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1. The theoretical aspects of translation


1.1 Concept of translation

There is a wide opinion that success of translation, firstly, depends on qualification of interpreter, his talent and skills, his knowing of native and foreign languages. So, that is the subjective factors. From this point of view, studying of translation studies can be limited by practical courses of native and foreign languages. However, this way of translating can limit several objective factors. Task of this course is to delineate conditions of adequate translation. We have to put a questions to solve these tasks. The question is «What is the translation?». Before formulating the definition of translation, we have to restrict translation from other linguistic phenomena.

Translation is not «tracing» – direct borrowing of words from another language (for example – names that clearly relate to specific objects or people).
Tracing – just adding new words in a language, borrowed from other languages, such as neologisms, internationalisms, actually are appeared together with meanings of borrowed objects that they represent. Also translation is not a selection of translated words to the terms of the target language, which are not appropriate sense of the translated words. The interpretation of foreign words leads to a kind of linguistic entropy – allocation to one or another notion of the meaning, that doesn’t match it.
In this failure of understanding you can’t blame the interpreter – just impossible to translate it adequately and not to distort the first meaning. If just a language has no adequate translation of the given word, because there is no appropriate denotation. This interpretation is called «creative translation»,» violence against the original version in favor of the traditions of literature» and exactly with the results of «creative translation», mass reader meets more or less rough interpretation of meaning of the translated text.
No less ambiguous is also the term «interpretation» which is synonymous to «translation» and is used to denote the way or manner of presenting the ides of the work in translation orally. These may be artistic, genre and stylistic peculiarities rendered by the translator in his particular way, which is somewhat different from that of the author’s. The thing is that «interpretation» unlike «translation», admits some more freedom of the translator in his treatment (at least in certain places or cases) of the matter under translation. Hence, the existence of free verifications and free adaptation and rightly treated as new creations (when they are of high artistic value). To the letter belong the famous free interpretations of Virgil’s Adenoid in Ukrainian by «I. Kotlyarevskyi» practically «adapted» are also Shakespearean’s masterpieces. Byron’s writings and many other poetic and prose works. Consequently, «interpretation» may denote apart from the oral method of translation also a peculiar, as well as the only way of presenting a prose or poetic work in translation («Interpretation» may also denote the style of a peculiar translator and his way of presenting a particular literary work).
Apart from the two mentioned above, there are some other terms in the theory of translation which may seen ambiguous to the inexperienced student. These usually common terms are: accurate or exact, translation, faithful (or realistic) translation, faithfulness of translation, fidelity of translation/interpretation, equivalent translation, free interpretation, free adaptation; free interpretation, free/loose translation, consecutive interpretation, off-hand translation, rehash, sight translation (translation at sight), simultaneous translation, rough translation and some others.
Each of the above-mentioned terms may be understood and interpreted differently. Thus, «free interpretation» may mean both «free translation», «free adaptation» and sometimes even «loose translation». Similary with the terms and notions as «faithful translation» and «equivalent translation» which are synonymous if not identical by their general meaning, but there is some difference between them. The term «faithful translation» is used to denote the highest level/degree of rendering thedenovative or connotative meanings of words, the sense of word-groups and sentences, the content, the expressiveness of works of the source language with the help of the available means of the target language.
The term «equivalent translation» is nowadays practically used in the same meaning as «faithful translation» with one exception only: it also includes the necessity of quantitative and qualitative representation of all constitutive parts of elements of the source language units in the target language. Consequently, a «faithful translation» very often means the same as «equivalent translation» which can be best illustrated on the single words, word groups or sentences.
The term «translation» is used even to denote purely functional substitutions which have absolutely nothing in common with any expression/rendering of meaning of the source language sense units in the target language.
Translation as a notion is a polysemantic nature. It may imply the process of conveying the meaning of a word, word – group or sentence/ text from one language into another and also the result of the conveying. «Translation» may also denote the subject taught at school.
Translation can be performed either in writing or in viva voice (orally). Hence the people whose office is to convey some written or spoken/ recorded matter in writing are referred to as translators and the people whose office is to render the meaning of any matter in viva voice are referred to as interpreters. Both the activities are equally important though the aims pursued by each of them are somewhat different. Say, an oral «interpretation» cannot be done otherwise than in writing. As a result the process of a written translation has always a materialized expression in the form of a word, word – group, sentence or passage which is left behind as a testimony to some work performed.
The translated matter can sometimes become rather important for a country and enrich its history, literature and culture (the translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey into Latin by Livius Andronicus in the 3rd century B.C. or Martin Luther's translations of the Old and the new Testament into German in the 16th century).
The importance of translating and interpreting in modern society has long been recognized. Practically not a single contact at the international level or even between two persons speaking different languages can be established or maintained without the help of translators or interpreters.
Equally important is translating and interpreting for the functioning of different international bodies (conferences, symposia, congresses etc.) to say nothing about bodies like the World Piece Council or the United Nations Organizations with its councils, assemblies, commissions, committees, sub-committees. These can function smoothly only thanks to an army of translation and interpreters representing different states and working in many different national languages.
Numerous branches of national economies too can keep up with the up-to-date development and progress in the modern world thanks to everyday translating/ interpreting of scientific and technical matter covering various fields of human knowledge and activities. The latter comprise nuclear sciences, exploration of outer space, ecological environment, plastics, mining, chemistry, biology, medicine, machine building, electronics linguistics, etc. Nowadays translation of scientific and technical matter has become a most significant and reliable source of obtaining all-round and up-to-date information on the progress in various fields of science and technology.
The social and political role of translation/ interpreting has probably been most strongly felt for the last hundred years or so. Since the birth of Marxism in the second half of the 19th century and Leninism in the 20th century translation has acquired an extraordinary significance providing for the dissemination of revolutionary materialistic ideas and philosophy in the minds of proletarian and working masses throughout the world.