Comparative analysis of А.Р. Chekhov's works translations from Russian into English and Greek
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Introduction 2
Chapter I The concept of the literary text and ways of its translation 5
1.1. Characteristics of a literary text in general and in A. Chekhov’s short stories 5
1.2. Translation Problems 13
1.2.1. Adequacy 19
1.2.2. Equivalence 22
1.2.3. Translation errors 26
1.3. Translation strategies and techniques 30
Conclusions 35
Chapter II Translation strategies of A. P. Chekhov’s short stories from Russian to English and Greek languages 37
2.1. Adaptation 38
2.2. Transliteration 47
2.3. Omission 50
2.4. Equivalent translation (equivalence) 53
2.5. Descriptive Translation and modulation 56
2.6. Literal translation and free translation 66
2.7. Idiomatic translation 72
2.8. Addition 76
2.9. Calque 83
2.10. Loan 85
Conclusions of Chapter II 91
Conclusion 94
Literature 96
Dictionaries and encyclopedias 99
Sources of material 101
Appendix. Qualitative data of study 103
Chapter I The concept of the literary text and ways of its translation 5
1.1. Characteristics of a literary text in general and in A. Chekhov’s short stories 5
1.2. Translation Problems 13
1.2.1. Adequacy 19
1.2.2. Equivalence 22
1.2.3. Translation errors 26
1.3. Translation strategies and techniques 30
Conclusions 35
Chapter II Translation strategies of A. P. Chekhov’s short stories from Russian to English and Greek languages 37
2.1. Adaptation 38
2.2. Transliteration 47
2.3. Omission 50
2.4. Equivalent translation (equivalence) 53
2.5. Descriptive Translation and modulation 56
2.6. Literal translation and free translation 66
2.7. Idiomatic translation 72
2.8. Addition 76
2.9. Calque 83
2.10. Loan 85
Conclusions of Chapter II 91
Conclusion 94
Literature 96
Dictionaries and encyclopedias 99
Sources of material 101
Appendix. Qualitative data of study 103
The present thesis, entitled "Comparative analysis of A. Chekhov's stories translations (the case of English and Greek language)”, was undertaken in the context of the program “Simultaneous Translation (English language)”. Generally, the subject of the thesis is the comparison of translations of Anton Chekhov's works from Russian into English and Greek languages. Nowadays, the comparative analysis of the study of Chekhov's short stories and his literary work in general has taken on a great dimension, due to the fact that he is considered as one of the greatest writers of all time on a global level. His works are read and studied either by ordinary readers who enjoy his short stories, or by scholars in the field of literature or translation who are inspired by these stories and use them in their academic research. Anton Chekhov is widely known to Greek audience for his writing talent and his short stories, which reflect Russian culture and temperament of the Russian people. Some of his works can be found in school literature textbooks, therefore students are acquainted with them from a young age the writer’s work and the greatness of his talent.
The goal of the thesis is to identify the translation characteristics of the translations of Chekhov's works from Russian into English and Greek languages, as well as the translation strategies that are applied in these works in these languages. In order to fulfill the present goal it is necessary to take into consideration the following tasks:
1. Study specific characteristics of the literary text in A. Chekhov’s short stories.
2. Identify existing translation methods, techniques and strategies.
3. Compare the translations of Chekhov's works into Russian, English and Greek languages.
4. Compare and analyze different translation methods that were implemented during the translation process of Chekhov's stories into English and Greek languages.
5. Compare various translations of the same story with each other, in order to find equivalence between these translations and the original text.
The object of the present research are the translations of A.P. Chekhov’s short stories into English and Greek languages, while the subject of the thesis are the various strategies and methods used for their translation.
The theoretical framework of the present thesis are scientific and academic works of several scientists of the translation field in Russian, English and Greek languages. Some of them are A.V. Fyodorov, I.S. Alekseeva, V.N. Komissarov, R.R. Lukmanova, S.N. Ahmedova, K. Reiss, H.J. Werner, R. Jacobson, P. Newmark, P. Kribas, S. Grammenidis and others.
The practical material of the research is a corpus of 381 examples from different short stories of Chekhov and their translations suggested by translators of the beginning of 20th and 21st century, such as “The death of a government clerk”, “Fat and thin” and “Vanka”.
The methods that are implemented in this research are: comparative analysis, as well as the method of classification of the selected examples and contextual analysis, in order to identify differences between the translations and original texts.
The relevance of the thesis is associated with the current translation activity of A. Chekhov’s works in Greece and English-speaking countries. Nowadays, although Anton Chekhov is one of the greatest writers of Russian classical literature, most translations of his short stories either in English or in Greek are quite outdated, which poses a problem of comprehension for young audience. In Greek, for example, some translations are written in Puristic Greek, an archaistic version of the Greek language that is not used nowadays. Therefore, these types of translations make it impossible for young audience to read and understand the context, even if it’s written in their native language. Through the present thesis and the strategies and methods that will be presented, new translators will be able to render translations of these short stories in a more contemporary form, which will also contribute to greater awareness of both Chekhov's works and the greatness of Russian literature...
The goal of the thesis is to identify the translation characteristics of the translations of Chekhov's works from Russian into English and Greek languages, as well as the translation strategies that are applied in these works in these languages. In order to fulfill the present goal it is necessary to take into consideration the following tasks:
1. Study specific characteristics of the literary text in A. Chekhov’s short stories.
2. Identify existing translation methods, techniques and strategies.
3. Compare the translations of Chekhov's works into Russian, English and Greek languages.
4. Compare and analyze different translation methods that were implemented during the translation process of Chekhov's stories into English and Greek languages.
5. Compare various translations of the same story with each other, in order to find equivalence between these translations and the original text.
The object of the present research are the translations of A.P. Chekhov’s short stories into English and Greek languages, while the subject of the thesis are the various strategies and methods used for their translation.
The theoretical framework of the present thesis are scientific and academic works of several scientists of the translation field in Russian, English and Greek languages. Some of them are A.V. Fyodorov, I.S. Alekseeva, V.N. Komissarov, R.R. Lukmanova, S.N. Ahmedova, K. Reiss, H.J. Werner, R. Jacobson, P. Newmark, P. Kribas, S. Grammenidis and others.
The practical material of the research is a corpus of 381 examples from different short stories of Chekhov and their translations suggested by translators of the beginning of 20th and 21st century, such as “The death of a government clerk”, “Fat and thin” and “Vanka”.
The methods that are implemented in this research are: comparative analysis, as well as the method of classification of the selected examples and contextual analysis, in order to identify differences between the translations and original texts.
The relevance of the thesis is associated with the current translation activity of A. Chekhov’s works in Greece and English-speaking countries. Nowadays, although Anton Chekhov is one of the greatest writers of Russian classical literature, most translations of his short stories either in English or in Greek are quite outdated, which poses a problem of comprehension for young audience. In Greek, for example, some translations are written in Puristic Greek, an archaistic version of the Greek language that is not used nowadays. Therefore, these types of translations make it impossible for young audience to read and understand the context, even if it’s written in their native language. Through the present thesis and the strategies and methods that will be presented, new translators will be able to render translations of these short stories in a more contemporary form, which will also contribute to greater awareness of both Chekhov's works and the greatness of Russian literature...
The translation of a literal text has been a challenging factor in the field of translation studies for several translators and linguists, as it requires a different translation method from an ordinary text, as well as special vocabulary items which can maintain its aesthetic value in the target language. The existence of realia, archaisms, phraseological units or other similar elements that make the translation process a painstaking work poses a challenge for the translator. However, by applying the most appropriate translation strategy, the translator can render the meaning of the original text successfully, without causing confusion to the reader.
The conclusion and the observations of this study are considered valuable for the science of linguistics, because the present study analyzes different translation approaches on how to successfully render a lexical unit or sentence from the source - language to the target - language. Moreover, these translation strategies have been presented applied on the material collected, along with the relevant analysis of their successful or not successful result in conveying the meaning of a word or phrase.
During the second part of the research, the goal of the thesis was fulfilled, namely, to find translation characteristics in the translations of Chekhov's works from Russian into English and Greek languages. All the undertaken tasks mentioned in the beginning of this research have been fulfilled successfully; The English and Greek translations of A. Chekhov’s stories were compared against each other as well as against the Russian text, while different translation strategies have been analyzed and compared based on their successful translation result.
Concluding the present study, the main strategies that translators have applied in their translation texts in a nutshell, are the following: 1) descriptive translation, 2) idiomatic translation, 3) addition 4), adaptation.
The translation strategies that are not often applied are: 1) literal translation, 2) transliteration, 3) omission, 4) equivalent translation (equivalence), 5) modulation, 6) calque, 7) loan.
The translation strategies mentioned in the theoretical part of the research, but were not applied at all in the stories that were analyzed are: 1) transposition, 2) functional equivalence, 3) formal equivalence, 4) shifts, 5) replacement, 6) faithful translation, 7) semantic translation, 8) communicative translation, 9) transcription.
Even though I analyzed several English and Greek translations from two centuries, not all of them were successful in conveying fully and correctly the meaning. In particular, from the story “Смерть чиновника” the least successful translation was the one of the second Greek text. Concerning the story “Толстый и тонкий”, the English translation was the least acceptable one, and from the story “Ванька”, the least successful text was second Greek one.
Future perspectives of the research are the study of more works (both short stories and novels) of A. P. Chekhov and the comparison of their translations into more languages, as well as the translation of A. P. Chekhov’s works into the Greek language, especially those that are not known to Greek audience.
The conclusion and the observations of this study are considered valuable for the science of linguistics, because the present study analyzes different translation approaches on how to successfully render a lexical unit or sentence from the source - language to the target - language. Moreover, these translation strategies have been presented applied on the material collected, along with the relevant analysis of their successful or not successful result in conveying the meaning of a word or phrase.
During the second part of the research, the goal of the thesis was fulfilled, namely, to find translation characteristics in the translations of Chekhov's works from Russian into English and Greek languages. All the undertaken tasks mentioned in the beginning of this research have been fulfilled successfully; The English and Greek translations of A. Chekhov’s stories were compared against each other as well as against the Russian text, while different translation strategies have been analyzed and compared based on their successful translation result.
Concluding the present study, the main strategies that translators have applied in their translation texts in a nutshell, are the following: 1) descriptive translation, 2) idiomatic translation, 3) addition 4), adaptation.
The translation strategies that are not often applied are: 1) literal translation, 2) transliteration, 3) omission, 4) equivalent translation (equivalence), 5) modulation, 6) calque, 7) loan.
The translation strategies mentioned in the theoretical part of the research, but were not applied at all in the stories that were analyzed are: 1) transposition, 2) functional equivalence, 3) formal equivalence, 4) shifts, 5) replacement, 6) faithful translation, 7) semantic translation, 8) communicative translation, 9) transcription.
Even though I analyzed several English and Greek translations from two centuries, not all of them were successful in conveying fully and correctly the meaning. In particular, from the story “Смерть чиновника” the least successful translation was the one of the second Greek text. Concerning the story “Толстый и тонкий”, the English translation was the least acceptable one, and from the story “Ванька”, the least successful text was second Greek one.
Future perspectives of the research are the study of more works (both short stories and novels) of A. P. Chekhov and the comparison of their translations into more languages, as well as the translation of A. P. Chekhov’s works into the Greek language, especially those that are not known to Greek audience.
