VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ DIỆU THÚY A STUDY ON CONNOTATIVE EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN "GONE WITH THE WIND" AND ITS TRANSLATION IN VIETNAMESE BY DUONG TUONG NGHIÊN CỨU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG BIỂU CẢM GIỮA TÁC PHẨM "CUỐN THEO CHIỀU GIÓ" VÀ BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA DƯƠNG TƯỜNG MA Combined Programme Thesis FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.15 HANOI - 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ DIỆU THÚY A STUDY ON CONNOTATIVE EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN "GONE WITH THE WIND" AND ITS TRANSLATION IN VIETNAMESE BY DUONG TUONG NGHIÊN CỨU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG BIỂU CẢM GIỮA TÁC PHẨM "CUỐN THEO CHIỀU GIÓ" VÀ BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA DƯƠNG TƯỜNG MA Combined Programme Thesis FIELD: English Linguistics CODE: 60. LÊ HÙNG TIẾN HANOI - 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION …………………………………………………….ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………iii PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study…………………1 II. Research aims and research questions…………………………………2 III.
Scope of the study……………………………………………………. Methods of the study………………………………………………….5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………5 1. Definition of translation………………………………………………. Jakobson and the concept of equivalence in difference………6 1.
Nida and Taber's Formal dynamic equivalence………………7 1. Catford and translation shifts………………………………. Kade and quantitative equivalence …………………………. Baker's approach to translation equivalence………………….
Koller's theory of equivalence………………………………. Translation of literature ………………………………………………15 1. The author and the novel …………………………………………….22 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The author Margaret Mitchell………………………………….
The novel "Gone with the wind"………………………………26 1. The translator and the translation……………………………………. The translator Dương Tường…………………………………. The translation "Cuống theo chiều gió"……………………….
Connotations of socially determined usage……………………………31 2. The language of the upper class ………………………………31 2. The language of the slaves……………………………………. Connotations of speech level………………………………………….
Connotations of geographical origin or relation………………………. Connotations of register………………………………………………. Connotations of evaluation……………………………………………72 2. Ironic……………………………………………………………80 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………85 3.
Summary of findings…………………………………………………….85 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Types of connotative equivalence achieved…………………………85 3. Strategies adopted to achieve connotative equivalence……………. To achieve connotations of socially determined usage………………89 3.
To achieve connotations of speech level……………………………. To achieve connotations of geographical origin…………………. To achieve connotations of register…………………………………. To achieve connotations of evaluation………………………………91 PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………92 I.
Summary and conclusion of the study………………………………………. Contributions of the study…………………………………………………. Limitations of the study……………………………………………………. Suggestions for further studies…………………………………………….95 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION I.
Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Over the past few decades, international exchange is processing vigorously in various aspects, especially in culture. By using language to bridge the gap between different cultures, inevitably, translation has contributed significantly to this process. Besides, literature has been chosen as a rich source for translation. Literary works are not only written in different languages but they also feature different cultures and civilizations.
Accordingly, the literary translation process is quite complex as it requires the translator to consider every aspect of the material, or even beyond the material in order to produce a good translation. It poses a great challenge for anyone who attempts to assess the quality of translated literary works. According to Chesterman (1989) “Equivalence is obviously a central concept in translation theory”. “The notion of equivalence held sway as a key issue in translation throughout the 1970s and beyond.
Various works on translation theories have been carried out just to show how vital equivalence is in translation. Great importance has been attached to equivalence since this is a controversial issue and it is likely to cause debates in the coming time. However, despite its significance, little investigation has been carried out in the field of translation evaluation, particularly evaluation of equivalence between English and Vietnamese literary works. All the above made the researcher decide to carry out the study on equivalence in literary translation.
Specifically, the study investigates connotation equivalence achieved in the translation of “Gone with the wind” – one of the most famous novels of the 20th century. This novel has been chosen as the source 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com language text due to its distinctive features, aesthetic values and popularity worldwide. The novel was first translated into Vietnamese more than 20 years ago. Among several versions of the translation, the one translated by Duong Tuong is most praised by readers.
With the aim of investigating one of Duong Tuong's best translated works, the researcher chose his translation as the target text. 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, equivalence in translation and strategies to achieve equivalence. Secondly, the study is to investigate the types of connotative equivalence achieved between the novel and its translated version. Thirdly, the study is also aimed at finding out what strategies adopted by the translator in order to achieve that equivalence.
Addressing the above issues is hoped to help English learners, especially those specialize in translation enhance their awareness of various expressive means employed in a particular literary text and decide the most appropriate strategies to deal with different translation situations. The study is also expected to be a good reference of criteria to any Vietnamese readers who love romantic novel, and are fans “Gone with the wind” for a good translation. These aims can be formulated into the following research questions. What types of connotative equivalence achieved between the novel "Gone with the wind" and its translation by Duong Tuong? 2.
What strategies adopted by the translator to achieve such types of connotative equivalence? III. Scope of the study 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Firstly, the theoretical background of the study only focuses on some fundamental issues in translation theory which are of vital importance to the issue examined, which are translation, equivalence, methods, and procedures. Secondly, the research focuses on one kind of equivalence, which is connotative equivalence. Then only the most outstanding types of connotative equivalence are examined.
Methods of the study 1. Data collection The study is designed in accordance with the theory proposed by Koller (1979), that is characterizes the connotative dimensions of a source language (with the support of stylistic studies) to analyse their features and structural elements, and then relate these to the connotative dimenstions of a given target language. In the first stage, the study explores the source language text to find out the different dimensions of connotations. The features and structural elements of each connotative dimension are defined.
Data are collected in both English and Vietnamese to illustrate these dimensions. Even though the novel is almost six hundred pages long, the researcher tries to collect comprehensive data by investigating almost every chapter. Subsequently, the examples are grouped according to the stated catergory for the sake of comparison and assessment. Data analysis In the second stage of the study, an assessment of the features in the target language text is carried out with the criteria established in the first stage.
The translation and the data are considered from various viewpoints. The study is based on technical data of semantic densities, occurrence probabilities and repetition rates of both the source language and target language text to evaluate the degree of 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com connotative equivalence achieved. As stated by Koller (1979), equivalence is defined in terms of the frame and conditions that the target text must fulfill if there exists equivalence between a given source text and a given target text. The conditions can be content, style, function, etc.
Therefore, the requirement of equivalence has the following form: quality (qualities) X in the source language text must be preserved, meaning the source language content, form, style, function, etc must be preserved or at least the translation must seek to preserve them as far as possible (Koller, 1979). Besides, the connotations are transmitted by means of the word choice. Thus, the word choices that can affect the content, form, style or function of translation are investigated carefully. After that, conclusions on types of connotative equivalence achieved are drawn.
Furthermore, based on the translation of Duong Tuong, the researcher also figures out the strategies employed to achieve connotative equivalence. The strategies are categorized according to Newmark's theory about translation methods and translation procedures. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Definition of translation Translation, as one of the most ancient activity of human beings, has intrigued numerous researchers all over the world.
They all attempt to define translation for the sake of research, and their definitions share one common thing: the relationship between the source text and the target text. In the “Dictionary of Translation Studies”, Shuttleworth and Cowie acknowledge that translation is an “incredibly broad notion which can be understood in many different ways”. And this idea is proved by numerous definitions proposed by different researchers around the world. As early as 1959, the structural linguist Roman Jakobson proposes a tripartite definition of translation.
The first type is intralingual translation or rewording, which is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language. The second type is interlingual, or another name is translation proper. It is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language. The third type is intersemiotic translation or transmutation, which is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems.
Hatim and Munday (2004) take a different approach with the focus on “the ambit of translation”, which is defined as 1) the process of transferring a written from SL to TL, conducted by a translator, or translators, in a specific socio-cultural context; 2) the written product, or TT, which results from that process and which functions in the socio-cultural context of the TL; and 3) the cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and ideological phenomena which are an integral part of 1) and 2). However, in Munday‟s viewpoint, such definitions like those of Roman Jakobson 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com or by he and Hatim do not address the limits on translation and other outstanding issues in this field. Nida and Taber (1982, p.12) claim that “Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”.20) defines translation as “the replacement of textual material in one language (Source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language)." This idea is shared by Hartmann and Stock (1972, p713) with their definition “Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of another equivalent text in a second language.” Interestingly, Dubois (as cited in Bell, 1991, p.5) expresses the same notion “Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic in equivalences”. Translation equivalence As stated in the introduction, the concept of equivalence in translation is highly controversial.
Numerous theories have been devoted to the study of equivalence. The thesis introduces the most distinguished theories and its influence. Roman Jakobson and the concept of equivalence in difference. Roman Jakobson claims “equivalence in difference is the cardinal problem of language and the pivotal concern of linguistics” and introduced the notion of "equivalence in difference".
On the basis of his semiotic approach to language, he suggests three kinds of translation (1959, 232) 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Intralingual (within one language, i. rewording or paraphrase) - Interlingual (between two languages) - Intersemiotic (between sign systems) In his point of view, “there is ordinarily no full equivalence between code- units” because “the translator recodes and transmits the message from another source. Thus translation involves two equivalent messages in two different codes” (p.