Understanding the Context
What is apparent is that translation is essentially a reader-oriented or listener-oriented activity. The translator has to keep this in mind when translating and this will inform his/her choice of translation method. This also means that the translator has to correctly interpret the context in which the SL text is situated. This is especially true of culture-specific references. For example, translation of the English ‘Hi!' into Hindi is a case in point. This can be translated into ‘Namaste' and it cannot be faulted as wrong translation. But the casualness of the English greeting is not recreated by the Hindi equivalent. If the greeting is from one friend to another, ‘namaste' will not work as it is far too formal for the context. The translator has to understand the reality of the situation and work accordingly.
Susan Bassnett suggests various steps in this context. A translator when faced with a difficult term/phrase, should accept that the SL phrase is untranslatable in the TL at the linguistic level. S/he will have to consider the range of TL terms that are available and decide on the equivalent word on the basis of the socio-cultural context or, if it is a conversation, on the basis of gender and age. When the SL is translated into the TL, what is more important is that the “invariant if it is a conversation core of the SL phrase in its two referential systems (the particular system of the text and the system of culture out of which the text has sprung)” has been reproduced (Bassnett 22). It has often been pointed out that Shakespeare's famous sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day” presents a thorny problem for translators. In the Indian context, summer is not a pleasant time and the comparison to summer will not be taken as a compliment. The translator will have to bear this in mind. If the reader is to understand the nature of the compliment, the translator will have to come up with a cultural equivalent.
Katharina Reiss makes a distinction between ‘intentional' and ‘unintentional' changes that occur in the process of translation. The unintentional changes take place when the languages have different structures; to a certain extent they are necessary to make the translation intelligible to the reader. Intentional changes occur if the aims of the translator are different from the writer or if the intended reader is not like that of the original. Here the translator will make changes in accordance with his/her readership or his/her purpose. Reiss also points out that a written text might have multiple intentions. A text might inform and entertain at the same time. The translator has to decide as to which intention is the predominating one and translate accordingly. The changes that occur in the TL over the years are also a ground for corresponding changes in the translation. If the SL text is a classic written many years ago the TL with its contemporary usages will not be able to render it adequately. Here also the translator will be forced to make changes. |
