dynamic equivalence and its daughters pp

8/10/2019 Dynamic Equivalence and Its Daughters PP

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How much load can one theory carry!


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Rise of Dynamic Equivalence

1964-1986


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Formula for Dynamic Equivalence:

. . . the receptor in the circle culture should beable, within his own culture, to respond to themessage as given in his language, in

substantially the same manner as the receptorin the triangle culture responded, within thecontext of his own culture, to the message ascommunicated to him in his own language.

(Nida, 1964 TST p. 149)


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Dynamic Equivalence Model of

Analysis Transfer Restructuring

(Nida, Taber, 1969 p. 33)

A (Source) B (Receptor)

(Analysis) (Restructuring)

X (Transfer) Y


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Is translating, for example, an art or a science? Is it askill which can only be acquired by practice, or arethere certain procedures which can be described andstudied? The truth is that practice in translating has far

outdistanced theory; and though no one will deny theartistic elements in good translating, linguists andphilologists are becoming increasingly aware that theprocesses of translation are amenable to rigorous

description. When we speak of the science oftranslating, we are of course concerned with thedescriptive aspect; for just as linguistics may beclassified as a descriptive science, so the transferenceof a message from one language to another is likewise

a valid subject for scientific description. Those whohave insisted that translation is an art, and nothingmore, have often failed to probe beneath the surface ofthe obvious principles and procedures that govern itsfunctioning. (Nida 1964, TST p. 3)


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Major Publications in Bible Translation

Theory and Practice:Nida, Eugene Bible Translating (1947, 1961)Nida, Eugene Toward a Science of Translating (1964)Nida, Eugene, Charles Taber The Theory and Practice of Translation(1969)Beekman, John, John Callow Translating the Word of God. (1974)Barnwell, Katharine Introduction to Semantics and Translation: with special

reference to Bible translation. (1980)Nida, Eugene, William Reyburn Meaning Across Cultures (1981)Nida, Eugene, Jan de Waard From One Language to Another (1986)Price James D. Complete Equivalence in Bible Translation. (1987)Barnwell, Katharine Bible Translation: An Introductory Course for Mother-Tongue Translators. (1990)

Gutt, Ernst-August Relevance Theory: A Guide to SuccessfulCommunication in Translation.(1991)Wilt, Timothy (ed.) Bible Translation: Frames of Reference (2003)Price, James D. A Theory for Bible Translation: An Optimal EquivalenceModel. (2007)Wendland, Ernst Contextual Frames of Reference in Translation (2008)


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TheoryTheoryTheoryTheory deepstructureanalysis

translationprocess

classes oflexicalsymbols

target audience reader response

dynamicequivalence

kernels analysis-transfer-restructuring

object words,event words,abstracts,relationals

non-Christian adequacy of the translation mustbe judged in terms of the waypeople respond to it

functional

equivalence


object words,event words,abstracts,

relationals

Christian sociosemiotic approach tomeaning understanding impacton original hearers

meaning-based

translation

Beekman-Callow

Barnwell

Larson

propositions discover,transfermeaning

Thing, Event,Abstraction,Relation

someone whohas had little or nocontact withChristianity

dynamic fidelity does not requirean answer to all the questionswhich might be raised about atopic under discussion

propositions discover,

transfermeaning

events,

attributes

as intelligible as

possible to non-Christians, whilerecognizing thatcertain parts ofScripture areaddressedspecifically toChristians

hearers from the Receptor

Language culture will be able tounderstand correctly the meaningthat the original author intendedto communicate

propositions discover,transfermeaning

things, events,attributes,relations

any averagespeaker of thelanguage

how can you really measureresponse?

optimal

equivalence


nouns, verbs,adjectives,adverbs,

prepositions,conjunctions

the audienceselected by theproject guidelines

not a necessary ingredient of atranslation theory if translationaccurate, response is purely the

outcome of free will


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Communication Theories

Code Model vs. Inference Model ofCommunication


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Major Publications for Relevance

Theory

Sperber D and Wilson D 1986. Relevance:Communication and Cognition. HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Gutt Ernst-August 1991. Translation andRelevance : Cognition and Context.Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass., USA : B.

Blackwell, 1991


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Observations andConclusions about Bible

Translation and Theory


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Equivalence Theories

Schools of general translation studies havemostly rejected equivalence as not possibleDynamic equivalence, intended to bedescriptive, has become prescriptive andpolarizedEquivalence tends to a microscopic look attranslation rather than holistic look

Useful primarily as a pedagogical approach,and to help in restructuring betweenlanguagesBest understood as a palette of possibilities


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Equivalence as a Bible translation

norm, a palette or cline

Formal Functional Dynamic Cultural

Optimal


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Scientific Translation

A scientific method is a repeatable procedurewith the same results each time

Scientific translation is more a description of

machine translation than of humantranslation

We still know very little if anything about the

actual mental process of translation, certainlynot enough to describe it scientifically


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Descriptive Translation

The establishment of norms rather thanrules is one of the goals of descriptivetranslation studies (DTS)

DTS promotes the study of translations morethan of translation

DTS utilizes a broad definition of translationthat would also include storying andadaptation

DTS in Bible translation studies is very new,so the results are still not in


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Functionalist Approach to

Translation and Skopostheorie

The translation brief is an intelligentway of laying out the goals andfunctions of the translation project

Skopostheorie tends to have a marketaspect tied into it, since in general

translation so much depends on theclients wishes and intentions


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The Cultural Turn

All theories and writings over the last 20+years have swung much more to social andcultural issues related to translation

A translator should not just be bilingual butalso bicultural as much as possibleThe mediation of the translation process bywestern personnel is a potential danger to

the cultural transferA major goal of training approaches shouldbe to help the translator to understand theancient culture of the biblical world


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What about Relevance Theory?

Is it relevant?No major school of generaltranslation studies has adopted it

Applies best to live conversation

Applies clearly to the process of

teaching and interpreting the Bible,but not as clearly to translating it astranslation has been understood in

the past


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Possible Ways to Cope with Bible

Translation Theories

Pick one and hang on for dear life

Chuck them all and be an artist

Take a dab of this and a dab of that


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Hebrews 4:13 (Geneva Bible)

For the worde of God is liuely, andmightie in operation, and sharper thenany two edged sword, and entreththrough, euen vnto the diuiding asunderof the soule and the spirit, and of the

ioints, and the marow, and is a discernerof the thoughtes, and the intents of theheart.

dynamic equivalence and its daughters pp

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