Chapter 15 The Translation of Serious Literature and Authoritative Statements INTRODUCTION The adequacy of a translation basically depends on the

e degree of difficulty, complexity, obscurity of the whole passage, rather than the one or the other aspect. Any passage that stresses SL form can be perfectly explained and therefore over-translated into the TL, though it will not have the na ed impact of the original. !ormally, the translation of serious literature and authoritative statements is the most testing type of translation, because the first, basic articulation of meaning "the word# is as important as the second "the sentence or, in poetry, the line# and the effort to ma e word, sentence and text cohere requires continuous compromise and read$ustment. The two categories have differences% "a# authoritative statements are more openly addressed to a readership than is literature& "b# literature is allegorical in some degree& authoritative statements are often literal and denotative and figurative only in exceptional passages. The element of self-expression in authoritative statements is only incidental but the translator has to pay the same respect to bi'arreries of idiolect as in fantastic literature. O!TR" (n poetry, as a unit, the word has greater importance than in any other type of text. The word is the first unit of meaning, and the second is usually the line. The integrity of both the lexical units and the lines has to be preserved within a context of% "a# corresponding punctuation, which essentially reproduces the tone of the original& and "b# accurate translation of metaphor. )riginal metaphor is the controlling element in all creative language, evo ing through a visual image -even abstract images- not only sight but the four other senses that these images can produce. *oetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling, in particular, and however concrete the language, each represents something else. )riginal metaphors the translator has to reproduce scrupulously, even if they are li ely to cause cultural shoc . The translator can boldly transfer the image of any metaphor where it is nown in the TL culture. +ut when this does not occur, there is a case for creating a culturally equivalent TL metaphor or converting the SL metaphor to sense or, where there is space, adding sense to the metaphor& but if the translator regards the metaphor as important, it is his duty to carry it across to launch it on the TL and its culture. ,hile all images have universal, cultural and personal sources, the translator of poetry cannot ma e any concession to the reader such as transferring the foreign culture to a native equivalent. A translator can hardly achieve even a parallel effect in poetry - the two languages, since all their resources are being used here as in no other literary or nonliterary medium, are, at their widest, poles apart. Syntax, lexis, sound, culture, clash with each other. (n most examples of poetry translation, the translator first decides to choose a TL poetic form as close as possible of that of the SL. Although the rhyming scheme is part of the form, its precise order may have to be dropped. Secondly, he will reproduce the figurative meaning, the concrete images of the poem. Lastly the setting, the thoughtwords, often the various techniques of sound-effect which produce the individual impact have to be wor ed in at later stages during the rewriting. .motionally, different sounds create different meanings, based not on the sounds of nature, nor on the seductive noises in the streams and forests, but on the common sounds of the human

throat. /owever good as a translation, its meaning will differ in many ways from the original and it will have its own independent strength. A successfully translated poem is always another poem. ,hether a translator gives priority to content or manner, and, within manner, what aspect -metre, rhyme, sound, structure- is to have priority, must depend not only on the values of the particular poem, but also on the translator0s theory of poetry. The translator has to decide whether the expressive or the aesthetic function of language in a poem is more important. Some fusion between the expressive and the aesthetic function of language is required, where in any event the personal language of the poet which deviates from the norms of the source language is li ely to deviate even more from those of the target language. )riginal poetry itself has no redundancy, no phatic language, but the translator usually needs a little extra space, he replies on redundancy in over-translating. )riginal metaphors have to be translated accurately, even if in the TL culture the image is strange and the sense it conveys may only be guessed. Sound-effects are bound to come last for the translator& inevitably, he must try to do something about them and, if not, compensate, either by putting them elsewhere or substituting another sound. T#! S#ORT STOR"$NO%!L 1rom a translator0s point of view, the short story is the second most difficult literary form, but here he is released from the constraints of poetry. Since the line is no longer a unit of meaning, he can spread himself a little - his version is li ely to be somewhat longer than the original though, always, the shorter the better. Since formal and thematic concentration and unity may distinguish the short story from the novel, the translator has to be careful to preserve certain cohesive effects. There are two types of ey-words. The first, leitmotifs, are peculiar to a short story, characterising a character or a situation. ,hen they are repeated, they should be appropriately foregrounded and repeated in translation. As dialogue becomes more important in fiction, certain phrases become attached to characters and these have to be foregrounded. The second type is the word or phrase that typifies the writer rather than the particular text. Some of these words go into a ready one-to-one translation into the TL, and get their connotational significance from repetition and context "situational and linguistic# which can more or less be reproduced by the translator 1or ey-words, translators have to assess their texts critically& they have to decide which lexical units are central, and have the more important function, and which are peripheral, so that the relative gains and losses in a translation may correspond to their assessment. (n the translation of serious novels, the obvious problems are% the relative importance of the SL culture and the author0s moral purpose to the reader& of the conventions and the author0s idiolect& the translation of dialect& the distinction between personal style, literary convention of period and2or movement& and the norms of the SL. DRA&A The translator of drama inevitably has to bear the potential spectator in mind though, the better written and more significant the text, the fewer compromises he can ma e in favour of the reader. /e wor s under certain constraints% he cannot gloss, explain puns or ambiguities or cultural references, nor transcribe words for the sa e of local colour. The spo en word is five times as potent as the written word - what a novelist would say in 34 lines, the playwright must say in five. The translation must be concise.

The translator must word the sentences in such a way that the text and the subtext "the meaning between the lines# are equally clear. 1inally a translator of drama in particular must translate into the modern TL if he wants his characters to 5live0, bearing in mind that the modern language covers a span of, say, 64 years, and that if one character spea s in an old-fashioned way in the original, written 744 years ago, he must spea in an equally old-fashioned way in the translation, but as he would today, with a corresponding time-gap - differences of register, social class, education, temperament in particular must be preserved between one character and another. Thus the dialogue remains dramatic, and though the translator cannot forget the potential spectators, he does not ma e concessions to them. ,hen a play is transferred from the SL to the TL culture it is usually no longer a translation, but an adaptation. CONCLUSION Some ind of accuracy must be the only criterion of a good translation in the future what ind of accuracy depending first on the type and then the particular text that has been translated. 'lossar( *hatic% enoting or relating to language used for general purposes of social interaction, rather than to convey information or as questions. 8tterances such as hello, how are you? and nice morning, isnt it? are phatic Leitmotif% a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation. 1oreground% ma e "something# the most prominent or important feature. To gloss% try to conceal or disguise "something unfavourable# by treating it briefly or representing it misleadingly. AN!)O Idiomati* metaphors Ac hay gato encerrado - ( smell a rat Comer con los ojos - 9our eyes are bigger than your stomach Como sapo de otro pozo - Li e a fish out of water Consultarlo con la almohada - Sleep on it Estar en la recta final - To be in the home stretch Gajes del oficio - *art and parcel of a $ob Hacer la ista gorda - Turn a blind eye to something Hilar fino - Split hairs !order el anzuelo - Ta e the bait "o ser nada del otro mundo - !othing to write home about "o te #uiero pinchar el glo$o - ( don:t want to rain on your parade %adio pasillo - Tal around the water cooler &er juez y parte - To be the $udge, $ury and executioner &errucharle el piso a alguien - To queer someone:s pitch &er un hueso duro de roer - To be a hard nut to crac 'e anotaste un poroto - 9ou scored a point (er para creer - Seeing is believing

An+er metaphors in Spanish and !n+lish% http%22revistas.um.es2i$es2article2view2;<3<=2;>3;= Thirt( metaphors in !n+lish% http%22www.usingenglish.com2forum2as -teacher2?3;==-34-metaphors-spanish-how-doyou-say-english-please-help-me.html Animal &etaphors for ,omen in !n+lish and Spanish% http%22www.e-revistes.u$i.es2index.php2clr2article2view1ile2=?2==.. %!RSI-ICACI.N !N !S A/OL Clasifi*a*i0n de los versos se+1n el a*ento de la 1ltima pala2ra a. verso llano% "@# el verso termina en palabra llana. b. verso agudo% "A=# el verso termina en palabra aguda. Se le aBade una sClaba al nDmero de sClabas gramaticales c. verso esdrD$ulo% "-=# el verso termina en palabra esdrD$ula. La rima a. Eima abra'ada% A++A, FGGF b. Eima encadenada o cru'ada% A+A+, FGFG c. Eima gemela% AA, ++, FF d. Eima continua o estrofa monorrima% AAAAAAAAAAAA Clasifi*a*i0n de los versos se+1n el n1mero de s3la2as Se llaman Hde arte menorI los versos comprendidos entre ? y < sClabas& los de J en adelante se llaman Hde arte mayorI. =. Kerso heptasClabo% verso de 6 sClabas. 8tili'ado en a.- la lira y la sil a% compuestas de versos combinados de 6 y == sClabas b.- el alejandrino% formado por ? versos heptasClabos en la misma lCnea ?. Kerso octosClabo% verso de < sClabas. .s el mLs popular. 8tili'ado en a. romances b. corridos me)icanos c. la canci*n 3. Kerso endecasClabo% verso de == sClabas. ;. Kerso ale$andrino% verso de =; sClabas Li*en*ias m4tri*as Son las que permiten anali'ar correctamente un poema, ademLs serLn las auxiliares para un buen anLlisis, por ello es importante saber cuLles son. Sinalefa% .s la uniMn de dos sClabas, la Dltima de una palabra terminada en vocal y la primera de la siguiente palabra terminada en vocal. +Cuando ,,se es,, intolerante se dificulta i irSinNresis% .s la contracciMn de dos sClabas en una sola. Se da cuando vocales seguidas en una palabra que normalmente se separa en hiato, se reducen a una sola sClaba. +Cuando !a ,,r.a es,,tudia aprende msI GiNresis% .s la pronunciaciMn en sClabas diferentes, de dos vocales que normalmente forman diptongo. +Como dec.a mi a,, $u,, e,, la/ A dios hay #ue irle rogandoI /iato% .s la licencia poNtica que consiste en separar las sClabas donde normalmente hay sinalefa. +0o ,,te ,,a,,con,,se,,jo,,en,,ca,,so,,de,,#ue,,te,,pue,,da,,ten,tar-