• TRANSLATION THEORY• EXAM TOPICS AND/OR QUESTIONS• 1/ The Emergence of Translation Theory• 2/ Translation Theory and Contrastive Lingusitics• 3/ Translation Theory and Sociolinguistics• 4/ Socio-linguistic Approaches to Translation Theory from a Historical Perspective• (The Hungarian translation of Sh’s As You Like It as a source for a case study)• 5/ Translation Theory and Psycholinguistics• 6/ Translation Theory and Text Linguistics• 7/ Lingusitic Models of the Translation Process:• a/ the denotative (situative) model• b/ the transformational model• c/ the semantic model• d/ the equivalence model• 8/ Some Aspects of Translation Practice (needed only for the recognition and identification of a

few common translation procedures to be attached to your exam question proper!)• WARNING!!! The texts that follow are not my own creations. They are based on and heavily

draw upon Klaudy Kinga: A fordítás elmélete és gyakorlata, Scholastica, Budapest, 1994 and Languages in Translation, Scholastica, Bp 2007. They can only be used as an auxiliary material to prepare for the exam in Translation Theory. No other use of these texts is permitted! P. Lieli

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory I

• I/1 The nature of translation:• is governed by objective rules as well as allows subjective

decisions;• I/2 The tool of translation:• two languages; two languages cannot be made to function as

naturally as one language;• I/3 The object of translation:• all kinds of texts;• I/4 Is there any continuity in translation theory? • historical traditions;• contrastive, stylistic, sociolinguistic observations;• I/5 Translation as a trade:• since cca. the mid 20th c. a mass activity and source of

income;

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory II

I/6 Translation as a subject of (college) courses:

some theoretical foundations also need to be given.

Requirements:

• a theoretical summary of translators’ experience;

• fixation of some of its objective rules;

• a unified terminology;

• a generally accepted system of basic concepts.

I/7 Translation as an object of linguistic research:

interest in the process of translation itself;

modelling and formulating rules;

applied vs theoretical research.

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory III

I/8 The appearance of linguistics:a huge variety of highly

specialised texts (from political speeches to instruction manuals) that cannot be descibed in terms and concepts of literary translation;

new approaches, methods and terminology, more exact than those of literary science;translations studied in „laboratory conditions”.

I/9 Literary vs linguistic approach to translation, main differences (see table):

Literary approach Linguistic approach

studies artistic texts studies texts of the most various contexts

studies outstanding translators

takes interest in the work of a mass of translators and interpreters

studies individual, unusual, original or surprising solutions

describes frequently occurring procedures

assessment of the outcome

assessment of the process itself

normative or prescriptive

descriptive

evaluation avoidance of evaluation

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory IV

I/10 Translation theory and contrastive linguistics

after the 2nd WW:increasing interest in

learning foreign languages +translation as a mass phenomenon → emergence of contrastive linguistics - synchronic comparison of genetically non-related languages

Contrastive linguistics

Translation theory

Compares systems Compares texts

Compares complete systems

Selects items problematic for translation

Compares elements of the same level

Compares items belonging to different levels

Comparison is usually two-way

Comparison is usually unidirectional

Categories of its own Categories of its own

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory V

I/11 Translation theory and contrastive text linguistics

Recently, contrastive works in text linguistics have also appeared:

translation theory is often identified with contrastive text linguistics.

However, there is an important difference:

Contrastive Text Linguistics

Translation Theory

studies texts that are not translations of each other. Text A and Text B are realisations of language A and language B respectively and are representatives of the two languages independently of each other

collates realisations of the two languages that are mutually dependent, sets up relations of equivalence between A-language and B-language texts

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory VI

I/12 Intralinguistic and extralinguistic elements of the translation situation

intralinguistic: the two languages involved;

extralinguistic: human participants

general context of the translation situation: geographical, historical cultural, political, religious, etc conditions.

I/13 Translation theory as product of interdisciplinary research:

Contribution to translation theory made by:

contrastive linguistics;

(contrastive) text linguistics;

psycholinguistics;

sociolinguistics.

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory VII

I/14 Attitudes to translation theory of

language teachers: emphasis on language skills and proficiency;

practising translators: no theory is needed for a good translation;

researchers: why should translation theory be expected to help improve the quality of translations?

All told, the experience of the past two thousand years or so has not yet been theoretically summarised, systematised and generalised. However, the work has already begun and gathered pace, which also has its importance for the practice of translation, so it also belongs to applied linguistics.

LECTURE IThe Emergence of Translation Theory VIII

I/15 A definition of translation theory:a branch of applied linguistics that studies the process, result and function of

translation with a view to all the intra- and extralinguistic factors characterising the translation situation. Intralinguistic, or, simply, linguistic elements: SL and TL (texts)extralinguistic factors: the SL sender, the TL recipient and the translator (combining both functions in one person);

the SL context (historical, social, cultural, etc.) and the TL context (also historical, social, cultural, etc.).

Translation in the broadest sense implies:• 1/ the written translation of a written text,• 2/ the oral translation of a written text (improvisative or sight-reading tr.),• 3/ the oral translation of a sounding text (interpreting), which can be either:• a/ synchronic/simultaneous• or:• b/ consecutive (the oral translation of a sounding text by sections),• 4/ the written translation of a sounding text•