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Word count: 7500
Title/topic: "Indra's Semantic Net: An Examination of Issues Related to Translation from One Language to Another Across Time and Cultural Geography, as Elucidated by a Comparison of Two English Versions of a Classical Japanese Text"
Grade level: undergraduate
Programs/majors: linguistics; Asian literatures; liberal arts
Study guide available: Yes
Excerpt: "...indeed it can become as hard for the scholar as for the translator not to despair at the seemingly infinite range of equally valid yet immensely different possible meanings that can be derived from a source text in the process of translation from one language to another, especially for cases in which the source and target languages are vastly separated by time, syntactical issues (such as word order and basic sentence structure) and a sizable fund of signifiers that, although ostensibly interchangeable across linguistic boundaries, are intricately tied to culturally-imbedded signifieds that could not be more different to the hypothetical objective man from Mars observing two cultures in contrast. The problem is only exacerbated by the slow semantic shift of signifiers across, to, and away from individual signifieds over time, like contingent but ultimately untethered tectonic plates gliding slowly across the shifting mantle of meaning. Consider, for example, the following two translations of the haiku "Autumn Wind Whistlings", written by an anonymous contemporary of the famous Basho (late 17th century).
We will start with Burford Liggett's 1823 translation (spelling normalized):
What the farmer said:
"one don't title a haiku
ye devi'nt slugwit!"
Compare this to the much more contemporary (1966) translation of Robert McQuorkney:
The radio shrilled:
"Cadillac ac ac ac ac..."
Fuckin' HATE that song.
Immediately one sees that although the spirit is the same, one could arguably not have two more different surface renderings derived from a single text. Why, then, is this--in fact, how, then, could it be--the case? It is the purpose of this paper to examine (and answer) this question in light of the issues mentioned above, considering factors such as the cultural contexts of the source/target languages at the times of composition and translation, the ranges of possible meanings for various words in both languages (and their effects--limiting, distorting, and/or freeing--on the translators' word choice praxis), and poetic license. In the process, one hopes that larger and more universal aspects of the perils and frustrations of the translator's art will be elucidated and..."
The rest of this term paper can be purchased by clicking HERE. All major credit cards accepted. Buy three or more papers for a 15% discount and a FREE Term Paper Tex squeezie! (While supplies last.)
Word count: 7500
Title/topic: "Indra's Semantic Net: An Examination of Issues Related to Translation from One Language to Another Across Time and Cultural Geography, as Elucidated by a Comparison of Two English Versions of a Classical Japanese Text"
Grade level: undergraduate
Programs/majors: linguistics; Asian literatures; liberal arts
Study guide available: Yes
Excerpt: "...indeed it can become as hard for the scholar as for the translator not to despair at the seemingly infinite range of equally valid yet immensely different possible meanings that can be derived from a source text in the process of translation from one language to another, especially for cases in which the source and target languages are vastly separated by time, syntactical issues (such as word order and basic sentence structure) and a sizable fund of signifiers that, although ostensibly interchangeable across linguistic boundaries, are intricately tied to culturally-imbedded signifieds that could not be more different to the hypothetical objective man from Mars observing two cultures in contrast. The problem is only exacerbated by the slow semantic shift of signifiers across, to, and away from individual signifieds over time, like contingent but ultimately untethered tectonic plates gliding slowly across the shifting mantle of meaning. Consider, for example, the following two translations of the haiku "Autumn Wind Whistlings", written by an anonymous contemporary of the famous Basho (late 17th century).
We will start with Burford Liggett's 1823 translation (spelling normalized):
What the farmer said:
"one don't title a haiku
ye devi'nt slugwit!"
Compare this to the much more contemporary (1966) translation of Robert McQuorkney:
The radio shrilled:
"Cadillac ac ac ac ac..."
Fuckin' HATE that song.
Immediately one sees that although the spirit is the same, one could arguably not have two more different surface renderings derived from a single text. Why, then, is this--in fact, how, then, could it be--the case? It is the purpose of this paper to examine (and answer) this question in light of the issues mentioned above, considering factors such as the cultural contexts of the source/target languages at the times of composition and translation, the ranges of possible meanings for various words in both languages (and their effects--limiting, distorting, and/or freeing--on the translators' word choice praxis), and poetic license. In the process, one hopes that larger and more universal aspects of the perils and frustrations of the translator's art will be elucidated and..."
The rest of this term paper can be purchased by clicking HERE. All major credit cards accepted. Buy three or more papers for a 15% discount and a FREE Term Paper Tex squeezie! (While supplies last.)
posted by Jeff Edwards at 2:42 PM
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