Theory of Translation

 

National Character of Stylistic Systems

 

The stylistic system of a language like its phonetic, grammatical and lexical systems bear a distinct national character.

Stylistic devices in different languages are, in the main similar but their functioning in each language, their specific weight and the frequency of their use are widely different. This fact accounts for the necessity of stylistic transformations – substitution and compensation. By means of lexical and grammatical transformations the translator achieves an equivalent rendering of the lexical and grammatical meaning of a word or a form. The same principle is valid when rendering the stylistic meaning of the message, that is, reproducing a similar effect in the TL text, arousing a similar response on the part of the TL reader as well was called forth by the SL text. The translator, however, is often compelled to achieve the intended effect by a different device.

 

“… a blockbuster of a novel. Each chapter leaves the reader banging and eager for more”.

Сногсшибательный  роман! После каждой главы читатель напряженно ждет продолжения.

 

The reversed epithet is translated by a Russian epithet which is equally colloquial and expressive. Although the semantic aspect is not preserved, the two epithets may be regarded as equivalents because they possess a common seme, namely “to knock down”. Sometimes the English and the Russian epithet which appear to be correlated because of their semantic likeness and because of possessing the same degree of triteness are far from being equivalents as they provoke different connotations, for example, toothy – зубастый.the former describes a physical feature, while the latter reveals a moral quality.

 

To the puzzlement of the man speaking to her, she broke into a wide, toothy, unprovoked grin.       (C.P.Snow).

К изумлению  говорившего с ней человека она  неожиданно широко улыбнулась, сверкнув зубами.

 

The epithet is compensated by the expressiveness of the verb.

It should also be borne in mind that stylistic devices which seem to be identical may have different functional values in the S and T languages. In order to achieve a comparable effect another device should be employed. Repetition may illustrate this point. For example, the five-fold repetition of the word “stop” (Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!) in Thomas Hardy’s story “Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir” is compensated lexically by the introduction of conditional words possessing the same degree of expressiveness.

 

Перестаньте! Сию минуту перестаньте! Да перестаньте  же!

 

The emphatic effect of repetition in the following example is made up by the use of a synonymous pair and by the addition of an intensifier.

 

A policy of see no stagnation, hear no stagnation, speak no stagnation has had too long a run for our money.

Слишком долго  мы расплачиваемся за политику полного игнорирования и замалчивания застоя в нашей экономике.

 

Another instance of stylistic substitution in translation is well illustrated by K.Chukovsky’s translation of the alliterative title of Oskar Wild’s essay “Pen, Pencil and Poison” by a rhythmical arrangement of correlated words: “Кисть, перо и отрава”. The same principle appears in another variant of translation: “Яд, перо и карандаш”.

 

Polyfunctional Character of Stylistic Devices

 

Many stylistic devices are polyfunctional: one and the same device may fulfill a variety of functions and produce diverse effects. These functions are sometimes not identical and do not coincide in English and in Russian. The same stylistic devices in two languages reveal complete concurrence, partial concurrence and no concurrence at all.

Alliteration is a case in point. Alliteration is primarily a euphonic device and euphonic function is practically identical in both languages. Alliteration appears to be one of the fundamental features of poetry. But alliteration in prose is more frequently used in English than in Russian and cannot always be preserved. For example, it is not preserved in the translation of the concluding paragraph of Galsworthy’s “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” by M.Lorie.

 

Summer –summer – summer! The soundless footsteps on the grass.

Жарко – жарко  – знойно! Бесшумные шаги по траве.

 

The second function of alliteration is a logical one. Alliteration serves as a link binding together different components of the text. It is used as a bond between the epithet and the qualified word. E.g. silent sea (Oldridge); dusty death (Shakespeare).

Alliteration in its logical function is frequently used in all kinds of emotive prose, e.g.

Nothing befalls him (the author) that he cannot transmute into a stanza, a song, or a story. (Somerset Maugham).

Alliteration here is deliberately used in the enumeration of different poetical and literary forms. The author’s device and its function can, in this case, be easily rendered in translation.

Все, что происходит с писателем, может найти свое воплощение в песне, поэме или повести.

 

Alliteration is also not infrequently used in newspaper and publicist style.

 

At the end of the week the students, tutors and chairman meet to review the school. Everything is criticized, sometimes favorably, from the tutor to the tea, from the bedroom to the beer.

В конце недели студенты, преподаватели и председатель встречаются, чтобы обсудить все учебные дела. Все подвергается критике, иногда благожелательной – и преподаватели, и чай, и спальни и пиво.

 

In this case alliteration has not been preserved. While it is easily rendered in the preceding example and is not forced and sounds quite natural, here it would be rather affected (преподаватели и пирожки, постели и пиво). But the omission of alliteration is compensated by polysyndeton which imparts a certain rhythm to the sentence and makes it emphatic.

Alliteration is widely used in slogans, newspaper headlines and book titles where it fulfills an eye-catching function.

 

We demand universal suffrage because it is our right… we believe it will give us bread, and beef and beer. (Dave Morgan).

Мы требуем  всеобщего избирательного права, потому что это наше право… Мы убеждены, что это даст нам хлеб и мясо и пиво.

 

Alliteration here cannot be preserved as exactitude of expression and of sense may suffer.

The eye-snaring function of alliteration is apparent in newspaper headlines, e.g. Cabinet Cool on Canal; Report on the Rampageous Right; Bacon Blow, etc.

Alliteration is frequently used in the titles of books, e.g.

Sense and sensibility (J.Austin); the Posthumous Paper of the Pickwick Club (Ch. Dickens).

 

Rendering of Trite and Original Devices

 

A translator should be fully aware of the degree of expressiveness of stylistic devices used in the text. A line of distinction must be drawn between what is stylistically trite and what is stylistically original. It especially refers to lexical stylistic devices: deliberate mixing of words belonging to different layers of the vocabulary, metaphors, metonymies, epithets, similes, etc. stylistic equivalence is a fundamental requirement.

Publicist and newspaper styles have different accepted norms in English and in Russian and in conformity with these norms certain stylistic modifications may be necessary. For instance, colloquial and even slang words are frequently used in English newspaper style and therefore a typical modification in translating English newspaper texts into Russian is a switch from colloquial or neutral to literary. Such changes are due to a somewhat greater orientation of Russian newspaper style towards literary norms and standards.

 

You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy historic houses in Britain but it helps.

Не нужно  быть историком педантом, чтобы наслаждаться посещением исторических зданий, но это  помогает.

 

The word “buff” is a highly colloquial, if not slangy word, meaning “a dull, slow-witted person” (Webster III). In the translation its stylistic reference is elevated and it is rendered by a literary word (педант).

A certain toning down is sometimes necessary in the translation of such lexical stylistic devices used in newspaper articles as metaphors, metaphoric epithets and metonymies.

Metaphors are found in all emotively coloured styles of language but metaphors in the Belles-Lettres style (in imaginative prose) are usually original whereas original metaphors in newspaper style are rare, trite metaphors are, as a rule, given preference. The object pursued by editorials to bring the reader round to the paper’s point of view, to suggest that paper’s interpretation is the only correct one. Editorials appeal not only to the reader’s mind but to his feelings as well. That accounts for an extensive use of various stylistic devices, metaphors in particular. But unlike metaphors in imaginative prose metaphors in editorials can be easily replaced if necessary. Such substitution may be caused by different usage, different valency or different TL norms.

 

The communists were the friends of peace in the foul weather of the cold war.

Коммунисты  были верными защитниками мира в мрачные дни холодной войны.

 

The collocation скверная погода холодной войны would violate the norm of Russian stylistic usage as would the combination друзья мира.

 

The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 in South Africa, however, was only the opening wedge of suppression. (W.Pomeroy).

Закон о подавлении коммунизма в Южной Африке был  принят в 1950 г. однако это было только началом репрессий.

 

Oil prices in 1973 soared into orbit.

В 1973 г. цены на нефть невероятно подскочили.

 

Toning down is resorted to in translating trite metonymies which are so extensively used in English.

 

Red carpet for the Oil Prince.

Britain is pushing the boat out this week for the first official visit by one of the world’s most powerful man, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia and the most influential voice in world politics.

Пышная  встреча нефтяного властелина

Англия усиленно готовится к первому официальному визиту на этой неделе одного из самых  могущественных людей в мире – наследного принца и премьер-министра Саудовской Аравии, человека, чей голос имеет решающее значение в международной политике.

 

The headline metonymy (red carpet) is replaced by the words expressing the notion which it stands for (пышная встреча).

The second metonymy is preserved by means of addition.

 

Original Metaphors and Their Translation

 

The preservation of original metaphors in imaginative prose is obligatory as they belong to the main features of a writer’s individual style. If for some linguistic reason (different valency, different semantic structure, etc.) the original metaphor cannot be preserved, resort is taken to stylistic replacements or compensation either by substituting another image or by using another stylistic device, e.g.

 

And Might by limping Sway disabled. (Shakespeare Sonnet 66)

И мощь в плену  у немощи беззубой. (пер. С.Маршака)

 

The metaphoric epithets “limping” and беззубый are formally not identical semantic units but as they have a common seme denoting a physical defect, stylistically they may be regarded as equivalents.

 

The sun would pour through the shutters, tiger-striping the table and floor…

(G. Durrell)

Солнце светило сквозь ставни и столик и пол были похожи на тигровую шкуру.

 

The metaphor is rendered by a simile.

An original metaphor has sometimes to be substituted for grammatical reasons, for instance, the category of gender may be a case in point.

 

Can’t think how he married that glass of sour milk. (W.Deeping).

Не могу себе представить, как он мог жениться на этой чашке кислого молока.

 

The Russian noun стакан is masculine and must in this case be substituted by a feminine noun чашка.

 

A trite metaphor is sometimes revived by adding to it a new image expressed by one or more words.

 

He was a rich vein of information, and I mined him assiduously. (G.Durrell).

Он был неиссякаемым источником информации, и я без устали черпал из него.

Sometimes the difficulty of rendering metaphors in translation is due to the fact that the metaphor is based on some phraseological unit which has no equivalent in Russian.

 

Never before had Lucy met that negative silence in its full perfection, in its full cruelty. Her own edges began to curl up sympathy. (J. Tey).

Никогда еще Люси не сталкивалась с таким абсолютным молчанием, столь характерным для англичан и столь беспощадным; и в ней самой начало закипать негодование.

 

The metaphor in this example “her own edges began to curl up in sympathy” is linked up with two phraseological unities:

1. to be on edge – to be excited or irritable; 2. to set person’s teeth on edge – jar his nerves, affect him with repulsion (The Concise Oxford Dictionary). The semes in this case are reshuffled, the referential meaning of the word “edge” is revived, and the meaning of the two phraseological unities (to be irritable, to have one’s nerves jarred) is present. This interaction of two meanings is perceived as deliberate interplay.

 

Original Metonymies and their Translation

 

The rendering of metonymy is not always easy because of differences in usage.

So the pink sprigged muslin and the champagne voile ran downstairs in a hurry.         (C. Dane).

The metonymies «розовый муслин в цветочках и палевая кисея сбежали по лестнице» are hardly possible in Russian. The following is an acceptable rendering:

Подруги, одна в розовом муслине с цветочками и другая в палевой кисее, быстро сбежали по лестнице.

 

The addition of a concrete word – подруги – is prompted by the macro context, but the stylistic effect is certainly lost in translation. What is permissible and possible in our language is impossible in another. Still there are cases when the norms of the Russian language permit the use of original metonymies.

 

There were only four other people in the bar. I knew them all, or knew what they did for a living: timber, flour, textiles, insurance. Timber and Flower were standing at the counter discussing the cost of labour; Textiles at a table on the opposite side of the room was complaining about his garage bills. Insurance was listening patiently. (J.Braine).

В баре было только еще четыре человека. Я знал их всех, вернее знал, чем они занимаются: строевой лес, мука, текстиль, страхование. Строевой лес и Мука стояли у стойки, обсуждая стоимость рабочей силы; Текстиль, сидя у столика в другом конце бара, жаловался на большие счета за гараж. Страхование терпеливо его слушал.

 

Transferred Epithet and its Translation

 

Another example of different frequency and different specific weight of a stylistic device is presented by the transferred epithet which is a structural variant of the metaphoric epithet. Its expressive force lies in its peculiar distribution: syntactically it modifies one word whereas logically it refers to another. Thus, syntactically it stands apart from the word to which it is semantically attached. Transferred epithets both trite and original are widely used in English while in Russian they are mainly confined to poetry. Such combinations with transferred epithets as “hasty luncheon”, “quick cigarette”, “accusing finger”, “indifferent shoulder”, etc. have become clichés through their frequent use.

Some models of transferred epithets are more unusual and therefore more expressive but nevertheless are rarely preserved in translation.

 

…his commanding officer had called him … and sent him on his puzzled way.    (M. West).

Командир позвал его … и послал его с поручением, которое совсем озадачило его.

 

The Russian translation in keeping with the existing norms of valency re-establishes the logical link between the attribute and the modified word but inevitably destroys the stylistic effect.

 

In the narrow darkness between the doors he drew his pistol. (E.Gardner).

 

The epithet “narrow” semantically refers to the implied word “interval” (between the doors) which is introduced in the Russian translation.

 

В узком темном промежутке между дверями он вынул свой пистолет.

 

Violation of Phraseological Units and its Rendering

 

Another stylistic device which may also be described as national is the so-called violation of phraseological units or renovation. This device is used in all types of phraseological units: fusion, unities and collocations. But despite their stability, phraseological units are easily broken by some lexical element which is either added or substituted. Evidently the ties binding the components are not indissoluble, which is probably due to a wide and flexible collocability of the English language.

The substitution of a component element may be achieved by a synonym or an antonym, by a word with a resembling sound form, or by any word prompted by the context or by the writer’s intention. These substitutions are always occasional and unpredictable, e.g.

 

Every country on the old continent has a fine collection of skeletons in the cupboard.

У всех европейских  стран есть немало неблаговидных тайн, которые они скрывают от других.

 

The meaning is fully rendered but the device is not reproduced in the translation. It is a typical case of semantic but not of stylistic equivalence.

 

The President is not going to be a bull in the economic china shop.

В вопросах экономики президент не собирается вести себя как слон в посудной лавке.

 

The device is rendered by a detached construction.

Substitution based on the phonetic principle can be illustrated by the following example from Winston Churchill’s speech in the Commons after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour:

 

I hesitate to express opinions about the future, because things turn cut so very oddly, but I will go so far as to say that it may be Japanese, whose game is what I may call “To make hell while the sun shines” are more likely to occupy themselves in securing their rich prizes in the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and the Malayan Archipelago”.

Я всегда колеблюсь, когда приходится высказывать мнение относительно будущего, потому что события развертываются таким непредвиденным образом, но я позволю себе сказать, что, возможно, японцы, игра которых заключается в том, чтобы, пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед, скорей всего будут стараться закрепить за собой свои ценные приобретения на Филиппинах, в Голландской Ост-Индии и на Малайском архипелаге.

 

The effect of this violation is enhanced by a play on words resulting from combining two phraseological units: a proverb “to make hay while the sun shines” and a collocation “to make hell”.

Only semantic equivalence is achieved in the translation, as the corresponding Russian proverb Куй железо пока горячо would be irrelevant here.