Session 1
Session 1
Session 1
THEORIES OF
TRANSLATION &
INTERPRETATION
Lecturer: Ms Ngoan
OBJECTIVE
Knowledge
Understanding the basic theoretical knowledge about translation, process,
CELO 1 product, translator, and equivalence in translation, common mistakes and
appropriate solutions while translating.
Apply the basic theoretical knowledge about translation mentioned above in
CELO 2 order to analyze cultural and social contexts in different situational
translation.
Skills
Using the skills such as presentation skill, critical thinking skill, sort kills,
CELO 3 using information technology skills, translation software…in leaning the
basic theories of translation.
Apply all the above skills in mastering the basic theories of translation and
CELO 4 bettering the translation
MATERIAL
William, J. (2013). Theories of Translation, Palgrave Macmillan
Munday, J.(2016). Introducing Translation Studies. 4th Edition, Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN.
ASSESSMENT
5% Attendance
15% Mini test and group work
20% Midterm test
60% Final test
SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION- OF
THEORISTS AND THEORIES
1.1 DEFINITION
OF TRANSLATION
Translation is a process of the replacement
of a text in one language (SL) by an
equivalent text in another language (TL).
Translation is a craft consisting in the
attempt to replace a written message and/or
statement in one language by the same
message and/or statement in another
language (Newmark 1984:7)
1.2 WHO ARE THE
THEORISTS
• Translator: a translator must have a theory of translation: to translate without
a theory is to translate blind’ 2000a:3
translators ‘must’ have a theory of translation: as all human activity is based
on certain assumptions (or theories), translators have certain assumptions about
the act of translating whether they are aware of them or not. The decisions taken
by a
translator over the course of a translation job – about register, terminology or
layout; generating a range of solutions to a particular translation problem and
then selecting from this range one solution, is in itself an act of theorizing.
Translators become theorists when they comment on their work in paratexts such as translator’s notes
and prefaces or in correspondence with publishers or friends. Nowadays this might also include the
email correspondence between a translator and a postgraduate student who is engaged in research on
texts which the translator has translated.
• Scholars who have actively engaged with Translation Theory
-The first scholar to propose the name ‘Translation Studies’ for our discipline was James Holmes in a
key paper in 1972, entitled ‘The Name and Nature of Translation Studies’ (1972/1988)
-One scholar who has made a major contribution to thinking about Translation Theory over the last 15
years is Andrew Chesterman.
-More recently Anthony Pym’s Exploring Translation Theories (2010) provides an overview of Western
Translation Theory.
-Other Western scholars such as Tymoczko have argued for a reconceptualization of Translation Theory
to incorporate ‘the thinking of non-Western peoples about this central human activity’ (2006: 14).
-The Jamaican scholar R. Anthony Lewis makes a plea for Translation Theory to take hybridity into
account and to become ‘less reliant on notions such as target language and source language,
understood as closed, homogenous systems’ (2007: 32).
Martha Cheung has drawn attention to fundamental differences in the meaning of ‘theory’ in Western
and Chinese traditions.
• The third group of theorists are identified by Christiane Nord as ‘lay receivers’
These are the readers of translations who pronounce judgement on them on the basis of their
‘subjective theory’. Nord explains that ‘[. . .] the receivers of a translation are not normally aware that
their theory is subjective; many of them would not be able to define or describe it.
1.3 WHAT ARE THE GOALS
OF TRANSLATION THEORY?
7 goals
-Description, formulated by Chesterman as follows: ‘to describe what
translators do, what strategies they use and what roles they play, under
given linguistic and socio-cultural conditions’
OR
writing; he must assess not only the
literary quality but the moral
seriousness of a text.
1.6 THE ROLE OF SEMANTIC, SYNTACTIC, AND PRAGMATIC RELATION
1.6.1 Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words,
phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata.
Ex: “She is nice.” (satiric intonation at the end of the sentence) may be not a positive comment but
a negative one “Cô ấy tốt à”
1.6.2 Syntax
Syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural
languages.
Ex: He is considered very rich – Người ta cho rằng anh ấy rất giàu.
1.6.3 .Pramatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to
meaning.
Ex: “Is Mr.Brown there, please” may not be a question but a disguised request “Cho phép tôi gặp
ông Brown được không ạ!
You should consider the semantic, syntactic and pragmatic relations when translating to get a
good translation.
PRACTICE
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