LITERARY TRANSLATION HUMAN VS MACHINE: AN ESSAY ABOUT ONLINE TRANSLATION

Transcrição

1 LITERARY TRANSLATION HUMAN VS MACHINE: AN ESSAY ABOUT ONLINE TRANSLATION F. L. Bernardo, R. A. S. Zacarias F. L. Bernardo is a student at the São Paulo State University, Júlio de Mesquita Filho UNESP, SP BRA, and is with the São Paulo State Foundation for Research FAPÈSP, ; queiroztere@hotmail.com. R. A. S. Zacarias is a professor at the São Paulo State University, Júlio de Mesquita Filho UNESP, SP BRA, and is with the São Paulo State Foundation for Research FAPESP, ; reca@assis.unesp.br.

2 TRANSLATION Users around the world seek effective translation tools; Literary genres are manifold; Cultural awareness;

3 RESEARCH QUESTION HOW RELIABLE IS A LITERARY TRANSLATION DONE BY THE ONLINE TOOL GOOGLE TRANSLATE COMPARED TO ONE BY A HUMAN?

4 HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACH John Denham 17th Century against servile character; J.W. Goethe considering the target culture; Friedrich Schleiermacher language mobility either bringing the reader closer to the author or the other way around.

5 HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACH It is almost impossible to translate literaly and well (MILTON, ); literary translations are either faithfuland can only be bad, or they are goodand can only be unfaithful. (Carlo Dossi, Note Azzure, 1912).

6 J. C. CATFORD Translation: unidirectional process, bidirectional act. Source Language (SL), Target Language (TL). Replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL).

7 TRANSLATION CATEGORIES (J. C. CATFORD) Volume full or partial Levels total or restricted Order Limited or non-limited

8 LITERARY TRANSLATION Whereas technical translations should resemble the original as much as possible (Peter Newmark, 2007, p. 106), Literature is a Dynamic System Russian Formalists. Dissimilation cultural shock and strangeness, oftentimes positive. The translator s Transcultural Transit.

9 HUMAN TRANSLATION AND ONLINE TRANSLATION Erwin Theodor: [...] these machines were never created to translate literary works, as there are no robots designed to write dramas [...] (Translation: Craft and Art, 1976, p. 70).

10 METHODOLOGY Moll Flanders: Translation of fragments by GT Original English Text (1.1); Translation by GT (1.2) Comparison to one done by a human (Antônio Alves Cury, Ed. Abril, 1981) (1.3)

11 EXCERPT S ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON

12 1.Epigraph: 1.1 The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv d Honest, and dies a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums...

13 1.2 As fortunas e infortúnios da famosa Moll Flanders & c. Que nasceu em Newgate, e durante uma vida de Variety continu d para sessenta anos, além de sua infância, foi de doze anos uma meretriz, cinco vezes por esposa (da qual uma vez para seu próprio irmão), de doze anos a Thief, de oito anos de um transportado Felon na Virgínia, finalmente cresceu rico, Honest liv d e morre um penitente. Escrito a partir de seus próprios memorandos...

14 1.3 Venturas e Desventuras da Famosa MOLL FLANDERS & Cia. Que viu a luz nas prisões de Newgate e que, ao longo de uma vida rica em vicissitudes, a qual durou três vezes vinte anos, sem levar em conta sua infância, foi durante doze anos prostituta, durante doze anos ladra, casou-se cinco vezes (uma das quais com seu próprio irmão), foi deportada oito anos na Virgínia e que, enfim, fez fortuna, viveu muito honestamente e morreu arrependida; vida contada segundo suas próprias memórias.

15 [...] in Newgate (1.1) [...] em Newgate (1.2) [...] nas prisões de Newgate (1.3)

16 TRANSLATION BY GT (1.2): Some elements of the lexicon were not recognized by the GT and remained nontranslated (continu d, Variety, Felon), even though the tool provides a translation for most of the terms in isolation (Variedade, Criminoso).

17 Partial Translation (Catford) some elements remain non-translated. Is it likely to be on purpose? Restricted (Catford) no substitution of equivalent grammatical material.

18 Limited (Catford) translation follows strictly the order of elements in the original text. No cultural dialogue between texts.

19 HUMAN TRANSLATION: A. CURY Alves Cury brings the target reader closer to the British cultural context when explains Newgate (Schleiermacher);

20 Translation of the excerpt is also Partial (Catford); As for the levels (Catford) it is Total, since equivalent grammatical and lexical material were replaced from the SL to the TL.

21 Non-limited translation, as Alves Cury rearrenges the text elements in order to do a translation that preserves the soul of the original work.

22 It is seen that the GT makes strange choices regarding the formal equivalence: [...] was Twelve Year a Whore (1.1) [...] foi de doze anos uma meretriz (1.2) [...] was Twelve Year of a Whore. Whereas the preposition during appears in the original version, the GT replaces it for the inadequate preposition of.

23 2. CHAPTER II 2.1 [...] but as he had not received much from them, and had in the little time he lived acquired no great matters, so my circumstances were not great [...]

24 2.2 [...] mas como ele não tinha recebido muito com eles, e teve no pouco tempo que viveu adquirido sem grandes questões, por isso as minhas circunstâncias não eram grandes [...] 2.3 [...] mas acontece que ele recebeu muito pouco da família, e não conseguiu nenhuma fortuna durante o curto tempo em que viveu. Minha situação não era lá grande coisa [...]

25 Translation by GT: Full translation by GT Restricted some elements of grammar and lexicon did not find direct equivalents;...had not received much from them... had not received much with them... Limited done word by word.

26 Translation by A. Cury: Full Total Non-limited

27 CULTURAL DIALOGUE The translation from... my circumstances were not great into...minhas circunstâncias não eram grandes......my circumstances were not big. would hardly hold true to the real meaning of the sentence. Also, A. Cury uses idioms from the Brazilian Portuguese context: Minha situação não era lá grande coisa.

28 CONCLUSION The use of imagination and creativity expressed by the means of language, seeking the sublimation of the regular order of thought and ideas is what makes the literary text what it is and should be. The online translation provided by GT is bound to a translation done word by word, bit by bit, ignoring textual groups laden with cultural aspects and context.

29 CONCLUSION CONT. It is thus limited, shallow and presented with a high degree of grammatical and semantic inadequacy. The GT has not been able to deal with the broader meanings of a literary work.

30 AKNOWLEDGMENT Dr. R. A. S. Zacarias FAPESP UNESP FCL

31 REFERENCES [1]. CATFORD, J. C. Uma Teoria linguística da Tradução. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas: Cultrix, [2]. DEFOE, Daniel. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders &C., EBook # 370, 1995, available at: < Acesso em: 22 nov [3]. DEFOE, Daniel. Moll Flanders. Tradução de Antônio Alves Cury. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, [4]. DELILLE, Karl Heinz et al. Problemas da Tradução Literária. Coimbra: Livraria Almedina, 1986.

32 [5]. MILTON, John. O poder da tradução. São Paulo: Ars Poetica, [6]. NEWMARK, Peter. Approaches to translation. Oxford, Pergamon, 1981, 200 p. [7]. NEWMARK, Peter. A New Theory of Translation. Studia Minora Facultatis Philosophicae Universitatis Brunensis. S 13, 2007 BRNO Studies in English 33. [8]. ROCHA, Daniel da Silva (et. al.). A tradução da grande obra literária: depoimentos. São Paulo: Álamo, [9]. THEODOR, Erwin. Tradução: Ofício e Arte. São Paulo: Cultrix, 1976