Chapter 9

The role of the translator: visibility, ethics and sociology

Date: 2010/ 11/ 24 Instructor : Prof. Presenter : Eliza () Student No : M9947006

9.0 Introduction

(1) (2)

This chapter focuses on:

The position and involvement of the translator Others involved in the translation process.

(1) (2) (3)

Key concepts (part 1)

Venutis invisibilty of the translator (9.1.1) Venutis foreignizing & domesticating translation strategies (9.1.2) Bermans negative analytic of translation (9.1.3)

9.1 The cultural and political agenda () of translation

Venuti insists that translation studies should be broadened to take account of the value-driven ( ) nature of the sociocultural framework. Venuti contests Tourys DTS due to its aim of producing value-free norms of translation. Tourys method must still turn to cultural theory in order to analyze the norms. ( Norms: linguistic / literary values, beliefs ideological force of specific groups)

9.1.1 Venuti and the invisibility of the translator ()

Invisibility: the translators situation and activity in contemporary Anglo-American culture. Two ways: (1) the way translators tend to translate fluently & readable illsusion of transparency () (2) the way the TT are read/expected in the TC TT is considered acceptable when it reads fluently TT is seen as derivative and secondary.

9.1.2 Domestication & Foreignization

( )

Venuti discusses invisibility with D&F strategies. can be traced back to Schleiermacher (Ch2) choice of text & translation method

D- dominates Anglo-American translation culture. an ethnocentric reduction of the ST to TC values (1)Translating in an invisible style in order to minimize the foreignness of TT. (2)Domestication further covers adherence to domestic canons by carefully selecting the texts.

Foreignization excludes dominant cultural values in TC. an ethnodeviant pressure on values to show the differences of the SC, sending the reader abroad. Foreignization can restrain the violently domesticating values of the English-language world. resistancy () : a non-fluent or estranging style, designed to make the translator visible (Venuti: 1998) The Scandal of Translation Also be called minoritizing() translation. cultivate a varied and heterogeneous discourse Ex: 19th Tarchetti, minor Italian writer. He deliberately included foreignizing elements, such as modern American slang, calque (),ST syntax . Contradiction of foreignization: subjective & relative term

9.1.3 Antoine Berman: the nagative analytic () of translation

(1984/92) The Experience of the Foreign(): Culture and Translation in Romantic Germany (1985/04) Translation and the trials of foreign Venuti: from experience trial (1) a trial for the TC in experiencing the strangeness of the foreign text and word; (2) a trial for the foreign text being uprooted from its original language context.

Berman opposes naturalization/ domestication. The properly ethical aim of the translating act is receiving the foreign as foreign. ()

He considers that there is a system of textual deformation() in TT that prevents the foreign coming through. Negative analytic: focuses on ethnocentric, annexationist (), and hypertext (imitation, adaption) transaltion, where the deforming forces is freely exercised.

Berman thinks that translators are inevitably exposed to ethnocentric forces. determine desire to translate & form of TT only by (1) psychoanalytic analysis of the translators work, and by (2) making the translator aware of the tendencies, that such tendencies can be neutralized. Berman centered on the translation of fiction. (main problem: respect F & avoid arbitrary D ) the linguistic variety of novel, the way translation tends to reduce variation.

Bermans 12 deforming tendencies of TT

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Rationalization(): syntactic structure Clarification(): explicitation to make sth. in ST unclear clear Expansion: TTs tend to be longer than STs. Empty explicitations destroy rhythm, voice. Ennoblement: to rewrite in a more elegant way Qualitative impoverishment (): TT
equivalents lack their signifying or iconic features.

Quantitative impoverishment: loss of lexical variation () ex: face/ face/ face?

(7) The destruction of rhythms (8) The destruction of underlying networks of significance () (9) The destruction of linguistic patterns ()
incoherent, asystematic bc. The adoption of (1)(2)(3)

(10)The destruction of vernacular () networks or their exoticization () (11) The destruction of expressions and idioms (12) The effacement of the superimposition of languages: translation tends to erase traces of different forms of language that coexist in the ST. the central problem in the translation of novel

Positive Analytic ()

Negative analytic (universals ) v.s. positive analytic (literal translation) Literal : attach to the letter (of works) His use of literal and letter and his reference to the signifying process () Sausssurean perspective (semiology & linguistics) http://youtien.pixnet.net/blog/post/10632411 Bermans work is important in: philosophical ideas + translation strategies (many examples drawn from existing translations)

Key concepts (part 2)

Literary translators accounts of their work: ear, voice, and creativity. The translator as intervenient being. The power network of the publishing industry. The reception of translation paratexts, reception theory and translation reviewing. The sociology of translation focuses on the role of the translator.

9.2 The position and positionality of the literary translator

Venutis call to action (to adopt foreignizing strategies) may be a reaction to those contemporary translators. Rabassa(78/84): accuracy and fluency, by ear Peden(87): listen to the voice of the ST it determines all choices of translation Felstiner(80): stresses and emphases Grossman(03): hearing / Don Quixote

Relatively few translators have written in detail about their practice. the invisibility of translator may change: (2003) Giovannis account (worked with Borges) (2005) Rabassas memoir

(1980: Felstiner) Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu (1991: Levine) The Subversive Scribe: Translating Latin American Fiction ()

Felstiner
the work that goes into producing a translation becomes invisible once the poem stand intact

Levine

translator & collaborator (&) subversive scribe destroying the form of the original but reproducing the meaning in a new form Levine adopted a feminist and poststructuralist view of the translators work, the language of translation also plays an ideological role. A translation should be a critical act

The translator as intervenient being.

-- by Carol Maier Growing themes: the creativity of translation & the crossover between TS and creative writings Translation is affected by (1) the ideology of sociocultural context, and (2) the stance and positionality of translators (2003: Tymoczko) Ideology and the position of the translator: She echoes Homi Bhabhas third space, translators as neutral mediator (X) with ideological positioning (O)

The ideology of a translation lies not simply in the text, but in the stance of the translator, and in the relevance to the receiving audience. TRors ideological & cultural affiliations (). Tymocako rejects the Romantic and elitest western notion of uncommitted translators. the injustices of the publishing process & antagonism toward translation theories Peter Bush importantly points out that the literary translation is an economic activity. (9.3)

9.3 The Power Network of the Publishing Industry

Fawcett (1995) power play by editors results in domesticating translation editors main concern: read well in the TL the ST author being omitted ex: The Joke case of Milan Kundera: the translator unravel the distorted chronology the authors literary agent The decision whether to translate a work the imbalance as another example of the cultural hegemony () of AngloAmerican publishing and culture.

9.4 Discussion of Venutis Work

Pym counters Venutis theories in aspects of

Call for action: Can other translator survive by using this strategy (visibility)? YESSSSS Domesticating tendencies of translation a prevailing tragedy, unrelated to the relative power of source and target culture Eng-lan book mkt is much bigger Eng-culture may be receiving via distribution without translation Resistancy: Fluency / non-tolerance are generally expected in TT (Tourys law of tolerance of interference). not surprising in US/UK translation

Pym admits Venuti DOES enable us to discuss translators as real people in political situations.

But, Venuti DOES NOT offer a specific methodology to apply to the analysis of translation. Venutis general premises can be investigated in many ways: (plz refer to p154)

9.5 The Reception and Reviewing of Translations

(1994) Meg Brown: She clearly made the link btw the
workings of publishing industry and the reception of a given work. reception theory & horizon of expectations

examine the reception look at reviews the invisibility/ relegation of translator :

Focus on fluency + Lack of discussion/review on translation Why !!!?
(Robert Coover) Whenever cuts (1990: Carol Maier) : foreign Reason (1) (2) (3)

practice of review need theory + criticism

Analysis of reviews in translation

(1987/97) Genettes Paratexts

(1) peritext : in the same place, ex: title, preface (2) epitext: in a limitless space, ex: marketing material, reviews, critical discourse written by others. The paratext is subordinate to the text, but its crucial!!!

(1982) Jausss analytical approach of reception

(1) analyze reviews synchronically () to examine a range of reviews of a single work (2) analyze reviews diachronically () examine reviews of books of an author over a long period of time.

Case Study
Focusing on the epitexts of a book in English translation Marquezs Strange Pilgrims. The marked difference btw the reception in US & UK. Q1: How visible is the translator in reviews? TRs words are deemed as the ST authors words. (Bayley)

while not invisible, is rarely focused in reviews

Q2: How is the translation judged by English-language reviewers? the translation is read as if it had originally been written in English Q3: Do reviewers comments suggest that Marquezs success is due to what Venuti might term ethnocentric domestication and violence? (O) incorporate Marquez into the US/Eu literary culture (Bayley)

Discussion of the case study

Synchronical analysis (a study of many reviews) a straightforward method literary elites reaction to translation Origin of Venutis comments/ ideas about (1) invisibility of translator (2) cultural hegemony This study method can be modified: This kind of study still needs to be developed. The reception of a text NOT ONLY affected by reviewers, but entails a much wider range (in institutions & other cultures)

9.6 The Sociology and

Historiography() of Translation

Recently, the study of translators, rather than the texts and cultures, has become the focus. Increase in works of Trans- historiography. (Ch2) The sociology of translation. mainly borrowed from Pierre Bourdieus concepts of field, habitus, capital, illusio. adopted by some scholars as a means of theorizing the role of the translator

(field): // (1) (2)

Bourdieus Concepts Used by Translation Studies

(habitus): & (1) (2) (disposition) (capital) ()() () (illusio): ()

Introducing Translation Studies

Simeons The pivotal status of translators habitus (1998) voluntary servitude (2005) Moira Inghilleris The Translator more positive Bordieus theorization can help us be able to transform the forms of practice. Sociology is the main new perspective in TS. Chesterman s Questions in the sociology stresses that the importance of this approach lies in focusing on translation practice. how translators act as they carry out tasks what is the interrelation btw these agents