determined by the writer’s design and form one interdependent whole.

When she paid the coachman she took her money out of a hard steel purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time seen a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.

Расплачиваясь с кучером, она достала деньги из твердого металлического кошелька, а кошелек она хранила, как в тюрьме, в сумке, которая висела у нее через плечо на тяжелой цепочке и защелкивалась, будто норовя укусить. Я никогда до тех пор не видел такой металлической леди, как мисс Мердстон.

 

Dickens uses many stylistic devices which are built around the same image “hard steel”: the translation is just as expressive and no losses have been incurred.

Sometimes in the attempt to preserve the writer’s imagery at the same level of expressiveness, the translator “reshuffles” all its components as does Julia Zhukova in her excellent translation of the following extract from Faulkner’s story.

 

They passed so, that semblance of a thrust and a hawk in terrific immobility in mid-air, this an apparition – like suddenness: a soft clatter of hooves in the sere needle and were gone, the man stooping, the woman leaning forward like a tableau of flight and pursuit on a lightning bolt.

Они появились  неожиданно как духи, и так же неожиданно исчезли в мягком стуке  копыт по сухим сосновым иглам, - две птицы, застывшие в быстром  как ветер полете, коршун и его  добыча.

 

These examples especially the latter prove that the conception of equivalence in the translation of emotive prose is flexible, broad and comprehensive. Equivalence in this case is functional, aimed at producing a similar effect in the TL, conveying the same degree of tension, and of emotive colouring in conformity with the author’s design. Substitutions must be qualitatively equivalent. Losses which are inevitable in translation can nearly always be compensated for by a skilful use of substitutions because the same effect can be achieved by different stylistic devices.

 

Prichard’s questions stung him to silent bottled up fury. (J.Hilton).

 

The causative verb + complex object structure is peculiar to the English language and there is no corresponding structure in Russian (stung him to fury). The semantics of the verb “to sting” can be regarded in the Russian translation at the expense of compactness.

 

Вопросы Причарда так его удивили, что он едва мог сдержать свою ярость, но промолчал.

 

The epithet “bottled-up” (fury) cannot be preserved in translation because of different collocability (закупоренная ярость). Hence a certain loss of imagery, but the referential meaning is rendered by the verb одержать.

It is clear from the preceding analysis that fundamental principles of translation are inviolate, but equivalence is not a rigid concept and varies in the rendering of texts belonging to different styles.