Bilingualism with Special Reference to Translation
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/136320 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications TRANS-LINGUAL A STUDY OF BILINGUALISM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TRANSLATION SABINE GUILLEMOT For the submission of the higher degree by research of Doctor of Philosophy UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK Center for British, Comparative and Cultural Studies October 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents i Acknowledgements iv Dedication v Summary vi List of abbreviations vii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 1.1. World view and language 9 1.1.1. Language and culture 9 1.1.2. Culture and language universals 14 1.1.3. Linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity 20 1.2. Culture focus and language transfer 1.2.1. Language and translation 1.2.2. Translation and context 33 1.2.3. Translation and language in contact 39 1.3 Looking at both ends of the continuum CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENOMENON 2.1. Individual bilingualism: 51 2.1.1. Problems of definitions 51 2.1.2. Definitions based on competence, function and attitudes 54 2.2. A typology of bilingualism 58 2.3. Different levels of bilingualism 66 2.4. Societal bilingualism and diglossia 70 2.5 Julien Green's bilingualism 90 2.5.1. Phase I 91 • 2.5.2. Bilingual strategy used by the Green family 94 2.5.3. Phase II 99 2.5.4. Phase III 101 2.5.5. Memories of Happy Days 104 CHAPTER 3: THE PROBLEM OF APPROACH 3.1. The origins of bilingualism 109 3.1.1. Political, social and economics factors 109 3.1.2. Political federalism and nationalism 112 3.1.3. Cultural factors 116 3.2. Language and nationalism 117 3.2.1. Language and nation/state 117 3.2.2. Ethnicity 122 3.2.3. nationalism and patriotism 123 3.3. The role of attitude 129 3.3.1. Language status and attitude 130 3.3.2. Response to language 133 3.3.3. Bilingualism as a norm 136 3.4. Mediation and creation in self/translation 138 3.5. An approach to the bilingual text 144 3.5.1. The question of the original in self-translation 146 3.5.2. Translation and self-translation 150 3.6. Language transfer as metaphor 152 CHAPTER 4: FEATURES OF BILINGUAL SPEECH 4.1. Factors for language choice 167 4.1.1. The setting 167 4.1.2. The participants 168 4.1.2.1 The case of bidialectalism in United States 169 4.1.2.2. Language mobility 171 4.1.3. The topic 173 5.1.4. The function 174 4.2. Code switching: a specific language system 175 4.2.1. Code switching: attempting a definition 176 4.2.2. Tag switches 177 4.2.3. Intra-sentential switches 178 4.2.4. Inter-sentential switches 178 4.3. Functions of code switching 179 4.3.1. Referential 179 4.3.2. Directive 180 4.3.3. Exclusive 180 4.3.4. Direct Speech / Indirect speech 182 4.3.5. Status 182 4.3.6. Poetic 183 4.3.7. Social 184 4.4. Constraints of code switching 187 4.4.1. Between a head noun and a relative clause 188 üi 4.4.2. Between subject and predicate in a copular construction 188 4.4.3. Dependency approach 190 4.4.4. Universal principles 190 4.5. Interferences, loans and transfers 191 4.5.1. Interference 191 4.5.2. Loanwords 194 4.6. Code switching and government 202 4.6.1. The role of propaganda 202 4.6.2. Theory of language maintenance and language shift 203 4.6.2.1. Language maintenance 203 4.6.2.2. Language shift 207 CHAPTER 5: THE BILINGUALISM-INTELLIGENCE DICHOTOMY 5.1. A prejudiced start 211 5.1.1. American and Welsh Studies 211 5.1.2. The first attempts 217 5.2. Towards methodological progress 222 5.2.1. Starting to reverse the trend 222 5.2.2. A body of evidence 226 5.3. A new light on the approach 231 5.3.1. Moving away from verbal and performance tests 231 5.3.2. Reverse findings in perspective 237 5.4. Linguistic and cultural imperialism 244 5.5. Challenges and problems 256 5.6. Bilingualism and translation: liberation and subversion 263 CONCLUSION 264 APPENDICES Appendix A: A list of definitions on bilingualism 276 Appendix B: Francophone space in perspective 280 Appendix C: Original documents: the bilingual-intelligence dichotomy 297 Appendix D: Green's "Le Voyageur sur la Terre" or the farce of the translator 301 Appendix E: Original documents: Translation and self-translation of Julien Green's selected pieces 313 Appendix F: Code switching in Julien Green's literature 322 BIBLIOGRAPHY 324 IV ~ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS- There are so many people I would like to thank, people that have introduced me both practically and theoretically to the field of bilingualism and translation. I would like to especially thank my supervisor Professor Susan Bassnett, as well as staff members of the Centre for British Comparative and Cultural Studies. I am also grateful to Pauline Wilson from the Arts Computer Unit, as well as the Language Centre. My thanks extend naturally to my colleagues and friends whom with I exchanged views on language and culture contacts and life in general, especially, Mirella Agomi, Kamil Aydin, Heloisa Barbosa, Giovanna Buonanno, Hélène Duclaud, Malika Mehdid, and Moses Nintai. Not to forget, my friends Hélène Carle, Alessandro Marsoni, Patrik Ôqvist, Geneviève Rich, and Sophie Rouppert who have brought smiles and courage during my’ years abroad. Lastly, I am most indebted to my family for their unfailing love and support, my parents, Francine Libot and Didier Guillemot, and of course, Marguerite, Lucien and Nicole Guillemot, Odette and Marcel Libot, Anne, Yannick, Julie and Clovis Lebreton, Karen, Peter and Hans Lind, and Katia, my bilingual sister, who started it all. VI ~ SUMMARY ~ The thesis attempts at connecting two areas, namely bilingualism and translation. Both areas are involved with the process of language transfer between LI and L2 or SL and TL. The present research seeks to focus on the interplay between both ends of the continuum. It will be argued that the trans-lingual experience involves not only linguistic transfer but also cultural transfer, which appears a paramount dimension in both areas. Bilingualism has long been denigrated and was thought to have negative effects upon intelligence. Similarly, translation was relegated to the role of secondary activity. Starting from the 1960's, bilingualism has been found to hold positive effects upon creative thinking and translation has been considered a form of creative rewriting. Both areas have travelled from a peripheral position to a central one, which addresses the role of attitude and questions the notion of norm. The difficulty of adhering to a single definition of bilingualism and of describing the translating process stresses the problem of approach, and therefore suggestes an interdisciplinary methodology. Societal bilingualism is presented, though the main interest of the thesis lies in the characterisation of individual bilingualism in its various forms. The case of the bilingual author and self/translator American Francophile, Julien Green, serves an example. Features of bilingual speech are presented and some of the functions of code switching are examined, showing that such bilingual linguistic forms carry elements of biculturalism, and above all, creative interaction. vii ~ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ~ BE black English CS code switching DIH developmental interdependence hypothesis IQ intellectual quotient LI language first learned L2 language learned after the first language MQT matched guise technique SAE standard European languages SAE* standard American English SES socio economic status SL source language ST source text TL target language TS translation studies TT target text - INTRODUCTION This thesis attempts to present aspects of bilingualism, in particular relation to translation. Throughout it is suggested that the issues and problems raised by language transfer at large are of a degree of complexity such that further research is needed. One of the main concerns is to stress the importance of an interdisciplinary approach which offers complementary perspectives. The phenomenon of language contact is considered on two levels. On the one hand, a major part of the thesis concentrates on individual bilingualism and on the other, reference is made to societal bilingualism. Since the emphasis is on language behaviour, the linguistic aspect is present throughout the various chapters. The incidence of culture over language structures is questioned, raising the issue of un/translatability. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is found a starting point in translation studies, in which language is considered a "modelling system". Bassnett suggestes that "language [...] is the heart within the body of culture and it is the interaction between the two that result in the continuation of life-energy" 1 * * Susan Bassnett-McGuire, Translation Studies, Rev.edn (London: Routledge, 1991), p. 14. In the present thesis the word culture is used in the broad sense and refers to "all socially conditioned aspects of human life" to use Snell Hornby's words. 2 Whether the bilingual individual is potentially a better translator than any other translator is still an open question.2 Self translator Julien Green, the illustration chosen for the purpose of this thesis, achieves greatness in both activities.