NGUB224

Traductologie
Cours magistral
1. Types of Translation
M. Pires

Structure of the course: See handout.

Lectures with practical elements Reflexion on translation - both
practical, and theoretical

Translation and context

Text: discourse involving at least 2
people
Producer <------> Receiver

Translation: double situation

Producer <------> Translator <-------> Receiver
Situation 1

Situation 2
2

Translation for us: written translation: translation of TEXTS.

Text: a discourse situation involving at least 2 people: producer and
receiver of the utterance.
Task of the translator is to make sure that situation 2 resembles as
closely as poss. Situation 1.
- Information necessary about Situation 1: who is speaking, who is
being addressed, where, when, content, how (the discourse is
constructed): lexis, grammar, effect acheived.

Situating a text
Participants in circulation of text
Producer and receiver
Textual actors and action
Participants
Setting
Topic
Textual type
Genre
Discourse
Purpose
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The translator needs at least all of the following information to

reproduce the initial situation:
Producer and receiver: their identity, status, attitudes. For a novel, the
receiver usu. middle class, educated.
Participants: People involved or mentioned in the text
Setting: Place and time of prod and recep, social framework (church
ceremony, seduction, reading newspaper...)
Topic: Content or subject matter
Genre: essentially: narrative, dialogue, description, discussion; subcategories: interview, lecture, love-letter, fairy tale...
Discourse: broadly, sort of language being used (spoken/written,
standard, particular; formal/informal). Note distinction between
Authoritative and Anonymous text.
Purpose of the communication act; effect achieved (answers the
question: whats the point?). The authors purpose is the same as
the translators in principle (unless special case, eg adapting text for
a less educated audience)
Defining these elements enables the translator not only to understand
source text better, but to be able to establish Contextual
equivalance in translation.

Types of translation
literal, faithful, word for word...
free, beautiful, natural...

Dichotomy in existence for centuries.

Up till mid 20c , all thought only literal translation was acceptable - a
philological exercise on classical texts
Mid 20c, a move, with modern linguistics, towards a more readercentred translation: emphasis on conveying a meaning. Helped by
communication theory, non-literary translators etc.
One side, emphasis on reader; other side: emphasis on author.
Central issue in translation theory.

Two types of translation

Semantic or Functional
faithful

idiomatic

literal

free

source language bias

target language bias

Functional/communicative translation: produce in readers effect close

as possible to the effect on readers of original.
Semantic translation: render the exact contextual meaning as closely as
possible, given constraints of syntax and semantic structures of
language.
Communicative translation: addresses second reader, who expects a
simple transfer, a text to read as an original . emph on force
Semantic translation: remains within the original culture, helping the
reader to understand connotations only if they are central to the
understanding of the text as a whole. emph. on content.
However, in both forms, if naturalness is attained, then literal
translation is the only basis for translation.

Dicourse and translation

Authoritative texts
Semantic translation

Anonymous texts
Functional translation

For translation purposes we can almost divide texts into two types
Authoritative: work of artistic merit (well structured, no clichs). The
authors identity is important. Can include works of fiction (novels,
poems) or authoritative statements (De Gaulles speech, etc)
Anonymous: ephemeral work, no real artistic value, may have clichs,
not express anything enduring. Authors identity not important.
Propaganda such as advertisements, journalism often, notices,
instruction manuals, most non-literary writing, textbooks, reports,
scientific writing, popular fiction ordinary texts etc

It may be necessary to use both in one text: eg. quote from a speech in
a newspaper article

Dicourse and translation

From free to semantic translation
A la recherche du temps perdu
Remembrance of Things Past
> In Search of Lost Time

A lombre des jeunes filles en fleurs

Within a Budding Grove
> In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower

Remembrance... from Shakespeare, sonnet 30. Proust complained to

Scott-Moncrief that this lost the correspondence with temps
perdu / temps retrouv
Within a budding... quotation from ??
Respect for the author: no unnecessary translation embellishments.
Other example: Il faisait chaud > It was a blazing hot afternoon.
(Camus, La Peste)

Return to semantic translation:

Proust
Du ct de chez Swann

Swann's Way
The Way by Swann ' s

l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleu r s

Within a Budding Gro v e

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flow e r

Le Ct de Guermante s

The Guermantes Way

Sodome et Gomorrhe

Cities of the Plain

Sodom and Gomorrah

La Prisonn i r e

The Cap t i v e
The Prison e r

La Fugitive
Albertine disparu e

The Fugitive
The Sweet Cheat Gone
Albertine Gon e

Le Temps retrouv

The Past Recapture d

Time Regained
Finding Time Again

Far from Proust's Way

By Andr Aciman
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
by Marcel Proust, translated from the French
by James Grieve
Viking/Penguin, 558 pp., $27.95, $17.00 (paper)
The six volumes of the new Viking Penguin translation of Proust received rave
reviews in England. And yet the titles of the first two volumes approach
monstrosity. Du ct de chez Swann, traditionally translateddespite Proust's
initial objectionas Swann's Way, appeared in England as The Way by Swann,
which echoes something along the lines of "How's by you?" "By me is fine." It
is fortunate for Lydia Davis, the translator of Volume One, that Penguin USA
decided to delete all traces of The Way by Swann and restored the old way,
Swann's Way. l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, the title of Proust's second
volume, for which he was awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt, was not so
fortunate. C.K. Scott Moncrieff's title Within a Budding Grove was a most
felicitous rendering of an untranslatable title. The title of James Grieve's
translation, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, is gobbledygook. What is
a young girl in flower? Is she dressed in Laura Ashley prints? Or is a young
girl in flower a girl who is just about to blossom? This punctilious and
ultimately priggish commitment to word-for-word accuracy turns out not only
to be a cunning way of attracting attention and of publicizing a radically new
translation out to make sweeping changes, but it is, all said and done,
thoroughly deceptive. Accuracy, particularly in this volume, is proclaimed, not
practiced, promised, not delivered.
On the subject of titles, the final volume of the series, which is not out yet in

Functional translation
Veuillez agrer, cher
monsieur, lexpression de
mes sentiments dvous
Yours faithfully
function: ends the letter

Song lyrics
function: must fit with the
music

The function in the first letter is simply to indicate that this is the end of
the letter.

Functional translation
In advertising
Make keeping smooth your number 1 priority this summer. Glossy
skin holds a tan longer, looks great (...)
Faites en sorte que la douceur de votre peau soit votre premire
priorit cet t
> Rien ne vaut une peau parfaitement lisse sur les plages cet t !

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Question here of naturalness

This is a vocative addressive text, propagandist. The important thing is
that it FUNCTIONS - ie makes people buy the lotion in question ...

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Dicourse and translation

Functional and semantic translation
Car la France nest pas seule! Elle nest pas
seule! Elle nest pas seule (C. de Gaulle, appel du 18 juin 1940)
For remember this, France does not stand alone. She is
not isolated. (tr. Spears)
> For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not
alone! (tr. Newmark)

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Semantic translation: words are sacred (or more sacred than in an

anonymous piece) because form and meaning are one. Manner and
matter as fused. May be briefer and more literal, but could be more
explanatory also, in a complicated anthropological text (on witchcraft,
eg) where considerable explanations wd be necessary within the text.
Semantic translation is an art, and communicative translation a craft.
to what degree can the translator be faithful :
the translation itself is a certain unfaithfulness;
if it is an old text, modernisation may be necessary (but
we can imagine that the reader do some work - dictionaries etc)
A semantic translators first duty is to the author, then to the target
language, then to the reader.

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Literal translation
Informative, anonymous text
The other countries have increased their public expenditure relative
to higher education more than Great Britain in the years 19681970. (The average annual increase in expenditure relative to
higher education is 24.71 in France, 18.07 in Japan, 28.09 in
Sweden, but only 8.12 in Great Britain.)
Les autres pays ont augment leurs dpenses publiques relatives
lenseignement suprieur plus que la Grande-Bretagne
pendant les annes 1968-1970. (Le taux moyen
daccroissement annuel des dpenses relatives
lenseignement suprieur est 24,71 en France, 18,07 au Japon,
28,09 en Sude, mais seulement 8,12 en Grande-Bretagne.)

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Literal translation implies a respect for the content, the form and the
structure of the source text.
Idea that all translation must be uniquely based on large units of
discourse (sentence, text) rather than words: problematic. Text is made
up of words, and we have a stock of correspondences.
In related languages, or those in contact for centuries necessarily lot of
crossover. Case for English & French.
Note : difficult to improve on this translation - perh. Britain for Great
Britain.
There is nothing wrong with this translation: it is the fundamental type
of translation, if it secures pragmatic and referential equivalence.

Source Newmark, Textbook, 68.

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Literal translation
Chien mchant
Ferocious dog
Beware of the dog

derrire lui un garon distribuait pommes

rissoles et petits pois
distributing fried potatoes
giving out fried potatoes
serving fried potatoes

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Although literal translation is not excluded, several problems remain.

Firstly, any word-level translation must retain pragmatic value (what is
achieved by the new text) and referential value (what is referred to).
Compare:
1: Pragmatic value lost - is descriptive in English.
2: Referential value lost: distribute, a very formalised action, where
distribuait is more informal. Serving is less active; cf back
translation test: servait des pommes frites .
hence, not an argument for choosing calque translations. (This wd give
naughty dog in first example).

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Semantic translation

Samedi 10 juillet sest termin une

session extraordinaire qui tait
plutt la continuation dune session
qui, elle, fut loin dtre ordinaire.
Alors que les dputs soffraient en
juin le luxe de dbattre pendant
vingt sances du projet sur les plusvalues, les snateurs, eux, se
morfondait, le gouvernement
nayant pas suffisamment utilis la
possibilit de dposer des textes en
premire lecture devant cette
Assemble. Ainsi le Snat
enregistrait-il, au terme de la
session ordinaire, un dficit de 30%
par rapport la dure pendant
laquelle il avait sig au printemps.

On Saturday 10 July a so-called

extraordinary session which was
rather the continuation of a session
which itself was far from being
ordinary came to an end.
Whilst in June the deputies offered
themselves the luxury of debating
the capital gains bill for 20 sessions,
the senators for their part were
becoming sadly bored, the
government not having sufficiently
utilized the possibility of introducing
drafts for first reading for that
assembly. Thus at the end of the
ordinary session, the Senate
recorded a deficit of 30% compared
with the length of time it had sat in
the spring.
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Functional translation

Samedi 10 juillet sest termin une

session extraordinaire qui tait
plutt la continuation dune session
qui, elle, fut loin dtre ordinaire.
Alors que les dputs soffraient en
juin le luxe de dbattre pendant
vingt sances du projet sur les plusvalues, les snateurs, eux, se
morfondait, le gouvernement
nayant pas suffisamment utilis la
possibilit de dposer des textes en
premire lecture devant cette
Assemble. Ainsi le Snat
enregistrait-il, au terme de la
session ordinaire, un dficit de 30%
par rapport la dure pendant
laquelle il avait sig au printemps.

Saturday 10 July saw the close of

an extraordinary session; it was in
fact the continuation of a session
which was itself far from ordinary.
Whilst in June the deputies could
afford the luxury of debating the
capital gains bill for 20 sessions, the
senators kicked their heels in
despair, as the government had not
made enought use of the
opportunity of passing bills on to
them for a first reading. So at the
end of the ordinary session, the
Senate had sat for only 70% of the
corresponding period in the spring.

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Comparaison

On Saturday 10 July a so-called

extraordinary session which was
rather the continuation of a session
which itself was far from being
ordinary came to an end.
Whilst in June the deputies offered
themselves the luxury of debating
the capital gains bill for 20 sessions,
the senators for their part were
becoming sadly bored, the
government not having sufficiently
utilized the possibility of
introducing drafts for first reading
for that assembly. Thus at the end
of the ordinary session, the Senate
recorded a deficit of 30%
compared with the length of time it
had sat in the spring.

Saturday 10 July saw the close of

an extraordinary session; it was in
fact the continuation of a session
which was itself far from ordinary.

Whilst in June the deputies could

afford the luxury of debating the
capital gains bill for 20 sessions, the
senators kicked their heels in
despair, as the government had not
made enought use of the
opportunity of passing bills on to
them for a first reading. So at the
end of the ordinary session, the
Senate had sat for only 70% of the
corresponding period in the spring.

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Semantic

Functional

Centred on the author. Personal. Author

considered as an individual.

Centred on the reader. Ideas, cultural

references made comprehensible. Social
function.

Applies to creative, expressive texts.

Applies to impersonal texts.

Preserves forms if possible.

Forms may be modified for effect.

Tends towards overtranslation.

Tends towards undertranslation.

Inaccuracy unacceptable.

May improve, or modulate discreetly,

without misrepresenting facts, for effect.

May not correct errors (except in note).

May correct errors.

Translator an artist (generally working

alone).

Translator a craftsperson (sometimes

working in a team).

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Prservation des formes: phrases, paragraphes, etc)

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Creative translation
Required even in semantic translation for:
Cultural specificities
Cultural terms (bar-tabac)
Transcultural terms with differing connotations (pain, riz,
vin)

Phonostylistic effects (squeak, squeal, squawk,

squash...)
Idiom
Idiomatic syntax (Et lui de partir.)
Idiomatic formulae: metaphors, puns, idioms, proverbs...
(Qui va la chasse...)
Words with no direct equivalent (nuque, knuckle)
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La langue un ensemble de rgles, qui volue travers la rupture de

ces rgles (changement diachronique). La traduction galement, exige
des ruptures de rgles, pour rester en phase avec lexpression.
La crativity est ncessaire en traduction smantique et communicative
- en smantique pour rsoudre des difficults particulires, en
traduction communicative pour crer des effets quivalents.
Plus restreint en trad. communicatifs: trouver un style lgant et
conomique.

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No-equivalent words
Non-correspondence
ville vs town, city

Lexical gaps

knuckle, shin; nuque

dank; to cringe; quaint
apne, bateau, mouton, etc.
rencler, bourru, bricoler, bazar

Use componential analysis

Assess usefulness of information
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cf ville vs town, city; commune

bateau (sur trottoir); mouton (de poussire)

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Example: rencler

Dfinition Petit Robert: 1. Renifler bruyamment en signe de

mcontentement (Se dit surtout des animaux). 2. Tmoigner de
rpugnance (devant une contrainte, une obligation). Rencler la
besogne. Lantier renclait sur les potes de pommes de terre
(Zola)

Components

negative word
renifler, faire du bruit avec le nez
animal
manque denthousiasme, quasi-refus
mcontentement, plaintes touffes
marmonner, sapitoyer
tre oblig, contraint
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Example: rencler
La vieille machine vapeur renclait devant la faible pente.
Par trois fois, elle avait patin sur les rails verglacs
The old steam engine puffed and panted up the slight
slope.
Les prestataires renclent souvent cooprer entre eux par
peur de rvler leur savoir-faire commercial et de perdre leur
avantage concurrentiel.
service-providers often grumble/groan when it comes to
helping each other out.
Si son look ravageur lui vaudrait un oscar lui tout seul, on
renclera sur son jeu.
you might find his game less than convincing / be
underwhelmed by his game
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Source texts: internet

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Example: dank
basic components: darkness and
moisture. Negative word.
(especially of a place): damp, cold and unpleasant: a dark
dank cave (Oxford Advanced Learners dict.)
components/possible synonyms: dark, cloudy, drizzly,
fuzzy, rainy, dirty, unclear, impenetrable, thick, heavy,
gloomy
possible translations: sombre, nuageux, pluvieux,
pleuvoir, bruiner, renferm, sale, impntrable, renferm,
pais, lourd, terreux...

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Exemple: dank

It was a very dank and gloomy kind of place. It felt like the sun had
not reached there for millions of years.

We quickly got out of the back of the truck and noticed a very dank
and musky smell.

The Midwest is often a very dank and difficult place to exist, from
the folks who toil at the middle-class way of life to those well below
the poverty line.

It is very fruity and citrussy, with fresh wildflowers, grassy herbals,

and a very dank, fruity, marijuana note. (description dune bire (!))

The film has a very dank and miserable feel to it. So it's only
appropriate that it should be set in the most depressing city in the
world
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Exemple: dank

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1 No need to indicate both because one main aspect is in gloomy .

3 peu reluisant/terne.
Mettre rencler sur le tableau

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Reading
Newmark, Peter, A Textbook of
Translation. Longman
Chapter 7, Literal translation
Chapter 11, The use of componential
analysis.

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Using Moodle
http://ent.univ-fcomte.fr/
slideshows of courses
links
other exercises / examples

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