The types of modulation as a technique of prose and poetry translation

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The types of modulation as a technique of prose and poetry translation

Oleksandr Yemets

Khmelnytskyi National University

The paper considers the types and reasons of using such technique of translation as modulation. Modulation is defined as a variation through a change of viewpoint in the target text. This technique is investigated on the basis of the Ukrainian translations of the classical prose and poetry of the 19-20th centuries. Two major types of modulation are singled out: the substitution of cause by effect and the change of the point of view. In the translation of prose texts by D. Thomas and A. Lawrence both types are used, thus revealing the creative approach and the ability to imagine the described situation. The use of modulation is determined by the described situation and the use of extended metaphors. Literal translation is not relevant in this case, as it does not reveal the emotional state of the main character. In such case the subject of the source-text sentence becomes the object in the target-text utterance. A somewhat different approach can be applied in discussing poetry translation. The analysis of translations of E. Poe's and R. Kipling's poems by such outstanding people as D. Palamarchuk and M. Strikha shows that both varieties of modulation are used to retain the rhyme and reduce the number of words in the lines. In the analyzed poems the technique of modulation is applied in rendering extended metaphors as well as antithesis to increase the emotional effect. Modulation is one of the features of Maxim StrikhaS style of poetry translation. By means of this technique, the translator foregrounds the main idea of the sentence (stanza)- the idea of strong love (E. Poe), of nobleness and decency (R. Kipling).

Key words: modulation, translation technique, poetry translation, change of viewpoint, cause-effect device, antithesis, extended metaphor.

ЄМЕЦЬ О.В.

Хмельницький національний університет

ТИПИ МОДУЛЯЦІЇ ЯК ПРИЙОМУ ПЕРЕКЛАДУ ПРОЗИ І ПОЕЗІЇ

У статті розглядають типи модуляції у перекладі коротких оповідань та поетичних текстів. Наводяться переклади відомих українських митців та власні переклади та аналізуються причини використання цього прийому. У поезії, модуляція зумовлена вимогами рими і довжини рядка, емоційністю, у прозовому тексті відображає креативність перекладача.

Formulation of the problem

modulation translation rhythm poetry prose

The important feature of a literary text is its aesthetic function. The pragmatic effect and the peculiarities of individual style of a poet or a prose writer play no less significant role. That is a why the translators of literary texts face a double challenge: to render the stylistic features of the source text as carefully as possible and the adapt the source text of fiction to the target language.

From this point of view, such translation technique as modulation can be considered as one of the comprehensive devices which can meet the demands of adequate and even congenial translation. Modulation has been defined by J. P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet [9] and later by P. Newmark as “a variation through a change of viewpoint, of perspective and very often of a category of thought” [ 8, p. 88]. The technique of modulation and its types were also described by such scientists as N. K. Garbovsky [1], K. Bednarova-Gibova [1] and , in a more detailed way, by the Ukrainian scholar G. O. Garbuzova [2]. In these works mostly modulation in prose translation was investigated. G. O. Garbuzova studied the use of lexical modulation in the novels by such writers as E. Hemmingway, D. Lawrence and others [2, p. 6-12]. However, the technique of modulation in poetry translation has not been considered in these papers.

Therefore, the novelty of this paper lies in the analysis of the types and reasons of modulation in poetiy translation. Also, special attention is paid to stylistic aspects of modulation in translating prose. The investigation involves the translations of the poems by R. Kipling and E. Poe done by Maksym Strikha, Dmytro Palamarchuk and some poems by S. Teasdale translated by our Master student Yuliya Vintonyak. The fragments from stories by

D. Thomas and A. Lawrence have been translated by the author of this article.

Recent researches analysis

Three major types of modulation are singled out: grammatical, phonetic and lexical. An example of grammatical modulation is the translation of conditional sentences with Future Simple in the main clause and Present Simple in the subordinate, as in a proverb: If the sky falls we shall catch larks. The subordinate clause is translated into Ukrainian with the replacement of Present Simple by Future Simple.

Phonetic modulation, according to N. K. Garbovsky, can consist in the translation of proper names which do not coincide in sound form in two languages - Stern as an English and German surname is pronounced with di^ersnt initial consonants [4, p. 469-470]. Therefore the translator should use modulation and adapt the surname to the target language. An interesting example of such diffensnce which is difficult to reproduce in translation can be seen in the limerick:

There's a notable family named Stein:

There's Gertrude, there's Ep, there's Ein.

Gert's prose is the bunk;

Ep's sculpture is junk;

And no one can understand Ein! [6, p. 202].

The surnames of the artists are used for pun, because they are pronounced differently and rendered in translation as Епштейн, Ейнштейн (traditional sound form) - but: Стайн, the famous American writer. Therefore, it is possible to translate in such way, partially rendering the play of words:

Є відома сімейка Стайн-Штейн,

Є Гертруда, є Еп і є Ейн.

Проза Герти;

Твори Епа - труха,

І ніхто не розуміє Ейна.

Analyzing different approaches to lexical modulation, Klaudia Bednarova-Gibova stresses that J.P.Vinay and J.Darbelnet single out obligatory and free modulation [9, p.37]. Obligatory modulation is caused by different structures in two languages, while free modulation is determined by the countext and the necessity o f naturalness of expression [7, p.54-55]. Peter Newmark points out to the use of positive expression for double negation, or double negative for positive expression (not unfamiliar - familiar) [8, p.88-89].

K. Bednarova-Gibova regards modulation as “semantic-pragmatic translation procedure resting on the change of point of view that enables us to convey the same phenomenon in two languages in a different way” [7, p.55].

Results and discussion

The most typical varieties of lexical modulation are: cause - effect, change of point of view (subject-object of the action) [7, p.54]. In literaiy prose, writers can transfer the feelings and emotions of their characters onto the objects of the material world. The main character of the story “The Dress” by Dylan Tho mas is running for a long time, trying to escape from his followers: The world was a ball unde^ his feel:; it kicked as he ran; it dropped; up came the trees[10, p.50 ]. The writer describes the physical state of the person, how he imagines the place where is running. In the target text the change of the point ofview should be made by depicting the man's movement, not the movement of the world: Земля булам 'ячем під його ногами; він біг то вгорну, то вниз; поті.м падав; перед очима з\яв.л^.лись дерева.

In the story “Wedding Night” of the contemporary British writer Tom Hawkins the emotions of the main character are depicted: In the middle of the night I woke up on fi^e; the room was turning [10, p. 67]. In this case we can observe a more typical, metonymic description of the place instead of the man's emotional and physical state (the room - the man's head). The change of the point of view as a technique of modulation can result in the following translation of the fragment: Посеред ночі я прокинувся весь у гарячці; голова йшла оберто.м(our translation). The traditional phraseological unit adequately recreates the emotional situation. Logically, the subject of the action is the man, not the room.

We can't help agreeing with G. Garbuzova that such technique is an example of free modulation resulting from the creative approach to translation [2, p.7-8]. Free modulation is particularly relevant in translating poetical prose, rendering original author's images. Another story by Dylan Thomas “The Enemies” contains the metaphoric description of nature as a human being. Moreover, the objects of nature are depicted as spiritual, even divine creatures: The wind blew back the heads of the nearby glasses and made an oracle of each green mouth [10, p.64]. In the sentence we can observe the combination of the anthropomorphic metaphor (oracle) with a metonymic epithet (green mouth). Thanks to this interaction of original tropes, the fragment acquires the iconic character a peculiar visible image. While rendering the sentence, we consider it essential to change the point of view, to make the grasses the subject of the sentence in the target text: Під поривами вітру голівки травинок схилялись додолу і ставали схожими на жреців, що шепотіли якісь пророцтва.Also, in translation we used sense development (oracle - priest) as well as addition (шепотіли пророцтва), in order to reveal the sense of the metonymic epithet.

In poetry translation the major reasons of applying modulation are the necessity of retaining the rhyme and, no less significant, the reduction of words in a long line. Let us consider an example of using the “cause -e^ect” variety of modulation in rendering the lines from the poem “The Night” by William Blake:

The birds are silent in their nests,

And I must seek for mine [4, p. 186].

Our Master students Yuliya Pogynayko substituted the word silent by the verb сплять:

Вже сплять в гніздах птахи,

Мені знайти гніздечко час.

It is quite logical to assume that if the birds sleep, the result is that they are silent.

The outstanding Ukrainian translators of poetiy Dmytro Palamarchuk and Maxym Strikha use this technique rather sparingly. If we consider the well-known poem “If^' by R. Kipling with its long lines, we can see that Dmytro Palamarchuk rendered the first stanza, in particular the first two lines with reduction of some words, but he rendered the stylistic device of antithesis and the pragmatic effect:

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you […].-Коли не губишся в збентеженій юрбі,

Яка винить тебе у власному одчаї […][6, p.84-85].

The sentence - all about you are losing theirs - implies the logical effect: the crowd is bewilderd. However, in the beginning of the second stanza D. Palamarchuk applies another variety of modulation, i.e. the change of point of view:

If you can dream and not make dreams your master […]

Як вмієш мріяти, не ставши мрії бранцем [6, p. 84-85].

In the target text, the logical assumption is that dreams are (not) your master. The reverse idea expressed in the translation implies that you are (not) the slave ofyour dreams. That is why the antonymic utterance in the sentence of the source text is rendered with the help of modulation, i.e. the change of the point of view - the logical subject (dreams) becomes the object of the action. Besides, Palamarchuk used antithesis which creates cohesion with the source text.

Maxym Strikha did not render the antithesis and avoided using modulation, he only reduced the sentence: Якщо ти мріям не віддавсь на ласку. At the same, translatingthe fourth stanza, M. Strikh& made use of the “cause -effect” technique:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue […]

Як ти шляхетний між простого люду. [6, с.84-91].

Here the logical effect means: if you are noble and not haughty, you can talk with ordinary people without pride. We can also interpret the use of the word combination простого лю&у(ordinary people) with the aim of reducing the quanity of words in the line and rhyming the word людуwith the word облудиin the third line:

Якщо на тебе не зведуть облуди [6, p. 90-91].

One of the most famous E. Poe's poems “Annabel Lee” was translated by Maxym Strikh a with maximum adequacy and exactness. The use of modulation in the first stanza is quite logical:

And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.-Та панна любила мене, а я Всім серцем любив ті [3, p. 107-109].

In these lines we can observe grammatical modulation be loved b^y me - Я любив(I loved), and lexical modulation realized in the change ofviewpoint (the subject becomes the object) in the target text (she - I). it is possible to suggest that Maxym Stryha also wanted to reduce the length of the line as compared with the source text: The more so, Poe makes use of stylistic tautology (this maiden - she), which can be omitted in translation.

While rendering phonetic and syntactic stylistic devices in the fragment of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Coleridge, M. Strikha applied the technique:

We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.-Ще жоден раз ніхто до нас Не бачив тих морів. [5, p. 79-80].

The translator implies that ever burst is the effect of didn't see (не бачив). The emotional effect of the device is increased by the use of antonymic translation.

The translation device of modulation is applied by not only experienced and renowned translators of poetry, but also by young translators. Recently, a collection of poems by a well-known American poetess Sarah Teasdale (1884-1933) has been translated by our Master student Yuliya Vintonyak. 10 poems have been translated into Ukrainian for the first time. One of the best poems by Sarah Teasdale is “The Rose and the Bee”. It is a dialog between two lovers, a man and a woman who compare themselves a bee and a rose:

“If I were a bee and you were a rose,

Would you let me in when the gray wind blows?

Would you hold your petals wide apart,

Would you let me in to find your heart?

If you were a rose?” [10, p. 36].

Rendering the stanza and, in particular, the fourth line, the translator used the technique of sense development, or the “cause - effect” device (find your heart - touch):

“Чи до серця свого дав торкнутись мені,

Якби був трояндою ти?”

In the second stanza of the poem the man's answer continues the extended metaphor meaning that they would stay together:

“If I were a rose and you were a bee,

I would never go when you came to me” […].

Yuliya Vintonyak repeated the same device of modulation, combining both the “cause - effect” technique and the change of the point of view:

“Якби я був трояндою, а бджілкою ти,

То зі мною зостатись мала б ти назавжди”.

The translator understood the style of the poetess, her associations,her unusual connections of different actions. Therefore, the use of modulation, though not frequent, helps to reveal Teasdale's emotions. In another poem “I am alone”Ј¬rather typical for Teasdale's art with its sadness and contradictions, the poetess uses oxymoronic sentences:

I am alone, in spite of love,

In spite of all I take and give - In spite of all your tenderness,

Sometimes I am not glad to live [10, p. 35].

Translating the stanza, Yuliya Vintonyak applied the device of “cause - effect”Ј¬interpreting neutral verbs take and give as implied emotions:

Самотня я попри любов Потри усе, що можу відчувати

The translations of Teasdale's poems have not been published, they wil l be published later in Poltava.

Conclusions

In conclusion it can be stated that in prose translation the main reasons of using the translation technique of modulation are the desire to imagine the situation and to use the creativity in the target text. At the same time, in translating poetry modulation is applied to reduce the length of the line and to retain the rhyme by choosing a shorter line. In some cases, as the analyzed fragments show, modulation is relevant and even essential in rendering extended metaphors and antithesis. The most frequent technique in prose translation is change of the viewpoint, while in poetiy it is the cause-effect technique.

The prospects of further research lie in the investigation of modulation in the contemporary poetry translation.

References

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