Dr.

RACHID ED-DALI
1. The translators'
renderings of the
original stylistic devices
Some novelists/authors opt for
relying on repetition so as to
convey action clearly to the
reader and to create the
impression that it is happening
in the present.
 This stylistic device is well-exemplified as we
may see in the following examples (The Old
Man and the See):
"It was the weight of the fish and he let
the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off
the first of the two reserve coils. “
"and maybe he will come up
before that. If he doesn't maybe
he will come up with the moon.
If he does not do that maybe he
will come up with the sunrise. "
"He rubbed the cramped hand against his
trousers and tried to gentle the fingers. But
it would not open. Maybe it will open with
the sun, he thought. Maybe it will open when
the strong raw tuna is digested. If I have to
have it, I will open it, cost whatever it costs.
But I do not want to open it now by force.
Let it open by itself and come back of its
own accord. "
"He woke with the jerk of his right coming up
against his face and the line burning out
through his right hand. He had no feeling of
his left hand but he braked all he could with
his right and the line rushed out. Finally his
left hand found the line and he leaned back
against the line and now it burned his back
and his left hand, and his left hand was
taking all the strain and cutting badly. "
"The line went out and
out and out"
Figures of speech are used as a way of giving
extra meaning to the seemingly simple
descriptions.
They are employed when the simple direct
statement cannot not achieve the desirable
effect.
"The sail was patched with
flour sacks and, furled, it
looked like the flag of
permanent defeat. "
"But none of these scars were
fresh. They were as old as
erosions in a fishless desert. "
Both translators fail to convey the
connotation of this simile. Their literal
renditions do not reveal the meaning
intended by Hemingway.
In fact, this description "intensifies the idea
of Santiago's failure as a fisherman. The old
man's physical features have been worn away
like the land, and this emphasizes the idea of
Santiago's age and of his character. Like the
land, he is old but he survives, despite the
erosion"
It seems difficult to find a similar simile
conveying the same connotation as that
intended by Hemingway, but the problem can
be solved, either by providing the reader
with such information in footnotes in order
to create the context of the situation and
make the translation more communicative
and natural.
"His hope and his confidence had
never gone. But now they were
freshening as when the breeze
rises. "
"He looked to the sky and
saw the white cumulus built
like friendly piles of ice
cream”.
Both translators in example 4 failed to
convey the meaning of 'friendly'. This word
connotes the old man's optimistic frame of
mind and the fact that the clouds are not
hostile
"His sword was as long as a
baseball bat and tapered like
a rapier. "