VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRIỆU THU HẰNG AN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT ON “THE GREAT GATSBY” BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD ĐÁNH GIÁ CHẤT LƯỢNG BẢN DỊCH ANH – VIỆT TÁC PHẨM “ĐẠI GIA GATSBY” CỦA NHÀ VĂN F.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRIỆU THU HẰNG AN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT ON “THE GREAT GATSBY” BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD ĐÁNH GIÁ CHẤT LƯỢNG BẢN DỊCH ANH – VIỆT TÁC PHẨM “ĐẠI GIA GATSBY” CỦA NHÀ VĂN F.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Lê Hùng Tiến HANOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled: ―An English-Vietnamese Translation Quality Assessment on The Great Gatsby by F.
Scott Fitzgerald‖, which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, is the result of my own work. I have provided fully documented references to the works of others. The material in this thesis has not been submitted for any other formal course of study. Signature Date: i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been made possible without the guidance and the support of individuals who contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study.
I would like to sincerely express my innermost gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Lê Hùng Tiến who inflames fervent passion inside me towards research topic and research progress. Without his continuously constructive feedback and overwhelming encouragement, the graduation paper could not come into being. Besides, I wish to thank my warm-hearted family for their immense tenderness, deep empathy, inspiration and support to show me throughout upheavals and realize tremendous ambition.
I also wish to thank genuine companions and colleagues always beside me. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Needless to say, people today can approach innumerable foreign literature works through their translations; however, the questions regarding the quality of a good translation still triggers ongoing debates. With the deep concerns about the issue, the researcher conducts a study entitled: ―A Vietnamese-English translation quality assessment on the Great Gatsby by F.‖ This study firstly aims at reviewing different models for translation quality assessment all over the world and indicating the comprehensive model for assessing the translation of literary works, which is the model proposed by House (1997). Secondly, based on the model proposed by House (1997), the study assesses the translation quality of ―The Great Gatsby‖ – an American masterpiece translated into a host of different languages including Vietnam.
The major methods adopted throughout the study include both qualitative and quantitative approaches, which enables the researcher to figure out the similarities and differences between the source text and the translation. The findings reveal a number of mismatches in comparison with the source text. On the basis of such findings, implications for literary translations are drawn out. Hopefully, the study proves beneficial to translators and researchers who share the same topic interest.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .iii LIST OF DIAGRAMS.vii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study. Significance of the study. Research aims and research questions.
Scope of the study. Design of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Concepts of translation.
Translation methods and procedures. Difficulties in literary translation. Translation quality assessment. Definition of TQA.
Different approaches to TQA. Related studies and literature gaps. Qualitative and quantitative approach. Analytical framework – House’s model (1997).
Theories underlying House’s model (1997). Operation of House’s model (1997). Translation typologies following House’s model (1997). Advantages and shortcomings of House’s model (1997).
31 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data collection procedures and analysis. 39 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. The Profile of the Source Text.
Statement of function. Comparison of Target Text and Source Text. Covertly erroneous errors. Overtly erroneous errors.
Statement of quality. 92 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ST Source Text TT Target Text SL Source Language TL Target Language TQA Translation Quality Assessment vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram 1. House’s model for Translation Quality Assessment (1997) Diagram 2. Translation Errors by House’s model (1997) Diagram 3.
Data collection procedures and analysis LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Some main approaches in The Great Gatsby Table 2. Alliteration in The Great Gatsby Table 3. Compound words in The Great Gatsby Table 4.
Loan words in The Great Gatsby Table 5. Spoken language in The Great Gatsby Table 6. Spoken language in The Great Gatsby Table 7. ST Profile Table 8.
Lexical mismatch in Field dimension Table 9. Syntactic mismatch in Field dimension Table 10. Textual mismatch in Field dimension Table 11. Lexical mismatch in Tenor dimension Table 12.
Transference of proper names Table 13, 14, 15. Creative translations Table 16. Overtly erroneous errors vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION I. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study The massive global integration has witnessed a proliferation of translating as Munday (2001: 5) accentuates ―Throughout history, written and spoken translations have played a crucial role in interhuman communication‖.
More notably, the 21st century fosters nations around the world to come together in tremendous vigor to promote socio-economic development; thus, translators have been entrusted with the role of bridging the gap between people coming from various cultures. As a result, a surging number of novels have been translated into different languages. Among those, ―The Great Gatsby‖, a masterpiece by F. Scott Fitzgerald first published in 1925, has also been made available for the readership all over the world.
With a unique and original writing style and profound insights into American values, Fitzgerald has been greatly regarded as one of the most influential representatives of American literature in the 1920s (Perkins, 2004). His novel ―The Great Gatsby‖ has gained its recognition since the World War II. It is also widely known as a literary classic and ranked among the greatest works of American literature. More strikingly, the Modern Library Editorial Board voted it the 20th century’s best American novel in 1998.
Following its fame, the novel has also been translated into Vietnamese. In fact, there are three translated versions of ―The Great Gatsby‖, namely ―Con người hào hoa‖ by Mặc Đỗ (1956), ―Gatsby vĩ đại‖ by Hoàng Cường (1985), and the recent ―Đại gia Gatsby‖ by Trịnh Lữ (2009). Among these three translated versions, the translation of Trịnh Lữ (2009) has indeed attracted a myriad of contending reviews from translators (Đỗ Phước Tiến, 2010). Moreover, there have been little agreement about how ―good‖, ―satisfactory‖ or ―acceptable‖ of a translation is.
The concept of acceptability in translation still 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com remains the issue of ongoing debate. National and international translation standards now exist, but there are no generally accepted objective criteria for assessing the quality of the translations. All these aforementioned reasons have motivated the researcher to conduct the study entitled ―A Vietnamese-English translation quality assessment on the Great Gatsby by F. Significance of the study It is of great importance to be able to assess a translation as translation has become a pivotal part in human civilization.
In Vietnam, English is a popular foreign language, a tool of communication as well as a key to unlock human knowledge. The demand for knowledge has fostered the development of translation; however, it seems that many non-professionals and semi-professional translators undertake the task of translating. This research serves as an useful source for both non- professionals and professional translators to improve the quality of other literary translated works in general. Within the scope of this study, it is hoped to greatly enhance the translation of the masterpiece ―The Great Gatsby‖.
Besides, the study can be used as guidelines for other researchers to conduct further research with the application of House’s model (1997) in assessing literary translation and other different genres. Research aims and research questions The study firstly aims at providing a theoretical background on some issues relevant to the topic of the study, which are translation, literary translation and TQA, particularly a model for TQA proposed by House (1997). Secondly, based on a model for TQA proposed by House (1997), the study is to assess the quality of the translation of ―The Great Gatsby‖ – a popular American 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com novel translated into a host of different languages including Vietnam. These aims can be formulated into the following research questions.
To what extent does the translation of ―The Great Gatsby‖ achieve the dimensions of House’s model for TQA? Addressing the aforementioned issues is hoped to assist English translators in enhancing their awareness of TQA for literary works and improve their own translations. The study is also expected to be a beneficial reference to any Vietnamese readers who fancy romantic novel and are fans of ―The Great Gatsby‖ for a high-quality translation. Scope of the study First, the theoretical background of the study limitedly focuses on some fundamental issues in translation theory of vital importance to the examined issue including translation, literary translation and particularly TQA. Second, the study concentrates on the analytical scheme for TQA that is proposed by House (1997).
The analytical scheme proposed by House (1997) are employed to assess the translation quality of the whole novel ―The Great Gatsby‖ (1993) by F. Scott Fitzgerald of Wordsworth Editions Publisher and its translation ―Đại gia Gatsby‖ (2009) by Trịnh Lữ of Nhã Nam Publisher. Research methodology In order to achieve the aims of the study, case study from both qualitative and quantitative approach is employed. The researcher conducted the study in the procedure proposed by Munday (2001): Phase 1: ST is analyzed in details to produce a profile of the ST register with the text-specific linguistic correlating to the situational dimensions (syntactic, lexical, and textual means).
Phase 2: A description of the ST genre realized by the register is added. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Phase 3: A statement of function of the ST is made, including the ideational and interpersonal component of that function. Phase 4: A similar profile and statement of function is made of the TT. Phase 5: The TT profile is compared to the ST profile based on House’s model (1997) and a statement of ―mismatches‖ is produced, categorized according to genre and to the situational dimensions of register and genre.
Phase 6: A statement of quality is made of the translation. Phase 7: The translation is categorized into either overt translation or covert translation. Design of the study PART A – INTRODUCTION identifies the central problems and main aims of the study. Research questions, scope, methodology and significance of the study are also clearly stated in this part.
PART B – DEVELOPMENT comprises three chapters. Chapter 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW represents fundamental theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the formation of the research. A brief overview on several previous studies is also indicated in this chapter. Chapter 2 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY covers the sources of data, research methods and analytical framework to collect and analyze the data to facilitate the research progress.
Chapter 3 – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION contains the analysis, presentation and interpretation of the results. PART C – CONCLUSION draws important conclusions, yields implications and proposes recommendations for further research. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.