Types of Translation Problems

TYPES OF TRANSLATION PROBLEMS

• TITLES
• STYLIZED LANGUAGE
• REGIONAL DIALECTS
• STRONG LANGUAGE
• COLLOQUIALISMS
• HUMOUR
• UNTRANSLATABLE WORDS AND CULTURE SPECIFIC REFERENCES
• QUOTATIONS FROM OTHER SOURCES

TITLES

• literal: a) nominal (Evaristo Carriego-Borges); b) foreign phrases/words (Terra Nostra-Carlos Fuentes); c)titles retained (Extramuros-Fernández Santos)

• near literal: possibility of word to word translation (Cien años de soledad-One Hundred Years of Solitude-Garcia Marquez)

• liberal "free": creative/fidelity of the translator (Una familia lejana-Distant Relationship-Carlos Fuentes) (El hacedor-Dreamtiger-Jorge Luis Borges)

Doyle (1989)

TITLES

How would you tranlate the following titles: ROLL OF THUNDER HEAR MY CRY (Mildred Taylor) BEDTIME STORY (Movie starring Adam Sandler)

STYLIZED LANGUAGE

• Need to maintain the correct style, tone, and mood

• Awkwardness ( does not work in the TL ): a)subtly refer to it; b)move from direct to indirect dialogue; c)leave it out

STYLIZED LANGUAGE

• LITERARY POINT OF VIEW: macroscopic /work of art(thought,feelings and style of the original)

• LINGUISTIC POINT OF VIEW: microscopic/study of words, sentences, paragraphs of the text e.i. choose the best words or expressions to reproduce thought,feelings and style of the original

STYLIZED LANGUAGE

• STEP 1: the translator most appreciate the tone and spirit of the text: what style it reflects (literary and linguistic point of view).
• STEP 2: translates sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph keeping the original style in mind.

Ask himself:

• Whay does the autor say?
• What does he mean?
• How does he say it?

REGIONAL DIALECTS

• It´s rythm and pattern of the original language

• Leaving in many unknown cultural references may weaken a book and loose readers some essence of something different must be kept

• Sometimes it is necessary to add an explanation so that it makes sense en the TT

...Beka had seen anywhere on a rose bush; her mother never feared the thorns of these deep red roses with black tipped petals , which grew in the shelter of the vat on the shady side of the house. (from the novel Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell) 'I am never going to plant another thing!' Beka shouted. 'No vex with me, Beka.? Chuku retorted. 'I am not vexed with you, Chuks,' Beka said... (from the novel Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell)

REGIONAL DIALECTS

How would you translate this sentence into Spanish? "Break a leg," said the teacher to her students.

STRONG LANGUAGE

• Explecatives most remain but should be made accessible and relevant, without offending more delicate sensibilities.

• Swearing in some cultures is a common activity and wealthy (which cannot be matched in some English equivalents)

Colloquialisms

• Most relevant problem: timeliness (current?)

• Find the right translator ( sensitive to the cultural and colloquial differences / good working knowledge of colloquialisms, dialect and slang in the native country to be able to come up with the right equivalent in the TL

Humour

• Something hugely funny in another language can fall flat in English

• Equivalents may simply be out of context with the book itself, and often seem nonsensical

• Most successful translations of jokes are more likely to be replacements than literal translations—replacing jokes from the SL with a comparable joke TL

Humour

Untranslatable words and culture-specific references

• add an inconspicuous explanatory phrase/word
• Translator: assume the position of the reader, consider the overall experience of reading the original and how best to approximate that experience for the reader
• leave it in the text (provide a glossary)
• foot note

Example: croque monsieur ‘the cheese oozed over the salty ham of his croque monsieur sandwich’

Quotations from other sources

• it's good practice to seek existing translations

• some quotes do not translate; others must be altered to make their meaning and relevance to the text clear

• leaving the original and include a footnote explanation of the quote/poetry/lirics

Quotations from other sources

• To err is human; to forgive is divine (Alexander Pope)

• Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration (Thomas Edison)

THANKS!