Motion Conceptualization and Translation Difficulties (Based on English and Romanian)

Abstract

The article examines the strategies applied in the translation of motion events from English into Romanian, taking into account the typological differences between these two languages, in Talmy’s terms, that is English expresses the manner of motion in the main verb and the path is encoded in elements called satellites, while Romanian encodes the motion and the path in the verb, leaving the manner of motion to subordinating constituents. For translators of narrative texts, these typological differences represent significant challenges, as it is demonstrated through the analysis of the material (the original text and the translation of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien), given that they have to preserve the plasticity of the original in rendering the motion (implicitly, of the character), the fidelity of the created mental image and of the narrative’s dynamics (determined by text extension). Therefore, we consider essential the exploration of the aesthetic dimension of the present narrative text, considering that the task of translators is to assure a trade-off between text’s economy, plasticity and stylistic image.

Cuvinte-cheie: mişcare, verbe de mişcare, cale, manieră, naraţiune, traducere

REZUMAT

Articolul examinează strategiile aplicate în traducerea din engleză în română a unităţilor care denumesc mişcarea. În acest caz, se ţine cont de „diferenţele tipologice” dintre aceste două limbi, diferenţele date fiind concepute în termenii teoriei lui Talmy, când în limba engleză mişcarea se exprimă prin verbul principal, iar „traiectoria” acesteia este redată de elementele-sateliţi. În română, mişcarea şi „traiectoria” acesteia sunt exprimate prin verb, iar „modalitatea” mişcării – prin elemente subordonatoare. Pentru traducătorii de texte narative, aceste diferenţe tipologice reprezintă provocări semnificative[1], având în vedere faptul că ei trebuie (1) să păstreze prin traducere plasticitatea originalului în redarea mişcării (implicit, a personajului), (2) să rămână fideli în traducere imaginii mentale create de autorul textului şi dinamicii naraţiunii (determinată de extensiunea textului). Cele menţionate ne fac să considerăm esenţială şi explorarea dimensiunii estetice a textului narativ dat, având în vedere că sarcina traducătorilor este de a asigura un compromis între caracterul econom al textului, plasticitatea şi imaginea lui stilistică.

[1] Fapt confirmat de analiza textului original şi a celui tradus ale cărţii „Stăpânul inelelor” de J. R. R. Tolkien.

LANGUAGES OF PUBLICATION

English (main text); English and Romanian (corpus)

UDC: 811.111’25:811.135.1

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Received: February 13, 2015 | Reviewed: February 25, 2015 | Accepted for publication: February 27, 2015

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