A study on connotative equivalence between gone with the wind and its translation in vietnamese by duong tuong

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ DIỆU THÚY A STUDY ON CONNOTATIVE EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN "GONE WITH THE WIND" AND ITS TRANSLATION IN VIETNAMESE BY DUONG TUONG NGHIÊN CỨU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG BIỂU CẢM GIỮA TÁC PHẨM "CUỐN THEO CHIỀU GIÓ" VÀ BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA DƯƠNG TƯỜNG MA Combined Programme Thesis FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS CODE: 60.22.15 HANOI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ DIỆU THÚY A STUDY ON CONNOTATIVE EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN "GONE WITH THE WIND" AND ITS TRANSLATION IN VIETNAMESE BY DUONG TUONG NGHIÊN CỨU TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG BIỂU CẢM GIỮA TÁC PHẨM "CUỐN THEO CHIỀU GIÓ" VÀ BẢN DỊCH TIẾNG VIỆT CỦA DƯƠNG TƯỜNG MA Combined Programme Thesis FIELD: English Linguistics CODE: 60.22.15 SUPERVISOR: Assoc Prof Dr LÊ HÙNG TIẾN HANOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION …………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………….ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………iii PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………… I Statement of the problem and rationale for the study…………………1 II Research aims and research questions…………………………………2 III Scope of the study…………………………………………………….3 IV Methods of the study………………………………………………….3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………….5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………5 1.1 Definition of translation……………………………………………….5 1.2 Translation equivalence……………………………………………….6 1.2.1 Jakobson and the concept of equivalence in difference………6 1.2.2 Nida and Taber's Formal dynamic equivalence………………7 1.2.3 Catford and translation shifts……………………………… 10 1.2.4 Kade and quantitative equivalence ………………………… 11 1.2.5 Baker's approach to translation equivalence………………….12 1.2.6 Koller's theory of equivalence……………………………… 13 1.3 Translation of literature ………………………………………………15 1.4 Translation methods………………………………………………… 17 1.5 Translation procedures……………………………………………….19 1.6 The author and the novel …………………………………………….22 iv 1.6.1 The author Margaret Mitchell………………………………… 22 1.6.2 The novel "Gone with the wind"………………………………26 1.7 The translator and the translation…………………………………… 29 1.7.1 The translator Dương Tường………………………………… 29 1.7.2 The translation "Cuống theo chiều gió"……………………….30 CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………… 31 2.1 Connotations of socially determined usage……………………………31 2.1.1 The language of the upper class ………………………………31 2.1.2 The language of the slaves…………………………………… 35 2 Connotations of speech level………………………………………… 41 2.2 Elevated……………………………………………………….41 2.2.2 Colloquial…………………………………………………… 47 2.2.2 Interjections………………………………………….48 2.2.2.2 Exclamations…………………………………………50 2.2.3 Poetic………………………………………………………… 54 2.3 Connotations of geographical origin or relation……………………… 58 2.4 Connotations of register……………………………………………… 62 2.4.1 Military usage…………………………………………………62 2.4.2 Religious usage……………………………………………….67 2.4.3 Normal usage………………………………………………….68 2.5 Connotations of evaluation……………………………………………72 2.5.1 Pejorative………………………………………………………73 2.5.2 Positive…………………………………………………………76 2.5.3 Ironic……………………………………………………………80 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………85 3.1 Summary of findings…………………………………………………… 85 v 3.1.1 Types of connotative equivalence achieved…………………………85 3.1.2 Strategies adopted to achieve connotative equivalence…………… 86 3.2 Recommendations…………………………………………………………89 3.2.1 To achieve connotations of socially determined usage………………89 3.2.2 To achieve connotations of speech level…………………………….90 3.2.3 To achieve connotations of geographical origin………………… 90 3.2.4 To achieve connotations of register………………………………….90 3.2.5 To achieve connotations of evaluation………………………………91 PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………92 I Summary and conclusion of the study……………………………………….92 II Contributions of the study………………………………………………… 92 III Limitations of the study…………………………………………………….93 IV Suggestions for further studies…………………………………………… 94 REFENRENCES……………………………………………………………….95 vi PART A: INTRODUCTION I Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Over the past few decades, international exchange is processing vigorously in various aspects, especially in culture By using language to bridge the gap between different cultures, inevitably, translation has contributed significantly to this process Besides, literature has been chosen as a rich source for translation Literary works are not only written in different languages but they also feature different cultures and civilizations Accordingly, the literary translation process is quite complex as it requires the translator to consider every aspect of the material, or even beyond the material in order to produce a good translation It poses a great challenge for anyone who attempts to assess the quality of translated literary works According to Chesterman (1989) “Equivalence is obviously a central concept in translation theory” “The notion of equivalence held sway as a key issue in translation throughout the 1970s and beyond.” (Munday, 2008, p 49) Various works on translation theories have been carried out just to show how vital equivalence is in translation Great importance has been attached to equivalence since this is a controversial issue and it is likely to cause debates in the coming time However, despite its significance, little investigation has been carried out in the field of translation evaluation, particularly evaluation of equivalence between English and Vietnamese literary works All the above made the researcher decide to carry out the study on equivalence in literary translation Specifically, the study investigates connotation equivalence achieved in the translation of “Gone with the wind” – one of the most famous novels of the 20th century This novel has been chosen as the source language text due to its distinctive features, aesthetic values and popularity worldwide The novel was first translated into Vietnamese more than 20 years ago Among several versions of the translation, the one translated by Duong Tuong is most praised by readers With the aim of investigating one of Duong Tuong's best translated works, the researcher chose his translation as the target text II Research aims and research questions The study firstly aims at providing a theoretical background on some issues relevant to the topic of the study, which are translation, literary translation, equivalence in translation and strategies to achieve equivalence Secondly, the study is to investigate the types of connotative equivalence achieved between the novel and its translated version Thirdly, the study is also aimed at finding out what strategies adopted by the translator in order to achieve that equivalence Addressing the above issues is hoped to help English learners, especially those specialize in translation enhance their awareness of various expressive means employed in a particular literary text and decide the most appropriate strategies to deal with different translation situations The study is also expected to be a good reference of criteria to any Vietnamese readers who love romantic novel, and are fans “Gone with the wind” for a good translation These aims can be formulated into the following research questions What types of connotative equivalence achieved between the novel "Gone with the wind" and its translation by Duong Tuong? What strategies adopted by the translator to achieve such types of connotative equivalence? III Scope of the study Firstly, the theoretical background of the study only focuses on some fundamental issues in translation theory which are of vital importance to the issue examined, which are translation, equivalence, methods, and procedures Secondly, the research focuses on one kind of equivalence, which is connotative equivalence Then only the most outstanding types of connotative equivalence are examined IV Methods of the study Data collection The study is designed in accordance with the theory proposed by Koller (1979), that is characterizes the connotative dimensions of a source language (with the support of stylistic studies) to analyse their features and structural elements, and then relate these to the connotative dimenstions of a given target language In the first stage, the study explores the source language text to find out the different dimensions of connotations The features and structural elements of each connotative dimension are defined Data are collected in both English and Vietnamese to illustrate these dimensions Even though the novel is almost six hundred pages long, the researcher tries to collect comprehensive data by investigating almost every chapter Subsequently, the examples are grouped according to the stated catergory for the sake of comparison and assessment Data analysis In the second stage of the study, an assessment of the features in the target language text is carried out with the criteria established in the first stage The translation and the data are considered from various viewpoints The study is based on technical data of semantic densities, occurrence probabilities and repetition rates of both the source language and target language text to evaluate the degree of connotative equivalence achieved As stated by Koller (1979), equivalence is defined in terms of the frame and conditions that the target text must fulfill if there exists equivalence between a given source text and a given target text The conditions can be content, style, function, etc Therefore, the requirement of equivalence has the following form: quality (qualities) X in the source language text must be preserved, meaning the source language content, form, style, function, etc must be preserved or at least the translation must seek to preserve them as far as possible (Koller, 1979) Besides, the connotations are transmitted by means of the word choice Thus, the word choices that can affect the content, form, style or function of translation are investigated carefully After that, conclusions on types of connotative equivalence achieved are drawn Furthermore, based on the translation of Duong Tuong, the researcher also figures out the strategies employed to achieve connotative equivalence The strategies are categorized according to Newmark's theory about translation methods and translation procedures PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of translation Translation, as one of the most ancient activity of human beings, has intrigued numerous researchers all over the world They all attempt to define translation for the sake of research, and their definitions share one common thing: the relationship between the source text and the target text In the “Dictionary of Translation Studies”, Shuttleworth and Cowie acknowledge that translation is an “incredibly broad notion which can be understood in many different ways” And this idea is proved by numerous definitions proposed by different researchers around the world As early as 1959, the structural linguist Roman Jakobson proposes a tripartite definition of translation The first type is intralingual translation or rewording, which is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language The second type is interlingual, or another name is translation proper It is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language The third type is intersemiotic translation or transmutation, which is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems Hatim and Munday (2004) take a different approach with the focus on “the ambit of translation”, which is defined as 1) the process of transferring a written from SL to TL, conducted by a translator, or translators, in a specific socio-cultural context; 2) the written product, or TT, which results from that process and which functions in the socio-cultural context of the TL; and 3) the cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and ideological phenomena which are an integral part of 1) and 2) However, in Munday‟s viewpoint, such definitions like those of Roman Jakobson hillside to the rich river bottom land xuống thung lũng màu mỡ, trắng xoá would gleam white as eiderdown in the lên lông vịt duới ánh mặt trời sun Skinny legs like a bird chân khằng khiu chân chim They haven‟t any more spirit than a Đầu óc chúng khơng rabbit thỏ Eat like a bird Ăn uống nhỏ nhẹ chim Feather light and strong as rawhide nhẹ tựa lơng chim, cứng cáp thiết bì eyes as deep brown , as clean and as mắt màu nâu xẫm, sáng dịu gentle as a collie‟s dog hiền mắt chó collie xứ Scotland She had no more sense than a June bug bà ngu chẳng khác bọ rầy as colts and wild as March hares ngỗ ngược, bầy ngựa bất kham man dại thỏ rừng yelled like a Comanche whenever you hò la gã Co măng sơ see a fox snap at you like a trout at a worm vồ lấy cô cá hồi lao đến sâu mắc lưỡi câu hard as a hickory nut cứng rắn gỗ hồ đào Women ain‟t got no more pride than Đàn bà thật khơng biết tự trọng goats! lồi dê hair is as wild as a horse‟s tail tóc xõa xượi đuôi ngựa as wild as young horses hăng ngựa trẻ đương always as still as a mouse lặng lẽ chuột nhắt squalling like a scalded cat! kêu thét mèo phải bỏng 58 Occasionally, Duong Tuong uses cultural equivalent to make the translation sound natural to Vietnamese readers For instance, the novel has the comparison “Alike as two bolls of cotton” Cotton is the plant that plays a significant role in the setting of the novel It contributes greatly to the prosperity of the South of America – the Cotton Kingdom If the translator translated the phrase into “giống hai hạt bông”, it would preserve the geographical origin of the comparison However, Duong Tuong choose cultural equivalent to translate the phrase into “giống hai giọt nước” – a familiar expression to Vietnamese readers Following are some more examples: Original text Translated text They were as much alike as two bolls of Họ giống hai giọt nước cotton Gobble like a hog ngốn lợn Thin as a rail Gầy que After investigating various examples, it can be concluded that connotation of geographical origin is achieved between the novel and its translation through the use of literal translation 2.4 Connotations of register Generally speaking, register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose, or in a particular social setting With such a massive novel like "Gone with the wind", there are obviously various types of register employed However, some types of connotations of register are quite similar to connotations of speech level thus, the researcher only examines the two most prominent kinds of register 59 in the novel: religious register and military register In order to achieve connotations of register, the bottom line is that the register must be detected and appropriate terms should be used 2.4.1 Military usage The story in "Gone with the wind" was set during the American Civil War, thus, war is one of the central topics in the novel The translator realizes the contexts in which military language is used and chooses appropriate word choices for the situation Investigating the following examples: Example 1: A union Calvary dash into Georgia had been turned into a Confederate triumph Translation: Một đột kích kỵ binh Hợp Chủng Quốc vào Georgia chuyển thành thắng lợi Liên bang The word "dash" is defined as an act of going somewhere suddenly and/or quickly, which sounds very general and quite vague Duong Tuong translates it "cuộc đột kích", clarifying the meaning of the word in military context This example can illustrate how the translator's word choice can affect the comprehensibility of the translation Example 2: With only one-third as many men, he had started after them, engaged them before they even reached Rome, harassed them day and night and finally captured the entire force Translation: Với số quân phần ba lực lượng địch - ông đuổi kịp giáp chiến với bọn Yankee trước chúng tới Rome, ngày đêm tiêu hao chúng cuối cùng, bắt sống toàn bộ! Duong Tuong has very sharp eyes for details and carefully chooses words that are suitable for the context "Men", "engage" and "harass" would have different meanings in a different context, but in military context, the words are 60 translated into "địch", "giáp chiến" and "tiêu hao", which are also military language in Vietnamese In order to provide a more comprehensive insight into the situation, the following table presents a series of examples which are typical of military register The important part is italicized Original sentences Translated sentences When old Nathan Bedford Forrest gets Khi mà lão tướng Nathan Bedford after them, they better git! Forrest truy kích chúng gọi đứt Colonel Streight and eighteen hundred Đại tá Streight nghìn tám trăm Yankee cavalry had made a surprise kỵ binh Yankee bất ngờ thọc sâu vào raid into Georgia, aiming at Rome Georgia, nhằm đánh Rome General T.R.R Coob had been killed at tướng Fredericksburg T.R.R Cobb hy sinh Fredericksburg Lee in the enemy’s territory… Lee Tướng Lee đất địch! Tướng forcing battle Lee chiến And our boys so hungry and needing Các tráng sĩ đói shoes There cần giày had been hard fighting in Chiến diễn ác liệt Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Families with sons at the front Những gia đình có trai mặt trận Vicksburg had fallen, fallen after a long Vicksburg thất thủ, thất thủ sau and bitter siege đợt bao vây dài gắt gao The center of the Southern line had Phòng tuyến phía Nam lại bị chọc thủng caved 61 The Yankees had been stoutly repulsed Bọn Yankee bị đẩy lùi mạnh mẽ in September when they had tried to chúng cố gắng phát huy thắng lợi follow up their victories in Tennessee Tennessee tiến công vào by an advance into Georgia Georgia The Yankees had taken Chattanooga, Quân Yankees chiếm Chattanooga, and then had marched through the vượt qua đèo tiến vào Georgia, mountain passes into Georgia, but they chúng bị đẩy lùi với had been driven back with heavy lossess tổn thất nặng nề General Longstreet‟s corps had been quân đoàn tướng Longstreet rushed to the scene of the battle cấp tốc chở tới nơi diễn chiến And the Yankees had been driven out of Và bọn Yankees bị đánh bật khỏi Georgia, back into Tennessee Georgia, đuổi Tennessee The Yankees under General Sherman Quân Yankees huy tướng Sherman lại tiến đánh Georgia were in Georgia again So firmly did he stand and so bitterly Ông trấn giữ vững vàng liệt did he contest Sherman‟s desire to pass ngăn chặn ý đố Sherman định thọc down the valley toward Atlanta that qua thung lũng để tiến Atlanta, đến finally the Yankees drew back and took nỗi cuối bọn Yankees phải lui counsel with themselves quân họp bàn với They could not break the gray lines by Chúng phá phòng tuyến direct assault, and so, under cover of xám cách công trực diện, cho night, they marched through the nên, lợi dụng đêm tối, chúng dàn thành 62 mountain passes in a semicircle, hoping hình vịng cung, tiến qua đèo, hy to come upon Johnston’s rear and cut vọng đánh tập hậu Johnston cắt đứt the railroad behind him at Resaca, tuyến đường sắt đằng sau ông Resaca fifteen miles below Dalton Dalton mười lăm dặm The Confederates left their desperately Quân đội Liên bang rời bỏ chiến defended rifle pits, and, under the hào họ liều chết cố thủ ánh starlight, made a forced march to Resaca sao, cấp tốc hành quân đến Resaca đường tắt by the short, direct road Johnston fought desperately at Resaca Johnston chiến đấu tử Resaca and repulsed the Yankees again, but lại đánh lui bọn Yankees lần Sherman, employing the same flanking Nhưng Sherman, sử dụng lối đánh movement, swung his vast army in thọc sườn, triển khai đạo quân đông đảo another semicircle, cross the Oostanaula y thành vòng cung khác, vượt river and again struck at the railroad in sông Oostanaula lại đánh vào đường sắt sau lưng quân đội Liên bang the Confederate rear Sherman hadn‟t laid a finger on it for all Sherman không đặt ngón tay his frontal attacks, cavalry dashes and lên hệ thống đường sắt kế flank movements sách y: công trực diện, kỵ binh xung kích đánh thọc sườn Instead of continuing the direct assault, Thay cơng trực diện, ơng ta lại he swung his army in a wide circle again triển khai quân thành vòng tròn and tried to come Confedarates and Atlanta between the rộng, cố thọc vào quân đội Liên bang Atlanta He‟d drive the Yankees back from the Ông đánh lui bọn Yankee khỏi Suối creek, yes, back across the river and on Cây Đào, phải, đẩy lùi chúng qua sông, 63 up the road every step of the way back bước chiếm lại lộ dẫn to Dalton tới Dalton The above examples clearly illustrate the achievement of connotation of register – military The literal procedure is employed by Duong Tuong but with great care to word choices to make military context stand out, so that the target readers can have a better insight into the content All in all, the connotation of military register is accomplished successfully thanks to the wise word choices of the translator 2.4.2 Religious register Another kind of register in the novel is religious Religion is one of strong foundation of the Southern society in the novel, and the influence of religion on characters' actions and languages can be easily seen However, religion is not a topic of frequent discussion in the novel, therefore, the number of examples is quite limited, and mostly found in prayers Consider the following examples Example 1: Lord, have mercy on us Christ, have mercy on us Translation: Xin Đức Chúa Trời thương xót chúng Xin chúa Giêxu thương xót chúng Example 2: Holy Maria, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death Translation: Lạy thánh Maria, mẹ Chúa, xin Người cầu cho chúng kẻ có tội, đến lâm chung To translate "Lord", "Christ", "Holy Maria", "Mother of God", Duong Tuong uses "Đức Chúa Trời", "chúng con", "thương xót", "lạy", "thánh Maria", "xin Người", which are also words used in religious context, and more specifically, 64 in Christianity Duong Tuong is successful in maintaining the religious connotations as expressed by the original sentences Investigating some more examples to see clearly how the translator's word choices make the connotations Original sentences Translated sentences All the poor souls in Purgatory Tất linh hồn đáng thương Ngục Rửa Tội Virgin most faithful Đức Mẹ Đồng Trinh mực Trung Thành Pray for us Cầu cho chúng Seat of wisdom Nơi ngự Hiển linh Refuge of sinners Nơi nương náu kẻ có tội Mystical rose Đóa hoa hồng huyền nhiệm Hail Mary, full of grace Lạy Đức Bà Maria cứu giúp And the way they all carry on about Họ rộn lên hai vị ấy, làm those two, they might as well be the Đức Chúa Cha Đức Chúa Con Father and the Son! không bằng! Mother of God Lạy Đức mẹ sinh chúa Crix-tô After investigating the above examples to see how Duong Tuong's word choices fit into the context, the conclusion drawn is that connotation of religious register is achieved 2.4.3 Normal register Normal is the most popular type of register in the novel Since this register contains many semantic and syntactic aspects, the researcher only chooses to investigate noun phrase A noun phrase is a group of words with a noun or pronoun 65 as a main part (the head) The noun may only consist of one word as “hoa, mưa” or it may be long and complex as “The girl that I met yesterday” Noun phrase plays a vital role in conveying the meaning of a sentence based on its various semantic roles Connotative equivalence indicates that individual expressions not only have a denotative meaning, additional values are also transmitted (Koller, 1979) The following part will give an account of the noun phrases and how they are treated to achieve connotative equivalence Consider the following examples Example 1: But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly titled at the end Translation: “Nhưng mặt đầy sức hấp dẫn, nhọn cằm mà lại vuông hàm Cặp mắt xanh nhạt xếch, khơng gợn màu hạt dẻ, rợp bóng rặng mi đen” Example 2: Silver – mounted dueling pistols, pocket derringers, doublebarreled hunting pieces and handsome new rifles of English make with shining stocks of fine wood Translation: Những súng ngắn nẹp bạc dùng đấu súng, súng bỏ túi, súng săn hai nòng súng trường Anh mới, đẹp, báng gỗ q bóng lống Example 3: A dainty, cold, high- nosed French woman, who spared neither her children nor her servants their just punishments for any infringement of decorum Translation: Một phụ nữ Pháp mũi gồ cao, khó tính, lạnh lùng, trừng phạt đích đáng vi phạm nghi thức, nhất không dung thứ, kẻ có lỗi hay kẻ ăn người làm Example 4: The serene half-light over Tara’s well-kept acres 66 Translation: Cái ánh tranh sáng tranh tối bình đồng ruộng chăm sóc tốt ấp Tara Example 5: The dogwood trees that were solid masses of white blossoms against the background of new green Translation: Hàng sơn thù du với mảng dày đặc hoa trắng xanh mơn mởn Example 6: Already summer was in the air, the first hint of Georgia summer when the high tide of spring gives way reluctantly before a fiercer heat Translation: Mùa hè đâu thấp thống khơng trung, chút hướng mùa hè Georgia, chớm lên mùa xuân chín rộ miễn cưỡng lùi bước trước sức nóng dội Example 7: A loud- voiced, red – faced little man who came hardly up to her ears Translation: Anh chàng nhỏ bé, mặt đỏ gay, ăn nói oang oang đứng đến tai cô Example 8: Two- faced, little, green-eyed baggage Translation: Cái ranh mắt xanh, hai mặt These above examples can illustrate the procedures adopted by Duong Tuong to achieve connotative equivalence The most typical and common procedure is literal translation, which is claimed by Newmark to be the most important procedure Literal translation employed to reproduce the same or similar messages to the target text readers as those obtained by the source text readers Besides, as connotative equivalence includes communicative values, shifts are also used to treat noun phrases The main purpose of using noun phrase is to change the grammatical structure from the source language to the target language in order to produce natural translation and convey clearer and better intentions to the target readers The typical type of shifts is the change in parts of speech due to 67 the fact that in same cases, literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with natural usage in the target language For example: Example 9: Mutual suppression agreement Translation: Thỏa ước “ngậm miệng” Example 10: Artfully artless manner Translation: Cái kiểu hồn nhiên cách xảo quyệt Example 12: To have that mealy-mouthed little mess take up for me Translation: Lại đến nước cô nhãi nhép giọng lưỡi xi rô lên tiếng bênh vực In some cases, there are difficult noun phrases that the translator seems not to be able to render the message to the target reader For instance: Example 13: That had taken courage; the kind of courage Scarlett honestly knew she did not possess, the thin – steel, spun – silk courage Translation: Điều đòi hỏi lòng cam đảm, thứ can đảm mà Xcarlet phải thành thật thừa nhận khơng có, thứ can đảm kín đáo thép dẻo, lụa mềm “Steel” and “silk” can be translated literally into “lụa” and “thép” in Vietnamese, but the comparison “thứ can đảm kín đáo thép dẻo, lụa mềm” sounds bizarre to the target readers This can even make them confused about the meaning conveyed Example 14: Gerald had a loud bark and no bite at all! Translation: Gerald sủa to mà không cắn Clearly, shift is employed by the translator to translate the two noun phrases into Vietnamese with the aim of producing natural translation However, cultural difference exists in this sentence The original sentence indicates that the good personality of the character “Gerald” is compared with that of a dog In Western culture, dog is one of the most beloved domestic animal and people don‟t find such 68 sentence offensive Conversely, dog is often associated with negative things in Oriental culture in general and Vietnamese culture in particular Thus, comparing the positive personality of a person to that of a dog does not sound right to Vietnamese readers 2.5 Connotations of evaluation Evaluation is the last category of connotations that the researcher would like to investigate in this thesis Evaluation can be further categorized into a number of subcategories, among which pejorative, positive and ironic are the most popular 2.5.1 Pejorative A pejorative word or words express disapproval or criticism The translation must be able to convey the feeling to the target readers Let's take a look at a number of examples Example 1: Why, you liar, I saw you with my own eyes sidle round the corner of the porch and squat in the cape jessamine bush by the wall Translation: Hừ đồ dối trá, mắt tao trơng thấy mày len qnh góc hiên đến ngồi núp bụi hoa nhài cạnh tường mà Example 2: It will serve you right if that sly piece does accept one of you….All that bothers is that some one of these days you‟re both going to get lickered up and jealous of each other about that two-faced, little, green-eyed baggage, and you‟ll shoot each other Translation: Nếu bé ranh ma ưng hai cậu thật đáng dời cho cậu… Tôi lo ngày kia, hai cậu bốc máu lên, ghen ranh mắt xanh, hai mặt ấy, đến chỗ bắn Example 3: All she‟ll know about is the balls she went to and the beaux she collected 69 Translation: Tất cô ta biết đến đời, khiêu vũ ta tham dự thằng nhân tình cô ta "sưu tầm" Still, literal translation is employed by Duong Tuong in translating these sentences However, in order to achieve connotation of pejorative evaluation, the word choices are words with negative connotations For example, in addressing people, instead of using neutral word like "anh", "tôi", "anh ấy", Duong Tuong uses words like "tao", "mày", "cô ta", "thằng", "con bé", "con ranh" in order to make the readers feel negative towards the subject matter Other key words in the sentence are also transated with negative connotation like "len lén", "núp", "ranh ma", "đáng đời", "thằng nhân tình", which successfully convey the disapproving feeling of the original text Example 4: Most of them would look a lot finer in gray uniforms and in Virginia Translation: Đa số bọn họ, vận qn phục màu xám Virginia, cịn oai phong lẫm liệt nhiều "Fine" is translated into "oai phong lẫm liệt", which seems a little bit exaggerated But it is that word that contrasts the two clauses and makes the pejorative connotation outstanding The following table list similar examples with italicized parts to indicate where words of pejorative connotation are used Original text Translated text I think he‟s an awful sissy Theo tôi, gã õng ẹo gớm chết Well, you can’t blame her Hừ, anh không đủ tư cách phán xét bà What is there to see in Europe? I‟ll bet Ở châu Âu có mà xem? Tơi dám those foreigners can’t show us a thing đám ngoại bang chẳng 70 we haven‟t got right in in Georgia phơ với mà khơng có Georgia I’d feel like a sissy in those baggy red Mặc quần đỏ rộng thùng thình pants They look like ladies‟ red flannel cịn thớ nữa! Trơng thứ quần ngủ nỉ đỏ bà cô drawers to me I’m going to beat your hide off for that, Tao đánh tuốt xương mày cried Stuart fiercely Don‟t you call thói Stuart kêu lên vẻ Abel Wynder „po‟ white hãn Mày đừng có gọi ơng Able Wynder Cách-cơ He‟d be fool enough to let the Nó rồ dại để bọn tuần tra bắt patterollers get him and that would give trường hợp mẹ có đầu Ma something else to talk about for đề khác để ca hàng tuần Quả thật weeks I swear, darkies are more bọn da đen phiền toái trouble Ashley couldn‟t, couldn‟t be in love Ashley không thể, yêu cô ta with her Nobody could, not with a Khơng mê gái bé mousy Scarlett little person recalled like with Melanie nhỏ, rụt rè Melanie Scarlett contempt khinh bỉ nhớ lại thân hình mảnh khảnh Melanie‟s thin childish figure, her trẻ Mely với khuôn mặt trái serious heart-shaped face that was plain tim nghiêm nghị, đơn giản đến mức gần almost to homeliness xấu Well, may I be damned if I‟ll have me Hừ, ma quỷ bắt ta ta own daughter telling what I should jump gái ta lên giọng răn bảo ta phải cho and not jump ngựa nhảy qua khơng nhảy qua 71 “I wouldn‟t have Cade on a silver tray”, Có vàng chả thèm lấy cried Scarlett in fury “And I wish you‟d Cade, Scarlett giận kêu lên - Và quit pushing him at me! I don’t want xin ba đừng có gán ta cho Con Tara or any old plantation chả cần ấp Ta hay đồn điền All this American business of running Ơi, thói Mỹ lăng nhăng cưới around marrying for love, like servants, tình yêu bọn đòi, bọn Yankee! like Yankee “If I didn‟t so much for those trashy Nếu ta không làm ơn cho gia đình Slatterys that they‟d have to pay money Slattery rác rưởi đến mức ấy, ông for elsewhere”, fumed Gerald, “they‟d Gerald tức tối làu bàu, họ phải be willing to sell me their miserable few kiếm ăn nơi khác, bán xới cho ta acres of swamp bottom, and the County sào ruộng lầy khốn nạn họ would be well rid of them lúc xong tội xong nợ với họ God’s nightgown, man! Pray for a Mẹ kiếp! Cầu mong giải pháo hòa peaceable settlement with the Yankees bình với bọn Yankee ư? Sau ta after we‟re fired on the rascals at Fort bắn vào đầu bọn khốn kiếp phái đài Sumter? Sumter hả? These above examples continues to indicate that connotation of pejorative evaluation is achieved by the use of literal translation, and shifts Especially, words of negative meaning are intensively used to convey the negative attitude of the original sentences 2.5.2 Positive 72 ... more than 20 years ago Among several versions of the translation, the one translated by Duong Tuong is most praised by readers With the aim of investigating one of Duong Tuong' s best translated... out the study on equivalence in literary translation Specifically, the study investigates connotation equivalence achieved in the translation of ? ?Gone with the wind? ?? – one of the most famous novels... of the study, which are translation, literary translation, equivalence in translation and strategies to achieve equivalence Secondly, the study is to investigate the types of connotative equivalence