Translation Theory

I've been referring a few books by Peter Newmark, who is an expert on translations. (I have to say, for a translator, his writing could be more student-friendly.) This particular one, 'A textbook of translation' is quite useful. It was interesting to read things about translation in print that had been playing in my head like mini-clouds of thoughts for so many days.

I'm running behind schedule and stress-eating a lot of chocolate. But I suppose, this particular piece of information will not help me write my research report. [Note to self: Do not work in Tonge. Avoid classmates complaining about their work loudly.]

First thing:

SL: Source Language
TL: Target language

He spoke about considering the culture, settings and traditions, norms and backgrounds of SL & TL readers while translating.

A thing that troubles my mind: Reading up on translation is a second step, I mean, for me, the first part is transcription, which is not as easy as I though it would be. I'm worried about the six-chapter limit I set, and how achievable that is, along with developing the design. Maybe I will be able to accomplish it in time. If not, I'll be doing it anyway, post-Sept.

Coming back to Newmark, he spoke of the Stylistic Scale:

• Scale of formality: Ranging from Officialese, formal, neutral to informal, colloquial and taboo.

• Scale of generality/difficulty: Ranging from Simple, popular, neutral to educated, techincal and opaquely technical.

• Scale of emotional one: Ranging from  Intense, Warm, factual to understatement.

Apart from these, the attitude (of the writer, in this case, speaker), setting (format), text style classification and readership are factors to consider.


For this project I have the following in mind:

•  Formality range to be between formal to neutral,
•  generality range to be educated and 
• emotional tone to be warm. 

I've already written about

• Readership/TL audience in the first post: Educated, middle-class Indian.
• Format: Book
• Attitude: Umm...Babaji's talks in general tend to be jovial, light-hearted and the feel that I get from them is of a parent patiently explaining something to his child. Very informal, kind and patient. 

Having written this down, I suppose I should tone down the formality from formal to neutral, but I'll take that into account while writing it.