Book 1 Part 1
Preparing for A150 before the course starts: Approaches to translation
From Book 3, Cultural Encounters, 6.2 Translating
Sophocles’ Antigone, p.207.
Approaches to translation
... [T]here is no rigid system of definition or classification
of what a translation should be ... However, a very broad spectrum of
approaches might include those summarised below.
Translation that attempts above all to be accurate,
communicating the letter of the original. The
emphasis is on understanding and communicating the original Greek and assumes
that it has a settled meaning which can be transferred into another language.
Translation that concentrates on communicating
the spirit of the original. This approach recognises
that the idioms and cultural frameworks of ancient and modern are not
congruent, but works on the basis that the sense and the ‘feel’ of the source
text and context can be represented. The translator therefore also has to make
judgements about what will be effective in the language of the target
audience/readers.
Pragmatic translation, which
places particular emphasis on the target language and culture and the purposes
for which the translation is made.
You can see that there are overlaps between these approaches but that the
emphasis shifts along a line from the primacy of the Greek source language to
the primacy of the modern language and its users.
#A150
#BOOK1
#BOOK1
#Prepare Your Self
#Approaches to Translation
