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insaneneko Bridging the Cultural Divide: Lexical Barriers and Translation Strategies in English Translations of Modern Japanese Literature by James Hobbs is a wonderful article regarding the methods of translating specific terms/concepts using real examples. What is the best way to balance conveying the original meaning (including cultural implications) as correctly and fully as possible, and providing a smooth, readable translation? The conclusion puts the dilemma very well:
When faced with sense segments that do not have an obvious English equivalent, or that refer to objects and concepts that lie outside domestic readers' experience, the translator must make choices, both about which meanings to include, and about which to exclude. A translator cannot reasonably be expected to consistently account for each and every one of the meanings buried in the original author's text, and literal translation is certainly unlikely to achieve this. As Newmark (1988:xi) wryly observes, "you only deviate from literal translation when there are good semantic and pragmatic reasons to do so, which is more often than not." In reality, the translator will normally be forced to settle for accounting for only those meanings in the original that can be considered most relevant to his readers, as to do any more than this may place an unacceptable burden of mental processing on the reader. Gutt (1985, in Venuti, 2000:386) explains: "Sometimes it is possible to achieve a higher degree of resemblance but only at the cost of a decrease in overall relevance because it involves an increase in processing effort that is not outweighed by gains in contextual effects."
This is the kind of stuff that anyone that translates thinks about but possibly in a more unconscious manner (or is that just me? :P). I recognized strategies I’d employed previously, but also learned of other ways of translation that had never occurred to me. I will definitely be reading this many times.
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Came across a blog entry on manga scanlation that mentions a professional manga translator who seems to claim that scanlations have a negative effect on the English translation industry in that titles won’t be picked up because of scanlations. So companies won't pick something up because it has a following online and is being scanlated? Was I living under a rock and this is common knowledge, or is this guy pulling crap out of his ass? As an aside, the original LJ post the blog entry refers to has a HUGE dose of fandom hate that amused me to no end. Yes, yes, fandom consists of whiny "gimmee now!" entitled babies that deserve nothing more than a kick in the pants. Sweeping generalizations certainly make things sound so simple and straightforward. And does ragging on “fandom” never get old or what?
When faced with sense segments that do not have an obvious English equivalent, or that refer to objects and concepts that lie outside domestic readers' experience, the translator must make choices, both about which meanings to include, and about which to exclude. A translator cannot reasonably be expected to consistently account for each and every one of the meanings buried in the original author's text, and literal translation is certainly unlikely to achieve this. As Newmark (1988:xi) wryly observes, "you only deviate from literal translation when there are good semantic and pragmatic reasons to do so, which is more often than not." In reality, the translator will normally be forced to settle for accounting for only those meanings in the original that can be considered most relevant to his readers, as to do any more than this may place an unacceptable burden of mental processing on the reader. Gutt (1985, in Venuti, 2000:386) explains: "Sometimes it is possible to achieve a higher degree of resemblance but only at the cost of a decrease in overall relevance because it involves an increase in processing effort that is not outweighed by gains in contextual effects."
This is the kind of stuff that anyone that translates thinks about but possibly in a more unconscious manner (or is that just me? :P). I recognized strategies I’d employed previously, but also learned of other ways of translation that had never occurred to me. I will definitely be reading this many times.
***
Came across a blog entry on manga scanlation that mentions a professional manga translator who seems to claim that scanlations have a negative effect on the English translation industry in that titles won’t be picked up because of scanlations. So companies won't pick something up because it has a following online and is being scanlated? Was I living under a rock and this is common knowledge, or is this guy pulling crap out of his ass? As an aside, the original LJ post the blog entry refers to has a HUGE dose of fandom hate that amused me to no end. Yes, yes, fandom consists of whiny "gimmee now!" entitled babies that deserve nothing more than a kick in the pants. Sweeping generalizations certainly make things sound so simple and straightforward. And does ragging on “fandom” never get old or what?