Professional Documents
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TRANSLATION Theories
TRANSLATION Theories
Malonzo 5
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Module 2
Translation Theories: A Historical
Perspective
OBJECTIVES
This period starts with the Romans. Eric Jacobsen (in Bassnett, 1988)
goes so far as to hyperbolically propound that translation is a
Roman invention though translation is as old as language itself
.Translated documents were discovered in the third and the second
millennium B.C., in ancient Egypt and in Iraq. It extends from the
statements of Cicero and Horace on translation up to publication of
Alexander Fraser Tytler‘s Essay on the Principles of Translation in 1791.
It is perhaps the longest period as it covers a span of some 1700 years.
The main characteristic of this period is that of ‗immediate empirical
focus‘, i.e., the statements and theories from the practical work of
translating. Both Horace and Cicero, in their remarks on translation, make
an important distinction between word for word translation and sense for
sense translation. The underlying principle of enriching the native
language and literature through translation leads to stress the aesthetic
criteria of the TL product rather than the more rigid notions of ‗fidelity‘.
6 Dr. John Hayrold C. Malonzo Translation Theory and Practice
The last period coexists with the third period as it has its origin in the
early 1960s, and is characterized by a recourse to hermeneutic inquiries
into translation and interpretation, i.e., by a revision of translation that sets
the discipline in a wide frame which includes a number of other
disciplines.
This contemporary period has witnessed the emergence of many new
theories such as the ‗ polysystem theory, which has first arisen from the
work of a group Russian literary theorists. The concept of the ‗polysystem‘
has received considerable attention in the work of certain groups of
translation scholars since the mid-1970s. The theory offers a general
model for understanding, analyzing and describing the functions and
evolution of literary systems, its specific application to the study of
translated literature. These systems, whether in the original or translated
texts subsume several levels: linguistic, cultural, and social, all of which
overlap and interact with each other. ‗Skopos theory‘ is another theory
which was developed in Germany in the late 1970s (Vermeer, 1978). It
reflects a shift from predominantly linguistic and rather formal theories to
a more functionally and socio-culturally oriented concept of translation.
The word ‗skopos‘ is derived form Greek as a technical term for the
purpose of translation, i.e., skopos which must be defined before
translation begins. The theory endeavours to meet the growing need in
the latter half of the twentieth century for the translation of non-literary
texts: scientific, academic papers, instructions for use, tourist guides,
contracts, etc. According to this theory, the contextual factors surrounding
the translation should not be ignored. These factors include the culture of
the intended readers of the target text and the client who commissioned
it, and more significantly the function which the text aspires to perform in
that culture for those readers. Likewise, pragmatics stresses the principle
of intentionality in translation, i.e. significance of the text or the author‘s
intention, and that the ‗comprehension of the intent‘, according to Nida, is
a vital requisite of translation.
CHECKPOINT
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Module 3
Theories of Translation: A General Survey
OBJECTIVES
PHILOLOGICAL THEORIES
PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES
LINGUISTIC THEORIES
Linguistic theories, according to Nida (1976), are the only theories that
can be considered faithful because of the utilization of linguistic elements
from source language to target language. It also uses the comparison of
the linguistic structure of both languages. This assumption has two
factors: the rapid expansion of language studies, fields and disciplines,
and the translation/interpreting teaching and skills. The other one is the
innovation of machine translation. Nida (1976) also suggests a three-
stage model of the translation process: grammar, meaning, and
connotations.
FUNCTIONAL THEORIES
12 Dr. John Hayrold C. Malonzo Translation Theory and Practice
TEXT-TYPE THEORY
SKOPOS THEORY
SOCIOLINGUISTIC THEORIES
Translation Theory and Practice Dr. John Hayrold C. Malonzo 13
SYSTEMS THEORY
POLYSYSTEM THEORY
MANIPULATION THEORY
RELEVANCE THEORY
CHECKPOINT