Tamara I.

Leontieva
Lectures on Translation Theory
Department of Cross-cultural
Communication and Translation
Study
Foreign Languages Center
Vladivostok State University of
Economics
2008
 RENDERING STYLISTIC
DEVICES IN TRANSLATION

TRANSLATION OF:
a) metaphor,
b) metonymy,
c) irony.
 Translation of Metaphors
Metaphor is a transference of some quality
from one object to another. It is an implicit
comparison of two unlike objects (Galperin)
Animals in different cultures:
a) gender,
b) image (horse).
Translation: addition or morphological
substitution or both.
 Study the Examples:
1. He thought of her as of a horse in his
stables.
2. He is a pig ,
.
3. He is a swine / ,
.
4. Piggy *
* ----> or

 Translation of a Prolonged
Metaphor
Her body swayed, ,
while she danced, as ,
a plant sways in the .
water. The curves of
her throat were the
curves of a white lily. ,
Her hands seemed to

be made of cool ivory.

.
 Some difficulties in
translation
1.Metaphoric epithet: gossip mills
.
2.Difference in traditional associations:
black day but black sheep (),
black frost ().
3.Folklore metaphors: ,
fair maiden, a brave
man.
 Techniques of Translating
Metaphors
1. Reproducing the same image
2. Replacing the image in the ST with a
standard TL image
3. Translating metaphor with a simile
4. Explicatory translation
5. Deletion or reduction
6. Calque translation supported by
explanation
Define the method of translation
First catch the hare, then cook him.
The world is a small place.
Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
When pigs fly.
Girls are flowers.
They walked along, two continents of
experience and feeling, unable to
communicate.
 Translation of Metonymy
Metonymy is a SD based on some kind of
association connecting the two concepts
these meanings represent (Galperin).
Metonymy is not based on comparison, but
1) on the association between the object and its
properties (epithet)
2) between the whole and its part
(synechdoche)
3) between the proper and common name
(antonomasia)
 Three ways of translation
1. A girl in her full denim outfit nearly fell into
the office (metonymic epithet)
.
2. SYNECHDOCHE. These wheels will drive
you at your pleasure: a) euphemistic
paraphrase
b) expansion -
,
-
.
 Three ways (continued)
3. ANTONOMASIA: The guards now change
at Buckingham Palace to a Lennon and
McCartney:
a) expansion -
;
b) no restructuring -
.
 Define the association
1. Four legs good, two legs bad (G.Orwell.
Animal Farm).
2. She wanted to have a lot of children, and she
was glad that things were that way, that the
Church approved. Then the little girl died.
Nancy broke with Rome the day her baby
died. It was a secret break, but no Catholic
breaks with Rome casually (J.OHara).
3. ! ?
!! (.. ).
 Techniques of translating
metonymies
1. Equivalent translation (complete coininci-
dence of linguistic and cultural tradition)
2. Structural substitution (different grammar
forms which cannot be reproduced)
3. Semantic restructuring (expansion,
euphemistic paraphrase, omission, etc.)
4. Functional restructuring (stylistic changes)
5. Complete restructuring (compensation of
the metonymy with TL means)
 Offer your translation of
metonymies
Im all ears, mother.
Paris sang.
He was followed by a pair of heavy boots.
The world might guess it.
What do you think has happened to Basil?
asked Dorian, holding up his Burgundy
against the light
My love! Prince Charming! Prince of life!
These wheels will drive you at your
pleasure.
 Translation of Irony
Irony is the usage of words, word
collocations or sentences in the
meaning opposite to what they express
for characterizing an object or person
critically. E.g.:
What a noble illustration of the tender
laws of this favored country! they let
the paupers go to sleep! (Ch. Dickens)
 Translation of Irony
(analog)
When I left my public
school I had an extensive ,

knowledge of Latin and

Greek literature, knew a ,
certain amount of Greek
and Latin history and
French grammar, and
,
had done a little

mathematics.
.
 Translation of Irony
(literal translation or expansion)

After that, Colonel

Cathcart did not trust any

other colonel in the

squadron. The only good
.
colonel, he decided, was
, -
a dead colonel, except
,
for himself.
, -
.
 Translation of Irony
(antonymic)

Dick Stroeve ,
flattered himself on ,
his skill in cooking
Italian dishes, and I
confess that his ,
spaghetti were .
very much better
than his pictures.
 Translation of Irony
(syntactic restructuring)
?
To read or not to read? -
All books can be divided :
into three groups: books ,
to read, books to reread, ; ,
and books not to read at
all (Oscar Wilde). , ,

.
 Techniques of Translating
Irony
1. Direct translation without any changes
2. Expansion (participial or other verbal
structures, attributive constructions, etc.)
3. Antonymic translation
4. Explicatory translation (of quotations
requiring explanation)
5. Cultural-situational substitution (necessary
for preserving the ironical impact: Your
father is not a gentleman!)
 LITERATURE
1. .. .
. .74-78 (Theory and Ex.1).
2. ..
. .: , 2000. 317 .
3. .. , 2002.
.195-204.