Translation - Significance and Scope

The in-depth study of Art of Translation demands				text in order to re-create the mood and style of the
more attention not because it paves way for global				original.This,in other words is called 'accommodation.'
interaction and offers an excellent opportunity to				This has three dimensions: cultural accommodation;
undergo socio-cultural survey of various languages and				collocation accommodation; ideological accommodation;
their literatures but also gives an opportunity to				and aesthetic accommodation.Accommodation is
establish some kind of relevance it has in the study				considered a synonym of adaptation which means
and area of Literary Criticism. Translation Studies can				changes are made so the target text produced is in
very safely be included as an important genre in the				line with the spirit of the original. Translation is not
domain of Literary Criticism since translation is an art				merely linguistic conversion or transformation between
prompting to peep into the diversified lingual, cultural and				languages but it involves accommodation in scope of
literary content of a source language and thus				culture, politics, aesthetics, and many other factors.
highlighting/appreciating the essence and niceties of the				Accommodation is also translation, a free, rather than
literature of that particular translated language. In the				literal, kind of translation. Moreover, it is inevitable in
context of Indian Studies, keeping in view the				practice if the translation is to maintain the source
multilingual and pluristic cultural nature of our				message's essence, impact, and effect. There is an
country,translation has an important role to play. It is				interesting saying: A translation is like a woman: if it is
through translation that we can look into the rich				faithful, it is not beautiful; if it is beautiful, it is not faithful.
heritage of India as one integrated unit and feel proud				That is to say if you want to be faithful with the text
of our cultural legacy. The relevance of translation as				while translating you are bound to lose the beauty of
multifaceted and a multidimensional activity and its				the translated text and if you try to maintain the
international importance as a socio-cultural bridge				beauty of the translated text you are sure to be
between countries has grown over the years. In the				unfaithful with the original text.. Faithfulness was once
present day circumstances when things are fast				considered the iron rule in translation process but over
moving ahead globally,not only countries and societies				the years when we take a closer look,
need to interact with each other closely, but individuals				accommodation, or adaptation, is found in most
too need to have contact with members of other				published translations and it has become a necessity
communities/societies that are spread over different				too since keeping in view the averse cultural/lingual
parts of the country/world. In order to cater to these				geographical/historical/political diversifications and
needs translation has become an important activity				backgrounds of various languages and their literatures,
that satisfies individual, societal and national needs.				accommodation,if not compromising, is almost
It goes without saying that the significance and				obligatory. Accommodation, too, has to be carried out
relevance of translation in our daily life is				very sensibly, more especially when it comes to
multidimensional and extensive. It is through translation				translating poetry or any such text which is highly
we know about all the developments in communication				immotive and artistic in nature.For example translating
and technology and keep abreast of the latest				poetry has never been so simple. Robert Frost once
discoveries in the various fields of knowledge, and also				said, "Poetry is what gets lost in translation." This is a
have access through translation to the literature of				sufficient evidence of the difficulty involved in
several languages and to the different events				translation of poetry. Because poetry is fundamentally
happening in the world. India has had close links with				valuable for its aesthetic value, therefore, aesthetic
ancient civilisations such as Greek, Egyptian and				accommodation becomes an art instead of a basic
Chinese. This interactive relationship would have been				requirement. A good poetry translator with a good
impossible without the knowledge of the various				measure of accommodation and adequate knowledge
languages spoken by the different communities and				of aesthetic traditions of different cultures and
nations. This is how human beings realised the				languages, can be better appreciated by the target
importance of translation long ago. Needless to				reader and can achieve the required effect.
mentiuon here that the relevance and importance of				Qualities of a good Translator
translation has increased greatly in today's fast				A good translator should have adequate knowledge of
changing world. Today with the growing zest for				the SL(source language) from which he is translating
knowledge in human minds there is a great need of				into the TL which is generally his mother toungue
translation in the fields of education, science and				target language. In order to produce an accurate
technology, mass communication, trade and business,				translation of the SL text he should have command
literature, religion, tourism, etc.				over the grammatical, syntactic, semantic and
Defining Translation				pragmatic features of the SL. In addition to this it is
Broadly speaking,translation turns a text of source				necessary that he is well-conversant with the
language(SL) into a correct and understandable				socio-cultural contexts of both the SL and the TL. A
version of target language(TL)without losing the				good translator should be the author's mouthpiece in a
suggestion of the original. Many people think that being				way that he knows and comprehends fully whatever
bilingual is all that is needed to be a translator. That is				the original author has said in his text. One of the
not true. Being bilingual is an important prerequisite,no				generally accepted characteristics of a good
doubt, but translation skills are built and developed on				translation is that it should resemble the original text or
the basis of one's own long drawn-out communicative				come as close to the SL text as possible. It should
and writing experiences in both the languages. As a				appear like the original in the TL translation within the
matter of fact translation is a process based on the				usual social and cultural settings with some minor
theory of extracting the meaning of a text from its				accommodation, if necessary,of course.
present form and reproduce that with different form				Usually it is also believed that the job of a translator is
of a second language.				a mechanical one-a simple rendering of the SL text
Conventionally, it is suggested that translators should				into a TL text. But it is not so. The translator has to
meet three requirements, namely: 1) Familiarity with the				perform a really difficult task. It is in a way more
source language, 2) Familiarity with the target language,				difficult and complicated than that of the original writer.
and 3) Familiarity with the subject matter to perform				A creative writer composes or pens down his
the job successfully. Based on this concept, the				thoughts without any outward compulsion. A translator
translator discovers the meaning behind the forms in				has to confine himself not only to the SL text but a
the source language (SL) and does his best to				host of other factors also intervene in the process of
reproduce the same meaning in the target language				translating the TL.
(TL) using the TL forms and structures to the best of				A good translator must have an adequate knowledge
his knowledge. Naturally and supposedly what changes				of the subject or area to which the SL text relates so
is the form and the code and what should remain				that the translator is able to capture the spirit of the SL
unchanged is the meaning and the message (Larson,				text. If he does not have an in-depth knowledge, he
1984).Therefore, one may discern the most common				may not be able to produce an accurate translation
definition of translation, i.e., the selection of the nearest				suitable for its intended purpose. For example, if you
equivalent for a language unit in the SL in a target				want to translate the Bible or the Gita or any other
language.				religious text, you must have adequate knowledge of
Computers are already being used to translate one				those religious and theological works.
language into another, but humans are still involved in				A good translator should be careful of the choices that
the process either through pre-writing or post-editing.				he makes in using the TL. He should translate in the
There is no way that a computer can ever be able to				style, which is appropriate for the target audience. The
translate languages the way a human being could				style should be such that it appears to be natural and
since language uses metaphor/imagery to convey a				spontaneous to the TK readers. The translation in the
particular meaning. Translating is more than simply				TL should not sound alien.
looking up a few words in a dictionary. A quality				A translator does need certain tools to help him out in
translation requires a thorough knowledge of both the				moments of difficulty. These tools can be in the form
source language and the target language.				of good monolingual and bilingual dictionaries,
Translation Theory, Practice and Process				encyclopedias, e-dictionaries, glossaries of technical
Successful translation is indicative of how closely it				and standard works, etc. pertaining to the SL text.
lives up to the expectations as: reproducing exactly as				A good translator must have patience and should not
for as possible the meaning of the source text,using				be in a hurry to rush through while translating any text.
natural forms of the receptor/target language in such				He should not hesitate in discussing with others the
a way as is appropriate to the kind of text being				problems that he may come across. Morever, he
translated and expressing all aspects of the meaning				should not shy away from conducting micro-research
closely and readily understandable to the intended				in order to arrive at proper and apt equivalents.
audience/reader.Technically, translation is a process to				In short, a good translator should be a competent and
abstract the meaning of a text from its current forms				proficient bilingual, familiar with the subject/area of the
and reproduce that meaning in different forms of				SL text chosen for translation. He should never try to
another language. Translation has now been				insert his own ideas or personal impressions in the TL
recognised as an independent field of study. The				text. His objective should be to convey the content
translator can be said to be the focal element in the				and the intent of the SL text as exactly as possible
process of translation. The writer/author becomes the				into the TL text. The job of a translator is very
centre, for whatever he writes will be final, and no two				rewarding and intellectually stimulating
translators translate a text in the same way. It is				Finally,a few words(based upon my close
genegally believed that a writer to know the intricacies				understanding about translation study and activity) for
of the TL in which he may wish to translate. As a				up-coming translators and translation-lovers.To
matter of fact, it is not the writer of the SL text who				translate from one language into another has never
asks someone to translate his works into the TL; it is				been an easy endeavour.It is an exercise both
primarily the interest of the individual translator which				painstaking and cumbersome and only those who
prompts him to translate a work into his mother				have engaged themselves with translation work can
tongue. A successful translator is not a mechanical				realize the complex character of this Art. I have been
translator of a text but is creative as well. We may				associated with translation work for over three
say that he is a co-creator of the TL text. . In fact, for				decades translating from English, more especially, from
a translator knowledge of two or more languages is				Kashmiri/Urdu into Hindi and back.
essential. This involves not only a working knowledge				1-A good translator ought to be a good writer.
of two different languages but also the knowledge of				2-You needn't translate everything that has been
two linguistic systems as also their literature and				written, you need to translate the best only.
culture.Such translators have been seen to possess				4-A good translator adjusts/accommodates and not
various qualities which we shall briefly discuss later.				compromises with the original text.
Linguiustically,translation consists of studying the lexicon,				5-Translators are like ambassadors representing and
grammatical structure, communication situation, and				exchanging the best of their literary world.
cultural context of the source language and its text,				5-Art of translation is as old as makind, don't you
analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then				translate your thought before you speak it out? Some
reconstructing the same meaning using the lexicon and				more suggestions:
grammatical structure which are appropriate in the				1-Try to get into the mind of the writer.
target language and its cultural context. The process				2-Check your translation twice or may be thrice
of translation starts with the comprehension of the				before finalizing the script. Put the original passage
source text closely and after discovering the meaning				"aside" and listen to/read your translation with your ear
of the text, translator re-expresses the meaning he				"tuned in", as if it were a passage originally written in
has drawn out into the receptor/target language in				the TL.
such a way that there is minimal loss in the				3-If your material is highly technical, with vocabulary
transformation of meaning into the translated				that is distinctive to a discipline, it is important that the
language.This entire process could be graphed as				translator has at least some background or
under:-				experience of that discipline. A good translator of
Overview of the translation task				poetry and drama may be a bad choice for a
In practice, there is always considerable variation in the				chemical engineering or biotechnology text.
types of translations produced by various translators				4-If you have a native speaker of your target
of a particular text. This is because translation is				language handy, particularly one who is familiar with the
essentially an Art and not Science.So many factors				subject, that person could be as useful as your
including proficiency in language,cultural background,				teacher for final script-review. Take his assistance
writing flair etc.determine the quality of translation and it				without fail.
is because of that no two translations seem to be				A few more guide lines for the translators:
alike if not averse.				Do not try to find difficult equivalent words in the hope
Accommodation in Translation				that this will add to the perfection of your translation.
Translation turns a communication in one language into				Every language has its own punctuation rules and
a correct and understandable version of that				differ in many ways; take care to punctuate correctly.
communication in another language. Sometimes a				Check your translation two or three times at the end.
translator has to take certain liberties with the original

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Translation - Significance and Scope