Mac Grianna and Conrad: a Case Study in Translation
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Mac Grianna and Conrad: A Case Study in Translation Sinéad Coyle Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. to the Faculty of Arts, University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Derry October 2018 I confirm that the word count of this thesis is less than 100,000 words I Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………… IV ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………… V ABBREVIATIONS VI ACCESS TO CONTENTS ........................................................................................ VII INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... - 1 - METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... - 6 - CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................... - 7 - REVIEW OF TRANSLATION STUDIES ................................................................. - 7 - INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND TO TRANSLATION STUDIES ....................................... - 7 - TRANSLATION BEFORE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY .................................................... - 9 - LINGUISTIC THEORIES OF TRANSLATION................................................................. - 18 - POSTMODERN THEORY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON TRANSLATION STUDIES ................... - 25 - POST-COLONIAL TRANSLATION THEORY ................................................................ - 29 - PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO TRANSLATION .................................................... - 32 - DERRIDA AND DECONSTRUCTION .......................................................................... - 33 - THE ROLE OF THE TRANSLATOR ........................................................................... - 34 - CORPUS LINGUISTICS .......................................................................................... - 35 - Conclusion ........................................................................................................ - 36 - CHAPTER 2………………………………………………………………………………-39- CONTEMPORARY COMMENTATORS – UA LAOGHAIRE AND Ó NUALLÁIN - 39 - NTRODUCTION – UA LAOGHAIRE’S INFLUENCE ON TRANSLATION…………………… .-39- FORGIVE AND FORGET – UA LAOGHAIRE’S TRANSLATION METHODS ........................ - 43 - ‘PERIODIC SENTENCES’ IN ENGLISH AND IRISH ....................................................... - 53 - Ó NUALLÁIN’S PRINCIPLES FOR TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH TO IRISH ................... - 57 - DISCUSSION OF Ó NUALLÁIN’S PRINCIPLES ............................................................ - 64 - CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... - 89 - CHAPTER 3: MAC GRIANNA’S CREATIVITY ..................................................... - 91 - INTRODUCTION – CREATIVITY OF THE TRANSLATOR ................................................ - 91 - GUILDFORD’S DEFINITIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS OF A CREATIVE INIVIDUAL ............ - 98 - EXAMPLES OF MAC GRIANNA’S CREATIVITY ......................................................... - 100 - CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... - 134 - CHAPTER 4: THE CHALLENGES OF CONRAD’S STYLE ............................... - 136 - INTRODUCTION: ASPECTS OF CONRAD’S STYLE .................................................. - 136 - CONRAD’S DE-VERBAL NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES .................................................... - 139 - Inglorious ..................................................................................................... - 141 - Immeasurable. ............................................................................................. - 148 - Impenetrable ................................................................................................ - 150 - II Unbounded .................................................................................................. - 154 - Unringing ..................................................................................................... - 157 - Voiceless ..................................................................................................... - 158 - Unquiet ........................................................................................................ - 159 - SEARBH AGUS GARBH. ...................................................................................... - 161 - Searbh ......................................................................................................... - 162 - Garbh ........................................................................................................... - 167 - PROGRESSIVE FREQUENCY ................................................................................ - 172 - CONRAD’S NOUN PHRASE MODIFICATION ............................................................ - 179 - CAINT NA NDAOINE AND ‘GAEILGE BHACACH’ ....................................................... - 183 - CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... - 203 - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION .............................................................................. - 205 - BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ - 210 - III Acknowledgments This thesis would not have been possible without the help, encouragement and expertise of Prof. Ailbhe Ó Corráin, whose generosity with his time and knowledge have been of invaluable help to me. I would also like to thank Dr. Peadar Mac Gabhann for his support during this process and Dr. Antain Mac Lochlainn for his indispensable and inspiring advice. Thanks also to Mary Delargy for help and support beyond the call of friendship. My thanks are due to Anne Cunningham and the library team at Magee College. A special word of gratitude to Rose Norris, whose thoroughness, persistence and cheerfulness in dealing with my many and varied requests has been of huge assistance over the past few years. Thanks also to Dr Éamonn Ó Ciardha who proof-read this thesis, for his sharp eye for errors and omissions, and Hamideh Javadi for her help in formatting the document. I have received so much support from friends over the last few years, and I would especially like to thank Billy, Eleanor and Lauren, and of course, my fellow WHIMS, Michael, Hilary and Will whose wit, energy, tenacity and strength of character were an inspiration to me, and whose friendship I will always cherish. My dear friend Gaye has provided a sympathetic listening ear to all my woes. My late mother, Margaret Black, was the person who instilled in me, from a very early age, a love of reading and of education for its own sake and without her inspiration I would never have achieved this. Más mall is mithid – Brian, mo ghrá geal, níl focail ann, mo bhuíochas do achan rud. IV Abstract This case study of Mac Grianna’s translations of four of Conrad’s works evaluates the quality of these translations and assesses how he brings his own individual qualities as a creative writer to the act of translation. Against a background of developments in translation studies in Europe and Ireland, his work is contextualised and analysed in the light of contemporary commentators, Peadar Ua Laoghaire and Gearóid Ó Nualláin, with an examination of their stipulations regarding the translation of the Irish language from English, notably the promulgation of caint na ndaoine to the exclusion of any other style or register of the Irish language. An analysis is made of Mac Grianna’s creative ability using Guildford’s nine characteristics of the creative individual. Each quality is examined and assessed as it relates to the translations of Conrad, using samples from the translations to demonstrate how they illustrate these characteristics. All examples from the translations are accessed through Tobar na Gaedhlige. French translations of the samples are given as a further method of comparison. Some complexities of Conrad’s style are analysed, such as his use of de-verbal negative adjectives and Mac Grianna’s response to these challenges is investigated. Criticisms that stem from his use of caint na ndaoine in these translations are examined, and his use of storytelling devices such as alliteration, rhythm, and synonymic adjectives are demonstrated. V Abbreviations The following abbreviations have been used: AF………. Amy Foster AlF……… Almayer’s Folly DCA……. Díth Chéille Almayer LFA…….. La Folie Almayer MD……… An Máirnéalach Dubh NN……….The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’/Le Nègre du ‘Narcisse’ SB……… Séideán Bruithne T…………Typhoon/Typhon FGB…..... Foclóir Gaeilge Béarla EID…...... English-Irish Dictionary VI Access to Contents I hereby declare that with effect from the date on which the thesis is deposited in the Library of the University of Ulster, I permit 1. The Librarian of the University to allow the thesis to be copied in whole or in part without reference to me on the understanding that such authority applies to the provision of single copies made for study purposes or for inclusion within the stock of another library. 2. The thesis to be made available through the Ulster Institutional Repository and/or EThOS under the terms of the Ulster eTheses Deposit Agreement which I have signed. IT IS A CONDITION OF USE OF THIS THESIS THAT ANYONE WHO CONSULTS IT MUST RECOGNISE THAT THE COPYRIGHT RESTS WITH THE AUTHOR AND THAT NO QUOTATION FROM THE THESIS AND NO INFORMATION DERIVED FROM IT MAY BE PUBLISHED UNLESS THE SOURCE IS PROPERLY ACKNOWLEDGED VII Introduction