Lecture I

THE CONCEPT AND ESSENCE OF LITERARY TRANSLATION

The translation process is a special language activity that is aimed at the most
complete reconstruction of the content and form of a foreign text in another
language. A literary translation is a translation of works of fiction. The main goal
of any work of art is to have a certain aesthetic impact, to create an artistic image.
First of all, the translation of a work of art is evaluated by the reader according to
its literary merits.

Depending on whether the original belongs to a certain genre of literature, there are
separate types of literary translation: translation of texts of fiction, poetry, plays,
satirical works, songs, etc.

The translation of fiction cannot be done verbatim in any way – this leads to the
inevitable loss of bright colors in speech, emotional tones, etc.When translating a
work of art from one language to another, inevitable losses may occur: the
colorfulness of the description of the characters is lost, the nuances of their speech
and behavior disappear. Many folklore, slang and dialect figures of speech remain
untranslatable. Any literary work is as unique as any other work of art (an artist's
painting, sculpture, etc.), so there can be no identity between the original text and
its translation, as there is no identity between the original and the copy – it is
impossible to preserve the full specificity of the original.

The problem of text translation is not new. The incommensurability of the

language of the original material and the language of the translation makes
possible a linguistic interpretation rather than an accurate translation. Even the
ancient Roman writer and historian Cicero (I century BC) wrote regarding the
translation of the speeches of Aeschines and Demosthenes that words should not
be counted when translating, but carefully weighed: "... I have preserved both
thoughts, their structure, their physiognomy, so to speak, but in the selection of
words I was guided by the conditions of our language. With this attitude to the
matter, I had no need to translate word for word, but only reproduced the meaning
and power of individual words in the aggregate; I believed that the reader would
demand from me accuracy not by counting, but, if I may say so, by weight."

The translator's native language often does not allow him to express himself as
broadly and polysemically as the author of the original expressed himself in his
own language, so the translator chooses semantic units with a narrower meaning.
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The linguistic capabilities of the two languages are incommensurable and not
"equivalent", so mechanical translation is impossible. The exact meaning and
aesthetic quality of words in different languages do not overlap each other. The
more significant the role of language in the artistic structure of the text, the more
difficult its translation is. In this regard, literary translation is characterized by
great freedom and tension.

One of the most important features of literary translation is the constant use of
various figures of speech for maximum disclosure of the text. Each language has
its own unique figures of speech, so it is often difficult to save them in the
translated text. The translator has to resort not only to professional knowledge of
the language, but also to ingenuity.

The main means of registration of the translation of a literary text include:

1. Metaphors – they can be used to convey structural characteristics.

2. Comparisons – they help to convey phrases taking into account structural and
stylistic features.

3. Wordplay – it can be used to convey the ambiguity of the speech of the original
language.

4. Dialectisms-are used in the translation of slang speech, colloquial words, curses.

5. Irony-makes it possible to express the features of speech in contrast and

compare the incomparable.

The main points that should be focused on when writing a literary translation are:

1. Exclusion of "calque" or literal translation. Every translator of a work of art

should be a bit of an "artist", and with creative approach.

2. Translation of stable expressions. At this point, the main point is the presence of
a large vocabulary, as well as various thematic dictionaries.

3. Translation of humor. There is not enough excellent knowledge of the language

- you need real skill. It may be necessary to omit one or another expression, giving
color to other words to compensate.

4. Preservation of temporal, spatial and cultural features. A translator needs to

constantly study various historical epochs and cultures in order to observe some
important nuances when translating.

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5. Preserving the style of the work. You need to get into the mood and feelings of
the author, look at the text through his eyes. Maintaining the style is a problematic
and completely impossible requirement. There are two ways to work in this
direction:

a) preserving the formal techniques of the original;

b) the search for correspondences to a foreign style.

So, there are two qualities inherent in a good literary translation: the translation
should reproduce the originals as accurately as possible, while being a full-fledged
literary work that evokes the same emotions and feelings.

1.2 Methods of transformations in literary translation.

So, we found out that when translating fiction, in most cases, the method of literal
translation should be excluded. In order to qualitatively translate the original text
into another language, one should use lexical and grammatical transformations that
help adapt the original text to the target language. Let's look at these translation
methods in more detail.

Translation (interlanguage) transformations are transformations by which the

transition from the units of the original to the units of translation in the specified
sense is carried out. When translating from English to Kazakh/Russian and back,
grammatical and lexical transformations are inevitable. Grammatical
transformations are caused by the difference in the structure of languages and the
discrepancy between the various grammatical categories of the original language
and the translation language. Lexical transformations are carried out when there is
a deviation from dictionary correspondences, when a word, due to the specifics of
culture and the tradition of its use, does not fit a dictionary equivalent and it is
necessary to select another lexical unit. We can also talk about complex lexical and
grammatical transformations, in which the transformations simultaneously relate to
the lexical and grammatical sides of the original, or are inter-level, i.e. they make
the transition from lexical units to grammatical ones and vice versa.

When carrying out transformations, the translator must take into account linguistic,
cultural and psychological factors:

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1) the language factor is expressed in the translator's choice of the appropriate type
of transformation of the elements of the original text;

2) the cultural factor is expressed in taking into account the socio-cultural

traditions associated with the use of text elements when translating;

3) the psychological factor is expressed in the translator's assessment of the

measure of information ordering of the text elements based on personal experience
and assumptions about the experience of the author of the source text and the
recipient of the translated text.

Grammatical transformations are the restructuring and changing of the structure of

sentences, as well as substitutions of a syntactic and morphological nature.

The difference in the structure of the English and Kazakh/Russian language is

clearly visible when comparing the grammatical forms and categories of the
language, which do not always coincide. It is found that there is no category in one
of the languages or only a partial coincidence of grammatical categories. It is in
such cases that there is a need for grammatical transformations in translation.

For example, the Kazakh/Russian language does not have such grammatical
categories as the article, gerund, absolute nominative construction, infinitive and
participial complexes. A partial discrepancy between the grammatical categories of
languages is observed in the categories of number, forms of passive construction,
infinitive and participle, modality, and many others.

Grammatical transformations include the following types:

1. Grammatical substitutions (word forms, parts of speech, sentence members,

types of syntactic connection). These are the most diverse and common
transformations.

Examples:

He sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. – Он пересек Атлантический океан

на паруснике.
My watch is made of gold. – Мои часы – золотые.
2. substitution – changing the order of the language elements in the translation text
compared to the original text.

Examples: The air temperature was below freezing. – Температура

воздуха была ниже нуля (изменение последовательности слов в
предложении).

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 A shallow brook runs through the forest. – По лесу протекает
неглубокий ручей (изменение порядка слов в предложении).
There were rectangular flowerbeds in front of the house. – Перед домом
располагались треугольные клумбы.
3. Syntactic assimilation – literal translation.

Examples: We travel by land and by water. – Мы путешествуем по суше и

по воде.
Poplars grow quickly. – Тополя растут быстро.
I like fried fish. – Я люблю жареную рыбу.
4. Splitting or combining sentences. It usually occurs for grammatical reasons, or
in connection with the semantic connection of sentences.

Examples: Without the bloodbond the arch would fall, you see. –
Считалось, что иначе арка непременно рухнет. Понимаете? (членение).
All about us as we stand jammed on our platform lie the faces of the people
of the city, upturned like a shoal of brown, round pebbles, mica-glittering with
thousands of watching eyes.
Повсюду вокруг нас, насколько хватает глаз, — море лиц, похожих на
россыпь коричневых камешков на морском берегу; повсюду слюдяной блеск
многих тысяч внимательных глаз. Это жители города, задрав головы,
наблюдают за нами. (членение)
When translating from English to other language, it is necessary to find a word in
the target language that is close in meaning to the English word. Such a word in
the theory of translation is called a lexical or dictionary correspondence. At the
same time, there are different types of semantic relations between words:

1) equivalent vocabulary, when the words, regardless of the context, fully

correspond to each other;

2) variable correspondence, when several words in Russian correspond to one

word in English.

There are the following types of lexical transformations:

1. Transliteration is a graphical (alphabetic) transfer of the original lexical unit

using the alphabet of the translating language. Примеры: Stamford –
Стамфорд,
Illinois – Иллинойс,
Ford Mustang – Форд Мустанг,
Mars Hill – Марс Хилл
2. Transcription is the phonetic transmission of the original lexical unit by means
of the phonemes of the translating language. It is most often used in the form of

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translation transcription, which includes elements of transliteration. [12, pp. 467-
480]

Examples: Beatles – Битлз,

Seattle – Сиэтл,
New York – Нью-Йорк
3. Calque is the reproduction not of the sound, but of the combinatorial
composition of a word or phrase, when the constituent parts of a word
(morphemes) or a phrase (lexemes) are translated by the corresponding elements of
the translating language. [4, p. 88].

Examples: the Black Sea – Черное море,

Orange Revolution – Оранжевая революция,
rocket carrier – ракета-носитель
2. Lexical and semantic substitutions.

The last transformations are as follows:

a) Narrowing (concretization) – replacing words of the original language with a

broad meaning with words of the target language with a narrow meaning.

Examples: Their treatment of the situation. – Их понимание ситуации.

The treatment turned to be successful. – Лечение оказалось успешным.
His treatment of his wife was kind. – Он хорошо обращался со своей
женой.
b) Extension (generalization) - the opposite of concretization and consists in
replacing the particular with a general, and the specific with a generic concept.

Examples: We were shooting around a swamp. – Мы охотились вокруг

какого-то болота.
The horsemen rode fast, chasing after the fox. – Всадники быстро скакали,
охотясь на лису.
c) Lexical addition – the introduction of additional words for better expression of
thought.

Examples: No margin, no reprieve. – И никаких тебе пограничных

состояний, никаких отсрочек. She has a baby. – У нее грудной ребенок.
Не looked offended. – Судя по виду, он чувствовал себя оскорбленным.
d) Omission is the opposite of addition, words that are semantically
redundant from the point of view of their semantic content are subjected to it.
Examples: We go to the island of Cyprus. – Мы едем на Кипр.
Your good health is the most important thing. – Самое главное – это
здоровье.
I keep my papers under lock and key. – Я держу документы под замком.

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 e) Semantic development – the replacement of a lexical correspondence
with a lexically related contextual one.
Examples: I don’t blame them. – Я их понимаю.
Holistic transformation (comprehension) is a kind of semantic
development, the transformation of a single word, and sometimes of an entire
sentence.
Examples: How do you do? – Здравствуйте!
Help yourself, please. – Угощайтесь.
The peace campaign snowballed rapidly. – Борьба за мир быстро приняла
широкие масштабы.
It is still up in the air. – Вилами по воде писано.
The prison gates closed behind him. – Он попал в тюрьму
f) Antonymic translation – replacing the concept expressed in the
original with the opposite concept in the translation with the restructuring of
the entire utterance to preserve the meaning of the content.
Examples: Nothing changed in our home town. – Все осталось прежним в
нашем родном городе.
Не was eager to start climbing. – Ему не терпелось начать подъем.
"A Forsyte," replied young Jolyon, "is not an uncommon animal." (John
Galsworthy, The Man of Property)
«Форсайт,— ответил молодой Джолион,— довольно обычное животное».
g) Compensation – the replacement of the non-transferable element of
the original by another means that transmits the same information, no matter
where the translation takes place.
Examples: "Why don't you write a good thrilling detective story?" she asked.
"Me?" exclaimed Mrs. Albert Forrester… (S. Maugham, The Creative
Impulse) – А почему бы вам не написать детективный роман, такой,
чтобы дух захватывало? — Чего? — воскликнула миссис Форрестер…
– Because they said “He don’t/she don’t and stuff like that. – Потому что они
говорили: «хочут, хочется. »
h) Explication – descriptive translation) - replacing a lexical unit of the
original language with a phrase that gives a more or less complete explanation
or definition of this meaning in the target language.
Examples: hysterical strength – сильное душевное волнение.
It is worth noting the special importance of preserving artistic value in
translation. This can be achieved only by the painstaking work of an
interpreter, a good knowledge of a foreign language and the language of
translation. There are two qualities inherent in a good literary translation: the
translation should reproduce the originals as accurately as possible, while being
a full-fledged literary work that evokes the same emotions and feelings. It is
important to adhere to the style of the text of the original work.
Translation from one language to another requires various lexical and
grammatical transformations, such as grammatical substitutions, permutations,
splitting and combining sentences, lexical additions, explication,

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compensation, semantic development, narrowing, expansion, etc. All of the
above transformations can be used when translating English-language fiction.
The choice of methods of lexical and grammatical transformations in
translation largely depends on the translation strategy, the concepts and
features of which we will consider in the next part of the course work.