THE OBJECT OF TRANSLATION

1.1 Terminological issues

There is no general agreement in the English language as to the name of the discipline
this course deals with. Some contemporary scholars simply call it translation (e.g. Baker 1992)
although the term has often been used so as to include the whole practice of translation as well.
Translation theory is the "traditional" name that was given to the general knowledge about
translation.
Good literary translations could be achieved. They belong to authors and translators such
as Martin Luther (1530), Etienne Dolet (1540), John Dryden (1680), Alexander Tytler (1792),
Friederich Schleiermacher (1813), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1819), etc. The term
translation theories (Gentzler 1993) reflects the diversity of contemporary trends in translation.
Peter Newmark, among others, has suggested translatology (1981). Various schools tend to refer
to their field as translation studies, a more flexible term.
The term translation studies was coined by James Holmes, a scholar belonging to the
Low Countries Group, in a seminal paper presented in 1972 at the 3rd International Conference
of Applied Linguistics in Copenhagen, "The Name and Nature of Translation Studies".

Translation Studies

(A) "Pure" (B) Applied

Theoretical Descriptive

General Partial Product Process Function Translator Translator Translator

Oriented Oriented Oriented Training Aids Criticism

Medium Area Rank Text-Type Time Problem

Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted

Translation is "the substitution of a text in one language for a text in another language"
(C. Catford 1965); "an attempt to replace a written message / statement by the same message /
statement m another language" (P. Newmark 1981). Translation has also been defined as a
"bilingually mediated communication" (J.Delisle 1988).
From a semiotic perspective, Roman Jakobson (1959) integrates translation with a wider
and more coherent theory of communication. He distinguishes between intralingual translation
(inside the same language, whenever we explain something using paraphrase or replace a word
using a synonym, etc.), interlingual translation (between different languages) and intersemiotic
translation (possible because of the existence of other codes, i.e. the musical code, the colour
code, etc., whose message can also be translated, i.e. explained).
Contemporary discourse on translation no longer ignores the cultural embedding of both
source and translated texts, which governs in a decisive way the translators choices.
1.2. The relationship between theory and practice in translation studies
Translations exist and are being performed all the time, in every part of the world. In a
narrower sense, translation rules have always been built inductively, through the accumulation of
data from the practice of translation. From the more complex perspective of translation studies,
this relationship is far from being very smooth. On the one hand, it is one of the (ambitious) aims
of the discipline to be able to "distinguish regularity of behaviour in recurrent situations of the
same type".
1.3. Brief diachronic survey
Translations were absolutely necessary and consequently they could not be taken as
ornaments in the cultural life of any country.
The importance of translations since ancient times may be proved with the authority of
historical documents. The great civilisations of antiquity made extensive use of them. The first
traces date from the year 3,000 . . during the Egyptian Old Kingdom. In the 9th century King
Arthur the Great was the first important translator of Latin works into -English. Religious
translations played an important part in the development of languages and literatures. Luthers
Bible (1522) and King James's Bible (1611) are significant examples in this respect for Germany
arid England.
In Romania. In 1559 Deacon Coresi published a religious text, ntrebare cretineasc
(The Christian Inquiry), which is regarded as the first (still available) Romanian translation.
Koglniceanu rejected translations on the grounds that they could destroy the specificity of the
Romanian culture.
1.4. Main issues
For many centuries, translation theory approached a rather limited number of issues,
structured as a series of dichotomies closely related to each other: possibilities / impossibilities
of translating; faithful / unfaithful? translations; literal / free translations; source, language (and
culture) / target language (and culture) oriented translations; etc.
Translation possible or impossible?
The myth of the Tower of Babel has been interpreted as either the beginning of
translation or, more recently, as a warning that translations are doomed to failure.
Another lexical argument against translatability is that of the lack of symmetry between
languages, both in terms of synonymic series and of semantic fields. Thus, in the Eskimo
language there are 30 words for snow, in Argentina 200 names for horse-skins are used, whereas
Arabic provides many synonyms for camel.
There comes, then, the special category of "untranslatable terms", relating to a specific
geographic, historic, socio-cultural experience, which have always been touchstones for the
translators. Words such as charme, esprit (French), gentleman, understatement (English), dor,
tain, spaiu mioritic (Romanian) belong to this category.

1.5. The fidelity of translation

The problem that lies at the core of the traditional translation discourse - irrespective of
its degree of elaboration - is that of fidelity either to the spirit or to the letter. Today, the various
classifications and typologies suggested by scholars are related to it, although sometimes they
take more sophisticated forms.
In every epoch there have been faithful or "unfaithful, literal or free translations and
extreme theoretical positions have, sometimes, led to strange results.

TRANSLATION THEORY: OBJECT AND OBJECTIVES

Translation is a means of interlingual communication. The translator makes possible an
exchange of information between the users of different languages by producing in the target
language (TL or the translating language) a text which has an identical communicative value
with the source (or original) text (ST). This target text (TT, that is the translation) is not fully
identical with ST as to its form or content due to the limitations imposed by the formal and
semantic differences between the source language (SL) and TL. Nevertheless the users of TT
identify it, to all intents and purposes, with ST - functionally, structurally and semantically.
The functional status of a translation is supported by its structural and semantic similarity
with the original.
The structure of the translation should follow that of the original text: there should be no
change in the sequence of narration or in the arrangement of the segments of the text.
Of major importance is the semantic identification of the translation with ST. It is
presumed that the translation has the same meaning as the original text. No exchange of
information is possible.
The science of translation or translatology is concerned both with theoretical and applied
aspects of translation studies. A theoretical description of the translation phenomenon is the task
of the theory of translation.
The linguistic theory of translation is concerned with translation as a form of speech
communication establishing contact between communicants who speak different languages.
The core of the translation theory is the general theory of translation which is concerned
with the fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of bilingual communication
and therefore common to all translation events, irrespective of what languages are involved or
what kind of text and under what circumstances was translated.
 The translator has to deal with works of the great authors of the past and of the leading
authors of today, with intricacies of science fiction and the accepted stereotypes of detective
stories, must be able to cope with the elegancy of expression of the best masters of literary style
and with the tricks and formalistic experiments of modern avant-gardists.
His duty is to translate diplomatic representations and policy statements, scientific
dissertations and brilliant satires, maintenance instructions and after-dinner speeches, etc.
In consecutive interpretation he is expected to listen to long speeches, taking the
necessary notes, and then to produce his translation in full or compressed form, giving all the
details or only the main ideas.
In some cases the users will be satisfied even with the most general idea of the meaning
of the original, in other cases the translator may be taken to task for the slightest omission or
minor error.
Each type of translation has its own combination of factors influencing the translating
process. The general theory of translation should be supplemented by a number of special
translation theories identifying major types of translation activities and describing the
predominant features of each type.
Another important branch of the theory of translation is concerned with the study of ST
and TT units which can replace each other in the translating process. A bilingual theory of
translation should study two separate sets of equivalents, with either language considered, in
turn, as SL and the other as TL.
. The communicants involved in interlingual communication speak different languages
but they also belong to different cultures, have different general knowledge, different social and
historical background.
The translator has to assess the possible communicative effect of TT and take pains to
ensure an adequate understanding of its message by TR. This may necessitate expanding or
modifying the original message to make it more meaningful to the members of a different
language community.