MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver Translation and Analysis Bachelor´s Thesis Hana Frýbortová Supervisor: Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph.D. Brno 2011 1 Declaration Hereby I proclaim that this bachelor thesis was done by my own and I used only the materials that are listed in the bibliography. I agree with storing of this work in the library of the Faculty of Education at the Masaryk University Brno and making it accessible for study purposes. In Brno, 2011 …………………………………………….. Author’s signature 2 Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph.D., for his great help with the thesis. I especially appreciate his valuable advice and I am grateful for his useful comments and kind guidance. 3 Abstract Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver: Translation and Analysis This bachelor thesis deals with a translation of a chosen chapter from the novel Quicksilver and also an analysis of the translated text from the linguistic point of view. The thesis is divided into two parts: the practical part contains the original English version and the translation into the Czech language. The theoretical part is concerned with the analysis of the translated text in terms of lexical, grammatical and textual equivalence. Furthermore, the text is compared with the official Czech translation and various problems that could occur during the process of translation are presented. Anotace Neal Stephenson:Quicksilver – překlad a analýza Bakalářská práce se zabývá překladem vybrané kapitoly z románu Quicksilver a také analýzou překladu z lingvistického hlediska. Práce je rozdělena do dvou částí: praktická část obsahuje vybranou pasáţ v anglickém originále a překlad do českého jazyka. Teoretická část se zabývá rozborem překladu z hlediska lexikální, gramatické a textové ekvivalence. Přeloţená kapitola je dále srovnávána s oficiálním českým překladem a jsou nastíněny různé problémy, které mohou v průběhu překládání nastat. Key words translation, analysis, lexical equivalency, grammatical equivalency, textual equivalency, Neal Stephenson, explicitness, implicitness, denotation, connotation. 4 Summary This bachelor thesis deals with the translation and analysis of a chosen chapter from the book Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. It comprises two parts – practical and theoretical. The practical part presents the original English text and the individual translation of the author of the thesis. The theoretical part focuses on the analysis of the translated text presented in the practical part. After a short introduction the author analyses the individual translation from the linguistic point of view. Furthermore, the text is at the same time compared to the translation by the official Czech translators, the Sichingers. The author provides basic information about each linguistic item and a brief analysis of significant differences in the two Czech versions of translation. Resumé Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá překladem a analýzou vybrané kapitoly z knihy Rtuť autora Neala Stephensona. Je rozdělena do dvou částí – praktické a teoretické. V praktické části lze najít anglický text originálu a samotný překlad autora bakalářské práce. Teoretická část je zaměřena na rozbor přeloţeného textu uvedeného v praktické části. Po krátkém úvodu autor analyzuje vlastní překlad z lingvistického hlediska. Kromě toho je autorův překlad zároveň porovnáván s textem oficiálních českých překladatelů, manţelů Sichingerových. Kaţdý z analyzovaných jevů je stručně představen a jsou rozebrány hlavní rozdíly v obou českých verzích překladu. 5 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 8 2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE BOOK 9 2.1 Neal Stephenson – his life and works 9 2.2 The Baroque Cycle and Quicksilver 10 3. PRACTICAL PART – TRANSLATION 12 4. THEORETICAL PART – ANALYSIS 54 4.1 LEXICAL EQUIVALENCE 54 4.1.1 Absolute equivalence 54 4.1.2 Partial equivalence 55 4.1.2.1 Formal differences 56 I. Multi-word vs. one-word expressions 56 II. Explicitness vs. implicitness 57 4.1.2.2 Differences in denotation 58 I. Specification 58 II. Generalisation 59 4.1.2.3 Differences in connotation 60 I. Expressive connotation 60 II. Vulgarisms 61 III. Intensification 62 4.1.2.4 Pragmatic differences 62 I. Adding and omitting information 63 II. Analogy 64 4.1.3 Zero equivalence 64 4.2 GRAMMATICAL EQUIVALENCE 65 4.2.1 Definite and indefinite articles 65 4.2.2 Addressing 67 4.2.3 Passive form 68 4.2.4 Grammatical tenses 68 4.3 TEXTUAL EQUIVALENCE 69 4.3.1 Coherence and cohesion 70 4.3.1.1 Reference 70 6 4.3.1.2 Substitution 71 4.3.1.3 Ellipsis 73 4.3.1.4 Conjunction 74 4.4 PROBLEMATIC ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSLATING 75 4.4.1 Typical usage of italics 75 4.4.2 Other problematic issues 76 5. CONCLUSION 79 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 80 7 1. Introduction As the title of the bachelor thesis suggests, it deals with translation of the book Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The book was originally published in 2003 and translated into the Czech language by Jana and Martin Sichinger in 2008. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part focuses on the author of the book, his life and works. It also covers the plot summary, where brief information about the characters of the story and the storyline is presented. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the translation of the first chapter of the book. For better readability and understanding, the text has been divided into two columns – the left-hand column contains the original text in English and the right-hand column covers my Czech translation. The third part of the work, the theoretical one, deals with the theoretical aspects of translation and compares the official Czech translation by Jana and Martin Sichinger with my own translation. The main reason for choosing Neal Stephenson´s Quicksilver is that I have been a devoted reader of fantasy and science-fiction literature since my adolescent age. However, in spite of this fact, I have actually never tried to read any book of this literary genre in the original English version. I have probably supposed such a task too demanding and the level of my English knowledge too low for it. Nevertheless, I have always felt a deep admiration for professional as well as non-professional translators, who do they work well. In order to be a good translator, one must have a profound knowledge of both the original and the target languages, he/she must be deeply attended to his/her work and be prepared to work constantly on his/her skills. This is an especially important point, because every language develops and a good translator must be able to keep pace with the changes, failing which he/she looses touch with everyday language and his/her translations gradually become outdated. A good translation shall truly reflect the writer´s style and expressing tools he/she uses. However, at the same time the reader of the book should not be aware that what he/she is reading is a translation and not the original text. I have chosen a translation of a literary text as a topic of my bachelor thesis and I sincerely hope I was underestimating my own abilities in the past. The task represents a great challenge for me and I am sure it will provide me with valuable practical experience with literary translating. 8 2. About the author and the book 2.1 Neal Stephenson – his life and works Neal Town Stephenson in an American writer known primarily for his science fiction works, but he also writes non-fiction articles about technology and works part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company developing a manned suborbital launch system. He was born in Maryland in 1959 into a family of engineers and scientists. His father was a professor of electrical engineering and his mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory. At the university, Stephenson first specialized in physics, but later decided to focus on geography. In 1981 he graduated in geography and in physics. In 1984, only at the age of 25, he published his first novel The Big U, and four years later an eco-thriller Zodiac. However, it was only with his following novel Snow Crash (published in 1992), that he was acknowledged as one of the main contemporary authors of science-fiction literature. (“JRank - Brief Biographies” online) From his other works we could mention Diamond Age, Anathem or Cryptonomicon. Last but not least, he is the author of a three-volume historical work The Baroque Cycle. Among all the mentioned, this work is the most important one for this thesis, because together with the novels The Confusion and The System of the World, it comprises Quicksilver. Each of the novels of The Baroque Cycle further consists of two to three other books. Thus Quicksilver contains the novels Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds and Odalisque, The Confusion consists of the novels Bonanza and Juncto and the last part of The Baroque Cycle, The System of the World, comprises the novels Solomon´s Gold, Currency and System of the World. (“JRank - Brief Biographies” online) Stephenson explores many different areas such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency or the history of science, and his knowledge from these fields appear and blend together in his works, whether it is a novel set in a far, over-engineered and digitalized future, or a historical fantasy. (“Reason Magazine” online) In the interview for Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine in September 1999, Stephenson himself says about the genre of science-fiction: “The science fiction approach doesn't mean it's always about the future; it's an awareness that this is different.” (“The SF Site” online) 9 2.2 The Baroque Cycle and Quicksilver As mentioned earlier, The Baroque Cycle consists of three volumes: Quicksilver, The Confusion and The System of the World.