In search for the ideal translation strategy : translation techniques in domestication, foreignization and the golden mean
Paavola, Miriam (2024)
2024
Monikielisen viestinnän ja käännöstieteen maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Multilingual Communication and Translation Studies
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-04-29
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202404103419
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202404103419
Tiivistelmä
The study looks at three different translation strategies: domestication, foreignization and the golden mean. The aim is to compare these strategies in terms of the extent that translation techniques are used in them. The study is also interested in finding out if the golden mean approach is closer to domestication or foreignization. The underlying motivation behind the study is to address the question whether an ideal translation strategy can be determined in literary translation.
The method used in this study combined self-translation and a comparative textual analysis. Firstly, three different translations utilizing either domestication, foreignization or the golden mean were produced from the same source text. Secondly, translation techniques were identified based on earlier systematization of translation techniques mainly utilizing Vinay and Darbelnet’s 1995 classification. The number of techniques were counted in each translation, and to better determine if the golden mean translation is closer to domestication or foreignization, translation instances that were the same in the translations were also counted.
The results indicate that the usage of some translation techniques increase with certain translation strategies, namely the foreignized translation techniques seemed to be more favored in the foreignized translation. However, most of the translation techniques were used to a relatively similar degree throughout all the translations, which would call into question the division of translation techniques into domesticating or foreignizing techniques. The comparative textual analysis also revealed that the golden mean translation in this case study was slightly closer to the domesticated translation. This could be because most of the translation cases targeted linguistic transfer rather than cultural transfer, although it can be difficult to make a distinction between the two. The study brought forward the challenges of operationalizing linguistic phenomena related to translation and the subjectivity and context dependence of the concepts domestication and foreignization.
The method used in this study combined self-translation and a comparative textual analysis. Firstly, three different translations utilizing either domestication, foreignization or the golden mean were produced from the same source text. Secondly, translation techniques were identified based on earlier systematization of translation techniques mainly utilizing Vinay and Darbelnet’s 1995 classification. The number of techniques were counted in each translation, and to better determine if the golden mean translation is closer to domestication or foreignization, translation instances that were the same in the translations were also counted.
The results indicate that the usage of some translation techniques increase with certain translation strategies, namely the foreignized translation techniques seemed to be more favored in the foreignized translation. However, most of the translation techniques were used to a relatively similar degree throughout all the translations, which would call into question the division of translation techniques into domesticating or foreignizing techniques. The comparative textual analysis also revealed that the golden mean translation in this case study was slightly closer to the domesticated translation. This could be because most of the translation cases targeted linguistic transfer rather than cultural transfer, although it can be difficult to make a distinction between the two. The study brought forward the challenges of operationalizing linguistic phenomena related to translation and the subjectivity and context dependence of the concepts domestication and foreignization.