Accommodation in Translation
Abstract: Faithfulness was once considered the iron rule in translation in the history
of translation in China as well as in the West. Yet when we take a closer look,
accommodation, or adaptation, is found in most published translations. This article
attempts to investigate the reasons why accommodation is frequently needed and enumerates
the following types of accommodation translators or interpreters make in their work:
cultural accommodation; collocation accommodation; ideological accommodation; aesthetic
accommodation.
What does accommodation mean?
Accommodation in this article is considered a synonym of adaptation which means
changes are made so the target text produced is in line with the spirit of the original.
A text which is not obviously a translation in the traditional sense is thus created.
Here, we must in the first place define translation. Translation consists of providing,
in the receptor language, the closest natural equivalent of the source language
message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. (Nida, 1984).
Is translation a scientific study or artistic endeavor, researchable theory or technical
craft, a branch of linguistics or of literature? It seems that all of these definitions
have their advocates among translators and those who have sought to characterize
its theory and its practice. Here the somewhat sterile debates about translation
as a process or translation as a product give way to fresh opportunities to cohere
the semiotic, the linguistic, the social, the cultural and the psychological perspectives
on communicating. In short, it offers a broader concept of what it means to understand
(Christopher N Candlin: the General Editor's Preface of Discourse and the Translator
by Basil Hatim & Ian Mason.1990). We believe translation is not merely linguistic
conversion or transformation between languages but it involves accommodation in
scope of culture, politics, aesthetics, and many other factors.
Translation, in terms of methodology, may be literal translation or free translation,
which used to be an irreconcilable dilemma in translation circles on which unfortunately
no authoritative conclusion has been reached. In China, it is agreed by many that
one should "translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free translation"
(Fan Zhongying, 1994: 97). Yet few abide by such a rule for reasons that will be
discussed shortly. The opposite of adaptation is transcription, which is a word-for-word
method of translation rarely applied in translation practice with the exception
of lists and catalogues, because linguistic differences forbid us from doing so,
especially when the two languages belong to quite different language families such
as English and Chinese.
Accommodation is also translation, a free, rather than literal, kind of translation.
Moreover, it is inevitable in practice if the translation is to maintain the source
message's essence, impact, and effect. The theoretical bases of this statement will
be the topic of the next section.
Theoretical Bases
In the West there is an interesting saying: A translation is like a woman: if it
is faithful, it is not beautiful; if it is beautiful, it is not faithful. The faithfulness-beauty
contrast was often used by Chinese translators to describe the effect of a piece
of translated work. Most would rather prefer faithfulness to beauty when evaluating
a translation. I suspect the reason is most probably that the Chinese traditional
morals or values influence the translators' choice. Academically, it is the dispute
between source-centered and target-centered trends. During most of the history of
translation both in China and the West, source-centeredness was regarded a priority
and was strictly followed. More than one hundred years ago, during the Qing Dynasty,
Yan Fu, who was a household name in the Chinese translation circles placed faithfulness
as the first o his three-word principle: faithfulness, smoothness, and elegance.
Lu Xun, a well-known translator and man of letters, is a strong supporter of such
a view and his translations co-authored with his brother evidently proved his idea,
although their translations were accused by some as unnatural or even non-understandable
(Chen Fukang: 2000). Similarly, in the West, A. F. Tytler (1747-1814) proposed his
principles:
A translation should:
give a complete transcript of the ideas and sentiments in the original passage
maintain the character of the style
have the ease and flow of the original text. (A. F. Tytler: 1790)
This is cited here to demonstrate the historical fact that source-centeredness was
prevalent, not to prove that these principle are wrong or should be abandoned altogether.
Instead, one should study them seriously and apply them in practice. Our suggestion
is that if for linguistic or cultural reasons the source cannot be transcribed,
we must make accommodations rather than translate it literally. As a matter of fact,
accommodations are made exactly to preserve the original style or manner. As translation
theories develop, a shift can be observed from source to target, from form to content
and meaning which is essential in any form of human communication.
In modern times, a new theory appeared to offer a compromise. It was proposed by
by Christiane Nord (2001), who introduced a pair of terms: Documentary (preserve
the original exoticizing setting) vs. instrumental translation (adaptation of the
setting to the target culture). Whether a translation ought to be instrumental or
documentary when cultural and historical elements are involved is therefore the
translator's decision. If s/he focuses on the transmission of the original flavor
for the reader's reference, documentary translation is preferred; if s/he mainly
intends to convey the information for basic communication, instrumental translation
is sufficient. Moreover, if the purpose of a translation is to achieve a particular
purpose for the target audience, anything that obstructs the achievement of this
purpose is a translation error. This is significant in its emphasis on the target-centeredness.
Accommodation
Collocation accommodation
Because translation is primarily a linguistic endeavor, either oral or written,
we would like initially to deal with accommodation in the linguistic sphere.
If language were simply a nomenclature for a set of universal concepts, it would
be easy to translate from one language to another. One would simply replace the
English name for a concept with the Chinese name or vice versa. Learning a new language
would also be much easier than it is. Actually, each language articulates or organizes
the world differently and languages do not simply name existing categories, but
they articulate their own.
Collocation is a difficult factor for anyone learning a foreign language. Talking
from my own experience, I from time to time find myself puzzled with some English
collocations and it is not rare that in my translation practice I often make such
collocation mistakes which I do not notice until a foreign colleague or friend points
them out. There seems to be no reason for certain collocations. Builders do not
produce a building; authors do not invent a novel. Regular dictionaries are of little
help in translating collocations, and the translator must often resort to accommodation.
For example, when butter or eggs go bad they are described in English as rancid
and addled respectively. Both rancid and addled mean 'stale/rotten' but swapping
modifiers would make unacceptable collocations. When translated into Chinese, a
common collocation is choule, meaning 'has become stinky.' Here accommodation is
made un hesitantly and naturally, for the original English collocation. Another
example is the English phrase 'dry cow,' which is correctly rendered in Chinese
as 'the cow has stopped providing milk,' because a literal translation ganniu would
perplex the Chinese speaker, causing communication to fail.
Cultural accommodation
Culture is too broad a term and it may cover everything. Culture can mean the arts
collectively: art, music, literature, and related intellectual activities; knowledge
and sophistication: enlightenment and sophistication acquired through education
and exposure to the arts; shared beliefs and values of a group: the beliefs, customs,
practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or people; shared attitudes:
a particular set of attitudes that characterizes a group of people (Encarta, 2003).
If applied in the sense expounded above, the present article can all be covered
in one word—cultural accommodation. Yet for purpose of stress, I list these
four categories. Here I use the term in a much narrower sense, for instance, the
shared attitudes or values of a group.
The Chinese national character which is shared, to my knowledge, with the Japanese
is implicature in talking to people as opposed to the direct and open way of the
Westerners, especially Americans. In both interpreting and translation, accommodations
must be made so communication may proceed smoothly, with neither party feeling offended
and irritated. Anyone who has had traveling or living experiences in an exotic culture
will readily confirm my statement. I am only calling translators' and interpreters'
attention to the fact that accommodation as a skill will make their job more successful.
Ideological accommodation
By ideological accommodation I mean sexual and political concerns. Most Chinese,
even today, avoid the topic of sex, which is usually considered pornography. If
you do not, you will be regarded immoral, dishonest, unreliable and simply bad.
This is one of the principle reasons why sex education is in the school curriculum
but never seriously taught. The teacher just tells the students to read what is
written in the textbook and discourages the students from asking a question. So
in translation we either omit or abbreviate the original graphic description of
a sex scene. This does not mean that Chinese literature never touches upon sex.
It is only in the way of depicting sex where the difference lies. We will edit the
language or the scene, or make it implicit instead. In English-Chinese translation,
the translator would always make accommodations to soften the original tone, hoping
not to offend the readers (as well as to escape censorship?), I do not wish to present
my judgment here but wish to state a fact in translation practice when sex is involved.
Another theme is politics to which no less attention ought to be paid. Let us assume
that a foreign medium carries offensive statements against the Chinese government.
It is advisable for the translator that the details not be translated. At most,
it is sufficient to mention that the government is being criticized. Patriotism
forbids one from making critical or unfavorable statements or spreading them by
translating. This is where heavy accommodations should be made. Some of those who
neglected this advice have gotten into serious trouble.
Aesthetic accommodation
Poetry has been notoriously believed to be untranslatable. Robert Frost once said,
"Poetry is what gets lost in translation." This is sufficient evidence
of the difficulty involved in translation of poetry; therefore accommodation is
even more necessary. Because poetry is fundamentally valuable for its aesthetic
value, aesthetic accommodation becomes a skill instead of a basic requirement. A
good poetry translator instinctively knows the difference between the aesthetic
traditions of different cultures, so his/her translation can be better appreciated
by the target reader and can achieve the required effect. Otherwise the translation
is doomed to be a failure no matter how close or similar it looks to the original.
In Chinese translation circles the following example of accommodation is quoted
quite frequently to demonstrate an effective skill or to attack the rigidity of
the source-centered point of view.
Wang Rongpei (1995), a senior translator, changed the original Chinese image to
adapt to the English aesthetic tradition when he translated a poem in the ancient
poetry collection generally known as the Book of Songs. The ancient Chinese used
the following simile to depict a beautiful girl (literally translated): her hands
are like soft sprouts; her skin, condensed cream; her neck, larva of a scarab; her
teeth, deviltree; her head, qing ( a cicada-like insect); and her brows, the shape
of a moth. Let's not inquire about the reasons why the ancient Chinese made such
comparisons or analogy. One thing is sure: Westerners would not be able to appreciate
such a 'beautiful' girl. Wang's version, after his artistic modification or adaptation,
reads like this:
Her hands are small, her fingers slim;
Her skin is smooth as cream;
Her swan-like neck is long and slim;
Her teeth like pearls do gleam.
A broad forehead and arching brow
Complement her dimpled cheeks
And make her black eyes glow.
Summary
In the above I have discussed the need for accommodation in translation with an
example. I suggest that accommodation is also translation, even if it means addition
or loss of information, explanation, rewriting, or re-creation.
References
1. Fan, Zhongying, 2003. An Applied Theory of Translation. Foreign Languages Teaching
& Research Press, Beijing, China.
2. Tytler, A.F.,1790. Essay on the Principles of Translation.
3. Nord, Christiane, 2001. Translation As a Purposeful Activity-functionalist approaches.
4. Eugene Nida, 1984. On Translation, Translation Publishing Corp. Beijing, China.
5. Hatim, B. & Mason, I., 1990. Discourse and the Translator.
This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).
By Aiwei Shi