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    Translation Myths: Equivalence) Are The Top Priority

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    Paulina Budzińska
    Krzysztof Lipiński identifies several myths of translation in his 2004 book, including: 1) The myth of literalness - That word-for-word translation can fully convey meaning when in reality the message and intentions must be considered. 2) The myth of untranslatability - While some texts are deeply embedded in one language/culture, translations show this is not always true if the same communication effects are achieved through different linguistic tools. 3) The myth of the "ugly duckling" - That translations cannot be as good as originals, but translations like Kubuś Puchatek show this can be false as the translation became influential in its own right in

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    Translation Myths: Equivalence) Are The Top Priority

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    Paulina Budzińska
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    Krzysztof Lipiński identifies several myths of translation in his 2004 book, including: 1) The myth of literalness - That word-for-word translation can fully convey meaning when in reality the message and intentions must be considered. 2) The myth of untranslatability - While some texts are deeply embedded in one language/culture, translations show this is not always true if the same communication effects are achieved through different linguistic tools. 3) The myth of the "ugly duckling" - That translations cannot be as good as originals, but translations like Kubuś Puchatek show this can be false as the translation became influential in its own right in

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    Lipiński's myths

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    Translation Myths

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    Krzysztof Lipiński identifies several myths of translation in his 2004 book, including: 1) The myth of literalness - That word-for-word translation can fully convey meaning when in reality the message and intentions must be considered. 2) The myth of untranslatability - While some texts are deeply embedded in one language/culture, translations show this is not always true if the same communication effects are achieved through different linguistic tools. 3) The myth of the "ugly duckling" - That translations cannot be as good as originals, but translations like Kubuś Puchatek show this can be false as the translation became influential in its own right in

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    47 views3 pages

    Translation Myths: Equivalence) Are The Top Priority

    Uploaded by

    Paulina Budzińska
    Krzysztof Lipiński identifies several myths of translation in his 2004 book, including: 1) The myth of literalness - That word-for-word translation can fully convey meaning when in reality the message and intentions must be considered. 2) The myth of untranslatability - While some texts are deeply embedded in one language/culture, translations show this is not always true if the same communication effects are achieved through different linguistic tools. 3) The myth of the "ugly duckling" - That translations cannot be as good as originals, but translations like Kubuś Puchatek show this can be false as the translation became influential in its own right in

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    40.

    Translation myths
    Krzysztof Lipiski of the Jagiellonian University in Krakw, Poland puts forward a thoughtprovoking series of ideas in his 2004 book Mity Przekadoznawstwa
    1. the myth of literalness
    - The first myth is often seen in the translation of religious texts wherein we are tempted
    to copy and shadow the source text vocabulary and structure
    - It isnt possible to render the source meaning focusing only on word-for-word
    translation, as the message is not retained
    - Translator creates the text, not reconstructs
    - The meaning, message and intentions are important
    2. the myth of untranslatability
    - Some texts are seen as untranslatable, far too linguistically- and culturally-entrenched
    to make it possible for their rendition into another language. However, translations of
    works such as Adam Mickiewiczs Pan Tadeusz or even Julian Tuwims Lokomotywa
    show that this is blatantly untrue.
    - The same effect within different language tools and different language code
    (Jackobson equivalence in difference, and further Nidas approach dynamic
    equivalence) are the top priority
    - The same communication effects and preserving aesthetics of the text (onomatopoeia
    in
    - Tools: inversions, substitutions, addition, omission in order to preserve the rhymes
    3. the myth of the ugly duckling
    - The myth of the ugly duckling is often found amongst writers and scholars. The idea
    is that a translation is not (and should not) be better than the original.
    - The premise being that translations are not original, creative works but simply copies
    of the source text. Anyone reading Irena Tuwims Kubu Puchatek, her translation of
    A.A. Milnes Winnie the Pooh, would realise that this is not the case. Kubu Puchatek
    has become such an important work in Poland that certain neologisms, for example,
    Mae Conieco (not present in the original) are now firmly part of Polish culture and
    even the Polish literary tradition
    - Monika Adamczyk Fredzia Phi- Phi, Irena Tuwim Kubu Puchatek
    o If the bear was a man or a woman
    o The residence of Winnie the Pooh (Sanders- Adamczyk and English version,
    Jan Woreczko by Tuwim)
    o The name of the owner of the owner of a bear (Robin Adamczyk, KrzyTuwim, Christopher Robin- the English version)
    - It isnt easy to state whether the translation is better or worse from the original since it
    simply differs from the original version
    - The translation might be bad when it doesnt fit the target language texts solutions
    - The translation is a new, creative text that can provide the target culture with some
    creative word plays contributing to the target culture (mae conieco)
    4. the myth of one solution

    The fourth myth, or myth of one solution, suggests that when translating only one
    possible solution is correct and that all other suggestions are incorrect. The problem
    here is that terms such as correct and incorrect cannot in any way be quantified.
    Adam Mickiewiczs Rkawiczka, his translation-cum-reworking of Friedrich
    Schillers 1797 masterpiece Der Handschuh, has become canonical. In fact, it is
    regarded as a work of Polish literature. Other translations are seen to be poorer but, on
    inspection, we would find that much of Mickiewiczs translation is extremely loose
    and more a re-interpretation than a translation. There is never only one possible
    solution in translation.
    When translator renders the source meaning into the target language code, one has
    autonomy to choose which lexical/ grammatical/ etc option is right
    Subjective changes choices: obligatory (in terms of grammar, collocations), objective,
    random
    Code shifts and cultural shifts

    5. the myth of machine translation/ invisible idiot


    - The fifth myth, or myth of machine translation, is that computers are able to produce
    accurate and appropriate translations.
    - Krzysztof Lipiski believes this to be one of the central myths of contemporary
    translation studies and uses several analogies and stories to counter the idea that
    computers can produce reliable work. However, this is not entirely true. Within
    very narrow and specialized fields, computers can produce decent enough translations.
    - To believe that human translation is far too sophisticated and advanced for the
    computer is underestimating the current lightning-fast development of computers.
    - Word for word translations, machines ignore the rules of syntax, links, grammar
    correctness, lexical choices (although the message can be still understood ja dzisiaj
    zebranie wane)
    - The computer does not interpret the text but replaces the items from the L1 with the
    items from the code of L2
    - Does not render the emotional message, is not provided with the context of the
    utterance, lack of emotional intelligence
    - Cannot detect the irony, or a lie
    - Do not preserve the style of the source text
    6. the myth of the descriptability of the world
    - The sixth myth, or myth of the descriptability of the world, states that the world cannot
    be fully described.
    - Wittgenstein believed that: The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I
    know is what I have words for.
    - However, Lipiski believes that language only describes the world around us and that
    it exists outside of and separate from language. The world cannot be described
    completely as every one of us sees it differently. Similarly, every translator interprets
    the text through the (rose-coloured) spectacles of his or her own world.
    - Translation is a communication between the languages and the worlds, the paralingual
    dimension of translation (the difference between the perception of signs: the black

    Afroamerican when thinking about a mother, he sees a black woman, whereas a


    Polish native speaker sees a white one)
    The creation of world with the language code (ser ty yellow cheese), structuralists
    and Jackobson
    The translation of Eglish books: how to decide whether the narrator is a man or a
    woman?

    7. the myth of only one truth


    - The seventh and final myth, the myth of only one truth, can to a certain extent be taken
    as a continuation and result of all the other myths.
    - There is no one truth and there can never be one truth in translation.
    - There is never one correct answer and even if a so-called correct translation is
    achieved, time and diachrony show that the translation stands still but the world (and
    culture) around it change, forever in a state of flux.
    - Language changes and what may have been regarded as canon may within a
    generation become outdated, outmoded and old-fashioned.

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