Explicitation in translations of prose-fiction from English to Hebrew as a function of norms

Abstract

RACHELWEISSBROD AbstractThe underlying assumption of this article is that explicitation in translation is not, äs previous research has suggested, solely a universal tendency or a function of the position of the languages involved in the act of translation on a literacy/orality scale. It is norm-dependent and thus changes with historical circumstances and according to the Position of translated literature within the target-culture.In the present article, translations of prose-fiction from English to Hebrew published during the 1960s and 1970s serve äs a casestudy for the examination of explicitation from the perspective suggested above. These two decades form a dynamic period in the history of literary translation into Hebrew. The different attitudes to explicitation and the changes that took place in them during these years were marked, and they corresponded to general processes of change in translated literature in Hebrew. I have chosen to focus on translations from English because they occupied a central place in translated literature in those years, äs Israeli culture became more and more involved with Western, and especially American culture. L Exßlicitation in translationExplicitation in translation means turning the implicit (in the source-text) into the explicit (in the translation). This may be performed in various ways: by replacing pronouns with proper nouns; by turning metaphors into similes thereby exposing the act of comparison; and, on the syntactical level, by filling in ellipses and adding conjunctions.The tendency to explicitate is very common in translation. It was recognized in research carried out in the fields of translation, linguistics and communication, for example by Levenston (1985), Blum-Kulka (1986), Zellermayer (1987, Ben-Ari (1988: 65-68). Once recognized, researchers attempted to explain its nature and usage.

Celebrity anti-Semitism – A translation studies perspective

“…The latter option, "definition," spells out meanings that may be hidden in -but not stated by -the original slur. In this respect, this translational solution is in line with the tendency of translators to explicitate (Weissbrod, 1992;Pápai, 2004;Englund Dimitrova, 2005). Explicitation is considered one of the universals of translation -"linguistic features which typically occur in translated texts and are thought to be the almost inevitable by-products of the process of mediation between two languages" (Laviosa, 2002: 43).…”

“…This explanation is supported by the fact that the incriminating quotations often appear in the headlines of articles, thus calling attention to the scandalous event (e.g., Perry, 2005;Rapoport, 2006;Ynet, 2011). Translation studies offer an additional explanation: translators' tendency to explicitate (Weissbrod, 1992;Pápai, 2004;Englund Dimitrova, 2005) and hyperbolize (Toury, 1977: 184). Translators have been found to intensify "cruder stylistic values, especially the most pronounced of them, which are designed to produce a powerful effect" (Levý, 2011: 111).…”

Explicitness in translation and interpreting: A critical review and some empirical evidence (of an elusive concept)

“…When considering the concept of explicitness in translation studies, it is useful to distinguish between linguistically-oriented approaches to translation (House 1997(House , 2006Steiner 2004;Doherty 2002;Fabricius-Hansen 1996, which usually employ the term "explicitness" on the one hand, and translation-theory and translation-practice-oriented approaches (e.g. Weissbrod 1992;Olohan and Baker 2000), which tend to consider explicitness in terms of "explicitation" on the other. 1 Between these two approaches a third, slightly different notion of "explicitation", influenced by discourse analysis, sociology of language, and relevance theory, emerged in interpreting studies.…”

“…In the translation-theory and translation-practice-oriented approaches to explicitness in translation, the focus is placed on explicitation, i.e., the process that results in increased explicitness in the translated text as opposed to its source text. Explicitation is variously described as a "strategy" or "technique" and "process" (Weissbrod 1992;Pápai 2004;Blum-Kulka 1986;Baker 1996;Olohan and Baker 2000). While the first two terms stress the translators' conscious decision to deviate from the information given in the source text, "process" defines explicitation as an involuntary departure from the information given in the source text, evoked by the specific conditions of cognitive language processing during language mediation.…”

Zur Wiedergabe deutscher erweiterter Attribute in authentischen norwegischen Übersetzungen

“…Vgl. zu dieser Thematik auch Weissbrod (1992), Schreiber (1993:231f), Doherty (1996:451), Øverås (1996:47-51 und 55), Schmied und Schäffl er (1997), Steiner (2001: 181ff) und Solfjeld (2000Solfjeld ( :117f und 2001. Bei zwei nahe ver wandten Sprachen wie Deutsch und Norwegisch lassen sich relativ leicht lexi ka lische Entsprechungen zwischen den Originaltexten und über-setz ten Tex ten identifi zieren, d.h.: man kann verhältnismäßig leicht fest stellen, in wie fern (und gegebenenfalls wo) sich lexikalische Kompo nenten im Ori ginal als explizite lexikalische Komponenten in der Über setzung wie der fi nden lassen -oder etwa inwieweit lexi ka lische Kom ponenten ver schwinden oder hinzukommen; vgl.…”