1.3.1.2. Peeter Torop's Scheme of Culture
Translatability
Peeter Torop (2000) has suggested a classification of
translation problems and listed each category's possible solution. He states
that translatability parameters, i.e. categories of translation
problems, are: language, time, space, text, work and socio-political
manipulation. All these are, in a way or in another, related to culture.
The language parameter includes
grammatical categories, realia, conversational etiquette, associations, world
image and discourse.
Translatability problems that are linked to grammatical
categories occur, for instance, when a category is absent in a language
and present in another. When the translator wants, for example, to render a
noun from a language that doesn't contain articles into a language that does,
he has to look for the missing information in the context. If this does not
provide the needed information, which occurs rarely, the translator has to
decide on the appropriate choice to be made.
Mounin (1968) presents an example about word order, which is
said to reflect the way linguistic communities perceive the world (mainly
Sapin/ Whorf Hypothesis). Mounin (1968) presents the example of the English
sentence " He gazed out of the open door into the garden". He supposes
the Anglo-Saxon preference for the concrete can be perceived in the fact that
the sentence follows the order of images the gaze passes across. Whereas the
French translation " Il a regardé dans le jardin par la
porte ouverte." reflects the French preference for
the abstract, talking first about the target and then mentioning the means.
Mounin (1968) comments that, considering the fact that the French translation
cannot render the English mentality underlying English syntax and vice versa,
one may wonder whether translation is possible. The meaning conveyed by grammar
constitutes then a source of difficulty to the translator.
Realia refers to words representing objects that
exist in a culture but not in the other. One example is how to translate into
French or English a name of a typically Algerian women dress namely
"Medjboud" or a men dress like "Keshabia". How to translate
the names indicating typically French, British or American types of food, dress
and so on, is another illustration. The translator can choose between
borrowing, i.e. rendering the word as it is with an explicative
definition or a footnote (Mounin, 1971; Aziz & Lataiwish, 2000), or
translating it into an approximate word in the target culture, which is
referred to as neologism (Osimo, 2001; Aziz & Lataiwish, 2000
).
The conversational etiquette is a particular form of
realia. It refers to a conventional feature of address between members of the
same community. One widely cited problem of this category occurs when the
source language distinguishes between the pronouns used to address familiar and
unfamiliar persons, like in French, while the TL does not. This problem may
cause an important information loss. This happens, for
instance, when translating dialogues where there is a
"significant shift" from the vous form to the tu form (Hatim
and Mason, 1990). Reducing this loss to the maximum depends on the translator's
competence. For the solution cannot be change in the target language. The
missing information may be added to the dialogue in another way.
Associations refer to words with particular
connotations. They pose a problem of understanding as well as translating. Some
examples are trademarks conveying a connotation of luxury or poverty, mourning
colors, humor and the like (Osimo, 2001; Redouane, 1985).
Torop (2000) points by World image to the degree of
explicitness of a language. Osimo (2001) explains that translating from an
explicit language results in a text that may seem redundant in a figurative
culture. Similarly, translating from a figurative language results in a text
that may be incomprehensible in an explicit culture.
Discourse is related to scientific and technical
terminology. Translating this type of words poses many problems. One example is
that the translator should always accurately assess the target readership's
needs and knowledge (Redouane, 1985, p.68). This should determine the
«degree of technicality» and the «volume of terms» the
translator is called to work with (Resche, 2000, p. 631). Another example
occurs when the terminology pertaining to a specific field is instable, which
is usually the case. Medical terminology, for instance, changes according to
the evolution of medical knowledge. This, in its turn, is
influenced by cultural, geographical and temporal variations ( Balliu,
2001).
There exist different approaches as to the strategies used to
solve the previously stated problems. These approaches vary according to the
translator's priorities. The first is termed nationalisation or
integration approach. It reduces the cultural difference in favour of
a process of shift towards the target culture (Osimo, 2001; Aziz &
Lataiwish, 2000). This implies, for example, neologism rather than borrowing.
Or entails the use of local connotations rather than preserving and explaining
the original and hence making explicit what is originally figurative. It may
involve also omitting what is impossible to nationalise. A second approach is
the opposing strategy: source translation. It consists in preserving
the source culture (Aziz & Lataiwish, 2000, p.106). Another strategy may
result in a shift away from both cultures. It is referred to as alienation
(ibid.).
The second translatability parameter is that of
time. It concerns the period related to the source
text culture, the author's life and the narrated events. Osimo (2001) states
that the translator must choose between the decision of preserving time
distance or ignoring it.
The space translatability parameter
may be social, psychological or, geographic. Social space
parameter concerns whether to keep or omit what refers to differences between
social classes dialects (sociolects),
such as slang. These are very difficult to render, which makes
loss almost inevitable.
Psychological space parameter, states Osimo (2001),
refers to how well the translator conveys to the reader the source text unity,
using both lexical coherence and imagery. Preserving the imaginary world of the
source text is often important.
Geographical distance problems may be illustrated in
this example. Consider when Shakespeare, in his sonnet No. 18, says, "Shall
I compare thee to a summer's day... Thou art more lovely and more temperate".
How a translator into Arabic is supposed to render "summer" and
"temperate"? To an Arab reader, it is spring that would make him
understand the poem's meaning (Aziz & Lataiwish, 2000, p.112). One of the
strategies that might be used to solve problems of geographic distance is the
adaptation to the familiar environment of the target reader. Another is the
preservation of an exotic culture's specific characteristics (Osimo, 2001).
The text parameter includes poetic
and literary technique. Translatability problems emerge from the translator's
duty to render the original features of the ST. The individuality of
characters, the author's specific literary character (preferred words, images,
particular world views, etc.), the rhythm of the text, metaphors and
connotations are some examples (Redouane, 1985; Bassnett,
1991).
The work parameter deals with all
what accompanies the translated text in its final image i.e. as a book. This
implies the preface, commentaries, notes, explanations and the like. These may
seem to impose a particular view on the reader. Indeed, all these elements have
critical influence on the idea the reader already has or is to form about the
work. Still, Osimo (2001) insists that these elements may assist the reader
with understanding the work. They help him recognize the translator's
interventions, and know the motives of the translator's decisions. Besides,
they can make him aware that the translation is a form of interpretation among
many possible interpretations.
The last parameter is what Torop (2000) names the
socio-political determinacy parameter. It refers to the
ideological influence the editors may practice on the work, such as some forms
of censure. It also denotes the influence practiced by the translator on the
work.
In summary, the act of translating appears as a permanent
problemsolving process. Learning translation is thus to learn about these
problems and ways to solve them. Brian Mossop (2000) asserts that:
"At translation school, future translators need to find out
what the problems of translation are, and reflect on these problems. The
purpose of practice in translation (and of non-translational
exercises such as summarizing, paraphrasing or dictionary
lookup exercises), is to make students aware of these problems and make them
think about the issues. [...] Producing satisfactory translations of
specialized texts in good time takes about five years of full-time
practice."
(§ 8)
From this arises the need, for the student translator as well
as the professional translator, to the study of approaches concerning
translation problems and their solutions. Theory is the sum of professional
translators experience (Shuttleworth, 2001). Hence, there is no way to
underestimate its importance on the ground of the theory versus practice
attitude (Bassnett, 1991; Shuttleworth, 2001). The next subsection deals with
this issue. It highlights the fact that theory offers to the translator a wide
range of alternatives to solve translation problems. The translator then is
expected to consider the text's situation along with all the contextual
factors. Then he is required to make a decision as to which alternative to
adopt or to create.
| 
