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    Susan Bassnett

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    bassnett cultural translation

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    bassnett cultural translation

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    Susan Bassnett

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    Melisa Stocco
    bassnett cultural translation

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    a eee ee end Geaey Samactzon Bro. moet af rey et nn tga ie ‘srg tat ttn ge ‘rg ge: Dra ean in Then ances ‘rue ayo te Tala ses Trg ayo so ld iy Uta ee Fo Adept: Pattie View Fonmar dof ae ony erat un tect ior ating con | i I po TOPICS IN TRANSLATION 34 Series Editors: Susan Bassett, Universty of Wanvick and: Edwin Genter, Universtiy of Massachusets. Amherst A Companion to Translation Studies Edited by Piotr Kuhiwezak and Karin Littau [MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD ‘Clevedon « Buffalo « Toronto EY Ye0 KI C# ‘Resage ey Bate aa he Beth ie sav sas. cont) SNE ASSAY Ue area Cleo 1 Vicor ond, Cnn 7H. UUs Ui thay Rad font an, Uk Lesa enue NY Gta MTs, Cand ee 2m Pe aKa Una be ae ‘eign napa tnt nay mn Teeseyceeretnnn wee ne on grt ee ete ee See Re eaeticncne aac anata “Siemon hsb gre othe ptr ea ™ rs int he Crm res Semen” D9/57020 Contents Noteson Contributors. « Introduction Pt Kuo and Kar Lita 1 Caltue and Trandation Shaun Bast. 2 Philosphy and Transtaton ‘Anthony Py {3 Linguists and Translation Gale Anderman 4 History and Translation Iypme Long 5: Literary Translation Tha Hermans (6 Gender and Tranelation ie on Flite. 7 Theatre and Opera Transaton Mery Sl! Hardy Screen Translation Ene 'Connet 9 Politics and Transition (Chisin Schier. Dibigraphy Index 146, x0 Fay 8 7 Cx Yoo KI C# See ett ‘tpelatig ipg Kae Pew, ta Kan ERMES22 owas ‘ahr orb sense em he Beth ray ans se asan.e76n SEN See someon Sad Vira od Cored 7 Sig ©207 Parka Kat ant at in ‘Aihara of op De era oy fo ry ‘Seu watt pernindonn wing en he pane ee Sie ra Contents INoteson Contributors. « Introduction Pot Kuhoceak and Karin ta 1 Culture and Trancation Saaoe Bast. 2 Philosphy and Teansaton Auahony Pym 3 Linguistics and Translation Gane Aderman 4 History and Tansation| lyme Long 5 Literary Translation Tha Hermans (6 Gender and Tranlation aie om Flite. 7 Theatre and Opera Transaton Mary Sl Harty. Screen Translation Ene 'Conne 9 Polit and Transton (Cheisin Schier. ibogsapby Index 106 0 8 rd toward potential future ares of research development. The pcre that ‘ergs from this lune ofa dynamic ecpine which may not have ‘Sear boundaries, bu which can provide invaluable insights precsly este of aay to lneract with other disciplines. Chapter 1 Culture and Translation SUSAN BASSNETT Why did Translation Studies take a Cultural Tum? ‘Along tie gon 990 tobe presse, André Lefoverean I wereweing anintroductry chapter accion ofessysentied Taslaion, HStoy ‘tal Cuture(Bassnet & Lefevere, 199), We wantod to daw attention to that we belived were increasingly underpinning research in ‘cancion studies, changes that signalled 2 eit fom 2 moro foemaist {approach to anion to one that id greater emphasis on extra texta {actors Thestudy of tandation practi, we argued, had moved onan he focus of attention needed to be en broader nsues of content istry and «exwenton not just on debating the meaning of ltl in wanslaton (or ehat the term ‘oquivalenc’ might mean. The Kind of questions Bing ‘aked about raalton were changinge ‘Once upon atime tho questions that were always boing asked ee ‘iow en translation beth ana How can tanto be studi?” ‘Those who regarded theres ae tandators were often contemp ‘uous of any attempts o teach translation while tho who dimes to teoch often didnot wanslate and so had to resort the a evaluative ‘method of sting one tansationaloagsdeanotherandexaminingboth ina formalist vacuum. Now, the questions have boon changed. The ‘object of study hasbeen redefined; what is studied is text embedded ‘within its network ofboth source and target clara signs (Basset etevere, 1980 11-12) ‘When we wrote th, ee were mind of a split betnven Hingis pproacigs wo translation and iterary onan we sought challenge fet alongwith many other people wosking inthe field of twaslation, at thetine had come orincreased employment ofthe tolsofcutualhistry ned cltral sti. Looking buck, eur introduction appears bath naive ‘adaimpliati for uarlation studies develope pilin the 99038 row eceupes sucha slid placein the acedery tat tere lange ny ‘ed for Special pleading. The arguments we sought to present tat ‘tansaton plays moor role in shaping teary systems, hat translation docs not tke place o a horizontal xi thatthe tansator is involved in complex power negotiations (meting between cultures, as it were), that tearlaion i always a rewriting of am orignal ~ have been taken ‘much further by seolars such as Michal Cronin (1996, 200), Edwin CGantaler (1988/2001), Lorna Hardwick (2000, Theo Hermans’ (1995, 2006), Tejaswnt Nirarjana (1992), Douglas Rebinson (200), Shere Simon (996), Harish Tevet (1995), sa Vieira (199), Lawrence Vent (195, 198) and many’ others. Translation shuts has become an accepted fazadem subject and books, jours and doctoral disertatons appear Tastr than ono cas read ther ll, and tthe heart of mest of ue xing ‘ew esearch ate broad questions about esogy, bie and elt Teen in 1990 wewereby no means the only translation shal. ‘hecase fora cultural tim, The move tobe the objet of stad beyond the immediate rae ofthe ext had tre lng Deore, wt the work of {he Polyeysems Group inpined by Imar Even Zohar (1978), Con ‘Tour (978) and James oles (1978. In Germany, Canada, Bazi ance and India, arguments sina o ous were beng prevented, bl fem “liferent perspectives astansetors and warslaon scholars et about he task of reefing the importance of translation in terry Ristory, acing the genealogy of tranclton in their nm navigators context, ad exploring more fally the ideological implications of traneation an the poveerrltonships tt ae involved as ex ie tansere fram one ontetto another Polyeytems theory was primarlly concerned with brary translation, bitter translation cheats whe work included he non lesty were _pormuing pale athe The sto theory foroxamplo, developed Hans Nermeer Katharina Rei (Rei & Vermeer, 184 and others, postales tat sb bjectve or Fanci of translation determines the ranaation state isto be employed. Hence the warsatr’s subjective takes, Sd the function that a tanslation fant to ail ine tage ule _nablosthattanaatorto male cers chokes. This fe ey em ose focused theories oftransstion and canalsobesaid to ela cultualtum Smmarising translation sties nthe 180s and 190s Ewin Genter wate ‘The tvo mes important shifts in theoretical developments in tranla- (cuhe0 on Tsaion ia tion theory over the past to dacades have boon (1) the shift frm Ssource-orened theories tage-ox-orlented theories an (2) the shit Toincude cultural factors aswellasnguisticelementsinthe translation taining models Those advoxsting fnctionalie spprooches have been loncers in both areas (Gensler, 201: 70), ‘Whats cbvious nov, with hindsight thatthe cultural tum was | _massveinllectal phenomenon, and wasby no meansonly happening translation studies. Across the humanities generally, ctrl uesions ‘Were assuming importance Linguists has undergone a cla him, ‘with here of discourse aralpss and, as Douglas Rabinaon (202) has argued, « move away from cortative towards perforsaive ngs, ‘The grovth of intrest ncorpu inguin, plone by Mona Uke, arguably another maifestaton of cultural hifi ngs Tniteary studies, cltural question ook ove long a0 fom formalist approaches to textual study. From poststrctualan onwards the tidal ‘waves ofnew approaches iterature that swept Uough the ast decades ofthe 208 canary all ad strlen en, gees eit ‘iam deconstruction, pos-oloiaiam hybridity Uy, Lisrty stan adopted methods fom culteral sacs blaring the lines betwen wht had once boon distinct flds of vestigation. History too underwent & similar shi with more emphasis on cultural and soa history, and the ‘expansion of what had once een ares such a the Fistor of Inedicine the history ofthe fail and he history af sence, Cale geography led to a enassanceof geography a5 a abject. As ar sties {row in importance, modern language department renamed theses toemphaste the cultural approach Classes discovered anew generation ‘of students whose interes i the ubjet was felled by staying the el tionship between ancient cultures and contemporary one. ‘Lorna Hardwick scholar of anclent Greek and ator of 3 book on Intercultural transition, suggests thatthe act of tansating Words ls “involves uansating or teansplanting note eceving culture clara framework within which an ander texts embed” (Hancwick, 20 322) Shemalostold cams for talation av an netroment of chang, aed nso doing alters the emphasis for today’s student of cass Ianguages. ‘The task facing the translator of aclnt text she aay i to proce translations thal gobeyond the immediacy of thetextand sek toariciate In some way Ghe wie the ganic metaphor of transplant, ehich sfecves om Shelley) the cultural framework lls which thal ext ‘bedded. Moreover isthe very ato analation that enables contr w A Compantan fe Hansaton stor sary reader toconstactloe civilisations, Translation isthe portal through ‘whlch past ean be acsesied “The cllural tum in taslation suds, the, can be cen as part of a cltual turn tat was taking plac inte hares generally ithe te 1950s and caty 19905, and has alted the shape of many taiional secs In tranltion studies, poysysteme theory had prepared the {gotindfora cultural hunsince, despite its formalist orgie ues that fume to occupy a prominent positon celated play to questions of Merary Mtory ad the fortune of tale text in he receiving culture ‘Asan example of paral! tends in theatadyofwandationand the study of Iterature we ne! only thik of the way ape of teary history can Be altered hen periods consiered fom analtematve pint ofreference. Feminist erfichm questioned the dominance of male writers inthe ‘merary anon and elieetively forced aceasesment of how tha can had boon constructed Tn consequency, we consider the 18h cenry fom 8 postfeminist perspective it nolonger appears asa century dominated by ‘ale writers, but rather asthe age when women began fo make amor ontsbution to intelectual ie Siar, i we look rom a tration Studies perpective atthe 15d century tn England ~ which wes 10 be regarded as something ofa wattland, with ite of ay being ‘reduced fer the death of Chaucer in 1400~ hat we find i pio of {nfense wansation activity ofboth secular and sacred texts. The feminist reassess of tho Sth confur in feos of rethinking th canon and the ‘eevaluation of hterary production in the 156 century in terme ofthe [sportance ofthe tansntons undertaken are but eo examples of haw ‘ew infocnaion can change cur Rsorcal pecepectve. The works By ‘women had simply bocome vile, jist as the importance of taslation Fad Been ignored, Resesssing fee Iwo petiole of Uterary Istory Involves rethinking our assumptions about what constitutes sigiiant erature Inboth cases apaallel process questioningestablished norms [stan plac and this pronescanbe considered definite calturaltum- ‘Cental to polysytems theory as artulted by EverZahar was contestation ofestalished Itrary canons. Even Zohar argued that sy ‘modal eatery system should include wansatd iterate, for wansla ‘on was often the conduit uough which inovation ane change cn Be Initiated 'o observer ofthohistory of any erature avoid recogising 35 an important fet the impact of translations and ther role in the Symeizony and dlachony ofa erin Itertue” (ven Zohar, 1978 15). "Having stated his bel in the fundamental inspotance ofthe role of rane Intions in trary system, Even-Zohar then endeavoured to define the ‘Sroutances in which ansations might assume particular importance cate and rondoon ” “Hepointed out that asitratures evolve thelr need for tansations Auc- ates hence a welhestablishe itecay sytem might translate ess than one. {hts undergoing changes and upheaval. Newiy evolng iratures ‘would, eccordingto Even Zohar’s theory, translate more tex = Po thoss proven by tarclation scholars (eg Macira, 10%) working in ‘nortorn ar contal Europea teratures fo example: Literatures such a> (Carch or Pnish that evolved in the 1st century inthe content of both a linguistic revival an polit straggle for national independance were sn aide by tanaation. In compete contrat, we have Cin, which {or cries tant very Kite nince Chine writer had no ed of ‘enteral inlusnes. Today, however theresa tralation boom Chis, linked to medemisation, Westermsation and China's ney i he global conomy. Erglishiteratre offers yet another example translation activity Stared to slows down in the 18h enery, afer several contuistat Rad Scene introduction of neve portico og he ronnst notin), ‘et ideas (eg polities and socal theory) ne revoltonary shin rel {lon with Ue caming ofthe Helrmation and dhe great debstes bout Bible translation By telat Sth century the need for insovation fom outside Jha diminished, and the wealth of waters producing texts In English resto in 2 diminishing of waneation. This elle ins decline i the ‘Sats of anaaton, so htt rardation nto Engi minal and, ‘sng continue o develops agcbeinguafrence there arenosigas (of wansation regaining the importance had in the age of Shakespeare oF the age of rycen. * "Eeen-Zoha’s (1978) proposition that cultures wansate acconding to ‘ned seems self-evident tay bu nitstime twasan extremely impertant ‘Satement, forthe implications of his theory of cultural change were enc ‘mous The historical stustion, he suggested, would detemine the quantity and typeof wanslatons tat might be undertaken and te sats of those tranlatons would be reser oc leer according tothe positon ofthe revving clare. Soa ork could be funnily important inthe ‘ourceclture andcould then be rarslated andhavenolmpactatallinthe reeiving clare oy, vice versa, a taslation could aller the shape of the ‘eeiving literary system. The case of Jack London, 2 rltvely minor ‘American novelat whe enjoys canonical status in Russia and eter ferme Soviet counts, i an example of how transation can radically alter the ferrunas ofan individual writer Another such cases provided by Clarice Lspecor, the Brailan novelt who was tanslted into French and "glch in the 18s by wry able tarslators. The taltins ame at 2 moment when de coninent of Sout America was the cect fascination in BuropeanIterary cc, and wets such ae Borges, Caria Mangan? w a fo.honsoton uses nd Vargas Lose were lonied. Lispestor led a particular nee she was female, Brailan and beautflly warslatod, among others, by Giovani Pontier, Asazesult herworks were widely read and shecametooapy a ‘more prominent portion n Brean letters outside her own country fan header enjoyed at home Bas (se Lipectoe 19922, 19820). "Afurher example of the cltral tur in tralationstuieshas been the ‘expansion of research inlo norms governing translation strategies end {echniques.Ghieon Toury (1978 1955, Andrew Chesterman (1988) and ‘Theo Hermans (935) in particule ave sought explore easlaonal norms interme not oly of textual onventins butalue aterm eultal fxpecations.Toury i explisabout the cull importance of orm in ‘rand ‘Translation actvtos should be regarded as having cultuel signe cance. Consequenily, tanlaeeship” amounts fst and foremost 10 Beingsbleto play ascil of Le tofu function alloted by acon sly "tothe ati practitioners and/or their products in way ‘whichis deme appropriate nits vn terms frefrence. The au thon of tof norm for determining the aby of thet kindof behaviour and for mancewsring eter all the factors which ay ‘Sonatrani therefore a prerequisite forbacoming atransltarwithina ‘tural eneonment (Touy, 178-83) More recently, there has been growing intrest in examining norms of ‘accountblityopeatnginsparcular context astfengon shu again in tralaon dis tarde greater emphasis oneal resin ans ‘By the ime Lafevere and I rote our book, Contacting Clr (Gasshet& Lefevre, 1958, fable to sy simply that the house of ‘ranlaton now had many mansions We heenoemousemount of workbelng petin all aspect tanslato, nto tartar angen ‘Sault tory and we rcogised lao the ifferentemphase hat the ‘Going numberof taslation stiesscholare placed on the meliple ‘Specs oftonslaton Inourintroctcton Bante Lefever, 1860), we ‘aggested thatthe most tremendous changes the ld of wanslaton had rot happened at mor inter or sub-ilds(terary,andopologial, (itu ete) were added to henge, bat ther athe got of werk inthe Hd hed elf ben widened In the 1570, tration was sco, a6 it undoubtedly a ‘itl to the Interaction boteen culture What we have done eo take thie tate ‘ent nd stand ion ts head if wanslation i deed, a everybody Gute ene Heraon » believes vital to the interaction betwsen cults, wy nol ake the next Stop and study wansation, not justo tain translators, but prey say cultural interaction. Basset Lefevere, 18:6) ‘We suggest that translation offers an det oratory situation for ‘besucy oeltural interaction since comparison ofthe orginal and the Luanlated west wll not ony show the srateges employed by tranltorsst ‘Sertin moments, bu wale reveal the dierent stats of evo texts {heir several trary syste More broadly ll expose the eationship between the to cultural systems in which hose tet are embedded CCuitural Capital and the Textual Grid ‘As methodologcl instruments for engaging in hb proces, we ‘ho cal tole deriving feu the week of Pete Bourtea [oy the idea of cultura capital end the noon of the lexus) gad. (Catal capita can be loosely defined as tht which is necessary fran Individual to beseen to belong tothe ght les insoity. When Kemal Ataturk propose slatenspired proces of Westemisation that woud ‘ng Tukey close to Europea programme of translation of major Furc- ‘ent lorry weeks enmured tt Tatsh saders would have aces tothe ula capital of Be wet En Constractinp Cultures (Bosanet& Leevere, 1996) Lefeveredscsses the changing status of Vig Aeneid a altura capt pointing out that educational systems ar the primary means of ‘ontroling the creation and craton of altral capital. Acectine nthe study ofa langage such a Latin, for eample can Rove massive impos tions othe value tributed io Latin rare ae ely masse ape ‘ations fo the ole of ranaation, ence tat trate canbe access ‘nly esta minor of readers, The valucof the assis acultralcapital Ina changed dramatically ina few decades “Thelmportancef the textal gid inthe stud and production of tas Intone i equally or perhaps even more significa In formulating our roto of tent! grid, ee potted out (Basset Lefevers, 1998: 5) that ‘ome cultures (ouch sb French, Geman and Englsh) share a common textual geld that derives from the Chistian and Greco Roman teditons. ‘Otho ctr (uch as Chinese a Japanese) hare as with oar. Bat the textual grids sem to exe in all cares in way that preexe language. The grisare constructs, they reflec patterns of expectations that have ben intone by members of piven culture, We proper tat ‘students of ranslasonshoull pay more ateaton other than they have ia the past whether they want t learn the techalgue of wanting, oe 2. ACompanioo fo ansoton Sts: ‘whathor thy want analyse translations and dhe pat dey playin the ‘roltion of cultures (Basset & Lefevre, 19585) “The den of textual grids sa helpful ne forthearlyss of wandatin In ner essay that develope his thinking around the ides of textual and ‘onceptl ide, André Lefevre (19976) asserted that prablems in teansting arecaused ‘teat an muchby disceepaniosinconceptal nd textual gris as by discrepancies in languages. The problems become Partculryapparene when tansation takes Pace between Westem and Fon-Wteen cultres.Lefevere argues tat Westom cultures have com ‘Gruced non-Western culturesty taelating them into Western ators, {proces that distorts and aie “This rings us,f course straight othe most important problem in all ‘ransating and in ll atempts at cross-cultural understanding: can callreAever real nderand culture Bonthateltres (eB) on terms? Or do the gd alvays dline the waysin which altars willbe sbletounderstand each ther? Ate the grids to pita ems tat nay ‘wall be too strong, the prerequisite for all onal? alt aren inderstanding Postcolonial translation theory syet anotes example ofhow research the fil of tansation has developed in parallel with esearch in teary and historical staies more gereraly. In na, Carada and Braz fname {ut thee centres of portcolnal andaton acivity,quetions have Been asked about the unequal power relationships that pst hen tet trasate fom, sy eral or Kanda into Engi the Language of he ‘olonising power The var ct of wansation tsef has been sen by sme, ‘nos notably Tejaswini Niranjan (1992) asan at of epproplation, Trans Ini, Nianjana argues ieacollaweactity that partiptesinhe fixing, of colina cultures ito a mould faconed by the sipeior power Ene (Chey (991) simaly mantnns that ransation wos 3 cruel compo ‘ent of European colonastion on the American continent. Chey sd ‘Nitanjana focus attention on the inequality between trary aed eultaral systems which interview, transfonn the activity of wardation into an bgresiveact. Their isan extreme poston, since the lial result osch [Brarpurent would be slene forif translation by dominant cltre can ‘ever be legitimate, then twarlaion becomes 3 form ocala ha 2

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