Translation Theory and Practice Subject code 4BENE1A Unit-I Translating Prose Texts Unit-II Translation of Poems Unit-III Translation of Poems and Plays Unit IV Translation of the Bible 1
C.Kanaga Sudha Assistant Professor Translation Theory and Practice 4BENE1A Unit-I TRANSLATING PROSE TEXTS 1) Translating Prose : Translating prose is considered comparatively easier than translating poetry. But this field also bristles with difficulties. Prose comprises essays, theses and dissertations, dramas and novels. Prose is a vast field. Though so much has been written about the translation of poetry, not much has been written about prose. It is because people think that poetry has a higher status and a novel, they think, could be easily translated. Prose is difficult to translate. If one translates the first few pages of a novel, we can find out how difficult it is to translate it, without considering how the opening relates to the structure of the text as a whole. The content is not separable from form. The tone of the work, the combination of sentences, consideration of the stylistic devices, etc. are to be considered in prose. If the Translator handles the sentences for their content alone, the outcome will involve a loss of dimension. Writers, try, again and again, to create readable TL Texts. 2) Rules laid down by Hilaire Belloc for translating prose : Belloc lays down six rules for translating prose. They are discussed below. a) The translator should avoid word-by-word and sentence-by-sentence translation. The translator should undertake section by-section or block-by-block translation. He should read the work as a whole and then divide it into blocks, to be translated one by one. b) The translator should pay special attention to idioms. Some idioms in the SL text have equivalent idioms in the TL text. Belloc says that the Greek exclamation By the dog can be translated as. By God in English. c) The translator must seek to echo the implications and intentions of the original writer and not merely the achieved results and explicit and direct statements. d) Belloc warns the translator against less faux amis, that is, structures that seem to be similar in the SL and TL text but are not really so. e) Belloc advises the translator to transmute boldly. He says that the essence of translation is the resurrection of an alien thing in a native body. 2
f) Finally, Belloc warns the translator against unnecessary embellishment and embroidery. 3) Difficulties in translating prose texts : There are many insurmountable difficulties in translating prose texts. They are discussed one by one below. Catford on untranslatability : Catford has pinpointed two types of untranslatability, namely i) lexical untranslatability and ii) cultural untranslatability. i) Lexical untranslatability : lexical untranslatability is due to the non-availability of equivalent words in the target language. Theodore Savory, Alan Duff and Eugene Nida have discussed this point a length. Savory points out that the English language, supposed to be one of the richest languages in the world, yet lacks some very ordinary words which other languages have. He says that the French word menue and the Latin word auger have no equivalents in English. ii) Untranslatability due to grammatical differences : In English, you is used to refer to both one person and more than one person. The verb is the same for both these pronouns. In English there are dummy subjects, such as It and There. For example, in the following sentences It and There only introduce the sentences. They do not have any meaning : It is raining heavily. There are many flower-plants in her garden. iii) Cultural untranslatability : Cultural untranslatability is due to the gap between the culture of the SL language and that of the TL language. Modern American fiction dealing with sexual promiscuity with explicit erotic details will sound most revolting to an orthodox Indian. Similarly, a Tamil novel dealing with arranged marriages and the sour relationship between a girl and her in-laws will not exist in Western countries. There is no equivalent Tamil word for widower because the man who loses his first wife usually remarries and does not remain a widower here. 3
Unit-II TRANSLATION OF POEMS Poetry is difficult to translate. Poetry has elements like rhyme, metre, figures of speech, etc. These elements are difficult to translate. The poetic elements and the ideas in a poem are difficult to translate. The special feature of poetry is melody. The melody in a poem is due to sibilants, liquid consonants, vowels etc. These melodies are difficult to translate. Savory a critic says that poem is a subtle spirit. The poetic spirit evaporates in translation. It leaves only the dead body. Scholars recommend translating a poem into a prose. Matthew Arnold and Belloc view that verse is better said in prose. David Cecil translated Dante s the Divine Comedy into prose. W. A.D Raves, E.V.Rien and T. E Lawrence translated Homer s Odyssey into prose. LEFEVERE S CLUES FOR VERSE-TO- VERSE TRANSLATION: Lefevere gives some tips to translate poems. They are as follows. 1) Literal translation of poem: In this translation, the syntax of the original is retained. Sense is given less importance. 2) Metrical translation of poem: It retains the metre of the original poem. It ignores the other aspects. 3) Phonetic translation of poem: It reproduces the sounds of the original. Sense is given less Importance. 4) Rhymed translation of poem: It only concentrates on the rhyme scheme of the SL text. 5) Blank verse translation of poem: It concentrates on the structure and sense of the SL text. 6) Interpretation: 4
The translator pays more attention to the sense. Less importance is given to the form in interpretation PATNAYAK ON TRANSLATING POEMS: Patnayak says that both the poet and the translators are media. The poet expresses his experiences in his poems. The translator transfers poet s experiences into other languages. He gives the following suggestion for the translators of epics and classics. 1) The translator must concentrate on the message of the poem. 2) He must understand the form and the meter of the poem. 3) He must decide whether to translate the poem in parts or wholly. 4) He must decide whether to translate the poem closely or not. 5) He must first understand the allusions and references in the poem then he he must go for translation. OBSTACLES IN TRANSLATING POEMS: Obstacles in translating poems are I) Lexical Obstacles II) Structural Obstacles and III) Phonological Obstacles 1) Lexical Obstacles : More allusions in the poem rise to lexical obstacles. The allusions in Spenser s The FaerieQueene are historical and spiritual. Milton s The Paradise Lost is full of mythological allusions. Devaram and Thiruvasakam contain many religious allusions. The translator must first understand the allusions and then go the translation. 2) Structural Obstacles : It is difficult to transfer the structure of the poem in the TL text. Tiruvalluvar s Kural is difficult to translate in the same structure and 5
sense. Similarly, Shakespeare s sonnets are difficult to translate in the same form. 3) Phonological Obstacles: The special feature of poetry is melody. The poet uses figures of speeches such as rhyme, metre, assonance, onamatopoeia, alliteration, etc. They produce melody. Tennyson uses liquid consonants and long and short vowels to produce musical effects in his poems. Hopkins uses alliteration. Milton uses rhythmic patterns in blank verse. All these phonological effects are difficult to translate Unit-III TRANSLATION OF POEMS AND PLAYS KAVIMANI S TRANSLATION OF EDWIN ARNOLD S LIGHT OF ASIA : 1) The Subject of Light of Asia: Edwin Arnold wrote Light of Asia. In this poem, he deals with Siddhartha s life. Siddhartha was a prince. He led a princely life. He hated the pleasures of princely life. Therefore, he renounced his princely life. He searched for enlightenment. He became Buddha finally. Kavimani Desika Vinayakam Pillai follows the line in his Tamil translation, Aaciya Jothi. 2) The changes made by Kavimani: Kavimani divinizes Siddhartha. He calls him an avathar. Edwin Arnold shows him as an ordinary man. Edwin Arnold s Siddhartha is only a prince. He becomes sick of princely life. He sees the sufferings of the people around him. Therefore, he seeks the meaning of life. Kavimani also describes the charms of Siddhartha s wife, Maya. He also closely describes the harrowing sights of three people. They are an old man a sick man, and a dead man. They transform Siddhartha to Buddha. Edwin only touches upon these matters. Kavimani also introduces supernatural elements in his translation. Siddhartha s wife Maya hears strange whisperings the night Siddhartha leaves the palace. Hence, Kavimani s translaton is not a word-for-word translation. He takes liberties with the original. He changes to suit to Indian culture. Thus Kavimani transcreates the English poem into Tamil. 6
Unit IV TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE The Bible is the greatest classic in English Literature. It was only available in Greek and Latin. Translation of the bible was carried out in both Old English and Middle English period. THE BIBLE ION THE OLD ENGLISH: Bede first translated the Bible into English in the Old English period. He translated the Gospel of St. John. Lindisfarne Gospels, The Rush worth Gospels and West Saxon version of Bibles were also available in the Old English period. THE BIBLE ION THE MIDDLE ENGLISH: Many Gospels translation existed in the Middle English period. They are as follows. 1) Wycliffe (1320-840): Wycliffe guided many scholars to translate the Bible into English. 2) John Purvey (1388): John Purvey s translation is extremely simple. 3) William Tyndale (1536): Tyndale translated the Hebrew and Greek Bibles. He did not translate The Latin Bible. 4) The Great Bible (1560): It was the first Authorized Version. A group of scholars carried it out. They worked under the command of Henry VIII. 5) The Geneva Bible (1560): The Bible is also called Breeches Bible. In this Bible, the naked Adam and Eve use fig leaves as breeches. They use it to cover their private parts. Calvinist thinking colors this Bible. 6) The Bishops Bible (1568): A committee of bishops brought it out. They worked under the head of Queen Elizabeth. 7) King James I s version of the Bible (1611): It is considered as an authentic translation of the Bible. In the year 1604, the Puritans arranged a conference at Hampton Court. It was headed by James I. The Puritans asked James I to arrange to translate the Bible into English. He decided to fulfill their wishes. He did so to get their support. He appointed 47 scholars to translate. They were divided into six groups. Each of them was given a certain portion of the Bible to translate. The work began in the 1607. It was completed in 1611. PROMINENT FEATURES OF KING JAMES I S VERSION OF THE BIBLE 1) The important feature of King James I s version of the Bible is strong faith in the Divine Spirit. 2) King James I s version of the Bible has three portions 7
i) expository ii) narrative iii) lyrical i) EXPOSITORY: The expository part has three aspects a) Exhortation b) Information and c) Advice Deuteronomy and Pauline Epistles come under the expository part. ii) NARRATIVE: The narrative portion consists of the Pentateuch and the Gospels of all the Apostles in the New Testament. iii) LYRICAL: The lyrical portion is the most readable portion in the King James I s version of the Bible. It contains The Book of Job, the Psalms, the Song of Solomon. The images used in the lyrical portions are the objects from everyday life. 3) King James I s version of the Bible influenced both the readers and the writers. Many expressions used in everyday life are from this version. The eleventh hour, a thorn in the flesh, a good Samaritan, sweat of the brow- these are commonly used expression from this version. 4) It also influenced writers like John Bunyan, Ruskin, Milton, Tennyson, Browning, Hopkins and T. S Eliot. ************************************************************************ 8
Pentateuch, the Christian name for the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible, which people believe were written by Moses, and which Jewish people call the "Torah" Gospel one of the four books in the Bible about Christ's life: Gnostic Gospels, the ancient writings which some people believe were once been part of the bible, and were taken out by early priests who disagreed with their messages. Lindisfarne Gospels, the an illuminated (=with the pages decorated with gold paint and other bright colours copy of the four Christian Gospels, produced at the end of the 7th century on the island of Lindisfarne and now kept in the British Museum the Gospel according to St Luke apostle one of the 12 people chosen by Jesus Christ to teach and spread the Christian religion psalm a song or poem praising God, especially in the Bible Song of Solomon, the a book of the Old Testament of the Bible, also known as The Song of Songs or The Canticles, which is thought to have been written by King Solomon. It contains love poems which are considered to represent God's love for his people. 9