Untranslatability in Literary Translation: Challenges and Classifications
Exploring the concept of untranslatability in literary translation, this presentation discusses various aspects such as linguistic, cultural, and structural challenges. It delves into different classifications proposed by scholars like Catford and Popovic, addressing the complexities faced in translating texts with varying orientations. The debate between meaning and equivalence in translation, along with examples from prose and poetry, adds depth to the discussion.
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Badji Mokhtar University Annaba, Algeria Faculty of Human Sciences Department of Translation Aspects of Untranslatability in Literary Translation Presented by : MOHAMMED SALAH GHARBI
Presentation Plan Introduction: Method Results Discussion
Introduction Untranslatability is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one language, equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language when translated. for which no
A New Classifications Sacred Text Poetry Linguistic untranslatability Prose Cultural untranslatability Catford : Lixical & syntactical Absence of situational feature Popovic (1976) : Structural,Linear ,functional and semantic levels Absence of adequate linguisticexpression Texts which are both source- language and target-language oriented Optimum translatability Texts which are exclusively source-language oriented: Relatively untranslatable . Texts which are mainly or solely target-language oriented Optimum translatability . Texts which are mainly source- language oriented Partially translatable. Neubert (1973) :
Do wetranslate onlythe meaning?? Jacobson Roman : Meaning Vs Equivalnece Vinay & Darbelnet Eugene Nida Peter Newmark Julianne House Literal Vs Free Formal Vs Dynamic SemanticVs Communicative Overt Vs Covert 05 Equivalences Koller Werner Formal correspondonce Textual Equivalence Catford John.C Katarina Reiss Text types Christianne Nord Documentry Vs Instrmental
02Methodology 2.1 Prose: Example 01: : a phenomenon in languages known as a Palindrome; is a word or phrase that reads the same backwords as forwards sush as : Racecar A butt tuba. But sad Eva saved a stub. Are we not drawn onward to new era? Animal loots foliated detail of stool lamina.
Example 02: a speech delivered more than 1000 years ago to show one s linguistic and elocution skills, this sermon is composed of 250 words so it s a complete discourse , a normal speech, it is translatable though itwas perfectly rhymed and well-tooled in rhetorical devices, but the key issue here ,is not at these levels , the fact that this speech is written only by 46 per cent of the Arabic language, so 54 per cent were deleted from the Arabic alphabet , so this was a challenge at that time to write articles using only the half of the alphabets showing writing skills as well as the flexibilityof Arabic language.
2.2 Poetry: Example 01: I often wondered when I cursed, Often feared where I would be Wondered where she d yield her love, When I yield, so will she. I would her will be pitied! Cursed be love! She pitied me By Lewis Carroll I often wondered when I cursed, Often feared where I would be Wondered where she d yield her love, When I yield, so will she. I would her will be pitied! Cursed be love! She pitied me
Exemple 02 Palindrome in poetryat the level of letters *** *** *** ***
Exemple 03 : Eulogy Beautifully gracious, covered with generosity, Powerful yet dependable Host to every refuge seeker, A source of benefit and truly helpful
When letters are reversed they can be seen as Invective Poetry *** *** Dirty, perverse, gambler and Opting to corruption with no fear Known as stinking, foxy, illegitimate, Interloper and expected at every door
Exemple 04 Eulogy when read from right to left Eulogy verses in English: *** *** They were granted what they asked for So they were highly ranked for good positions They were gifted good manners and characters So they lived peacefully nothing to hurt them
Satire or invective when read from left to right *** *** A close translation into English Ranks for them were lowered not to being higher any more They were deprived from reaching what they have asked for Calamity upon them was descended and cannot be avoided A complete degradation for them was set nothing to be gained
Exemple 05 We can read the following verse without moving our lips ***
Exemple 06 Example 6: We can read the following verse without moving our tongues ***
Exemple 07 Example 7: Verses in which each word containing the letter SHIN in English ch or sh ' '
2.3 Sacredtext The sacred scripture is something different from human made texts, it is plentyof secrets, codes and even miracles; One of them is the code of 19 It is believed that thiscode exists in Torah, Bible and Quran A Jewish theologiostcalled Gershom Kiprisci, chairman of leiden institute isworking on that project . To practice, we need a system to convert letters into their numerical values in Arabic is called Abjad numeral system Similarsystemswere Gematria in Hebrew and Isopsephy in Greek
AbjadNumeralSystem value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Letter value 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Letter value 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Letter
40 10 08 200 30 01 50 40 08 200 30 01 05 30 30 01 40 60 02 289 329 66 102 786
Example 01 In the Name of God the most Merciful the most Powerful According to this translation the meaning is closely translated therefore the problem here is that text is built on mathematics so maths is embbeded in this text Let s practice Numerical value of each word and the total value is 786 102+66+329+289= 786 So we have 4, 19, 786 if we join them togetherwewill find 419786 a six-digit numberdivisible by 19
Lets now write the sequence numberof each word 1 2 3 4 then weadd numberof lettersof each word 1 3 2 4 3 6 4 6 wegetan eight digit number is divisible by 19 If weadd the numberof lettersof each word 2 3 4 to the numberof lettersof nextword 1 3 2 7 3 13 4 19 wegeta ten-digit numberdivisible by 19 1 If weadd the numerical value of each word to the numberof letters to this word 1 105 2 70 3 335 4 295 wewill have a fifteen-digit numberdivisible by 19
If weadd the numerical value of each word to the numerical value of the nextword 1 102 2 168 3 497 4 786 weget a 16-digit numberdivisible by 19 If wewrite the numberof letters in a word, then the numerical value of each word, then the numerical value of each letter in thisword separatelywewill get 48-digit numberdivisible by 19 3 10226040 4 66130305 632913020084050 628913020081040
If wewrite the numerical value of each letterthen its sequence in the verse wewill geta 62-digit numberd/19 21 402 603 14 305 306 57 18 309 20010 811 4012 5013 114 3015 20016 817 1018 4019 Not only thisconcerning thatverse also if wecount the frequencyof each word throughout the book the found numbersare divisible by 19 First word is repeated 19 times 19 is divisible by 19 Second word is repeated 2698 times 2698 is divisible by 19 Third word is repeated 57 times 57 is divisible by 19 Fourth word is repeated 114 times 114 is divisible by 19 The sum of quotients as well is divisible by 19 (1+ 142+ 3+6) = 152 d/19
Conclusion Inviting readers to go back to source texts to find out the real flavourof these works this would help people to learn new languages and be opened on other cultures Lack of a general theory that covers every genre of texts in Literary translation, so a general theory of translation is always needed All the previous translation theories were made and based on human speech and can t deal with the word of God which is beyond the human linguistic capacity and exceed the human artistic imagination
