Retranslation and Shifting Constraints

Abstract

The article hereby is an inquiry into a case of translation republishing, where extensive changes in the latter version are present despite the fact that the agents of the process are the same. The case is a fruitful source of discussion for translation studies since it provides constancy of significant variables while the translation products are considerably different. Through a descriptive study of such a case, varying constraints under which the agents operate are attempted to be revealed. Such revelation is also significant insofar as it provides a new perspective on the motives behind retranslation, which has been an amply discussed issue. In addition, the observed change in the constraints leading to non-conformism and a related change of macro-strategy observed in the retranslation seem to provide significant insight into the role of cultural, communicative and contextual factors in translator behaviour, which has important implications for translator training. The analyzed case also provides ground for the reconsideration of some of the common central concepts in translation studies today, as it seems to be buoyed up in the blurry boundaries between these concepts. Such conceptual discussion is increasingly becoming essential for translation studies as the body of research in translation studies calls for more and more precise terminology with each passing day.

Keywords

• retranslation,self-retranslation,translator training,non-conformism,skopos

References

1. Akbulut, Ayşe Nihal. 2008. “Çeviride Özbetimlemenin Önemi.” Litera 21 (1): 1-19.
2. Alvstad, Cecilia, and Alexandra Assis Rosa. 2015. “Voice in Retranslation: An Overview and Some Trends.” Target 27 (1): 3–24.
3. Baker, Mona, and Gabriella Saldanha, eds. 2009. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
4. Bond, Tim. 2010. Standards and Ethics for Counselling in Action. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
5. Bond, Tim. 2013. Psikolojik Danışma Uygulamalarında Etik ve Standartlar. Translated by Binnur Yeşilyaprak. Ankara: Nobel Akademik.
6. Bond, Tim. 2016. Psikolojik Danışmanlıkta Etik ve Yasal Konular. Translated by Binnur Yeşilyaprak. Ankara: Nobel Akademik.
7. Bond, Tim. 2017. Psikolojik Danışmanlıkta Etik ve Yasal Konular. Translated by Binnur Yeşilyaprak. Ankara: Nobel Akademik.
8. Geçmen, Kerem. 2018. “Retranslation, Agency and the Interplay between Conflicting Constraints: A Case of Non-Conformist Self-Retranslation.” Paper presented at the Enriching Translation Studies through Rereadings Symposium, Istanbul, March 28.

9. Grutman, Rainier and Trish Van Bolderen. 2014. “Self-Translation.” In A Companion to Translation Studies, edited by Sandra Bermann and Catherine Porter, 323-332. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
10. Güneş, Alper Zafer. 2018. “Retranslation: What Is in a Concept?” Paper presented at the 5th International Asoscongress, Istanbul, October 26.
11. LaPorte, Joseph. 2004. Natural Kinds and Conceptual Change. New York: Cambridge University Press.
12. Merkle, Denise. 2008. “Translation Constraints and the ‘Sociological Turn’ in Literary Translation Studies.” In Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury, edited by Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger and Daniel Simeoni, 175-186. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
13. Meylaerts, Reine. 2008. “Translators and (Their) Norms: Towards a Sociological Construction of the Individual”. In Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury, edited by Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger and Daniel Simeoni, 91-102. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
14. Nord, Christiane. 1997. Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.
15. Paloposki, Outi and Koskinen, Kaisa. 2010. “Reprocessing Texts: The Fine Line between Retranslating and Revising”. Across Languages and Cultures 11 (1): 29-49. doi:10.1556/Acr.11.2010.1.2.
16. Peng, Wenqing. 2017. “Self-Retranslation as Intralingual Translation: Two Special Cases in the English Translations of San Guo Yan Yi”. Language and Semiotic Studies 3 (2): 110-127. Jiangsu: Soochow University Press.
17. Raw, Laurence. 2012. Translation, Adaptation and Transformation. London: Continuum.
18. Shuttleworth, Mark. 1997. Dictionary of Translation Studies. New York: Routledge.
19. Tahir-Gürçağlar, Şehnaz. 2009. “Retranslation.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha, 233-236. London: Routledge.
20. Toury Gideon. 1980. “The Translators as a Nonconformist-to-Be, or: How to Train Translators So As to Violate Translational Norms.” In Angewandte Übersetzungswissenschaft: Internationales Übersetzungswissenschaftliches Kolloquium an der Wirtschaftsuniversität Århus, edited by Sven-Olaf Poulsen and Wolfram Wills, 180-194. Arhus: Arhus.
21. Toury Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
22. Vermeer, Hans J. 1996. A Skopos Theory of Translation: Some Arguments for and against. Heidelberg: TEXTconTEXT.