Importance of Translation Studies and Challenges in Literary Translation

 

Dr. Manjeet Kumar ¹

 

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of English Government College Bahadurgarh, India

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Translation plays a vital role in introducing the world with some milestones works of literature. Otherwise, these masterpieces would have confined to the boundary of a single or few nations only. Translation is not a new art in the literary study but it is as old as written literature. It was never considered equivalent to real work. It is always considered lower level to the real work. Robert Frost’s epigram, “What is left out in translation is poetry” is a well-known example of such ‘misgivings’

Historical perspective: The field of translation is not new it is as old as literature is. It was considered as a means of learning a new language. It was discussed by early theorists like Horace and Cicero. Both the writers were sensitive and had the view that no one should be slave to the original text. The translation of Bible is a landmark in the history of translation. it was translated into various languages. “The Bible translations were neither literary exercise, nor spiritual enterprises, they were clearly meant for political defence. The Bible translation across the world was motivated by missionary activity to spread the Christian religion. Thus the translation of the Bible became a hot bed of debate up to the seventeenth century.”    

Definition and Scope of Translation Studies: According to traditional theorists’ translation has two types: literary translation and non-literary translation. Literary translation means sense for sense theory and non- literary translation means word for word. Apart from these types translation has many types. Importance of translation studies is varied from time to time. From renaissance to the twentieth century translation underwent various changes. In the last three centuries translation and translator underwent various changes due to the change in the cultural history in the West.  According to J.C. Catford: “Translation is an operation performed on languages: a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another”. Regarding theory of translation Henry Mechonnic observes: “It is a new field in the theory and in the practice of literature, its epistemological importance lies in its contribution to the theoretical practice of homogeneity of the natural union between the signifier and the signified. This homogeneity is proper to that social enterprise which we call writing.”

Translation is not a work of art like painting or music but it’s a communication in writing. It undergoes through two languages. It is a linguistic process that demands the adequate knowledge of the two languages. The work of Translation does not only provide the material to the reader into target language (TL) but as much efforts are produced as possible to make it feel genuine culturally also.

Translation as a creative writing: Translation is regarded as a creative work by scholars and translators. The best translation is that which seems original while reading by the readers. A translator is a person who is well acquainted with both the languages, (SL) and (TL). He is a creator of new work for the readers of his target language. He interprets the source language into target language in such a genuine way that all the readers take it with open handed. Translation is regarded as a new writing from the ancient time in India. According to Sri Aurobindo “a translator is not necessarily bound to the original he chooses: he can make his own poem out of it, if he likes, and that is what is generally done.” Prema Nandakumar has the views that from the ancient time translation has given the status of new writing. She says that all the masterpieces belong to the sanatana dharma are originally written in Sanskrit language but these are now available in other languages also. Thus, translation played an integral role in spreading the versatile knowledge to the humanity. Surjit Mukherjee observers:

“New literary texts derived from itihasa or purana are obivious examples of this process. The erratic passage of Gunadhya’s Brihatakatha into other languages would be more typical instance of how later authors used an existing story and remade it to suit their own purposes. Similarly, when the Bengali poet Alaol produced a 17th century Avadhi, Padumavat, he provided a good illustration of a text from one modern Indo-Aryan language being retold with modifications in another modern Indo-Aryan language.”

Translation as linguistic bridge –building: translation works as a linguistic bridge between two languages. The original creation or the writer of the original work has his own language, readers and his particular places which are acquainted with his native language. A translator has his own readers although he is having efficient knowledge of both the languages. People of different places speak different kinds of languages. That time it is translation that works as linguistic bridge among languages. For example: most of the people in the world use English while communicate. It has become the most prominent language this time. But we know that everybody cannot speak English. If one start learning English and become a speaker of that language to some extent. He can communicate but language is not limited to the communication only. It is much more than communication of words. It is an expression of culture, society and belief.

Translation as a nation building: It is 21st century and the era of globalisation. Internet has created evolution in every field i.e. education, engineering, medicine and society. In the modern age world has become a global village. In such circumstances, translation plays a greater role in bridging the distance among nations. A country like India has so many languages and religions. Here, one may easily see the diversity in almost every state. It has different types of culture present in the country. It may be there at regional level. Translation that time becomes indeed a greater need. It helps the people to know the people and their culture. In a multi-cultural and multi-lingual country like India translation is need indeed. Amitav Ghosh writes:

“And the thing about translation is that there is no way around it. In a country as multilingual as ours, unless you have really good translations, you are doomed.”

Translation enriches the Language: Sanskrit is the mother of all languages, still there are thousand languages existed in the world. It is the result of translation. Fredinand de Saussure, a linguist from Swiss, is the leading linguist in this regard. He is regarded as the founder of the modern linguistics. His theory of language as a structured system of sign is remarkable step in linguistics. Arbitrariness also plays a great role in this. Every year so many new words adds in the dictionary. It introduces new words in the target language (TL) to express the same or nearest meaning of the SL. While translating the work it is the chief target of the translator to provide the same feeling of the original work. In this process he chooses or borrows the terminology or phrases from other languages. By this approach he exchanges the culture of two different countries.

Translation studies are easy and perfect way to keep the literary and other works preserve for the future generations. This approach is much useful to keep a language alive. When the original language will not be in use or less spoken by the people that time translation is a remarkable step towards preserving the works for long time. This way saves a work to be lost in the absence of less speaker of the source language. Translated works also help in preserving the cultural heritage existed the works. A translator interprets this cultural heritage in his target language. Translation also influences and motivates the other translators to keep continuing in this creative work. They may take new themes while translating the works. They may have their own perspective while dealing translation and choose their own style. It is a way to create new vocabulary and introduce new terminology in the field of target language. Thus, it enriches the target language.

E.S. Bates Nida emphasizes the importance of translation in language development and growth. Translation involves the transfer of meaning between languages, requiring constant decision-making and understanding both source and target languages. It has accelerated inter-linguistic communication and is considered an art, as good translation should fulfil the same function in both languages. However, translation is not easy, as languages have different grammar, word orders, and even words, that other languages may not have equivalents.

Translation methods include minimal translation, literal translation, lexical synonymy, and paraphrase. Word-for-word translation is common for those struggling to translate English words to Tamil. Literal translation prioritizes sentence structure over meaning, making it difficult to translate entire sentences or paragraphs. Lexical synonymy involves using related words to explain difficult words. Paraphrase involves grasping the meaning of a text and replacing equivalent ideas, with most translators adopting this method.

Problems also appear when a translator translates the translated version of literary text. That time it difficult to transfer the exact meaning. In the absence of original text and incompetency of the translator may misinterpret the real meaning or feeling of the original work/writer. Sometimes publishers also take it easy to publish the translated work without giving much attention. They want momentary benefit. In this way, quality is ignored and readers get affected. Often readers may get the original idea of the work and possibilities of misleading are also present there. Sometimes when a translator takes an old work to translate, he may not be aware of some words or phrases that were used that time. He cannot easily translate them. May be such words or phrases outdated in current time or situations. In such circumstances translation becomes difficult to translator. At the same time when readers study it they also face problems to understand the meaning. Because literary texts show the period of their creation.  It reflects the effect of that very place it belongs to. The themes of these literary texts are based upon the social culture. All these facets can be caught when a translator goes to the depth of the SL and will be well acquainted about the social environment and culture of that area. In the absence of seriousness literal translation cannot bring the desired cultural meaning.

While translating a literary text the translator must be faithful to the author’s vision or motive. He must have a deep belongingness with work he is working on. He should be careful about the style and aesthetics of the text. He is creating a new creation so he must keep the original idea into the target language. Merely transfer the meaning does not fulfil the task. Though, a translator has some liberty while choosing the words but too much liberty may change the meaning. Thus, the effect of the words become less effective.

Translation is a profession and need of the present time. It faces some problems that are related to linguistics, culture and to some extent choices of the readers. But one more problem that it   faces is indifference of human. People who are working in this profession are getting low payments. They are producing double efforts to recreate a literary work but they are not getting much value. It affects the quality of a translated work. Government should pay attention towards such programs and some short-term courses or training should be arranged. Such steps may turn this art or profession popular among future generations.

 Dialect is a form of language spoken in a specific part of a nation with different style, words, grammar, and pronunciations. It is used in everyday life. It is part of conversation and sometimes overlooked while writing literary work. Before Geoffrey Chaucer Middle English was also a dialect. He made it medium of his writing and converted in a language. No single language is monolithic, and dialects are classified based on users. There are two sub-varieties: regional dialects (like Tirunelveli Tamil) and social dialects (like British English, American English, or Australian English). Dialectal differences manifest at three levels: phonology, lexis, and grammar. Catford explains that many languages have a "standard" or literary dialect with little variation over time. Catford suggests that all varieties of a language have common features, but finding an equivalent variety in the target language is challenging.

A translation may be said up to the mark when it clearly passes the original message of the author back to the readers, making it seem as if the reader is rewriting it. Modernists have embraced previous translation methods and have incorporated the dialogue with the past into their translation practices.

 

2. Conclusion

Having discussed about the importance of translation it is absolutely clear that it is much needed in the present time. The Internet has reached the most remote corners of the world. Every second, some incidents and accidents are being happened in our surroundings or in the other parts of the world. In this digital era, it is translation that makes us acquainted about the new happenings. When it is discussed about translation then perhaps literary translation is most difficult, because in non-literary translation there is no limitation of style, feeling and absolute meaning. Literary translation is the most demanding subject. The reason behind this is that a translator is bound to stick to rules and provide the nearly exact work in target language (TL). Merely knowledge of both the languages is not enough but a creative bend of mind is highly needed.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

None.

 

REFERENCES

Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford University Press.

Das, B. K. (2011). A Handbook of Translation studies. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors.

Mukherjee, S. (1981). Translation as New Writing. Cygnus, 2(2), 5–6

Saussure, F. de. (1966). Course in General Linguistics. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Sawant, S. (n.d.). Translation studies: Theories and Applications.