The translation shift approach2

Key concepts
Translation shifts =small linguistic changes occurring in translation of ST to TT.
Vinay and Darbelnet (1 958): classical taxonomy of linguistic changes in translation.
Catford's (1 965) term translation 'shift' in his linguistic approach to translation.
Theoretical work by Czech scholars Lev);, Popovir and Miko (1960s-1970s) who
adopt stylistic and aesthetic parameters of language.
Most detailed model of translation shifts:van Leuven-Zwart's,an attempt to match
shifts to discourse and narratological function.
The problem of the subjectivity of the invariant that is used to compare ST and TT

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Since the 19505, there has been a variety of linguistic approaches to the
analysis of translation that have proposed detailed lists or taxonomies in an
effort to categorize the translation process. The scope of this book necessarily
restricts us to describing a small number of the best-known and most
representative models. Thus, the focus in this chapter is on the following
, three models:1 Vinay and Darbelnet's taxonomy in Styiistiqw cornpuree d i ~fr an~aise t de
l'anglais (1958195)' which is the classical model and one which has had a
very wide impact;
2 Catford's (1965) linguistic approach, which included the introduction of
the term 'shift' of translation;
3 van Leuven-Zwart's (1989, 1990) very detailed model, designed for the
analysis of the key concept of small 'microlevel' translation shifts and
the gauging of their effect on the more general 'macrolevel'..

EQUIVALENCE AND EQUIVALENT EFFECT2

Chapter 4 details attempts that have been made to provide a taxonomy of
the linguistic changes or 'shifts' which occur in translation. The main model
described here is Vinay and Darbelnet's classic taxonomy, but reference is
also made to Catford's linguistic model and van Leuven-Zwart's translation
shift approach from the 1980s

In chapter 4, we discuss taxonomic linguistic
approaches that have attempted to produce a comprehensive model of translation shift analysis. Chapter 7 considers modern descriptive translation
studies; its leading proponent, Gideon Toury, has moved away from
a prescriptive definition of equivalence and, accepting as given that a TT
is 'equivalent' to its ST, insted seeks to identify the web of relations
between the two. Yet, there is still a great deal of practically oriented writing
on translation that continues a prescriptive discussion of equivalence.
Translator training courses also, perhaps inevitably, have this focus: errors
by the trainee translators are often corrected prescriptively according to a
notion of equivalence held by the trainer. For this reason, equivalence is
an issue that will remain central to the practice of translation, even if
translation studies and translation theory has, for the time being at least,
marginalized it.

summery

Summary
Even-Zohar's polysystem theory moves the study of translations out of a
static linguistic analysis of shifts and obsession with one-to-one equivalence
and into an investigation of the position of translated literature as a
whole in the historical and literary systems of the target culture. Toury
then focuses attention on finding a methodology for descriptive translation
studies. His TT-oriented theoretical framework combines linguistic comparison
of ST and TT and consideration of the cultural framework of the
TT. His aim is to identify the patterns of behaviour in the translation and
thereby to 'reconstruct' the norms at work in the translation process. The
ultimate aim of DTS is to discover probabilistic laws of translation, which
may be used to aid future translators and researchers. The exact form of
ST-TI comparison remains to be determined; scholars of the related
Manipulation School led an interplay of theoretical models and case studies
in the 1980s, among which was Lambert and van Gorp's systematic
'scheme' for describing translations. Chesterman has later developed the
concept of norms

Other models of descriptive translation studies: Lambert and van Gorp and the Manipulation School

Other models of descriptive translation studies: Lambert and
van Gorp and the Manipulation School

With the influence of Even-Zohar's and Toury's early work in polysystem
theory, the International Comparative Literature Association held several
meetings and conferences around the theme of translated literature. Particularly
prominent centres were in Belgium, Israel and the Netherlands, and the

first conferences were held at Leuven (1976), Tel Aviv (1978) and Antwerp
(1980).
The key publication of this group of scholars, known as the Manipulation
School or Group, was the collection of papers entitled The Manipulation of
Literature: Studies in Literary Translation (1985a), edited by Theo Hermans.
In his introduction, 'Translation studies and a new paradigm', Hermans
summarizes the group's view of translated literature:
What they have in common is a view of literature as a complex and dynamic
system; a conviction that there should he a continual interplay between theoretical
models and practical case studies; an approach to literary translation which is
descriptive, target-organized, functional and systemic; and an interest in the norms
and constraints that govern the production and reception of translations. in the
relation between translation and other types of text processing, and in the place
and role of translations both within a given literature and in the interaction
between literatures

Toury and descriptive translation studies

Working with Even-Zohar in Tel Aviv was Gideon Toury. After his early
polysystern work on the sociocultural conditions which determine the translation
of foreign literature into Hebrew, Toury focused on developing a general
theory of translation. In chapter 1, we considered Toury's diagrammatic
representation of Holmes's 'map' of translation studies. In his influential
I Descriptive Translation Studies - And Beyond (Toury 1995: lo), Toury calls
for the development of a properly systematic descriptive branch of the
discipline to replace isolated free-standing studies that are commonplace:

What is missing is not isolated attempts reflecting excellent intuitions and supply-
I
ing tine insights (which many existing studies certainly do), but a systematic branch
proceeding from clear assumptions and armed with a methodology and research

techniques made as explicit as possible and justified within translation studies
itself. Only a branch of this kind can ensure that the findings of individual studies
will be intersubjectively testable and comparable, and the studies themselves
replicable.

Toury goes on to propose just such a methodology for the branch of descriptive
translation studies (DTS).
For Toury (1995: 13)' translations first and foremost occupy a position in
the social and literary systems of the target culture, and this position determines
the translation strategies that are employed. With this approach, he is
continuing and building on the polysystem work of Even-Zohar and on
earlier versions of his own work (Toury 1978, 1980, 1985, 1991). Toury
(1995: 36-9 and 102) proposes the following three-phase methodology for
systematic DTS, incorporating a description of the product and the wider
role of the sociocultural system

Descriptive Translation3

Polysystem
theory fed into developments in descriptive translation studies (see
section 7.2), a branch of translation studies that has been crucial in the last
twenty years and which aims at identifying norms and laws of translation.
Developments in the study of norms are discussed in section 7.3 (work by
Chesterman), and work by systems theorists of the related Manipulation
School is described in section 7.4.

CONCLUSION1

CONCLUSION
Information technology has transformed not only the working practice of the
professional translator but also the way in which translation is studied. Although
the goal of fully automatic translation may still lie in the future (and some would
say will always remain a pipe-dream), technology is already allowing research into
areas that previously relied on anecdotal evidence. This is particularly the case with
the rapid rise in corpus linguistics which means that large amounts of naturally
occurring language can be examined rapidly and accurately. The possibilities are
enormous for contrastive analysis of languages, Descriptive Translation Studies
(ST–TT comparisons) and the study of universal features of translation (see
Project 1 below) as well as the generation of new texts (Bateman,Matthiessen and
Zeng 1999

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DESCRIPTIVE TRANSLATION :  In RELEVANCE theory, this is the use of language
normally as true or false of a given state of affairs. In
translation, this mode amounts to a ‘free’ translation.
Compare COVERT TRANSLATION

 : DESCRIPTIVE TRANSLATION
STUDIES (DTS):

A branch of Translation Studies, developed in most
detail by Toury (1995), that involves the EMPIRICAL,
non-PRESCRIPTIVE analysis of STs and TTs with the
aim of identifying general characteristics and LAWS
OF TRANSLATION

----------------------------

PRESCRIPTIVE :  An approach to translation which seeks to dictate
rules for ‘correct’ translation. Compare DESCRIPTIVE
TRANSLATION STUDIES...).

DIRECT COMMUNICATION

DIRECT COMMUNICATION
Relevance theoreticians had no problem responding to the question:w hat if we
needed to translate the Bible or Dickens for children? This, according to Gutt (1991)
would be a case of descriptive translation, and is therefore not acceptable as
‘translation’ but may well be called by another name (e.g. adaptation).

Example1

Example C8.1a English ST
Access all areas
Wherever you want to be
Land Rover’s entry into the fiercely competitive SUV market raised more than a few
eyebrows.
Make no mistake; it’s a real Land Rover. The car you can drive down the highway
can negotiate adrenaline-pumping steep, muddy hills and rough ground with similar
quiet authority

Consider Example C8.1a from a sample of publicity material for Freelander in
English, alongside a back-translation of the parallel Arabic version.
Note how almost the entire Arabic version is an ‘addition’, drastically rewording
the original. This is an extreme case of ‘descriptive’ translation.
➤ What kind of effect might this TT have on the target reader in a language with
which you are familiar? Is the effect compatible with the function of the text?
➤ Translate the above English ST ‘interpretively’ (adhering as far as possible
to the ST structure, etc.) into a language of your choice. What difference
in effect can you discern when comparing your version with the Arabic TT
above? Would you still regard your ‘interpretive’ version as a piece of effective
advertising?.

E x p l o r a t i o n

In Section A, we mentioned the use of translation shift analysis in Descriptive
Translation Studies as a means of producing hypotheses and making generalizations
about translation. Find several ST–TT pairs in your own languages.
Analyse them according to Vinay and Darbelnet’s procedures.What general
trends emerge in the analysis? What are the most frequent types of translation
procedures? What hypotheses can you suggest concerning what is happening
in these translations? How would it be possible to test these hypotheses?