Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 4, Issue 1, 1992

Abstract

Many translation theorists have adopted a functional approach to translation in an attempt to guide and explain the difficult choices a translator must make. This paper argues that it is the function of the translation, and not the functions of language or the function of the source text, that is the translator's guiding force. Having defined the function of translation as the application or use which the translation is intended to have in the context of the target situation, various functions that a literary translation may serve are examined. Finally, using the criteria of functions of language, functions of (source) text and functions of translation, an attempt is made to show that the type and degree of coincidence between the formal manifestations of the functions of language in the source text, the function of the source text and the translation depend on the precise function of the latter.

Abstract

This article argues that, unlike conventional bilingual knowledge sources that are underpinned by the principle of filtering out a limited number of representative equivalents, transfer dictionaries that are derived from computer-assisted parallel text analysis can bring both the human and the mechanized translator a stage nearer the elusive ideal of text-insertable translation equivalents.

Résumé

Loin d'être un substrat de théories 'préscientifiques', la métaphore traductologique conserve sa place et son rôle dans les théories contemporaines. Entant qu' instrument cognitif, elle y accomplit l'interaction entre le théme et desphores choisis dans des domaines comme la psycholinguistique ou la théorie actantielle. Par son extension sémantique, elle engendre des réajustements successifs souvent métaphoriques à leur tour. En tant que procédé argumentatif, lamétaphore sert à imposer de nouveaux modéles théoriques; corrélativement, ellesert à marginaliser des modéles antérieurs ou concurrents par une représentationnouvelle de leurs concepts.

Abstract

This paper proposes an application of some particular theories, known as the 'polysystem' theories of translation, to the study of film adaptation. A preliminary and experimental analysis of a series of film adaptations made in the American film noir of the 1940s and 1950s shows that this approach provides the basis for a systematic and coherent method with theoretical foundations, and that it permits the study of aspects of film adaptation which have been neglected or ignored so far.

Zusammenfassung

Historical and descriptive oriented translation studies of novels face enormous practical problems, which can only be solved by a selective approach. Of special interest for the cultural history of the 19th century are literary landscapes, enabling translation scholars who deal with different literatures to collaborate on a limited textual basis. Alterations of a literary 'leitmotiv' can effect considerable shifts on all levels of the target-text, e.g., content, point of view and overall thematic structure. It seems very likely that the findings gained from comparative analysis of novel-translations do also apply to other literary forms and that they can be regarded as "translational constants" in a cultural history of literary translation.

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