The Imperfection of Translation
The essential problem with translation is an obvious one. A word has more qualities than just its denotation. For one, a word has a sound, an attribute which has great importance in poetry (though we should not underestimate its significance in prose, as well). Also, a word consists of various connotations, meanings which only rarely cross over from language to language. Complicating matters is the nature of literature itself. Writers and poets put pressure on the language; they often choose words because of their rich variety of meanings, complicating rather than clarifying their subjects. Unfortunately, then, for the translator of literature, the currency of words is not as easy to exchange as the other kind of currency.
E. V. Rieu recognizes the inherent difficulty of translation. Perfect translation may be impossible, so the best we can hope for, he writes in the following, is a translation of the spirit of the work: "I call it the principal of equivalent effect and regard it as signifying that that translation is the best which comes nearest to creating in its audience the same impression as was made by the original on its contemporaries" (55). Rieu criticizes the translators of the King James Version of the Bible for remaining stubbornly faithful to the original language. Here he presents a parable, the moral of which is undoubtedly weakened by awkward translation.
St. Luke in xvii. 8 reports Jesus as imagining a scene in which a master says to his slave, "Get something ready for my supper." The Greek is colloquial and the master is not represented as speaking politely. Yet the authorized translators put into his mouth the words: "Make ready wherewith I may sup." (55)
In that example the superiority of Rieu's plain-spoken translation is obvious, but it begs the question of how much freedom does one give a translator. Rieu's ideal that a translated work must cause "the same impression" as the original seems to give scholars license to embellish.
Werner Winter believes that, regardless of the degree of embellishment, translation cannot avoid altering the work. Try as we might, Winter writes, "Meaning and form cannot be dissociated from one another" (70).
Words are almost translations themselves. They are re-creations of other words from other languages and from their own. They are metaphors—dead because they have been "carried across" into alien languages, and dead because we no longer hear them. They are the memories of, and allusions to, what they once were.
Throughout the past two hundred years, many linguists have attempted to translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy into English. While all have been successful in conveying the general meaning of various passages, diction and wordiness have varied wildly; no two translations are identical. This can be attributed to two factors: normal translational variation and the intent of the linguist. Taking both of these into account, John Ciardi's 1954 translation is far superior to the others.
Translation is a linguistic science, but it occurs within a theological and moral framework. The issue is a sensitive one, as theology involves an obligation to the text and morality involves an obligation to the
The advances in technology of neuroimagery have enabled us to see what parts of the brain are stimulated when carrying out certain tasks. For example, Schon et all discovered that when reading music, a tiny spot at the back of the head (known as the right superior parietal cortex) becom...
One thing that might make things difficult to choose is that they both have an incredible measure of strength. Superman has always been known has the “man of steel” ever since he was first thought of. Beowulf has the strength of thirty men, “The time has come, O Beow...
Words have the power to change the way people think and feel. Supplementing one word for another might seem like entering a synonym, but this synonym has the ability to convey sentiments that the other fails to comprehend. For example, Dante’s Inferno has copious amounts of translations with each supporting the same message; however, each produces a different response. Langdon’s translation births sentiment and sympathy for these characters whereas Neff’s translation generates disapproval and hatred.
Bullying can be define as “ intentional, usually recurrent, action designed to inflict physical and psychological harm on another person or persons by one or more persons and is part of a complex interplay of dominance and social status”( Marsh,). Bullying can take place when a target child exposed to social egression by some of his or her peers, who perceive hem or her in lower state. Aggression behaviors and bullying can be confused together as perceiving them as they are the same thing but they are not. Aggression behaviors and bullying can be confused together as perceived as they are the same thing. They are not the same think because psychologists explained that aggression behaviors are the aggressive actions that people express against each other for specific period of time. While bullying on the other hand, is continuous aggression against specific person in which, this person exposure to aggressiveness is not limited to a one time incident. ”( Marsh, H). Being a bully or a victim sometime is not exclusive to certain individuals or groups because sometimes individual play both roles. An individual can be a bully due to his or his past experience of being bullied. Contrary, a former bully can be a victim as a consequence of his or her past behavior.( Marsh,)
Bullying is a common occurrence in United States schools and is worldwide issue that is currently at the forefront of national attention. Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves observed or perceived power imbalance. Bullying behaviors is high likelihood of repetition that have happen more than once or potential to happen more than once. Is repeated numerous times or is likely to be repeated. There are different types of bullying include direct, indirect, physical, verbal, rational and physical, and damage to property. Bullying include actions such as making threats, name calling, teasing, spreading rumors or lies, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose
This book mainly focus on the relationship between translation and culture. It addresses the shift of focus from translated block of text to the binding of translations and the cultures involved in generating these translations. It also covers the significance of translation for cultural planning.
In the 1960s and 1970s, based on the concept of equivalence, many scholars have developed various views and approaches, which has improved and further developed the translation theory. Nida (as cited in Venuti, 2000), one of the most influential linguists in the translation field, defines two different types of equivalence, which are formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Formal equivalence focuses on the form and content of the source text. Dynamic equivalence emphasizes that the translation need to use an unmarked expression, but to provide the same function in the target text. The target text 1 shown in table 1 is an example of using formal equivalence. The Chinese sign ‘注意安全’ has been translated as ‘Attention Safety’. However, due to the differences of the terms between Chinese and English, this target text could be difficult to understand by the target audience. Hence, as Nida (as cited in Venuti, 2000) states by using formal equivalence, it is necessary to use footnotes to help target audience understand these idiomatic terms in the source language. The target text two: ‘Caution!’ is an example of using dynamic equivalence. This translation only translated the first two Chinese characters. The language use of this translation has been made some adjustment to match the context of the target language. However, this translation could provide the same function in the target culture as the function of the source text in the source culture. Thus, Nida’s (as cited in Venuti, 2000) two types of equivalence approach provide some effective methods of translation. After using footnotes or some essential adjustment, the source test could be generally considered as
The translation process may seem easy to them who don't have to deal regularly with it, but after a little exercise anyone could realize the amount of problems rize even just from the translation of a single word. In fact languages are not a list of tags that simply name the categories of the world; each language organizes the world in a different way and the meaning and value of the words varies in relation to their cultural and social system.
A bully’s goal is to dominate and control power over the victim (Guerra, Williams, & Sadek, 2011). Dominance and power is achieved through repetitive intimidation and imbalance of power. Bullying cannot occur when two individuals have the same physical, emotional, or psychological strengths, as neither will be gaining power or dominance over the other. This is a sign of school violence or simple teasing. School violence can lead to bullying, which is a growing problem in schools today (Guerra et al., ...
The New Critics, just like Wimsatt and Beardsley put forward in their essay, also believed in the ‘organicity’ of the text. In the essay, they write, “A poem should not mean but be.” And, since the meaning of the poem or the text is the medium through which it can exist, and words, in turn, is the medium through which the meaning is expressed, the poem or the text b...
In the late 1970s, the focus of translation studies shifted to the process of translation as well as the receivers. Hans Vermeer is the founder of Skopos theory. As the Greek word skopos indicates, this theory stresses that translati...
To be an effective leader someone has to be really devoted and have to make an effort to set a charge in his or her organization. Effective leader always have a passion inside of them and someone has to devote his time and money to achieve the desired goals.