INTRODUCTION
TO TRANSLATION
Gone are the days when
'translation' used to be thought of as an anonymous, unappreciated activity
practiced by a select few as a hobby or professional necessity. Today
translation is a term that has gained wide currency and the discipline of
'translation studies’ is considered an immensely fertile area of work and
research. In simple terms, to 'translate' is to meaningfully conveyor to carry
across a message from one language to another.
The concept of 'translation'
itself has come across its parent discipline of linguistics and has more or
less become a part of the general psyche of people. Take for instance the ease
with which one translates currency while shopping at; a grocery shop
"thirty rupees" to 'tees rupaye' i.e. from English to Hindi and vice
versa.
The translation is primarily a process of communication in which an idea is conveyed from the language it is originally expressed in, which is called the source language (SL), into a language comprehensible to the intended/target audience, which is called the target language (TL). The process of translation involves multiple steps, quite similar to that of the communication cycle:
The translation is primarily a
process of communication in which an idea is conveyed from the language it is
originally expressed in, which is called the source language (SL), into a
language comprehensible to the intended/target audience, which is called the
target language (TL). The process of translation involves multiple steps, quite
similar to that of the communication cycle. Towards the study of translation,
there are two approaches:
1. Product Approach 2. Process Approach
Earlier, translation approaches
focused mainly upon the finished product. Nowadays, attention has shifted to
the Process Approach through which translators produce their work. The Process Approach helps translators to
understand the mental operations underlying the product. i.e. translated text.
The significance of translation
lies in the different languages being used by the two parties, the sender and
the receiver. Translation, therefore, becomes an exceedingly complex activity.
The significance of translation
lies in the different languages being used by the two parties, the sender and
the receiver. Translation, therefore, becomes an exceedingly complex activity
because no two languages share the same structures of grammar, composition, and
so on. This is what Eugene A. Nida refers to when he declares "Since no
two languages are identical, either in the meanings given to corresponding
symbols or in the ways in which such symbols are arranged in phrases and
sentences, it stands to reason that there can be no absolute correspondence
between languages. Hence there can be no fully exact translations". According to another
definition provided by noted linguist J. C. Catford, “Translation is the replacement of textual material in one
language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)."
BRIEF
HISTORY OF TRANSLATION IN THE WEST
The translation is now one of the
most common integrated ways to various fields of arts and science. The roots of
his history are of his own mankind. Translation plays an important role in the
construction of collective history and composite culture in the world.
The first theoreticians of
Translation are Roman philosophers Horace and Cicero. Even Bible the holy book which was actually
written in Hebrew is a most translated text till the present date. Bible was
first translated by St. Jerome was an important influence of translation. Later
William Tyndale’s Translation of the Bible became one of the major sources and
gain currency over Latin, and it is produced all over the world in various
languages.
In the Elizabethan age,
translation of important works of scholars like Plutarch, Montaigne were the
major influences on the writers of the era. Also, George Chapman’s translation
of great Greek literary giants Homer’s work into English and eminent writers
like John Dryden and Alexander Pope made a contribution to the corpus of
translation. For these writers, the general sense of translation is “Word for
word and, conveying the general sense of the source text.” Alexander Pope
translated the Odyssey where he conveys the essence of the source text into the
target language.
Dryden was the first person to
spoke of the basic terminology for translation which consist of:
• The
ideas of ‘Metaphrases’ which means a
thoroughly rigid word by word and line by line mode of translation which are
quite similar to literal translation.
• Paraphrase refers to an act of translation
that keeps the author of the source text in focus while at the same time, not
adhering to his very words like the sense for sense translations.
• Imitation involves a freehand with both
the original words and sense intended by the author making it a free
translation or even perhaps an adaptation or abridgment.
Translation from and into English
continued in the romantic period with the likes of Goethe and Byron being
widely translated. German Philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher in his
significant work ‘Uber Die Verschiedenen Methoden Des Ubersetzens ‘(On the
different methods of Translating) in 1813 which set another ball rolling in the
field of translation methodology: -
• Retaining
the original foreign flavor of the text.
• A
certain alienating approach which would allow the reader to receive the
translated text embedded with the original text.
William Morris subscribed to the
view of retaining the foreignness of a text to be passed on to a prospective
reader via translation. Later, Victor Poch and antic Mathew Arnold advocated
following a more open method of translation in his lecture ‘On Translating
Homer.’
In the colonial era, orientalist
scholars like Fitzgerald, Charles Wilkins, and William Jones worked intending
to improve and polish by translating what they thought inferior or perhaps even
barbaric qualities with the source language. In this fashion, Jones translated
Kalidasa’s Abhijananshakuntalam from Sanskrit.
In the later 20th century,
translation Studies emerges as a separate discipline in its own right. Schools
of critical theory like Russian Formalism, Structuralism, and Poststructuralism
have been instrumental in bringing about a wave of intense research and
analysis in translation studies Language and its study became important leading
to a fresh perspective in translation as well. The necessary springboard for
translation Studies in England was provided by the publication of J.C.
Catford’s book A Linguistic Theory of Translation in 1965.
BRIEF
HISTORY OF TRANSLATION IN INDIA
India is a multi-lingual country.
There are two distinct language families in India—the Indo-Aryan and the
Dravidian. The history of India is shrouded in the annals of myths and legends
impossibly intertwined with religious beliefs and sentiments. Bharatiya Natyashastra
is considered to be one of the earliest texts written in the country. The two
grand epics the ‘Ramayana’ and the ‘Mahabharata’ believed to be composed by
Valmiki and Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa were passed down from one generation to
the other primarily through a vibrant oral culture. The major Indian languages
of today derive from either of the two groups and sometimes two Indian
languages might not have many linguistic traits in common. For instance,
translation from Hindi to Malayalam means that translation is between two
languages that are radically different although they belong to the same region
called India. But despite this diversity, we can safely state that Indian
languages own a shared sensibility, partly derived from the common heritage of Sanskrit
and ancient theories of literature and language. Sanskrit, partly known as the
Language of Gods.
Sanskrit was the dominant
language in the northern part of India in ancient times but other languages
like Prakrit, Pail, and Magadhi were used as languages of communication by the
common masses. Sanskrit was the language of literature and religious rites. It
was normal and acceptable to change from one dialect into another or one
language into another in the course of the same text. The extent to which
bilingual literary production has been accepted in India as normal literary
behavior and the historical length of the existence of such practice are
indicative. In the Dravidian culture of South India, a prescriptive text
similar to ‘Natyasastra’ called the ‘Tolkappiam’ composed Tolkappiar in Tamil
was sacred to all practitioners of literature and culture.
As India passed into the medieval period, the
influence of Sanskrit declined. The various invasions during this period also
brought with them different cultural and linguistic influences. Persian became
the dominant language because it was the language of the court; it was also
considered to be the elite language of scholarship under the Mughal rulers. The
Mughal courts had scholars who were also translators. Baburnama, the
autobiography of Baber was originally written in a language called Chagatay but
was translated into Persian by Humayun’s minister Bairam Khan. Akbar
commissioned translations of Sanskrit works into Persian. The Mahabharata was
translated into Persian during Akbar’s time. His great-grandson Dara-Shukoh
translated the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita into Persian.
Translations in this period had
many important results. Firstly, it helped to make people bilingual—that is,
most of them knew two languages or even more. Secondly, it gave rise to new
languages like Urdu which was the result of the interaction of Persian with the
local language. Thirdly, translations from other works had the effect of
introducing new genres to India. For example, translations from Persian brought
in new genres like Masnavi, Qasida and importantly, the Ghazal. They were
Indianised to suit the local readers’ tastes; Mirza Ghalib, the most important
of Ghazal writers wrote in Persian and Urdu. Fourthly, many Indian texts
reached the west through Persian translations. As is the case with most texts,
there are no accurate written records about these, which makes tracking them
down difficult. But we can say without hesitation that translations helped to make
Indian culture what it is today, a happy blending of multiple cultural
influences. Bilingualism is a common Indian trait even today. Moreover, the
very presence of an overwhelming number of recensions or versions of classical
Indian texts including epics, plays, poems and so n indicates a healthy
interaction between language in the plurality of Indian experience.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF TRANSLATION
The significance of translation
lies in different languages being used by two parties, the sender and receiver.
It becomes an exceedingly complex activity because no two languages share the
same structure of grammar and composition. Translation study has grown into an
interdisciplinary, multilingual and multifaceted discipline with wide ranging
applications in everyday life.
Some of the places where
translation plays a major role include:
1. Growth of Multinational Companies
Translation
is exceptionally important for companies and businesses which operate in
multiple countries and often need to share and receive information from
different global offices and branches across the world. In such cases, the
shared information needs to be translated into a locally preferred language so
that everyone involved is on the same page. Translation is also useful when
companies need to tie up with local businesses, or make governmental proposals.
2. Cultural Interchange
Music,
literature, films, and various other art forms transcend global boundaries
because of the way they are effectively translated to reflect local languages
and sentiments. Translated and subtitled films today generate more revenue than
ever for the global film industry, with blockbuster movies looking at China as
the next big market, where the success of translated films have led production
houses touch the $1bn mark more frequently than ever. And it's not only the
film industry which has benefited from translation, as translated music and
literature allows artists to earn more royalties and international fame as an
added bonus.
3. A Nation's External Affairs
Today,
international diplomacy is the most important aspect of a nation's external
affairs. Be it a global summit or new economic deal, diplomats and world
leaders always present their ideas and thoughts in a language they are
comfortable in. It is very important that these ideas are translated in an
expressive, non-condoning, and accurate manner, barring which it can lead to
significant problems between diplomatic relations of two or more nations
4. Accurate Transfer of News
Unless
transferred and translated properly, world news would be nothing more than
gibberish when received by news agencies. Whether it is news coming from local
bodies, regional centers, or even countries with strict news censorship,
translation serves as an effective tool without which news will remain
ineffective and unreliable.
5. Boost in Tourism
Translation
can effectively help in solving one of the biggest tourist dilemmas, that of
being short-changed or fleeced by unfamiliar people in foreign destinations. At
the same time, translated tourism materials not only help tourists feel welcome
in an unknown country, but also boosts the country's popularity as a tourist
friendly destination, thereby leading to significant tourism-related revenues.
