Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 5, Issue 1, 1993

Abstract

Translation studies need to cater for both description and evaluation. This can be achieved via the study of translation norms. The norms governing translation are: (a) professional norms concerning the translation process (= norms of accountability, communication and target-source relation); and (b) expectancy norms concerning the form of the translation product, based on the expectations of the prospective readership. While general translation laws account for the behaviour of translators in general, normative laws describe the translation behaviour of a subset of translators, namely, competent professionals, who establish the norms. Normative laws originate in rational, normdirected strategies which are observed to be used by professionals. These laws are empirical, spatio-temporally falsifiable, probabilistic, predictive and explanatory.

Abstract

The role of reading in translation is rarely discussed in the literature. Translation has mainly been discussed within a product-oriented framework. The more process-oriented approaches of recent years have taken notice of reading as a component activity of the translation process. However, few empirical studies have been completed which address the role of reading in translation. The way a person reads, and the result of that reading (some sort of mental representation of the text or text segment), will depend on the reader's purposes and motivations. The present empirical study indicates that while the translator's reading of a text may be to some extent more thorough and deliberate than that of an ordinary reader, it is not likely to be markedly so. The study also indicates a significant variability in the way translators "read for translation". This suggests the existence of alternate strategies in this kind of reading.

Abstract

The present paper shows that while the concept of fatalism is all-pervasive in Arabic, it is kept to a minimum in English. Consequently, the translator into English is unlikely to be able to conserve the fatalism of Arabic expressions. Four areas are used to draw evidence for this cultural barrier: death terms, discourse conditionals, tautological expressions, and proverbial expressions. In most cases, the translator is forced to adopt functional equivalents, despite the fact that fatalism is missed in the functionally corresponding expressions.

Abstract

Due to the influence of rhetoric, Dutch translation theory between 1750 and 1820, like translation theory in other Western European countries in those days, was primarily concerned with the effect of a translation on the Dutch public and the verbal appearance of the Dutch version. This functional approach was reinforced by the definition of translation as interpretatio, imitatio or exercitatio. The translational technique which follows from this prospective orientation is one of adaptation, correction and improvement. By the end of the period, Dutch translation theory seemed to be moving away slowly from the rhetorical tradition, as a result of two major changes: (1) a growing concern as of ± 1780 for fidelity to the verbal aspects of the original within the interpretatio-approach, and (2) a decrease in the popularity of imitatio as a creative technique after 1800. Unlike Germany, translation theory in The Netherlands had not made the crucial step towards a new theory of language before 1820.

Abstract

The present study is a linguistic analysis of the translations of some Biblical and Mishnaic verb forms into Ladino in Pirke Avot 'Ethics of the Fathers'. The liturgical Hebrew text includes both language layers, Biblical and Mishnaic. It is read by Sephardic Jewry from Passover to Pentecost a chapter a week, and has been translated into Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish calque-type language, in a variety of places since 1552. The article focuses on the morphological aspects of the translations. The results show that whereas Ladino translators opted for literal translations of the Biblical verses, they adopted freer renditions of the less sacred Mishnaic text. The differences stem from the difference in attitudes towards the sanctity of the two linguistic layers.

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