26.397, Review: Translation: Almanna (2014)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-26-397. Wed Jan 21 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.397, Review: Translation: Almanna (2014)

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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:17:32
From: Jonathan Fleck [iamjonathanfleck at gmail.com]
Subject: Translation Theories Exemplified from Cicero to Pierre Bourdieu

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/25/25-1684.html

AUTHOR: Ali  Almanna
TITLE: Translation Theories Exemplified from Cicero to Pierre Bourdieu
SUBTITLE: Arabic-English.  A Coursebook on Translation
SERIES TITLE: LINCOM Studies in Translation 06
PUBLISHER: Lincom GmbH
YEAR: 2014

REVIEWER: Jonathan Samuel Fleck, University of Texas at Austin

Review's Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

Translation Studies has been developing as an autonomous field since the
1970s. Researchers generally separate scholarly critique (translation theory)
from applied techniques (translation practice). Translation Theories
Exemplified from Cicero to Pierre Bourdieu reverses this trend, explicitly
linking theory to practice. The author means to bridge the divide by providing
concrete examples of Arabic-to-English and English-to-Arabic translations for
the concepts in question. Even when introducing a wide range of concepts, the
chapters emphasize examples and exercises more than lengthy explications. In
general, the book is primarily meant as a course book for an undergraduate or
graduate level seminar on translation.

Besides accompanying a university seminar, the monograph will also be of some
interest as a theoretical text that explicates previous literature in the
field. Seminal works are reviewed and summarized, although readers seeking a
rigorous source for the purposes of new scholarship will need to supplement
the explanations found in Translation Theories Exemplified. The breadth of
scholarship covered precludes extended discussions of any single theorist.
Readers can refer to the “Further Readings” sections and rich bibliography to
locate additional sources (see especially Bassnett 2002; Lefevere 1992; and
Venuti 2004). 

The book begins by surveying key interventions in the history of thought on
translation as it has evolved into a contemporary analytic paradigm of
analysis. Following the section on historical precursors, the remaining seven
chapters focus on particular theoretical approaches, as well as practical
critiques of existing translations. Each Chapter begins with a list of Key
Concepts to be broached. There are “Further Reading” and “Exercises” Sections
at the ends of chapters and of some sub-sections. 

Knowledge of Arabic will allow readers to learn the most from Translation
Theories Exemplified, since every example involves Arabic. Even so, the book
can benefit those without knowledge of Arabic, since the author provides
‘back-translations’ for many of his examples. In these examples, the original
English text is provided, and then the relevant Arabic translation or
translations appear, followed by a back-translation, or a literal re-rendering
of the Arabic into English. For examples that do not include a
back-translation, the author explicates the relevant textual divergences
between the source text and the translation. These helpful tools facilitate
comparison of Source Texts and Target Texts.

EVALUATION 

The writing style of Translation Theories Exemplified is generally clear, and
only relies on technical language in particular cases when reviewing
theoretical concepts. There are a few redundancies between sections, but they
do not significantly interfere with reading. The physical book is
well-produced and aesthetically pleasing, although there are some
typographical errors and misspellings. Most notably, the author confuses
“calque” with “claque.” 

The example translations come from a variety of sources, including published
translations; citations from previous scholarship; translations offered “for
the purpose of this study by four translators from different perspectives”
(29); and examples solicited from college students (61) or from a “trainee
translator” (85). Supplementing published translations with ones solicited
specifically for Translation Theories Exemplified is a necessary step,
especially for cases where multiple examples of existing translations are
unavailable. However, the work does not include enough metadata about the
translators. The reader is left without specifics about the ‘different
perspectives’ mentioned and without information about how much contact the
student translators had with the author. 

The ‘Historical Background’ surveys prominent precursors to the field of
Translation Studies. The overview is well-researched and provides a ‘who’s
who’ of historical thought, with subsections on Antiquity, the Middle Ages,
the Renaissance, Modern Times, and Contemporary Translation Theories. Given
the brevity of the chapter and the number of thinkers covered, concepts are
introduced but not explicated in depth. The chapter juxtaposes historical
thought from Western traditions with concepts and practices developed in the
Arab world. Other works in mainstream translation theory often mention the
history of translation in the Arab world but do not give it adequate space.
That being the case, Translation Theories Exemplified will be of use to those
seeking a comparative reading. Arab translation practices were wide-ranging
and of key historical importance, especially during the Middle Ages. As the
author explains, during the 19th century, the Arab world focused on developing
techniques and practices of translation, while Western scholars were more
concerned with theorizing. The Chapter concludes with a concise synthesis of
wider trends in Translation Studies leading up to the current state of the
field: there has been “a series of shifts from word to sentence, from sentence
to text, from text to context, from language to culture and/or society” (23 /
70). 

‘Equivalence vs. Indeterminacy,’ reviews the ever-evolving historical debate
between those who promote strict linguistic fidelity and those who prefer more
free translation strategies. The question initially arose for Cicero and
Horace in Ancient Rome, who considered the difference between “word-for-word”
or “sense-for-sense” translation. The debate was reformulated and readdressed
at key moments throughout history, and gained more analytical backing in the
latter part of the twentieth century. As Translation Theories Exemplified
reviews a variety of theoretical interventions from the 1960s to the present,
the multiple concepts and thinkers tend to run together. The difficulty is
partly due to the brevity with which the different methodologies are
introduced, but primarily due to the fact that differences between paradigms
of equivalence/indeterminacy often differ more in terminology than in
substance. 

In all of the chapters, a variety of illustrative examples accompany each
theoretical concept. While the abundance of examples helps to clarify nuanced
topics, the strategy sometimes leads to issues of miscategoricization.
Translation Theories Exemplified does not always attend to the difference
between theorists who posit translation as a mode of analysis and those who
advance a practical strategy. While bridging theory with practice is the key
contribution of the book, the project would benefit from a more thorough
accounting of the tensions arising from such a crossover.

 ‘Translation Process’ covers both linguistic and cultural-studies approaches.
The discussion succeeds in objectively doing justice to both approaches, even
when they are in tension with one another. As the schemata become abstract,
the author’s examples prove especially useful as clarification. However, the
overabundance of terminologically complex paradigms makes the prose difficult
to read at times. Some sections introduce multiple terms without adequately
explicating each of them. In the subsection on “Translation as an ideological
move – an ideological approach,” the author cites “‘transitivity,’ ‘cohesive
device,’ ‘over-lexicalisation,’ ‘style-shifting,’ and so on” (60) without
sufficient explanation of how the terms may be used in a translation studies
context. While the chapter is inconsistent in the extent to which it
explicates theories of ideology, the overall discussion of cultural approaches
serves as a solid introduction to the topic. As the author explains: “[o]ver
the past three decades, the focus of translation studies has been shifted from
endless debates about equivalence to broader issues, including culture and its
effect on both process and product of translation” (55). Multiple definitions
of ‘culture’ are counterpointed as they pertain to translation studies.

 ‘Translation Strategies: Global Vs Local’ addresses translators’ choices at
the level of words, phrases, and texts. The author provides a particular depth
of examples for J.L. Malone’s list of local strategies (Equation Vs
Substitution; Divergence Vs Convergence; Amplification Vs Reduction; Diffusion
Vs Condensation; and Reordering). Several alternative translations for a given
text are compared, classified and evaluated based on the criteria presented in
the subsection. The wealth of concrete examples will help readers understand
the terms that scholars have used to talk about stylistic differences between
languages, and the strategies with which translators have approached these
differences. The chapter also comments upon general linguistic differences
between English and Arabic, and how these differences affect translators’
options. 

‘Translation Brief: Macro Factors’ analyzes the circumstances that limit
translations. These constraints originate from the party that commissions the
translation, as well as the cultural givens and goals that are involved in
each particular case. The overview of these constraints helps explicate the
important theoretical interventions in the field. Hans Vermeer’s concept of
“skopos” deals with functionality: a translation should perform a function in
the Target Language that is equivalent to the functionality of the original
text in the Source Language. Other scholars theorize how the mandate of
appeasing a patron is reflected textually. While there are some instances in
which the chapter glosses over potential contradictions between theorists,
overall the chapter succeeds showing how translation theory addresses the
contextual factors that constrain acts of translation.

The final chapters deal with ‘System Theories,’ ‘Register and Translation,’
and ‘Discourse Analysis and Translation.’ The “polysystems” approach
emphasizes the impersonal literary system rather than individual innovation,
while a “manipulations” view focuses on how the translator directs and
intervenes within the work. ‘Register and Translation’ close-reads linguistic
differences between selections of Source and Target texts. M.A.K. Halliday’s
broad paradigm of linguistic transitivity is applied to critique examples of
translation that fail on the grounds of transitivity. The analysis of grammar
successfully elucidates problematic divergences between Source and Target
texts, but the overall use of transitivity theory comes off as idiosyncratic.
A simpler concept of grammar would accomplish the same explanation more
efficiently, since many of the critiques of incorrect translations deal with
basic mistakes such as erroneous treatment of deixis or a misreading verbal
tense-aspect. ‘Discourse Analysis and Translation,’ finally, recommends
strategies for communicating with trainee translators. The chapter introduces
and then critiques translations that are lacking, and then offers more
adequate original contributions. The pedagogical goals become more central as
the book comes to a close.

The growing field of Translation Studies fundamentally maintains that
translation is not a transparent process. In both in the production and
critique of translation, scholars and practitioners must be conscious of
intricacies, distortions, and manipulations. “Translation Theories
Exemplified” furthers the field by applying an abundance of effective
examples, although the number of examples leaves less space for detailed
treatment of theoretical paradigms. While some of the treatment of theory is
oversimplified, the work succeeds in providing an overview of Translation
Studies for the purpose of a college course. Outside of the classroom,
Translation Theories Exemplified is a helpful step for examining how the
divide between theory and practice can be challenged.

REFERENCES

Bassnett, Susan. 2002. Translation Studies. London/New York: Routledge.
Lefevere, André (ed.). 1992. Trtanslation/History/Culture: a Sourcebook
London/New York: Routledge.
Venuti, Lawrence (ed.). 2004. The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd edn.
London/New York: Routledge.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jonathan Fleck is a PhD student exploring how the synergies between
Comparative Literature and Linguistics can be used to understand the power of
texts and translations. His particular contribution is to advance Translation
Studies as a paradigm for the analysis of a wide variety of and practices and
products in the Americas.








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