Concept of
Fidelity in
Translation
Fidelity in Translation
Guralnik (1979), in Webster's English
Dictionary, writes that "faithfulness/fidelity"
means "the quality of being accurate,
reliable, and exact.
Fidelity defines exactly how precisely a
translated document conforms with its
source.
How and to what extent can be a
translator be faithful to the source
language?
Guangqia (2006)
argues:
➜ Fidelity should include the
faithful transition of the
expressiveness and elegance of
the original
Fidelity in Translation
Amparo Hurtado-Albir (1990:118) defines
fidelity in relation to three things, which are:
1. What the author means to say
2. The target language, and;
3. The reader.
Translation Guideline-Faithful
1) The translator's interpretation should be identical with the
sender's intention (interpretation)
2) The translator should verbalize the sender's intention in
such a way that the target text is able to achieve the same
function in the target culture as that which the source text
achieved in the source culture (text function)
3) The target receiver should understand the text world of
the translation in the same way as the source receivers
understood the text world of the original (cultural
distance)
4) The effect the translation has on its readers should be the
same as the one the source text has or had on its
readers(text effect)
Translation Guideline-Faithful
Goals of Translation
Clear
Accurate
Natural
Understanding
the Concepts of
“Fidelity” and
Transparency” in
Translation
Fidelity and Transparency
Fidelity Transparency
Staying very close in Translation comes across
meaning to the source as very clear to your
language readers in the
destination language. It
is more idiomatic and
understandable
What’s more important?
Transparency Fidelity
Many people believe that There are also people
transparency is more who believe that fidelity
important. This is, perhaps, is more important; you
the type of view that a shouldn’t destroy the
layperson might have because meaning of the original
they want to read something just because you are
which they can understand translating a text.
easily, something which makes
sense to them.
Some Texts Require Fidelity and Transparency
Fidelity Transparency
If you’re translating a If you’re translating a
scientific manuscript, novel, you might opt for
then the meaning of the transparency because the
text is much more way that the text sounds
important than whether to the reader and whether
the text sounds it comes across as
idiomatic or not. idiomatic is more
important in this type of
writing.
11
How can you tell if a
translation using a
word-by-word
approach versus a
sense-by-sense
translation approach?
Thank you for
listening