an assessment of the translation of the fault in our stars chapter 13

In this essay, I will discuss some translation theories by Newmark, Nida, Nord,… I will explain some translation procedures as well as the errors that the translator might meet while tra

THANG LONG UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

-o0o -AN ASSESSMENT OF THE TR -o0o -ANSLATION OF “THE FAULT IN OUR STARS –

CHAPTER 13” By Nguyễn Huy Hoàng

Hanoi, October 2021

1.2.1 The intention of the text 2

1.2.2 The intention of the translator 2

CHAPTER 2 An evaluation of “The Fault In Our Stars” by Nguyễn huy hoàng 5

2.1 The author’s purpose 5

2.2 Text type 5

2.3 The translator’s purpose 5

2.4 Comparing the translation with the original 5

2.4.1 Title 5

Language has become an important tool for human to communicate It is pointed out that there are 5,000 to 7,000 languages in the world Thanks to language, human can express their opinions and points of views about different problems However, they cannot understand every language in this world This is the reason why translation exists There are translators who can help everyone to understand what the writers intention and attitude from their books or research.

I have a soft spot for books, which is why “The Fault In Our Stars” has caught my attention In this essay, I will discuss some translation theories by Newmark, Nida, Nord,… I will explain some translation procedures as well as the errors that the translator might meet while translating a text.

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CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1.1 What is translation?

Over time, translation has many different meanings According to Catford (1965), he stated that translation is the replacement of material in the source language by another equivalence material in the target language In an other hand, by Nida and Taber (1982), translation is the process consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style But in this essay, I will follow Newmark’s theory and here is his definition: “Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text” In this essay, I will follow Newmark’s definition and try my best to clarify it.

1.1.2 Type of translation

Following Nida, we distinguish four types of text: Narrative, Description, Discussion, Dialogue.

1.2 Text analysis

Text analysis is an important part in the process to translate a text The translator must read the text so he/she can understand it before starting to translate it Analyzed the text carefully can help the translator find out author’s view and also the purpose of the text After that, the translator can find the most suitable translation method and then they can start to translate the text.

1.2.1 The intention of the text

Understanding the purpose of the text is very important This step helps the translator know author’s attitude through the subject matter in the source text Even if it is the same problem but when the author use different kind of word to show their point of view then the purpose of the text has also changed The translator must pay attention to author’s languages and grammar to analyze the text in a best way.

1.2.2 The intention of the translator

Basically, the translator has the same intention with the author But when translate some text like advertisement or a notice, the translator may use their own way to make the translation more attractive to the readers Otherwise, the translator might change the way he/she translate the source text into another translation which suitable for different kind of readers.

1.2.3 Text type

Based on Nida’s theory, Newmark stated that there are four types of text When reading narrative text, we can see the sequence of action or events and the author emphasis those verbs which describe action or background In description text, mainly focus on which is static and emphasis the linking verbs, adjectives and adjectival nouns The third type is discussion, this type is a treatment of ideas with emphasis on concepts, verbs of thought, mental activity, logical argument and connective The last type is dialogue which focus on colloquialism and phaticisms

3 types of readerships (experts, the educated layman, the uniformed) which are divided from 4 criteria such as the education level, the class, age and sex You will decide to use words in target language Reaching readers of each type is necessary to convey the content of the source language After determining the right way to express from simple to complex, or amateur to professional will help the readership fully absorb

1.2.5 Stylistic scales

Understanding the stylistic scales help the translator find the most suitable way to translate the source text According to Newmark, there are three kind of scales that are scale of formality, scale of generality or difficulty and the last one is scale of emotional tone In scale of formality, Newmark suggests eight kinds: officialese, official, formal, neutral, informal, colloquial, slang, taboo There are six types in scale of generality or difficulty: simple, popular, neutral, educated, technical and opaquely technical Finally is scale of emotional tone including four types: intense, warm, factual and understatement.

1.2.6 Quality of the source language

The quality of the source text and the authority are the two factor influence the choice of choosing suitable translation method The quality of the text has to be rated base on the author’s intention or the requirements of the topic A text is considered to be good depend on author’s writing skill, use the suitable word at the right place.

1.3 Translation method

By choosing a good and right method for each text, translator can bring out the TT without changing the context of the writer This is the reason why the method is very important for the translator to choose.

1.3.1 Faithful translation

Words are now translated in context, cultural words are transfer to have the similar meanings to the text language This method makes the translation seem unnatural but it attempts to be completely faithful to the intention of the author.

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1.4 Translation procedures 1.4.1 Literal translation

Literal translation is the most basic procedure which is normally use in semantic translation and communicative translation Literal translation is a good method to solve most of problem during the translation process.

Transference usually use for proper names, geographical names, names of companies and institutions, literary works, addresses, etc The translation using this procedure do not have equivalence in source language.

1.4.3 Shift/transposition

Modulation is a variation in the message through a change of viewpoint perspective and thought Newmark divided this procedure into six part including abstract >< concrete, positive >< negative, change of symbols, a part >< the whole, one part >< another part, active voice -> passive voice

1.5 Translation errors

This error include sentence fragments, , lack of parallelism, unnatural word order If incorrect syntax changes the meaning of the source text, the error become more serious.

1.5.2 Misunderstanding of SL

This error happened when the source text is unclear or when the translator forgot the background of the story

CHAPTER 2 AN EVALUATION OF “THE FAULT IN OUR STARS” BY NGUYỄN HUY HOÀNG

2.1 The author’s purpose

John Michael Green is an American author who is well-known for teen and young adult fiction “The Fault In Our Stars”, which is published in 2012, became the #1 bestsellers in New York Because of its popularity, two years later, the film adaption released.

His works aims to readerships from teen to adult, especially young adults and encourage them to live despite of whatever can happen to them Life can be tough, and it has ups and downs, not everything has happy ending John Green wants to convey to all of them to keep moving forward, learn to give and to accept

2.2 Text type

The text type is a mix of narration, description, and dialogue The whole story was told in Hazel’s point of view as she was the one who told us the story of hers and Gus It can be realized in the sentence “Mom and Augustus and I walked…”, the pronoun “I”

describes Hazel She described the scenery of Amsterdam: “The creek carving a path around the huge tree, a heron standing still at the water’s edge, searching for a breakfast amid the millions of elm petals floating in the water.” I used to watch the film adaption before, so I can easily visualize how Amsterdam looks.

2.3 The translator’s purpose

In the translated text, the translator used faithful method to translate the text In general, the TL remains the same meaning as the SL.

2.4 Comparing the translation with the original

The original title is “The Fault In Our Stars” and it is translated into: “Khi Lỗi Thuộc Về Những Vì Sao” The translator added the word “Khi” in the TL However, the TL still has the same meaning as the SL and the word “Khi” does not make any effect on the TL In my opinion, “Khi” is not needed in the TL as the word does not affect the whole title.

2.4.2 Stylistic scales

The author used a small amount of slang and taboo language because that is how most teenagers and young adults communicate to each other today For example, we can see these words: “horseshit” and “bullshit” Those words can be very offensive when we talk with older people (parents, teachers,…) and they will find themselves are being disrespected However, with people in the same generation (group of friends, gangs,…), the words can be found normal.

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Those words were said by Hazel We can clearly understand her emotion as she described it in the story The words were emphasizing her feelings For example: “It’s just bullshit, the whole thing,” Hazel felt very sad and disappointed because

Gus was dying and there was nothing they could do about it.

In the TT, the translator did not translate the slang words completely Those words, like I have mentioned and explained above, they were meant to describe Hazel’s feelings, so they did not need to be translated The translator decided to not completely translate them However, the TL remains the actual meaning of the SL without being too vulgar or offensive for readers.

…unable to reach for love and respect and art and whatever else, which is, of course, utter horseshit

…không thể đạt tới tình yêu và lòng quý trọng hay nghệ thuật cái gì nữa, mà tấ nhiên điều đó thật

Next, I would like to discuss about the misspelled words in the SL: “naht”, “uggy”, and “nah” In reality, “naht” is “not”, “uggy” is “ugly”, and “nah” is “no” However, “naht” and “uggy” are meant for Hazel to mimic Van Houten’s attitude As for “nah”, “nah” is the informal expression while having conversation with friends or family.

In the TT, the translator translated them into “xấu òm” and “không”, because the readers can still understand the context As for the “naht”, which was translated into “hông”, the translator kept the mimic tone of the sentence.

2.4.3 Translation procedures

The translator used different translation procedures depend on the text Naturalisation procedure:

In the TL, all the names were unchanged, excepted for “Jesus” The translator used natruralisation procedure to translate “Jesus” into “Chúa Giê-su” The readers will have better understanding of “Chúa Giê-su” rather than “Jesus”, also, it is easier to read.

If the translator used literal translation, the TT would be hard to understand for readers Instead, the translator decided to use addition procedure to clarify the meaning of “wrong coffee”, base on the description of “wrong coffee” from the ST

you move up to the next set of needs, security, and then the next and the next

bạn sẽ tiến đến bậc nhu cầu tiếp theo, nhu cầu an toàn, rồi cứ thế tiếp nữa tiếp nữa

In the ST, “needs” is a plural noun However, in the TT, the translator translated into “nhu cầu”, instead of “những nhu cầu” In this case,

2.4.4 Translation errors

There are a few errors that can be found in the TT: Misunderstanding the ST:

“…I knelt at the base of the chair and put my head in his lap and hugged him by the waist.” The translator translated into “quỳ xuống trước chân ghế và dịu đầu vào lòng anh, vòng tay ôm lấy eo anh.” “lap” means “đùi” However, I found this mistake does not completely affect the context If the translator use literal translation in the whole sentence, it will not clearly and the readers will find them hard to understand and visualize

Formatting errors:

In the sentence “I’ll fight it.”, the TT is “anh sẽ chiến đấu.” After the quotation mark, the letter “a” in anh should be written in uppercase.

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In short, I have discussed about translation in general I have mentioned the definition of translation, how to analyze a text, translation procedures and errors that can be found in the TT in Chapter 1 After that, based on the theories I had mentioned before, I analyzed the TT “Khi Lỗi Thuộc Về Những Vì Sao – Chương Mười Ba” by Nguyễn Huy Hoàng Overall, the TT sticks to the original The translator had successfully put out the TT that conveyed the message that the writer desired to.

I have mentioned about translation theories in general, with the translation procedure and text analysis, as well as translation errors that translator might meet By using those theories, I made an evaluation of the TT of “The Fault In Our Stars” by Nguyễn Huy Hoàng Overall, the TT did not make too many errors There is only a few minor errors but they do not affect the whole TT in general.

ST: https://books-library.net/files/books-library.online-12292230Vr3R6.pdf

(Page 113-118)

The next morning, our last full day in Amsterdam, Mom and Augustus

half block from the hotel to the Vondelpark, where we found a café in the shadow of the Dutch national film museum Over lattes—which, the waiter explained to us, the Dutch called “wrong coffee” because it had more milk than coffee—we sat in the lacy shade of a huge chestnut tree and recounted for Mom our encounter with the great

We made the story funny You have a choice in this world, I believe, about

stories, and we made the funny choice: Augustus, slumped in the café

be the tongue-tied, word-slurring Van Houten who could not so much as

of his chair; I stood up to play a me all full of bluster and machismo,

you fat ugly old man!”

“Did you call him ugly?” Augustus asked “Just go with it,” I told him.

“I’m naht uggy You’re the uggy one, nosetube girl.”

“You’re a coward!” I rumbled, and Augustus broke character to laugh.

We told Mom about the Anne Frank House, leaving out the kissing “Did you go back to chez Van Houten afterward?” Mom asked Augustus didn’t even give me time to blush “Nah, we just hung out at

amused me with some Venn diagram humor.” He glanced at me God, he was sexy.

“Sounds lovely,” she said “Listen, I’m going to go for a walk Give the two of you time to talk,” she said at Gus, an edge in it “Then maybe later we can go for a tour on a canal boat.”

“Um, okay?” I said Mom left a five-euro note under her saucer and then kissed me on the top of the head, whispering, “I love love love you,”

Gus motioned down to the shadows of the branches intersecting and coming apart on the concrete “Beautiful, huh?”

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