Module 2: Introduction to Translation Studies as a discipline
  Lecture 3: The Early Phase of Translation Studies: Issues and Strategies
 

 

Printing: A Turning Point

The invention of printing brought in a turning point in translation history also. It expanded the readership of literary and non-literary works; naturally more caution was exercised as to what people could read. The freedom of translators also was curtailed a bit by the invention of printing. For the first time there was an attempt to theorise the process of translation. Etienne Dolet’s work on translation (How to Translate well from one Language into Another: 1540) is a case in point.

In his work, Dolet outlines five principles:

  • The translator should understand the SL text and be able to capture its sense

  • S/he should be competent in both the SL and TL

  • S/he should not be literal in translation

  • S/he should use common idiomatic language

  • S/he should be able to reproduce the correct tone of the original, by a careful use of words, in the TL text

Dolet’s principles reveal a change in attitude to translation. There is a greater emphasis on understanding a text in the SL, for which a translator requires more than literary prowess.  Dolet is aware that much more than linguistic differences mark the SL and TL texts. That is why he emphasizes that the translator should be able to capture the tone of the original text where the translator has to be sensitive to the cultural differences too.

We find that Dolet’s views are supported by George Chapman in England. In the dedication he has written for the translation of Homer, Chapman states that literal translation should be avoided. But he also cautions that in his/her attempt to capture the essence of the SL, the translator should avoid excessive freedom.

Dolet’s and Chapman’s views reflect the spirit of their times. they were confident and assertive about their mother tongues. They lived in a Europe that was witnessing sweeping reforms in religious as well as political spheres. The vernacular translations of the Bible led to the decline of the Catholic Church, paving the way for the rise of Protestantism. Similarly the concept of nation states and pride in nationalities began asserting themselves. Translations that were aimed at enhancing the vernacular were also affirmations of resurgent nationalism. Thomas North was unapologetic about not knowing Latin to translate Plutarch. Without undue reverence for his SL author, North felt confident enough to translate from a secondary source with the English reader in mind.

We see a similar blasé attitude in Wyatt and Surrey’s translations of Petrarch. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, more popularly known as Wyatt and Surrey, are famous for having brought the sonnet form to England from Italian, especially Petrarch. But their translations are so ‘free’ that they have been viewed more as ‘adaptations’. Susan Bassnett points out that this is an alternative method, which does not involve literal translation but is faithful to the purpose of the SL text. The purpose of the sonnet was to evoke courtly love and that is exactly what Wyatt and Surrey brought into the English language. The English sonnet captures the effect it originally had on the SL reader.

Thus we see that the Renaissance translator had a mind of her own. Her attitude to the SL text and author was not one of subservience or self-effacement. Sh e made use of the text to entertain her TL readers and took liberties with the SL text whenever she wished.