The Limits of Translation

Non-Equipollent
• Opposition between similarity and differences among words in SL &
TL
• Translation becomes difficult because the linguistic codes and cultural
codes are not equal or equivalent in power, effect, or significance.
• This equipollent aspects brings many limitations into translation
Length of translation
• Free translation, means paraphrasing, and paraphrasing means more
words in the same language itself.
• Equivalent word in every other language is not tenable now
• Example: ‘love’ in English and Sneham, pranayama, premam, ishtam
• Vini, Vidi, Vici –Julius Caesar (Translated to I reached the country after
long matches, I surveyed the position before undertaking military
action, and in this I successfully subjugated the defenders.” which is
usually shortened as “I came, I saw I won”
Jargons
• Jargons of one Language cannot be translated into another.
• One may need to transliterate the register of a technical person.
• Critical terms are difficult to translate like classicism, structuralism,
deconstruction, objective corelative, affective fallacy etc.
• They cannot be translated without footnotes. So translaiterating them
into Indian languages and giving footnotes if good
Faithfulness
• Faithfulness is indispensable in translation
• Translators are accused of turning it to license when they extend their
freedom to a limit.
• If unlimited freedom is taken by the translator it ceases to be a
translation, and becomes an adaptation.
• Translation is based on illusory equivalence only (Theodore Savory’s
phrase).
• Cultural expressions shows the limits of translation very glaringly,
because cultural idioms are hard to translate and restrict
translatability.
Translation of Devices
• Rhythm and rhyme
• Translation is restricted ideas only in poetry, because form varies from
language to language
• The musicality and technical virtuosity cannot be translated
• Humours based on a particular culture and jokes of a community. Even if
translated, they might loose its vigour and appeal in target language.
• Metaphor, pun and iron severely limit the degree of translatability
• Superstition, folk-belief, and myth affect translation (no. 13 in USA)
• Structure of a language varies. (English SVO to Indian SOV)
• Rustic words and slangs

• Malayalam songs | Guess the song | Translate song | (youtube.com)

Examples of limits in Translating Songs
• Pacha Bottasi Full Video Song || Baahubali (Telugu) || Prabhas, Rana,
Anushka, Tamannaah || Bahubali (youtube.com)
• Pacha bottu Lyrics and translation | Bahubali (2015)
(bollymeaning.com)
• Pacha Theeyanu | Baahubali - The Beginning | Video | M M Keeravani
| S S Rajamouli | Prabhas (youtube.com)
• Malayalam songs | Guess the song | Translate song | (youtube.com)
Translation of Advertisements
• Advertisements are concerned
with style and therefore limits the
scope of translatability.
• Language patterns used in ads are
limited in its selection, as a result
scope of deviation is very limited.
The Role of the Translator
 Definitions of Translations over the years
In the Past
•Falsifier of the original
•Carry over of meaning from SL to TL
•Transference of meaning from SL to TL
Post-modern definitions
•Substitution of meaning
• regulated transformation
•Cannibalism
Translator’s Status
• Traditionally considered as inferior to the creative writer, like a
critic.
• But critics are now considered as co-creators and criticism and
co-creation since the advent of post-structuralists.
• If he/she renders word for word, they will be accused of being
unimaginative and dull
• If he/she takes liberty with the original, they will be accused of
infedility
Qualifications of a Translator
• Must know two languages (TL & SL) very well
• Bilingual with inwardness with both languages
• Translator has to develop his linguistic skill and cultural insight into
both the languages
• He should be conversant with not only two languages but with two
literatures as well.
• Sense for sense translation is acceptable
• Should have linguistic and literary competence in both languages
Question of intertextuality
• Meaning of a text is interdependent on other texts as well.
• So the translator has to be a scholar and a critic to translate a
literary text
• Each text has more than one meaning. So multiplicity of meaning
and the indeterminacy of such meanings in a literary text make the
task of the translator more difficult.
The three aids of a translator
• Translation
• Transcreation
• Translaiteration
 Act of Translation
A translator can perform in two ways:
•Translate from the Second language/foreign language to native
language/mother tongue
•Translate mother tongue/native language to foreign/second
language.
•Migrant and diasporic writers do a lot of translation to resituate
themselves in their past and their country
•Insights into “home” as past and “foreign” as present comes from
translation studies.
•Subjeted to two different semiotic systems
Act of Transliteration
• Numerous socio-cultural terms which cannot be rendered into other
languages
• In such a case a translator should take recourse to translaiteration
and give a footnote to explain the terms.
• For Example: “noolukettu”which happens on the 28th day of a
child’s birth has no equivalent in English
• Jokes, colloquial words, and slangs can be rendered into another
language through transliteration.
Act of Transcreation
• referred to as "creative translation" or "cultural adaptation," is a process in
translation studies where the translator not only translates the text from one
language to another but also adapts it creatively to ensure it resonates with the
target audience in terms of cultural nuances, idiomatic expressions, and
contextual relevance.
• Unlike literal translation, which focuses primarily on linguistic accuracy,
transcreation involves a deeper understanding of the cultural and social
contexts of both the source and target languages.
• Transcreators often need to be proficient in both languages and have a keen
awareness of cultural differences to effectively convey the intended message
while accounting for cultural sensitivities, humor, and emotional impact.
• Transcreation is commonly employed in marketing, advertising, branding, and
creative content where the original message needs to be not just translated,
but also culturally tailored to connect with the audience on a deeper level.
Self-translators
• Those who translate their own work into the target language.
• Rabindranath Tagore, Samuel Beckett, Girish Karnad and Manoj Das
Belong to this category
• Tagore and Beckett Transcreated their own works into English and
won Nobel prizes
• Karnad writes his plays in Kananda and then translates them into
English- So he can be called an Indian English dramatist
• Translators don’t enjoy the privileges of the self-translators because
they are not the authors of the first text and there is a limitation.
• NJ - 'PANIPAALI' (Prod. by Arcado) | Official Music Video |
Spacemarley (youtube.com)
Universal problem of translators
• Should a translator translate what the author says or what he
means?
• To say what the author meant is supposedly the job of a critic.
• some say an author should say what the author says and let the
reader be the judge of it.
• A translator should do both- what the suthor says and what he
means.
Is he/she invisible?
• No. Just as the original bears the signature of the author, the
translated work bears the signature of the translator.
• That is why no translations are similar and of equal merits
• He/she is a performer and a creator
• He/she is comparatist. Comparative literature has become a
sub-category of translation studies.
• He/she is a reader who reads the text and interprets, a writer who
writes and recreates and a critic, who says what the original author
meant.