The American translator and theorist Lawrence Venuti in his book The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation formally proposed two kinds of translation strategies: foreignizing translation (foreignization) and domesticating translation (domestication). As a matter of fact, the domesticating translation was dominant for most of the time in the translation realm before 1813. However, by the turn of the nineteenth century, a translation method of eliding linguistic and cultural differences of the foreign texts was firmly entrenched as a cannon in English-language translation. In the history of western translation theory, the research of German scholars is an important watershed with the theologian and philosopher Friedric Schleiermacher …show more content…
From the perspective of politics, foreignization helps to resist English supremacy and cultural imperialism of Britain and America; from the perspective of culture, foreignization can reveal cultural differences of other nations, making the target culture witness different values; from the perspective of poetics, foreignization opposes domestication characterized by fluency and pays more attention to the literary idea of “play of the signifier in the pursuit of multi-valence and polysemy.” (Wang Dongfeng, …show more content…
Under such circumstances, the reader can adequately comprehend alien cultural backgrounds or historical conventions, which may decease culture conflicts in mutual comprehension and obtain exotic peculiarities. Furthermore, foreignizing translation in the English language features a form of resistance against ethnocentrism and racism, cultural narcissism and imperialism. Foreignization can enrich the receptors’ reading expectations and broaden their cultural understanding for and knowledge of other nations. It is strategic and critical to catch the opportunity along with the development of the Belt and Road in China so that more distinctive and manifold products or customs with Chinese characteristics can be unveiled to the world. Last but not the least, many translators would select domestication to make translation more fluent and readable due to the culture gap between Chinese and English, but it disrespects the history, tradition, or conventions that the source text carries. Foreignization, in contrast, can contribute to a much more realistic, flexible and faithful interpretation from the original source to the
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
Treichler, Paula A. “Language and Ambiguity.” The Awakening, A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Margo Culley.
As I reflect on my origins and subsequent life I see that although I like to say that my entry into the craft of translation was purely serendipitous, in truth I had been tutored for it by that same serendipity, which now looks remarkably like fate, even one that John Calvin could accept. I can go back to the conscious other and my yearning for it during my boyhood in New Hampshire, north of Hanover, where Pinneo Hill rises up off Lyme Road (or the Lyme Road, as old-timers called it, making it more definite and descriptive and less of a name). When I would go up into the pasture, where there was a clearing with a fine birch grove in the middle and an outcropping left by the big glacier...
It is not uncommon for an individual to describe a culture that is not their own as exotic, unique, or dated. However, they would be overlooking the idea and importance of cultural relativism on a global scale. It is understandable that a cultural aspect, different from what an individual is used to interacting in, seems hard to understand or too complex to recognize, but it is important to look at one’s own culture and others from multiple angles. The lack of familiarity of another culture that often produces words like “exotic” can be put away with a proper amount of time researching, understanding, and appreciating the normal behavior of another culture. In the paper, I will discuss the concepts that go along with cultural relativism and relate these to the stories found in “Nest in the Wind” and examples from our current society.
In conclusion we can agree that the use of both foreignization and domestication should be used when translating a text and/or movie. We can see that the successful use of mashing both techniques can lead to an accurate translation.
GREENSPOON, LEONARD. “Biblical Translators in Antiquity and in the Modern World: A Comparative Study.” Hebrew Union College Annual, vol. 60, 1989, pp. 91–113. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23507839.
Gegenheimer, Albert Frank. “Language in Two Recent Imaginary Voyages.” Modern Language Association 61.2 (2009): 601-603. Print.
From this testimony, we can see the motivation and certain strategies that may originate from the translator’s desire to make the reading experience easier. In Ménard’s case, his desire was to communicate a sense of other to the reader in the target text culture but nevertheless resulted in a domesticated version of the source text.
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
Translation has always played a key role in shaping cultures, societies, languages, and literatures throughout the history of mankind. On the other hand, in contrast to all its potentials, the discipline has been underestimated within academia and it had not been studied in any systematic way as a planning activity until the last century (Toury, 2002). Having been overshadowed by linguistics and comparative literature, the discipline of translation studies was conceived as a subordinate academic field. This is mainly because translation was merely seen as a code-switching activity and firmly stuck in the paradigms of fidelity and equivalence.
Firstly, you can understand and appreciate cultural references and nuances. This is because most works of art and popular culture are more honestly represented in their native language. Listening to a song, reading a classic novel, watching a movie
Slocum, J. (1984). "Machine Translation: its History, Current Status and Future Prospects ", Siemens Communications Systems, Inc., Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
This essay will discuss how the English language contributes to globalization. It also shows some problems that arise from this. Furthermore, we will give or suggest some solutions for these problems.
Translation was founded a hundred of years ago because the importance of communicating and understanding other people with different languages. Translation is a bridge that fills the gaps between two languages and cultures. Moreover, “it is a communicative process which transfers the message of a source language text to a target language” (algaz, 2015, p.183). It is not only conveying the meaning from the one language to another language, but also transferring the culture and tradition of the community. Lefevere (2003, p.2) describe the translation as "channel opened" and it can influence on the target culture by the foreign culture. It cannot be denied that translation has a pivotal role in communicating and sharing culture. Ideology and
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.