Normalisation and readers' expectations : a study of literary translation with reference to Lispector's A Hora da Estrela
The topic of this thesis is the process of'normalisation' by which a translator accommodatesa sourcet ext to the norms of the target languagea nd culture. The researchi nvestigatest his phenomenonin two ways: first, through text analysis identifying features in the target text which potentially contribute to easy readability, and, subsequentlyt,h rough readersr espondingt o the translation and the sourcet ext. Computer tools were used to compare the source text and the target text, resulting in a list of eleven identifiable main features which were found to contribute to a normalising effect. One of the features, 'patterns of repetition', was examined in detail. The translation had less repetition in part because of systemic differences but also due to the translator's choice, whether conscious or unconscious, to use variant terms. A section of the thesis investigates negativity which is of considerable literary relevance in the case of A Hora da Estrela, and evidence is supplied that negativity is reduced in the translation. Other featuresi n the sourcet ext which are mostly associatedw ith spoken aspects of language were found to have shifted to a written style, contributing to a normalising shift from spoken
Scott, Maria Nelia
Text linguistics; Systemic differences; Novels
Normalisation and readers' expectations : a study of literary translation with reference to Lispector's A Hora da Estrela. The topic of this thesis is the process of'normalisation' by which a translator accommodatesa sourcet ext to the norms of the target languagea nd culture. The researchi nvestigatest his phenomenonin two ways: first, through text analysis identifying features in the target text which potentially contribute to easy readability, and, subsequentlyt,h rough readersr espondingt o the translation and the sourcet ext. Computer tools were used to compare the source text and the target text, resulting in a list of eleven identifiable main features which were found to contribute to a normalising effect. One of the features, 'patterns of repetition', was examined in detail. The translation had less repetition in part because of systemic differences but also due to the translator's choice, whether conscious or unconscious, to use variant terms. A section of the thesis investigates negativity which is of considerable literary relevance in the case of A Hora da Estrela, and evidence is supplied that negativity is reduced in the translation. Other featuresi n the sourcet ext which are mostly associatedw ith spoken aspects of language were found to have shifted to a written style, contributing to a normalising shift from spoken
normalisation reader expectation study literary_translation reference topic process normalisation translator norm target culture two_way first text_analysis identifying feature target_text potentially_contribute easy readability rough translation computer tool_use compare source_text target_text result list eleven identifiable main_feature find contribute effect feature patterns repetition examine_detail translation less repetition part systemic difference also due translator choice whether conscious unconscious use variant term section investigate negativity considerable literary relevance case evidence supply negativity reduce translation mostly spoken aspect language find shifted write_style contribute shift spoken