04/09

Translation and its main objective . Translation theory and other sciences.

Translation is a human activity known since ancient times and a profession of

translator and interpreter are among the oldest of professions that came back to the
Biblical era or even earlier. Translation is one of the most complex problems that
the human intellect may face.

TRANSLATION- the stated goal of translation is the TRANSFORMATION of the

text originally in one language into ecvivalent into different language preserving
THE CONTENCE, THE FORMAL FEATURES AND ITS FUNCTIONAL
ROLES. The purpose of translation is implementation of speech communication
bw people speaking different languages, communication is impossible if there is a
distinct non-coincidence between the transmitted and received info.

This act of communication is different from communication acts carried out in one
language. In the process of translation communicators use different language
systems and as a result this communication is always bi-lingual .

Translation presupposes COMMUNICATE SIMILARITy of text in different

languages the interchangeability in a definite act of communication .

The example given below illustrates semantic divergences between the original
and translated massage:

It’s a long lane that has no curney- proverb

Перемелиться - борошно буде

In this example, translation provides COMMUNICATIVE SIMILARITY bw the

original and translated text but not the semantic identity.

The essence of translation is to reach communicative acqivalants that retain

communicative relevance of original.

To achieve Communicative similarity means to convey the general intent of the

original message.

The translation and its study )()research has been dominated by the debate about
the stators of the translation as an art or a science

The linguist inevitably approaches translation from a scientific POV seeking to

create some kind of “objective description of the phenomenon ”. This approach is
especially prolific when we deal with translating scientific texts, technical,
linguistic texts belonging to the informative types of translation.

Nevertheless the supposed dychotomy протиставлення bw art and science is

current enough, when er deal with translation of literary texts where the translator
has to convey all the artistic merits of a literary text and here translation is viewed
as a kind of art.

The term translation presupposes that the content and the style of the original text
should be preserved as far as possible in the translated text .

The aim is to reproduce as accurately as possible all grammatical and lexical

features of the source language SL by finding equivalents in the target language TL
. At the same time all factual info contained in the original must be preserved in
the translation. But in practice the translator sacrifie some elements of the original
to bring the text of the SL to the norms of the TL.

We should suggest that there are in fact 3 distinguishable meanings for the word
translation.

Translating: the process (to translate: activity rather than than the tangible object )

A translation: : the product of the process of translating ( that is the translated text)

The translation: that abstract concept which encompasses вколючає both the
process of translating and the product of that process

The science of translation or transitology is concerned with both theoretical and

applied aspects of translation studies. A theoretical description of the translation
fenomenon is a task of the translation theory. In the narrow sense translation theory
is concerned with the translation methods appropriately used for a certain type of
text, and it’s therefore dependent on a functional theory of a language. However, in
a wider sense translation theory is the body of knowledge that we have about
translating. Translation theory is concerned with minor aspects of translation
( semicolons, misprints, ) as well as generalities ( presentation, general intEnt of
the original text and both may be equally important in the context )

Theoretical research is to discover what translation is, to find out what objective
factors predermine the translators intuition to describe the ways and methods due
to which the identity of the communicative value of source text and target text is
achieved.

The theory of translation provides the translator with the appropriate tools of
analysis and synthesis. Translation is a complicated phenomenon involving
linguistic, psycholinguistic, cultural, literary, and other factors. Different aspects of
translation can be studied with methods of respective sciences. Up to now most of
the theoretical research has been done within the framework of linguistics . The
linguistic theory of translation is concerned with translation as a form of speech
communication establishing contact bw communicants who speaks different
languages.

The basis of this theory is linguistics in the broadest sense of the world, this is
macro linguistics with all its new branches such as psycholinguistic,
sociolinguistic, text linguistics, communicative linguistics, etc , studying the
language structure and its functioning in speech in their relationship in culture and
society

The core of the translation theory is the general theory of translation which is
concerned with the fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of
bilingual communication and therefore common to all translation events . Basically
replacement of ST by TT of the same communicative value is possible because
both text are produced in human speech , governed by the same rules and implying
the same relationships bw language, reality and human mind.

The general theory of translation FOCUSES ON translation universals and is the

basis for all other theoretical study in this area . This theory describes the basic
principles which hold good for each and every translation event.

Another very important sphere of translation theory is the theory of equivalents

aimed at studying semantic relationships between ST and TT. The creation of
equivalent text results in and is dependent on the equivalents of correlated
language units in the two texts. In any two languages there are pairs of units which
are of identical or similar communicative value and can replace each other in
translation. The communicative value of a language unit depends both on its
semantics and on the way it’s used in speech. So we may conclude that translation
theory and its branches provide a translator with appropriate tools for processing
the original text and the main task of translation is performed when the
communicative value of the original text is conveyed in translation

11/09
The main types of translation
Alongside with common features, separate types of translation can have essential
specific features .
1 According to genre and style classification of tr , all tr-ns fall into literary and
informative ( special). Literary tr is aimed at rendering works of fiction which are
opposed to all other texts as to their COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTION. Its
functions are Esthetic and poetic . All literary texts are characterized by artistic
value, which must be adequately conveyed in a tl , sometimes, the text of the tr can
be quite different from original in its form, as the main purpose of tr is to render
artistic merits of the original text . Literary works are known to fall into a number
of genres , each genre calls for a specific arrangement and makes use of specific
artistic means to impress the reader. Translations of prose, poetry and plays have
their own problems. Each of these forms of literary activities comprises a number
of subgenres and the translator may specialise in one or some of them in
accordance with his talent and experience. The great challenge to the translator is
to combine the maximum equivalents and the high literary merit, tr of literary texts
includes : !!LITERARY TRANSLATIonal BOOKS, articles, stories and other
types of prose ,”, literally translation of poetry, of advertising materials and of
other texts that requires A CREATIVE AND FLEXIBLE APPROACH !!
Translation of literature is fundamentally different from other categories, this is
because the main principle of literal translation is the dominance of poetic
communicative function . It means that in addition to rendering information to the
reader literary tr also has esthetic functions . The artistic image created in the
particular literary work ( be it the image of a character o, nature ) will certainly
have the impact on the reader. For this reason , the literary translator should take
into account specific features of the source text. IT IS THE POETIC FICUS OF
THE TEXT THAT MAKES THIS TYPE OF TRANSLATION DIFFERENT
FROM , SAY, TEXT OF AN INFORMATIVE TYPE . When reading a story ,
poem or any other type of literary work translated from a fore language, we
perceive the text itself with its meaning, emotions and characters. IT IS QUETE S
CHALLENGING TAST TO ACHIEVE THE MAIN GOAL OF THE ARTISTIC
TR - THE TRANSLATOR CREATES A PARTICULAR IMAGE OF THE
ORIGINAL TEXT FOR THE READER , therefore literary tr may have some
deviations from the standard rules. A literal translation ( дослівний ) cannot
reflect the depth and meaning of the literary work. A literary translator reproduces
AN NON-LITERAL TRANSFER / RENDERING OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT.
The strategies : it is all about how the translator perceives it. He/she rewrites the
text from the beginning to the very end , he can replace the structure of sentences,
change lexical units of the original in order to preserve the artistic features of the
original text. Translation of literary work is a serious challenge . A translator
somehow has to move a text into the TL while preserving as much as possible the
quality and character, the spirit of the original . He is confronted with a tricky task
of caring the distinctive character and reasons of the original text , imagery , style
and its other elements. Therefore THE PROBLEMS OF LITERARY
TRANSLATION ARE WITHIN THE SPHERE OF ART AND ARE SUBJECT
TO ITS SPECIFIC LAWS . RECREATION OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT IS A
WORK OF ART WITH UNITY OF CONTENT AND FORM AND WITH ALL
ITS NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL QUALITIES. The translator of a literary
text is expected to make a careful study of the literary trend the text belongs to , the
other works of the same author, with the peculiarities of his individual style and
manner and so on . This involves both linguistic considerations and skill in literary
criticism. A good lite translator must be a versatile scholar and a talented writer or
poet .
Informative translation - is a type of translation where the main emphasis is made
on conveying the meaning of the original text, but in most cases without placing
focus on word for word accuracy . Inf tr is rendering into the TL non-literary texts ,
the main purpose of which is to convey certain amount of ideas , to inform the
reader , we should stress here that some informative texts comprise some elements
aimed at achieving an aesthetic effect ( it concerns journalistic texts and
advertising texts ) . Among inf texts we may single out translations of scientific
and technical texts, newspaper material ( journalistic texts) , official papers and
some other types of texts , such as public speeches , political and propaganda
materials, advertisements, etc . , which are intermediate, in that there is a certain
balance bw the expressive and referential functions. From the given above types it
may be expedient to single out translation of official diplomatic papers as a
separate type of informative tr. this text make a category of their own because of
the specific requirements to the quality of their translations . Such translations are
often excepted as authentic, official texts which should be conveyed in translation
preserving the every detail. That makes the translator very particular about every
detail and every meaningful element of the original which he scrupulously
reproduces in his translation.
Journalistic text dealing with social or political matters are singled out among other
informative texts , because they may feature elements more commonly used in
literary texts ( metaphors, similes and other SD ) which cannot but influence the
translator’s strategy. More often these texts are regarded as a kind of newspaper
materials .
2 According to psycholinguistic classification of translation it is subdivided into :
written and interpretation which in its turn has a more detailed subdivision. These
are all however modifications of the two melanin types of translation.