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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Robert Alter on Translation

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>
  • To: Stoney Breyer <stoneyb AT touchwood.net>
  • Cc: 'hebrew' <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Robert Alter on Translation
  • Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 06:49:29 -0700

On 15/08/2003 06:28, Stoney Breyer wrote:

[SB:] But doesn't failure to express literary features of the original
compromise accuracy and clarity, too? For that matter, what features of
the original are *not* literary? I hope you're not suggesting that
structural features are merely ornamental, while all the meaning that
matters is conveyed at the local level.

You are right, of course. Literary and structural features are part of the meaning of the text, and so they need to be rendered in a translation, as far as possible, by literary and structural features which have the same function in the target language. That doesn't mean that they have the same form.

As a hypothetical example, the form we are used to as a limerick may be very similar to the form used as a funeral elegy in another language. Does that mean we should translate that language's funeral elegy into English as a limerick?

But there must be a trade-off. In many cases it is simply impossible to preserve in a translation all of the meaning of the original, at the structural and literary levels as well as the local level. In deciding how to make this trade-off one needs to consider carefully the target audience and the nature and purpose of the translation. To use one of Nida's examples, when translating an aircraft maintenance manual it is vital that the instructions are accurate at the word level, and at the structural level, but literary features are unimportant. However, for translations of some kinds of poetry it may be more important to preserve the feel, the alliterative content etc even if the literal sentence level is not accurately translated. And when we are talking about the Bible ... well, that's another long story, but few people will thank you for a translation which is inaccurate at the sentence level, however poetically beautiful it might be.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/






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