The paper aims at discussing the issue of “Visibility” (Venuti 1995; 1998) in translating the topography and cultural references in two texts where cityscape is not only a mere setting, but also a symbol of a multicultural encounter: that is, the collections of short-stories by Indian English writers Come to Mecca, by Farrukh Dhondy (1978) and Love and Longing in Bombay, by Vikram Chandra (1997), with reference to their translation into Italian by the author of this study (Dhondy 2003; Chandra 1999). The paper attempts to demonstrate that, when dealing specifically with toponyms and implicit/explicit cultural allusions in these texts, it is most fruitful to combine approaches from different branches within translation studies, i.e. a cultural studies paradigm, and particularly Venuti’s standpoint, with a linguistic functional framework, including Nord and her notion of “loyalty” (1988/91) along with recent theorists making use of a Hallidayan model (e.g., House 1997; Baker 1992). Such a perspective has been adopted with a view to respecting the ‘foreignness’ of the source text (ST), as suggested by postcolonial translation studies (see Niranjana 1992), as well as the different target text (TT) reader. In particular, the paper focuses on an analysis of the translation strategies employed in rendering place names and topographical references and on the discussion of how a certain amount of translation “loss” (Newmark 1981/82: 7) has been handled. After exploring the problem of toponyms (Newmark 1981; Viezzi 2004), the study proceeds with an investigation of instances of “Carry-over Matching” (Malone 1988: 23), “Equation” (Malone 1988: 16), “Amplification” (Malone 1988: 41), “Substitution” (Malone 1998: 16) and “Compensation” (Hatim and Munday 2004: 31). This paper attempts to provide an example of how it is sometimes not necessary to see distinct approaches to translation as being diametrically opposed to each other. In translating this kind of ‘Cityscape text’, drawing from different and even conflicting perspectives could aid the admirable aim of being on the one hand ‘faithful’ to, and respectful of, the ST and its culture, while at the same time meeting the needs and expectations of the TT receiver.
The issue of "Visibility" in translating topography and the culture of London and Bombay/Mumbai
MANFREDI, MARINA
2007
Abstract
The paper aims at discussing the issue of “Visibility” (Venuti 1995; 1998) in translating the topography and cultural references in two texts where cityscape is not only a mere setting, but also a symbol of a multicultural encounter: that is, the collections of short-stories by Indian English writers Come to Mecca, by Farrukh Dhondy (1978) and Love and Longing in Bombay, by Vikram Chandra (1997), with reference to their translation into Italian by the author of this study (Dhondy 2003; Chandra 1999). The paper attempts to demonstrate that, when dealing specifically with toponyms and implicit/explicit cultural allusions in these texts, it is most fruitful to combine approaches from different branches within translation studies, i.e. a cultural studies paradigm, and particularly Venuti’s standpoint, with a linguistic functional framework, including Nord and her notion of “loyalty” (1988/91) along with recent theorists making use of a Hallidayan model (e.g., House 1997; Baker 1992). Such a perspective has been adopted with a view to respecting the ‘foreignness’ of the source text (ST), as suggested by postcolonial translation studies (see Niranjana 1992), as well as the different target text (TT) reader. In particular, the paper focuses on an analysis of the translation strategies employed in rendering place names and topographical references and on the discussion of how a certain amount of translation “loss” (Newmark 1981/82: 7) has been handled. After exploring the problem of toponyms (Newmark 1981; Viezzi 2004), the study proceeds with an investigation of instances of “Carry-over Matching” (Malone 1988: 23), “Equation” (Malone 1988: 16), “Amplification” (Malone 1988: 41), “Substitution” (Malone 1998: 16) and “Compensation” (Hatim and Munday 2004: 31). This paper attempts to provide an example of how it is sometimes not necessary to see distinct approaches to translation as being diametrically opposed to each other. In translating this kind of ‘Cityscape text’, drawing from different and even conflicting perspectives could aid the admirable aim of being on the one hand ‘faithful’ to, and respectful of, the ST and its culture, while at the same time meeting the needs and expectations of the TT receiver.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
