Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond Benjamins Translation Library (BTL) The Benjamins Translation Library (BTL) aims to stimulate research and training in Translation & Interpreting Studies – taken very broadly to encompass the many different forms and manifestations of translational phenomena, among them cultural translation, localization, adaptation, literary translation, specialized translation, audiovisual translation, audio-description, transcreation, transediting, conference interpreting, and interpreting in community settings in the spoken and signed modalities. For an overview of all books published in this series, please see http://benjamins.com/catalog/btl EST Subseries The European Society for Translation Studies (EST) Subseries is a publication channel within the Library to optimize EST’s function as a forum for the translation and interpreting research community. It promotes new trends in research, gives more visibility to young scholars’ work, publicizes new research methods, makes available documents from EST, and reissues classical works in translation studies which do not exist in English or which are now out of print. General Editor Associate Editor Honorary Editor Yves Gambier Miriam Shlesinger Gideon Toury University of Turku Bar-Ilan University Israel Tel Aviv University Advisory Board Rosemary Arrojo Zuzana Jettmarová Sherry Simon Binghamton University Charles University of Prague Concordia University Michael Cronin Alet Kruger Şehnaz Tahir Gürçaglar Dublin City University UNISA, South Africa Bogaziçi University Dirk Delabastita John Milton Maria Tymoczko FUNDP (University of Namur) University of São Paulo University of Massachusetts Daniel Gile Franz Pöchhacker Amherst Université Paris 3 - Sorbonne University of Vienna Lawrence Venuti Nouvelle Anthony Pym Temple University Amparo Hurtado Albir Universitat Rovira i Virgili Michaela Wolf Universitat Autònoma de Rosa Rabadán University of Graz Barcelona University of León Volume 100 Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond. Revised edition by Gideon Toury Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond Revised edition Gideon Toury Tel Aviv University John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam / Philadelphia TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of 8 the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Descriptive translation studies--and beyond / Gideon Toury. -- 2nd expanded ed. p. cm. (Benjamins Translation Library, issn 0929-7316 ; v. 100) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Translating and interpreting--Methodology. I. Title. P306.2.T68 2012 418’.02--dc23 2012005057 isbn 978 90 272 2448 4 (Hb ; alk. paper) isbn 978 90 272 2449 1 (Pb ; alk. paper) isbn 978 90 272 7459 5 (Eb) © 2012 – John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa Table of contents introduction A case for Descriptive Translation Studies xi A remark on the new edition xiii part one The pivotal position of Descriptive Studies and dts 1 1. Holmes’ ‘map’ of the discipline 3 2. The organization of dts 5 3. Between dts and Translation Theory 9 4. Between Translation Studies and its applied extensions 11 part two A rationale for Descriptive Translation Studies 15 chapter 1 Translations as facts of a ‘target’ culture: An assumption and its methodological implications 17 1. Approaching translation within a target-oriented framework 17 2. Translations as cultural facts 20 3. In need of proper contextualization 23 4. The notion of ‘assumed translation’ 26 5. The contents of the notion of ‘assumed translation’ 28 6. Discovery vs. justification procedures 31 chapter 2 The notion of ‘problem’ in Translation Studies 35 1. ‘Problem’ and its terminological status 35 2. The three terminological uses of ‘problem’ 38 problem1 38 problem2 42 problem3 43 vi Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond excursus a Pseudotranslations and their significance 47 1. Some uses of pseudotranslating 48 2. Pseudotranslations and Translation Studies 52 3. The enlightening case of Papa Hamlet 55 chapter 3 Being a norm-governed activity 61 1. Pairing ‘translation’ and ‘norms’ 61 2. From social agreements to norms 62 2.1 Agreements, conventions and behavioural routines 62 2.2 Conventions, norms and strategies 63 2.3 Regularities of behaviour and norms 64 2.4 Gradation and relativity 65 3. Translation and norms 67 3.1 Acts and events 67 3.2 The ‘value’ behind translation 69 3.3 Uniquely translational norms? 71 3.4 Where are translational norms negotiated? 75 3.5 Alternative and competing norms 76 chapter 4 Studying translational norms 79 1. The initial norm in translation 79 2. Translational norms: an overview 81 3. The multiplicity of translational norms 86 4. Extracting translational norms 87 chapter 5 Constituting a method for Descriptive Studies 93 1. Assumed translations and their acceptability 93 2. Levels of comparative study 95 3. Coming up with the appropriate source text 99 4. (Observed) solutions and (reconstructed) problems 102 5. Prospective vs. retrospective stances exemplified by metaphor 107 6. Uncovering the underlying concept of translation 110 chapter 6 The coupled pair of replacing + replaced segments 115 1. The need for a unit of comparative analysis 116 2. An exemplary analysis of a pair of texts 117 3. Justifying the use of the coupled pair 124 4. Testing the coupling hypothesis in real time 127 Table of contents vii chapter 7 An exemplary ‘study in Descriptive Studies’: Conjoint phrases as translational replacements 131 1. The phrases’ significance assured 132 2. The use of binomials in translations 134 3. Shifts, relationships, first-level generalizations 136 4. Second-level generalizations and further research prospects 140 5. Applying research findings in actual translation 141 part three Translation-in-context: An assortment of case studies 143 chapter 8 Between ‘Golden Poems’ and Shakespearean sonnets 145 1. Prior to 1916: a meaningful void 145 2. 1916–1923: modified ‘Golden Poems’ 147 3. 1929: an alternative point of departure 153 4. 1941 onwards: leaving the Golden Poem behind 155 5. A mixed picture again 157 6. One step backwards and two steps forward 158 7. A glimpse into the future 160 chapter 9 A lesson from indirect translation 161 1. Mediated translations as an object for study 161 2. The ‘German’ period in Hebrew literature 162 2.1 The concept of translation 163 2.2 The symptomatic status of indirect translation 165 2.3 German culture as a supplier 167 2.4 Translating English texts via German 168 3. Moving into the Revival Period 172 3.1 The ‘Russification’ of Hebrew literature 172 3.2 The relative positions of German and English 173 3.3 The Russified model and translation from other languages 175 4. The Anglicization of Hebrew literature 176 chapter 10 Literary organization and translation strategies: A text is sifted through a mediating model 179 1. Added rhymes and verbal formulation 181 2. Adding an epic situation and tightening the structure 183 3. What was so wrong with the original model? 185 viii Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond 4. A mediating model and its justification 187 5. External source vs. internal legitimation 189 6. Enhancing the translation’s acceptability 191 7. Was there any alternative? 195 8. Appendix: “Das Schlaraffenland” and “Gan-Eden ha-taxton” 195 excursus b ‘Translation of literary texts’ vs. ‘literary translation’ 197 1. Two senses of ‘literary translation’ 199 2. ‘Linguistic’, ‘textual’ and ‘literary’ modes of translation 201 3. ‘Literary translation’ and target-orientedness 203 4. The gap between the two senses of ‘literary translation’ as a function of cultural distance 206 5. Appendix: 27 English translations of the “Crow” haiku 210 chapter 11 Studying interim solutions: Possibilities and implications 213 1. Trying to close in on the ‘little black box’ 214 2. Tracing the emergence of a translation 218 3. Possible implications for Translation Theory 225 chapter 12 A translation comes into being: Hamlet’s monologue in Hebrew 227 1. The materials under study 227 2. Prosodic constraints and the unit of consideration 230 3. Using revisions to uncover constraints 234 4. Conclusions and implications 237 chapter 13 Translation-specific lexical items and their lexicographical treatment 241 1. Translation specificity 242 2. Translation-specific lexical items 243 3. Translation-specific lexemes as candidates for the dictionary 248 4. The ‘meaning’ of translation-specific items 249 5. Submitting translations to lexical study 251 6. Towards exemplary dictionary entries 254 chapter 14 Experimentation in Translation Studies: Achievements, prospects and some pitfalls 257 1. Empirical sciences and empirical methods 258 2. Product-oriented empirical studies 259 2.1 Cloze tests 259 2.2 The use of questionnaires 263 Table of contents ix 3. Process-oriented empirical studies 268 3.1 Think-Aloud Protocols 269 4. Concluding remarks 274 excursus c A bilingual speaker becomes a translator: A sketch of a developmental model 277 1. Nature vs. nurture in the making of translators 277 2. An innateness hypothesis is not enough 281 3. The making of a ‘native’ translator 284 4. How is a developmental model