LESSON 8
Translation shift (HM unit 4 cont):
• Translation of:
- European Union document
- business letter
- George Orwell’s 1984
• Comparing Italian translations of 1984
The small linguistic changes that occur between ST and
TT are known as translation shifts (Catford 1965, see
section B, Text B4.1, HM pp142-148). His definition of
shifts is ‘departures from the formal correspondence in
the process of going from the SL to the TL’. Formal
correspondence is defined by Catford as ‘any TL
category (unit, class, structure, element of structure, etc.)
which can be said to occupy, as nearly as possible, the
‘same’ place in the ‘economy’ of the TL as the given SL
category occupies in the SL (HM 27). E.g., ‘a noun such
as “fenêtre” might be said generally to occupy a similar
place in the French language system as the noun
“window” does in English’.
Formal correspondence (see previous slide) is not the
same as textual equivalence. Textual equivalence
concerns relations that exist in a specific ST-TT pair.
E.g., the textual equivalent for ‘au dehors’ in the
warnings in train carriages is ‘out of the window’. But
the formal correspondence of ‘au dehors’ would be
‘outside’. A translation shift occurs when textual
equivalence rather than formal correspondence exists in a
given ST-TT pair.
Catford introduced the term translation shift (see HM
142-147) but its most comprehensive taxonomy is
developed in Vinay and Darbelnet (see HM: 148-151).
Translate the following text from the EU website. You
will need to use many fixed ST-TT textual equivalents
that do not have formal correspondence, and which are
therefore examples of translation shifts.
Doing Business ||| Finance and support ||| EU funding for
small businesses ||| What conditions apply? Grants provided
directly by the Commission:
- serve as complementary financing, the EU does not finance
projects up to 100%
- are meant to help projects break even financially; they
cannot result in a profit for the grant beneficiary
- cannot be awarded retroactively for projects already
completed
- are awarded on a one-grant-per-project basis.
Who is eligible? Businesses or related organisations (business
associations, business support providers, consultants, etc.)
running projects that further the interests of the EU or
contribute to the implementation of an EU programme or
policy.
Here’s the Italian translation, available at:
http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/funding-grants/euprogrammes/index_it.htm
Fare impresa ||| Finanziamenti e sostegno ||| Finanziamenti UE per le
piccole imprese ||| Quali condizioni si applicano?||| Le sovvenzioni
erogate direttamente dalla Commissione:
-servono da finanziamento complementare, l'UE non finanzia progetti al
100%
- intendono aiutare i progetti ad ottenere un equilibrio finanziario; non
possono risultare in un utile per il beneficiario
- non possono essere erogate retroattivamente a progetti già conclusi
- sono destinate ad un singolo progetto e non possono essere integrate da
altre sovvenzioni analoghe.
Chi può candidarsi? Imprese o organizzazioni correlate (associazioni di
categoria, servizi di sostegno alle imprese, consulenti, ecc.) i cui progetti
promuovono gli interessi dell'UE o contribuiscono all'attuazione di un
programma o di una politica dell'UE.
Examples of textual equivalence here include:
1. …are meant to help projects break even financially
…intendono aiutare i progetti ad ottenere un equilibrio
finanziario
2. …in a profit for the grant beneficiary
… in un utile per il beneficiario
3. are awarded on a one-grant-per-project basis
sono destinate ad un singolo progetto e non possono
essere integrate da altre sovvenzioni analoghe.
4. Who is eligible? Chi può candidarsi?
COMPENSATION:
Another important concept, which is related to ‘textual
equivalence’, is the strategy of compensating for a translation loss:
the translator offsets an inevitable loss at one point by adding a
suitable element at another point (HM 31). One example (OMIT
Munday 90) is the translation of dialogue. If the SL is Italian (a
T/V language), and if the ST shows a switch from formal to
informal address such as the phrase ‘diamoci del tu’, the English
TT will need to find a compensatory way of rendering this. E.g.,
‘Don’t call me Professor Locatelli, call me Pietro’. ||| Call me by
my first name, please. ||| Maybe we can start being less formal with
each other?
Interesting article: ‘La falsa democrazia del 'diamoci del Tu’. Link:
http://quintavalle.blogspot.it/2008/12/la-falsa-democrazia-deldiamoci-del-tu.html
Other examples of COMPENSATION are found in the translation
of business letters. These may involve circumlocutions that can
cause a loss of exact equivalence, but where compensatory
mechanisms come into play (Taylor 281-282).
Dear Sirs,
With reference to your letter of 27th October, in which you ask us
to consider some revision in our existing arrangements 1 in regard
to commission, we inform you that we find it difficult to allow 2
an increased commission on our goods.
Dear Sir/Madam,
With reference to your letter of 27th October, in which you ask us to consider
some revision in our existing arrangements 1 in regard to commission, we
inform you that we find it difficult to allow 2 an increased commission on our
goods.
Egregio Sig.
in referimento alla Sua lettera del 27 ottobre, con la quale ci richiede di
apportare alcune modifiche concernenti la provvigione precedentemente
concordata 1, La informiamo che non ci sembra il caso2 di modificare quanto
già fissato.
In 1 the noun group in English (= ‘existing arrangements’) is lost but textual
equivalence is restored in Italian by using an adverb + participle construction (=
‘precedentemente concordata’) .
In 2 the meaning of the lexeme ‘difficult’ is lost but textual equivalence is
recovered through using a negative construction with a mental-process verb +
noun (= ‘non ci sembra il caso’).
Apply the concepts of translation equivalence and compensation to your
translation of this passage from the beginning of George Orwell’s 1984:
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of
it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to
the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre
wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black
moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the
stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was
seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during
daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for
Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was
thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went
slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite
the liftshaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It
was one of those pictures, which are so contrived that the eyes follow
you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,
the caption beneath it ran.
Compare these 2 Italian translations by G. Baldini (1950) (GB) and
S. Manferlotti (2000) (SM) with your translation:
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end
of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked
to the wall.
GB. L’ingresso rimandava odore di cavoli bolliti e di vecchi tappeti
sfilacciati. Nel fondo, un cartellone a colori, troppo grande per
essere affisso all’interno, era stato inchiodato al muro.
SM: L'ingresso emanava un lezzo di cavolo bollito e di vecchi e
logori stoini. A una delle estremità era attaccato un manifesto a
colori, troppo grande per poter essere messo all'interno.
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