Preview

Colloquialism And Lagos

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
698 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Colloquialism And Lagos
The following excerpts illustrate what were the translational choices of each translator and how they convey these cultural characteristics and the local elements of the original novel to the target language. In the exemples above, the translations of some dialogs between Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn are compared. These dialogs carry marks of regional language from central-west from the United States of that time. William Lagos pass the regional language using a dialect similar to some dialects spoken in small Brazilian towns, while Monteiro Lobato converted to a standart variety of Portuguese. In this case, the colloquialism tone of the language is lost, as well as the characteristics of the characters.
The following char is an example …show more content…
This harmony was kept by William Lagos using rhyme, maintaining the poetic rhythm of the magic spell. Doodle-bug, as well formiga-leão, is na insect which digs roles in the sand in order to imobilize the pray which falls into it. Thus the choice by translating doodle-bug to formiga-leão maintains the harmony between scene and lexicon, whereas Tom buried his marble in the sand and could not find it anymore. Through the same chart, is possible to observe that William Lagos uses footnotes to explain singular elements from the source language, for instance, plays, idioms, allusions, among others. The result is that he can convey not only the meaning of these elements, but also the cultural information of the source language. In the example mentioned above, Lagos added the footnote “12. No original, “Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know”, literalmente, “Formiga-leão, diga-me o que eu quero saber”. (N.T.)” (p. 78). The following excerpts shows more examples in which the translator opted by using footnotes for the same …show more content…
Moreover, the footnotes bring the voice of the translator to the novel, it is the place where the background of the professional is demonstrated in an explicit way. In the case of the translation made by Monteiro Lobato, there is a lost in a cultural information of the source language, mostly in the examples 2 and 3, in which is not possible to understand the meaning of the expressions used by the author. In the example 1, is possible to presuppose the allusion to Robbin Hood because the characters are mentioned sometimes again over the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Close Reading: Most Dangerous Game
    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Close Reading: Most Dangerous Game

    Thesis: The author uses imagery, diction and foreshadowing on the characters’ dialogues and narration to evoke a sense of curiosity accompanied with the fear of discovering the truth. All of that is then inserted into the readers’ minds to describe the setting and also the characters’ personalities.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Mcwhorter's Come and Gone
    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    John Mcwhorter's Come and Gone

    From the very first sentence, to his thesis, and to the concluding sentence, McWhorter keeps the reader asking for more. With his examples, analogies, and paraphrasing, he does a wonderful job appealing to the reader’s intellect. One example that was appealing was the example of his friend reading Hamlet in French and understanding it better than he had in English. This piece of evidence alone automatically reaches out to the reader. It plants the idea in the subconscious of the reader, that perhaps the translation into modern English would be beneficial to them. Another example that strengthens his thesis is the analogy he presents about the Jamaican speaking in a foreign language, and the translations of Chaucer. He practically says that Shakespeare’s language to us is the same as a foreign language; we simply cannot understand it without a translator by our side.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain
    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain

    In addition, the main theme of Twain in this book is the irony that focuses and is represented in two children enough that their currency exchange escapes detection; something essential for this book is the consideration of slavery, and allied to the criticism that this is the problem of determinism, the inheritance and the training are to some extent by the greater part of the characters, but on all of Roxana, Tom, cameras and Percy Driscoll; the problems of society, the provincialism and the cruelty of the small town also…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Summary: Dona Perfecta by Benito Perez Galdos
    • 1857 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Summary: Dona Perfecta by Benito Perez Galdos

    As the novel begins, the opening chapters spend some time describing the major characters in impressive detail. This narrative device could spell the doom of the novel almost immediately. The usual technique of writing a novel is to create fluency in order to allow the reader to remain interested in the plot. Therefore, nothing disrupts flow more than excessive description, particularly at the beginning of a novel. Yet Galdos masterfully provides the reader with a sense of tangential exposition. Consider the stunning paragraph describing Rosario as an example of Galdo’s skillful writing. Galdos tells,…

    • 1857 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Compare And Contrast Book And Movie
    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird Compare And Contrast Book And Movie

    a) What are the characteristics of the English spoken both in the novel and the film? Both in the novel and the film we can notice that the main varieties of English are Standard American English, and British Standard English. Of course, these varieties relate to the nationality of each character, for instance, Mister John Farraday who is from the United States of America speaks the first variaty, whereas Mr. Stevens, an English Butler, speaks the second variaty.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Translatign Culture
    • 2376 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Translatign Culture

    Bassnett, S., Lafevere, A., ‘When is a Translation not a Translation?’ in Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation (Multilingual Matters, 1998).…

    • 2376 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Harness
    • 696 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Harness

    Characters are what draw the reader into a work of fiction. Analyzing another person’s thoughts and feelings is fascinating, so it is crucial that an author depicts a complex character that will occupy the reader’s minds. Many characters surprise us through the course of a story, developing in unexpected ways. An author can use various literary devices to reveal their characters gradually. Hernando Téllez wrote a short story called ‘Just Lather, That’s All’ that contains two contrasting characters. ‘The Harness’, which was written by Ernest Buckler, also includes very strong individuals. They are both portrayed in detail and they leave no doubt in the reader’s mind of the nature of these characters. The method of these depictions varies considerably while accomplishing the same goal.…

    • 696 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Is Lazarillo de Tormes a Subversive Text? Essay Example
    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Is Lazarillo de Tormes a Subversive Text? Essay Example

    In this essay I am going to discuss whether or not we can consider Lazarillo de Tormes as a subversive text and the reasons behind why or why not we may believe it to be so. To accomplish this, I will explore the background behind Lazarillo, the different methods and literary devices used to convey dual meaning and give the text an undertone of subversion.…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis
    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

    Considering that the story gives readers little details about the characters, any detail presented, trivial or significant, serves as clues to the characters. As our story takes place in Spain, outside of a building near a conjunction, a lot can be inferred about the plot through the character’s discourse.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Techniques
    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Techniques

    A text which has been taken from one context and translated The process of translation allows new insights into the original text and emphasises contextual differences between the two.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
    • 4812 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

    This study will focus on an excerpt of the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which includes examples of translation issues that occur throughout all of the books, making them complex and challenging texts. Among them, there is humour, wordplays, neologisms, puns, double meanings, alliteration, slang and colloquialisms to name a few. Moreover, these are texts usually labelled as children’s literature, which not only pose the same problems as in adults’ literature – fluency, accuracy, register and style – but also have special needs related to the readers’ age level. Therefore, what is suitable for a ten-year-old will be beyond the understanding of a seven-year old, but at the same time pre-teenagers may want to read something more mature (Landers, 2001:…

    • 4812 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Nostalgia by Carol Ann Duffy
    • 1054 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nostalgia by Carol Ann Duffy

    The author uses examples of repetition and other language techniques to give the most possible amount of impact on describing the feelings and thoughts of the mercenaries from Switzerland. When they decided to leave and began their journey, the repeated use of 'leaving' (1,2) indicates the hard choice of leaving, this idea is emphasised by contrasting the description of home as high, fine air (1,2) with the process of leaving described as 'down, down' (1,3). The double use of 'down' also expresses the feeling of the mercenaries leaving their further and further. The harsh constanent sound in 'crude coins clenched' (1,4) emphasise that coins were not worth the sacrifice made by not living in the homeland. The caesura (1,3) was drawing a boundary line between home and new land, it seemed to express that once you pass this mark there is no going back.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Does Language Affect The Choice Of Language In Do Angels Wear Brassiere?
    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Does Language Affect The Choice Of Language In Do Angels Wear Brassiere?

    They are many factors which may affect a writer's choice of language in a narrative piece, these include: context, tone and register. In Oliver Senior’s “Do Angels Wear Brassieres?” the choice of language was creole in the basilect and mesolect variation. In this narrative, language choices were made based on the context and audience.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Role Of Tone In Literature
    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Role Of Tone In Literature

    In this case with Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, the reader’s perception of Emma changes when reading the different translations. Mildred Marmur’s emotional tone allows the audience to sympathize with Emma’s emotions and anticipate following events through the use of loaded language and her syntax style. Likewise, both F. Steegmuller and P. deMan’s use diction and syntax for emphatic effect when translating Madame Bovary. Long sentences are used for adding ideas and are either broken up with commas, or not, to shift focus. In the end, each passage is both similar and different in meaning but it all comes down to the choice of…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Critques in Don Quixote
    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Critques in Don Quixote

    Critic Martin Amis claims, "While clearly an impregnable masterpiece, Don Quixote suffers from one fairly serious flaw – that of outright unreadability" (Williams 1). Numerous attempts at translation can be found all over the internet and even published and found in book stores. The most common translation, that has been give the most praise, is that of Edith Grossman. She was able to translate the novel into one of the most fluent translations seen today. After reading Edith Grossman's translation, it seems like the basic storyline of the novel is pretty straight-forward. A man and his friend endure many adventures together in order to achieve a greater sense of self. If not for Edith, that summary would most likely have never been noticed or formed so easily. In an article written by Bob Williams, he claims her writing can be seen "carrying the meanings forward effortlessly with definite advantage" (Williams 1). This is a common point of view that has been stated by several critics in countless different ways. To this day, compliments toward Edith are continuously being stated and will continue to be said every time the book is picked up and read by someone new.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics