An Investigation of Bastin’s Adaptation as a Kind of Pseudotranslation: A Case Study of A Year Amongst the Persians (Research Paper)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 department of foreign languages, faculty of literature and humanities, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

2 Department of foreign languages, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

3 department of foreign languages, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

For various reasons such as ideology of patronage, fear of censorial measures and specific cultural and literary plans, authors may present their original texts as translation, and sometimes translators manipulate the original text to the extent that it can not be considered as translation anymore. This research was aimed at investigating Bastin's adaptation as a kind of pseudo-translation. He considered two kinds of adaptation: local and global adaptation. In order to conduct this study, Zabihullah Mansouri's translation of A Year Amongst the Persians was compared with its original text by Edward Browne. 100 samples were extracted and investigated closely according to Bastin's procedures of adaptation. The results revealed that Bastin's procedures of adaptation were mostly applied in the selected corpus to the extent that it could be called a pseudo-translation. Intervention was so significant in the ST that out of 581 pages in the ST, 128 pages were omitted and the content of omissions was indicator of intentional intervention.Transformations, modifications and adjustments converted the book to a work that although could not be considered a text independent from its original, a considerable part of it was the translator's own writing.

Keywords


Article Title [Persian]

بررسی اقتباس باستین به عنوان نوع خاصی از شبه ترجمه: مطالعه موردی ترجمه فارسی یک سال در میان ایرانیان

Authors [Persian]

  • مسعود شریفی فر 1
  • مینا زند رحیمی 2
  • فاطمه فتحی مقدم 3
1
2
3 دانشگاه شهید باهنر کرمان
Abstract [Persian]

ترجمه‌ها بر اساس هدف و نیز شرایط اجتماعی و سیاسی حاکم بر جامعه به صورت‌های مختلف در می‌آیند از جمل تفسیری، اقتباسی، شبه ترجمه و دستکاری شده. نویسندگان ممکن است به دلایل مختلف از جمله ایدوئولوژوی حامی، ترس از سانسور، و طرح ادبی و فرهنگی خاص متون اولیه خود را به صورت ترجمه ارائه دهند و گاهی مترجمان تا جایی در متن اولیه دستکاری می‌کنند که دیگر نمی‌توان آنرا ترجمه در نظر گرفت. هدف این پژوهش، بررسی اقتباس باستین به عنوان نوعی شبه ترجمه بر روی کتاب یک در سال در میان ایرانیان منصوری است. باستین دو نوع اقتباس کلی و جزئی را معرفی می کند. اقتباس جزئی به دلیل تفاوت های زبانی رخ می‌دهد و اقتباس کلی ناشی از عوامل بیرونی مانند ایدوئولوژی مترجم و یا سیاست ناشر است. برای انجام این پژوهش، ترجمه کتاب یک سال در میان ایرانیان توسط منصوری با متن اصلی آن نوشته ادوارد براون بررسی شد. صد مثال استخراج شد و به طور دقیق بر اساس روش های اقتباس باستین بررسی شد. نتایج نشان داد که روش‌های اقتباس باستین تا حد زیادی در متن منتخب بکار گرفته شده است تا جایی که می توان آن را نوعی شبه ترجمه نامید. مداخله به حدی بوده است که از 581 صفحه 128 صفحه حذف شده و محتوای حذفیات حاکی از مداخله عمدی است. تغییرات و تعدیل‌هایی که مترجم و یا ناشر در کتاب به وجود آورده آن را تبدیل به اثری کرده است که اگرچه نمی‌توان آن را متنی مستقل در نظر گرفت اما بخش قابل‌توجهی از آن نوشته خود مترجم است.

Keywords [Persian]

  • شبه ترجمه: اقتباس کلی: اقتباس جزیی: مطالعه موردی: ایدیولوژی

Investigating Adaptation as a Kind of Pseudo-translation in Persian Translation of A Year Amongst Persians

Masoud Sharififar[1]

Mina Zandrahimi[2]

Fatemeh Fathi Moghaddam[3]

Abstract

For various reasons such as ideology of patronage, fear of censorial measures and specific cultural and literary plans, authors may present their original texts as translation, and sometimes translators manipulate the original text to the extent that it cannot be considered as translation anymore. This research was aimed at investigating Bastin's adaptation as a kind of pseudo-translation. He considered two kinds of adaptation: local and global adaptation. In order to conduct this study, Zabihullah Mansouri's translation of A Year Amongst the Persians was compared with its original text by Edward Browne. One hundred instances were extracted and investigated closely according to Bastin's procedures of adaptation. The results revealed that Bastin's procedures of adaptation were mostly applied in the selected corpus to the extent that it could be called a pseudo-translation. Intervention was so significant in the source text that out of 581 pages in the ST, 128 pages were omitted and the content of omissions was indicator of intentional intervention. Transformations, modifications and adjustments converted the book to a work which could not be considered a text independent from its original and a considerable part of it was the translator's own writing.

Keywords: Pseudo-translation, Adaptation, Intervention, Local Adaptation, Global Adaptation, Ideology

1. Introduction  

Translation is a broad and multifaceted notion; thus, providing a unique definition of it is impossible. Hatim and Mason (1990) defined translation as a process involving the transfer of meaning between producers of the source text and readers of target text. Shuttleworth and Cowie (1997) stated that various notions such as manipulation, pseudotranslation, rewriting, adaptation, ideology, and imitation are related to translation. Translators may encounter many challenges in the process of transferring meaning from ST to TT because of linguistic and cultural differences between languages. They certainly tackle these problems through active intervention and based on their theory of translation, but sometimes translators may intentionally manipulate and intervene in the ST to serve their own purpose. Some questions may raise here: To what extent are translators permitted to intervene in the source text? If a translator exerts his/her own ideology or patron’s ideology or if translators render text to win public readership, what would happen to translation ethics? Can it still be called translation?

The term pseudotranslation (PT) was first introduced by Popovic (1976, p.20), who called it "fictitious translation" and defined it as "an original work which its author publishes as a translation in order to achieve a wider readership". Rado (1979) used the term pseudotranslation to refer to adaptation, poetic writing and free writing to preserve a relation between translation and its source text. Robinson (1998, p.183) defined PT as a “work whose status as original or derivative for whatever social or textual reason problematic”. According to O'sullivan (2005, p.123) pseudotranslations are "texts which resemble translation” and refer to various phenomena and literary products in recent decades.

To the best knowledge of the researchers, a few studies have been done in Iran on Mansouri’s pseudotranslations in which a type of his PTs were not specified based on a scientific method. Although according to Jamshidi (1991), Mansouri called his translations ‘adaptation’, it is not clear whether his adaptations are local or global one. Moreover, a scientific research is essential to investigate whether his adaptations can be considered as PT or not.

The aim of this research was to compare the Persian translation of A Year Amongst the Persians with its original text to see whether A Year Amongst the Persians is a translation or a pseudotranslation, if Bastin’s adaptation could be applied as a kind of pseudo-translation, and to find the most frequently applied procedures of adaptation in this translation. The questions of the research were as follows:

1. To what extent was Bastin's adaptation as a kind of pseudo-translation applied by the translator in the selected corpus?

2. What were the most frequently applied translation procedures in the translation?

 

2. Review of Literature

2.1. Pseudotranslation

Different scholars have given various names to PT such as disguised translation, pretended translation, assumed translation, and fictitious translation. Popovic (1976) referred to pseudotranslation as an original work presented as a translation to achieve wider readership. Lefever (1981) defined PT as a powerful and strong patronage by which innovative material achieved great opportunity to influence a literary canon.  Toury (1995) pinpointed that some writers used PT to describe a text they have innovated and produced through extension. Venuti (1998) defined pseudo-translation as a notion that introduced innovation into the target culture and it was associated with issues of patronage, readership and book market. According to Ramelli (2006), pseudo-translations have been found in any era, but their presence was more remarkable when considerable transformations occurred socially and politically. Bassnett (1998) classified different types of pseudo-translations as the inauthentic source, self-translation, inventing a translation, travelers as translators and fictitious translation.

To define pseudo-translation, Rizzi (2008) resorted to two notions of pretext (which includes prefaces, table of content and blurbs) and epitext (which includes letters, archival texts and reviews). Based on this definition, if both epitext and pretext indicate the translatability of the text, it is a translation. However, if the pretext claimed that a given text is a translation, but the epitext claimed that it is a PT, there are two alternatives: first, the given text is a translation if the epitexts have been written and produced long after the text itself. Second, the given text is a PT, if the epitexts are written by the culture that has created the text.

Moreover, according to Santoyo (cited in Baker and Saldanha, 2011), there have been many PTs in the world that have remained PT and behaved as a translation in a society until their mystification has not been revealed, in fact a pseudotranslation has been recognized as PT when the identity of author and translator overlapped.PTs have been carried out for multiple reasons. Santoyo (1984) asserted that writers of pseudotranslations by adopting their personality as an ingenuous traveler could criticize the norms and traditions of their own country. According to Toury (1995), PTs paved the way for introducing innovations into a literary system, especially if the literary system was resistant to changes in sanctioned patterns and norms. The other reason for applying PT by writers was changing their genre or course, because they would not like their later works to be associated with what their name has already stood for and the former genre.

Toury (1995) stated that the most important aim of PT was cultural planning. Such a program could be imposed from political institutions and individuals in a totalitarian society by agents who had power to do so. He pointed to the Book of Mormon (1830) and Papa Hamlet as examples. According to Toury (1995) sometimes authors have used PT in order to prevent from censorial measures and arousing antagonism against themselves or their works. In fact, they have used PT for caution. Based on Du Pont (2005), PT might be considered as a method for narration of fiction, such as Don Quixote by Miguelde Cervantes. According to Okhovat (2006), PTs have not only been dedicated to political activities and hermetic atmosphere, but also they could be resorted to in other cases. For instance, for a new and young talented writer who has written good books but nobody accepted to publish them, publishing his/her original work as a translation could be an alternative. Seemingly, those works which were presented as a translation have been more prestigious (my translation). Moreover, if their book has a political and controversial theme, they have motivated to resort to a PT in order to prevent arousing antagonism. In addition, generally original texts have been criticized more severely than the translated works (Okhovat, 2006). Okhovat (2006) stated that there were numerous PTs in Persian literature, most of which were related to political literature. Returning to the Idyllic Place and Don Quixotes of Our Era were among the works which could be considered PTs or better to say rewritings, and not translations. The main theme of these books was about the beliefs and political situation of their translators concerning the issues and circumstances of Iran in 1940s. These works portrayed the critical and political issues of Iran in that era (my translation). The Adventures of Haji Baba of Isfahan authored by James Justin Morier was a PT in which domestication had been occurred because of cultural reasons. Mirza Habib's (1824) translation of this book was a free translation of the original text in which only main ideas of the ST were transferred. He modified the contents and subjects which were not only unfamiliar to target readers, but they were also in direct opposition to Eastern thoughts. Indeed, Morier aimed to criticize Iranian and portray their behaviors and customs in a negative way. According to Okhovat (2006), these kinds of text could be called adaptation, because their translations were so much different from their originals that although they could not be considered entirely independent texts, they were mostly reproduced and rewritten (my translation).

2.2. Adaptation, its Definitions, Historical Background and Etymology

Adaptation in Oxford dictionary (2015) was defined firstly as the process of changing something to suit new situation, secondly as the process of adapting, and thirdly as a composition rewritten in a new form. Kelly (1978) pinpointed that adaptation stems from the Latin root “adaptatio”, which could be considered as a special kind of translation, in which creativity, modification, adjustment and appropriation could be observed.

Distinction between translation and adaptation dated from Cicero and Horace. Bastin (2005) stated that adaptation has always existed but its climax was in 17th and 18th centuries, when translators felt foreign texts should be adapted to the tastes and habits of the target culture. Then, he added, in the 19th century, a reaction arose against this infidelity; and afterwards, in the 20th century, the large number of technical, scientific and commercial documents brought into light the issue of effective communication. Thus, it caused a form of adaptation which involved rewriting a text for a new readership.Toury (1995) investigated adaptation based on a descriptive approach, explaining it as a type of rewriting. Nida and Taber (cited in Shuttleworth and Cowei, 1997) considered adaptation as cultural translation in which translator did not remain faithful to the source text. Nord (cited in Shuttleworth and Cowei, 1997) defined adaptation as a mirror which reflected translation’s purpose; she believed that all translations contained a certain degree of adaptation. Shuttleworth and Cowie (1997) asserted that adaptation occurred when a translator has adopted a free translation strategy. This term indicated that radical changes should be made in a text to satisfy needs and expectations of target audiences and to fulfill the purpose of translation. Bastin (1998) defined adaptation as translative interventions, resulting in a text which represented an ST but was not accepted as a translation. According to him (1998) adaptation might involve concepts such as appropriation, domestication, rewriting as well as transference.

2.3. Works Conducted Abroad

Toury (1995) investigated pseudotranslation on Papa Hamlet, a small book which was published in the German town of Leipzig in 1889. On the first pages of this book, a detailed biography of the author, Bjarne Peter Holmsen, was provided. After its publication, Papa Hamlet for few months had a wide journalistic coverage and it was represented as an original. A few months later, it was detected that Papa Hamlet was not a translation at all, but these three stories were original German texts, the first literary result of joint effort of Arno Holz and Schlaf. Their aim was to make themselves free from the constraints of French naturalism. Toury (1995) concluded that Papa Hamlet was a case for cultural planning and introduced Scandinavian-like novelties into German.

Rizzi in 2008 conducted a research on the Historia Imperial, which was translated by Matteo Mario Boiardo (1441-1494). Based on evidence from the pretext, the Historia Imperial was a translation from a Latin text which was attributed by Boiardo to Riccobaldo of Ferrara but according to evidence from the epitexts when Muratori published the last two books of the Historia imperial in 1723, scholars understood that it contradicts whatever was claimed before. In fact, it was taken from different sources; So Rizzi decided that based on epitext evidence, the text was not translation. Rizzi (2008) concluded that translation by Boiardo was a cultural and political planning which was aimed at presenting historical and ideological information to audience.

 Mohammadi Dehcheshmeh in Ottawa University (2013) investigated PT on Chaplain's Letter to his Daughter Geraldine which reflected the socio-political context of its production. She concluded that based on pretexts and epitexts proposed by Rizzi (2008), Saba published his original writing with label of translation for a number of reasons.  First, because of the suffocating atmosphere of Pahlavi Regime; second, because his profession in journalism was filling the blank columns by fabricating such stories; and third, since he was aware of the social, economic and political situation of that era.

Zhang (2015) tried to answer this question that How a pseudotranslation was manipulated with a critical look at the production of Carl Weter’s educational law by Liu. He described that cultural turn in translation studies resulted in considering different factors that governed on the production of this translation as both production and process. Zhang examined this text as PT based on Toury’s theory which emanated from the notion of assumed translation. The result showed that the pseudo-translator wanted to use the cultural and language advantages of the source text to increase its authoritative force in children’s education and more important to promote acceptance of text among readers. Its success was obvious from the huge sale of the PT. The main goal of this PT was making the biggest economic profits. To achieve this goal the pseudo translator resorted to every means such as inventing a false name of the original, cutting and copying from other books and so on.

2.4. Works Conducted in Iran

To the best knowledge of the researchers, there has been a dearth of studies on the issue of pseudotranslation, and only one paper was found. This study just spoke about PT and Zabihullah Mansouri. Emami (cited in Haddadian, 2008) believed that Mansouri was a skillful storyteller and he mingled story writing with translation. He investigated the translation of Stalin Isaac Deutscher and proved that Mansouri’s information was more than the original author’s information. Moreover, he explained that Mansouri even brought in his translation the midwife’s name of Stalin’s mother which was not in the original version (my translation).

3. Methodology

3.1. Design of the Study

Since this descriptive-qualitative research was a product-oriented one which sought to describe or analyze the source text–target test pairs, it fell under the category of descriptive translation studies proposed by Holmes (2004). In addition, it was also a comparative textual analysis research because it involved comparing source text with its target text. The researchers have selected Bastin’s (2005) model as the framework of the study. Bastin (2005) considered seven modes or procedures in which adaptation was carried out involving transcription of the original, omission, expansion, exoticism, updating, situational or cultural adequacy and creation. He differentiated between two kinds of adaptations: local adaptation and global adaptation. According to him, if translator’s interventions were merely restricted to deviation from literality, local adaptation has been adopted, but deliberate interventions would result in global adaptation.

3.2. Theoretical Framework of the Study

As a theoretical framework, the researchers applied adaptation of Bastin (2005) as a kind of PT. Rado (1979) considered PT as a kind of adaptation (cited in Shuttleworth & Cowei, 1979). In the same vein, Bastin (2005) asserted that adaptation may include different notions such as appropriation, imitation, rewriting, domestication and so on. Bastin (2005) has provided a list of modes in which adaptations were carried out, also he mentioned the motivations (or conditions) of adaptation and the restrictions on the work of the adaptation. In terms of modes of adaptation, according to Bastin (2005) the procedures used by the adapter can be classified as follows:

1. Transcription of the original: It is literal translation or word-for-word translation of a part of the source text.

2. Omission: According to this procedure a part of the original text is omitted or implied.

3. Expansion: By which translators add or explicit some information to the source text in the main body or in footnotes, glossaries and a foreword.

4. Exoticism: It is the replacement of slang, dialect and nonsense words in the source text by their approximate equivalents in the TT.

5. Updating: Outdated and vague information in the ST are replaced by modern and new equivalents.

6. Situational or cultural adequacy: target-oriented translation that is associated with reproduction of a context or expressions which are known and culturally appropriate for the target readership.

7. Creation: In this procedure only main ideas, function and message of the ST are transferred, in fact global replacement occurs in the target text.

 Bastin (2005) mentioned some factors or conditions which make translators use adaptation which were:

A. Cross-code breakdown: When there are not lexical equivalents in the target language for an item in the ST.

B. Situational or cultural inadequacy: Context and views of a ST cannot be properly applied to the target text.

C. Genre switching: A need to switch from one genre to another.

D. Disruption of communication process: when the type of readership changes or a new era or approach begins, essential need arose for modifications in style, content and the way of presentation. According to Bastin (2005) conditions of adaptation can be resulted in two types of adaptations: local adaptation and global adaptation. Local adaptations are resulted from the original text itself. They include only certain and isolated parts of text in order to determine specific differences between ST and TT in terms of language and culture. As a whole, local adaptation has a limited effect on the text and it is associated with effectiveness and efficiency, its aim is achieving a balance between what is to be changed and what is to be left unchanged.

Bastin and Vandal-Sirois (2012) asserted that although adaptation and appropriation as global strategies were used in many translation settings by individuals, they went beyond the normal work of pragmatic translators. Global adaptation as a procedure can be applied to a text as a whole. Global adaptation can be exerted on translation by the translator himself / herself, publisher, patronage, government and so on. The aim of global adaptation as a general strategy is recreating and preserving the purpose, effectiveness and function of the ST.

3.3. The Corpus of the Study

This comparablecorpus was the travelogue A Year Amongst the Persians which was written by Edward Brown in 1893. It has 540 pages and 18 chapters. This book was not just a travel writing, but it was a new and interesting research about social, political and economic condition of Iranians in Naseraddin Shah Qajar’s era from an English tourist's perspective. Mansouri translated this book in 1951 and it was edited by Saffar publication. This translation has 652 pages.

 3.4. Data collection and Analysis Procedure

In order to collect the required data, first, the researchers read the source text along with its Persian translation and compared them together. Second, samples ranging from page to lexis based on the procedures in Bastin's model were selected; and finally, these samples were categorized along with their translations to be analyzed.

After collecting the related data which were samples ranging from page to lexis from the original version and its translation based on the selected framework, the researchers compared the ST samples and their equivalents in the TT to find out whether the translator applied Bastin's procedures of adaptation. Second, the translations of the examples were analyzed and examined closely according to Bastin’s procedures and the researchers made bold some parts of the examples to bring into light the applied procedure. Third, the frequency of each procedure was investigated and shown in a table.  Fourth, the researchers showed which procedure was the most frequent and which one was the least frequent and then based on the findings of this research answered the aforementioned research questions and finally by a general conclusion has finished this research.

4. Results and Discussion

Only one hundred examples ranging from lexis to page, having been found and extracted from Browne's A Year Amongst the Persians (1893), are investigated and analyzed along with their Persian translations. Then according to the above-mentioned strategies, these examples are discussed to help achieving the research objective. In the end, a table which involves the frequency of each applied procedure is drawn.

4.1. Omission

4.1.1. Omission at the Level of Page

Totally 128 pages were omitted in the target text including data related to Babi and Bahai minorities and religious discussions.

4.1.2. Omission at the Level of Paragraph

Most of omissions at the level of paragraph, the same as omissions at the level of page, were related to Babis and religious issues and 20 paragraphs were omitted.

4.1.3. Omissions at the Level of Sentence

Sample 1. I conversed with him for about two hours, and he enquired very particularly about the signs which should herald Christ's coming, but did not make any allusion to the beliefs of the Babis, which, I believe, were his own. Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of one of the Hindoos… (p.427, L. 2.)

نزدیک یک ساعت و نیم مشغول صحبت شدیم لکن صحبت ما بر اثرورود هندوها قطع شد(ص.  490 ،پ.2، خط2).

Back translation: About an hour and a half we conversed with each other, but our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the Hindoos

 

Note: The bold part was omitted in TT. It would be necessary to pinpoint that all information omitted in the TT were religious subjects.

 

Sample 4. We passed nothing of interest except a large sheet of water, lying to the north of the road, on which were multitudes of water fowl; and, as we had made a late start, it was more than an hour after sundown when we reached Haji-Aka, where we halted for the night.

در روز اول مسافرت واقعه قابل ذکری روی نداد و ما یک ساعت بعد از غروب افتاب به منزلی که قریه "حاجی اقا" بود رسیدیم.

Back translation: On the first day of travel, no significant incident occurred and one hour after sunset

We reached a house which was in Haji-Aka’s village.

 

4.1.4. Omission at the level of Clause and Lexis

Sample 1. Presently we were interrupted by the arrival of visitors, the officious and meddlesome Haji Muhammad Khan, and the Mulla'bashi (P.458, Parag.2).

در این موقع چند نفر از کرمانی ها وارد منزل رییس پست شدند. اشخاصی که امدند عبارت بودند از حاجی محمد خان و ملا باشی و یک نفر دیگر(ص.528، پ.3).

Back translation: At that time, several Kermanians entered the house of the head of the post. People who came were Haji Muhammad Khan, and Mulla'bashi and one other.

4.2. Creation

According to Bastin (2005), adapters use creation for transmitting main points of the text and preserving the function and purpose of the source text. By creation translators just transfer the spirit of the original text. In some examples of creation, some parts of sentences were omitted, so it posed some problems in differentiation between creation and omission. Indeed, the boundary between omission and creation was not clear-cut. In this section, the researchers made bold parts of sentences which were not translated. Creation the same as omission destroyed the figurative aspects of the original text.

Sample 5. Without attaching much credence to their representations, I was forced to yield to them and, with many a backward glance of regret, to turn my back to Perspolis(P.225, Parag.3, L. 7).

من ناچار از بازدید سایر خرابه ها صرف نظر کردم و به اتفاق او مراجعت نمودم (ص.335، پ.1، خط1).

Back translation: I had to ignore visiting other ruins, and I returned with him.

Sample 9. As we advanced, the ascent grew gradually more abrupt, and the path began to climb the mountain side in a series of apparently interminable zigzags which has given to it the name of Hazar Cham (the thousand twists), at the summit of the pass is a little building where we had lunch ere commencing the descent into Mazandaran. Our downward course lay at first by the side of a rushing river (the Lar, I think), which soon plunged into a deep gorge (P.559, Parag.1, L.7).

انگاه وارد منطقه زیباو عجیب و دیدنی "هزار چم" گردیدیم و رودخانه ای در یکطرف راه ما جاری بود که تصور می کنم به نام "رود لار"خوانده می شود (ص.587، پ.3).

Back translation: Then we entered the beautiful, strange and spectacular area ofHazar Cham” (the thousand twists), and there was a river on the one side of our course that I assumed it was called the Lar.

4.3. Expansion

According to Bastin (2005) translator may add his information in the main body or in footnote to the ST and sometimes he/ she may feel it is necessary to explain and explicit part of text in the original text considering the background knowledge of the target readers. It seems necessary to pinpoint that in some samples which are categorized as creation, expansion can also be observed.

Sample 1. Hadiyye is a general term for any sort of present (P.68, Parag.1, L. 5).

اما کلمه هدیه بر هر نوع تقدیمی اطلاق می شود و معمولا هدیه نیز بلاعوض است، زیرا کسانی به یکدیگر هدیه می دهند که از لحاظ وضع اجتماعی و مادی با هم مساوی هستند و یا زیاد با هم فرق ندارند .132، پ.2).

Back translation: But the word Hadiyye includes any sort of present and usually the present is also gratis because those who give present to each other are equal financially and socially or they are not much different from each other.

Sample 2. Soon after leaving Asalak we entered the mountains, and the scenery began to improve rapidly, gradually assuming an almost English character; for our way was between green hedgerows, beyond which lay real grass meadows watered by rippling mountain streams and dotted with grazing cattle (P.558, last Parag.).

همین که از انجا به راه افتادیم، به تدریج وضع کوه و دشت تغییر کرد و سبزه فراوان گردید تا اینکه وارد منطقه سبزه زار و جنگلی شمال ایران گردیدم. من که از صحراهای گرم و خشک جنوب  و مرکز ایران می آمدم مانند این بود که وارد دنیای جدیدی شده ام.در بعضی از نقاط مناظر کوه و دره و رودخانه وآسمان آبی چنان زیبا می شد که در هیچ نقطه ای ندیده ام و بدون شک مناظر شمال ایران یکی از مصفاترین و تماشایی ترین نقاط جهان است (ص.587، پ.1).

Back translation: Soon after we left there, the state of mountain and plain gradually changed and the verdure increased until I entered the grassland and forest area of Iran. For me who came from southern and central dry and hot deserts of Iran, it was the same as entering the new world. In some places, scenery of mountain, valley, river and blue sky was so beautiful that I have seen in no place and doubtlessly, northern landscapes of Iran are one of the most pleasant and the most spectacular parts of the world.

4.4. Situational and Cultural adequacy

Sometimes it seems necessary for translators to do a target-oriented translation and domesticate or internalize the expressions and contents in a way which is culturally appropriate for the target receptors.

Sample 1.  Finest, of three or three and half ells in length, require twelve or fifteen months for their completion, and are sold at forty or fifty tumans a piece… (P.441, L. 22)

شال مرغوب درجه اول،هر طاقه پنجاه تومان فروخته می شود و مدت بافت ان دوازده تا پانزده ماه طول می کشد (ص.509، پ.2).

Back translation: First-class and high-quality shawl, every piece, is sold fifty tumans and duration of its weaving lasts twelve to fifteen months.

Sample2. These mules were accordingly tied up in the garden near my horse, and it was their coverings which, as the muleteer excitedly informed us, had been removed by the thief (Parag.2, L.9-12, P. 445).

او هم چهارپایان خود را اورد و در باغ نزدیک من بست زیرا ظاهرا می بایست بزودی حرکت کنیم و ناگهان چهار پادار خبر داد که پالان قاطر او را برده اند (ص.514، پ.3، خط3).

Back translation: He also brought his mules, and tied up in the garden near me because apparently we should leave quickly, suddenly the muleteer informed us that his mule's covering has been rubbed.

4.5. Transcription of the Original

 It is literal translation or word-for-word translation of a part of the source text.

Sample 1. We followed the latter, and reached Hakim about 6.45 P.M. as it was getting dusk (P.353, Parag.1).

ما جاده را پیش گرفتیم وساعت هفت و ربع کم بعد از ظهر که مغرب شده بود به حکیم رسیدیم (ص.424، پ.2، خط5).

Back translation: We took the road ahead and reached Hakim about 6.45 P.M. as it was getting dusk.

 

Sample 2. O most excellent khan, I cried, as soon as the general merriment had somewhat subsided, "now your fist is opened". Now I see why you were so eager for me to accompany you to your interesting, hospitable country (P.468, L.27).

من گفتم جناب اقای خان افضل خان... حالا مچ شما هم باز شد زیرا من دانستم که برای چه می خواستید مرا به طرف ولایت خود بلوچستان ببرید(ص.541، پ.2، خط3).

Back translation: I said:" O most excellent khan Afzal khan”, now your fist is opened because I know that why you wanted to take me to your hometown, Baluchistan.

4.6. Updating

By updating old and vague information in the source were replaced by new equivalents in the target text.No example was found.

 

4.7. Exoticism

      It is the replacement of slang, dialect and nonsense words in the source text by their approximate equivalents in the TT. No example of exoticism was found. It might be on the ground that Browne was able to understand and speak Farsi very well before coming to Iran, so in writing his book whenever he needed to use cultural words or proper names such as ejel, efrite, Arg, Biharu'l-Anvar, Allama, pilaw and many other words, he just borrowed them from Farsi. The translator had no problem for transferring the cultural expressions so no exoticism occurred in the translation process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         Table 1. The frequency of procedures applied in the target text.

Number

              Procedures                     

Frequency

1

               Omission                       

-At the level of page

-At the level of paragraph

-At the level of sentence

-At the level of lexis

 

128

20

13

13

2

Creation

32

3

Expansion

23

4

Situational and cultural adequacy

14

5

Transcription of original

5

6

Updating

-

7

Exoticism

-

 

Sum

100

 

5. Conclusion

      The analysis of examples indicated that Bastin's procedures of adaptation were significantly found in Mansouri's translation. It seemed that the translator was more inclined to use omission, creation and expansion so that out of 581 pages 128 pages were omitted in the TT. Moreover, there were a lot of omissions at the level of paragraph (20 samples), at the level of sentence (13 cases) and at the level of clause and lexis (13 cases). Indeed, they were indicator of intervention in the source text. After omission, creation was the most frequently applied procedure by the translator (in 32 cases it was used). By creation only main ideas of the ST were transferred to the TT. Using creation in some parts of the text destroyed the figurative aspects and literary delicateness of the ST. This statement was also true about deletions at the level of sentence and lexis. The third mostly employed procedure was expansion (23cases). Sometimes the translator added some extra information to the target text and these data were so deviant from the original text that it could be said they were written based on translator's creativity and imagination. The number of situational and cultural adequacies were 14 cases. By adopting this procedure, translator tried to use the familiar and culturally appropriate expressions and structures for the target readers. Based on the analysis no updating and exoticism sample was found. Based on the findings of the research, Mansouri employed omission as the most frequently used procedure in his translation.  According to Bastin (2005), adaptation could be defined as a set of interventions in the TT which resulted to creation of a text that although it was a representative of the ST but it could not be called translation. Considerable omissions at the level of page emphasized on the patronage or the translator's intervention in the ST. Indeed, global adaptation occurred because aforementioned interventions were not resulted from linguistic and cultural differences between two languages.

5.1. Pedagogical Implications

 It is hoped that the findings of this research could be beneficial in translation teaching and studying, by sensitizing translation students to select a real translation, especially when they need to do a comparative analysis for their research. Moreover,The present study could help translation students in the experience of translation because it may cause translators care more about their adopted strategy of translation and avoid using unnecessary deletions, unreasonable expansions and ideological manipulations in translation process. In addition, the findings of the research could be useful for those who are involved in translation and could assist them to distinguish between real translation and pseudo-translation.

5.2. Suggestions for Further Research

Regarding the subject matter, the researcher suggested the following areas worthy of investigation. Considering Rado's definition of adaptation as a kind of pseudo-translation, further research can be done on other literary works to see whether or not the results of the research could be generalized. According to Okhovat (2006) most of pseudo-translations in Iran are related to political literature. A research can be conducted on Toury's theoretical framework of PT, to check whether pseudo-translations as cultural dynamics had any effect on shaping the Islamic revolution. A research can be conducted on the history of translation in Iran in order to investigate the status of translation in Mansouri's era and its present condition to find out whether the public opinion has changed toward translated works or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Baker, M., & Saldanha, G. (2011). Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. London and New York: Routledge/Tylor and Francis Group.

Bastin, G.L. (2005). Adaptation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 3-6). London and New York: Routledge/Tylor and Francis Group.

Bastin, G. L., & Vandal-Sirois, H. (2012). Adaptation and appropriation: Is there a limit? In L. Raw (Ed.), translation, adaptation and transformation (pp.21-41).

Bassnett, S. (1998). When is a translation not a translation? In S., Bassnett & A., Lefever (Eds.), constructing cultures: essays on literary translation (pp.25-40). Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual matters.

Browne, E. G. (1893). A Year amongst the Persians. London, England: Adam and Charles Black Company.

Hatim, B., & Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the translator. London and New York: Longman.

Jamshidi, E. (1991), Meeting Zabihollah Mansoori. Tehran: Ariankar publication

Kelly, D. (1978). Translatio studii: Translation, adaptation and allegory in medieval French literature. Philological Quarterly, 57,287-310.

Holmes, J.S. (2004). The name and nature of translation studies. In L., Venuti. (Ed.), The Translation studies reader (pp.172-185). London and New York: Routledge.

Lefever, A. (1998). Translation practice and the circulation of cultural capital: some Aeneids in English. In S., Bassnett & A., Lefever (Eds.), Constructing cultures: essays on literary translation (pp. 41-56). Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual matters.

Mohammadi Dehcheshmeh, M. (2013). Pseudotranslation as a subset of the literary system: A Case Study. Transc UlturAl, 5(1-2), 134-158.

Okhavat, A. (2006). Pseudonyms and psudotranslation. Tehran: Nashr-e-Ney

O'Sullivan, C. (2005). Pseudotranslation. In Y., Gambier. & L., Doorslaer (Eds.), Hand book of translation studies (pp.123-126). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamin's Publishing Company.

Popovic, A. (1976). Dictionary for the analysis of literary translation. Edmonton: University of Alberta.

Rambelli, P. (2006). Pseudotranslation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 208-211). London and New York: Routledge.

Rizzi, A. (2008). When a text is both a pseudotranslation and a translation: The enlightening case of Matteo Maria Boiardo. In A., Pym & M., Shlesinger & D., Simeoni (Eds.), Beyond Descriptive Translation studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury. (pp. 153-162).  Philadelphia and Amsterdam: John Benjamin's Publishing Company.

Robinson, D. (1998). Pseudotranslation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 183-185). London and New York: Routledge.

Saldanha, G. & O'Brien, Sh. (2013). Research methodologies in translation studies. London and New York: St Jerome Publishing.

Shuttle Worth, M. & Cowie, M. (1979). Dictionary of translation studies. London and New York: St Jerome Publishing.

Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive translation studies and beyond. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamin's Publishing Company. 

Zhang, D. (2015). How is a pseudo-translation manipulated? A critical look at the production of Carl Weter's educational law. In L., Ko & P., Chen (Eds.), Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication Studies in the Asia Pacific (pp.153-166). Boston: Brill Rodopi.

 

 



[1] Associate professor, m.sharifi@uk.ac.ir; Department of foreign languages, Faculty of literature and humanities, Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

[2] Instructor, mina_zandrahimi@uk.ac.ir; Department of foreign languages, Faculty of literature and humanities, Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

[3] M.A graduate of translation studies, fathiyazdan9@gmail.com; Department of foreign languages, Faculty of literature and humanities, Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

 

 

Baker, M., & Saldanha, G. (2011). Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. London and New York: Routledge/Tylor and Francis Group.
Bastin, G.L. (2005). Adaptation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 3-6). London and New York: Routledge/Tylor and Francis Group.
Bastin, G. L., & Vandal-Sirois, H. (2012). Adaptation and appropriation: Is there a limit? In L. Raw (Ed.), translation, adaptation and transformation (pp.21-41).
Bassnett, S. (1998). When is a translation not a translation? In S., Bassnett & A., Lefever (Eds.), constructing cultures: essays on literary translation (pp.25-40). Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual matters.
Browne, E. G. (1893). A Year amongst the Persians. London, England: Adam and Charles Black Company.
Hatim, B., & Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the translator. London and New York: Longman.
Jamshidi, E. (1991), Meeting Zabihollah Mansoori. Tehran: Ariankar publication
Kelly, D. (1978). Translatio studii: Translation, adaptation and allegory in medieval French literature. Philological Quarterly, 57,287-310.
Holmes, J.S. (2004). The name and nature of translation studies. In L., Venuti. (Ed.), The Translation studies reader (pp.172-185). London and New York: Routledge.
Lefever, A. (1998). Translation practice and the circulation of cultural capital: some Aeneids in English. In S., Bassnett & A., Lefever (Eds.), Constructing cultures: essays on literary translation (pp. 41-56). Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual matters.
Mohammadi Dehcheshmeh, M. (2013). Pseudotranslation as a subset of the literary system: A Case Study. Transc UlturAl, 5(1-2), 134-158.
Okhavat, A. (2006). Pseudonyms and psudotranslation. Tehran: Nashr-e-Ney
O'Sullivan, C. (2005). Pseudotranslation. In Y., Gambier. & L., Doorslaer (Eds.), Hand book of translation studies (pp.123-126). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamin's Publishing Company.
Popovic, A. (1976). Dictionary for the analysis of literary translation. Edmonton: University of Alberta.
Rambelli, P. (2006). Pseudotranslation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 208-211). London and New York: Routledge.
Rizzi, A. (2008). When a text is both a pseudotranslation and a translation: The enlightening case of Matteo Maria Boiardo. In A., Pym & M., Shlesinger & D., Simeoni (Eds.), Beyond Descriptive Translation studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury. (pp. 153-162).  Philadelphia and Amsterdam: John Benjamin's Publishing Company.
Robinson, D. (1998). Pseudotranslation. In M., Baker & G., Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 183-185). London and New York: Routledge.
Saldanha, G. & O'Brien, Sh. (2013). Research methodologies in translation studies. London and New York: St Jerome Publishing.
Shuttle Worth, M. & Cowie, M. (1979). Dictionary of translation studies. London and New York: St Jerome Publishing.
Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive translation studies and beyond. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamin's Publishing Company. 
Zhang, D. (2015). How is a pseudo-translation manipulated? A critical look at the production of Carl Weter's educational law. In L., Ko & P., Chen (Eds.), Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication Studies in the Asia Pacific (pp.153-166). Boston: Brill Rodopi.