Translation Studies: History, Definition, And Scope

 Translation Studies: History, Definition, And Scope

Introduction:

Translation studies is an academic interdiscipline dealing with the systematic study of the theory, description and application of translation, interpreting, and localization. As an interdiscipline, translation studies borrow much from the various fields of study that support translation. These include comparative literature, computer science, history, linguistics, philology, philosophy, semiotics, and terminology.

The term "translation studies" was coined by the Amsterdam-based American scholar James S. Holmes in his 1972 paper "The name and nature of translation studies", which is considered a foundational statement for the discipline.(Wikipedia)

History of Translation:

Different theories surround translation throughout history, which gives insight into how, when, and where translation has been used. First, the word "translation" was derived from a Latin phrase that means "to bring or carry across." Second, another explaining phrase is "metaphrasis," which was derived from Ancient Greek, meaning "to speak across." Finally, from the word metaphrasis, the word metaphrase was derived to mean "word for word translation".

It is said that translation was done in the Mesopotamia era, where Gilgamesh (Sumerian poem) was translated into the Asian language. Other ancient translation works include Buddhist monks translating Indian texts into Chinese. Other ancient translated works include those carried out by Buddhist monks who translated Indian documents into Chinese. In later periods, Ancient Greek texts were also translated by Roman poets and were adapted to create developed literary works for entertainment. It is known that translation services were utilised in Rome by Cicero and Horace and that these uses were continued through to the 17th century, where newer practices were developed.

It is argued that the knowledge and findings of Greek academics was developed and understood so widely thanks to the translation work of Arabic scholars. When the Greeks were conquered, their works were taken in by Arabic scholars who translated them and created their own versions of the scientific, entertainment and philosophical understandings. These Arabic versions were later translated into Latin, during the Middle Ages, mostly throughout Spain and the resulting works provided the foundations of Renaissance academics. Religion played such a critical role in translation development that the church even names Saint Jerome as the patron saint of translation. Saint Jerome created a Latin bible in 4th century AD. 

 In some cases, working as a translator was incredibly dangerous and some even lost their lives because of their work. This included famous translators such as William Tyndale, who was executed in Holland in 1536 because he worked on translating the bible into English. Other famous translators include:

Chinese monk Xuanzang who in 645 AD was credited with having translated 74 volumes on Indian Buddhist scripts into Chinese.(Kwintessential)

Definition of Translation: 

Roman Jakobson, a leading linguist and noted expert in the subject of translation, defined translation as "the interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language." Through this process of translation, texts in one language are transformed into texts in another language with the same meaning. These materials range from the isolated words in a language to the complex network of sentences of philosophical texts. 

Some scholars define translation as an art or craft and some others call it a science. It is called an art as all good translations are expressions of the creative urge of the translators. Likewise, it is a science because of the technical formalities and complexities involved in its process. 

Oxford University defines translation as ‘The process of translating words or text from one language into another:’ The Cambridge Dictionary also endorses that. This can mean the word to word rendering of the text in one language to another or replacing the equivalents of the words or phrases in one text to another. The translated text may have formal equivalence when the source text and the translated text look alike in form. It may have functional equivalence when the source text and the target text or translated text convey the same sense or perform the same function, though they have formal 4 differences. It is often seen that the idioms and usage of the source language creep into the target language through translations which often enrich and shape the target language.

 Translation is the communication of the meaning of a text in a source language (SL) into a comprehensive version of target language (TL) without causing any loss to the original message. It is often thought that if one is a bilingual s/he can be a good translator, which is not the truth. People having good communicative and writing experiences in both the languages can be good translators, which includes their being bilinguals. While translating, a translator discovers the meaning of a text behind the forms in the source language (SL) and reproduces the same meaning in the target language (TL) with the forms and structures available in the target language. The form changes but the meaning or sense or message remains the same. 

Nowadays we find translators using computers to translate one language into another, but human beings still play the major role in deciding the final output. While translating images/metaphors and emotive expressions in literary texts, computers cannot replace human beings. Translating is more than simply looking up a few words in a dictionary. We cannot confine translation to one or two definitions. It is elastic in nature and depends upon the person who does the translation. It differs from language to language, and from culture to culture. Hence it is not as easy as it is thought to be. While trying to be a different version of the original, it maintains its own uniqueness, an identity of its own. 

Scope of Translation

In the earlier days, translation was considered to be a sub-branch of linguistics. Gradually it developed into an inter-disciplinary field of study. In the last three decades of the 20th century Translation Studies started functioning as an autonomous branch of study. 

Today, in this age of globalization, the scope of translation is immense. It stretches from our immediate environment to every sphere of life. The significance and relevance of translation in our daily life is multidimensional and extensive. 

Translation helps us to know about the developments in the field of creative arts, education, literature, business, science and politics. It has shifted from the traditional conception of the fixed, stable and unchangeable nature of the text and its meaning to a text with wide scope for variations. 

In the post-modern word, translation has become so relevant that people visualize it as a socio-cultural bridge between communities and countries. People now feel the importance of interacting and remaining connected with the people of other socio-cultural communities, both in their respective countries as well as countries across the world. In this backdrop, translation has acquired an increasing importance and satisfies individual, societal and national needs. Let’s take the Indian society as an example. Whatever we see as Indian, be it literature, culture, history, politics, economics, it is a reality only because translation has made it possible for people to understand, interpret and compile the literature, culture, history, politics and economics of the respective states. In other words, we can say that it has become a unifying factor for the country. K Satchidandnandan, eminent poet, critic and former Secretary of the Sahitya Akaedmi, India has rightly said: “Translation has helped knit India together as a nation throughout her history. Ideas and concepts like 'Indian literature', 'Indian culture', 'Indian philosophy' and 'Indian knowledge systems' would have been impossible in the absence of translations with their natural integrationist mission.”

References:

1.Bassnett, Susan. (2002): Translation studies. London: Routledge. 

2. Cronin, Michael. (2003). Translation and globalization. London: Routledge. 

3. Holmes, James S. (1988): The Name and Nature of Translation Studies. In Holmes, J.S., Translated! Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies. Amsterdam: 

4. Munday, Jeremy (ed.) (2007): Translation as Intervention. London: Continuum.

 5. Nida, Eugene A. (1964). Toward a science of translating: With special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible translating. Leiden: Brill. (p.11)

 6. Rodopi, 67-80. Reprinted e.g. in Venuti, L. (ed.) (2000), The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 172-185.

 7. Will, Frederic (1993). Translation: Theory and Pracitce-Resembling the Tower. The Edwin Mellen Press.P. 187. 

8. Wolf, Michaela/Fukari, Alexandra (eds.) (2007), Constructing a Sociology of Translation. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation 

10. http://ezinearticles.com/?Translation---Significance-and-Scope &id=753318

 11. http://www.translationindia.com/ 

12. http://itaindia.org/

 13. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Translator-as-a-careeroption/articleshow/12893162.cms

 14. http://employmentnews.gov.in/Career_in_Translation.asp 

15. http://www.indiaeducation.net/careercenter/professional-courses/translators-interpreters/