2014-02-02
718Geography (fjord, mistral, steppe) and endemic species (Kiwi, coala, sequoia)
Understanding the implications of culture-bound details in fiction
The problem of translating NEV (non-equivalent vocabulary)
Other groups of non-equivalent vocabulary
Realia as the major part of non-equivalent vocabulary
CULTURE BOUND DETAILS
NON-EQUIVALENT VOCABULARY AND
Character of Swift's Prose
That Swift is the most original writer of his time, and one of the greatest masters of English prose, is undeniable. Directness, vigor, simplicity, mark every page. Among writers of that age he stands almost alone in his disdain of literary effects. Keeping his object steadily before him, he drives straight on to the end, with a convincing power that has never been surpassed in our language. Even in his most grotesque creations, the reader never loses the sense of reality, of being present as an eyewitness of the most impossible events, so powerful and convincing is Swift's prose. Notwithstanding these excellent qualities, the ordinary reader will do well to confine himself to Gulliver's Travels and a book of well-chosen selections. For, it must be confessed, the bulk of Swift's work is not wholesome reading. It is too terribly satiric and destructive; it emphasizes the faults and failings of humanity; and so runs counter to the general course of our literature, which follows the Ideal and is not satisfied till the hidden beauty of man's soul and the divine purpose of his struggle are manifest.
Realia (plural noun) are words and expressions for culture-specific material things. In Latin, it originally meant “ the real things”, i.e. material things, as opposed to abstract ones.
It is necessary to distinguish realia-objects and realia-words.
Types and examples of realia (Vlahov and Florin)
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Ethnography (everyday life: cider, bistrot, sauna, kimono, sari, sombrero, igloo), culture (tarantella, banjo, geisha, mormon, dervish), measure and money (gallon, stone, lira, peseta, guinea)
Those realia that have no permanent equivalents, form part of non-equivalent vocabulary
Other groups of non-equivalent vocabulary
- Proper names, toponyms, names of institutions, newspapers. Some of these develop equivalents: cf. Moscow – but the Moskva River. Some are easy to identify, others are somewhat of a challenge: Croatian, Beijing, Montenegro
- Lacunae (=gaps) – a fortnight, exposure, a glimpse, кипяток
- Words rich in connotation (судьбина, гордыня, frustration)
- Foreignisms and barbarisms (bon mot, a priori, de jure, tête-à-tête)
- Nonce words (author’s neologisms) «прозаседавшиеся», “betweenity”, “shortflation”= «инфлицит», «искпедиция»
- Phraseological units without an equivalent set-expression in the TL (Little pitchers have long ears).
Translation of non-equivalent vocabulary
· Creating a new word or a calque (flea market- a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered)
· Making the meaning explicit, such as Jewish temple for synagogue
· Replacing the word with one that is more generic or international, such as red wine for Beaujolais
· Adding an adjective to help the reader identify the origin of the element of realia, as in “пампасы” (степи в Южной Америке) - the Argentine pampas
· Translating the overall meaning.(The English sentence Does the National Health Service cover this drug? = in an American context, Is this drug expensive?
Implications of culture-bound details in fiction
The challenges we come across in understanding a foreign text are caused by:
1) failure to understand the cultural detail itself;
2) failure to understand the implications that the cultural detail suggests.
The first problem is chiefly caused by:
a) NEV (прописка, ЖЭУ, субботник, ЗАГС, зачетка);
b) “ historisms” and archaisms which can sound foreign even to the native ear («кафтан», «уезд», «волость», «коллежский асессор»; «вран на нырище», «жуковинье» - кольцо с камнем в оправе или перстень с печаткой), Калика — странник, богомолец, нищий, Гость — купец (См.Садко: варяжский, индийский гость).
Sample of misunderstanding: были когда-то мужиками, работали, пахали, пьянствовали, извозничали, обманывали бар…= ploughed, worked at handicrafts, cheated their masters, fetched, carried, and got drunk… (Gogol)
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C) wrong associations of the foreign language realia with something familiar.
…все осталось по-старому, только оброк кой-где прибавился, да барщина стала потяжелее =… everything remained as before; only the rent was in some places raised, the mistress was more strict, =…внизу были лавочки с хомутами, верёвками и баранками. (Gogol) –Within on the ground floor, there stood a number of benches heaped with horse-collars, rope and sheepskins …
d) Failure to assess all the implication of a cultural detail.
Cf.: Mrs.Thompson – Mrs.George Thompson;
Miss Dashwood (Elinor) – Miss Marianne – Miss Margaret
“Ivanhoe” – a servile courtier addresses Prince John as “ Your Majesty ” instead of “ Your Royal Highness ”. The prince is not displeased as he hopes to depose his brother.
(Экономке Агафье) велели вместо чепца (cap) носить на голове платок (kerchief) = a sign that the serf had fallen out of favour, for the mistress would present her peasant servants with caps.
… Swithin Forsyte was wearing two waistcoats and a ruby pin ” – the detail shows the solemnity of the occasion (June’s engagement to Bosinney)
Eliza Doolittle: - “I have a right to sell flowers if I keep off the kerb ” (Otherwise she might have been detained for molesting the pedestrians).
Вершок = 4,45 см. Герасим в «Муму» был «12 вершков ростом». Yet he is described as a very tall and strong man … (??)
It means that “vershjki” were added above the minimal normal height for a human being, which equalled two arshins 71 x 2 = 142 cm. Plus 12 x 4,45 = 196 cm!
«Завтра Ивана Купала. Одну только эту ночь в году и цветет папоротник. Не прозевай! Н. В. Гоголь «Вечер накануне Ивана Купала»
(The legend has it that the sight of a blossoming fern indicates a buried treasure beneath.)
«Мы вам покажем кузькину мать», =..“ mother of Kuz’ma ”.
(cf. We shall show you what’s what!)
“ Взять бы орясину – после дяди Герасима, да с хазового-то конца и начать охаживать». (= «взять дубину да хорошенько побить с головы до пят»). English translator’s mistake: “ Someone ought to take Uncle Gerasim’s club…”
Sometimes the exact meaning of a culture-based detail is not so important. What matters is the implication. In such cases the translator may give a generalization or functional substitution:
Другой одёжу любит хорошую, а мне всё одно, какой ни попадись зипунишко, лишь бы было тепло».
= “ Some people like fine clothes, but for me it’s all the same – whatever rag is near at hand – just so I’m warm. ”
