1 UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -***- LÊ MỸ HẠNH Post-graduate Course: 16 A TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF PART 7 “NIGHTMARE” IN THE NOVEL “TWILIGHT” USING J.HOUSE’S MODEL (ĐÁNH GIÁ CHẤT LƯỢNG BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT PHẦN 7 “CƠN ÁC MỘNG” TRONG CUỐN TIỂU THUYẾT “CHẠNG VẠNG” ÁP DỤNG MÔ HÌNH CỦA J.HOUSE) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Hanoi, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -***- LÊ MỸ HẠNH Post-graduate Course: 16 A TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF PART 7 “NIGHTMARE” IN THE NOVEL “TWILIGHT” USING J.HOUSE’S MODEL (ĐÁNH GIÁ CHẤT LƯỢNG BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT PHẦN 7 “CƠN ÁC MỘNG” TRONG CUỐN TIỂU THUYẾT “CHẠNG VẠNG” ÁP DỤNG MÔ HÌNH CỦA J.HOUSE) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor : Assoc. Lê Hùng Tiến Hanoi, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 TABLES OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Pages Declaration……………………………………………………………. iii List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………. Rationale for the study………………………………………… 1 2.
Scope and objectives of the study ……………………………. Organization of the study……………………………………… 2 Chapter 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW 3 1. What is translation?. Translation procedures, strategies and methods……… 3 1.
Cultural factor in translation…………………………. Two types of translation……………………………… 12 1. General characteristics of Literary Language………. Problems of literary translation ……………………… 14 1.
Views and models for translation quality assessment……… 16 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 Chapter 2 – APPLICATION OF HOUSE’S MODEL FOR TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT 21 2.Overview of the model ………………………………………. Summary of the original text‘s content ………………………. Analysis of the original text based on J. Features of the Source Text in the light of Halliday‘s functional grammar………………………………………….
Analysis of Source Text based on House‘s model…… 26 Chapter 3 – DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 33 3. Source Text and Translation Text comparison and statement of quality…………………………………………………………. Implications for literary translation…………………………. 38 CONCLUSIONS 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I - III LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ST – Source Text TT – Translation Text SL – Source Language TL – Target Language SLT – Source Language Text TLT – Target Language Text TQA - Translation Quality Assessment LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Rationale for the study In the process of globalization, English, in Vietnam, becomes more and more important. In fact, there are more and more documents need to be translated such as economic contracts, laws, politics, literature, ect. Therefore, the need for translation between languages is greater than ever before. However, the number of good translators or interpreters, especially in literature such as Duc Hieu, Thai Ba Tan, Thuy Toan, are limited.
There is a fact that there have been many literary translations so far such as Harry Porter, The last leaf, Twilight, ect. But how much quality of the translations still draws much discussion. Thus, it is extremely necessary to evaluate the translations, especially literary translations. Translation theorists have their own founded criteria for translation quality assessment.
Among them is Julian House, a German linguist, with a model for assessing translation quality. From the researcher‘s point of view, J.House‘s model is a good one which can be used to assess literary translation quality, specifically the chapter ―Cơn ác mộng‖ excerpting from the novel Chạng Vạng by Tinh Thuy (translated from chapter 7 ―Nightmare‖ of the novel Twilight - a young-adult vampire romance novel written by Stephenie Meyer). Scope and Objectives of the study Scope and Objectives: ―Twilight‖ - a wildly popular series for young adults - is a novel consisting of twenty four chapters. However, this study will only focus on analyzing chapter 7 ―Nightmare‖.
Accordingly, it aims to analyze ST and TT under House‘s model to discover how much quality of the translation text, find out some problems of literary translation, and put forward some suggestions for this field of translation. When reading the Literature Review it is easy to see that there are different views and models on translation quality assessment (TQA). Among them, yet, J. House‘s model which is based on pragmatic theories of Language Use sounds the most proper to be applied in LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 assessing literary translation, specifically chapter 7 ―Nightmare‖ excerpting from the novel ―Twilight‖.
Research methodology Research Questions The study aims at finding answers to the two following questions: - How much is the quality of Translation Text according to House‘s model ? - What are problems and implications for literary translation? Subjects of the study The subjects of this study are English and Vietnamese literary texts, J. House‘s model on translation quality assessment, M A K Halliday‘s functional grammar. Research method of the study Qualitative analysis is employed to study individual texts closely. Moreover, since the study is a descriptive-analytical one, descriptive and comparative techniques are used to evaluate the translation text.
Specifically, data for this research is collected through the procedure of critical analyzing. The analysis is based on J. Under House‘s model, the analysis and comparison of ST and TT are carried out in two sections: Dimensions of Language User and Dimensions of Language Use. In Language User, three situational dimensions which refer to the features marking the provenance of a text producer are introduced including Geographical origin, Social class, and Time.
In Language Use, five situational dimensions such as Medium, Participation, Social relationship, Social attitude, and Province are applied for the analysis and comparison. Also, on each of the dimensions, the researcher analyses the texts on three aspects: syntactic, lexical, textual means. Organization of the study The first chapter of the study will be literature review in which some related concepts of translation theory and some typical models of translation quality assessment are discussed. In the second chapter, the research will introduce an overview of the original text‘s content, and J.
House‘s model applied to analyze the ST. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 In order to exemplify and demonstrate this TQA model, in the third chapter, the researcher will apply J. House‘s model to analyze and compare English source text and its Vietnamese translation text. CHAPTER 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter discusses the theoretical background of the study which firstly explores some related concepts, and then some typical models of translation quality assessment.
What is translation? There have been many different definitions of translation so far. From the researcher‘s point of view, however, 5 following definitions should be taken into consideration: - Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language. (Peter Newmark, 1988) - Translation deals with the signs and attempts to preserve semiotic, as well other pragmatic and communicative, properties which signs display. (Basil Hatim and Ian Mason, 1990) - Translation is the replacement of a text in the source language by a semantically and pragmatically equivalent text in the target language.House, 1977) - Translation is to produce in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence to the message of the source language, first in meaning and second in style.
(Cartford, 1965) The five definitions of Peter Newmark, Basil Hatim and Ian Mason, J.House, Nida, and Carford are expressed in different ways. However, they all share the same essence of translation which lies in the preservation of semantic, pragmatic, and textual aspects of meaning across two different languages. Translation procedures, strategies and methods LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 As far as we know, translation is not a facial job. There is no problem to translate from a source language to a target language if language is just a classification for a set of general or universal concepts.
But translation covers not only word for word translation but also many other factors. The concepts of one language may differ radically from those of another. This is because each language articulates or organizes the word in different way. The bigger the gap between the SL and the TL gets, the more difficult the process of transfer will be.
The difference between the two languages and the difference in cultures makes the process of translating a real challenge. Therefore, the translator is required to be thoroughly aware of translation procedures, strategies and methods. Translation methods Concerning translation methods, there are many different classifications. Basing on Peter Newmark‘s classifications, however, there are eight methods in translating which are divided into two main groups called semantic translation and communicative translation.
They are put in the form of a flattened V diagram as follows: SL emphasis TL emphasis Word-for-word translation Adaption Literal translation Free translation Faithful translation Idiomatic translation Semantic translation Communicative translation Source: V diagram of translation method (P. Word-for-word translation: The source language word is translated into another language by their most common meanings, which can also be out of context at times, especially in idioms and proverbs. Literal translation: A literal translation is a translation that follows closely the form of the source language. It is a case when the grammatical constructions of the source language are translated to their nearest target language but the lexical words are translated singly, out of context.Newmark, 1988:46) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Faithful translation: This translation method means not putting in too much that isn't there; trying to maintain a respectable degree of similarity of tone and form; and hoping that the impression made on the reader in the receiving language resembles as closely as possible the impression made on the reader in the original language. In other words, the translation interprets the exact contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the grammatical structures of the target language. Semantic translation: According to the definition of semantic translation on website http://en.org/wiki/Semantic_translation, Semantic translation is the process of using semantic information to aid in the translation of data in one representation to another representation. Semantic translation takes advantage of semantics that associate meaning with individual data elements in one dictionary to create an equivalent meaning in a second system.
Actually, Semantic translation refers to that type of translation which takes into account the aesthetic value of the source language text. Adaptation: This method refers to a type of translation which is used mainly for plays and poems. The text is rewritten considering the source language culture which is converted to the target language culture where the characters, themes, plots are usually preserved. Free translation: A free translation is a translation that reproduces the general meaning of the original text.
It may or may not closely follow the form or organization of the original. Newmark, free translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of the original. Idiomatic translation: : It translates the message of the original text but tends to distort the original meaning at times by preferring colloquialisms and idioms. Communicative translation: This method displays the exact contextual meaning of the original text in a manner where both content and language are easily acceptable and comprehensible to the readers.
Among all above-mentioned translation methods, semantic and communicative translation are the two most common ones which are often used in literary translation by the translator. Newmark stated that a semantic translation is written at the author‘s linguistic level and used for ―expressive‖ texts, a communicative translation at the readership‘s and used for ―informative‖ and ―vocative‖ texts. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 14 Translation procedures Translation is a field of various procedures. In addition to word-for-word and sense- for-sense procedures, the translator may use a variety of procedures that differ in importance according to the contextual factors of both the ST and the TT.
Transliteration: This procedure refers to the conversion of foreign letters into the letters of the TL.