Referential equivalence between the english and vietnamese versions of lolita

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  - - PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG REFERENTIAL EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE VERSIONS OF "LOLITA" (ĐÁNH GIÁ MỨC ĐỘ THAM CHIẾU CỦA HAI BẢN TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA TÁC PHẨM “LOLITA”) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  - - PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG REFERENTIAL EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE VERSIONS OF "LOLITA" (ĐÁNH GIÁ MỨC ĐỘ THAM CHIẾU CỦA HAI BẢN TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA TÁC PHẨM “LOLITA”) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Asoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến Hanoi, 2014 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG, K20C, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts accept the requirements of the college relating to the retention and use of master‘s graduation paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper th Hanoi, February 10 , 2014 Phạm Thị Hồng Nhung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to many people who have assisted me in the completion of my research First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien for his patient guidance, critical feedback, encouragement, and constructive supervision throughout my research I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to all of my friends who have always encouraged and given me valuable advice in the process of doing this research The support extended to me by members of my family has been immeasurable I would like to express my sincere thanks to my father, my mother, and my brother for their support and encouragement throughout my study ii ABSTRACT In today‘s world where no nation can ignore the globalization trend, the demand for easy access to the body of literary works of a country is greater than ever before More and more literary works are being translated from English, the international language of communication into Vietnamese, for various purposes This calls for academic studies into the field of literary translation It is extremely necessary to evaluate the quality of the translation text with a view to improving translation in general and Literary Translation in particular This study aims at revealing the most basic features of English literary text and basic concepts of translation theory in general, literary translation in particular Then it will test the appropriateness of House‘s model for translation quality assessment in assessing Vietnamese version of English novel ―Lolita‖ regarding referential equivalence Finally, suggestions for further studies in translating English literary texts into Vietnamese will be proposed iii TAB TABLE OF CONTENTS Acceptance page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of contents List of abbreviations PART A: INTRODUCTION Statement of the probl Aims and objectives o Significance of the stu Scope of the study Organisation PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of transl 1.2 Translation Equiva 1.2.1 The nature of translation equivalence 1.2.2 Translation equivalence types 1.2.3 Discourse analysis in translation 1.3 Literary translation 1.3.1 Basic features of li 1.3.2 Problems of literar 1.3.3 Covert and Overt T Julianne House‘s translation quality assessment model CHAPTER 2: ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH VERSION OF ―LOLITA‖ 2.1 Brief introduction iv 2.2 Analysis of the original text 2.3 Statement of function 2.4 Summary CHAPTER 3: TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF VIETNAMESE VERSION OF ―LOLITA‖ 3.1 Comparison in referential lev source text and the target tex through lexical means 3.2 Statement of quality PART C: CONCLUSION Recapitulation Concluding remarks Limitations Suggestions for further resea Contribution of the research REFERENCES APPENDIX: SUGGESTEST TRANSLATIONS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SL: Source Language TL: Target Language ST: Source Text TT: Translation Text vi a comparison between women‘s breasts with pumpkins or pears This comparison helps the readers imagine how big they are However, in the TT, the translator gives a picture of ‗quả bầu‘, which has a long body, so the readers might not grasp the denotative and connotative meaning in this sentence E.g Had I not somehow tampered with Cách đó, liệu tơi có tác 16 her fate by involving her image in động đến số phận em my voluptas? Oh, it was, and việc lồng hình ảnh em vào remains, a source of great and khoái lạc tơi? Ơi, terrible wonder (p 13) điều đó, tơi, cịn nguồn tạo kì diệu lớn lao đáng sợ Comment: Apart from the meaning (sự kì diệu) in the TT, wonder also means a feeling of surprise and admiration that you have when you see or experience something beautiful, unusual or unexpected (sự kinh ngạc, hoài nghi) The first meaning does not seem to match with the flow of information in the novel E.g … and presently, instead of a pale 17 … thay gái vỉa hè little gutter girl, Humbert Humbert had trắng trẻo, Humbert on his hands a large, puffy, short- Humbert phải hứng tay legged, big-breasted and practically baba* (bánh baba) brainless baba (p 16) bự, phốp pháp, chân ngắn, vú to rỗng óc Comment: The appearance of a baba as a piece of cake seems unreasonable Based on its modification, this word cannot refer to a small cake A cake cannot possess a large, puffy short leg, big breast and practical 37 brain In this case, baba means an old woman E.g Possibilities 18 of sweetness on Từ lâu nay, triển vọng technicolor beaches had been phút êm đềm trickling through my spine for bãi biển đầy màu sắc rực some time before, and McCoo's cousin diverted that train of thought with his well-meaning but as it transpired now suggestion Comment: Possibility means the fact that som the future In this case, Humbe moments on technicolor beache ―triển vọng‖ partly convey the ―possibility‖ only However, it se absorb the information flow when ―sweetness‖ E.g I was 19 Haze when, beyond it, there came a sudden burst of greenery "the piazza," sang out my leader, and then, without the least warning, a blue sea-wave swelled under my heart and, from a mat in a pool of sun, half-naked, kneeling, turning about on her knees, there was my 38 Riviera love dark glasses (p 25) Comment: From the TT, the readers might im next to the Piazza (Quảng trường) follow the information flow After ―All I now is that while the Haze into the breathless garden, my kne rippling water, and my lips were l ―That was my Lo,‖ she said, ―a ―Yes,‖ I said, ―yes They are be According the American English veranda of a house (cái hiên nhà, che) The TT fails to build a clear imag first met Lolita E.g With awe and delight (the king cr 20 for joy, the trumpets blaring, the n drunk) I saw again her lovely ind abdomen mouth had briefly paused; and tho puerile hips on which I had kissed crenulated imprint left by the ban 39 her shorts … (p 25) lại; cặp hơng trẻ thơ tơi lên vết lằn dải nịt quần soọc em để lại Comment: In the ST, Nabokov describes Humbert fondling Lolita with eyes downwards and pausing when his mouth touches Lolita‘s abdominal Americans reside in the Northern Sphere, therefore, southbound to them means move downwards However, Vietnamese people might think of wars if the translator uses the word ‗Nam tiến‘, so the readers cannot fully understand the meaning of the text E.g All I know is that while the H 21 woman and I went down the steps the breathless garden , my kn were like reflections of knees in rippling water, and my lips were l sand, and "That was my Lo," she said, " these are my lilies.‖ "Yes," I said, "yes They are beaut beautiful, beautiful." (p 26) Comment: From the ST, the readers can imag garden However, from the TT, th when he sees a half-naked Lolita contributes to distorting the conno 40 the ST E.g stature, fifty-seven inches; weight 22 seventy-eight pounds; figure, linear intelligence 121; vermiform appendix presen thank God (p 71) Comment: From the ST, the readers understand that Humbert is describing Lolita‘s beauty, even without any scars on the stomach However, the readers are unable to understand this from the TT 3.2 Statement of quality In general, the translator has demonstrated his great attempts in keeping the TT as close to the ST as possible However, the mismatches are unavoidably found in terms of referential equivalence as shown above The majority of mismatches in referential equivalence between the ST and TT are defined concerning the misleading meaning of denotation and connotation This leads to misunderstanding of the information that the writer wants to convey through the lexical means Another consequence is that the readers of the TT find it difficult to fully understand the sequence of events within the novel Another mismatch that contributes to a limited understanding of the novel is the ignorance of words or phrases translation, which also proves the lack of equivalence between the two texts What is more, the TT manifests its closer proximity to the addressees than ST, which is elaborated through the changes in the usage of active and passive voice and vice versa 41 PART C CONCLUSION Recapitulation The underlying idea in House‘s model is that a translation should be functionally and pragmatically equivalent to its original Referential equivalence is achieved when the TT can match its ST in linguistic or lexical means The deep analysis of the both ST and TT based on J House‘s TQA model has led the researcher to some important findings regarding referential equivalence The mismatches in referential equivalence between two texts can be clearly seen in the dimension of Social Attitude The TT lessens the formality and exact meaning which characterizes the ST The translator gives the preference to some changes in using the voice between active voice and passive voice or vice versa His aim is to help the readers with the profound understanding of the information flow in this novel; however, this seems to be counterproductive Another finding is related to several mismatches in referential equivalence between the TT and the ST in the Province dimension Although many attempts are made in the TT to match the ST in terms of lexical means, the translator still fails to convey the full information and denotative and connotative meaning of words and phrases in the ST Concluding remarks From important mismatches in referential equivalence stated above, the researcher has come to the conclusion that the TT belongs to an overt translation Tran, T C D (2012) also agrees that he is reading an overt translation, not a covert translation in an interview with him The translator‘s attempt to retain the value of the ST in the TT and manifest the correct implication of the ST can be proved through the deep analysis in the dimension of Social attitude and Province 42 In conclusion, although some unavoidable mismatches still exist in the TT compared with the ST, the translator has achieved some certain success in transmitting the information in the ST One of the outstanding achievements is that like the ST, the TT demonstrates the wide proximity between the addresser and addressees through the use of well-structured sentences and structures It seems that the natural flow of information is interrupted by the addressees' participation Another undeniable significant achievement is that the translator somewhat impresses the readers by employing a vast variety of imagery lexical wordings and figurative language to make them sympathetic to the main character Limitations Even though the researcher has made a considerable effort during the research time, time and resource constraint and the limitation of the researcher‘s experience led to some unavoidable limitations beyond hope The limitation is related to the length of this novel and the research time Though the researcher has made a general conclusion about the translation quality of Vietnamese version of ―Lolita‖, it is highly unlikely that the researcher provides with more comprehensive analysis of the whole novel Despite the aforementioned shortcomings, the researcher‘s flexibility and dedication could help gain the findings‘ validity and reliability It should be noted that future researchers should take those limitations into serious consideration when conducting related studies Suggestions for further research The verifications and substantiations of the findings in this study demand further investigation One possibility is that researchers may wish to use other TQA models Another possibility is to replicate the study by comparing other languages, texts and cultures It may also reveal some nice 43 outcomes if the researcher can conduct a broader and more comprehensive analysis regarding other types of equivalence Contribution of the research The findings in this study somewhat demonstrate the techniques employed in the translation process of a literary work, which is considered as a tough job for translators due to the cultural gap embraced in language Hopefully, this paper can be considered as a useful reference document for English – Vietnamese translators and novel editors Moreover, the researcher would like to raise the awareness and understanding of translation quality assessment from English into Vietnamese and vice versa As a translator, he or she should take the sufficient understanding the denotative and connotative meaning of words or phrases into consideration in order to create a high-quality TT The findings of the current study are hoped to be of help to trainers of would-be translators as another source in the learning/teaching process The findings of the current study may be a means to elicit the translator of this work to revise his translation; also, the current study can be used as a framework for other critics concerning this type of analysis 44 REFERENCES Bassnett, S and A Lefevere 1998 Constructing cultures Essays on literary translation Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Bassnett-McGuire, S 1980 Translation studies London: Methuen Bell, Roger T (1991) Translation and Translating London and Newyork: Longman Brown, G & Yule, G (1983) Discourse analysis Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Catford, John C (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation: an Essay on Applied Linguistics, London: Oxford University Press Catford, J.C 1974 A linguistic theory of translation An essay in applied linguistics London: Oxford University Press Chesterman, A (ed.) 1989 Readings in translation theory Helsinki: Finn Lectura Halliday K (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar nd ed Oxford University Press House, J (1977) A Model for Translation Quality Assesment Huong, L Retrieved December 03, 2014 from http://tienve.org/home/activities/viewThaoLuan.do?action=viewArtwork&art workId=14856 Newmark, P (1981) Approaches to translation Oxford: Pergamon Newmark, P (1988) A textbook of translation Great Britain: Prentice Hall Nida, E.A and C.R Taber 1969 The theory and practice of translation Leiden: Brill Tran, T C D (2012) Trần Tiễn Cao Đăng nói vụ "Lolita": Muốn nói dịch lỗi, phải đọc đến nơi đến chốn Retrieved December 03, 2014 from http://thethaovanhoa.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/tran-tien-cao-dang-noi-ve-vu-lolitamuon-noi-dich-loi-phai-doc-den-noi-den-chon-n20120423065539214.htm Wills, W (1982) The Science of Translation: Problems and Methods Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag 45 APPENDIX SUGGESTED TRANSLATIONS The elimination of information E.g a few days before his trial was scheduled to start (p 3) E.g … the functional ones in the development tragic unswervingly to nothing less than a moral apotheosis (p 4) E.g References “H.H.”'s crime be looked up by the kiên cường inquisitive in the ước lệ đại luyện chodaily quen papers thói chấp nhận for Septemberkhơng chút đắn đo hàng October 1952;trợn (p 3) loạt chữ tục trắng tràn ngập Changes in translating the voice tiểu thuyết tầm thường , phẫn nộ không thấy chúng E.g “Lolita, Confession Tính khí ơng ta vừa thất Widowed thường vừa tẻ ngắt were the two titles under II I which the writer of the thảo kì lạ mà người present note received the viết dịng strange lời nói đầu nhận preambulates “Humbert Humbert,” “Humbert Humbert”, tác giả had died tập thảo, chết captivity, chứng nghẽn động thrombosis, mạch vành trại November 16, 1952, (p giam vào ngày 16 3) tháng Mười năm 1952, hơm trước phiên tịa xét xử dự định diễn Misleading of denotative and connotative meaning ST E.g Indeed, the robust philistine who is conditioned by modern conventions into accepting without qualms a lavish array of four-letter words in a banal novel, will be quite shocked by their absence here (p 4) Quả thật, kẻ phàm tục E.g He is ponderously capricious (p 4) E.g He a gentleman (p 4) E.g […] personal is for general child, the egotistic mother, the panting maniac, […](p 4) E.g Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what misinformed, simple, noblewinged at this tangle of thorns (p 5) E.g Annabel was, like the writer, of 11 mixed parentage: half-English, half-Dutch, in her case (p 7) E.g She would tr 13 pain of III rubbing her dry lips against mine; draw away with a nervous toss of again come darkly near and let me feed on her open mouth, (p 9) E.g stature, 22 weight, seventy-eight figure, quotient, appendix present , thank God (p 71) IV ... evaluation of Vietnamese version of ? ?Lolita? ?? in terms of referential equivalence PART C: CONCLUSION contains the summary of the main findings of the study, the brief limitations of the research and. .. limitation of time and the length of the novel, the researcher is able to concentrate on the analysis of referential equivalence Newmark (1988) proposes that the referential goes hand in hand with the. .. Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study The profound importance of translation cannot be denied all over the world through the ages The massive expansion of translation of a wide