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10. Equivalence in translation theory
W. Koller
"Equivalence" is obviously a central concept in translation theory, and much has been
written on it. The general consensus nowadays seems to be that it is not helpful to think of the
notion as a uniform one, nondifferentiated. Rather, there are several types of equivalence, some
more important than others, some applicable to one type of text and others to other types. Each text
needs its own hierarchy ofpriorities.
Much of the modern discussion starts with Nida's advocation of dynamic equivalence
against formal equivalence (see the introduction to chapter 9 above). Koller, in this extract from his
book (1979), differentiates more types and sets out to clarity some of the confusion surrounding the
term.
The increasing use of computers in linguistic research has an obvious application in, for instance,
the study of "connotations of frequency" (cf. 2(f) below), with respect to the both items and
structures in different text types. We can surely expect more studies of this "statistical equivalence"
in future.
"Text normative-equivalence" (cf. section 3) is obviously linked to the study of text types;
see chapter 11 below, which also discusses Bühler's analysis referred to by Koller here. Koller's
"pragmatic equivalence" (section 4), with its stress on translating for a particular readership, has
The following connotative dimensions are thus relevant for translation (see e.g. Rossipal 1973,
Baldinger 1968):
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(a) connotations of speech level (connotative values such as + elevated, + poetic, + normal, +
colloquial, + slang, + vulgar);
(b) connotations of socially determined usage (+ student language, + military usage, + working-class
language, + educated class, etc);
(c) connotations of geographical relation or origin (+ non-regional, + American English, + dialect X,
etc);
(d) connotations of medium (+ spoken language, + written);
(e) connotations of stylistic effect (+ archaic, + pompous, + artifical,
+. fashionable, + euphemistic, + plain, + descriptive, etc);
(f) connotations of frequency (+ common, + uncommon);
-(g) connotations of register (+ normal usage, + technical, + medical);
(h) connotations of evaluation (+ positively evaluative, + pejorative,
+ ironic,, etc);
(i) connotations of emotion (+ emotive [i.e. using emotive language to describe a given topic], +
neutral).
1
A major task of translation theory is to characterize the connotative dimensions of individual
languages (e.g. with the support of stylistic studies), to analyse their features and structural elements,
and then relate these to the connotative dimensions of a given target language. Further research could
examine problematic cases in translations of particular texts, and also the translation procedures
involved in the area of connotation.
The achievement of connotative equivalence is one of the hardest problems of translation, and can
seldom be absolute; this makes it all the more important to set up corpus-oriented studies of
individual languages and texts, focusing on particular lexical and syntactic areas that are
connotatively "loaded" (cf. e.g. Boecker 1973).
3. Legal contracts, instructions for use, business letters, scientific texts and the like all follow lexical
and syntactic norms of both selection and usage (i.e. norms of style); to translate in accordance with
these norms is to aim at textnormative equivalence. In a similar sense, in his discussion of translation
criticism, Wilss (1974:37) speaks of "usage norms"
because both SL and TL have certain pre-established schemata of linguistic expression, accepted
forms of linguistic behaviour and restrictive rules, where the communicative effect of the translation
therefore lies in the TL realization of quite specific performance norms; these norms are basically
intralingual, and hence also interlingually conventionalized to some extent, and they must be
correlatable.
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The description and correlation of these patterns of speech usage in particular text types is an
important goal of a translation theory oriented towards two given languages. This kind of research
can make good use of the methods and results of functional text analysis, which looks at the
functionally differentiated, obligatory patterns of language usage in a variety of actual com-
munication situations.
4. The concepts of "usage norm" and "functional norm" introduce a pragmatic point of view: in
observing the usage norms for particular texts one takes account of the linguistic/textual expectation
norm, the expectations that the reader brings to a given type of text. Now, it often happens that a text
- e.g., a legal text - needs to be translated in such a way that the TL text does not follow the usage
norms, because the TL readership is not restricted to a narrow circle of legal experts. In such a case
the text must be translated, and in fact edited, into a form that will reach the intended receivers, i.e.
be comprehensible to them. The achievement of pragmatic equivalence, then, means translating the
text for a particular readership (see e.g. Heger 1976). This may - or even must - result in deviating
from the requirements of text-normative, connotative or even denotative equivalence. A translation
of a political commentary which sought to persuade the original readers to a particular political
action usually has a different function in the target language, and addresses its readers with different
presuppositions.
From this point of view, translation theory should analyse the communicative conditions appropriate
for different receiver groups in different language-pairs and texts, and establish the principles and
procedures whereby pragmatic equivalence can be achieved.
5. To achieve formal equivalence in a TL text is to produce an "analogy of form" in the translation,
by exploiting the formal possibilities of the TL or even by creating new forms if necessary. Reiss
(1976: 21) describes this kind of equivalence as follows:
It [the translation] orients itself towards the particular character of the work of art, taking as its
guiding principle the author's creative will. Lexis, syntax, style and structure are manipulated in such
a way that they bring about in the target language an aesthetic effect which is analogous to the
expressive individual character of the source text.
Here, translation theory needs to analyse the possibilities of formal equivalence with the respect to
categories such as rhyme, verse forms, rhythm. 103
special stylistic forms of expression in syntax and lexis, word play, metaphor and so on. There
already exist a large number of individual literary studies of different texts and authors, and there are
also some general discussions of literary translation such as those of Kloepfer (1967), Levy (1969)
and Savory (1968).
6. In his study of the translation of scientific and technical literature, Jumpelt (1961: 46) refers with
good reason to the empirical fact that "translation carinot guarantee a global, undifferentiated
preservation of all values; translation always involves the necessity of a choice." With every text as a
whole, and also
with ;every segment of a text, the translator who conciously makes such a choice must set up a
hierarchy of values to be preserved in the translation; from
this he can derive a hierarchy of equivalence requirements for the text or segment in question. This
in turn must be preceded by a translationally relevant text analysis. It is an urgent task for translation
theory - and one on which no more than some preliminary work has so far been done - to develop a
methodology and conceptual apparatus for this kind of text analysis, and to bring together and
systematize such analyses in terms of translationally relevant typologies of textual features.
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