Saturday, October 23, 2010

An analytical essay on Translation of the short story

Siddharth G. Desai
Roll no. - 12
SEM - I
Paper no. – 5(B)
Year – 2010-11
Topic: An analytical essay on Translation of the short story









Submitted to Dr. Dilip Barad
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University.
           


                   To translate anything into our own language is a really great task, because while translating, we have to take care of each and every word and also we have to understand or catch the real tone of the author and that thing should be translated very well. We have to take into consideration all these things while translating.

                    I have translated one short story from English to Gujarati. So I want to share my experiences of translating this story. Really, translation is not an easy task. Whenever we translate anything, we have to translate it in its real tone, it means, what does the author say? This thing should be translated in its real meaning. If the translator fails to understand or create that type of feeling which is written in the original work, we can say that the translator is killing the author’s work. For example, there is a story in Hindi language, “Kya Mein Ghass Katt Raha Hu”, it means, what I am doing? Or I am doing nothing but it is translated as “Am I cutting Grass?” in English. So in a way, we can say that if the translator fails to understand the real meaning like this example, we can say that the translator is killing the author’s work. So the understanding of the meaning is more essential for the translator. Any translation can be right or accepted if the translator follows or understand the meaning which is written by the author in his work.

                   
                So these are all things which the translator has to keep in his mind. The translator should be good reader. He should be also alert reader, it means, he should have a skill to catch the meaning. He should be master over SL (Source language) and TL (Target language). He should be also a writer. Translator has to create a real tone in his translation, then and then, the translation gets the real meaning. He has to understand both languages and the things which are written in the original work and the things which he writes while translating the text. Before I share my experiences of translating the story, let’s see, first of all, what is translation?


v WHAT IS TRANSLATION?
               
                      In simple language, we can say, “to change a text of one language (SL) into another language (TL).”
                      
                      Here, in this definition, I have written SL into bracket it means, the source language and TL means Target language. The story which I have translated into English language, it is written into English and I have translated into Gujarati. So the English language is the source language and Gujarati language is a target language here. I have taken the source of the story from English language and translated into my target language that is Gujarati. This is the process of translation. Trans+lation which indicates movement one place to another.

                        In Literature, translation is very helpful to understand other works which are written in different languages. By translation, the translator puts other literature’s works into his languages and people can read other literature and also they can understand the other literature.

                      For example, the Bible is written into Latin and Hebrew. But later on, it is translated into English. By translating the Bible, people can read the things which are written into the Bible. The translation of the Bible is a unique example of translation world. Translation is neither a creative art nor an imitative.

                    When translation, this thing existed, it was fully criticized and the avoided at the time. But in the present time, translation has taken place or we can say the special place. And now-a-days, there are very good translator required. This shows a great significance of translation in the present time.

                     Let’s see history of translation. When did it begin or exist? How did it exist?

                      Translation is the essential part of the literary and cultural history of a country. To trace its beginning or to periodize its development in any absolute sense would be a futile task. However, exponent in the field like, Steiner do make an arbitrary periodization of the history of the translation. This periodization consists of four phases: the first extending from the time of Cicero and Horace to the time of Alexander Fraser Tyler i.e. from 466 BC to 1792. The second extending from the time of Friedrich Schiermacher to the time of Valery Larbaud i.e. from 1769 to 1946. The third extending from the invention of machine translation to a reversion to Bermeneutic approach i.e. from 1940 to 1960. The forth extending from the reversion to metaphysical approach to the present time i.e. from 1960 to onwards.

                     So these are the four periodization of the history of the translation. Ugene Nida says, “It is likely that the message of a language ‘A’ is decoded into a concept then provides the basis for the generation of an utterance in language ‘B’. This is the process of translation and the translator has to do this while translating.

                     It means, here, Eugene Nida says that the translator has to decode the source language and then translate into the target language and then the translator has to encode his work. The translator should follow this process of translation while translating. He has to follow thought by thought than word by word while translating. Because if he follows thought by thought, he can put the real tone in his translation which is written in the original book. That’s why thought by thought translation is beneficial for the translator than word by word translation.

                         Now, I am writing the original story which I have translated into Gujarati. It is written in English.


“HOW THE WORLD WAS MADE”


       Before the Earth was made, everything was water. There were two brothers in the sky, who were matchless, unique. They were Lopong Rimbuche and his younger brother Chom Dande.

       Lopong Rimbuche and Chom Dande, one day thought there should be human being on the Earth. So they got down to work.

      One day they said to each other, “When humans are created, how will they live if there is nothing, but water in the world?”

       They saw a lotus flower growing in the sky. The brothers threw this down, and immediately the Earth’s water was covered with flowers.

       Then, they called the winds from the four quarters.
The east wind blew yellow dust.
The south wind red dust.
The north wind black dust.

         The west wind blew the dust round and round and mixed it up together until the Earth was formed.

        The four winds then scattered the dust everywhere.

         The two brothers now patted the dust down nicely with their hands piling up here and making a hole there till finally the earth was made.

         That is why the Earth is of different colours.


     
            And that is also why there are hills valleys.

                                                                                 -  From, Meghalaya


I have translated this story into Gujarati. Here it is.


Aa s>sarnI ]Tpit kevI !

             s>sar nI ]Tpit 4{ te phela b2u j j5b>bakar htu. AjoD, Anupm Aeva shodro ggnma> wmta hta. teAo lopo>g rI>buce Ane teno nano wa{ com d>De hta.
           
            Aek idvs lopo>g rI>buce Ane com d>De na mansma> AaVyu ke jgtma> manvjait nu AiStTv AinvayR 0e. te4I teAo Aa kam Aadrva nIce AaVya.
                                   
            La>aba idvsna A>te, teAoAe AekbIjane kHyu, Jyare manvIAonu sjRn 4xe Tyare te kevI rIte +vxe, jo jgtma cotrf pa`I j hoy bIju kxu j nih.
                                    
            ggnma qIlta km5ne teAoAe nIha%yu.
                                    
           shodroAe tene p/u$vI trf f>go%yu Ane AekaAek p/u$vInu pa`I fUlo4I 0va{ gyu.
                                    
           p0I teAoAe carey idxaAoma>4I pvnnI lherqIAone bolavI.
                                      
           pUvR idxaAe pI5I rjk`o ]DaDI. v5I di9`e lalax pDtI rjk`o. Jyare ]Ttre ka5ax pDtI rjk`o.

          Jya su2I s>sarnI ]Tpit 4{ nhI Ane pa&caTy pvnnI rjk`o tema> w5I nhI Tya> su2I te s>sarnI co-trf frtI rhI.
                                      
          Tyarbad carey idxamana pvnoAe rjk`one b2I bajuAe ivqerI naqI. Aa p/ik/yama>4I p/u$vIno ip>D b>2ayo.
                                      
          Caomer4I Aavta pvnoAe Aa rjk`one smg/Tya felavI dI2I. hve Aa b>2uAoAe potana ha4 q>qeyaR, Ane Amuk Aek S45e ma3Ino !glo kyoR Ane Jya su2I p/u$vI bnI nhI Tya su2I Aakar AaPyo.
                                     
          Aaj kar` 0e ke p/u$vI pcr>gI, bhur>gI Ane nvpiLlt 0e.
                                    
          Ane Aa j kar` 0e ke p/u$vIna flk pr qI`o Ane 3ekrIAo p/u$vIna sO>dyRne dEidPyman bnave 0e.
                                           [ me6aly ma>4I ]

                            While translating this story, I have faced many difficulties. My first difficulty was the title of this story, “HOW THE WORLD WAS MADE” because we can see there is no punctuation mark in the title. So how should I translate this title? What to do? How to do? Many questions were raised in my mind. While giving the title to this story, I came across many similar words like as the Earth, “pu/$vI,jgt,duinya,iv&v or s>sar. So which word should I put in the title? Which word is appropriate for this title? Because as per the title concern, I should put the word which shows the real tone. I should say at that time, I was in great dilemma.
After considering so much time, I gave the title to this story with exclamation mark, “Aa s>sarnI ]Tpit kevI !” this is all about only the title. But in this story, there are many things which are complicated to translate. Let’s see.

                      While translating some words like, “human being, water (everything was water.), two brothers, lotus, winds, four quarters, I came across many words like, “human being as manvIAo, mnu*yo, mnu*yjait. Then “water as pa`I, j5”, “ two brother as be wa{Ao, shodro, “lotus as km5, p>kj, Ariv>d,”, “winds as  pvn, hva, vayro.”, “four quarters as cotrf, carey baju, comer.”

                     Another problem is sentence like, “the east wind blew yellow dust, I had tried to translate this sentence as “pUvR idxama>4I pI5I rjk`o fU>ka`I.” and also I had tried to translate as “pUvR idxaAe pI5I rjk`o ]DaDI.” Then I have chosen the second one translation for this sentsnce.

         The second one is a very long in this story and that is “The two brothers now patted the dust down nicely with their hands piling up here and making a hole there till finally the earth was made.”

                    I have translated as “ hve Aa b>2uAoAe potana ha4 q>qeyaR, Ane Amuk Aek S45e ma3Ino !glo kyoR Ane Jya su2I p/u$vI bnI nhI Tya su2I Aakar AaPyo.” To translate this sentence I have fumbled many a times in meaning. Sometimes it lost the meaning and it had not constructed very well, I mean to say that the sentence can’t be arranged in sequences. But whenever I tried to translate I have translated like that.

                 And I have deliberately used “p/u$vI as world because I felt that if I would put “s>sar at that place perhaps it will lost the charm of meaning, that’s lost why I put it there “p/u$vI.”

                 To translate this story I have to come across many similar words and different meanings. The major thing of translation is the understanding of the meaning and that is more essential for the translator. If you want to explain by different words, you can. But as I said the charm of meaning should be translated by the translator.

v Conclusion:-

       The translator should follow the three principles while translating the work and the principles are:

1.     What does the author say?
2.     What does he mean?
3.     How does he say the things?

      With the help of above three principles, he can create the real tone in the translation.

Gulliver’s travels: As an allegory



Siddharth G. Desai
Roll no. - 12
SEM - I
Paper no. - 4
Year - 2010-11
Topic: - Gulliver’s travels: As an allegory









Submitted to Miss Ruchira Dudhrejiya
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University.
                          “Gulliver’s travels” was the culmination of swift’s literary achievement- his magnum opus. It was begun in 1720 and finally published in 1726. It is at once a delightful, fantastic story of adventure for children a political allegory and a serious satire on human nature, on contemporary political, social institution, religious controversies and on the manners and morals of the stage. This book is written in the form of travelogue. The hero and narrator and the protagonist character of the story is “Lemuel Gulliver”, an English physician who opts to travel as a ship’s surgeon when he is unable to take care of his family on his meager income. Gulliver is endowed with a keen, almost journalistic sense of reportage, and a desire to travel. The book is made up of four parts, each dealing with the person’s experiences in a different fantasy land.
            Before we see more about Gulliver’s Travels, Let’s see first of all about allegory and satire.

v What is an allegory?
            An allegory is a literary genre which is structured in such a way that its meaning could be read on two levels, and a secondary and more complex level. An allegory is defined as a narrative in which the characters, plot, setting and occasion, while making sense in themselves also signify a second layer of meaning where they point at another set of people, events and setting either from the writer’s mass, milieu or recent historical events. It is a figurative mode of representation where ideas are conveyed through symbolism and metaphor.
           
            In “Gulliver’s Travels”, Swift uses satire on highlight the allegorical elements in his tale. He has used allegory as a vehicle in an excellent way.

v What is a satire?
            Satire is a literary genre in which human vices, weaknesses, foibles and follies are held up to ridicule. Wit and humor are commonly used as instrument of satire.

            In “Gulliver’s Travels”, Swift uses satire as a vehicle to point out to the depraved state of human kind. Some critics have observed that Swift is a misanthropist because the paints human nature as a whole in a sordid and gloom light, almost as if there are no redeeming features to humanity.
           Swift seems to be holding up a mirror to society so that in viewing the gross magnification of its vices, humanity has a hope for the future.
          The allegory and satire, in a sense, are interwoven inextricably and deftly.

v Part- I: - A Voyage to Lilliput
          This deals with Gulliver’s experiences in the land of the little people, who are no more than six-inches tall. It is on one level an absorbing tale of the adventures of the giant Gulliver among the midgets of Lilliput and on another level rich in England. It is above all a scathing satire on the moral pettiness of human as seem in the behaviour of the Lilliputians. Human beings are filled with and importance and cannot view themselves and objectivity. Their pride and boastfulness are revealed as ridiculous when perceived from Gulliver’s great height.

          As we saw that the people of Lilliput are more than six-inches tall. All their acts and motives are on the same dwarfish, petty quarrels of these dwarfs, we are supposed to see the littleness and humanity. The statesmen who obtain place and favour by cutting monkey capers the tight rope before their sovereign and the two great parties, the little-endians and big-endians, who plugs the country into civil-war over the momentous question of whether an egg should be broken on its big or on politics of Swift’s own days and generations.
         
          In society, also, we see that type of people who shows littleness in their nature and also shows the narrow mind. All their actions and aims in life are at low level. They never try to come out from it. Their narrow and they live their life.
        
         They are always busy in petty things because they can’t think they can’t think to go ahead in life. This shows in trivial matters.


v Part – II: - A Voyage to Brobdingnag
          In this voyage, the situation is reversed. Gulliver is now marooned and dwarfed in the land of giants who are over forty feet tall. He now becomes the midget he had laughed at in Lilliput, observed through the microscopic eyes of Gulliver, the Brobdingnagians are hideous in size and stature and Gulliver realizes that he must have been just as hideous to the little people in Lilliput. Here, Swift satirizes the physical grossness of the human and the grotesque ugliness of the human body. Gulliver is little more than an insect in Brobdingnag and at his best, an amusing toy.

        When Gulliver tells about his own people, their ambitions and comes and conquests, the giants can only wonder that such great venom could exist in such little insects. Here, in the second part, Gulliver is alone among the giants. He is showed as insects among the Brobdingnagians because they think this way.

         Here, Swift satires on the Brobdignagian’s unpleasant and unattractively large body. In a way, there are lots of people in society who are huge at status but their thinking shows their narrowness.

          Also he satires on the ugliness of the Brobdignagians. It shows that the thinking of that time of people who has very ugly motif in their life to fulfil their wishes.

           We can see this, Brobdignagians, type of people around us and also both we can see the physical grossness and ugliness in people. By this, we can know their aims of life. They just boast on their endeavor, conquest.

            This type of people believes that others are nothing before them. They show others inferior but in reality, their unattractivity and ugliness becomes them inferior.

v Part – III: - A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Language, Glubdubdrib, and Japan

                     In this voyage, Swift satires on the Scientist and Philosophers of the age. The people of Laputa have extraordinary physical features- head turned at angle, one eye turned upward and the other inward. Through the people of Laputa, Swift ridicules the experiments of the royal society and allied institution of the time.

                   The frightening emptiness and sterility of a purely scientific society is evident from this book. The philosophers who worked eight years to extract sunshine from cucumbers are typical of Swift’s satire treatment of all scientific problems. It is in this voyage hear of the struldbrugs, a ghastly race of the men who are doomed to live up on the earth after losing hope and the desire for life.

                  The picture is all the more terrible in view of the last years of Swift’s own life in which he was compelled to live on a burden to himself and his friends.
                 
                   In this third good, Gulliver’s journeys go through different people, culture, custom and rules. The strange thing of the people of Laputa regarding the physical structure of the body shows types of people at that time. Also Swift’s disliked the society of his time that’s why he satires on it.
                  Here, cucumber is the typical of Swift’s satiric treatment of all scientific problems. This shows the ridiculous thing of scientific problems show that time of things.
                  There are different types of people who show different types of culture of swift’s time.

v Part-IV:- A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms:-
              

                In this voyage, Gulliver narrates his experiences of his journey to the land of the Houyhnhnms and the yahoos. The horses are creatures governed by solely by reason, free from any emotions and passions, while the yahoos who physically resemble human beings are ruled purely by animal’s instincts.
                Swift seems to indicate to us that the nature of the human is complex and defies definition unlike that of the yahoos and the Houyhnhnms. The book for all its harsh satire and anger, instructs human to see themselves with humility and honesty and it condemns pride ego and myopic self-esteem. It urges every person to use reason to be a good Christian. Swift here tries to say that we have to live our life in away in which we can show the humanity.
              

                Swift emphasized on the yahoos that despite of human being, they are unspeakable persons who show the brutality of that time. Also by the female yahoos Swift shows the lust in their nature this also a picture of his time.
                

                We have to live like a good Christian and try to avoid that all things which damages humanity.

v Conclusion:- 
                    By these four voyages, Gulliver’s journey goes through different types of people, culture, customs, beliefs etc. they show the society of swift’s time. Like, how they cure narrow minded also interested in petty things and unattractive appearances and ugliness of humanity etc. All these, proof of that time of people’s way of thinking and living.


Friday, October 15, 2010

Tragic Hero

Siddharth G. Desai
Roll no. - 12
SEM - I
Paper no. - 3
Year - 2010-11
Topic: - Tragic Hero


                             


                   Submitted to Dr. Dilip Barad
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University.
                         


                      Before we see more about “Tragic Hero”, let’s see first what is Tragedy? Tragedy is a kind of drama which represents of serious and important actions which turn out disastrous for the chief character.

                      Aristotle defined “Tragedy” as “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude: in the language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play: in the form of action, not of narrative: through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation-catharsis of these and similar emotions.”

                    In this definition, the word “catharsis” and “purgation” or “purification”-both are accepted. But there is a different interpretation of this word. Here, it is, “one recent critic, however interprets Aristotle’s “catharsis” as applying not to an effect on the audience, but to an element within the play itself: it signifies, he claims, the purgation of the guilt attached to the hero’s tragic act through the demonstration by the course of the drama that the hero performed this act without knowledge of its nature.
                                - M. H. ABRAMS - LITERARY TERMS

                     Aristotle asserts that tragedy can be divided into six parts. He has given this theory of tragedy. Let’s see the six parts of tragedy.

v Plot (Fable/Mythos):-
             
Plot is the “first Principle” and “the Soul of tragedy.” Aristotle defines Plot as…

“The arrangement of the incident.”

i.e., not the story itself but the way the incidents are presented to the audience, the structure of the play. According to Aristotle, in tragedies, the result depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions. The plot should have the following qualities.

1.     The plot must be “complete”, having “unity of action.”
2.     Similarly, the plot should be exclude the irrational or at least keep it “outside the scope of the tragedy”, i.e., reported rather than dramatized.
3.     The plot must be “of a certain magnitude” both quantitatively
(length, complexity) and qualitatively (“seriousness” and universal significance). Aristotle argues that more incidents and themes increase the value and richness of the play.
4.     The plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better. Simple plots have only a “change of fortune” (catastrophe). Complex plots have both “reversal of intention” (Peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorsis) connected with the catastrophe.

v  Character (Ethos):-

              Character has the second place in importance. In a perfect tragedy, character will support plot. The protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to bad. This change should be about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error or frailty in a character.

               Here, Aristotle uses “Hamartia” which is often translated as “tragic flaw”. The protagonist has only one flaw in him which brings about his own downfall. Character in tragedy should have the following qualities:

1.     “Good or fine.” Aristotle says, “Even a woman may be good, and also a slave to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless.
2.     “true to type” e.g. valour is appropriate for a warrior but not for a woman.
3.     “ true to life”(realistic)
4.     “consistency” (true to themselves). Once a character’s personality and motivations are established these should continue through the play.
5.     “necessary or probable”
6.     “true to life and yet more beautiful.”

v Thought(Dianoia):-

             Thought is third in importance. Thought is the intellectual want in a tragedy. It is expressed trough the speech of character. Tragic dramatist presents his views on life through the mouth of a tragic character. Sometimes, speeches are as significant as character. Dramatist’s aim is compressed in a thought. Thus, Aristotle says little about thought.

v Diction(Lexis):-

             Diction is the forth. Aristotle particularly interested in metaphor. He says, “But the greatest thing by far is to have a command or metaphor.”Thus, Aristotle makes the essential difference between the language of verse and ordinary prose speech. He says, “The poetic expression should be clear without being a common place. It is Diction which distinguishes a good writer from the ordinary writer.” Diction is also connected with word, sounds, their harmony and music. Through Diction, dialogues are presented on the stage. Sometimes, the Diction of a good dramatist makes the tragic drama Sublime.

v Melody or Song:-

         Song or Melody is the fifth and is the musical element of the chorus. Aristotle argues that the chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor. It distinguished the tragedy from other kinds of poetry. Through song or music the dramatist makes his tragedy pleasant.

v Spectacle(Opsis):-
                  Spectacle is the last, for it is least connected with literature. Aristotle argues that superior poets rely on the inner structure of the play rather than spectacle to arouse pity and fear. Those who rely heavily on spectacle…

“Create a sense, not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous.”

Thus, in “The Poetics”, Aristotle has shown the effect of the stagecraft on the spectator. Except, above six parts of tragedy, these are other elements which are essential for tragedy; these are,
1.     Dramatic Unity
2.     Tragic Pleasure
3.     Catharsis

                   In tragedy, the tragic hero is main or the chief character with whom these six parts are connected. Because of the act of guilt, the hero has to suffer a lot. Specially, we can say, his “error of judgment” is responsible for his suffering. This “error of judgment” is called “Hamartia”. There is a kind of flaw what we can say “Tragic Flaw” is responsible for “error of judgment”. Tragic hero suffers from this “Tragic Flaw” in tragedy. And because of this “error of judgment” or “Tragic Flaw” or “Hamartia”, tragic hero makes a mistake in his life and he has to pay a great cost for this mistake. In other words, we can also say that this mistake leads him to this tragic end. With all concepts like, “error of judgment”, “Tragic Flaw” and “Hamartia”, there is a concept like, “hubris” which is one Greek common form of “Hamartia” and it is also connected with the tragic hero. It is also one responsible reason for the tragic hero’s down fall.
               
                In tragedy, the chief character i.e. tragic hero fails to follow the morality. On the base of the morality ground, the character fails to follow the path of morality of humanity. He fails to understand the value of morality. Then he chooses evil path and it invites disaster. His failure of understanding in the morality becomes curse for him.

             
               We feel pity and fear for tragic hero. Because of his “error of judgment” or “Tragic Flaw”, he fails to understand “What is good or bad?” According to Aristotle, the tragic hero ought to be neither overwhelmingly good nor overwhelming bad, rather intermediate much like us. We should try to show the better qualities in the hero. We have to understand that the hero suffers because of his deeds. We have to suffer if we fail to follow morality.

               In Literature, if we see some examples like, King Oedipus fails to follow the path of morality. He had to suffer because of his “hasty judgment or temper” this “hasty judgment or temper” became “error of judgments” for him. And this “error of judgment” led him to devastation. In case of Macbeth, we can say for his declination only one thing is responsible and that is his ‘Vaulting Ambition.’ Because of his ‘Vaulting Ambition’, he chose a wrong way to fulfill it and this thing led him to his tragic end. In case of Doctor Faustus, his lust for knowledge is responsible for his ruin. He chose a path of evil for fulfilling his desires.

             So these are some examples of tragic hero which show the failure of the understanding which becomes the error of his judgment.

             Let’s see what Aristotle has said abut tragic hero in his book “Poetics.” Aristotle has talked about the tragic hero in the fifteenth chapter of this book.
              According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is of good and appropriate character. That is, his motives, desires, ambitions etc., ought to be admirable to some extent and well suited to his station in life. He must be consistent in his behavior. Also Aristotle says that the hero must be realistic.

              In Greek Tragedies, we can see that the prince or king at the centre it means, they were the chief characters i.e. they were showed as the tragic heroes and their Destiny were their characters. But in now-a-days, the hero is changed. Today, the tragedy can be of a common man so we can say; Common man has taken place of tragic hero in the tragedy.


v Conclusion:-
                   
                           Tragic hero is a person whose deeds decide his future. His evil deeds become “error of judgment” for him. And this “error of judgment” invites destruction or declination. Thus, the tragic end of the tragic hero comes in tragedy.