Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Magisterská diplomová

Transkript

Masarykova univerzita
Filozofická fakulta
Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky
Magisterská diplomová práce
2011
Mgr. Kristýna Staňková
1
Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts
Department of English
and American Studies
English-language Translation
Mgr. Kristýna Staňková
Environmental Literature in Czech
Translation: Six Case Studies
Master’s Diploma Thesis
Supervisor: Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D.
2011
2
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the sources listed in the bibliography.
……………………………………………..
3
I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D., for her
guidance, inspiration, suggestions and encouragement. I would also like to thank
Prof. Erazim Kohák and PhDr. Rudolf Kolářský for suggestions of the translation of
Silent Spring, and my husband for his patience and support.
4
Table of Contents
1.Introduction...........................................................................................................................5
2.Theoretical Part.....................................................................................................................8
1.1.1.Translation Studies and Environmental Literature.......................................................8
1.1.2.Strategies and features in the translation ...................................................................9
1.1.3.Explicitation.................................................................................................................9
1.1.4.Simplification and normalization...............................................................................10
1.1.5.Compensation............................................................................................................11
1.1.6.Interference...............................................................................................................11
1.1.7.Terminological issues.................................................................................................12
2.2.5.1.Standardized terminology....................................................................................13
2.2.5.2.Literal translation..................................................................................................13
2.2.5.3.Neologisms..........................................................................................................14
1.1.8.Translating culture: Domestication and foreignization strategies..............................15
3.Practical Part........................................................................................................................17
3.1 Research project.......................................................................................................17
3.2 Corpus.......................................................................................................................17
3.3 Methodology.............................................................................................................19
4.Translation analysis .............................................................................................................19
4.1 Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac.....................................................................19
4.2 Rachel Carson: Silent Spring......................................................................................37
4.3 John Seed: Thinking like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings.....................47
4.4 Arne Naess: Ecology, community and lifestyle: outline of an ecosophy...................58
4.5 Gary Snyder: A place in space: ethics, aesthetics and watersheds............................76
4.6 Jared Diamond: Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed...........................96
5.Conclusion .........................................................................................................................112
6.Bibliography.......................................................................................................................116
7.Summary............................................................................................................................121
8.Resumé..............................................................................................................................122
1. Introduction
Ever since a nature-writing classic, H. D. Thoreau’s Walden, was first
translated into Czech in 1902 (by Zdeněk Franta as Walden, čili, Život
5
v lesích), English-written literature dealing with nature, environment and
ecology has been more or less successfully transmitted to the Czech
readership. Walden is an exemplary case of publishing interest in this topic,
with the total of three different translations (in 1924 by Miloš Seifert and in
1991 by Josef Schwarz) and six editions. However, the historical
circumstances interrupted the development of translation of nature writing and
environmental literature in Czechoslovakia during the period between 1948
and 1989, presumably for the reason that the citizens of a socialist country
were not supposed to indulge in things natural rather than to develop a
socialist paradise and, more importantly, were definitely not to question the
self-righteousness of the industrial urban society, let alone its impact on the
environment.
Nevertheless, the affairs changed radically in 1990s‘ and both publishers
and translators quickly discovered new opportunities, trends and movements
in
literature.
As
independent
environmentally-oriented
literature
publishing
became
houses
an
were
alternative
established,
and
with
environmental issues gaining more publicity, this type of literature attracted
readers. Despite this development, it is still considered a minor genre, which
relies mostly on translated works (mostlly from English) with only a little
national production (exceptions exist, Václav Cílek being one of the most
prolific and well-known authors dedicated to environmental writing).
Differences in publishing exist as well – most of the books dealing with
environment and ecology are published in small and specialized publishing
houses, while large publishers only focus on bestsellers or promising titles
(e.g. the case of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild that has had already two
6
editions in Czech, the second one (published by Columbus) clearly motivated
by the launch of the eponymous movie rather than by, let’s say, growing
interest in the phenomenon of American wilderness).
In this thesis my aim is to introduce the problematics of Czech
translation of English-written environmental literature and analyse six nonfiction works by various authors (Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, John Seed,
Arne Naess, Gary Snyder and Jared Diamond) and their translations into
Czech, each of which is characterized by different translation strategies.
However, the analysis is also intended to show whereas universal features
appear as well and whether these could be seen as direct effect of the fact
that these translations are restricted to the topic of ecology.
The theoretical background of my research is based on some of the
central issues of translation studies, namely translation universals with
particular focus on cultural explicitation, taking into account also simplification
and normalization. Moreover, terminology is in many aspects the core theme
of the research and domestication and foreignization strategies, as well as the
problems of interference and literal translation, are discussed as well.
As for the structure of the thesis, the theoretical aspects are discussed in
the first, theoretical part. The practical part is divided into two chapters –
chapter 3 offers a short introduction to the corpus material and the methods
and chapter 4 is concerned exclusively with the translation analysis,
represented by six case studies ordered chronologically according to the date
of publishing of the source text, each of which deals with one work and its
translation. The conclusion then sums up the main findings and proposes
areas for further research and discussion.
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2. Theoretical Part
1.1.1. Translation Studies and Environmental Literature
It is evident that certain genres and fields have received much greater
attention within the discipline of translation studies than others – Bible
translation or translation of poetry are some of the examples of popular topics
in the study of literary translation, while medical and legal translations have
long occupied top position in the study of non-literary translation. On the other
hand, ecology and environmental studies are more of a niche in translation
studies, represented by only a few research projects that focus exclusively on
terminology (e.g. Pascaline Dury’s compilation of a bilingual diachronic corpus
of ecology) (Dury 5). With regard to environmental literature 1 and its relation to
translation studies, one most probably arrives at the conclusion that this
particular type of literature is so marginal that it can hardly gain any interest of
TS scholars.
Nevertheless, translation and environmental literature are closely related
as the latter is becoming more widespread and therefore needs to be
translated into other languages, and the problems faced by the translators go
beyond the simple terminological issues. The reason is that environmental
literature, particularly its non-fiction
component, is characterised
by
multidisciplinarity, which requires additional skills from the translators, but it is
1
As a working definition of the concept ‘environmental literature’ I would draw on definitions
by Scott Slovic, Bill McKibben and Patrick D. Murphy: environmental literature can be
understood as encompassing various genres (Slovic 888) in which celebration of nature is
one of the main aspects, but “it moves beyond it, seeking answers as well as consolation,
embracing controversy, sometimes sounding an alarm” (McKibben xxii) Finally, it is not
limiting itself to the description of the natural world and/or history, but discusses also
environmental issues, such as pollution, urbanization and other forms of human intervention
and their impact on the environment and landscape (Murphy 5).
8
also related to literary translation. Finally, it is interesting to note that, although
the majority of works now available are written in English, there is also need
for translation of environmental literature written in different languages into
English, as Murphy proposes in order to widen the horizon of (mainly)
American eco-critics (217).
1.1.2. Strategies and features in the translation
1.1.3. Explicitation
Explicitation, i.e. the process of “making explicit in the target text information
that is implicit in the source text” (Klaudy 80), has become one of the central
issues in the study of translation (Pym 2005) (for example, Birgitta Englund
Dimitrova presents a summary of studies treating the explicitation
phenomenon) (35). On general level, Klaudy distinguishes four types of
explicitation: obligatory, optional, pragmatic and translation-inherent (82-83),
which can be further categorized according to the Hallidayan language
metafunctions into experiential, logical, interpersonal explicitation (Kamenická
118). Formally, explicitation takes either form of addition (when new elements
are added in the TT) or specification (when the information given is more
specific though its amount correspond to the ST) (Englund Dimitrova 34). As
concerns the present study, the focus is on cultural explicitation (pragmatic in
Klaudy’s terminology), which “occurs to supplement possible cultural gaps
between the source and the target culture” (Perego 70). It is hypothesized that
environmental literature is relatively grounded in the SL culture, therefore the
translation will feature certain amount of more explicit information in order to
explain cultural concept not so familiar or completely unknown to the target
9
reader or when there is no equivalent of it in the TL.
Explicitation has also been studied in relation to the translator’s style
(e.g. Baker 2000, Saldanha 2005, Kamenická 2008) and this could also go for
the present analysis, which, among other things, shows that each translator
has a different degree of propensity to explicitate (especially with regard to
cultural explicitation).
Implicitation is often introduced in the discussion on explicitation as an
opposite procedure, i.e. that of removing explicit information from the TT ,
however it is considered a much less frequent operation (Englund Dimitrova
39) and as such is reported only rarely in this paper.
1.1.4. Simplification and normalization
Both simplification and normalization are processes recognized as translation
universals, which means their occurrence in a translated text is much higher
than in a non-translated one. Simplification generally occurs on three levels:
lexical, syntactic and stylistic (Laviosa-Braithwaite 288). Lexical simplification
appears to be the most frequent type in the translations analysed, followed by
the closely related simplifying phenomenon of avoiding repetition.
Normalization, i.e. the translation’s tendency to be more conventional,
can be regarded as the result of the translator’s attempt at making the text
more accessible to the target reader through enhanced clarity and familiarity
and better organization compared to the original (Vanderauwera in LaviosaBraithwaite 289-290). While this reasoning applies to majority of the examples
of normalization found in the analysed material, it is also true that there are
instances of normalization that can only be explained by the translator’s
10
inability to find a suitable TL equivalent that would preserve the ST curiosity.
Nevertheless, it has to be added that it is often the case that there is not such
an equivalent or that the possible equivalent would most probably impede
understanding of the TT or not create the same effect as in the ST.
1.1.5. Compensation
When loss of effect (e. g. due to simplification or normalization) occurs in the
passage from the ST to the TT, compensation is a technique that is meant to
make up for such a loss. It may involve identical linguistic devices as those
used in the ST or linguistic devices that are different from the ST but create
the same effect in the TT (Harvey 37-38). The latter could be exemplified by
the use of present and past participles in the TT to compensate various
archaic forms in the ST in the case of the translation of Aldo Leopold’s Sand
County
Almanac.
Harvey
also
mentions
the
so-called
displaced
compensation, which involves the use of stylistic features in an attempt to
naturalize the text for the target readership even though such features are not
tied to any specific instance of the ST loss (39). This could again apply to the
Sand County Almanac and its translation which often re-creates archaisms
when there is no evident parallel in the ST.
1.1.6. Interference
It could be claimed that interference is an intrinsic factor of the translation
process (Newmark 2001: 78) as it involves “the importation into the target text
of lexical, syntactic, cultural or structural items typical of a different semiotic
system and unusual or non-existent in the target context” (Franco Aixelá).
11
However, the process of interference has been viewed rather negatively,
implying that such importation of SL features is inappropriate and undesired
(Newmark 2001: 78). Such a negative approach has somewhat obscured its
positive aspects, particularly when new concepts are introduced in the TL.
Franco Aixelá focuses on interference in terminology and sees “the creation
and preservation of a specific terminology or jargon” as one of the main
motives why interference is used in technical translation. On the other hand,
Newmark considers lexical interference to be dangerous as it may distort the
meaning (2001: 83). Nevertheless, “false friends” rarely distort the meaning in
technical translation (especially when interference involves a neologism),
although they pose a problem in other types of translation, as is demonstrated
in the analysis.
In addition to lexical interference, Newmark distinguishes between
syntactical, figurative, cultural, as well as interference involving the word order
(2001: 83-85). In my analysis, I focus mainly on lexical interference, but
syntactical interference and word order are mentioned too.
1.1.7. Terminological issues
Despite the fact that the analysed works of environmental literature fall into
the category of literary non-fiction (Murphy 6), there appear terminological
issues similar to those encountered in technical texts. In fact, the amount of
specialised terms used is astonishing and would merit a separate study.
Furthermore, the terms are not limited only to the field of ecology (in the wider
sense, therefore including zoology, botany and other life sciences) or
environmental studies, but belong to such areas as economy, sociology or
12
philosophy. This multidisciplinarity might be perceived as a translation
problem, given the fact that most translators specialize only in a limited
number of areas. In addition to this aspect, three main issues are examined
below.
2.2.5.1.
Standardized terminology
The main motives and also the principals benefit of standardization of
terminology can be summarized as economy, precision and appropriateness,
all of which facilitate communication between (not only) specialists (Sager
256-257). The standardization basically consists of fixing the meaning of each
term (256), an operation that can be done through a number of methods.
Sager lists specialised commissions that work on the standardization of
terminology in scientific disciplines (e.g. zoological and botanical taxonomies),
glossaries, and ISO standards (256-257). As concerns the standardized
terminology of ecology in Czech, it is slowly developing, with a few published
dictionaries (e.g. Anglicko-český a česko-anglický slovník ekologie a životního
prostředí edited by Jarmila Hájková, Odborný slovník anglicko-český a českoanglický - Ekologie a ochrana životního prostředí by Pavel Křivka and Jiří
Růžička or Environmentální a ekologický slovník vybraných pojmů by Josef
Zelenka and Jiří Štejfa). Moreover, ecological organizations and university
departments of environmental studies and related disciplines are also active
in compiling and providing glossaries of ecological terms (e.g. the ecological
and environmental terminology compiled by prof. RNDr. Josef Zelenka, CSc.
from the Faculty of Informatics and Management at the University of Hradec
Králové).
2.2.5.2.
Literal translation
13
When a new term is to be introduced in the TL, literal translation of the SL
term appears to be an appropriate solution “if it secures referential and
pragmatic equivalence to the original” (Newmark 1988: 69). Literal translation
in terminology can involve both single words and word groups or phrases and
the methods applied will include borrowing (i.e. direct transference of the SL
word to the TL) (Munday 2001: 56), e.g. the term “rebirthing” is dirrectly
transferred into Czech without any kind of adaptation except for the case
endings („metoda (...) podobná rebirthingu“) in the translation of John Seed’s
Thinking like a Mountain; another translation method employed is calque (a
kind of borrowing during which the SL structure is literally translated to the TL)
(Munday 2001: 56), such as “sustainable forestry” translated as „udržitelné
lesnictví“ in Jared Diamond’s Collapse.
However, literal translation should be avoided if it “gives a different
meaning[,] has no meaning[,] is impossible for structural reasons[,] does not
have a corresponding expression within the metalinguistic experience of the
TL[,] corresponds to something at a different level of language” (Vinay and
Darbelnet in Munday 2001: 57). The analysis gives examples of such
unacceptable literal translations of terms, such as the zoological term
“prothonotary warbler” translated literally as „pěnice pronotář“ in Aldo
Leopold’s Sand County Almanac, while the correct Czech term is „lesňáček
zlatý“.
2.2.5.3.
Neologisms
Finally, a typical terminological issue is brought about by the simple fact that
the SL technical term is a neologism, therefore its translation into the TL can
be even more problematic as no equivalent of the term exists in the TL.
14
Newmark categorizes neologisms into two main groups – existing lexical units
with new meaning (1988: 150), which – I would argue – are relatively easily
translated literally, and new forms. The latter group is further divided into new
coinages, derived words, abbreviations, collocations, eponyms, phrasal
words, transferred words (or borrowings) acronyms, pseudo-neologisms and
internationalisms (1988: 150). Each of these subcategories is eligible for a
different translation method – while some acronyms can be simply transferred
into the TL, others are better accompanied by a descriptive or functional
translation. Similarly, in translation of derived words (e.g. “ecocide”)
naturalisation can be an appropriate solution („ekocida“).
1.1.8. Translating culture: Domestication and foreignization strategies
If terminology links environmental non-fiction to non-literary translation, the
translator’s decision to adopt domesticating or foreignizing strategy associates
this kind of translation with literary translation (since there are at play linguistic
effects that exceed simple communication, that is instead central to nonliterary translation, and technical translation in particular) (Venuti 244).
Generally speaking, these strategies “concern both the choice of text to
translate and the translation method” (Munday 2001: 146). Hence, when the
choice of translating an environmentally-oriented text is made, it can be
considered a foreignizing strategy given the marginality and only recent
development of autochtonous environmental literature in Czech. For example,
the decision to publish the Czech translation of Gary Snyder’s Place in Space
was made by the publishing house DharmaGaia, which specialises in
publishing books about non-European spiritual and cultural traditions as well
15
as
alternative
culture,
philosophy
and
new
science
(Nakladatelství
DharmaGaia), hence its intention of pointing out cultural differences and
moving “the reader towards the writer” (Schleiermacher in Munday 2001: 147)
is obvious. Regarding the concrete translation methods, instances of
foreignization in the analysed texts include direct transference of the ST
words (that are often transferences from other languages themselves) (e.g.
“friluftsliv”) or adoption of linguistic devices of the ST (e.g. archaisms).
Domestication, on the other hand, tries to attenuate, even cover, the
particularities of the source text, conforming to the target-language cultural
values and conventions. Venuti criticises particularly the practice of AngloAmerican translation that tends to be “an ethno-centric reduction of the foreign
text to target-language cultural values” (Venuti in Munday 2001: 146).
However, the situation in Czech translation of English-written environmental
literature seems to be contrary – rather than imposing TL conventions, the
translations are remarkably influenced by the source-language culture and the
SL, as the amount of reported interference shows. Nevertheless, occurrences
of domestication can be found in the texts, albeit very rare and presumably
unintentional.
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3. Practical Part
3.1 Research project
The main aim of this thesis was to analyse field-specific translation, i.e. Czech
translation of English-written environmental literature, in order to show
whether the field itself can influence the translation strategies and features. As
the practical part demonstrates, certain phenomena can be considered
universal, appearing in all the translations analysed, while others are specific
for each translation and can therefore be traceable either to the character of
the source text or to the translator’s style.
3.2 Corpus
The corpus was originally intended to include a much wider range of texts
dealing with ecology and environment and their translations into Czech, but
eventually, it was reduced to six works of late 20 th and early 21st century
environmental non-fiction, with publishing dates ranging from 1949 to 2005
and their translations (all from 1990s and early 2000s). The texts analysed are
mainly by American authors (Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Joanna Macy,
Gary Snyder and Jared Diamonds) but texts by other English-speaking
authors were included as well (John Seed, Pat Fleming) and by secondlanguage English-speaking author (Arne Naess). The corpus thus consists of
selected parts of the following texts and their Czech translations (in
alphabetical order):
•
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. London: Pinguin, 2000. („Mlčící jaro.“
Závod s časem: Texty z morální ekologie. Erazim Kohák, Rudolf
17
Kolářský, Igor Míchal eds. Praha: Torst pro MŽP, 1996. Translated by
Igor Míchal.)
•
Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed.
New York: Viking, 2005. (Kolaps: proč společnosti zanikají a zanikají a
přežívají. Praha: Academia, 2008. Translated by Zdeněk Urban.)
•
Leopold, Aldo Starker. A Sand County Almanac: with essays on
conservation from round river. New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.
(Obrázky z chatrče a rozmanité poznámky. Tulčík: Abies, 1999.
Translated by Anna Pilátová.)
•
Naess, Arne. Ecology, community and lifestyle: outline of an ecosophy.
Translated and edited by David Rothenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989. (Ekologie, pospolitost a životní styl : náčrt
ekosofie. Tulčík: Abies, 1996. Translated by Jiří Hrubý.)
•
Seed, John, Macy, Joanna, Fleming, Pat, Naess, Arne. Thinking like a
mountain: towards a council of all beings. Philadelphia: New Society
Publishers. 1988. (Myslet jako hora: shromáždění všech bytostí.
Prešov: Nadácia Zelená nádej, 1993. Translated by Jiří Holuša.)
•
Snyder, Gary. A place in space: ethics, aesthetics and watersheds.
Washington: Counterpoint, 1995. (Místo v prostoru: etika, estetika a
vodní předěly. Praha: Maťa & DharmaGaia, 2002. Translated by Matěj
Turek a Luboš Snížek.)
The corpus analysis has the form of six separate case studies, each of
which focuses on one text and its translation. Each case study includes
further information related to the corpus material (e.g. specification of the
genre, circumstances related to the publishing etc.).
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3.3 Methodology
The main research method used was manual sorting of the corpus material
and subsequent analysis of the ST and TT units. Although the predominant
mode of research is descriptive, there are instances of prescriptive and
pejorative approach as well, consisting mainly of suggestions to be applied to
and/or corrections of given translation problems.
4. Translation analysis
4.1 Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac
Together with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Aldo Leopold’s Sand County
Almanac is considered a founding text of environmental movement. His book
was published posthumously in 1949 and consisted of three parts: Part I
entitled “A Sand County Almanac”, part II, “Sketches Here and There” and
finally part III called “The Upshot”. While the final part includes perhaps the
most renowned Leopold’s text, “The Land Ethic”, which is a kind of
philosophical conclusions summing up Leopold’s ecological views, I limit my
analysis only to the first part, which consists of personal essays that describe
the year at the family farm where Leopold observes and enjoys nature. This
part is further divided into months and it most echoes the genre of natural
writing practised by earlier writers such as H. D. Thoreau (Finch and Elder
376).
Despite the place Sand County Almanac occupies in the environmental
literature canon, it is rather surprising to see the publication of the Czech
19
translation as late as 1999. It can be argued that pre-1989 publication would
not be possible due to ideological reasons, yet one would expect that such a
crucial text in the field of ecology had at least been translated earlier (as was
the case of the Czech translation of Carson’s Silent Spring, dealt with later).
Actually, significant part of the text “The Land Ethic” was translated by
Bohumila Koželuhová and published in a reader of moral ecology Závod
s časem (The Race with Time), edited by Erazim Kohák, Rudolf Kolářský and
Igor Míchal in 1996. The entire work was then translated by Anna Pilátová
and published by the Slovak publishing house Abies, specializing in ecological
literature and literature about forestry, in 1999. While in The Race with Time
the title of the book is translated literally, Zápisník z okresu Sand (35), Anna
Pilátová opted for a much less literal alternative, perhaps caused by the fear
of translating a literary title too literally (Newmark 2001: 81): Zápisky z chatrče
a rozmanité poznámky, yet she preserves the original title (in the SL) as a
subtitle of the book.
Translation Analysis
The most remarkable feature of the translation is, in my opinion, the
archaising style of it, which I interpret as the translator’s attempt at bridging
the temporal gap between the creation of the original and the translation. The
second issue addressed in this analysis is explicitation, particularly the kind of
cultural explicitation in which the translator presents Latin names of plant and
animal species that have no Czech equivalents or where the equivalent does
not correspond exactly to its American counterpart. Towards the end of my
20
analysis, I will examine several examples of interference, as well as
mistranslations and overt errors.
Although fifty years, that separate the ST and the TT, are relatively short
period (compared, e.g., to the dilemma Annie Brisset brings up when asking
whether Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, or Chaucer should be translated
into archaic language) (338), the translator might find it useful to make the
reader realize that the ST is not contemporary, particularly when literary text is
concerned. Hence, Pilátová chooses to educate her readers and uses
archaisms in a number of situations.
The main archaic form the translator employs is the participle (both
present and past), which is considered archaic and has fallen in disuse in
Czech language. What could be seen as a problem is the fact that she often
uses it to translate a SL present participle. Still, the effect this form has in
Czech is much different from English, where it is a neutral and frequent form.
In addition to participles, archaisms in the translation can also appear as other
verb forms considered archaic (e.g. „tekou“), pronouns („kterémuž“) or can be
archaic words and expressions („tři neděle“). Usually, when archaism is used,
even though it translates an English participle, it compensates an archaic (or
somewhat peculiar) expression in the ST, such as the following:
ST
Each
year,
after
the
TT
midwinter Co rok přichází po vánicích hluboké
blizzards, there comes a night of thaw zimy noc, kdy taje a je slyšet
when the tinkle of dripping water is pravidelný zvuk padajících kapek. Má
heard in the land. It brings strange za následek zvláštní pohnutí – nejen
stirrings, not only to creatures abed neklid tvorů, kteří se uložili ke
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for the night, but to some who have spánku na noc, ale i těch, kteří se
been asleep for the winter. The uložili na celou zimu. Přezimující
hibernating skunk, curled up in his skunk, stočený ve hluboké noře, se
deep
den,
uncurls
himself
and rozvine a odváží se na toulku mokrým
ventures forth to prowl the wet world, světem táhna břicho sněhem. (31)
dragging his belly in the snow. (3)
My dog does not care where heat Mého psa nezajímá odkud se teplo
comes from, but he cares ardently bere, al projevuje hodně zájmu na
that it come, and soon. Indeed he tom, aby tu teplo bylo, a to brzo.
considers my ability to make it come V podstatě považuje mou schopnost
as something magical, for when I rise zatopit
za
kousek
čarodějnictví,
in the cold black pre-dawn and kneel protože když vstanu v černé, studené
shivering by the hearth making a fire, noci před svítáním a třesa se klečím
he pushes himself blandly between u krbu a rozdělávám oheň, nacpe se
me and the kindling splits I have laid mezi mne a připravené hobliny, které
on the ashes, and I must touch a jsem položil na popel, a já se k nim se
match to them by poking it between zapálenou sirkou dostanu, jen když
his legs. (8)
ruku prostrčím mezi jeho nohama.
(36)
The axe functions only at an angle Sekera se může uplatnit jen v úhlu,
diagonal to the years, and this only který je šikmý vůči letům, a to jen co
for the peripheral rings of the recent se týče okrajových kruhů nedávné
past. Its special function is to lop minulosti. Její zvláštní role spočívá
limbs, for which both saw and wedge v osekávání
větví,
ke
kterémuž
are useless. (19)
účelu se ani pila ani klín nehodí. (44)
The same logic that causes big rivers Proces, který způsobuje, že velké
always flow past big cities causes řeky vždy tekou kolem měst, má také
22
cheap
farms
sometimes
to
be na svědomí, že chudé farmy jsou
marooned by spring floods. (25)
někdy odříznuty od světa jarními
povodněmi. (52)
By August they [the plover chicks] V srpnu už mají [kuřata bartramie]
have graduated from flying school, absolvovanou leteckou akademii a za
and on cool August nights you can chladných sprnových nocí můžete
hear their whistled signals as they poslouchat jejich hvízdané signály,
set wing for the pampas, to prove když roztahují křídla hotovíce se
again
the
age-old
Americas. (38)
unity
of
the k letu
do
pamp,
aby
prokázala
dávnou jednotu obou Amerik. (64)
- the participle not only compensates
the rather rare expression “set wing”,
but it is also an exlicitation of the
implied information in the ST
To view the painting, give the river S prohlídkou obrazu počkejte – dejte
three more weeks of solitude, and řece ještě tři neděle času, a pak
then visit the bar on some bright písčinu navštivte za jasného rána,
morning just after the sun has melted těsně potom, co slunce rozehnalo
the daybreak fog. The artist has now ranní mlhu. Umělec právě obraz
laid his colors, and sprayed them vybarvil a přestříkal rosou. (81)
with dew. (55)
The dog, when he approaches the Pes, přicházeje ke křoví, zjišťuje
briars, looks around to make sure I pohledem, jestli jsem na dostřel.
am within gunshot. Reassured, he Když se ujistí, pokračuje s velkou
advances with stealthy caution, his opatrností a jeho mokrý čumák hledá
wet nose screening a hundred scents v záplavě pachů právě ten jeden,
for that one scent, the potential jehož přítomnost by dala život a
23
presence of which gives life and význam celé této krajině. (92)
meaning to the whole landscape. (67)
It is strange how the world cocks its Je zvláštní, jak při tom zvuku celý
ears at that sound, wondering. Soon svět natahuje uši a diví se. Brzo zkuk
it is louder: the honk of geese, sílí: je to kejhání husí, neviditelných,
invisible, but coming on. (70-71)
ale přibližujících se. (96)
The dog, being no hand with an axe, Pes, nemoha pomáhat se sekyrou,
is free to hunt while the rest of us are může svobodně lovit, zatímco my
making wood. (83)
ostatní připravujeme dřevo. (109)
It is an exercise in objectivity to hold a Je cvičením objektivity mít lístek na
ticket on the banded sparrow that okroužkovaného vrabce, který padne,
falleth, or on the banded chickadee nebo na sýkorku, která jednoho dne
that may some day re-enter your trap, znovu vletí do vaší pasti a dokáže
and thus prove that he is still alive.
tak, že je ještě naživu.
The tyro gets his thrill from banding Nováček je vzrušen kroužkováním
new birds; he plays a kind of game nových ptáků. Hraje jakousi hru sám
against himself, striving to break his proti sobě snaže se překonat svůj
previous score for total numbers. minulý počet zachycených ptáků.
(93)
(EXPL. – EXP.) (117)
Yet, some other instances of archaisms in the TT do not fall into the
compensation category, and could be therefore traceable to the translator’s
style or tendency:
The railroads of course use flame- Dálnice
samozřejmě
užívají
throwers and chemical sprays to clear plamenomety a chemické postřiky na
the track of weeds, but the cost of vyčištění
vozovky
od
býlí,
ale
24
such necessary clearance is still to náklady na toto nutné čištění jsou
high to extend it much beyond the ještě
actual rails. (52)
pořád
tak
vysoké,
že
se
neprovádějí než na vlastní vozovce.
(77)
- change of meaning: “railroad” and
the related concepts (track, rails)
become “highway” in the translation.
The archaism „býlí“ does not seem to
compensate anything, but it is merely
used for stylistic reasons.
I find a better chronometer in an elm Lepší časoměr nacházím na jednom
seedling that now blocks the barn semenáčku jilmu, který nyní blokuje
door. Its rings date back to the dveře do stodoly. Jeho kruhy ukazují
drought of 1930. Since that year no do léta sucha v roce 1930. Od toho
man has carried milk out of this barn. roku už nikdo z této stodoly krajáč
(61)
mléka nevynesl. (86)
Musing on such questions, I become Dumaje nad těmito otázkami, všimnul
aware of the dog down by the spring, jsem si, že pes je dole u řeky a už
ponting patiently these many minutes. značně dlouho trpělivě vystavuje. (87)
(61)
Then the needles fall, and are filed in Pak jehličky opadají a zařadí se do
the duff to enrich the wisdom of the lesního humusu, který tlumí kroky
stand. It is this accumulated wisdom všech těch, kdož se pod borovicemi
that hushes the footsteps of whoever procházejí. (116)
walks under pines. (92)
- the archaic relative pronoun may be
considered part of the translator’s
archaic style, but can also be a
25
compensation
of
the
stylistic
simplification in which the two ST
sentences have been contracted into
one TT sentence.
Another stylistic device used to bring the original closer to the target
readers is related to the translation of numerical expressions. The following
two examples show how translating numerals can impact on the style:
In 1876 came the wettest year of V
record;
the
inches. (15)
rainfall
piled
up
roce
1876
byl
nejdeštivější
15 zaznamenaný rok – spadlo 1250
milimetrů srážek. (42)
- the use of metric system in this
example is chosen for clarity and
better understanding
In the same year the U.S. Fish V témže roce Americký úřad pro
Commission planted Atlantic salmon rybolov nasadil atlantického lososa do
in Devil’s Lake, 10 miles south of my Ďáblova jezera, 10 mil jižně od
oak. (15)
mého dubu. (42)
- the cultural term “miles” is most
probably used to give a sense of local
colour, while the geographical term is
translated
because
the
meaning
should be made clear to the target
reader
Despite the special effect produced by the use of archaisms, there are
26
passages which are highly standardized or simplified, mainly due to the nonexistence of a close equivalent in the TT:
Now our saw bites into the 1890’s, Nyní se naše pila zakusuje do 90. let
called gay by those whose eyes turn minulé století, které ti, kdož své oči
cityward rather than landward. (13)
stáčí k městu a ne mimo ně, nazývají
veselými. (40)
- this normalization, which is also
more explicit than the ST, is partly
caused by the structural restrictions of
the TL and by the possible fear of
interference: „(...) kdož své oči stáčí k
městu spíše než k zemi.“
(...) and 1893, the year of ‘The (...) a 1893, rok v němž blizzard
Bluebird Storm,’ when a March v březnu
zmenšil
množství
blizzard reduced the migrating birds migrujících siálií horských takřka na
to near-zero. (13)
nulu. (40)
- the familiar ST term is split in the
remark of the storm and the one
concerning the birds, presumably
because a literal translation would not
sound as the original
Do not return for a second view of the Nevracejte se na
tuto
zelenou
green pasture, for there is none. pastvinu podruhé – už tam nebude.
Either falling water has dried it out, or Buď ji klesající voda usušila, nebo
rising water has scoured the bar to its stoupající voda vyleštila písčinu až na
27
original austerity of clean sand. (56)
písek. (81)
-
lexical
simplification
without
essential information loss, but with
certain poetic loss
To the chickadee, winter wind is the Pro
sýkorku
je
vítr
hranicí
boundary of habitable world. If the obyvatelného světa. Kdyby sýkorky
chickadee had an office, the maxim měly kancelář, životní pravidlo na
over his desk would say:
calm.’ (97)
‘Keep jejich stole by říkalo: „Raději dusno,
než pořádné provětrání.“ (120)
- the ST pun is difficult to translate
into
TL,
combined
therefore
with
normalization
explicitation
was
chosen
As already mentioned, the TT is not exaggeratedly explicit, yet there is a
tendency to provide Latin names (absent in the ST) for plants and animals
that do not have a clear Czech name or when the species is only found in
Northern America. Sadly, such measure is not unproblematic as there are
mistakes both in the Latin version and the Czech equivalent (when provided).
The following table lists most of the cases and comments the present
problems.
‘How do you account for the second „Jak
vysvětlujete
ohromný
nárůst
growth of black oak timber that has dřeva sametového dubu (Quercus
sprung up all over the country in the velvetina), ke kterému došlo po celé
last thirty year?’ (14)
zemi v posledních třiceti letech“? (41)
28
-
not
only
unnecessary
is
the
in
Latin
this
name
passage
(although it is clearly motivated by the
translator’s attempt at providing the
reader clear reference), it is also
mistaken as the recognized Latin
name of this oak species is Quercus
velutina (Sander)
Heretofore unreachable by scythe or Od té doby kose či sekačce na trávu
mower, this yard-square
relic of nedostupný, čtvereční stopu velký
original Wisconsin gives birth, each kousek původního Wisconsinu, dává
July, to a man-high stalk of compass každý rok v červenci vyrůst Silphiu
plant or cutleaf Silphium, spangled (tu i nadále se jedná o Silphium
with
saucer-sized
yellow
blooms laciniatum) se stvolem do výšky
resembling sunflowers. (49)
člověka, posázenému žlutými květy
velikosti
talíře,
připomínajícími
slunečnice. (74)
The Eleocharis sod, greener than Drn bahničky, zelenější než kdy dřív,
ever, is now spangled with blue je nyní poset modrou kejklířkou,
mimulus, pink dragon-head, and the růžovou
dračí
hlavou
milk-white blooms of Sagittaria. (55- (Dracocephalum) a mléčně bílými
56)
květy šípatky. (81)
- the only explanation why the Latin
term is used only for „dračí hlava“
might be that it is not a recognized
botanical term (which is „včelník
29
rakouský“), but only an older and
possibly
popular
name
for
the
Dracocephalum (Kovář)
The tamaracks change from green to Modříny mění barvu ze zelené do
yellow when the first frost have modré, když se s prvními mrazy
brought woodcock, fox sparrows, and objevují sluky lesní, vrabci (Passerila
juncos out of the north. (58)
iliaca) a strnadi zimní přilétnuvší ze
severu. (85)
- this is rather unfortunate passage
with a significant change of meaning
(the changing colour of the trees from
green to blue instead of yellow in the
TT), and another mistaken Latin term
(the correct spelling is Passerella
iliaca) with a misleading translation
(caused by lexical interference): fox
sparrows – vrabci. Although
the
translator used the Latin term in order
to provide an unambiguous point of
reference for the reader, she failed to
present the correct Czech term –
strnadec liščí (Avibase). Finally, one
can also note an explicitatin participle,
which is not used to compensate any
concrete archaism in the ST.
In this pine a pileated woodpecker will V borovici si jednoho dne vysoustruží
30
ultimately chisel out a nest; in the hnízdo datel, v koruně břízy si budu
birch a hairy will have to suffice. (74)
muset
vystačit
s motýli
(rodu
Theclinae). (99)
- once more the translator tries to
disambiguate the zoological terms,
yet what the ST refers to as “a hairy”
is presumably not a butterfly species,
but another kind of woodpecker,
different
from
the
pileated
woodpecker (Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection)
My pileated woodpeckers chisel Moji datlové (Dryocopus pileatus)
living pines, to extract fat grubs from vykotlávají živé borovice, aby získali
the diseased hardwood. (81)
tučné larvy z mrtvého jádra stromu.
(106)
- it is impossible to explain why in this
passage the pileated woodpecker is
specified through Latin translation
while it was not in the previous
passage
The real jewel of my disease-ridden Opravdovým
pokladem
mého
woodlot is the prothonotary warbler. nemocného lesa je pěnice pronotář
(82)
(Pronotoria citrea). (107)
- despite the Latin term, the translator
opted for a literal translation of the ST
term apparently without checking the
31
recognized
Czech
translation
–
„lesňáček zlatý“ (BioLib)
There are more examples of cultural explicitation, given the regional
character of the book. It may involve geographical terms or historical
information:
Every March since the Pleistocene, Každý březen už od pleistocénu
the geese have honked unity from kejhají [husy] o jednotě od Kurkutska
Currituck to Labrador, Matamuskeet k Labradoru,
to
Ungava,
Horseshoe
Lake
Panhandle
to
Mackenzie, ostrova
Sacramento to Yukon. (24-25)
Matamuskeetu
to k Ungavě, od jezera Podkovy do
Hudson’s Bay, Avery Island to Baffin Hudsonova
Land,
od
zálivu,
od
k Baffinově
Kalifornie
k řece
Averského
zemi,
od
Mackenzie,
od
Sacramenta k Yuconu. (51)
It [the plant] may have been older Možná byla [rostlina] starší, než
than the oldest tombstone, which is nejstarší náhrobní kámen, který je
dated 1850. Perhaps it watched the datován z roku 1850. Možná ještě
fugitive Black Hawk retreat from the viděla, jak prchající náčelník Black
Madison lakes to the Wisconsin Hawk po bitvě v roce 1812 ustupuje
River; it stood on the route of that od Madisonských jezer k Wisconsin
famous march. (53)
River
–
stála
na
cestě
tohoto
známého pochodu. (78)
- note the mistake in punctuation:
„, než“
However, cultural explicitation is sometimes omitted and such omission
32
is hardly explained by the lack of necessity to explicitate, as in the following
example:
I once knew an educated lady, Znal jsem jednu vzdělanou dámu,
banded by Phi Beta Kappa, who členku Phi Beta Kappa, která mi
told me that she had never heard or řekla, že husy, ohlašující střídání
seen geese that twice a year proclaim ročních
období
nad
její
dobře
the revolving seasons to her well- izolovanou střechou, nikdy neviděla.
insulated roof. (20)
(46)
- an average Czech reader is unlikely
to recognize immediately that Phi
Beta Kappa denotes a sorority at the
American universities, therefore they
might miss the cultural load of this
expression.
Moreover, Leopold’s metaphor that
the lady was banded (as a bird) is
missing in the translation (possibly
because a similar metaphor would
obscure the meaning even further, by
translating it as „členka Phi Beta
Kappa“ the reader is at least capable
to decode Phi Beta Kappa as a kind
of organization.
Interference, particularly lexical interference has already been mentioned
33
in connection to the translation of zoological terminology, but it also involves
other areas, not only technical terms:
Total visual diet
Totální vizuální příjem
(...) It is apparent that the backward (...) Je zřejmé, že oko venkovského
farmer’s eye is nearly twice as well farmáře je skoro dvakrát lépe živeno,
fed as the eye of the university než oko universitního studenta nebo
student or businessman. (51)
obchodníka. (76)
- summarizing Leopold’s record of
plant species and their first bloom, the
appropriate
expression
would
be
„celkový vizuální příjem“ of plants
seen in first bloom. Also note the
mistake in punctuation:
„, než“
He [the chickadee] doesn’t say what [Sýkorka] [n]eříká, co už jedla, možná
he ate, perhaps it was cool turgid ant- to byla studená naběhlá mravenčí
eggs, or some other avian equivalent vajíčka
of cold roast grouse. (62)
nebo
nějaký
jiný
ptačí
ekvivalent studeného krocana na
roštu. (87)
-
the
lexical
furthermore
interference
accompanied
by
is
a
change of meaning – grouse is
„tetřev“ in Czech
If your grandfather liked hickory Jestliže váš dědeček měl rád ořechy
nuts, you will like the hickory tree z hikory, pak budete mít ten strom
34
because your father told you to. (77)
rádi, protože otec vám řekl, že tak to
má být. (102)
- in this case, the close transference
of the ST term is not helpful for the
reader and a description in the TL
would probably be more efficient, e.g.
„ořechy z amerického druhu ořešáku“
or cultural equivalent could work as
well: „vlašské ořechy“.
There is also an example of syntactic interference which makes the
translation of the given passage slightly distorted:
The same logic that causes big rivers Proces, který způsobuje, že velké
always flow past big cities causes řeky vždy tekou kolem měst, má také
cheap
farms
sometimes
to
be na svědomí, že chudé farmy jsou
marooned by spring floods. Ours is a někdy odříznuty od světa jarními
cheap farm, and sometimes when povodněmi. Naše farma je chudá, a
we visit in April we get marooned. někdy nás když tam přijedeme
(25)
v dubnu, navštíví záplavy. (52)
-
this
mistranslation
could
be
traceable to syntactic interference,
including
the
wrong
use
of
punctuation. The following shift – “we
get marooned” translated as „nás
navštíví záplavy“ is a clear avoidance
35
of repetition in the TL
I find it very unfortunate that a translation with a great number of
successful solutions (particularly the use of archaisms for stylistic purposes) is
flawed by minor or major errors of different nature. These include shifts of
meaning, mistranslations and even serious breaches of the TL system. The
changes of meaning can be exemplified by the following passages, which also
contain other problems:
Our saw cuts the 1860’s, when Nyní se naše pila zakusuje do let
thousands died to settle the question: šedesátých, kdy tisíce lidí zemřely,
Is the man-man community lightly to aby odpověděli na otázku: Je možné
be dismembered? They settled it, but zrušit
zásadní
podobnost
mezi
they did not seen, nor do we yet see, člověkem a člověkem? Vyřešili to, ale
that the same question applies to the neviděli, nebo ještě nepřišli na to, že
man-land community. (16-17)
to samé platí o vztahu mezi člověkem
a přírodou. (43)
- besides the shift, there is a breach
of TL system in the way the concord
is only between the subject and the
first verb of the sentence:
„(...)
tisíce
lidí
zemřely,
aby
odpověděli (...)“
In the rest of the passage, it is
assumed that the subject is „oni“,
therefore it justifies the use of forms
36
„vyřešili“, „neviděli“, „nepřišli“.
June beetles undermined the prairie Červnové včely podkopávaly drny
sod in their grub stage, but defoliated v prérii
the oaks in their adult stage. (31)
v larvím
stádiu,
ale
jako
dospělci se živily listím dubů. (57)
- June beetle is a species of beetles,
not bees (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Finally, the breaches of the TL system vary greatly, ranging from punctuation
errors (as noted above) to grammatical errors (see the problem of concord
above or the wrong genitive form bellow):
Na mé farmě je obyčejně jedno nebo více hejen křepelek (...) (83)
- the correct form of genitive in plural is „hejn“ (Filipec 92)
4.2 Rachel Carson: Silent Spring
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, first published in 1962, has been included in
this research for two main reasons. First, it is generally regarded as one of the
most important books forming ecological awareness in the 20th century as it
denounced the threats posed by mass produced pesticides, especially DDT
and similar, to the environment and to human health. A great number of critics
have acknowledged not only Carson’s scientific contribution, but praised her
work for literary qualities as well. The controversy of the text and the
uncomfortable truth it had revealed led to the establishment of American
environmental movement.
The second reason is connected to the Czech translation of the book.
Published originally in the United States in 1962, Silent Spring soon became
37
known abroad. The Czech translation was ready in the second half of the
1960s, yet the publication in Czechoslovakia was not allowed for the lack of
approval from the governing communist party (Kohák, Kolářský, Míchal 51).
However, a surprising fact remains that the book has not been published
since 1989 despite the growing interest in environmental issues. Thus the
only contact with the text is constituted by an excerpt in an anthology of moral
ecology Závod s časem (The Race with Time), compiled by Erazim Kohák,
Rudolf Kolářský and Igor Míchal, who also translated Carson’s text. I have
asked both Prof. Kohák and Rudolf Kolářský about the details surrounding the
60s’ translation, but none of them could give me an affirmative reply whether
Igor Míchal did the translation (unfortunately, Míchal died of a sudden serious
disease in August 2002) (Buček).
Quite a remarkable question when considering the Czech translation is
the title. Without an authoritative translation, it is not surprising that there is a
relatively great variety of versions. While the book is most often referenced as
„Tiché jaro“ (e.g. in Janů, Jeleček 53) – which would be the literal and also
unmarked translation – Míchal opted for a more marked translation “Mlčící
jaro“ (51). However, there is also a third alternative, suggested by Erazim
Kohák in his collection of lectures and bibliography Zelená svatozář (The
Green Halo), „Ztichlé jaro“ (27). While the title „Tiché jaro” is more widely
used, and the literal translation is not at all unfortunate, „Ztichlé jaro“ makes
the process of becoming silent more explicit. The less appropriate translation,
in my point of view, is „Mlčící jaro“, which implies an active attitude – the
spring is silent, it does not speak because of its own decision, not because it
has been silenced. Although it is a difficult task in the case of a title that has
38
never been published, a greater consistency in the translation of the title
would be appropriate, mainly for the reason of clear referencing.
In the anthology, the editors have chosen the opening paragraphs of two
chapters. The first excerpt, taken from the second chapter entitled “The
Obligation to Endure” was translated as „Povinnost přetrvat“ and the second
title “The Other Road” as „Jiná cesta“.
What is more problematic is the issue of the omissions. For reasons of
space the chapters could not be presented in their entirety, yet the excerpts
end abruptly. For instance, the first excerpt is translated almost in its entirety
except for one sentence: “They should not be called ‘insecticides’, but
‘biocides’.” I would suggest that this omission might be triggered by the
seeming untranslatability of the pun that those chemicals not only kill insects,
but all living organisms (the prefix bio- meaning life). An explanation to this
could be that the same prefix was not so widely in use in Czech at the time of
the translation and the form „biocidy“ would be probably less transparent than
the one in English.
The analysis of the excerpts revealed the occurrence of the following
phenomena: overt errors (categories of slight and significant change of
meaning) and explicitation (in this case study cultural or pragmatic
explicitation was rather rare as there were not many cultural elements
necessary to explicitate, and the dominant kind of explicitation was
interpersonal explicitation that added expressivity or attitude: one example of
39
cultural explicitation can be the ST “chemical control” translated as „chemické
hubení
hmyzu“).
Moreover,
cases
of
compensation,
implicitation,
simplification, normalization and interference are also reported although they
represent only a minor group. The selected excerpts did not include particular
examples of ecological terminology except one with which I will deal later.
Mismatch in meaning of ST and TT of various degrees (from slight to
significant change) is shown in Table 1. The shifts in the first example do not
change the meaning completely, yet it is slightly modified. “Little-recognized”
is not necessarily “hardly noticed” and the use of “partners” implies the two
elements (chemicals and radiation) are in some way on the same level, yet
the former is not a side effect of the latter (as the target text suggests). The
second example also shows how the target text can shift the meaning to imply
something that is totally absent in the source text: while in the source text we
read that opposite effect has been relatively slight (without the indication of
how long or if ever it was different), the target text suggests that the opposite
effect used to be somewhat dominant since now it is moving backward or
retrograding.
To conclude, not only are these overt errors caused by insufficient
decoding of the source text, but also possibly by the lack of more specific
knowledge in the field of ecology and sciences.
ST
TT
chemicals are the sinister and little- chemikálie jsou přitom zkázonosným
recognized partners of radiation a hrůzným, ale zřídka povšimnutým
(23)
doprovodem záření (52)
(...) the opposite effect, in which life (...) opačný účinek, kdy život vskutku
40
actually modifies its surroundings, mění své prostředí, ustupuje do
has been relatively slight. (23)
pozadí. (52)
The occurrences of explicitation present in the target text are virtually on
the verge between pragmatic and interpersonal explicitation. However, the
target text expressions do not appear exaggeratedly explicit as they are often
collocations or phrases that are common in Czech (e.g. vzestupná spirála,
trpká ironie etc.). In other cases, explicitation has the sole function of
emphasis or stress as in the following examples:
Certain rocks gave out dangerous Určité
horniny
jsou
zdrojem
radiation; even within the light of the nebezpečného záření; dokonce v
sun, from which all life draws its slunečním záření, z něhož pochází
energy,
there
were
short-wave energie
veškerého
života,
je
radiations with power to injure. Given krátkovlná složka schopná ublížit. V
time – time not in years but in daném
čase,
vyjádřeném
v
millennia – life adjusts, and a balance tisíciletích, se však život přizpůsobil a
has been reached. For time is the byla
essential
ingredient;
but
in
dosažena
the obrovské
modern world there is no time. (24)
rovnováha. Neboť
rozpětí
času
je
zde
podstatným faktorem, ale v moderním
světě tento faktor osudově chybí.
(52)
-
the
explicitation
somewhat
compensates the simplification in the
previous sentence
41
It is our alarming misfortune that so Naším děsivým neštěstím je, že věda
primitive a science has armed itself tak primitivní se vyzbrojila zbraněmi
with the most modern and terrible tak moderními a strašlivými a že když
weapons, and that in turning them tyto zbraně obrátila proti hmyzu,
against the insects it has also turned obrátila je bezděky proti zemi samé
them against the earth. (257)
(55)
In other situations, the target text adds information or attitude that is
either implied or completely absent in the source text.
[Strontium 90] in time takes up its [Stroncium
90]
nakonec
setrvá
abode in the bones of a human being v kostech postiženého člověka (52)
(23)
-
besides
explicitating
that
the
element resides in the bones of the
affected person, there is also a risk of
misinterpretation due to polysemy of
the
word
„postižený“
(meaning
“disabled”)
The chemicals to which life is asked Chemikálie, jejichž působení se má
to make its adjustments are no longer život přizpůsobit, nejsou jen vápník,
merely the calcium and silica and křemík, měď a ostatní prvky uvolněné
copper and all the rest of the minerals větráním
z
hornin
a
spláchnuté
washed out of the rocks and carried řekami do moří; jsou to syntetické
in rivers to the sea; they are the výtvory
lidské
představivosti,
synthetic creations of man’s inventive vytvořené v laboratoři a postrádající
mind, brewed in his laboratories, and protějšky v původní přírodě (53)
42
having no counterparts in nature (24)
It took hundreds of millions of years to Trvalo stovky milionů let, než vznikl
produce the life that now inhabits the život v podobě, v jaké je dnes na
earth – aeons of time in which that zemi – celé věky, během nichž
developing
and
evolving
and vyvýjející
se,
diversifying life reached a state of rozrůzňující
adjustment
and
surroundings.
balance
The
with
se
environment, prostředím.
Prostředí,
life it supported, contained elements podporovalo,
were
hostile
as
well
život
se
a
dosáhl
its uspořádání a rovnováhy se svým
rigorously shaping and directing the tvarovalo,
that
rozvíjející
které
život
usměrňovalo
vždy
a
zahrnovalo
as podpůrné i nepřátelské složky. Určité
supporting. Certain rocks gave out horniny jsou zdrojem nebezpečného
dangerous radiation; even within the záření; dokonce v slunečním záření,
light of the sun, from which all life z něhož pochází energie veškerého
draws its energy, there were short- života, je krátkovlná složka schopná
wave radiations with power to injure. ublížit. (52)
(24)
The whole process of spraying seems Celý proces postřikování se zdá
caught up in an endless spiral. (25)
vtažen
do
nekončící
vzestupné
spirály. (53)
It is ironic to think that man might Je trpkou ironií, že člověk může
determine
his
own
future
by nevědomky
something so seemingly trivial as the budoucnost
choice of an insect spray. (25)
předurčit
nečím
vlastní
zdánlivě
tak
triviálním, jako je volba insekticidního
přípravku. (54)
43
These extraordinary capacities of life Na tuto výjimečnou schopnost života
have
been
ignored
by
the naprosto
neberou
na
zřetel
ti
practitioners of chemical control odborníci, kteří provádějí chemické
who have brought to their task no hubení hmyzu a kteří postrádají
‘high-minded orientation’, no humility velkorysost stejně jako pokoru před
before the vast forces with which they mocnými
tamper (257)
silami,
s nimiž
si
tak
neodborně zahrávají (55)
However, readers might indeed call for cultural explicitation in the case
of referencing Robert Frost’s poem:
We stand now where two roads Stojíme nyní na rozcestí, odkud se
diverge. But unlike the roads in můžeme vydat dvěma směry. Ale na
Robert Frost’s familiar poem, rozdíl od cest v známé básni Roberta
they are not equally fair. (241)
Frosta
nejsou
rovnocené
a
stejně
půvabné. (54)
Although a lot can be deduced from this sentence, Czech readers will
reasonably argue that Robert Frost’s poem is not generally known (indeed,
the poem Road not Taken, originally published in Robert Frost’s collection
Mountain Interval in 1920, was translated into Czech by Tomáš Jacko and
published as Cesta, jíž jsem nešel in 2010 in a bilingual edition published by
Aleš Prstek) (63).
The following table sums up examples of implicitation (logical and
interpersonal),
simplification
(lexical),
normalization
(combined
with
explicitation), compensation (stylistic) and interference (syntactic and
44
grammatical).
This
has
happened
because Hmyz totiž triumfálně stvrzuje Darwinův
insects, in a triumphant vindication princip
přežití
nejsilnějšího:
vyvinul
of Darwin’s principle of the survival schopnost dosahovat imunity k mnoha
of the fittest, have evolved super z použitých insekticidů (...) (53)
races immune to the particular
insecticides used (...). (25)
(...)
nature
exists
for
IMPL – LOG
the (...) příroda existuje jen pro naše
convenience of man (257)
uspokojení (55)
IMPL – INTP
Or they pass mysteriously by Nebo vstupují do podzemních vod (52)
underground streams (23)
described
in
the
SIMPL – LEX (omission)
modern označovan[é] laicky jako „škůdci“ (53)
vernacular as ‘pests’ (25)
SIMPL – LEX (approximation)
The most alarming of all man’s Nejděsivější hrozb[a] pro prostředí (...)
assaults upon the environment (23) důsledkem lidské činnosti (52)
NORM (+EXPL)
destructive insects often undergo a škodlivý hmyz často prodělá opětnou
‘flareback’ (25)
expanzi (53)
Only within the moment of time
represented
by
the
Pouze
NORM
v kratičkém
present představovaném
v oceánu
období,
času
century has one species – man – naším stoletím, získal jeden druh –
acquired significant power to alter člověk – moc nad přírodou svého světa
the nature of his world (23)
a podstatně ji přeměnil. (52)
COMP
45
- such a poetic expression (oceán času)
might compensate a flattening of an ST
poetic expression (abode) that comes
in the following paragraph:
Strontium 90 (...) in time takes up Stroncium 90 (...) nakonec setrvá
its abode in the bones of a human v kostech postiženého člověka (52)
being (23)
Strontium 90 (...) comes to earth in Stroncium 90 (...) se vrací k zemi jako
rain (23)
déšť (52)
INTERF - SYNT
These sprays, dusts and aerosols Tyto postřiky, prášky a aerosoly se
are now applied almost universally nyné
používají
to farms, gardens, forests, and farmách,
téměř
zahradách,
na
v
všech
lesích
a
homes – non-selective chemicals domovních interiérech – neselektivní
that have the power to kill every chemikálie schopné usmrtit jakýkoliv
insect (...), to still the song of birds hmyz (...), umlčet zpěv ptactva (...) a
(...), and to linger on in soil – all this setrvávat v půdách – to vše, ačkoliv
though the intended target may be cílem mělo být jen několik plevelů a
only a few weeds or insects. (25)
hmyzů. (53)
INTERF – SYNT
-
the
interference
got
somewhat
transmitted also to the earlier term,
„půdy“, which should also be in singular
in this context. Moreover, optional
explicitation is also present in the
passage: „v domovních interiérech“.
46
Finally, I would like to discuss a terminological issue arising in the
excerpt. The term in question is “background radiation” (24), translated as
‘„pozaďová“ radiace ’ (52). Background radiation refers to “cosmic radiation
and radiation arising from natural activity; radiation which comes from natural
sources like rocks or the earth or the atmosphere” (Hájková 42). Although the
term „pozaďová radiace“ is used in certain sources (predominantly in those by
the State Office for Nuclear Safety), other equivalents are more frequently
used, particularly „radiace přirozeného pozadí“ or „přirozená radiace“, which
convey the meaning and the nature of the background radiation more
effectively.
4.3 John Seed: Thinking like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All
Beings
The deep ecology guide Thinking like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All
Beings (1988) was written by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and
Arne Naess and was conceived as a guidebook to lead environmental
workshops. Although it includes practical advice to prepare workshops, there
are also poems, meditations, essayistic pieces and supportive readings
designed specifically for the workshops.
The Czech translation is one of the earliest translations of environmental
literature done in the 1990s, translated by Jiří Holuša in 1992, and the book
was published by the Slovak foundation Nadácia Zelená Nádej (Green
Perspective Foundation) and its publishing house Abies (before the latter
became a separate entity) in 1993 (Nadácia Zelená Nádej). What is
remarkable about the relation between the source text and target text is that
47
despite the relatively short time between the original publication and the
translation, the Czech edition is in many respects revised and accompanied
by additional material. The revision is acknowledged by the translator in his
note, where he states he included a newer version of the part “Evolutionary
Remembering” („Evoluční rozpomínání“) and also that the list of endangered
species in the “Bestiary” („Bestiář“) was adapted from the 1990 IUCN Red List
of Threatened Animals, thus there is no (or little) correspondence between the
source text and the target text in these two cases (Seed 1993: 144). The
additions include texts that are cited in the source text as connected to the
preparation of workshops, namely Joanna Macy’s Despair and Personal
Power in the Nuclear Age. As this book has not been translated to Czech, yet
the access to it is crucial for the reader of Myslet jako hora, Holuša included
the relevant parts at the end of the book, together with a translation of John
Seed’s later contribution “Eco-Milling” adapted from the magazine The Web,
which does not appear in the source text as it is of later date (121-134). With
regard to the poems by Robinson Jeffers, which are excluded from my
analysis, these were adapted from the collection Maják v bouři (Praha,
Československý spisovatel, 1983, translated by Kamil Bednář) (Seed 1993:
4). Given its early year of publication, no other previous translations are
referenced as they did not exist at that moment – for example, a quotation
from Gary Snyder’s Old Ways (Seed 18) or the untranslated title of Aldo
Leopold’s Sand County Almanac (6, 43). The only exceptions can be found in
a footnote – Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics and its translation into Slovak
as Tao fyziky (43) and an interview with Arne Naess entitled “Simple in
Means, Rich in Ends” which was published in Czech as „Skromné prostředky,
48
bohaté cíle“ (44).
One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Czech translation of
the texts collected in John Seed’s Thinking like a Mountain is that – as one of
the earliest translations of environmental literature written in English – it in a
certain sense set the standards in this field. These standards, then, involve
mainly the use of terms that are more or less connected to the field of
ecology. This is the case of the term “deep ecology”, translated as „hlubinná
ekologie“ and becoming a standardized term in the translations that followed.
As will be discussed in connection to the work by Arne Naess, the universal
acceptance of this term is actually problematic (Kohák 110). Moreover, the
norm setting might have certain influence on stylistic aspects as well,
concretely the strategy to translate passive voice structures, which are
extremely frequent in English, either by active voice structures or by
maintaining the passive. Finally, the translation, through stylistic and lexical
devices, can also promote certain viewpoints and assumptions to be
associated with the environmental movement.
The way terminology is dealt with varies greatly throughout the book.
Four
strategies
can
be
identified:
equivalence,
literal
translation,
circumlocution (often involving explicitation) and borrowings. The following
table shows examples for each of these categories.
aeons (3, 65)
Equivalence
eóny (9, 70)
49
Literal translation
vzájemn[é] propojení (13)
interconnectedness (7)
vzájemn[á] provázanos[t] (17)
vzájemn[á] propojenost (18)
This process amounts to a workshop Tyto procesy tvoří dohromady
(97)
To
„dílnu“ (103)
guide
a
Council
or
a
workshop (...) (99)
deep ecology (9)
biotic community (9)
“ecological Self” (10)
Nonhuman memories (13)
Council Vedení dílen Shromáždění všech
bytostí (...) (105)
hlubinná ekologie (15)
biotick[é] společenství (16)
„ekologick[é] Já“ (16)
Mimolidské vzpomínky (19)
identifications with nonhuman Nature ztotožnění s mimolidskou
(13)
přírodou (19)
humans and nonhumans (21)
lidsk[é] i mimolidsk[é] bytost[i]
human and nonhuman roles (82)
richness and diversity of life (29)
lidsk[é] a mimolidsk[é] rol[e] (88)
bohatos[t] a rozmanitos[t] života
Conservationists (92)
Air – the gaseous
(34)
Circumlocution
Ochránci přírody (98)
realm, the Vzduch – říše plynů, vzdušný
atmosphere (41)
despairwork (8)
obal Země (46)
práce s pocity zoufalství (14)
Borrowing
a pathway of personal growth similar to metoda osobního růstu podobná
"Rebirthing" (...) In a rebirthing group „rebirthingu“ (...)
(...) (108)
V rebirthingových skupinách
(...) (114)
With regard to terminology, changes in meaning are highly improbable,
50
given the literalness of the strategies and the tendency to standardization.
Nevertheless, rare cases of overt errors can be found in the source text:
The themes of deep ecology echo the Hlubinná ekologie odráží
ancient earth wisdom of native peoples starodávnou moudrost přírodních
(...) (10)
lidí (...) (16)
our bio-ecological history (80)
naš[e] biologick[á] minulost (86)
As is often the case, both the source language terms and the target
language terms are neologisms, created through some word-forming process.
With regard to ecology, the prefix eco- is an extremely productive one in the
formation of new words. Therefore, the target text incorporates literal
translations of terms containing the prefix eco- such as:
“Eco-Breath” (13)
„Ekodech“ (19)
Telling Our Eco-Stories (102)
Vyprávění ekopříběhů (108)
The Eco-Milling (104)
Ekomlýnek (110)
Not always, however, is this productivity so easily translated into the
target language. An equivalent of “ecosophers” would probably be judged not
sufficiently familiar for the Czech readership, thus the translator opted for a
circumlocution:
He [Fromm] concerned himself with love Zabývá se sice výhradně láskou
of humans, but as “ecosophers” we mezi lidmi, avšak v ekosofii jsou
find the notions of “care, respect, jeho
pojmy
„péče“,
„úcta“,
51
responsibility, knowledge” applicable to „odpovědnost“,
living beings in the wide sense. (23)
„porozumění“
upotřebitelné pro všechny bytosti
v širokém smyslu (28)
The lack of familiarity of a term might also explain the explicitation
through addition in the case of the term “pony”:
the body heat of the pony (68)
teplo těla koníka ponyho (74)
And what is it to say goodbye to the swift Co
pony and the hunt? (72)
to
znamená
s rychlým
rozloučit
se
ponym
a
koněm
s lovem? (78)
or explicitation through specification (and addition) in the following example:
Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees Vydechujeme
and breathing in their fresh exudations. stromům
(41-42)
a
oxid
vdechujeme
uhličitý
jejich
oživující dar – kyslík. (46)
Interference of source language structures into target language could be
observed on the lexical level with respect to terminology, but it is also evident
on the syntactic level. I am referring to the translation of passive voice into
Czech. Although the use of passive voice is less frequent in Czech than in
English, it is often reserved for scientific or technical writings in both the
languages – as Mona Baker states, “to give the impression of objectivity and
to the distance the writer from the statements made in the text” (Baker 103).
However, this usage has become almost a “norm” in both the languages,
creating a convention that a scientific text must abound in passive voice
52
structures. The main reason to use passive voice is, however, that it “allow[s]
the constuction of ‘agentless’ clauses” (Baker 103). If we consider the
occurrences of passive voice structures in the source text, the construction of
‘agentless’ clauses appears to be a predominant motivation, yet the agent is
usually expressed as well. The truly ‘agentless’ clauses can be thus explained
by the authors‘ intention to emphasize the patients that are being affected,
rather than the agents, and such an intention can appear as ideologically
motivated, as the following examples show:
(...) they [the machines] hate being (...) ony [stroje] nenávidí, že jsou
used to destroy the Earth. (17)
používány k ničení Země. (23)
One by one we [the conservationists] Jeden po druhém byli [ochránci]
were arrested. (92)
zatýkáni. (98)
Conservationists (...) were removed Ochránci přírody (...) byli jeden
one by one (92)
po druhém odstraňováni (98)
The above-mentioned examples demonstrate how a shift from the agent
to the patient through the use of passive voice can facilitate the reader’s
empathy towards the patient while creating negative feelings toward the
hidden agent who uses, arrests and removes. The translator’s choice for the
structure that sounds rather unnatural in the target language is thus justified,
because it helps to create a similar effect.
However, some occurrences of the passive voice seem to be motivated
by pure conventions, which poses a risk to the translator – if a passive
structure is unnatural or lacks the necessary justification, it is not advisable to
translate it automatically; the translator should rather consider a more
acceptable alternative (Baker 106). Both types of use of passive voice are
53
reported in the following table. While the first two examples are caused by
either automatic translation or interference, in the next three clauses the
source text passive structure has been transformed into more natural and
stylistically unmarked active structures:
Both of us had been inspired by the Oba
writings of Arne Naess (7)
jsme
byli
inspirováni
pracemi Arna Naesse (13)
And it was written by people in far-flung Bylo
sepsáno
lidmi
places (...) (8)
z nejrůznějších částí světa. (14)
Since that early March day in 1985 this Od tohoto dne na počátku března
form of group work or ritual has been roku 1985 se Joanna, Pat, já a
shared by Joanna, Pat, myself, and ostatní dělíme o tento způsob
others (7)
To
skupinové práce či rituálu (13)
guide
a
workshop,
a
Council
or
delicate
a
balance
required of the leaders. (99)
(...)
spontaneous
Council Vedení dílen Shromáždění všech
prayers
commitments are uttered. (113)
is bytostí vyžaduje od vedoucích
vnitřní vyrovnanost. (105)
and Spontánně
vyslovíme
své
prosby a dáme najevo svou
oddanost. (120)
Finally, I would like to focus on several stylistic and lexical aspects of the
target text, that might promote certain ways of thinking. Indeed, the target text
presents slight changes of meaning that cannot be regarded as overt errors
but rather as voluntary shifts in style and meaning. A motivation for such a
shift may be an emphasis on some aspect of the text which is not present in
the source text. It is as if the translator felt a great urge to draw the reader’s
54
attention while the source text remains more or less neutral. This applies to
the translation of the chapter "Gaia Meditations” as „Kdo jsme?“. The first
person plural question creates a sense of immediacy, personal address and
closeness much more evident than in the source text title "Gaia Meditations”,
despite the fact that the direct address is present in the opening of the
chapter:
What are you? What am I? Intersecting Kdo
jsi?
cycles of water, earth, air and fire, that’s proplétající
what I am, that’s what you are. (41)
Kdo
jsem?
Jsme
se
koloběh
vody,
země, ohně a vzduchu. To je to,
co jsem já, to je to, co jsi ty.
(45)
Similarly, a more direct address is preferred over the source text
formulation in the following example from the "Introduction”:
We can begin to feel the inner-body Můžeš
sense of amphibian (...) (13)
se
začít
cítit
obojživelníkem (...) (19)
Not only is this addressed directly to the reader, but also the "the innerbody sense of amphibian” becomes "an amphibian”.
Other example of
creating a bond between the text and the reader is the translation of proper
names, giving the impression of covert translation:
And from the circle rises again a murmur A z kruhu se opět zvedá šumění
of names . . . "Peter, Adele, Susan, Bob jmen:
„Petr,
Adéla,
Zuzana,
55
Hawke, Mikhail Gorbachev . . .” (83)
George
Hawke,
Michail
Gorbačov...“ (89)
- there is no evident reason for
changing the randomly chosen
English name Bob Hawke to
George
possible
Hawke,
except
impression
of
the
the
translator that George sounds
"more English”.
The sense of urgency is furthermore conveyed in the opening
"Invocation”. This part is made of 24 sentences, none of which ends with an
exclamation mark in the source text. The urgency of the invocation is however
emphasized in the target text, where half of the sentences (12) end with an
exclamation mark, while the remaining dozen maintain the source text
punctuation (mainly due to greater length of the sentence which would make
the use of the exclamation mark clumsy):
May we turn inwards and stumble upon Kéž bychom se obrátili do našich
our true roots in the intertwining biology niter
of this exquisite planet. (2)
a
objevili
naši
pravou
podstatu, ukrytou v pletivu života
této nádherné planety. (8)
May we all awaken to our true and only Kéž se všichni probudíme k naší
nature – none other than the nature of skutečné a jediné přirozenosti
Gaia, this living planet Earth. (3)
Gaie, k přirozenosti žijící planety
Země! (9)
56
O stars, lend us your burning passion. (3)
Ó hvězdy, propůjčte nám své
horoucí zanícení! (9)
Despite this tendency towards greater emphasis on those elements that
raise the reader’s awareness and perceptibility, the translation also presents
cases where the source text expressions or imagery are somewhat flattened
or standardized. This often occurs in concepts which establish a referential
link with nature in the source text, or, as the last example demonstrates,
connote religion:
One root of the Council of All Beings is Jedním zdrojem Shromáždění
(...) (8)
všech bytostí je (...) (14)
a pyramid with our species at the apex pyramid[a], na jejímž vrcholu stojí
(10)
člověk (16)
And the same fire as the lightning that A tímtéž ohněm byly blesky, které
flashed
into
the
primordial
soup ozařovaly
catalyzing the birth of organic life. (42)
prapůvodní
oceány
Země a napomáhaly tak vzniku
organického života. (46)
(...)
spontaneous
prayers
commitments are uttered. (113)
and Spontánně vyslovíme své prosby
a dáme najevo svou oddanost.
(120)
Yet the translation also carries a sign of compensation when such
‘normalization’ takes place:
(...) roots suck molecules into biology (...)
kořeny
rostlin
nasávají
57
(41)
molekuly
půdy
k bilogickému
tanci (45)
To conclude, the Czech translation of Thinking like a Mountain
represents a certain landmark – it takes an environmental text in the narrow
sense of the meaning and mediates it to the Czech (and Slovak) reader
through adoption of comprehensible terminology and through strategies
aiming at immediate, personal bond between the text and the reader and
awareness-raising.
4.4 Arne Naess: Ecology, community and lifestyle: outline of an
ecosophy
The book entitled Ecology, community, and lifestyle by Arne Naess is based
on its 1976 Norwegian edition. It has been translated and largely revised both
by the author and his translator, David Rothenberg, as explained in the
“Translator’s Preface” (xii). This book is considered a fundamental
introductory text to the field of deep ecology and to the basic positions of its
“father,” Naess himself (Orton). As such, its translation into Czech was highly
desirable and justified, which shows, for example, earlier inclusion of other
Naess’s text in the anthology Závod s časem, (The Race with Time) (81-95).
The English version was published in 1989, therefore the Czech translation by
Jiří Hrubý, Ekologie, pospolitost a životní styl, was not extremely delayed, with
the publication in 1996 under the auspices of the Slovak publishing house
Abies, which specializes in deep ecology and literature focusing on forests
(Lesoochranárske zoskupenie VLK).
58
Jiří Hrubý’s translation is remarkable particularly in one aspect: in Ekologie,
pospolitost a životní styl he significantly moves away from literal translation,
as is apparent from almost total lack of interference, and adopts a rather ‘free’
approach, verging on paraphrase. To achieve a ‘sense-for-sense’ translation,
creating the same effect in the TT reader as in the ST reader (Newmark in
Munday 2008: 44), the translator either simplifies the ST, or explicitates it
(examples provided below). Yet these are not the only phenomena that in a
way distance the translation from the original. There are several formal and
content-related issues, which are partly motivated by the intention to provide a
‘free’ translation, although such motivation is apparently absent in others.
Here I am mainly referring to various omissions or formal changes. An
exception to this general tendency is nevertheless presented by the
translation of terminology and in cases where the third culture (Norwegian)
appears. The principle of literal translation of terms is mostly observed in the
translation. Still, several issues arise in this field as well, particularly in the
case of the term ‘deep ecology’ and its translation „hlubinná ekologie“ which I
will discuss later.
Concerning explicitations, most of the occurrences fall into the category
of optional explicitation, with a few examples of cultural explicitation:
Arne
Naess
gives
Optional explicitation
a lecture Arne Naess přednáší kdesi v Oslu.
somewhere in Oslo. After an hour he Po hodině se najednou odmlčí, rychle
59
suddenly
stops,
glances
quickly se rozhlédne po pódiu a jde nalevo k
around the stage, and suddenly rostlině v květináči. Utrhne jí jeden list
leaves the podium and approaches a a
pospíchá
zpátky
k
mikrofonu.
potted plant to his left. He quickly Usmívá se do publika, drží list ve
pulls of f a leaf, scurries back to the světle, aby ho všichni viděli a řekne:
microphone, and gazes sincerely at „O tomhle můžete přemýšlet celý
the audience as he holds the leaf in život. Nic víc nepotřebujete. Děkuju
the light so all can see. ‘You can za pozornost.“ (Rothenberg 13)
spend a lifetime contemplating this [a -
change
of
meaning:
“gazes
leaf]’, he comments. ‘It is enough. sincerely” becomes „usmívá se“
Thank you.’ (Rothenberg 1)
The tiny beautiful forms which
Ti malí nádherní živočichové, na
‘nobody’ cared for, or were even
nichž „nikomu“ nezáleželo, nebo
unable to see, were part of a
dokonce nebyli ani pouhým okem
seemingly infinite world, but
vidět, byli součástí zjevně
nevertheless my world. Feeling apart
nekonečného světa, nicméně mého
in many human relations, I
světa. V mnoha věcech jsem se cítil
identified with ‘nature’. (Rothenberg
cizincem v lidské společnosti, ale s
2)
„přírodou“ jsem se ztotožnil.
(Rothenberg 15)
This is called by Naess naturens Tuto vlastnost
egenverdi:
the
intrinsic
nature. (Rothenberg 11)
value
Naess
nazývá
of naturens egenverdi: vnitřní hodnotou
přírody. (Rothenberg 28)
This is why a philosophical ecology is Z tohoto důvodu dostala filozofická
a deep ecology. (12)
ekologie přívlastek hlubinná. (28)
Our biological heritage allows us Máme schopnost těšit se z té
to delight in this intricate, living složité rozmanitosti života geneticky
60
diversity. (23)
zakódovanou. (41)
The generalist in us (44)
Všichni rádi generalizujeme (70)
Mutual help towards ecosophical Při
přechodu
k ekosofickému
lifestyle: ‘The Future in Our Hands’ životnímu
(88)
stylu
pomáháme:
si
vzájemně
„Budoucnost
v našich
rukou“ (133)
It is tempting to place heavily polluting Je proto velmi lákavé, aby země
industries along the border of one’s znečišťující
průmyslová
state so that all the bad air will umísťovala
do
leave the state. (138)
znečištěný
odvětví
pohraničí
vzduch
k sousedům. (201)
Cultural explicitation
Yet it must be stressed that self- Je
však
třeba
pak
–
putuje
zdůraznit,
že
determination does not mean ego- sebeurčení by nemělo být sobecky
trip. Being together with others is zaměřené
jen
essential to the realisation of the Self. K realizaci
(142)
na
sebe
sebe
je
sama.
nezbytná
pospolitost. (207)
-
the
expression
‘ego-trip’
is
explicitated in the source text due to a
cultural gap
(...) (e.g. the North-South conflict) (...) (...) rozpory (např. mezi bohatým
(168)
Severem a chudým Jihem) (243)
However, more differences between the ST and TT are brought about by
various kinds of simplification: lexical, stylistic (especially avoidance of
repetitions), but also simplification concerning the formal and structural
aspect. For example, the “Translator’s Preface” is completely left out with no
compensation offered with regard to the information loss – the Czech reader
is therefore unable to know the origin of the source text and can even, due to
61
other simplifications, judge the translation to be done directly from Norwegian:
The translation of these terms from Překlad z norštiny je poněkud
Norwegian to English is somewhat problematický. (Rothenberg 21)
problematic. (Rothenberg 7)
(a) Milieu/ environment
These
two
terms
interchangeably
for
a) Životní prostředí
are
used Norština používá slovo miljø, které
the
single tak jako ve francouzštině má širší
Norwegian word miljø. Why both? význam (a běžně známé konotace)
Because,
as
in
French,
the než
naše
neobratné
„životní
Norwegian term has wider and more prostředí“. (22)
familiar
connotations
somewhat
than
the - although the use of the pronoun
cumbersome „naše“ clearly refers to Czech while
‘environment’. (7)
not mentioning
English, it is not a
problem given that „životní prostředí“
is perhaps even more cumbersome
than environment
The table below presents other examples of simplification, particularly
those that shift the target text from the source text in a remarkable way:
Lexical simplification
The word nature has very many V angličtině
i
associations
in
slovo
Scandinavian
languages
English
and
and jazycích
má
skandinávských
příroda
řadu
we významů, čeština je v tomto chudší.
should not forgo any of these (Rothenberg 22)
62
associations in a term whose very
richness
of
meanings
demonstrates its significance. (7)
Are these examples of the expanded Máme
k dispozici
příklady
jakési
perspective? What would it look, feel, rozšířeného zkušenosti? Jak bychom
taste,
smell,
or
sound
like? ji asi všemi pěti smysly vnímali?
(Rothenberg 20)
(Rothenberg 40)
Stylistic simplification
(3) If a being is conscious of itself 3) Vyšší hodnotu má druh, který si
and of its possibilities to choose, it uvědomuje sám sebe a možnost
is of greater value than one which volby.
lacks such consciousness.
4) Vyšší hodnotu má druh stojící výše
(4) If a being is a higher animal in na evolučním žebříčku. (241)
an evolutionary sense, it is of
greater value than those which are
farther down on the evolutionary
scale. (167)
Avoidance of repetition
For example, one can study and Je například možné odhadnout, jak
predict how a caribou population is populace sobů karibu souvisí a je
related to and dependent upon the závislá na množství predátorů a
number of predators and certain other dalších
factors
without
studying
faktorech,
aniž
bychom
the studovali vztah jednotlivých zvířat ke
individual caribou’s relationship to konkrétním predátorům. (...) Podobně
particular predators. (...) Similarly, platí, že lze zkoumat život a smrt
one can study the life and death of a určitého
živočicha
a
přitom
se
particular animal without studying nezabývat jen jednotlivými buňkami.
its individual cells. A cell can be Buňku lze zkoumat mnoha způsoby a
63
studied
in
many
ways
without přitom ignorovat chemické složení
studying the chemical structure of každé jednotlivé molekuly. (118)
every single molecule in the cell. (78)
Different from sketching utopias, Načrtávat vize je jedna věc, ale
but not entirely independent of ekologické myšlení by se hlavně mělo
them, we find environmental thinking zaměřit na to, jak jich dosáhnout.
focusing on how to move in the (233)
direction of the utopias. (162)
- appart from avoiding repetition, the
translator also simplified the opening
clauses
There is no completely isolatable I, Žádné já nelze zcela vyčlenit, což
no isolatable social unit. (164)
platí i o společenské jednotce.
(236)
It has to be admitted, however, that especially the last type of
simplification (avoidance of repetition) is of great benefit to the TT as the
result is more readable, smooth and natural than a more literal translation
would be.
In other situations, simplification is intertwined with normalization, which
might be either motivated by the intention to make the text more accessible to
the reader, or it is most probably a precaution against interference, which
would clearly be contrary to the translator’s approach:
urbanised, techno-industrial mega- městská průmyslová civilizace (42)
society (24)
(...) it decreases the area within which (...) se zmenšuje prostor pro kvalitní
one can say ‘self-made is well- rukodělnou výrobu (...) (138)
64
made’ (...) (92)
But time is running out! (46)
Času ale už mnoho nezbývá. (74)
Similarly, footnotes with bibliographical citations are also absent in the
translation, although the bibliography at the end of the book is faithful to the
original. Such a simplification might be motivated by the intention to make the
book more accessible to a non-academic reader, or it is probably an editorial
decision, yet it also presents a significant information loss. One example of a
more serious omission of a note follows:
Peter Wessel Zapffe’s ‘biosophy’* „Biosofie“
norského
ekofilosofa
does the same: valuation of life, Petera Wessela Zapffeho dělá totéž:
especially the problematic ‘human přisuzuje hodnotu životu, zejména
condition’.
The
more
grounded problematické
approach of pro aut contra dialogue, Argumenty
„lidské
podložený
situaci“.
dialog
a
together with the scientific ethic of vědecká zásada úcty k nestrannosti
respect for the norms of impartiality (norsky
(in
Norwegian,
saklighet)
nám
pomáhají
saklighet, zkoumat naši existenci. (61)
‘appropriateness to the situation at - an attempt to compensate some
hand’), serve to help us explore our information
existence.
left
out
(norského
ekofilosofa)
*Peter Wessel Zapffe is Norway’s
ecophilosopher,
connection
introducing
between
a
philosophy
and the biological place of man
early in this century. His central
65
point is that Man is the ultimate
tragic
being,
because
he
has
learned enough about the Earth to
realise the Earth would be better
off
without
the
presence
of
humankind. His major work, Om
det tragiske (On the Tragic) has not
been translated into English. The
only
published
translations
of
Zapffe into English are in Reed and
Rothenberg (1987). (37)
More demanding readers can furthermore find it misleading when the
translator does not provide the original titles of the books and works cited and
includes only his translation of the title into Czech, contrary to the standard
practice in Czech translations – it is even more problematic considering the
fact that most of them had not been translated to Czech: „kniha Juliana
Simona Bohatá planeta“ (45), „Global 2000 – Zpráva pro prezidenta
Spojených států od Geralda Barneyho“ (51), „Langdon Winner první kapitolu
nazvanou „Samostatnost a podřízenost“ své knihy Samostatná technika
(1977) zahajuje citátem (...)“ (143) „Historii prvních deseti let pěkně shrnuje
Donella Meadowsová v knize Tápání ve tmě (1984)“ (220). A particularly
curious case is when the title is translated in different ways at different places:
„nezkrácená verze zprávy IUCN Světová ochranářská strategie“ cited on page
51 of the target text becomes „Světová strategie ochrany přírody“ on page
219, while remaining World Conservation Strategy in the respective parts of
66
the source text (30, 151).
There are further formal differences between the ST and TT, which may
indicate the translator’s choice or an error. These involve a variation in
paragraphs and occur either in the body of text (as shown below) or at the
border between quotations and the body of text – in this way, parts of
quotations loose their status and appear as the author’s words or vice-versa:
the author’s words are incorporated in the quotation. Both these situations
occur in the introductory part written by David Rothenberg and involve
quotations by Naess and can be considered errors. An example of one of
these is reported in the table below:
But it was in his teens that Naess’s Ale teprve v dospívání Naessovo
awareness expanded to include a vědomí přibralo i vztahy s lidmi, kteří
bond with people who lived their lives žili blízko přírodě:
Když mi bylo patnáct, tak vytrvale jsem
near to nature:
When fifteen years old I managed
škemral, až mi dovolili, abych se úplně
through sheer persistency of appeals
sám vypravil do nejvyššího norského
to travel alone in early June to the
pohoří Jotunheimen. (...)
highest mountain region of Norway –
Jotunheimen. (...)
Tyto
These reflections instilled within me
přemýšlení o skromnosti – zejména
the idea of modesty – modesty in
skromnosti
man’s relationship with mountains in
vzpomínky
ve
mě
vztahu
přivedly
člověka
k
k
horám a vlastně k celé přírodě. Podle
particular and the natural world in
general. As I see it, modesty is of little
mého
názoru
nemá
value if it is not a natural consequence
valného
of
důsledkem daleko hlubších pocitů,
much
deeper
feelings,
a
smyslu,
skromnost
pokud
není
67
consequence
of
a
way
of
důsledkem toho, že se nazíráme jako
understanding ourselves as part of
součást přírody v širokém slova
nature in a wide sense of the term.
smyslu. Čím si při takovém nazírání
This way is such that the smaller we
come to feel ourselves compared to
připadáme
ve
srovnání
s
horou
the mountain, the nearer we come to
menší, tím spíše jsme součástí její
participating in its greatness. I do not
velikosti. Nevím, proč to tak je.
know why this is so.
Rothenberg 15-16)
(Rothenberg 2-3)
Furthermore, the examples below show the discrepancies existing on
the level of paragraphs (single paragraph in the ST splits in two in the TT) that
appear throughout the text:
It is clear, however, that many nature Na druhou stranu je zřejmé, že
magazines and associations should většina
ekologických
be kept largely free of political and ochranářských
časopisů
sdružení
by
a
se
moral propaganda. They foster and politické a morální propagandě spíše
encourage
nature-lovers,
but měla vyhnout.
membership tends to fall unduly if a
Mají totiž vliv na milovníky přírody,
stern political line is enforced with ovšem
členství
v nich
většinou
pages of distressing news, and long, poklesne, jakmile se mezi varovné
tedious meetings are required. (91)
články
dostanou
i
politické
proklamace a také v okamžiku, kdy
by lidé měli vysedávat na dlouhých,
nudných schůzích. (137)
When rampant urbanisation began to Národní parky a velké chráněné
cripple human life in the rich industrial přírodní oblasti začaly vznikat v době
68
states, the establishment of national přebujelé
urbanizace,
parks and other large free areas was degradovala
život
lidí
která
v bohatých
advocated. Nonetheless, the need for průmyslových zemích.
elbow room and activity under the
Ukázalo se však, že prostor a
open sky has been shown to be much aktivita pod širým nebem nejsou
more than a luxury need of the elite. jenom luxusní potřebou vyhraženou
Among many people it has developed elitě. Pro daleko více lidí se to stalo
into a vital need. (180)
životní potřebou. (258)
- it is not clear what has developed
into a vital need.
Although the translator’s preferred strategy is to translate “freely”,
terminology and third-culture terms are the realms where literal translation is a
better solution. The following examples are rather unproblematic renderings of
ST terms:
ecophilosophy (Rothenberg 3)
ecosophy (4)
areas of wilderness
or
wilderness (30)
shallow movement (33)
‘Green’ parties (33)
ekofilosofi[e] (Rothenberg 16)
ekosofi[e] (18)
near- oblast[i] s nedotčenou nebo téměř
nedotčenou přírodou (51)
mělk[á] ekologie (55)
„Zelené“ strany (56)
Green technology, green economics, Zelené
green
population
policy,
technologie,
zelená
green ekonomika, zelená populační politika,
community life and green peace zelené komunity a hnutí jako Green
movements are all pillars of support Peace – to vše jsou pilíře, z nichž
69
for the richness and diversity of life. vychází úsilí o bohatství a diverzitu
(34)
života. (56)
- given the fact that the literal term
„zelený mír“ is not used in Czech, the
translator opted for a concretization
by means of naming a generally
known green peace movement
green lifestyles (34)
Conservation biology (45)
„zelen[ý]“ přístu[p] k životu (56)
Ochranářská biologie (72)
- the term „konzervační biologie“ is
soft technology (96)
more appropriate, in my point of view
šetrné technologie (144)
Technology is essentially soft. (144)
Používají se hlavně měkké (šetrné)
build down agribusiness (99)
Shadow-pricing nature (123)
technologie. (209)
ustoupit od agrobusinessu (148)
Přikládání stínových cen přírodě
(180)
The value of certain goods and Hodnota zboží a služeb, které se na
services which are not exchanged on trhu nesměňují, se pak odhaduje jinak
markets is estimated in other ways – – je jim přiřazena „stínová cena“.
they get their ‘shadow prices’. (123)
(180)
- this term is standardly used in the
field of economy (Kršková)
ecopolitics (132)
ekologick[á] politik[a] (192)
(...) one tries to change current (...)
snaha
proměnit
politiku
politics
by
establishing
columns’ (154)
The term
‘diversity’
established in biology (201)
is
‘fifth prostřednictvím
„pátých
kolon“
(222)
well Pojem „rozmanitost“ hojně používá
biologie (288)
70
‘biorights’ (15)
ecocriminals (176)
anti-consumerism (210)
„biopráva“ (34)
ekozločinc[i] (253)
antikonzumenství (300)
Nevertheless, there are also terms which present difficulties if translated
literally, therefore circumlocution or rephrasing (resulting in “freer” translation)
provide a solution, although not always the most successful:
cooperation
between
nature spolupráce
managers and researchers (45)
mezi
výzkumem
a
praktickým manažmentem v přírodě
(72)
-
while
the
Czech
spelling
of
„manažer“ is completely acceptable,
in the case of management the
complete borrowing is the only correct
alternative:
„management“
(Petráčková, Kraus 477)
It may not be sensible to buy it, and Pak tedy nemá smysl ho kupovat a
the ecosopher will then not feel any ekosoficky smýšlející člověk vůbec
regret at not possessing it. (88)
Volvo’s
experiments
with
nelituje, když ho nevlastní. (133)
(...) Dobře známé jsou experimenty Volva
improved external milieux (...) are s (...) ekologizací provozů (...) . (147)
well known. (98)
-
rather
than
facilitating
comprehension, this neologism is
much more abstract than the ST
Proceeding
from
non-human
human ecology (...) (203)
expression
to Přejděme
nyní
od
„přírodní“
ekologie k ekologii člověka. (291)
71
- the translator is aware of the
absurdity
of
the
dichotomy
„přírodní/lidský“, that is why he uses
the inverted commas. Still, a better
equivalent of “non-human” should be
sought, instead.
By far the most problematic term in the book (not to mention the most
frequent) is the term “deep ecology”. Naess offers his earlier summary of what
deep ecology means: it is a movement that rejects the man-in-environment
image in favour of the relational, total-field image and proposes biospherical
egalitarianism based on the principle that all life on Earth, both human and
non-human, has intrinsic value. Despite the literal translation at hand –
„hluboká ekologie“ – the translator uses exclusively the less appropriate term
„hlubinná ekologie“. It appears in various forms and phrases, the following
table offers only a few most frequent examples:
deep
ecological
philosophy hlubinně
ekologick[á]
filosofi[e]
(Rothenberg 4)
(Rothenberg 17)
deep ecology movement (4)
hlubinně ekologick[é] hnutí (17)
deep ecology (4)
hlubinn[á] ekologie (17)
Why is it less appropriate? Prof. Erazim Kohák has dedicated a lengthy
explanation in his ecological reader Zelená svatozář (The Green Halo) why
the use of „hlubinná ekologie“ in the context of Naess’s work should be
considered a mistake:
72
Arne Naess does not use the term „hlubinná ekologie“.
According to my Norwegian friends, there is no difference
between the adjectives „hluboký“ and „hlubinný“ in Norwegian,
as there is no such difference in German, yet the difference
exists in English, and Naess speaks and writes in English
without difficulties. (...) [T]he term „hlubinný“ is definitely a
technical term, especially in the phrase „hlubinná psychologie“
(depth psychology) – that which deals with the presumed
unconscious or suppressed thoughts according to S. Freud and
C. G. Jung. The term „hlubinný“ in this specific context is
expressed by the English noun “depth”, used as an adjective in
this phrase, therefore we talk about “depth psychology”
(hlubinná
psychologie).
(...)
Naess
has
authorized
the
expression “deep ecology” in the English versions of his works,
or „hluboká ekologie“. He has never used the technical term
“depth ecology” (...), „hlubinná ekologie“. The fact he uses the
term “deep ecology” – never “depth ecology” – continuously,
clearly and exclusively, seems to me an evidence that as far as
his own thought system is concerned, the only justifiable
translation
is
hluboká
ekologie
(deep
ecology)
(not
„hlubinná“ [depth]). To label Naess’s thought as „hlubinná
ekologie“ – which I did myself – is in my opinion not justified and
extremely misleading.
Quite a different story is the work of some Naess’s disciples
and followers, who focus on descending to the collective
73
unconscious of all beings according to Jung’s ideas, such as
John Seed and the co-authors in the guide Thinking like a
Mountain. Although they also use Naess’s expression “deep
ecology”, I consider this to be the case (unlike in Naess) where
the translation „hlubinná ekologie“ is justified and even very
appropriate in order to distinguish Naess’s generally accepted
views and the rather peculiar views of his disciples. (...) In my
opinion, it is highly desirable to take the advantage of what
the Czech language offers, and to distinguish between
„hluboká ekologie“ and „hlubinná ekologie“. (Kohák 109110, my translation, the emphasis is his)
Following Prof. Kohák’s line of thought, the term „hluboká ekologie“
should be used consistently and rigorously in connection to the work of Arne
Naess and a potential result could be a new edition of the Czech translation of
Ecology, community and lifestyle.
Finally, the TT closely corresponds to the ST in those moments where a
third culture and language come to the surface. By the third culture I mean
Norwegian, which is also Naess’s mother tongue. When Norwegian is used in
the ST, it conveys concepts that are difficult or impossible to translate into
English without a certain loss. A good example of this is the expression
“friluftsliv”:
In
Nordic
countries
energy V severských zemích se citlivý přístup
consciousness was developed even k energii
v lidech
posiluje
už
od
74
from childhood through life in cabins dětství pobytem v přírodě v lesních
as part of classical friluftsliv (see srubech (o friluftsliv v kapitole 7).
chaptert 7, p.177). (93)
(139)
Literally, ‘friluftsliv’ means ‘free air Norské
slovo „friluftsliv“ znamená
life’, but it has been translated as „život pod širým nebem“ či „přírodní
‘open air life’ and ‘nature life’ (...) život“. (255)
(178)
- the TT is further simplified implying
a definition of “friluftsliv” which is
actually (in the ST) only a common
translation of the term; the reader is
left to supply their meaning
Elsewhere, Norwegian expressions are used to add expressivity, but
perhaps also as an attempt at foreignization, both in the ST and the TT – as a
sign that the author is Norwegian and that the idea of deep ecology is closely
related to this culture. The following example demonstrates this by using a
Norwegian expression that could be translated into the other languages, but is
left in the original language for the above reasons, and accompanied by a
translator’s note:
High life quality – yes; high standard Vysokou kvalitu života ano, vysokou
of living – tja.*
životní úroveň tja.*
*A Norwegian expression translating * Norské slovo, které se dá přeložit
roughly as ‘maybe yes, maybe no’. jako „možná ano, možná ne“. (43) [It
(25)
is far from clear to me ]
75
One last example of a seemingly unproblematic passage where the ST
and TT should meet but do not, is represented by a Latin quote:
Top
levels
of
artists,
scientists, Špičkoví
umělci,
vědci,
technici,
technicians, stars in sport and trade obchodníci a sportovní hvězdy z
from all over the world set levels celého
světa
nasazují
laťku
na
which are completely unattainable úroveň, která je dosažitelná jedině
except
through
professionalism. profesionálům. Panem et circenses!
Panis et circenses! Material standard Díky dosažené hmotné životní úrovni
of
living
and
professional a profesionální zábavě máme pocit,
entertainment make the active use of že vůbec není nutné, abychom svůj
one’s own creative potentials seem vlastní
unnecessary. (145-146)
tvůrčí
potenciál
aktivně
využívali. (211)
This minute difference between the original and the translation is given
by the fact that the ST contains a mistake and the translator only does the
necessary correction in the TT. Despite providing a curious example, the
correction of this quote is yet another piece of evidence that the translator
aims at preserving the sense of the original while trying to provide an
authentic experience for the reader, without taking the risk of various types of
interference, including the risk of adopting the ST mistakes.
4.5 Gary Snyder: A place in space: ethics, aesthetics and watersheds
Gary Snyder’s work includes more than twenty published books of prose and
poetry, dealing with aesthetics, philosophy but mainly with the place in nature
76
and wilderness, promoting a bioregional approach. His books have been
made accessible to the Czech readership through the following translations:
a) Poetry
Tahle báseň je pro medvěda (1997) Translated by Luboš Snížek, this
collection presents Snyder’s earlier poems, such as Riprap and Cold
Mountain Poems, including the collection Turtle Island, awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975.
Mountains and Rivers without End (1996, Hory a řeky bez konce 2007;
translated by Luboš Snížek)
Danger on Peaks (2004, Nebezpečí na vrcholcích 2010; translated by
Luboš Snížek)
b) Prose
The Old Ways: Six Essays (1977, Staré cesty: šest esejí 1995;
translated by Alexandra Hubáčková and Renata Vystrčilová)
The Practice of the Wild (1990, Praxe divočiny 1999; translated by
Luboš Snížek)
Earth House Hold: Technical Notes and Queries to Fellow Dharma
Revolutionaries (1969, Zemědům: technické poznámky a otázky pro
dharmové revolucionáře 2000; translated by Matěj Turek)
A Place in Space: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Watersheds (1995, Místo
v prostoru: Etika, estetika a vodní předěly 2002; translated by Matěj
Turek and Luboš Snížek)
Snyder’s renown within the Czech literary scene was further helped by
77
his two visits (in 1998 and 2007), particularly by the second one during which
he participated in the Prague Writers‘ Festival (Jařab, Král), and also by a
number of interviews and several shorter texts or poems published in
translation in various magazines (Snyder in Literární noviny 4-5, in Ekolist 2223). All these factors, together with the literary quality of his work and its
position within the ecocritical canon, contribute to the fact that Snyder is the
most translated contemporary environmental writer into Czech.
For my analysis, I have chosen the most recent prozaic translation, A
Place in Space (Místo v prostoru). In this collection of essays, Snyder
revisited some of his older writings as well as added some newer creations.
Although some of the essays had already been published in Czech („Jogín a
filozof“,
„Zájmy
etnopoetiky“,
„North
Beach“,
„Znovuosídlování“
and
„Neuvěřitelná životaschopnost kojota“ appeared in Staré cesty), the two
translators offer a new and fresh look without referring to the older
translations. In the analysis, I have focused only on those essays that are
related to ecology, the environment, nature, conservation and sustainability,
thus omitting those dedicated mainly to literature, poetry and aesthetics. The
list of chapters analysed and their translations is reported in the table below –
the total of twenty essays were translated partly by Luboš Snížek (six essays
marked “LS”) and mostly by Matěj Turek (fourteen essays marked “MT”).
ST
North Beach
Smokey the Bear Sutra
Four Changes, with a Postscript
The Yogin and the Philosopher
“Energy Is Eternal Delight”
Earth Day and the War Against the
TT
North Beach (LS)
Medvědí sútra (LS)
Čtyři změny, s dodatkem (LS)
Jógin a filosof (LS)
„Energie je věčná radost“ (MT)
Den Země a boj proti imaginaci (MT)
Imagination
Nets of Beads, Webs of Cells
Sítě z korálků, pavučiny buněk (MT)
78
A Village Council of All Beings
Goddess of Mountains and Rivers
Amazing Grace
Energy from the Moon
The Politics of Ethnopoetics
Unnatural Writing
Reinhabitation
The Porous World
The Forest in the Library
Exhortations for Baby Tigers
Coming into the Watershed
The Rediscovery of Turtle Island
Kitkitdizze: A Node in the Net
Obecní rada všech bytostí (MT)
Bohyně řek a hor (MT)
Podivuhodný půvab (MT)
Měsíční síla (MT)
Politika etnopoetiky (LS)
Nepřírodní literatura (MT)
Znovuosídlovaní (LS)
Pórovitý svět (MT)
Les v knihovně (MT)
Nabádání tygříků (MT)
Vítejte v povodí (MT)
Znovuobjevení Želvího ostrova (MT)
Kitkitdizze: uzlík v síti (MT)
79
Although it might be interesting to analyse the translators‘ style given the
multiple translations of some of Snyder’s essays, I would like to focus on
more technical aspects. However, comparing the two translators seems
inescapable. Yet my objective is to offer a descriptive approach, studying
terminological issues, translation strategies, explicitation and other universals
(normalization and simplification) and treating the issue of mistranslation.
The most remarkable issue associated with the fact that the book has
two translators is the vacillation of grammatical gender in the case of the word
„esej“ and discrepancy in terminology. This variation is not traceable to one
particular translator, but it is rather characteristic of both. Considering the
vacillation of grammatical gender, the variant the translators prefer is
masculine as in „Tento esej vychází z přednášky (...)“ in „Jógin a filosof“ (50)
or „Tento esej byl původně vydán jako předmluva (...)“ in „Podivuhodný
půvab“ (90). However, Luboš Snížek also opts for the feminine variant in the
case of „Neuvěřitelná životaschopnost kojota“: „Tato esej vychází z příspěvku
předneseného v roce 1974 (...)“ (144) and then mixes the two genders in the
conclusion
of
„Znovuosídlování“:
„Tento
esej
vychází
z příspěvku
předneseného v srpnu 1976 na Konferenci o znovuosidlování (...) Byla
publikována ve Starých cestách (...) (169, my emphasis).
Regarding terminology, inconsistent usage is present despite the fact
that both translators benefit from the standardized terminology, particularly
from zoology and botany or use literal translation of the terms. However,
errors are not excluded from the standardized terms – the most evident error
(explainable by insufficient proof-reading) is that of putting the name of the
80
tree “manzanita” (192) as „nedvědice“ (170) while the correct Czech term is
„medvědice“ (Hájková 221). Similarly, “survival of the fittest” (71) becomes
literal „přežití nejuzpůsobenějšího“ (67) while the translator seems to ignore
the standardized translation „přežití nejsilnějšího“.
81
Literal translation of technical terms from ecology
“depth ecology” (169)
„hlubinn[á]“ ekologie (150)
the notion of biological corridors ponětí o biologických koridorech (197)
(225)
“inhabited
wildlife
corridor” „zabydlen[ý] divok[ý] korido[r]“ (225)
(261)
- more appropriate: obydlený koridor
divoké zvěře
ekologick[á] spravedlnos[t] (57)
of krizový obor konzervační biologie (73)
ecological justice (60)
the
crisis
discipline
conservation biology (78)
- the
mistranslation
due
to
lexical
interference could be avoided, e.g. by
explicitation: obor konzervační biologie
zabývající se krizemi/ řešící krize
biome (96)
biom (89)
bioregion (98)
bioregion (90)
“sustainable development” (167) „udržitelný rozvoj“ (149)
ecologies of imagination (170)
ekologie mysli (150)
Bureau of Land Management Pozemkov[ý] úřad (171)
(193)
BLM land (194)
island biogeography
půd[a] Pozemkového úřadu (172)
theory biogegrafická teorie ostrovů (197)
(225)
- another case of mistranslation caused
by literal translation of the term. A more
acceptable and appropriate translation:
teorie
ostrovní
biogeografie/
teorie
biogeografie ostrovů
matrifocal roots (85)
matrifokální kořen[y] (79)
numinous [mountains and rivers] numinózní [hory a řeky] (80)
(87)
“interspecies
communication” „mezidruhová komunikace“ (88)
(95)
“trans-species erotics” (206)
„naddruhov[á] erotik[a]“ (182)
nonplant food (68)
nerostlinn[á] strav[a] (64)
- an interference is present instead of
cultural integrity (135)
standard Czech term živočišná strava
82
kulturní celistvos[t] (122)
- the literal translation of the term could
A common problem linked to terminology is a change or distortion of
meaning.
Environmental literature often involves great complexity of
terminology that is not only environmental or ecological, but covers other
fields as well. Multidisciplinarity of such literature is therefore exemplified by
incorporation of scientific terminology (life and nature sciences), economy,
philosophy etc., which naturally requires multidisciplinary experience on the
part of the translator. However, this requirement is only rarely met, and the
changes of meaning can be considered the eviedence of lack of knowledge in
a certain field, as evidenced in the following table:
In the iconography he is seen as an Ikonografie jej zobrazuje s výrazem
aspect of Avalokiteśvara (...) (30)
Avalokitéšvary (...) (32)
- Correct: Ikonografie jej zobrazuje
food economies of the world (68)
jako jednu z podob Avalokitéšvary
typy hospodaření světa (64)
- explicitation is probably unavoidable
to clarify this phrase: způsoby, jak se
worm-free Boletus edulis (194)
hospodaří s jídlem jinde ve světě
nečervavý hřib Leccinum
manzanitae (172)
- It is difficult to detect the motivation
of this shift. The only possible
interpretation might be the translator’s
“correction” – while Boletus edulis is
“hřib smrkový”, Leccinum manzanitae
is a different type of mushroom that
83
grows mainly in the manzanita
resource management (224)
forests.
řízení těžby (196)
- more appropriate: správa/řízení
wasps and bees (196)
zdrojů
vosy a sršn[i] (174)
- correct: vosy a včely
the technological society (...) can also technologická společnost (...) se
get “nature-literate” (212)
může stát také „přírozeně
gramotnou“ (186)
- “nature-literate” refers more to being
literate about nature, rather than
being “naturally literate” as appears in
economics of scale (233)
the translation
přiměřené hospodářství (203)
- “economies of scale” is a technical
term from economy, referring to “the
reduction in long-run average and
marginal
costs
arising
from
an
increase in size of an operating unit”
(BussinesDictionary).
equivalent
is:
The
úspory
Czech
z rozsahu
(Kvizda 5)
However, what also proved to be problematic was terminology narrowly
connected to ecology and environmental studies, especially the cases in
which Czech terminology had not been sufficiently standardized yet or was
altogether lacking. Such problematic terms include “watershed”, “habitat”,
84
“diversity”, the variants of “enviornmental movement” and “conservation
movement” and a few more, represented in the following table. The greatest
variety is presented by the term “habitat”, which is either translated by the
equivalent term „habitat“ or by several circumlocutions of which „oblast
výskytu“ and „místo výskytu“ are also definitions of the term, while „domovina“
and „domov“ are less specific and unsuitable for the given context. “Diversity”,
on the other hand, appears as a relatively fixed term, with respective
equivalents „diversita“ and „biodiverzita“, accompanied by the circumlocutory
„rozmanitost“ in contexts where the specialized term would sound too
technical. Finally, I would like to point at a curious case of discrepancy in
terminology, represented by the term “fuel load”, defined as „the “total amount
of combustible material in a defined space” (InterFire). Therefore „palivové
zatížení“ seems to be acceptable (I have encountered a version „palivová
zátěž“ in the translation of Jared Diamond’s Collapse) (66), although an
explication could be added to the term, while the alternative „náklady na
palivo“ should be ruled out as a distortion of meaning.
85
watersheds (vii)
vodní předěly (n.n.)
watershed (4)
rozvodí (10)
watershed (80)
povodí (74)
habitat (4)
domovina (10)
Natural habitat (46)
Přirozená domovina (45)
habitat (73)
oblast výskytu (68)
the destruction of species and their zánik druhů a jejich domovů (151)
habitats (171)
mind as wild habitat (172)
mysl jako divoký habitat (152)
right down to the habitat niches of přímo v oddělených habitatech budov
buildings (202)
(178)
Perennial Habitat (206)
Trvalý domov (181)
Habitat flows across both private Místa výskytu se táhnou přes
and public land. (225)
soukromá i veřejná území. (197)
wildlife habitat (256)
domovina divoké zvěře (221)
the diversity and richness of the rozmanitost a bohatství genetického
gene pool (52)
potenciálu (51)
preserving biodiversity (78)
zachování biodiverzity (73)
diversity (126)
diverzita (115)
We need planetary diversity in Potřebujeme
planetární
rozmanitost
nations as much as we need národů, stejně jako potřebujeme lidskou
human diversity
in society or rozmanitost
ve
společnosti
anebo
biological diversity in the forest. biologickou rozmanitost v lese. (182)
(207)
environmental movement (58)
hnutí za ochranu životního prostředí
(55)
conservation movement (58)
hnutí ochranářů; ochranářské hnutí
(55)
radical environmentalism (58)
radikální environmentalismus (55)
Environmentalists (58)
Ekologové (56)
conservation movement (164)
ekologick[é] hnutí (146)
86
Finally, the treatment of terminology should also include a consideration
of three terms that are not as much technical as charged with specific
connotations and consequently their translation into Czech needs careful
examination. These terms include “wild“ and derivatives, “natural“ in phrases
“natural world/system“ and “nonhuman“. The concept of “wild“, “wildness“ and
“wilderness“ is a familiar one in the works of Gary Snyder, yet it offers a
wealth of expressions in Czech (see table below). Taking into consideration
the
predominant
translation
of
“natural
world/system“
as
„přirozený
svět/systém“, it is clear that the translator’s strategy was to be consistent
throughout the text, disregarding the contextual restrictions. The following
occurences serve as examples to show that „svět přírody“ or „přírodní svět“ or
„příroda“ might have conveyed the message more efficiently. Finally, turning
to the translation of the term “nonhuman“, one can observe the different
approaches of the two translators. While Snížek opted for the literary
translation „ne-lidský/á/é“, Turek’s strategy involves various circumlocutions
verging on the explicit.
“wild” side of language and mind (vii)
„nezkrocené“ stránky jazyka a myšlení
(Poznámka autora)
“wild mind” (vii)
„divoké mysli“ (Poznámka autora)
Ignorance and hostility toward wild Lhostejnost
nature (211)
a
nepřátelství
k volné
přírodě (185)
the preservation of key blocks of public zachování klíčových území veřejných
lands as wilderness (224)
území v divokém stavu (196)
87
The personal contact with the natural Přímý
osobní
world required of hunters and gatherers světem
(...) generated continual alertness. (128)
kontakt
vyžadoval
s přirozeným
po
lovcích
a
sběračích (...) neustálou bdělost. (116)
But if we look at the larger context of Ale podíváme-li se na širší kontext
occidental history, educated elites, and západních
dějin,
vzdělaných
elit
a
literary culture, we see that the natural literární kultury, uvidíme, že přirozený
world is profoundly present in and an svět je ve velkých uměleckých dílech
inescapable part of the great works of hluboce
přítomen
a
že
je
jejich
art. The human expercience over the nedělitelnou součástí. Lidská zkušenost
larger part of its history has been played byla větší části své historie v důvěrném
out in intimate relationship to the natural vztahu k přirozenému světu. (146)
world. (164-5)
For me this means the end of taking the Pro mne to znamená přestat brát
natural world for granted as a kind of přirozený svět jako jakýsi zaručený
hardware store and lumberyard (209)
sklad potřeb a skládku (184)
- there is a distortion of meaning:
hardware store could be translated as
“obchod s nářadím” and lumberyard as
“sklad s dřívím”
a sincere nod in the direction of the deep upřímné
přitakání
hluboké
hodnotě
value of the natural world and the
světa přírody a svébytnosti jiných než
subjecthood of nonhuman beings (234)
lidských tvorů (204)
An urban cosmopolitanism is gained, Je dosaženo městského světoobčanství
with the loss of a keen sense of the a ztráty pronikavého smyslu splývání
88
integration
of
human
and
natural lidských a přirozených systémů. (88)
systems. (95)
(...) the whole society consults the (...) celá společnost [se] radí s nenonhuman (in-human, inner-human?) lidskými (nadlidskými, vnitřně lidskými)
powers (50)
silami (50)
(human and nonhuman) (235)
(člověk s tím, co je mimo něj) (205)
see through nonhuman eyes (242)
vidět jinýma než lidskýma očima (211)
The choice of terminology – particularly the last example – is related to
the choice of foreignization and domestication strategies. Although the
general tendency of the translation is to make the book accessible to Czech
readers, there are instances of foreignizing elements that are typically justified
by the appearance of a third culture. This is manifested by original or
transcribed words, terms or names. The third cultures that are transmitted are
mainly Hindu, Japanese or Hispanic and very often the foreignization is
compensated by a domesticating element or an explicitation (see especially
the translation of “black people, Chicanos” as „černoši, Latinoameričané“
while at the same time “Anglos” is left in the original form).
Like Morocco, or ancient terraced Jako
fertile-crescent pueblos (4)
v Maroku
terasovitých
nebo v prastarých
pueblech
na
území
Úrodného půlměsíce (10)
(...) the forest fires of the kali yuga (...) lesních požárů kali-jugy (29)
(26)
Haiku, as a shorter form developed Haiku jako kratší, později vzniklá
later, is a confession that waka, forma,
dosvědčuje,
že
Saigjóova
Saigyo’s form, is difficult to sustain. waka je jako forma příliš těžká.
89
Haiku, with fewer syllables, moves Méněslabičné
haiku
má
rychlejší
more quickly; it has even more spád. Má také více bezprostřednosti
immediacy, less “mind” in the way. a tím je zároveň méně oduševnělé.
Yet Saigyo’s waka are as necessary Přesto jsou Saigjóovy básně waka
to haiku, and to the mind, as sutras stejně tak nezbytné pro haiku, a také
are to koans, as organic evolution is pro mysl, jako jsou sútry pro koány,
to the cricket of the moment. (117-18)
jako
organický
vývoj
pro
cvrčka
tohoto okamžiku. (106)
“In the fires that destroy the universe „Co přežije v plamenech, jež na konci
at the end of the kalpa, what kalpy zničí vesmír? (45)
survives?” (45)
Anglos, black people, Chicanos Anglos, černoši, Latinoameričané
(244)
In the
(212)
winter 1992 I practically V zimě 1992 jsem téměř přesvědčil
convinced the director of the Centro ředitele Centra severoamerických
de Estudios Norteamericanos at studií v Alcale v Madridu, aby změnil
the Universidad de Alcalá in Madrid to název svého ústavu na „Estudios de
change his department’s name to la Isla de Tortuga“. (215)
“Estudios de la Isla de Tortuga.”
(247)
The tendency towards better comprehension and acceptability of the
translation is evident also from the process of explicitation. Cultural
explicitation (both by addition and by specification) is the predominant type,
followed by optional explicitation, which aims at higher clarity of the text.
Interpersonal explicitation occurs only rarely, which suggests that the main
goal of the translators was to make the text intelligible for the reader, rather
90
than to promote certain attitudes or beliefs. Another reason for prolific use of
cultural explicitation is the fact that other cultures are also transmitted in the
text. The following example shows how explicitation combines with
foreignizing strategies.
When Oda Sesso Roshi, my teacher Když se Oda Sessó róši , můj učitel
at the Daitoku-ji monastery, came to v klášteře
the koan in the Mumonkan, “Nansen výkladu
Daitoku-dži,
Mumonkanu
dostal
ke
při
koánu
Kills a Cat,” he chose not to sit in the „Nansen zabíjí kočku“, neposadil se
high chair but sat on the tatami, on na vyvýšené křeslo jako obvykle, ale
the same level as the unsui (monks). na rohož tatami na stejnou úroveň
(68)
jako unsui (mnichové). (65)
Below follows a table with cases of cultural and interpersonal
explicitation.
Cultural explicitation – specification
Scavengers‘ trucks (4)
popelářsk[á] aut[a] (10)
solar energy, the tides (36)
sluneční či slapová energie (37)
Chinese male culture is profoundly Co se týče přírody a žen je čínská
ambiguous about nature and women. mužská kultura hluboce dvojznačná.
The best poets were often failed Nejlepšími
básníky
bývali
často
bureaucrats. Their submissive wives neúspěšní úředníci. Jejich poslušné a
were like the cultivated fields, the oddané ženy byly jako obdělávaná
singsong girls like the wilderness. pole, holky z čtvrtí rozkoše jako
91
(89)
divočina. (82)
radical – that is to say, sort of grass- radikál (abych tak řekl, pod určujícím
roots union IWW (127)
vlivem
odborářského
hnutí
Průmyslových dělníků světa) (116)
There
is
some
truly
dangerous Existuje opravdu nebezpečný způsob
language (167)
vyjadřování (149)
being (...) geographic information sbírají
computer consultants (245)
zeměpisné
údaje
pro
počítačové databáze (213)
chaparral (258)
The
otužilá křoviska (223)
Cultural explicitation – addition
Transamerica Pyramid (...) Transamerická pyramida (...) šosácky
stands square on what was once trůní na místě, kde stával dům zvaný
called Montgomery Block (4)
Montgomeryho blok (10)
needles suburbs (27)
nepotřebná honosná předměstí (29)
the Underground News Service (30)
Tisková
agentura
Underground
Okra is a member of the Hibiscus News (32)
genus, originally from Africa! (69)
Tropická
rostlina
okra
je
např.
příslušníkem rodu Hibiscus, původem
z Afriky! (65)
(ibex, argali, antelope, wild yak) (80)
(kozorožce, ovce argali, antilopy,
divoké jaky) (74)
My grandfather was a homesteader in Můj
the Pacific Northwest. (127)
děd
Severozápadě
byl
na
pacifickém
osadníkem
podle
zákona o přidělování půdy z roku
1862. (115)
92
a recent human invention with hasty je
to
nedávný
lidský
výmysl
straight-line boundaries that were s uskvapeně rovnými hranicemi, které
drawn (...) in D.C. (222)
byly
narýsovány
(...)
v hlavním
městě. (194)
Asian Americans (234)
Američané asijského původu (204)
Optional explicitation
Master the archaic and the primitive Osvojte si archaické a primitivní
(44)
kultury (44s)
Air, water, and soil are all in worse Stav vzduchu, vody a půdy je ještě
shape. (46)
horší. (45)
“environmentally conscious” (75)
„uvědomělý
v otázkách
životního
prostředí“ (71)
(...) about the Xingu people of the (...) o lidech kmene Xingu z povodí
Amazon (133)
Amazonky (120)
Han China (165)
Čín[a] dynastie Chan (147)
orchards (197)
ovocn[é] sad[y] (174)
the Los Angeles River (229)
řeka protékající Los Angeles (200)
Interpersonal explicitation
Plants and animals are also people Rostliny a živočichové jsou také
(54)
pokládáni za lidi (52-3)
Besides explicitation, simplification and normalization also help make the
target text more accessible to the reader by applying the valid norms of
translation and by standardization (Laviosa-Braithwaite 289-90) and by
different types of simplification. In the case of the translation of Place in
Space, the tendency towards normalization is presented by the source text
“B__r” (29) (in “Smokey the Bear Sutra”), meaning Bear, which in Czech
becomes directly „medvěd“ (31), without transmitting the playfullness of the
93
original.
As for simplification, there can be identified virtually all kinds of it in the
target text, including the use of superordinate terms,
the use of
circumlocutions, omission of words or avoidance of repetition:
Use of superordinate terms
Happy loose flocks cannot compete Šťastná svobodná hejna nemohou
with factory egg production, which soutěžit s tovární výrobou vajec, která
reduces
hens
to
machines
(but redukuje slepice na stroje (ale chrání
protects them from bobcats). (66)
je před divokými šelmami). (63)
be (...) a snake (194)
staňte se (...) plazem (172)
(...) reflecting the memory of the (...) odráží vzpomínky na nejstarší
earliest fiber used for writing (202)
hmotu používanou k psaní (179)
(...) with its tules, grasses, valley oak, (...) s jeho orobincem, travami a
and blue oak (219)
místními druhy dubu (192)
Use of circumlocutions
Learn to break the habit of acquiring Učte se, jak se zbavit zvyku vlastnit
unnecessary
possessions
–
a zbytečné věci – té drogy (41)
monkey on everybody’s back (40)
- both simplification and normalization
come into play in this case
Omission
To lose our life in nature is to lose Přijít o svůj život, v přírodě znamená
freshness,
diversity,
surprise,
the ztratit
svěžest,
překvapení (56)
Avoidance of repetition
(...) what is called “tending toward (...) tomu se
rozmanitost,
Other (59)
říká
„směřování
climax,” resulting in the condition k vrcholu“, jehož výsledkem je stav
sometimes called climax. (137)
občas zvaný „klimax“. (124)
94
To conlcude this case study, I would like to point out several overt errors,
namely the type of breach of the target language system. It is often the case
that this type of errors is caused by some kind of interference. The following
examples show an error deriving from grammatical interference (inteference
of grammatical number):
Protection for all scarce predators Ochrana všech vzácných dravců a
and varmints (39-40)
škodných (40)
- in Czech, the term is typically used
in singular, but the plural usage is not
incorrect
the great lore of tale and song (138)
významná tradice příběhu a písně
(125)
However, there are also spontaneous breaches of the target language
system which can hardly be ascribed to a concrete phenomenon and are
most probably explainable by problems in understanding the source language
or in mastering the target language, or more simply, can be seen as examples
of insufficient proofreading. Some of the most peculiar include the misspelling
of the word „jogín“ – in Luboš Snížek’s translation it becomes „jógin“ (32). One
explanation could be that it is Snížek‘s attempt at foreignization, given the fact
that the source text uses the term “yogin”, instead of the standard “yogi” and
the TT version „jógin“ recreates the sound effect of the ST term (by stressing
the first syllable).
95
4.6 Jared Diamond: Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Jared Diamond‘s Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed is a
wide-ranging inquiry to understand why certain ancient and modern societies
collapsed or face collapse while others manage to overcome it despite similar
conditions. In Diamond’s original thesis it was accounted that there exists a
link between the collapse of a society and its abuse of physical environment,
but his study shows that this link is not so straightforward. Nevertheless,
environment remains to be a dominant theme in this work. As with his
previous book, Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), Collapse presents rich
historical narratives interwoven with scientific objectivity (Porritt) which may
situate his work among popular science and such popularizing effect can be
of great advantage in raising ecological awareness.
Jared Diamond, given the fact that most of his works are bestsellers, is
one of few authors dealing with environmental issues translated into Czech
with enthusiasm. In addition to Collapse, which is the most recent book
(2005), translated as Kolaps: proč společnosti zanikají a přežívají by Zdeněk
Urban and published in 2008, all Diamond‘s major non-fiction has been
translated relatively shortly after its original publishing:
Why is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality (1998) – translated by
Zdeněk Urban as Proč máme rádi sex?: evoluce lidské sexuality and
published in 2003, following the Slovak translation from 1999;
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
(1992, Třetí šimpanz: vzestup a pád lidského rodu 2004; translated by
Stanislav Mihulka, Zuzana Gabajová and Jaroslav Šimek);
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1997, Osudy
96
lidských společností: střelné zbraně, choroboplodné zárodky a popel v historii
2000; translated by Zdeněk Urban).
The fact that his most acclaimed works, Guns, Germs, and Steel and
Collapse have been published by the largest scientific publisher in the Czech
Republic, Academia, is an evidence of targeting these texts both to experts
and general public interested in the topics (SSČ AV ČR).
Given the extent of this work, it was necessary to limit the analysis not only to
relevant parts (thus omitting the core chapters that deal with ancient societies
and have rather historiographic character) but also to a feasible amount of
analysed material. As a result, I limit my analysis to the Prologue and the first
chapter, which roughly correspond to approximately 14% of the total text and
focus predominantly on environmental issues, introducing a number of terms,
concepts and phenomena suitable for my analysis.
While the titles of these two (as well as other) parts are almost literally
translated – “A Tale of Two Farms” (1) becomes „Příběh dvou farem“ (15)
and “Under Montana’s Big Sky” (27) becomes „Pod velkou montanskou
oblohou“ (47), there is a significant shift in the translation of the book title. In
the ST, there is a clear indicator of the societies‘ responsibility: “how societies
choose to fail or succeed”. This is completely missing in the TT – extinction or
survival of the societies thus becomes something external, a kind of natural
development,
which
the
societies
cannot
affect
themselves.
The
97
responsibility, however, is re-introduced in chapter 14 entitled “Why Do Some
Societies Make Disastrous Decision?” (419) and translated into Czech as
„Proč některé společnosti zničí jejich vlastní rozhodnutí?“ (557), which, though
keeping the notion of responsibility, presents a logical explicitation.
As concerns the analysis, the selected passage offers a great variety of
translation processes, some of which are unexpected or not easily interpreted.
This is the case of the translator’s use of brackets, which do not correspond to
the ST. Similarly, the TT presents a relatively high occurrence of optional
explicitation, while cultural explicitation – which could be easily justified by the
culture-specific words and phrases of the ST – has a relatively low incidence.
A particularly prolific phenomenon is the incidence of neologisms. Neologisms
are moreover linked to terminology, as many technical terms are neologisms
and need adequate translation into the TL.
If brackets appear in translation while they are not part of the ST, it is
typically due to the need of additional information, such as the literal
translation of loan words or cultural words (Newmark 1988: 92). An example
from the text could be the translation of a name of an institution – “Teller
Wildlife Refuge” (29) – which is directly transferred into the TT and a
translation is provided in the brackets: „Teller Wildlife Refuge (Tellerovo
útočiště pro divokou zvěř)“ (50). However, Zdeněk Urban, as a translator,
often intervenes and uses brackets without adding any information, simply
bracketing information that is present in the ST:
ST
(...)
boom
in
commercial
TT
apple (...) výsadba jabloňových sadů pro
orchards, which were initially very obchodní
účely
(...),
která
byla
98
profitable, collapsed, due in part to nejprve
velmi
zisková,
upadla
apple trees exhausting the soil’s (částečně kvůli tomu, že jabloně
nitrogen (47)
spotřebovaly téměř všechen dusík
v půdě) (72)
The Bitterroot’s other water supply Další vodní zdroj Bitterrootu (po
besides
snowmelt-fed
irrigation zavlažovacích
systémech,
které
consists of wells for domestic water napájí tající sníh) představují studně
use (52)
pro domácí spotřebu (79)
Missoula’s air problems, exacerbated Problémy Missouly se
vzduchem
by winter temperature inversions and ještě zhoršují zimní teplotní inverze a
by its location in a valley that traps její
poloha
v údolí,
které
brání
air, stem from a combination of proudění vzduchu. (NORM) Příčinou
vehicle emissions throughout the je spojení automobilových emisí (po
year, wood-burning stoves in the celý rok), topení dřevem (v zimě) a
winter,
and
forest
fires
in
summer. (53)
the lesních
požárů
(unacknowledged
a
těžby
dřeva
addition
of
information) (v létě). (81)
Montana’s remaining major set of Zbývající problémy, které se týkají
environmental
problems
are
the životního prostředí Montany, jsou
linked ones of introduction of harmful propojené:
non-native species and losses of škodlivých
valuable
native
species.
These ztrátu
jde
o
nepůvodních
cenných
dovezení
druhů
původních
a
druhů
problems especially involve fish, (především o ryby, jeleny, losy a
deer and elk, and weeds. (53)
plevel). (81)
- the reason for the use of brackets in
this case might be an intention to
implicate, caused by the change of
99
meaning – the problems are not
linked themselves, but they ale linked
to what is enumerated in the ST.
Similarly, they do not involve the
introduction of harmful non-native
species etc. itself, but they involve the
species listed at the end of the
passage.
Regarding explicitation, the expectation that cultural explicitation will
predominate was not fulfilled despite the amount of cultural words and
expressions. A few exceptions can be found in the text, mainly involving the
translation and subsequent explicitation of institutional terms:
In either case, either the mine site Důl a oblasti po proudu od něj buď
and areas downstream of it remain zůstanou
toxické,
takže
toxic, thereby endangering people, or obyvatele,
nebo
sanaci
else the U.S. federal government and federální
the
Montana
state
vláda
government z federálního
ohrožují
zaplatí
Spojených
států
superfondu
(fond
(hence ultimately all taxpayers) pay americké agentury pro ochranu
for the cleanup through the federal životního prostředí – pozn. red.) a
Superfund and a corresponding vláda
Montana state fund. (36)
Monatana
(z
příslušného montanského fondu) –
nakonec
Endangered Species Act (42)
státu
tedy
všichni
daňoví
poplatníci. (59)
Zákon o ochraně ohrožených druhů
100
water commissioner (49)
(66)
komisař pro záležitosti týkající se
vody (76)
(...) money flowing into Montana from (...) z peněz,
které
do
Montany
other U.S. states: federal government přitékají ze zbytku Spojených států,
transfer payments (such as Social tedy z plateb prováděných federální
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and vládou.
poverty programs) (74)
Příkladem
je
sociální
zabezpečení, Medicare, Medicaid [v
prvním
případě
jde
o
systém
nemocenského pojištění pro staré
lidi a invalidy, druhý se týká rodin
a jednotlivců s nízkými příjmy –
pozn. překl.], programy v chudobě
(...) (107)
Other such terms are translated literally without further explanation:
Forest Service (42)
Lesní Správa (66)
Clean Water Act (42)
Zákon o čisté vodě (66)
Bitter Root Water Forum (52)
Bitterrootsk[é] vodní fór[um] (80)
Quite surprisingly, cultural explicitation is used also for a SL cultural
word which meaning is not extremely opaque:
The leach pad's liner is as thin as a Pažení louhovací rampy bylo tenké
nickel (...) (41)
jako niklák (pěticentová mince –
pozn. překl.) (...) (64)
101
Finally, I would like to point out one passage where cultural explicitation
might be needed, yet the translator opts for simplification that also slightly
changes the meaning and obscures the cultural aspect of the ST:
Cutthroat Trout (Montana’s state pstruh
fish) (54)
skvrnitý
(který
k Montaně
neodmyslitelně patří) (81)
Stylistic optional explicitation is also present, particularly in situations in
which the ST noun-participle or adverb-participle structure would sound
clumsy or unacceptable in the TT:
deforestation-induced collapses on kolaps[y]
Pacific islands (18)
na
ostrovech,
které
odlesnění (37)
environmentally triggered collapse kolaps
(...),
(21)
tichomořských
způsobilo
který
měl
environmentální příčinu (40)
The following table provides examples of optional explicitation, which
facilitates comprehension and provides additional information (e.g. in the
footnote) but at the same time is by no means essential with respect to the ST
and can be considered the translator’s initiative.
Optional Explicitation
changes in orientation of the Earth’s změny polohy rotační osy Země vůči
axis with respect to its orbit (12)
její oběžné dráze kolem Slunce (28)
the advance and retreat of continental postup
a
ice sheets during the Ice Ages ledovcových
ústup
štítů
kontinentálních
během
dob
102
beginning over two million years ago ledových, které začaly* před více než
(12)
dvěma miliony let
* jedná se o nástup přibližně 100
000letého cyklu dob ledových (28)
All of those considerations exposed Pokud vezmeme v úvahu všechny
past societies to increased risk from tyto faktor, ohrožovala změna klimatu
climate change. (12)
dřívejší společnosti mnohem více
než nás. (29)
Another comparative experiment was Další srovnávací experiment jsme
possible in the North Atlantic, where mohli provést v severním Atlantiku,
medieval
Vikings
from
Norway kde
středověcí
norští
Vikingové
colonized six islands or land masses kolonizovali šest ostrovů nebo velké
differing in suitability for agriculture, části souše, jež se lišily zemědělskou
ease of trade contact with Norway, využitelností,
and other input variables, and also s Norskem
a
dostupností
obchodu
dalšími
vstupními
differing in outcome ( from quick proměnnými, jakož i výsledkem (od
abandonment, to everybody dead rychlého opuštění sídel přes vymření
after 500 years, to still thriving after všech kolonistů po 500 letech až ke
1,200 years). (18-19)
stálému vzestupu i po 1200 letech).
(37)
Differing visions (27)
Různé představy o budoucnosti (47)
Finally, in 1998 I happened to receive Nakonec mě roku 1998 náhodou
an invitation from a private non-profit pozvala
soukromá
nadace
Teller
foundation called the Teller Wildlife Wildlife Refuge (Tellerovo útočiště
Refuge in the Bitterroot Valley. (29)
pro divokou zvěř), která působila
v Bitterrootském údolí. (50)
There are several instances of flattening the ST expression by
103
explicitating it, thus explicitation can have normalizing effect:
out-of-staters (34)
Unfortunately,
in
lid[é], kteří nepocházejí z Montany
most
(56)
Bitterroot Naneštěstí
došlo
ve
většině
irrigation districts the water is “over- bitterrootských zavlažovacích okrsků
allocated”. (50)
k „nadměrniým přídělům“ vody. (77)
A specific case of normalization verging on explicitation is the consistent
translation of the ST “First World” as „vyspělé země/společnosti“ in the TT,
while the term “Third World” is translated literally as „třetí svět“ or „země
třetího světa“. The reason for this might be that the translator sticks to the
convention, thus avoiding the risk of unacceptable translation, which would
furthermore be less transparent than the habitual translation. The contrast
between the two terms is shown in the following table:
First World societies (7)
vyspělé společnosti (22)
First World inhabitants (9)
obyvatelé vyspělých zemí (25)
the First World’s dependance on oil závislos[t] vyspělých zemí na ropě,
from ecologically fragile and politically která pochází z ekologicky a politicky
troubled Third World countries (14)
nestabilních zemí třetího světa (312)
Third World giant racing to catch up pádící obr třetího světa, který chce
with the First World (22)
dostihnout vyspělý svět (42)
Neologisms in the ST often present a translation problem, particularly
when they are newly coined words or eponyms. When neologisms are formed
104
by derivation, particularly from Latin or Greek, the translation is generally less
problematic given the “international” aspect of Latin and Greek prefixes and
suffixes, yet as Newmark suggests, they should not always be translated
automatically (1988: 143). A good example of English neologism found in the
text and transferred into Czech is the following:
ecocide (6)
ekocida (20)
The word is formed through a popular Greek prefix eco- (particularly
productive in ecology) and the Greek suffix -cide (more familiar in terms such
as “genocide”) and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary reports its first known use
in 1969 (Merriam-Webster), while the Czech variant is included in the
dictionary of neologisms edited by Olga Martincová (77).
The second type of neologisms present in the text belongs to the words
with the root -environment- . Although the English word “environment” lost its
air of neologism long time ago and so did many of its derivatives, such as
environmental, environmentalism or environmentalist, the situation in Czech is
different. As seen in previous case studies, the term “environmental” is
preferably translated less literally, usually by employing expressions such as
„ekologický“ or the circumlocution containing the term „životní prostředí“, as
the examples taken from Naess’s Ecology, community and lifestyle and
Snyder’s A Place in Space respectively show:
environmental thinking (Naess 162)
ekologické myšlení (233)
environmental movement (Snyder hnutí za ochranu životního prostředí
105
58)
(55)
Environmentalists (Snyder 58)
Ekologové (56)
An exception is found in the case of Snížek’s translation of Snyder’s
“radical environmentalism”
(58) as „radikální environmentalismus“ (55).
Recently, the acceptance of the adjective „environmentální“ and its derivatives
has increased, and the evidence can be found also in Urban’s translation of
Collapse, where the ST terms are transferred to the TT only with slight
adaptations required by the TL grammar:
environmental impact (16)
environmentální dopady (34)
environmental factors (20)
environmentální faktory (40)
environmental consultant (37)
environmentální poradce (60)
We have previously seen in this V této kapitole jsme viděli,
chapter how Montana is experiencing
že
Montanu trápí mnoho
many environmental problems (...) environmentálních
problémů
(...)
(74)
(107)
Chapter 15 considers the role of V 15. kapitole se zamýšlím nad
modern businesses, some of which úlohou
are among the most environmentally některé
destructive forces today (...) (23)
“environmentalist”
or
moderních
firem,
dnes
patří
z nichž
k
environmentálně nejničivějším silám
(...) (43)
“pro- „environmentalistický“
environment” (15)
„proenvironmentální“ (33)
“non-environmentalist” (15)
„neenvironmentalista“ (33)
On the other hand, I have much Na druhé straně mám
experience, interest, and ongoing in-
nebo
mnoho
zkušeností s velkými firmami a jinými
volvement with big businesses and institucemi naší společnosti, které
106
other forces in our society that exploit
environmental
resources
and
often viewed as anti-
využívají
přírodní
zdroje
a
jsou
are považovány za
antienvironmentalistické. (34)
environmentalist. (16)
Despite this fairly automatic translation of terms deriving from
“environment”, there still remain more traditional solutions, especially those
containing the phrase „životní prostředí“. However, these are clearly used
mainly for stylistic reasons to avoid repetition of the root “environment”, as the
first two examples clearly show:
My view is that, if environmentalists Podle
mého
aren't willing to engage with big problémy
názoru
týkající
se
se
světové
životního
businesses, which are among the prostředí nepodaří vyřešit, pokud
most powerful forces in the modern nebudou environmentalisté ochotni
world, it won't be possible to solve the spolupracovat
world's
environmental
problems. které
patří
s velkými
firmami,
k nejmocnějším
silám
(17)
dnešního světa. (35)
Chapter 15 considers the role of V 15. kapitole se zamýšlím nad
modern businesses, some of which úlohou
moderních
firem,
z nichž
are among the most environmentally některé dnes patří k environmentálně
destructive forces today, while others nejničivějším
silám,
zatímco
jiné
provide some of the most effective zajištují ta nejúčinnější opatření na
environmental protection. (23)
ochranu životního prostředí. (43)
Thus, seemingly pristine Montana Na první pohled nedotčené životní
actually suffers from serious environ- prostředí
mental
problems
involving
Montany
tedy
ve
toxic skutečnosti trpí vážnými problémy,
107
wastes, forests, soils, water, climate které zahrnují toxické odpady, lesy,
change,
biodiversity
losses,
introduced pests. (56)
and půdu, vodu, změny klimatu, ztrátu
biodiverzity a dovezené škůdce. (84)
In the last example, the expression „životní prostředí“ is used so that it is
possible to imply it when translating “serious environmental problems” only as
„vážné problémy“.
It could be argued that the derivatives of the word „environmentální“ fall
into the category of lexical interference and it would be a valid argument,
given the existence of other equivalent expressions (as shown by earlier
examples from Naess and Snyder). In other situations, the translator seems to
prefer lexical interference when other solutions would probably result in
normalization or exaggerated explicitation. In the following examples,
interference can be considered the best solution to transmit the ST culture to
the reader:
“Montana’s Banana Belt” (34)
„banánový pás Montany“ (55)
Clearcut Controversy (42)
„spor o holoseč“ (66)
Montanans themselves hold diverse Samotní Montaňané však mají na to,
and often self-contradictory views jak spravovat lesy a čelit požárům,
about forest management and forest různé a často protichůdné názoty. Na
fires.On the one hand, the public jedné straně cítí veřejnost strach a
fears and instinctively dislikes the "let instinktivní odpor k reakci „nechme je
it burn" response (...) (46)
shořet“ (...) (71)
Nevertheless, interference is not always a carefully examined solution
108
and the following example shows that lexical interference is still mostly
unacceptable in the TT:
(...) they consider the pendulum to (...) myslí [si], že v případě těžby
have swung too far in the direction dřeva se kyvadlo zhouplo příliš
away from logging (42)
daleko (66)
Finally, I would like to dedicate a few comments to terminology. In spite
of the multidisciplinarity of the book and a remarkable number of technical
terms, the translation of these is rather unproblematic as the translator
adheres to either literal or recognised translation of the terms, providing the
original term when necessary:
The federal government owns over Federální vládě patří víc než čtvrtina
one-quarter of the land in the state půdy ve státě a tři čtvrtiny půdy
and three-quarters of the land in the v okrese,
většinou
pod
hlavičkou
county, mostly under the title of Národních lesů. (51)
national forest. (32)
Big Hole Basin (29)
pánev Big Hole (49)
Powder River (49)
Prašn[á] řek[a] (75)
- while in the first example of
geographical term only the generic
term
(basin)
is
translated,
literal
translation was chosen for the second
case.
Although
this
translation
occasionally appears on the Internet,
109
it is hardly a recognized translation
and therefore would need the SL term
cyanide heap-leaching (40)
in brackets.
kyanidové loužení
fuel loads (42)
(63)
palivové zátěže (66)
v hromadách
- given the non-existence of this
concept
in
translation
sustainable forestry (43)
soil erosion (47)
salinization (47)
saline seep (48)
World Wildlife Fund (16)
Czech,
should
the
literal
be
also
accompanied by further explanation
udržitelné lesnictví (67)
eroze půdy (73)
zasolování (73)
solný průsak (74)
Světov[ý] fon[d] na ochranu
přírody (World Wildlife Fund) (33)
- recognised translation including the
SL term in brackets
chronic wasting disease (CWD) nemoc
(54)
chronického
chřadnutí
(CWD) (82)
-
recognised
translation
and
appropriate transference of the SL
acronym
To conclude, I would like to point out an overt error of not translating an
entire paragraph of the ST. The paragraph in question is the following:
Montana’s main form of salinization is one that has ruined
several million acres of cropland in the northern Great Plains as
110
a whole, including several hundred thousand acres in northern,
eastern, and central Monatana. The form is called “saline seep,”
because salty water building up in the ground in an uphill area
percolates through the soil to emerge as a seep in a downhill
area up to half a mile or farther distant. Saline seeps frequently
become bad for neighborly friendship when the agricultural
practices of one farmer uphill cause a saline seep on a downhill
neighbor’s property. (48)
The omission is not harmful in the TT, the previous and the following
paragraphs are sufficiently linked yet it is evident that a portion of information
will be missing in the TT. As improbable as it may seem (given the overall
quality of the translation), this non-translation must be caused by the
translator’s negligence rather than by e.g. the lack of knowledge to translate
the passage or by willing suppression of the paragraph (e.g. because the
translator considered it irrelevant for the target reader).
111
5. Conclusion
The aim of this thesis was to shed light on translation of environmental
literature from English to Czech through an analysis of six translations of
environmental non-fiction. The works of Aldo Leopold (translated by Anna
Pilátová), Rachel Carson (Igor Míchal), John Seed (Jiří Holuša), Arne Naess
(Jiří Hrubý), Gary Snyder (Luboš Snížek and Matěj Turek) and Jared
Diamond (Zdeněk Urban) were examined together with their Czech
translations in order to prove whether the topic of environment and ecology
can have any effect on the translation strategies and features.
While certain features were present to a greater or lesser degree in all
the translations, each of the translators also adopted particular translation
strategies that distinguished them from the others. Regarding the universal
tendencies, there was a general propensity to explicitate, particularly cultural
concepts and words, therefore the translations are clear, readable and
relatively easily accessible to the reader. However, lack of cultural
explicitation, albeit marginal, was also detected in several cases, and it could
be explained either by the translator’s negligence or by their assumption that
the reader is familiar with the concept (less likely situation). Other types of
explicitation were recorded as well, though the main focus lies on the cultural
type, since it is believed that as environmental non-fiction is typically closely
linked to its source culture (and related nature), it is a valid strategy to explain
and transmit the ST cultural concepts as comprehensibly as possible.
The purpose of acceptability seems to rule another set of translators‘
choices, concretely simplification and normalization. Although these two
112
characteristics of translation are often viewed negatively, as responsible for
flattening or standardizing the source text, there are also situations when such
procedure can prevent unwanted interference and keep the target text smooth
and natural. Interference, on the other hand, was often the cause of strange
constructions in the TL that might have impeded correct understanding, yet I
have also appreciated interference that transmits the source-text culture or
that solves a terminological issue.
Terminological issues occupy an important position in my analysis, since
technical terms from the field of ecology were present in all the works
analysed. Literal translation was generally considered as a valid strategy in
the translation of terms, but problems were identified in a number of cases
and all the translations present at least some examples of inappropriate literal
translation of terms. On the other hand, most translators showed their
familiarity with recognised translation of certain terms as well as standardized
terminology. However, difficulties were encountered when terminology from
less familiar fields (e.g. economy) appeared in the STs.
With regard to the particularities of each translation, I would like to
mention Anna Pilátová’s compensating technique used in translation of A
Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. In order to transmit the relatively
archaic language Leopold used in the 1940s when he wrote the book, she
promptly adopts an archaising style, which consists mainly of present and
past participles and of archaic lexis and is not limited only to parallel
compensation of ST items, but seems to be part of the translator’s style.
Jiří Hrubý, on the other hand, attempts at producing a rather free
translation of Ecology, community and lifestyle by Arne Naess, maintaining
113
the sense of the original but avoiding to fall into interference traps. The result
is a fluid and readable target text, although some of his interventions (possibly
also the publisher’s) bring about certain informational loss, which can be
regretted by academic audience, while general public may actually appreciate
the simple structure and smooth text not interrupted by citations and
footnotes.
Foreignizing strategies characterise, to a certain degree, the translation
of A Place in Space by Garry Snyder. Both the translators, Luboš Snížek and
Matěj Turek, aim at transmitting the cultures that are represented in the text
(not only American, but also Asian or Hispanic) to the reader. The technique
employed the most is transference of cultural words with no or only necessary
adaptation to the TL system (e.g. cases). Yet the understanding is not entirely
compromised through the use of cultural explicitation, often effectively
intervowen with foreignization.
The hypothesis that the sole topic can have a decisive effect on
translation decisions is therefore only partially proven. Clearly, in the case of
environmental literature, one can assume the impact the topic has on
terminology and related issues, and it can be also assumed that there is a
general tendency to explicitate, especially with respect to cultural concepts,
yet there are great differences in other aspects. For example, while the choice
of translation an environmentally-oriented book can be seen as a strategy of
foreignization (the genre being still marginal in the Czech literary creation), it
has to be added that foreignization strategies may or may not be adopted in
the process of translation by individual translators. Although generalization
can be made for a number of features, there is a greater number of those that
114
seem to depend on the translator and their style, rather than on the fact that
the work in question deals with ecology.
Finally, I would like to say that the present analysis had also the goal of
introducing the field of environmental literature in the translation studies
discource as I believe it can offer new insights on established theoretical
frameworks. The relation between Czech translation and English-written
literature is particularly interesting, as it is the latter that dominates the field
and therefore influences not only translation, but its dominance can have
further impact on autochtonous environmental literature as Czech authors
adopt terms, structures and expressions from English for the simple reason
that they do not yet exist in Czech. Building and analysing a comparable
corpus of English originals, Czech translations and non-translated Czech
originals from this field could prove this hypothesis. Finally, as my research
was limited to translation of literary non-fiction, research on translation of
other genres of environmental literature (e.g. environmental poetry, fiction,
drama or children environmental literature) can bring more insight into the
problematics.
115
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7. Summary
This thesis deals with translation of environmental literature from English to
Czech. More concretely, it presents a translation analysis of six works of
121
environmental literature and their translation into Czech. The works in
question are: Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac, Rachel Carson’s Silent
Spring, John Seed’s Thinking like a Mountain, Arne Naess’s Ecology,
community and lifestyle, Gary Snyder’s A Place in Space and Jared
Diamond’s Collapse.
The aim of the thesis is to examine the translations in order to find
evidence whether environmental literature can itself have influence on
translation strategies used and whether it involves specific features of
translation. Taking into consideration main theoretical issues of translation
studies, the analysis detected several phenomena that can be judged
universal in this type of translation, that is cultural explicitation (and, to lesser
extent, other types of explicitation), simplification, normalization, interference
(especially lexical) and literal translation (particularly in the process of
translating terminology). However, there were also strategies employed only
in some of the translations, namely compensation, tendency to “freer”
translation and more pronounced foreignizing strategies, which can be
ascribed to particular translator's style or even to publisher's decision rather
than to the genre.
It is then concluded that translation of English-written environmental
literature into Czech presents specific and topic-bound issues, particularly the
treatment of technical terminology and of the cultural aspects of this type of
literature.
8. Resumé
Tato diplomová práce pojednává o překladu děl environmentální
literatury z angličtiny do češtiny. Přesněji řečeno, přináší tato práce analýzu
122
překladu šest děl environmentální literatury a překladů těchto děl do češtiny.
Konkrétně se jedná o následující díla: Obrázky z chatrče a rozmanité
poznámky Alda Leopolda, Mlčící jaro Rachel Carsonové, Myslet jako hora
Johna Seeda,
Ekologie, pospolitost a životní styl Arna Naesse, Místo v
prostoru Garyho Snydera a Kolaps Jareda Diamonda.
Cílem této práce je získat analýzou překladů důkazy o tom, zda
environmentální literatura má sama o sobě vliv na výběr překladových
strategií a zda je specifická určitými jevy. S ohledem na hlavní teoretické
otázky translatologie vyplynulo z analýzy několik jevů, jež lze označit za
univerzální v tomto druhu překladu, a těmi jsou kulturní explicitace (a v menší
míře též další druhy explicitace), simplifikace, normalizace, interference
(především lexikální) a doslovný překlad (uplatněný převážně při překladu
terminologie). Je však třeba zmínit, že byly analyzovány i strategie použité jen
v některých překladech, konkrétně kompenzace, sklon k volnějšímu překladu
a výraznější foreignizace, které lze přičíst stylu jednotlivých překladatelů či
rozhodnutí nakladatele spíše než specifikům daného žánru.
V závěru se tedy přikláním k tvrzení, že se český překlad anglicky psané
environmentální literatury vyznačuje určitými specifiky a potenciálními
problémy týkající se tématiky této literatury, které zahrnují především postup
při překladu odborné terminologie a kulturních aspektů tohoto typu literatury.
123

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