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Analysis of the Sinhala Translation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; Abhimanya saha Agathiya.
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Abhimanaya Saha Agathiya;
The Sinhala translation of Pride and Prejudice.
The text as an individual work
Analysing the text as an individual work
The Sinhala translation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which is entitled as Abhimanaya Saha Agathiya is translated into Sinhala by Rani Senarathna. The text has maintained the flavor of the original text to a substantial extent.
This presentation will analyze the translated work in terms of its language, themes, charcaters and title.
Language
The language used by the translator seems to be appealing to the local audience. She has used very colloquial terms and phrases particularly in the dialogues spoken by the characters and this usage help to maintain the overall taste of the narration. For example:
Langauge
Themes
The text is realistic portrayal of 18th century England middle class society. It has captured the changes in social order, changing role of women in society, education, religion and many other pivotal aspects such as blurring the gap between personal and political.
Elizabeth Bennet and the community depicted in the novel act as a microcosm of the larger society of 18th century and local audience is exposed to these transitions through the novel.
Themes
Characters
all the characters depicted in the text signify various layers and positions of the society. The language used by each character display various aspects such as their educational level, social class and their social positions. Moreover, the projection of each character also depicts the ideals of the society prevailed at the time. The conduct and behaviors of each character is different from what is usually heard and seen in local context, nevertheless the text displays each of these characteristics in a realistic way and it helps to understand each character in much deeper level.
Characters
Title
Title
The Sinhala translation is entitled as 'Abhimanaya saha Agathiya' and it seems unusual in the first glance. The selection of the title with formal words convey a sense of formality and it sounds odd in local context. In common usage, this type of formal phrases are not to be seen among local novels and therefore, the title seem not too appropriate even though it is the direct translation of the original text. Nevertheless, it summarize the character traits of the two dominat figures in the text and therfore, title offers an insight to the text.
Narration
The story is told in third person omniscient narration. It helps to create an unbiased view of the events taking place and readers are given the opportunity to observe each character and incident in a profound level. Thus, the easy flowing narration with sarcastic and playful tone at times, clearly aids to build an unbiased view of the events taking place in the text.
Narration.
Translations
What is a translation?
-"A written or spoken rendering of the meaning of a word or text in another language". (Oxford English Dictionary)
- "What is generally understood as translation involves the rendering of a source language text into the target language so as to ensure that the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and the structure of the source language will be preserved". (Bassnett, 1980, pp 9)
- "The process of translation involved in making another culture comprehensible entail varying degrees if violence, especially when the culture being translated is constituted as that of the other" (Dingwaney, 2000, pp 15)
- "In translation, there is substitution of TL meaning for SL meanings" (Catford, 1956, pp 32)
- "The art of translation is a subsidiary art and derivative. On this account it has never been granted the dignity of original work, and has suffered too much in the general judgement" (Taylorian, 1931, pp 5)
The translation involves the transfer of meaning of one language to another and that is not an easy task. There are certain issue faced by the translator during this process:
Central Issues
Language and culture
Language and culture
-It is not possible to do an exact translation of any text.
- The translator has to take the question of interpretation into account in addition to the problem of selecting a target language phrase which will have a roughly similar meaning.
- "No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached" (Sapir,1929, pp 225 )
Problem of equivalence
Problem of equivalence
- Equivalence denotes to the ideal or perfect translation from the SL to TL.
- Anton Popovic (1976) identify four types of equivalence as:
Linguistic Equivalence - Word for word translation.
Paradigmatic Equivalence - The equivalence maintain in grammatical elements.
Stylistic Equivalence - Equivalence of elements in both original and translation which aims for identical meaning.
Textual Equivalence - Equivalence of the syntactic structuring of a text.
Accordingly, equivalence in translation is not about maintaining the sameness. When translating aspects like idioms, puns and other culture bound ideals, it is not possible to have a equal translation.
Therefore, a translator should consider the differences that prevail in between source language and target language when translating a text.
Loss and Gain
When it is understood that sameness cannot be maintained between an original text and its translated version, the next problem that arises is loss and gain.
Sometimes, certain aspects might be lost in the process of translation while there are certain instances where the meaning of the source text can also be enriched by the translator during the process.
Loss and Gain
Untranslatability
In the face of these problems, the next issue encountered by translators is the problem of 'untranslatability. J.C Catford in his 'A linguistic theory of translation' (1965) presents two types of untranslatability which he identifies as linguistic and cultural.
-Linguistic untranslatability - When there is no lexical or syntactical substitute in the TL for a SL item.
-Cultural untranslatabilty - Absence of relevant situational phrase in TL culture to denote something in SL culture.
Accordingly, in determining what to use in English, a translator must;
- Accept the untranslatability of the SL phrase in the TL on the linguistic level.
- Accept the lack of similar cultural convention in the TL.
-Consider the range of TL phrases available
-Consider the significance if the phrase in its particular context. (Bassenett, 2005, pp29)
Untranslatable
There are 3 main evaluation methods to evaluate a translation in different School of thoughts.
Mentalist View - The subjective and intuitive evaluation of a translation.
Behaviorist view - Considering reader's reaction as the main yardstick for assessing a translation's quality.
Related approach - Evaluation based on the way target culture norms are heeded or flouted by the translation.
Analyzing the text as a translation.
Language.
Language
The translator has incorporated both formal and colloquial language in many occasions. This usage has been successful in depicting the character traits of each character and in making the text more appealing to the target audience. However, many direct translations can be observed throughout the novel and the translation of cultural concepts also seem debatable as certain ideas remain unfamiliar to the local audience.
Use of language to denote character traits.
The translator has used the language to depict the character traits of each character. The uneducated, colloquial speaking style of Mrs Bennet can be cited as example:
Use of language to denote character traits.
Direct translations
The translator has used many direct translations and this usage seems questionable particularly in translating cultural concepts.
Direct translations
Reader reactions.
Content
Content
The text captures England middle class society and it can appear unfamiliar to the local context as most of the cultural concepts are foreign to the local audience. Nevertheless, the translator has been successful in presenting these diverse ideals to a certain extent by incorporating both local and foreign ideas together . It has captured the vibrancy and liveliness of English society at the time and text acts as an eye-opener to transformation took place in Austen's time.
Humor
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is distinct among the other texts of the time because of the use of humor and sarcasm and in Sinhala translation, the exact humor is not created to a certain extent. Austen has used humor to laugh at people and at the society of her time and local audience might not be able to capture the exact sense of humour because of the direct translation of the meaning.
The word to word translation and the use of formal language in certain places has lessened the effect to a certain degree in Sinhala translation. Thus, Austen’s humour is not completely created in the translated text. Following is an instance where Austen's humour is not created explicitly in the translation.
Humor and sarcasm
In conclusion, the Sinhala translation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which is entitled as Abhimanaya Saha Agathiya can be called as a successful translation to a substantial extent. When analyzing the text as an individual work, we can see that the translator has attempted to inflict foreign ideas to the local audience particularly in the use of a colloquial language. However, when considering the translation, it can be noted that the direct translation of cultural concepts might not be appealing to the target audience. Austen’s sense of humour and irony is lost in certain instances because of the word to word translation, but, when considering all the facts, Abhimanaya Saha Agathiya can be called as a successful translation.
Conclusion
-Austen, J., 1813. Pride and Prejudice. Penguine Group: London.
-Austen, J., 1813. Pride and Prejudice. Translated from English by R. Senarathna. Wijesuriya Grantha Krendraya: Colombo.
-Bassnett, S.,1980. Translation Studies. Routledge Publishers: Oxon.
-Catford, J. C. (1965). A linguistic theory of translation: An essay in applied linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.
-Popovic, A. (1975). Dictionary for the analysis of literary translation. Edmonton: The University of Alberta. Available through <http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/rug01:002031816>
-Sapir, E. (1929). A study in phonetic symbolism. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12(3), 225-239.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0070931