On the Translation of English Songs from the Perspective

Abstract

Translation is a communicative activity. The Functionalist Approaches give a definition that translating is a purposeful activity. The main principles of Functionalist Approaches are Skopos Rule and Loyalty principle. This thesis discusses the literal translation and free translation adopted in English songs translation, and tries to find out whether these two translation methods conform to the Functionalist Approaches’ principles: loyalty principle and skopos rule, so that the translation of English songs can be better presented under the Functionalist Approaches.

 

Key words： Functionalist Approaches, translation of English songs, translation methods, Functionalist Approaches’ principles

 

摘要

翻译是一种交际活动。德国功能派翻译理论把翻译定义为一种有目的的行为。本文在德国功能派翻译理论原则的透视下，讨论英文歌曲翻译采用直译和意译的翻译方法是否达到功能派翻译的目的准则和忠诚原则，旨在用理论来指导翻译歌曲的实践活动，以达到较好的翻译效果。

 

关键词： 德国功能派， 英文歌曲翻译， 翻译方法，功能派原则

 

1.Introduction

Life without music is dull. An American poet named Henry W. Longfellow said that music is a universal language of mankind. The musicians from all over the world compose many different kinds of music which make our life more vigorous，relaxing and meaningful. With the world economic developing, China has a close connection with the western countries. English songs as a carrier of musical culture are translated by us and make us learn more about western culture. Besides, many good English songs which bring the fun and inspiration to us are popular in China and they are sung by most people. Yet there are many difficulties in translating English songs, such as culture differences, the style of songs, the qualifications for a translator, and for better translation, the translation of English songs not only needs to convey the inner feeling and sense of the original songs, but also needs to be close to music rhythm. For a long time, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance are the most influential and popular standard of translation. As to the translation of English songs, which principles should we follow?

The translation of English songs is an activity to make communication with western culture. The most meaningful significances of Functionalist Approaches are: functional category of translation criticism, skopostheorie and beyond, the theory of translation action, and function plus loyalty. Hans Vermeer sets up the Skopostheory. The key conception of the Skopostheorie is that the translation method and strategy must depend on the skopos of the source-text. According to this breakthrough of Functionalist Approaches, skopos rule was developed. Later on, Christine Nord develops function plus loyalty. Skopos rule and loyalty principle can observe the methods and strategies we use in translating English songs to see whether they get to the demands for target audience. Literal and free translations are two methods often used in English songs translation. This paper wants to talk about the translation methods used in English songs translation on the theoretical basis of the Functionalist Approaches’ skopos rule and the loyalty principle.#p#分页标题#e#

 

2.Literature Review

It is not easy to translate English songs, especially when we want to express the original meaning of the songs appropriately, and make the target language translation able to sing. For those reasons, those researches into songs translation are scanty. Some talk about the standard and method of English songs translation. Some are on the research of the difficulty and necessity of the translation, and other few authors share their individual opinions in the translation of English songs. There are still some people studying on the English songs translation through the Nida’s equivalence theory. But most of them talk about the clarification, rhetorical devices and methods of English songs translation. Xue Fan, an experienced translator wrote a book－Exploration and Practice of Song Translation, which has made a comprehensive and systematic summary to his long-life experience of song translation including his ploughing and weeding, harvest, exploration and lesson for his garden of translation. He talked about the feasibility, particularity and necessity of English songs. In addition, the metre, rhythm and tone of English songs translation were also mentioned. As for the principle of the translation of English songs, he refers that sometimes the literal translation is adopted, and sometimes free translation is used, and more often “equivalent translation” is used. For “equivalent translation”, the translation purpose of songs aims at substantially keeping the original text’s romantic charm as well as making the target receiver feel the same artistic effect. We still have not form a systematic theory to conduct us to translate English songs. It seems that the study of English songs translation is very necessary in that field. From the perspective of the Functionalist Approach to translation, we want to make it possible for us on this activity to do it better. There are several methods in English songs translation. Literal translation and free translations are frequently used. For these translation methods, there is a problem that is whether they fit for the standard of the translation English songs. Though some translators consider this problem when they translate songs, there is no systemic theory to conduct them. Based on Functionalist Approaches, this paper wants to talk about the translation methods in English songs translation to see whether they get to the two principles of Functionalist Approaches, namely, skopos rule and loyalty principle, so that in later research of English songs translation, we can conclude the experience, and get more achievement on the translation of English songs.

 

3.On the Translation of English Songs from the Perspective of Functionalist Approaches

    This part is what we will mainly discuss. First, it is an introduction to the Functionalist Approaches and its principles. Then the translation methods adopted will be discussed, and finally this chapter observes the translation effect through the Functionalist Approaches’ principles.#p#分页标题#e#

3.1 Functionalist Approaches

    Functionalist approaches are the theoretic basis of this paper. It aims at the principles of it, but first it is necessary to know the development and the essence of this theory.

3.1.1 The Development, Conception and Essence of the Functionalist Approaches

Functionalist approaches to translation were not invented in the twentieth century. It has roughly developed through three stages. Katharina Reiss was regarded as the beginner for the functionalist approaches. In 1971, she introduced a functional category into her “objective approach to translation criticism”. Her book Possibilities and Limits of Translation Criticism refers to the function that target text should be as a standard of translation criticism. According to Reiss, the aim of the ideal translation would be equivalence on the conceptual content and communicative function between the target language and the source language. Hans J. Vermeer has gone much further in trying to bridge the gap between theory and practice. He breaks through the limit of equivalence, and develops the main theory of functionalist approaches: skopostheory. He defines the translation action as intentional and purposeful behavior which decides the ways of translation. The intention or purpose depends on the initiator of the process of translation. Skopos rule is one rule of the skopostheory, and another two are coherence rule and fidelity rule. The third period is Juata Holz-Mantari. She points out that “translation is defined as ‘a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose’ ”. (qtd.in Holz-Mantari and Vermeer, 1985:4) The purpose of translational action is to transfer messages across culture and language barriers by means of message transmitters produced by experts. The purpose of the translator is to transmit appropriate message from the source text. Christine Nord as the new second-generation functionalist approaches’ represent actively comes up with the function plus loyalty as to consider the fidelity rule subordinate to skopos rule. She attaches greater importance to the source-text author, thus improving the functionalist approach to translation.

The functionalist approaches’ essence to the translation contains three aspects: First, the target text has the functions; second, the target text is related to the source text. For their relationship, it is decided by the purpose of the translation; the third, the translation must solve the impediments in language and culture. Translation is not only a purpose activity, but also a social action. Functionalist approaches think the participants of the process of translation have five types: initiator, commissioner, translator, source-text producer, target-text receiver, and target-text user. The translator plays an important role in the process, because he takes the translation purpose as a conduct to decide to take which ways on translation and accomplish the translation work. The target-text receiver is a crucial element, for he can affect the translators’ judgment and the accomplishment of the purpose of translation.#p#分页标题#e#

3.1.2 The Principles of the Functionalist Approaches

For this paper would like to talk about the translation methods in English songs translation to see whether they get to the two principles of Functionalist Approaches, so the principles should be paid more attention to. Skopos rule and loyalty rule are the two main rules through the translation process.Skopos rule got its name from the Greek word “skopos” which means ‘purpose’ and was introduced into translation theory by Vermeer. He postulates that as a general rule it must be the intended purpose of the target translation that determines translation methods and strategies. According to this postulate, Vermeer derives skopos rule. We can distinguish between three possible kinds of purpose in the field of translation: the first is the translator’s simple purpose, maybe for a living; the second is the communicative purpose which the translation work should have such as communicating cultures; the third is the purpose for introducing a new production or its structure. The translation of English songs could be regarded as a purposeful activity, and the purpose can be for the communicative purpose. The communicative purpose of a song is to make the song known by other countries’ people and convey the inner feeling and sense of a song. Vermeer explains the skopos rule in the following way:

Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The skopos rule thus reads as follows: translate/interpret/speak/ write in a way that enables your text/translation to function in the situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function. (qtd.in Vermeer 1989a:20,my translation)

Nord finds two flaws of the skopostheory. One is the culture-specificity of translational models; the other is the relationship between the translator and the source-text author. Though skopostheory has fidelity rule, it subordinate to skopos rule. So Nord adds a loyalty rule. Loyalty means that translator translating the target-text should be compatible with the original authors’ intentions. It commits the translator bilaterally to the source and the target sides. The loyalty principle takes account of the legitimate interests of the three parities involved: initiators, target receivers and original authors. Original authors have a right to demand respect for their individual intentions and expect a particular kind of relationship between their text and its translation. If there is any conflict between the interests of the three partners of the translator, the translator has to mediate and, where necessary, seek the understanding of all sides. (Nord 128) Loyalty principle makes sure that the translator would not only translate the source text based on his own expectation but he considers more about the participants involved in the process of translation.

3.2 Translation Methods Used in English Songs Translation#p#分页标题#e#

Because of the features of English songs and many difficulties existing in translation, the translation standard is different, so are the translation methods. Here are two translation methods which are often used in English songs translation: literal translation and free translation.

3.2.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation is a very important method used in translation. It can convey the meaning of the source-text and keep the style of the source-text. So it is widely used by translator. In the translation of English songs, this method is also used. Let’s see a song Donna Donna, translated by Zhang Zhenfang.

English lyrics: On a wagon bound for market

There a calf with a mournful eye

High above him there’s a swallow winging swiftly thro the sky

How the winds are laughing

They laugh with all their might

Laugh and laugh the whole day thro and half the summer’s night

Chinese Translation: 有只小牛满脸忧伤

被车运到市场

有只燕子在它上面

轻快飞翔在天空上

风儿正在狂笑, 那笑声真响亮

笑呀笑呀成天笑， 又笑了半个晚上

In this translation both the meaning and the sense of song are the same as the source-text except that the word ‘summer’ is not translated. Another example:

Doe, a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun

Me, a name I call myself, far, a long long way to run

Sew, a needle pulling thread, la, a note to follow sew

Tea, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to doe

Here is a kind of translation version:

“哆”是一只小母鹿，“来”是金色的阳光照。

“咪”是称呼我自己，“发”是道路远又长。

“索”是穿针又引线，“拉”是音符紧跟“索”。

“梯”是饮料加茶点，然后我们再唱“哆”。

3.2.2 Free Translation

Free translation is another translation method used in English songs translation. It unbends the literal meaning and the structure of the source-text. It aims at making the translation understood by target audience depending on the loyalty of the original style. Take the translation of the song My Heart Will Go On as an example.

Every night in my dreams

I see you, I feel you

That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you’re here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on#p#分页标题#e#

Translated by Chen Daoming:

夜夜在我梦中见到你，感觉你，

我的心仍为你悸动

穿越层层时空随风入我梦

你的心从未曾不同

你我尽在不言中

你的爱伴我航行始终

飞翔如风般自由

你让我无忧无俱

永远地活在爱中

And another example:

Doe, a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun

Me, a name I call myself, far, a long long way to run

Sew, a needle pulling thread, la, a note to follow sew

Tea, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to doe

Here is a kind of translation version by Xue Fan:

“哆”好朋友多来多，“来”快来呀来唱歌。

“咪”看脸上笑咪咪，“发”要发出光和热。

“索”能拴住门和窗，“拉”是大家来拉车。

“西”那太阳往西落，回头我们又唱“哆”。

3.3 Observation of the Translation Effect through the Functionalist Approaches’ Principles

Several examples have already been found both in literal translation and free translation. The following part will discuss the version of the translation whether they conform to the two principles of the functionalist approaches.

3.3.1 Skopos Rule

Literal translation examples: As what has been mentioned above, the communicative purpose of songs is to convey the inner meaning and sense of the song. In the first song Donna Donna, the English lyrics convey a very simple idea that the wind is blowing severely from day to night, lasting a long time. And it expresses this idea in a personified way. In this way, the lyrics become relaxed, poetic and full of imagination. When you sing it, it is easy for you to imagine a picture which has the wind, the calf and the swallow. So according to skopos rule, target text of Donna Donna’s communicative purpose is to convey the simple, free and easy state of life, including the calf’s sorrow, the swallow’s free flying and the wind’s exciting feelings. The target-text has successfully conveyed the effect and it appropriately expresses the sense of the song. Especially the word 狂笑 is used to conform laugh and might, describing the wind’s feature without restriction. Because they are happy, they laugh with their might. 响亮 is used to modify the effect of laughing.

In the second song, actually the literal meaning of the original text is translated quite well. Firstly, it is helpful to give the background of this song. This song is from the movie The Sound of Music. The tutor in the movie wants to teach the children to sing. But at first children should learn to singDo-Re-Mi. In order to make the song easy for children to remember and inspire their enthusiasm to sing, she made it. She uses English homophonic to help the kids remember each note. For example, the pronunciation of note “1” is similar to English word doe, and “4” to far. This interesting brain memory to the western countries’ kids is very helpful. But apparently, it did not get the communicative purpose of the song, because target audience is Chinese. They can not think of 母鹿 when they sing “1”, and think of 光线 as they sing “2”. So for the literal translation of this song, it did not have the real meaning and it can not get the skopos of transforming the original songs’ intention. It makes the target audience more puzzled but not easy to remember the note.Free translation examples: My Heart Will Go On. This song is quite familiar to most people. It is the theme song of the movie Titanic. The intention of this song is no hard to know: expressing the theme of love and love is romantic and reliable. The original text dreams, go on, believe and heart express the characters’ true feelings of love. They love each other deeply, and every night they dream each other. The author did not translate every night into 每夜 but夜夜, make the sense even close to life. The word 感觉, 悸动 and 不言中deliver the feeling of miss skillfully. Many audiences prefer these two sentences 飞翔如风般自由，你让我无忧无惧. It reminds them of the movie scene－Jack hugged Rose in the head of the boat, and Rose opened her arms. The author must have seen the film many times so that he can translate it so wonderfully, given us a second enjoyment of the movie when we listen to the song. The target text’s purpose is successfully reached.#p#分页标题#e#

In the second song, Xue Fan’s translation is easy for the target audience to understand the meaning of the song. His translation gets the cultural equivalent to the original, but not in semantics. In addition, the translation is regarded as filling in the words to a given tune rather than translation. The most important character of this song is homophones, so the translation at least retains this feature, which is, using Chinese homophones, though sacrificing the semantics equivalent. The apparent example is that the note Sew which is translated into 拴住. In China, to lock the door and the window the word 锁is used, because the pronunciation is the same with note Sew. 

3.3.2 Loyalty Principle

Literal translation examples: Loyalty principle concerns the initiators, target receivers and the original authors. The first song Donna Donna, the target receivers should get the intention of the original authors, that is describing the blow’s freedom state of life. In this song, there is no apparent language barrier between the source and target language. Also, the target text keeps the same style of the source text, such as using personification and the free and easy rhythm. The word mournful is translated into 忧伤, reflecting the literal meaning. Not only the meaning, but also the lyric is loyal to the original, that is, romantic and poetic. So it gets to the loyalty principle.

The second song’s translation is loyal to the original’s word-to-word meaning. It did not deal with the cultural impediment, so the loyalty of the original author for making the song easy to remember is not achieved.

Free translation: loyalty principle should concern more about free translation because the translator’s individual quality will influence the target translation. If the translator did not deal with the language and culture impediment appropriately, or have misunderstanding of the source-text’s meaning, the target receiver would not get to the original author’s intention or the sense of the song. The target text of the song My Heart Will Go ON successfully convey the original author’s intention that love is in their heart, and they love each other deeply. The word 不言中 and 无忧无惧 reflect the inner feeling when you love somebody and the sense you stay together with your lover. For the loyalty of the rhythm, the target text also fit for the original song, and doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the song.

The second song, free translation is used in Xue Fan’s version. As a matter of fact, the strategy for translating this song is to solve the culture differences. The target text uses the harmonic way to make the target receiver easy to understand the meaning of the song. The pronunciation of the note “1” is similar to Chinese word 多. More examples in this song like ray with 来, and farwith 发 and so on. So it is loyal to words’ pronunciation, but not to the original text words. Actually, if the target receiver learns to sing this song, it will also get the purpose of the original author. As to the rhythm, it is suitable for original lyrics, and can be sung. The style of the translation is also loyal to the original.#p#分页标题#e#

 

4.Conclusion

English songs translation is a special work of art. It is a comprehensive study of music, literature and translation. Song lyrics bear special features which are different from other literary forms. The translation of English songs is keenly directed by the purpose and function of the target text. The purpose of English songs translation is to try best to get the source-text’s meaning and keep the rhythm of the original text. Meanwhile, it gives the target receiver the second enjoyment of both visual and hearing. The original text is a song, so when you translate it, you should also make your translation like a song that could be sung. The whole of translator’s work should make the target-receivers get the same moving, inspiration and the enjoyment of beauty of the original-text. The translation methods－literal translation and free translation used in the translation of English songs should consider about those aspects. This paper observes these two translation methods through the skopos rule and loyalty principle of Functionalist Approaches. Then it finds out that these two translation methods used in English songs translation mostly can get to the skopos rule and loyalty principle. But they also have the disadvantages. For literal translation, in fact, it can get to the skopos rule and loyalty principle, but if the translation does not deal with the problem like cultural barrier, it will be lack of conveying the original author’s intention. The example found from the song of Do-Re-Me is translated in literal translation. And as to free translation, it is more flexible. The semantics of the original word can not be loyal, it is the free translation’s disadvantage. For the communicative purpose, the song’s feeling of original can be easily expressed. The translation of English songs, we pay more attention to the sense of the translation, and literal translation or free translation used in English songs translation, the most important thing is the translation should convey the original song’s sense to the target adudience and make them enjoy the songs, so that they conform to the skopos rule and loyalty principle. So in the later translation of English songs, the skopos rule and loyalty principle can be used to see whether the translation methods such as literal or free translation can get to the better effect of English songs translation.

 

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