Domestication or foreignization has been a subject of heated debate recently in the field of translation. This paper gives a try to investigate the application of domestication and foreignization in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by the translator Trinh Lu, primarily based on the translation theory proposed by Venuti (1995). This study hopes to make clear the application of these two translation strategies in literary translation. In this paper, theoretical data is presented first to make basis for analysis of the apllication of domestication and foreignization. The translation theory of Venuti (1995) is chosen for analysis. The investigation of the two strategies is conducted on culturespecific items (CSIs), idioms, and colloquialism. The result reveals that the translator tends to applies foreignization for CSIs, and domestication for the two remaining idioms and colloquialism. In addition, to make the study more persuasive, an interview with the translator Trịnh Lữ is conducted. The translator’s answers to the interview questions suggest that foreignization should be applied to CSIs in order to bring another new life to the original in the TL environment, and that is also to follow the requirements of the publishing house on the assumption that the English level of Vietnamese readers today has been higher and higher. Domestication, in the translator’s viewpoint, is applicable to idioms and colloquialism in order to mainly create the same feelings to the TL readers as the original work does witht the SL readers. Despite limitation, the paper is hoped to be a useful reference for students and translators in the application of domestication and foreignization in the translation field.
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION IN TRỊNH LỮ’S TRANSLATION OF THE NOVEL “THE GREAT GATSBY” Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thúy, MA Student: Lã Thị Hồng Hải_QH2011 Hanoi, May 2015 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP PHƯƠNG PHÁP DỊCH BẢN ĐỊA HÓA VÀ NGOẠI LAI HÓA ÁP DỤNG TRONG BẢN DỊCH « ĐẠI GIA GATSBY» CỦA DỊCH GIẢ TRỊNH LỮ Giáo viên hướng dẫn : Th.S Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thúy Sinh viên : Lã Thị Hồng Hải_QH2011 Hà Nội, 2015 DECLARATION I hereby state that I: Lã Thị Hồng Hải, QH2011.F1.E19, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts(TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’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 Hanoi, 2015 Lã Thị Hồng Hải i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to give my deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy, MA for her expert guidance, valuable comments, and continuous support throughout the development of this study Without her help and support, this paper could hardly be completed My sincere thanks also go to my close friends and classmates who have provided me with encouragement and helps with reading materials during the time I conduct this study Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my family who have provided me with mental and financial support so that I could have encouragement and enough energy to complete this paper ii ABSTRACT Domestication or foreignization has been a subject of heated debate recently in the field of translation This paper gives a try to investigate the application of domestication and foreignization in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by the translator Trinh Lu, primarily based on the translation theory proposed by Venuti (1995) This study hopes to make clear the application of these two translation strategies in literary translation In this paper, theoretical data is presented first to make basis for analysis of the apllication of domestication and foreignization The translation theory of Venuti (1995) is chosen for analysis The investigation of the two strategies is conducted on culture-specific items (CSIs), idioms, and colloquialism The result reveals that the translator tends to applies foreignization for CSIs, and domestication for the two remaining idioms and colloquialism In addition, to make the study more persuasive, an interview with the translator Trịnh Lữ is conducted The translator’s answers to the interview questions suggest that foreignization should be applied to CSIs in order to bring another new life to the original in the TL environment, and that is also to follow the requirements of the publishing house on the assumption that the English level of Vietnamese readers today has been higher and higher Domestication, in the translator’s viewpoint, is applicable to idioms and colloquialism in order to mainly create the same feelings to the TL readers as the original work does witht the SL readers Despite limitation, the paper is hoped to be a useful reference for students and translators in the application of domestication and foreignization in the translation field iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………… …….….i ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………… ……… ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION………………………… ………………….…… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………… …… iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… 1.1 Statement of problem and rationale……………………………………… 1.2 Research aims………………………………………… ……… .2 1.3 Significant of the study………………………………………… ……… 1.4 Scope of the study……………………………………………….… …….3 1.5 Research questions…………………………………………….…… ……4 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………….….5 I II DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION…………………… ….5 1.1 Definition of domestication and foreignization……………….……5 1.2 Schools of domestication and foreignization………………………9 1.3 Studies on domestication and foreignization……………… ……10 SIGNS OF DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION…………… 11 2.1 Culture-specific items (CISs)……………………… ………………11 2.1.1 Definition of culture-specific items……… …………… 11 2.1.2 Categories of culture-specific items……… ………………12 2.2 Idioms………………………………………………… …………16 2.3 Colloquialism………………………………………… …………….17 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………………………………20 3.1 The book “The Great Gatsby”…………………………… ……………….20 3.2 Methodology……………………………………………… .…………….20 3.2.1 Data selection……………………………………………… …20 3.2.2 Data collection procedures………………… ……21 3.2.2.1 Data collection procedures for Research question 1…… ………21 iv 3.2.2.2 Data collection procedures for Research question 2…… .……21 3.2.3 Data analysis procedures………………………… 22 3.2.3.1 Data analysis procedures for Research question 1…… ………22 3.2.3.2 Data analysis procedures for Research question 2…… …22 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION………………….……………23 Researchquestion 1………………………… .23 Research question 2…………………… 44 CHAPTER CONCLUSION…………………………………….……………47 5.1 Major findings…………………………………………………… …………47 5.2 Limitations……………………………………………………… ……… 47 5.3 Recommendation for further research…………………………… …………48 REFERENCES………………………………………………………… ……… 49 APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………………… ……51 APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………….……………61 APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………………………….62 APPENDIX 4…………………………………………………………………….66 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SL………………………….… Source language TL…………………………… Target language vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Translation has played an important role in spreading new ideas and bringing cultural values world-wide The matter of translation is not merely the matter of changing one work from one language to other languages, but the matter of cultural communication, as exactly cited by Louise M Haywood from the University of Cambridge “translation is not just a movement between two languages but also between two cultures” (1995) However, the degree to which cultures and foreign elements are transferred depends to a large extent on the translation strategies that the translator employs in the translation process According to an Italian scholar Lawrence Venuti (1995), if the translator accepts to be faithful to the original, foreignization is applied; otherwise, domestication is the chosen method if the translator aims at higher degree of readability of target readers Domestication and foreignization has recently become a subject of heated debate among Vietnamese translators given the context of globalization and international integration Take for a telling example a forum (2013) held by Nhã Nam Publishing House and L’Espace In the forum, translators like Trịnh Lữ and Lương Việt Dũng had arguments about the matter of translation “Source-oriented” and “target-oriented” was no longer the concept of discussion, instead, the two translators mentioned two stranger terms which were “domestication” and “foreignization” In that, Lương Việt Dũng (a Vietnamese-Japanese translator) considered domestication a reader-friendly method in Japanese and has become increasingly popular in American today, and Trịnh Lữ, to another extent, considered the method of foreignization has fueled the process of “big cultures” swallowing “small cultures” The two translators additionally agreed in the point that in Vietnam today, foreignization has tended to dominate, which would enrich Vietnamese language and cutlure through the introduction of cultural values of other countries world-wide Disputes over domestication and foreignization can even date back to long time ago when such contemporary translation theorists as Lawrence Venuti and Eugene Nida had proposed system of theories about these strategies Foreigness in language aspects or culture are considered the basis for judgement whether the work is domesticated or foreignized While Nida is in favour of domestificating translation, which “leaves the readers in peace” (Venuti, 1995), L Venuti is a supporter of foreignizing method, which “moves the reader toward the writer” (Venuti, 1995) Such debate is one source of motivation for the researcher to conduct an investigation into the use of these two translation strategies in a literary translation- “Đại Gia Gatsby”- by Trịnh Lữ The present research hopes to contribute one vote to either domestication or foreignization “Đại Gia Gatsby” translated from “The Great Gatsby” is chosen to be the sample for analysis of the study Among various samples that the researchers has read so far, “Đại Gia Gatsby” perhaps intrigues the researcher most In the translation, Trịnh Lữ used a wide range of translation methods and procedures, including domestication and foreignization By thorougly studying the case, the researcher has drawn out invaluable lessons, especially ways to deal with instances which required either domestication or foreignization Additionally, that “Đại Gia Gatsby” is translated by Trịnh Lữ, who has recently been a proactive argumentator in the related field is a reason for this work to be investigated Moreover, this translation was released recently in 2009, which is not too long to be an example for the trend nowadays 1.2 Research aims By conducting a research on the two translation strategies proposed by Venuti, namely domestication and foreignization applied in the translation of “The Great Gatsby”, the researcher aims at finding out how these two strategies are presented in this novel and which one is predominantly used as a whole in general, and in accordance with certain language items in particular In broader perspective, the researcher is about to use this example, together with several latest topic2 ...ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP PHƯƠNG PHÁP DỊCH BẢN ĐỊA HÓA VÀ NGOẠI LAI HÓA ÁP DỤNG TRONG BẢN DỊCH « ĐẠI GIA GATSBY? ? CỦA DỊCH GIẢ... novel “The Great Gatsby? ?? (Phương pháp dịch Bản địa hóa Ngoại lai hóa dịch giả Trịnh Lữ dịch Đại Gia Gatsby) Tên cháu Lã Thị Hồng Hải, sinh viên khóa QH2011, trường Đại Học Ngoại Ngữ-ĐHQGHN Cháu xin... Việc giữ yếu tố ngoại lai dịch không nên gọi ? ?phương pháp ngoại lại hóa? ??, mà “giữ ngoại lai? ??, “mang ngoại lai vào môi trường địa 67 dịch? ?? Người dịch ? ?bản địa hóa? ?? dịch từ tiếng ngoại quốc sang