A Literary Translation in the Making: A Process-Oriented Perspective

Description

This book presents a holistic picture of the practice of an experienced literary translator working in situ, highlighting the value of in-depth process studies for the discipline and offering a model for future similar studies. Bringing together Cognitive Translation Studies (CTS) and literary translation, Borg interrogates existing assumptions in CTS and sheds light on the value of a combined look at both cognitive and social processes in literary translation. The volume extends the scope of existing CTS studies with its comprehensive examination of the work of one translator and exploration of the wide range of materials from draft to finished translation. This unique model allows for a greater understanding of the actions, decisions, motivations, and work practices of individual translators as well as of their interactions with other participants in the practice of a literary translation. Making the case for in-depth process research in illuminating the dynamics of translation production and working practices, this innovative book will be of interest to students and scholars in translation and interpreting studies, especially those interested in literary translation and cognitive approaches. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Figures Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Research Questions and Structure of the Book 1 Theoretical Framework: Venturing Beyond Classic Process-Oriented Research 1.1 Cognitive Translation Studies: An Overview 1.2 The Three Phases of the Translation Process 1.3 Decisions in the Translation Process 1.3.1 Definitions 1.3.2 The Structure of Decisions 1.3.3 Conscious and Unconscious Decisions 1.4 Alternative Translation Solutions, Postponed Decisions and Choices 1.4.1 Choosing Between ATSs 1.4.2 Written ATSs: Empirical Evidence From the Literature 1.5 Revision in CTS 1.5.1 Definitions 1.5.2 Self-Revision 1.5.2.1 How Is Self-Revision Defined in the Literature? 1.5.2.2 Empirical Studies of Self-Revision 1.5.2.3 The Effect of Self-Revision On the Translation Process: Do Self-Revisions Deliteralise the Final Translation? 1.5.3 The Post-Drafting Phase 1.5.4 The Post-Translation Process and Other-Revision 1.6 Individual Variation in Translation Processes 1.7 Literary Translation in CTS 1.8 Studies of Draft Translations 1.9 Ethnographic Approaches in CTS 1.10 Case Studies and Generalisation in TS and CTS Notes 2 Context 2.1 The Wider Context: The “Typical” Literary Translator 2.2 The Specific Context 2.2.1 The Coming Into Being of Maltese 2.2.2 The Local Scene: The Book Market and Literary Translation in Malta 2.2.3 The Translator 2.2.4 The ST and Its Author Notes 3 Methods and Data 3.1 Research Design 3.1.1 Data and Data Collection Methods 3.1.2 A Multi-Method Approach 3.1.3 Field Research: An Ethnographic Approach 3.2 Data Analysis Methodology 3.2.1 Data Preparation 3.2.2 Data Analysis Methodology 3.2.2.1 Analysing Revisions and Written ATSs 3.2.2.2 Written ATSs Come in Different Shapes and Sizes 3.2.2.3 Linguistic Categories 3.2.2.4 Going Beyond the Linguistic Categories 3.2.2.5 The Effect of Self-Revisions On the Translation 3.2.2.6 The Reasons Behind the Choice of ATSs in D2 and the Self-Revisions in D7 3.2.2.7 Analysing the Interviews, the Retrospective Sessions and the TPPs Notes 4 A Literary Translation in the Making 4.1 Part I. Analysis of the Initial Interview: How Does the Translator Envisage His Own Literary Translation Process? 4.1.1 Overview of the Phases From the Initial Interview: The Translation Process as Conceived By the Translator 4.1.1.1 Phase 1: Preparing the Groundwork – the Comprehension Phase 4.1.1.2 Phase 2: Producing a Draft Translation 4.1.1.3 Phase 3: Fine-Tuning Phase – Refining the Draft Translation 4.1.1.4 Phase 4: Polishing the Style of the TL 4.1.1.5 Phases 5, 6 and 7: Self-Proofreading, Proofreading and Self-Correcting the Text 4.1.1.6 Phase 8: The Publication Phase – Typesetting, Layout and Printing 4.1.1.7 Translating Monsieur Ibrahim 4.2 Part II. Textual Analysis of Draft 1 4.2.1 Succinct Analysis of Draft 1 4.2.1.1 Lexical Variety and Translation Strategies 4.2.1.2 Creative Solutions 4.2.1.3 Paragraphing and Sentence Boundaries 4.2.2 The Very First Self-Revisions: Online Self-Revisions in D1 4.2.2.1 Classification I: Linguistic Categories 4.2.2.2 Classification II: The Effect of OSRs On the TT 4.3 Part III. Rich Description of the Translator’s Approach to the Translation 4.3.1 Phase 3: Self-Revision of Draft 1 Yielding Draft 2 4.3.1.1 Routines, Patterns and Linearity Other Recurrent Process Routines 4.3.1.2 Essentially Linear Approach 4.3.1.3 Decision-Making in Phase 3 4.3.1.4 Dictionaries and Other Influences 4.3.1.5 Exploring Creative Solutions and Personal Preferences What Happened to the Creative Solutions in D1 and What Is Their Raison D’être? 4.3.1.6 Lexical Variety 4.3.1.7 Thinking About Think-Aloud 4.3.2 Phase 4: Self-Revision of Draft 2 Yielding Draft 3 4.3.2.1 The Translator’s Approach to Draft 2 4.3.2.2 Type of Self-Revisions Made and Underlying Motivations 4.3.2.3 Alternating Between Reading Aloud and Thinking Aloud 4.3.2.4 The Next Step 4.3.3 Phase 5: Self-Revision of Draft 3 Yielding Draft 4 4.3.4 Phase 6: Proofreading of Draft 4 Yielding Draft 5 4.3.4.1 Classification of Other-Revisions in Draft 5 4.3.4.2 Analysis of the First Retrospective Session (RS1) 4.3.5 Phase 7: Self-Correcting the Proofreader’s Version 4.3.6 The Retrospective Interview: Looking Back at the Translator’s Experience in this Project and at His Process Up to Phase 7 4.3.7 Phase 8: The Publication Phase 4.3.7.1 Analysis of Draft 7 4.3.7.2 Analysis of Draft 8 4.3.7.3 Analysis of Draft 9 4.3.7.4 The Final Product 4.4 Part IV. Written Alternative Translation Solutions 4.4.1 Written ATSs in Draft 1 4.4.1.1 Written ATSs Come in Different Shapes and Sizes 4.4.1.2 Distribution of Written ATSs in D1 4.4.1.3 Linguistic Categories 4.4.1.4 Going Beyond the Linguistic Categories 4.4.2 Written ATSs: From Draft 2 Onwards 4.4.2.1 The Effect of Written ATSs On the TT: Literality of the Solutions in the Published TT 4.4.2.2 Tackling the Written ATSs: Reasons Behind the Solutions Chosen in Draft 2 4.5 Summing Up Notes 5 From a Handwritten First Draft to the Published Version 5.1 The Translation Process 5.1.1 Phases: Their Function and Pace Phase 1: Preparing the Groundwork – the Comprehension Phase Phase 2: Producing a Draft Translation Phase 3: Redrafting – Fine-Tuning the Draft Translation Phase 4: Polishing the Style of the Target Language Phase 5: Self-Proofreading 5.1.2 A Compartmentalised and Incremental Process Resulting From Strategic Behaviour 5.1.3 Questioning the Subdivision of the Translation Process Into Three Fixed Phases Phases 6 and 7: Dealing With the Proofreader and His Revisions Phase 8: Dealing With the Publisher 5.2 The Post-Translation Process 5.3 A Process Characterised By Time Gaps 5.4 Summing Up Notes 6 Decision-Making and Underlying Motivations 6.1 Alternative Translation Solutions 6.1.1 The Structure of Decisions: Accounting for Written ATSs and Postponed Decisions 6.2 Self-Revisions 6.2.1 Amount and Type of Self-Revisions Across the Phases 6.2.2 The Effects of Self-Revision On the TT 6.2.3 Reasons Underlying Translatorial Decisions and Choices Contradictions Or Complexity of Translatorial Decisions? 6.2.4 Delving Deeper Into Personal Preferences, Their Roots and Their Reach 6.3 The Translator’s Self-Concept 6.4 Matching Intentions With Actions 6.5 Summing Up Notes 7 Conclusion 7.1 Evaluation and Implications of the Findings 7.2 Limitations 7.3 Contributions 7.4 (Future-)Looking at the Individual Translator Appendix 1 Evolution of the Translation – Corpus Sample Appendix 2 Sample of a TPP (Extract) Contents Section A – General Notes Section B – The Part of the Already Revised TT Read By the Translator at the Beginning of the Session Before Continuing … Section C – The Part of the TT Revised During this Session (Extract) Section D – Specific Notes (Extract) Appendix 3 Analysis of Reasons Behind the Choice of Written ATSs in D2 and Self-Revisions in D7 Appendix 4 Codes Used in NVivo List of NVivo Codes for TPP01–18 (Phase 3) NVivo Codes for TPP19–20 (Phase 4) Appendix 5 Phases 3 and 4 Sessions References Index