Crossing cultural barriers : a translation and analysis of passages from Toni Morrison's Beloved

Abstract

The dissertation Crossing Cultural Barriers: A Translation and Analysis of passages from Toni Morrison's Beloved will comprise a translation into Maltese of passages from the Post-Modern novel Beloved written by Toni Morrison and published in 1987. The Source Language is African American English, and even more specifically an English used by slave communities in the Reconstruction Era in the southern United States. Both the Source Language and the Target Language have their own particular cultures which differ immensely from each other. Hence, the dissertation will explore what problems arise when translating from African American English into Maltese, and furthermore, what strategies are applied by the translator in order to solve these problems in such a translation. African American English has its own register and rules which pertain to this very particular dialect. Someone translating from this language needs to be very careful as it involves a particular grammar structure which could easily result in a mistranslation when the phrases are misunderstood due to the diverse components which constitute it. These components include the double negative, abbreviations and an incorrect use of verb tenses amongst other aspects. The issues of loss and gain and equivalence are fundamental in this dissertation. Different translation strategies applied to the translation of the passages from Beloved shall be identified and discussed. These strategies will include methods which try to compensate for the losses that might have occurred when transferring the literary text from African American English into Maltese. It will also be discussed whether certain elements in the original work do not have a proper equivalent in the Maltese context, why this is so, and how the translator chooses to solve this kind of translation problem. Two other translated versions of the novel will also be incorporated into the dissertation. One is a French translated version of Beloved by Hortense Chabrier and Sylviane Rue and the other, an Italian translated version by Giuseppe Natale. These two versions will permit a comparative analysis to certain parts of the passages amongst the three translated versions. When conducting a general analysis of the Maltese translated version, putting emphasis on certain significant aspects of the translation and discussing them, reference will be made to the French and Italian versions of the novel and some strategies that the translators of these language versions have applied to their own work. The cultural element of translation will be the main focus in carrying out the analysis, highlighting the different elements which constitute the particular culture of the African-American community which is portrayed in Toni Morrison's Beloved. The texts in French and Italian are included in Appendix 1 and 2 respectively. Marks have been added to indicate where each passage begins and ends. Chapter one of the dissertation includes information about the novel Beloved. This information is essential as it gives the reader some background information about the novel which the dissertation centres itself on. The context of the novel is needed so that the reader can better understand the passages from the novel and what each one of them concerns. Information about the author is also important since the translator's aim is to deliver what Toni Morrison is trying to deliver in her own original writing to her readers, but instead in another language. The translator needs to first understand the message being conveyed in the Source Text and transmit this same message to the target audience. Information about slavery in America is also provided in this chapter. This is due to the fact that slavery plays a very important part in the novel and therefore this part gives the reader of the dissertation a hint of what to expect to find in certain instances of the passages presented. The themes in the novel are also significant because these show what the original author focused on in her writing and what she wants to bring out in her work. The last part included in this chapter is a section on Literary Translation. Since the translation in this dissertation is that of a literary novel, then certain rules need to be kept in mind by the translator when carrying out the translation into Maltese as the task of translating a literary text differs extensively from that of translating a technical text, for instance. A translator of a literary text may be freer in his style of translating as long as he delivers equivalence of meaning in his work. On the other hand a translator of a technical text, a legal text and so on, cannot choose to incorporate his own imagination to the translation. Some perspectives about the subject of Literary Translation by leading translation theorists are included in this section. Chapter two comprises the methodology which is being applied to the translation of the passages from Beloved. A section about Hans J. Vermeer's Skopos Theory is included and it is also being related to the translations of Beloved. A section on translation and culture is included next. This section is brought in as culture plays a crucial role in this particular translation and it has to be highlighted how as mentioned in the beginning, language and culture coincide with each other and therefore the translator should not separate the two. Some theorists who have contributed to the study of culture in Translation are also included in this section. Another part in this chapter is about the issues that a translator meets when dealing with such a novel, and more specifically with the African-American dialect. Certain elements pertaining to this particular language are highlighted in this part. Reasons for choosing the specific passages to be translated are then included in another section. A short discussion about the elements included in each passage which helped in these being chosen for translation is presented. An introduction to the comparative analysis is also included here. As mentioned above, certain parts of the translation in Maltese will be compared to the French and Italian translated versions of the text. This chapter ends with a section in which it is explained why the linguistic element of the translation is not tackled in the dissertation and moreover why the focus of the dissertation is the cultural aspect of the translation. Chapter three includes the translation of nine passages from Beloved into Maltese with a short introduction including some background information about each passage. The Original version in English and the Maltese translated version are being presented with the same amount of text on each side. The text on the left (in English) corresponds to its translated version on the right (in Maltese). The footnotes incorporate the translator's ideas as to what should be mainly focused on as part of this particular translation process. Chapter four is the general analysis of the translation into Maltese, taking into consideration only the most significant terms and sentences, and also including a comparative analysis of certain parts of the text to the French and Italian translated versions. The analysis will include discussions about how certain problematic terms were compensated for in the translation, distinctive cultural elements in the two languages will be highlighted and an explanation about why certain terms needed a foreignisation strategy when translated while others needed a domestication strategy. The focus throughout is on the cultural element of the translation instead of the linguistic transformations which take place. The novel Beloved presents a challenge when translating it into another language, mainly for the inclusion of the cultural element, especially the Afro-American dialect. This dissertation shall identify the problematic aspects of translating such a distinctive novel and will show how the translator chooses to tackle them in order to deliver an equivalent piece of writing to a Maltese readership. The distinctive grammar of the dialect found in the novel is also part of Afro American culture because the way the characters talk in a sub-standard level of language reflects their true identity. The discussion of the transformations taking place between the two languages will not focus on the linguistic transformations but rather the culture-oriented features in the translation. For the reason mentioned above, these include the grammatical aspects which are shown throughout the passages. The emphasis though, shall be put on the deliverance of one culture to another. The main target of the thesis is to bring out the distinctiveness between the two cultures being dealt with, to tackle the issues presented by a text full of cultural references in the course of the translation and to discuss particular strategies applied to various cases in the translation.