10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.

21863 Litera, 2017 - 1

Translation and Interpreting Studies: Methodological and

Theoretical Research / Переводоведение: методические и
теоретические искания.
Бузук Лилия Геннадьевна
кандидат философских наук

доцент, кафедра лингвистики и перевода, Российский государственный социальный университет

129226, Россия, г. Москва, ул. Вильгельма Пика, 4 стр. 1, ауд. 4
Buzuk Liliya Gennadyevna

PhD in Philosophy
Docent, the department of Linguistics and Translation, Russian State Social University
129226, Russia, Moscow, Vilgelma Pika Street 4, building #1, office #4

lbu-1@yandex.ru

Статья из рубрики "Карнавализация"

Аннотация. В современном мире из-за глобального расширения международных связей

любой человек, знающий иностранный язык, периодически в той или иной степени
выступает в роли переводчика. В результате подобной популярности массового
вовлечения непрофессиональных переводчиков в сам процесс перевода, в обществе
происходит снижение авторитета деятельности переводчиков, страдает само качество
перевода. Цель данной статьи заключается в поиске ответов на ряд вопросов, с
которыми сталкивается современное переводоведение, например, проблема языка и
разные трактовки перевода или верность/неверность перевода источнику и абсолютный
критерий хорошего перевода и т.д. В основу данной статьи легли работы Х. О ртега-и-
Гассета, П. Р икёра и Ф. Шлейермахера. Р езультаты данной статьи будут интересны как
профессиональным, так и непрофессиональным переводчикам, т.к. они заключаются в
уточнение основных задач переводоведения, выявлении проблем трактовок перевода
текстов, определении критериев оценки перевода, а также раскрытие методов перевода
«перефраза» и «пересказа», умелое применение которых позволяет повысить
квалификацию переводчика и избежать опасных моментов.

Ключевые слова: переводоведение, лингвистическая герменевтика, метод парафразы,

метод пересказа, методика обучения, критерий оценки перевода, переводчик, автор,
читатель, язык

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21863

Дата направления в редакцию: 01-02-2017

Дата публикации:

Abstract. In the modern world due to the global expansion of international relations any
person who knows a foreign language in fact acts as a translator or an interpreter. As a
result the popularity of involving non-professional translators or interpreters in the
translation process reduces visibility of the work of professional translators and interpreters
in the society and influences on the quality of the translation. The purpose of this article is
to find answers to a number of issues the modern translation and interpreting studies faces

144
10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21863 Litera, 2017 - 1

with, for instance, language problems and different interpretations of texts, or possibility or
impossibility of text translation, etc. The basis of this article lay down the work of J. Ortega
y Gasset , P. Ricoeur and F. Schleiermacher. The results of this article will be of great
interest to both professional and non-professional translators or interpreters because the
tasks of translation and interpreting studies are specified, problems with interpretations of
the translated texts are pointed out, criteria for evaluation of a translation are proposed as
well as the methods of “paraphrase” and “retelling” appropriate use of which improves the
skills of an interpreter or translator and avoid tricky situations.

Keywords: assesment criteria for a good translation, teaching methods, method of

retelling, linguistic hermeneutic, method of paraphrase, translator, translation and
interpreting studies, author, reader, language

At the present stage, in the context of globalization of many spheres of social life, is an
unprecedented expansion of intercultural interaction. Knowledge of several languages from
an intellectual hobby rapidly turns into a need. An increasing number of people have
knowledge of two or more foreign languages and that raises issues that are also the
subject of careful thought.

T ranslation and interpreting studies and the tasks involved.The rapid growth in the number
of people studying foreign languages leads to losses of quality in language training. Modern
methods of foreign language teaching are largely focused on improving oral speech in a very
short space of time. In reality this leads to stereotyped memorization of certain phrases
that allow a person not to get lost in a foreign country and carry on simple conversations on
certain topics. The range of such foreign language knowledge is quite wide: from a
conversation with gestures and "broken" pronunciation up to a fair knowledge of a foreign
language. The existing misbelief, that a translator can be any person having knowledge of a
foreign language and that the process of translation is very easy and simple, lowers the
social and professional standing of the translation profession. Poor translation leads to the
fact that the original text becomes incorrect in relation to the translated one. A poor
translation harms international relations and reduces and damages communication between
people. Therefore it’s necessary to agree with a famous Spanish philosopher Jose O rtega y
Gasset who said that "we need to revive the prestige of the interpreter, we need to
consider it a mental work of the first order" [1, p. 352]. And this is the most important task of
translation and interpreting studies. Translation and interpreting studies should help people
to get professional skills and learn better linguistic abilities of language. Jose O rtega y
Gasset was absolutely right when he called translation and interpreting studies the primary
science with "a thin film cover draped over the world images". Modern science is impossible
without language, because "to do science means to speak... that is why language is the
primary science. Modern science lives in a constant dispute with the language..." [1, p. 346].

Language problems and different interpretations of texts. A well-known specialist in

linguistics and study of language Paul Ricoeur drew attention to the facts of theoretical and
methodological importance. Firstly, "language plays a leading role in the self-development
of each language community. Language being a system of signs and their exchanges is
social; it is the property of mankind like the ability to use various tools or to create social
institutions, etc.". Secondly, the need for translation is due to the fact that people
communicate in different national languages. There was a time when the predecessors of
professional translators and interpreters were the travelers, merchants, ambassadors,
spies, many of whom spoke two or more languages; at all times polyglots met. Thirdly, if

145
10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21863 Litera, 2017 - 1

translation is social and exists from ancient times, it’s possible to assume that every
person has the ability to learn a foreign language and to participate in a translation
process. Hence the importance of methodical culture of learning the knowledge of foreign
language [2, p. 3]. It is obvious that the presence of many foreign languages does not bring
benefit to mankind; it raises difficulties for communication and understanding between
people. At the same time it stimulates the translation of the content of foreign language
texts. There are two well-established methodological approaches to understanding the
nature of translation as a linguistic phenomenon. In the narrow sense it is a translation of
the verbal messages from one language to another, highlighting the language problem of
"own - alien" relationships. In this context we are talking about finding alternative ways of
linguistic unity, finding general linguistic structures which are initially common between
languages. In the wide sense, translation is the comprehension and interpretation of a text
within the framework of a mother-tongue according to the formula: "to understand means to
translate". In this case the translation is aimed at finding the "ideal" language, at cleaning
the text content from any defects and imperfections.

P ossibility or impossibility of text translation. There are two opposite points of view. Some
scientists like linguistic relativists say that "different languages are completely diverse and
the translation from one language to another is completely impossible"[2, p. 5]. The
essential untranslatability of the text is due to the mismatch between the linguistic levels-
subsystems of different languages: the phonetic and articulatory levels, formed on the
basis of the phonological system of the language (vowels, consonants, etc.); conceptual
level of language, i.e. systems of concepts which are used for building its vocabulary
(dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.); the syntactic level, depending on the grammatical
structure of the language. In addition, the ideological, the linguistic-cultural and the
hermeneutic mentality of the native speakers of one language are absolutely alien and
incomprehensible to the representatives of another language. Mutual lack of understanding
between representatives of different languages and national cultures is a norm and
theoretically makes translation impossible and methodological support unnecessary. O ther
scientists like "armchair formalists" talked about the existence of a translation practice,
being a proof of the possibility of translation. If translation is real, then there are the
general language structures, components of the primordial principle (proto-language)
common to all languages that it is necessary either to find and restore or to build a new
one in a logical way. The version of the proto-language was preached in the writings of the
Gnostics, the Kabbalah, in the occult teachings of different persuasions, and has not lost its
relevance even in our time.

Correctness or incorrectness of translation compared to the original text and absolute

criteria for a good translation. Paul Ricoeur talked about the need to replace a linguistic
alternative of translatability/untranslatability of the text, which leads nowhere, with "the
practical dilemma of accuracy/inaccuracy to the source" [2, p. 6]. In other words, translation
activity really exists, and scholastic arguments on the topic of its fundamental impossibility
are simply inappropriate. It’s necessary to speak only about the accuracy of preserving the
author's content in the text of the translation. Such an approach requires the definition of
the "absolute criterion of a good translation". According to P. Ricoeur: "...a good translation
can and should be aimed only at the relative equivalence of the source... and the only
possible criticism of someone else's translation... is to submit his/her own translation
equally doubtful in its success but as if the better or different one. And this is exactly what
professional translators continually do. All great works of world culture known to us, are
mostly re-translations which, in turn, can’t be considered unrivalled as well. This applies to

146
10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21863 Litera, 2017 - 1

the translations of the Bible, the works of Homer and Shakespeare and all the
aforementioned authors as well as the works of philosophers from P lato to Nietzsche and
Heidegger. Any attempt to bring together foreign language with a mother-tongue is a risk
that turns this process into a grueling test; it is our eternal payment for the passion for
translation..." [2, p.6]. J. O rtega y Gasset also noted the lack of samples in translation,
saying that "... each work is unique, and the translation is merely a tool that brings us
closer to him..., it follows that the same text admits multiple translations... W hen you
compare the original work of P lato with its translation, even with the most recent one, you
are stricken and irritated not by the fact of disappearance of the seductive sweetness of
P lato's style in the translation but by the loss of three quarters of the subjects, the very
subjects that operate in the philosopher’s statements, which he either barely outlines or
lovingly writes. That is why he is so boring to the modern reader, and not because the
translation affected his beauty of writing, as is commonly believed. How can his work be
interesting if all the content was thrown from the text, leaving only a thin shell,
disembodied and cold. And note that my words are not an empty assumption. It’s a well-
known fact that only one translation of P lato’s works was really fruitful. And this translation
is precisely the translation made by F. Schleiermacher, and in particular because he
deliberately refused to make the beautiful translation and wanted to do approximately what
I’m talking about...". From J. O rtega y Gasset’s point of view the translation is bound to
"move you in a poor loser P lato, who twenty-four centuries ago in his own way tried to stay
on the wave of life..." [1, p. 350-351]. Any mechanical translation of the author's text is
impossible and meaningless. Translation is a special literary genre with its own norms and
aims. Therefore, "a translation is not the work itself, it is the path that brings us closer to
the original, but does not aspire to repeat it or replace it"[1, p. 349].

Methods of translation and interpreting. According to Friedrich Schleiermacher, one of the

founders of "classical hermeneutics", translation is a process which the translator can
implement in two opposite ways: either to bring the author to the reader’s language or to
bring the reader to the author’s language. In the first case, when the author’s language is
left alone and the text is maximally brought to the reader’s language, the content of the
author’s text is not translated in the full sense of this word. A translator rather imitates the
author's text, retelling its content, trying to convey to the reader, unfamiliar with a foreign
language, the same images and impressions which he has got himself, getting acquainted
with the work in a foreign language, replacing and displacing those issues that would be
alien to the reader. In the second case, when the author’s language is brought to the
reader, the translator tends to tear the modern reader from his/her well-established
language skills and force them to move in the field of language skills of the author’s text. A
translator speaks to the reader as to the scholar and contemporary of the author. Mix of
these ways for a professional translator is unacceptable because it will inevitably result in
the translation being a patchwork, a gap between the author of the text and the reader [3,
p. 132-133].

Based on these approaches F. Schleiermacher stated two methods of translation:

"paraphrase" and "retelling" ("free translation"). The method of "paraphrase" is used mostly
in the scientific literature. The essence of the method lies in the fact that the translator is
loyal to some parts of the original text, operates with the elements of both languages as if
they were mathematical signs that are in a specific relation to each other. The method of
"retelling" ("free translation") is used more in the arts. This method requires the translator
not to neglect historical, national and religious differences in languages, their customs and
education, and to strive that "the translation for the reader became possibly the same as

147
10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21863 Litera, 2017 - 1

the original work was to the initial reader" [3, p. 140], for that end it is necessary to sacrifice
the accuracy of matching. In this regard the translator in the "retelling" gives the
impression that the readers of contemporaries of the original had, abandoning the matching
of its certain parts.

The reflections on theoretical and methodological basics of translation allow us to come to

the following conclusions. Firstly, translation and interpretingstudies, actively involved in
the study of language, are trying through linguistic culture and hermeneutics to discover
ways to improve the process of mutual understanding of people during international
communication. W ork with foreign language texts is inherently the hermeneutic process, of
which the main task is the understanding, preservation and accurate translation of the
content of the author’s text. The activities of the author, translator and reader are
essentially an interpretation associated with overcoming the contradictions between the
original text and its translation. Enclosed within the boundaries of the language, in the
mind of the author, translator and reader, the hermeneutic content of the author's text,
having relative independence, may coincide entirely, partially or not coincide at all.
Secondly, translation is a complex hermeneutic task that doubles (author-translator) and
even triples (author-translator-reader) itself a hermeneutical process. The complexity of
translation is due to the absence of "ideal" translations and the unattainability of such. W e
can only talk about the accuracy or inaccuracy of the translation to its original source, so
translation is always a risky business, as a translator, acting as a co-author, is able to
distort (to deteriorate or to improve) the content of the author’s text. Thirdly, the translator
should be true to himself and no one else. His activities, along with the intellectual and
theoretical problems, also have a distinct moral dimension. So the translator brings the
reader to the author or the author to the reader, risking serving two masters and leading
them into conscious misbeliefs. Compliance with ethical professional norms allows this kind
of danger to be avoided.

Библиография
1. Ortega-and-Gasset J. W hat is philosophy? M.: Nauka, 1991. 408 p.
2. Ricoeur P. the Paradigm of translation. Lecture delivered at the faculty of Protestant
theology in Paris in October, 1998 / Ed. M. Edelman // Esprit. Paris, 1999. No. 253. 10
p.
3. F.D. Schleiermacher On the different methods of translation: a lecture delivered on 24
June 1813 // the Moscow University Herald. Ser. 9 "Philology: Scientific journal. 2000.
№ 2. 127-145 P.
References (transliterated)
1. Ortega-and-Gasset J. W hat is philosophy? M.: Nauka, 1991. 408 p.
2. Ricoeur P. the Paradigm of translation. Lecture delivered at the faculty of Protestant
theology in Paris in October, 1998 / Ed. M. Edelman // Esprit. Paris, 1999. No. 253. 10
p.
3. F.D. Schleiermacher On the different methods of translation: a lecture delivered on 24
June 1813 // the Moscow University Herald. Ser. 9 "Philology: Scientific journal. 2000.
№ 2. 127-145 P.

148