Culture Bumps: An Empirical Approach to the Translation of Allusions (Topics in Translation)

259 Pages·1997·1 MB·English

by  Ritva Leppihalme

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title: Culture Bumps : An Empirical Approach to the Translation of
Allusions Topics in Translation ; 10
author: Leppihalme, Ritva.
publisher: Multilingual Matters
isbn10 | asin: 1853593737
print isbn13: 9781853593734
ebook isbn13: 9780585120317
language: English
subject Translating and interpreting, Allusions.
publication date: 1997
lcc: P306.2.L46 1997eb
ddc: 418/.02
subject: Translating and interpreting, Allusions.
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Page i
Culture Bumps

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Page ii
TOPICS IN TRANSLATION
Series Editors: Susan Bassnett (University of Warwick)
Edwin Gentzler (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Editor for Annotated Texts for Translation: Beverly Adab (Aston University, Birmingham)
Editor for Translation in the Commercial Environment: Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown
(Aardvark Translation Services Ltd)
Other Books in the Series
Annotated Texts for Translation: French - English
BEVERLY ADAB
Annotated Texts for Translation: English - French
BEVERLY ADAB
Linguistic Auditing
NIGEL REEVES and COLIN WRIGHT
Paragraphs on Translation
PETER NEWMARK
Practical Guide for Translators
GEOFFREY SAMUELSSON-BROWN
The Coming Industry of Teletranslation
MINAKO O'HAGAN
Translation, Power, Subversion
ROMAN ALVAREZ and M. CARMEN-AFRICA VIDAL (eds)
Words, Words, Words: The Translator and the Language Learner
GUNILLA ANDERMAN and MARGARET ROGERS
Other Books of Interest
About Translation
PETER NEWMARK
Cultural Functions of Translation
C. SCHÄFFNER and H. KELLY-HOLMES (eds)
Discourse and Ideologies
C. SCHÄFFNER and H. KELLY-HOLMES (eds)
Please contact us for the latest book information:
Multilingual Matters Ltd, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall,
Victoria Road, Clevedon, England, BS21 7HH

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Page iii
Culture Bumps
An Empirical Approach to the Translation of Allusions
Topics in Translation 10
Ritva Leppihalme
Series Editors: Susan Bassnett (University of Warwick)
Edwin Gentzler (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD
Clevedon * Philadelphia * Toronto * Sydney * Johannesburg

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Page iv
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Leppihalme, Ritva
Culture Bumps: An Empirical Approach to the Translation of Allusions
Ritva Leppihalme
Topics in Translation: 10
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. Translating and interpreting. 2. Allusions. I. Title. II. Series.
P306.2.L46 1997
418'.02-dc21 97-7446
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1-85359-374-5 (hbk)
ISBN 1-85359-373-7 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters Ltd
UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH.
USA: 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007, USA.
Canada: OISE, 712 Gordon Baker Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2H 3R7.
Australia: P.O. Box 586, Artamon, NSW, Australia.
South Africa: PO Box 1080, Northcliffe 2115, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Copyright © 1997 Ritva Leppihalme.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by
any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
Typeset by Bookcraft, Stroud.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by WBC Book Manufacturers Ltd

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Page v
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
1. Introduction 1
1
Culture-Oriented Translation Studies
2
Culture-Bound Translation Problems
3
AllusionsCulture Bumps?
5
The Concept of Allusion
2. Translational Issues 13
13
Translation as Communication
13
Approaches to Translation
15
Senders and Receivers
18
The Translator as Competent Reader and Responsible Text Producer
21
The Invisible Target Text Audience
24
The Concept of Translation Strategy
24
Problem-Solving Translating
26
A Descriptive or Prescriptive Concept?
3. Analysis: Hide and Seek 31
31
Functions of Allusions
31
Function and Effect
37
Thematic Allusions
40
Humour in Allusions
44
Use of Allusions for Characterisation

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Page vi
46
Allusions as Indicators of Interpersonal Relationships
50
Creative versus Stereotyped use of Allusions
53
Clichés and Proverbs
55
Forms of Allusions
57
Expressions of Comparison
59
Ways of Modifying Allusions
62
The Recognisability of Allusions
66
Sources of Allusions
66
Proper-Name Allusions
68
Key-Phrase Allusions
4. Problem-solving: Theory and Practice 78
78
Potential Strategies for Allusions
85
Translator Attitudes and Comments on Strategies
90
Reverbalisation: Realisations of Strategies
90
Strategies used for Proper-Name Allusions
94
Strategies used for Key-Phrase Allusions
102
Possible Reasons for the Predominant Strategy
105
Problem-Solving in Practice: Choosing from a Wide Range of Strategies
5. Empirical Data on Reader Responses 132
133
Notes on the Finnish Target Culture
135
Questions of Method
135
Designing the Experiments
139
Purpose of the Experiments
140
Arranging the Experiments
142
Culture Bumps? Reader Responses to Allusions in Target Texts
142
Responses to Literal Translations
162
Responses to other Strategies
6. Allusions in the Classroom (The Novice Translator Stumbles) 178
178
Empirical Data on Student Recognition of Source-text Allusion

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Page vii
186
Student Interpretations and Suggestions of Strategies
191
Implications for Translator Training
7. Concluding Remarks 196
Bibliography 198
198
I. Examples used
198
A. Fiction
199
B. Non-fiction
200
II. Target Texts
200
III. Works Cited
209
IV. Interviews
Appendix 1. The Translator Interviews 210
Appendix 2. Details on Respondents (GRT, KLA, TSE) 212
Appendix 3. The GRT Questionnaire 216
Appendix 4. The KLA Questionnaire 219
Appendix 5. The TSE Questionnaire 220
Appendix 6. Source Text Extracts (GRT and KLA) 222
Appendix 7. Source Text Extracts (TSE) 232
Index 239

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Page viii
Preface
The cultural turn taken by translation studies over the past 15 years is no doubt related partly to the increasing internationalisation of
our world and the consequent need for more and better translation. In today's world it is easy to see that for a translation to work, we
have to go beyond mere words. It is not enough to work out how best to render the words of the source text; it is much more important
to work out what the words mean in a particular situational and cultural context.
The term 'culture shock', which describes the result of sudden contact with another culture, implies a shock to the entire system. For
less serious upsets, the term 'culture bump' has been suggested. Carol M. Archer (1986) has used the term of problems in face-to-face
communication, culture bumps occurring between speakers of different cultural backgrounds, but we may observe culture bumps in
reading situations as well, when culture-bound elements hinder communication of the meaning to readers in another language culture.
Allusions are one type of culture-bound elements in a text. They are expected to convey a meaning that goes beyond the mere words
used. George Steiner (1991) may deplore the fact that Britain is no longer, with pollution and the Channel Tunnel, set in a silver sea.
This phrase will remind many of his readers of a passage in Shakespeare eulogising sixteenth-century England as a 'demi-paradise'. A
Finnish industrialist talking about leadership styles will convey his meaning clearly to the vast majority of Finnish adults by urging
managers to emulate Koskela, rather than lieutenant Lammio. These two characters in The Unknown Soldier are so well known in his
country that no further descriptions are needed.
But as culture-bound elements, allusions depend largely on familiarity to convey meaning. To take an example: an American
journalist discussing problems with the planned health-care reform in the United States compared the cost issue to the Cheshire Cat,
explaining that 'it may sometimes vanish, leaving behind only a smile: the promise of new benefits. But the cat is still thereand it's
rapidly growing into a tiger' (Peterson, 1994). The

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