This dissertation is a self-reflexive study into effective translation strategies. The study focuses primarily on the translation strategies by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995), namely direct and oblique strategies of translation. The strategies are used in the translation of Jeanne Goosen‘s novel Louoond (1987). The novel was chosen on account of the writer‘s unique writing style and the challenges it poses for the prospective translator. One of the key objectives of this study was to comprehensively illustrate Vinay and Darbelnet‘s strategies of translation when translating the novel. The theoretical framework of this study is an analysis of Vinay and Darbelnet‘s translation strategies. The study also aims to give insight into what is meant by translation, translation theory, literary theory and literary translation. The translation of the novel is the final product, but in order to illustrate each procedure of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) examples were taken from this final product. The chapters that follow illustrate the strategies of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) as used in the translation of an Afrikaans text (SL) into English (TL). Conclusions can then be drawn as to whether full equivalence was obtained and whether the translation is deemed successful.

Even though English and French are spoken by people who have shared very similar cultural influences, that of the western European area, and have borrowed words from each other repeatedly for a thousand years or so, their modes of expression reflect basic differences in their conception of reality so that translation from one language into the other becomes a very intricate process. It appeared to us that the most useful guideline and best starting point for assessing where French and English differ, where they resemble each other, and the inherent problems encountered in translating from one language into the other, was outlined in Vinay and DarbeInet’s Stylistique comparée du francais et de l'anglais—Méthode de traduction. Practical applications of this method are illustrated throughout this thesis by translation analyses from selected passages of certain works by Albert Camus which were translated both into British English and into American English. This study therefore uses that method as its basic framework and borrows from it its outline in three main sections. These are, in Vinay and Darbelnet's French terminology: "le lexique", "l'agencement", and "le message". Words do not have a meaning by themselves; their signification is assigned to them by the people who use them. There seldom is a one-to-one relationship between a given word and a particular meaning. The meaning of words is determined by the context of the sentence or utterance in which it is found. There are a variety of ways of interpreting and therefore of translating a given word, groups of words as well as idiomatic expressions and others which, having become part of the language over the centuries, will require the use of certain techniques for their rendering into the other language; this will be the subject of the first section: "le lexique". In most instances, furthermore, sentences cannot be translated without undergoing some change in their structure; this will be examined in the second section: "l’agencement". Finally, once the sentences are organized into paragraphs, there remains for the translator the most delicate task of all, that of ascertaining that all possible hidden meanings can be sensed in his version as they are in the original, that the tone of the latter has been respected in order to achieve total meaning—these questions will be dealt with in the third section: "le message". In their work Stylistique comparée du frangais et de l'anglais, Vinay and Darbelnet have concluded, after an extensive and methodical comparison of the various means by which French and English speaking people express themselves, that most of the differences between the two systems of expression can be classified into seven categories, for each of which they provide a technique of translation. The first three are extremely simple: "l'emprunt", "le calque" and "la traduction littérale"; the other four are progressively more complex: "la transposition", "la modulation", "l'equivalence" and "l'adaptation. While this method does not answer all the problems that may face the translator in translating from one language into another, it provides a useful beginning as illustrated through the analyses in this study. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the mechanics behind the translation of children’s literature through a practical translation from Dutch into English and an introspective commentary thereof. It also examines the cultural disparity and Anglo-American dominance within (translated) children’s literature. Through this translation and study, this thesis would like to contribute to the one-sided literary traffic and point out the cultural consequences this imbalance in trade will hold. Not only for a world library of children’s literature, but also for English speaking children who are increasingly oblivious of foreign literature. This thesis especially addresses the British reluctance towards translated foreign children’s literature due to the strong position of English as a language and the quality of the British national children’s literature. Furthermore, it challenges translation studies to consider the different needs and strategies for the translation of children’s literature. The approach this translator proposed for the translation of De zusjes Kriegel was a functional dialogic approach. This thesis therefore touches upon the developments that have led to the rise and wide applicability of functionalism in the practice of translation. Some of the most salient theorists in translation of children’s literature will also be discussed, specifically focusing on Riitta Oittinen’s ideas on Bakhtinian dialogue and carnivalism in relation to the translation of children’s literature. A functional dialogic approach to the practical translation of De zusjes Kriegel has led to an overall naturalised and domesticated translation in which the source text was adapted to a British target text cultural setting. This strategy was chosen to guarantee positive reception of the translation in the target text culture. A small-scale empirical reception survey has asserted this positive reception and reinforced some of this thesis’ presuppositions, among others that English-speaking children have no access to and no knowledge of foreign literature. Through the success of the practical translation and the positive reception of the target text this study has emphasised the importance and cultural necessity of translating foreign children’s literature into English. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word ondersoek ingestel na die meganismes vir die vertaling van kinderliteratuur, deur middel van ’n praktiese vertaling uit Nederlands in Engels en introspektiewe kommentaar daarop. Die kulturele wanverhoudinge asook Anglo-Amerikaanse dominansie binne (vertaalde) kinderliteratuur word ook ondersoek. Deur middel van hierdie vertaling en studie poog hierdie tesis om by te dra tot die eensydige literêre verkeer van vertaalde werke uit Engels en benadruk die kulturele gevolge wat hierdie wanbalans sal inhou. Dit is nie slegs vir ’n wêreldbiblioteek van kinderliteratuur nie, maar ook vir Engelssprekende kinders, wat toenemend meer onbewus raak van vertaalde letterkunde. In hierdie tesis word die Britse teensinnigheid vir vertaalde vreemde kinderliteratuur, as gevolg van die sterk posisie van die Engelse taal en die hoë gehalte van Britse nasionale kinderliteratuur, in die besonder, bespreek. Verder word die vertaalwetenskap uitgedaag om die behoefte aan en strategieë vir die vertaling van kinderliteratuur in aanmerking te neem. Hierdie vertaler het besluit om ’n funksionalisties dialogiese benadering tot die vertaling van De zusjes Kriegel te volg. Daarom word die ontwikkelings wat gelei het tot die ontstaan en wye toepassing van die funksionalisme in die vertaalpraktyk, bespreek. Verder word van die mees prominente teoretici binne die veld van kinderliteratuurvertaling bespreek en daar word spesifiek gefokus op Riitta Oittinen se idees oor die Bakhtiniaanse dialoog en karnavalisme met betrekking tot die vertaling van kinderliteratuur. ’n Funksionalisties dialogiese benadering tot die praktiese vertaling van De zusjes Kriegel het gelei tot ’n oorwegend geneutraliseerde en gedomestikeerde vertaling waarin die bronteks vir ’n Britse doeltekskultuurkonteks aangepas is. Hierdie strategie is gekies om te verseker dat die doelteksleser die vertaling positief in sy/haar doeltekskultuur sal ontvang. ’n Kleinskaalse empiriese resepsieondersoek het hierdie positiewe resepsie, asook van die tesis se voorveronderstellings bevestig. Dit is onder andere dat Engelssprekende kinders nie toegang tot en kennis van ’n vreemde letterkunde het nie. Deur die geslaagdheid van die praktiese vertaling en die positiewe resepsie van die doelteks beklemtoon hierdie tesis die belangrikheid van, asook kulturele noodsaaklikheid vir die vertaling van kinderliteratuur in Engels.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

M.A. (Applied Linguistics) / The rigid nature of legal language seems to be a major factor contributing to the inaccessibility or unintelligibility of legal texts. This is often also true of the translated texts. As the law plays such an important role in the community at large, influencing and ruling the lives of its members in many ways, it should be accessible to all. The point of departure of this study is therefore the problems surrounding the apparent poor communicative ability of legal texts as well as translated legal texts, not only from the point of view of the uninitiated, but also the initiated, those who are legally literate. In this context, linguistic and extralinguistic characteristics of legal texts, theoretical as well as pragmatic, are identified to illustrate the differences between legal and other technical texts. The development of South African law is discussed in broad terms to illustrate where the various legal categories influencing the nature of legal texts differ or agree. From this it is clear that the South African legal system, while strongly influenced by Roman-Dutch as well as English law, developed indigenously and is therefore unique .. A study of the analysis and interpretation of a legal translation can therefore not, merely with minor adjustment, be compared with studies of legal translation in other countries, because of the vast differences between legal systems.

M.A. / Hermann Hesse is one of the most widely read and translated German authors of our time. The potential problems for the translator posed by the time gap between the original publication of the source text and a contemporary Afrikaans translation is illustrated by means of an analysis and periodisation of some of his fairy tales. Hesse's fairytales were mainly written during the first quarter of the twentieth century and are in many ways representative of the spirit of the times. The radical changes and developments in a modern age touched all aspects of society and its influence on the corresponding German literary movement of the time, the expressionism, is best summarised by the motto: "Change, renewal and intensification" (Best, 1978:11). The diverse literary styles of this movement can be attributed to the different ways writers responded to these changes. Whereas some writers wanted to bring about change by means of ecstatic destruction, others like Hesse had a more moderate view that change could be brought about by means of an inner process. Alienation was another popular expressionist theme. Hesse did not restrict its use to theme only, but applied it as an alienation technique by using historical romanticism in a modern context. Knowledge of genre, hermeneutics, structuralism, formalism and stylistics is a useful tool for the analysis of the fairytales. An analysis of the potential post modern Afrikaans target reader's philosophy of life will further aid the translator in bridging the gap between source and target cultures. In response to the language crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century, Hesse applied a number of non-verbal style techniques. The musical nature of his prose can be seen as an expressive way of dealing with this problem. His narrative style shows influences of modernism in the way he experiments with perspective and focus in order to distinguish between inner and outer world. Change of focus and perspective often goes hand in hand with a change in register. Hesse's use of archetypes and symbols reflects expressionist bias towards abstraction as does his use of irony as an alienation technique. André Lefevere's emphasis on the importance of the ideology, poetics, frame of reference and language (in this sequence) of the target audience, is illustrated and discussed by means of a comparison of selected source text examples with English and Afrikaans translations. These methods of analysis for the fairytales are then applied to the Afrikaans translation of "Piktors Verwandlungen" and "Der Europäer".

A research report submitted before the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand for partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in Translation / The factors which ought to be taken into account in screen translation are considered, in terms of describing the constraints and norms governing one particular translation. The German company ZDF has commissioned a South African studio to dub the television programme, "SOKO 5113: Wenn der Tod zweimal klingelt", into English for various overseas markets. The translation of this programme is analysed, in terms of both those elements which make dubbing the same as 'ordinary' translation, and those which distinguish the two. These include such things as extratextual factors, context, synchronisation and shifts in meaning. The analysis of the translation is based on Descriotive Translation Studies, in that the reasons for certain decisions made during the translation process are considered, as opposed to criticising the final translation product. The analysis is preceded by an introduction to the context of this translation, with a brief discussion of the different types of screen translation and television dubbing in South Africa. The ultimate conclusion is that dubbing does present slightly different challenges to the translator, but it should not be excluded as a branch of the field of translation. / Andrew Chakane 2018