Methods Of Translation

1438 Words6 Pages
Methods, Strategies and Techniques in Translation. Introduction. The purpose of translation is to reproduce various types of texts in another language striving to achieve maximal equivalence. However, exact translation from one language to another is not always possible. Languages reflect different cultures, customs, traditions, modes of behavior, and also differ from each other in terms of structure, phrasing and a number of grammatical nuances that are unique to a particular language. There are scholars, who have argued that translation is a near-impossible or even totally impossible task. As Friedrich claims, “in a rather disturbing way, literary translations continue to be threatened by the boundaries that exist between languages. Thus, the art of translation will always have to cope with the reality of untranslatability from one language to another” (1965/1992: 11). Yet everyday experience suggests that translation really is possible, and works of translation have been carried out throughout history. Nevertheless, the variation in the cultures and differences between languages make translating a very complicated and challenging process. Many professional translators, philosophers and linguists have been trying to set up criteria for evaluating translations and “to describe in some detail the significant characteristics of an adequate translation” (Nida, in Venuti 2000: 132). Theodore Savory in his book The Art of Translation (1957) considers principles of a “correct” translation, which have been formulated by other scholars. Analyzing them, Savory comes to a conclusion that there are no any generally recognized principles of translation. He listed several conventional possibilities of translation, which are often mutually contradictory, though sometimes also complementary: “A translation must give the words of the original. A translation must give the

More about Methods Of Translation

Open Document