Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author:
Louisa DESILLA
Author contact details:
Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
The University of Manchester
Samuel Alexander Building, Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Keywords:
implicature, film subtitling, multimodality, Relevance Theory, audience reception
Dissertation abstract:
Emerging whenever communicators mean more than (or something different from) what they actually utter, implicatures are prevalent not only in interpersonal communication but also in film dialogue. The present thesis aims to propose a methodology for the investigation of implicatures in subtitled film. For its design, insights from film studies, multimodality and cognitive pragmatics were drawn upon. The methodological apparatus proposed in this study is adjusted to the semiotic complexity of films and comprises three stages: multimodal transcription, pragmatic analysis and empirical testing of implicature comprehension by source- and target-audiences. Multimodal transcription (Baldry & Thibault, 2006) is selected as a means of identifying the contribution of verbal and non-verbal semiotic resources to the construal of implicatures and the creation of overall meaning by the filmmakers. Multimodal transcription is complemented by a pragmatic analysis of the utterances evoking implicatures and their TL counterparts in the light of Relevance Theory (Wilson & Sperber, 2004). Featuring as the final stage of this methodological apparatus, the experimental component is designed to probe implicature comprehension by a sample of source- and target-viewers, while essentially testing the extent to which the intuitive pragmatic analysis undertaken represents a realistic account of implicature understanding by source and target-audiences.
The proposed methodology is applied to a case-study of implicatures in 'Bridget Jones’s Diary' (2001), 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason' (2004) and their Greek subtitled versions. In particular, the case-study explores the construal, functions, translation, and cross-cultural reception of the implicatures identified in the two films. The first and most obvious finding to emerge from the observational data analysis is that implicatures are not conveyed by the film dialogue alone but, rather, via the co-deployment of verbal and non-verbal cinematic signifiers. Implicatures in the two romantic comedies have been found to fulfill comedic and narrative functions always in tandem with mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and/or non-verbal soundtrack. The comparison and contrast of ST and TT has revealed three types of implicature relay: preservation, explicitation and modification. It has been observed that the vast majority of the instances of implicature are preserved in the subtitles, while explicitation is only occasionally opted for.
The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the experimental data demonstrate, inter alia, that (a) implicatures whose comprehension crucially presupposes familiarity with aspects specific to the British culture presented the Greek audience with substantial difficulties and (b) both the British and Greek audiences consistently processed visual and/or acoustic information in deciphering implicatures.
Supervisor:
Dr. Luis PEREZ-GONZALEZ
Awarding institution:
The University of Manchester
Examiner(s):
Prof. Aline REMAEL
Completion date:
June 2009
Publications based on dissertation:
Towards a Methodology for the Study of Implicatures in Subtitled Films
Posted by: Louisa Desilla date: 25-09-2009 | 02:21 PM.
News as Narrative: Reporting and Translating the 2004 Beslan Hostage Disaster
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Sue-Ann HARDING
Author contact details:
Russian and East European Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road M13 9PL
Manchester
Keywords: narrative theory, Russia, Beslan, violent conflict, online media
Dissertation abstract:
On 1 September 2004, School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania (Southern Russia) was seized by an armed group that held over a thousand children, parents, and teachers hostage. With over three hundred people killed by the time the siege came to an end, Beslan was Russia’s worst hostage-crisis and, to date, there has not been another like it. This thesis uses socio-narrative theory as a conceptual framework to investigate, using a case study approach, a sample of online reporting generated in response to the crisis, thus exploring ways in which different narratives are constructed from, and in response to, events emerging from situations of violent conflict.
Narrative theory is adopted not only as an analytical tool with which to approach the data, but in order to investigate and develop the theory itself. Thus, the study offers a revised typology of narratives, it intentionally combines narratological and sociological approaches, elaborates an intratextual model of analysis, and emphasises the importance of narrators and temporary narrators in the (re)configuration of narratives.
The bulk of the thesis is a detailed, sustained textual analysis examining online reporting of the events in Beslan published by three different Russian-language news websites - RIA-Novosti, Kavkazcenter, and Caucasian Knot - during the course of the hostage-taking and its immediate aftermath, that is, from Wednesday 1 to Saturday 4 September 2004. By examining both Russian and English texts published by the three websites, the study also explores issues of translation, particularly in regard to online publishing, and ways in which translation impacts on the (re)construction of narratives.
The case study is firmly grounded in socio-narrative assumptions that narratives do not merely represent, but constitute, reality, and furthermore, are fundamentally (if complexly) linked to human agency and behaviour. Thus, conclusions are drawn from the analysis that concern not only the construction and translation of narratives but ways in which narratives are used to account for, legitimise, and challenge individual behaviour and the practices of institutions. With its particular focus on narratives and violent political conflict, the project also reflects upon the potential for certain kinds of narratives to either perpetuate or dissolve such conflict.
Supervisor: Professors Vera TOLZ and Mona BAKER
Awarding institution:
University of Manchester
Examiner(s): Professors Theo HERMANS and Stephen HUTCHINGS
Completion date: June 2009
Publications based on dissertation:
Author: Sue-Ann HARDING
Author contact details:
Russian and East European Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road M13 9PL
Manchester
Keywords: narrative theory, Russia, Beslan, violent conflict, online media
Dissertation abstract:
On 1 September 2004, School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania (Southern Russia) was seized by an armed group that held over a thousand children, parents, and teachers hostage. With over three hundred people killed by the time the siege came to an end, Beslan was Russia’s worst hostage-crisis and, to date, there has not been another like it. This thesis uses socio-narrative theory as a conceptual framework to investigate, using a case study approach, a sample of online reporting generated in response to the crisis, thus exploring ways in which different narratives are constructed from, and in response to, events emerging from situations of violent conflict.
Narrative theory is adopted not only as an analytical tool with which to approach the data, but in order to investigate and develop the theory itself. Thus, the study offers a revised typology of narratives, it intentionally combines narratological and sociological approaches, elaborates an intratextual model of analysis, and emphasises the importance of narrators and temporary narrators in the (re)configuration of narratives.
The bulk of the thesis is a detailed, sustained textual analysis examining online reporting of the events in Beslan published by three different Russian-language news websites - RIA-Novosti, Kavkazcenter, and Caucasian Knot - during the course of the hostage-taking and its immediate aftermath, that is, from Wednesday 1 to Saturday 4 September 2004. By examining both Russian and English texts published by the three websites, the study also explores issues of translation, particularly in regard to online publishing, and ways in which translation impacts on the (re)construction of narratives.
The case study is firmly grounded in socio-narrative assumptions that narratives do not merely represent, but constitute, reality, and furthermore, are fundamentally (if complexly) linked to human agency and behaviour. Thus, conclusions are drawn from the analysis that concern not only the construction and translation of narratives but ways in which narratives are used to account for, legitimise, and challenge individual behaviour and the practices of institutions. With its particular focus on narratives and violent political conflict, the project also reflects upon the potential for certain kinds of narratives to either perpetuate or dissolve such conflict.
Supervisor: Professors Vera TOLZ and Mona BAKER
Awarding institution:
University of Manchester
Examiner(s): Professors Theo HERMANS and Stephen HUTCHINGS
Completion date: June 2009
Publications based on dissertation:
Posted by: Sue-Ann Harding date: 09-09-2009 | 09:42 AM.
Training for Translation: The Case of Specialised Translation Training and Art Texts
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Maria KASANDRINOU
Author contact details:
Keywords: Translation training, art texts, specialised translation, pedagogical issues, case study.
Dissertation abstract:
Translation training is a subject widely discussed and many diverse approaches have been presented recently. However little research has been done to investigate these courses and even less data has been gathered to validate any claims as to the effectiveness or pedagogical value of these approaches. The present study looks into the training of the translator providing data as evidence about the effectiveness of specialized translation training. Art, painting in particular, serves as a case study. The field of painting was chosen because it is a vast field that has its own and unique way of expression, terminology, certain way of structuring language and a complex system of metaphors, similes and symbols. Undoubtedly this “pleasant” field hides many traps for the unaware translator. Moreover, no course offers specialization in this field. Thus the main aims of the research are pedagogical ones. Numerous aspects of text analysis and translation theories as well as pedagogical issues in translation training were raised and had to be examined to find satisfactory answers to them. Establishing art translation and identifying what art translation is were subordinate aims.
The research needed an empirical dimension to help gather the data required to support its claims. During the first stage a pilot study took place that later on evolved into a bigger scale case study. The pilot study focused on the parameters and specific problems of this genre of translation, what are the criteria that determine a successful translation of an art text and who is involved in the decisions about those parameters and criteria. Publishers, agencies, freelance translators and teachers who provided alternative perspectives on the issue of training made important contribution to the research.
The second stage of the empirical study was in the form of an experiment and was more concerned with the pedagogical aspects of translation training that seem to be neglected. The variables in pedagogical research that had been identified (e.g. age, gender, distance learning etc.) had to be taken into consideration. The focus of this experiment will be to determine the expectations of the learning outcomes of specialist training and try to measure its effectiveness. Students tend to evaluate their needs differently from their tutors. Tutors on the other hand have the experience of teaching, observing their students and monitoring their progress. The data gathered included school records, translations of published books as well as students’ translations, interviews with school directors, tutors and translators, feedback from the students and readers. The data was then analyzed to help reach decisions on curriculum design and to reach conclusions concerning the research questions. This data revealed that translators in fact need specialist training. Even though this hypothesis may seem obvious, there have not been enough (if any) studies that examine the complex variables in translator education. The research revealed how complex the matter is and the fact that not all pedagogical dimensions are taken into consideration in translation training. Last but not least the present study paid great attention to the quality assurance aspects of all the parts of the process, something that is sadly absent in the current state of classroom based research.
Supervisor: Dr. Paul RASTALL
Awarding institution:
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Examiner(s):
Completion date: 2006
Publications based on dissertation:
Author: Maria KASANDRINOU
Author contact details:
Keywords: Translation training, art texts, specialised translation, pedagogical issues, case study.
Dissertation abstract:
Translation training is a subject widely discussed and many diverse approaches have been presented recently. However little research has been done to investigate these courses and even less data has been gathered to validate any claims as to the effectiveness or pedagogical value of these approaches. The present study looks into the training of the translator providing data as evidence about the effectiveness of specialized translation training. Art, painting in particular, serves as a case study. The field of painting was chosen because it is a vast field that has its own and unique way of expression, terminology, certain way of structuring language and a complex system of metaphors, similes and symbols. Undoubtedly this “pleasant” field hides many traps for the unaware translator. Moreover, no course offers specialization in this field. Thus the main aims of the research are pedagogical ones. Numerous aspects of text analysis and translation theories as well as pedagogical issues in translation training were raised and had to be examined to find satisfactory answers to them. Establishing art translation and identifying what art translation is were subordinate aims.
The research needed an empirical dimension to help gather the data required to support its claims. During the first stage a pilot study took place that later on evolved into a bigger scale case study. The pilot study focused on the parameters and specific problems of this genre of translation, what are the criteria that determine a successful translation of an art text and who is involved in the decisions about those parameters and criteria. Publishers, agencies, freelance translators and teachers who provided alternative perspectives on the issue of training made important contribution to the research.
The second stage of the empirical study was in the form of an experiment and was more concerned with the pedagogical aspects of translation training that seem to be neglected. The variables in pedagogical research that had been identified (e.g. age, gender, distance learning etc.) had to be taken into consideration. The focus of this experiment will be to determine the expectations of the learning outcomes of specialist training and try to measure its effectiveness. Students tend to evaluate their needs differently from their tutors. Tutors on the other hand have the experience of teaching, observing their students and monitoring their progress. The data gathered included school records, translations of published books as well as students’ translations, interviews with school directors, tutors and translators, feedback from the students and readers. The data was then analyzed to help reach decisions on curriculum design and to reach conclusions concerning the research questions. This data revealed that translators in fact need specialist training. Even though this hypothesis may seem obvious, there have not been enough (if any) studies that examine the complex variables in translator education. The research revealed how complex the matter is and the fact that not all pedagogical dimensions are taken into consideration in translation training. Last but not least the present study paid great attention to the quality assurance aspects of all the parts of the process, something that is sadly absent in the current state of classroom based research.
Supervisor: Dr. Paul RASTALL
Awarding institution:
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Examiner(s):
Completion date: 2006
Publications based on dissertation:
Posted by: maria kasandrinou date: 13-07-2007 | 07:47 PM.
Translation and Narration: A Corpus-based Study of French Translations of Two Novels by Virginia Woolf
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Charlotte Bosseaux
Author contact details:
University of Edinburgh, UK
Keywords: corpus-based translation studies, narratology, point of view, transfer of narratological structures
Dissertation abstract:
Narratology does not usually distinguish between original and translated fiction and narratological models do not pay any attention to the translator as a discursive subject. Since the 1990s, the visibility of translators in translated narrative texts has been increasingly discussed and researchers like Schiavi (1996) and Hermans (1996) introduced the concept of the translators voice, which attempts to recognise the other voice in translation, i.e. the presence of the translator. Corpusbased studies have also focused on recurrent features of translated language (see, for example, Baker 1993; Kenny 2001; Laviosa 1997; Olohan and Baker 2000), and corpus techniques and tools are being employed to identify the translators style in their translations (Baker 2000).
The present thesis seeks to explore the nature of the translators discursive presence by investigating certain narratological aspects of the relation between originals and translations. Until recently comparative analysis between originals and their translations have mainly relied on manual examinations; the present study will demonstrate that corpus-based translation studies and its tools can greatly facilitate and sharpen the process of comparison. My work uses a parallel corpus composed of two English novels and their French translations: Virginia Woolfs To The Lighthouse (1927) and its three translations (Promenade au Phare, 1929, translated by Michel Lanoire; Voyage au Phare, 1993, translated by Magali Merle; Vers le Phare, 1996, translated by Franoise Pellan), and The Waves (1931), and its two translations (Les Vagues, 1937, translated by Marguerite Yourcenar and Les Vagues, 1993, translated by Ccile Wajsbrot). The relevant texts have been scanned and put in machine-readable form and I study them using corpus-analysis tools and techniques (WordSmith Tools, Multiconcord). My investigation is particularly concerned with the potential problems involved in the translation of linguistic features that constitute the notion of point of view, i.e. deixis, modality, transitivity and free indirect discourse, and seeks to determine whether and how the translators choices affect the transfer of narratological structures.
Supervisor: Theo Hermans
Awarding institution:
University College London
Examiner(s): Not Provided
Completion date: 2004
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Author: Charlotte Bosseaux
Author contact details:
University of Edinburgh, UK
Keywords: corpus-based translation studies, narratology, point of view, transfer of narratological structures
Dissertation abstract:
Narratology does not usually distinguish between original and translated fiction and narratological models do not pay any attention to the translator as a discursive subject. Since the 1990s, the visibility of translators in translated narrative texts has been increasingly discussed and researchers like Schiavi (1996) and Hermans (1996) introduced the concept of the translators voice, which attempts to recognise the other voice in translation, i.e. the presence of the translator. Corpusbased studies have also focused on recurrent features of translated language (see, for example, Baker 1993; Kenny 2001; Laviosa 1997; Olohan and Baker 2000), and corpus techniques and tools are being employed to identify the translators style in their translations (Baker 2000).
The present thesis seeks to explore the nature of the translators discursive presence by investigating certain narratological aspects of the relation between originals and translations. Until recently comparative analysis between originals and their translations have mainly relied on manual examinations; the present study will demonstrate that corpus-based translation studies and its tools can greatly facilitate and sharpen the process of comparison. My work uses a parallel corpus composed of two English novels and their French translations: Virginia Woolfs To The Lighthouse (1927) and its three translations (Promenade au Phare, 1929, translated by Michel Lanoire; Voyage au Phare, 1993, translated by Magali Merle; Vers le Phare, 1996, translated by Franoise Pellan), and The Waves (1931), and its two translations (Les Vagues, 1937, translated by Marguerite Yourcenar and Les Vagues, 1993, translated by Ccile Wajsbrot). The relevant texts have been scanned and put in machine-readable form and I study them using corpus-analysis tools and techniques (WordSmith Tools, Multiconcord). My investigation is particularly concerned with the potential problems involved in the translation of linguistic features that constitute the notion of point of view, i.e. deixis, modality, transitivity and free indirect discourse, and seeks to determine whether and how the translators choices affect the transfer of narratological structures.
Supervisor: Theo Hermans
Awarding institution:
University College London
Examiner(s): Not Provided
Completion date: 2004
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Posted by: Luis Perez Gonzalez date: 01-09-2005 | 12:13 PM.
Translation as social action: a study of academic documents (Spanish-English)
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Catherine Way
Author contact details:
Keywords: academic documents, critical discourse analysis, empirical study, legal translation, sworn translators
Dissertation abstract:
The lack of information available about the role that translations play in the recognition of academic qualifications provided the starting point for this thesis. In Spain, sworn translators perform this important social task with little or no direction from the authorities and often in isolation due to the lack of a national professional association. In this study I start by describing the sociocultural context surrounding academic degree certificates in Spain and the UK, analysing the documents in both countries from the perspective of Comparative Education, Comparative Law, Critical Discourse Analysis, Comparative Textology and Sociology. I then describe the role of official sworn translators with regard to the translation of degree certificates and present the results of an empirical study which required the translation of two degree certificates by 53 professional translators and the analysis of a questionnaire concerning the translation of these documents in Spain. Finally, I propose a comprehensive research model for studies of this type which may be applied to other documents and social practices.
Supervisor: Neil MacClaren
Awarding institution:
University of Granada, Spain
Examiner(s): Not provided
Completion date: 2003
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Author: Catherine Way
Author contact details:
Keywords: academic documents, critical discourse analysis, empirical study, legal translation, sworn translators
Dissertation abstract:
The lack of information available about the role that translations play in the recognition of academic qualifications provided the starting point for this thesis. In Spain, sworn translators perform this important social task with little or no direction from the authorities and often in isolation due to the lack of a national professional association. In this study I start by describing the sociocultural context surrounding academic degree certificates in Spain and the UK, analysing the documents in both countries from the perspective of Comparative Education, Comparative Law, Critical Discourse Analysis, Comparative Textology and Sociology. I then describe the role of official sworn translators with regard to the translation of degree certificates and present the results of an empirical study which required the translation of two degree certificates by 53 professional translators and the analysis of a questionnaire concerning the translation of these documents in Spain. Finally, I propose a comprehensive research model for studies of this type which may be applied to other documents and social practices.
Supervisor: Neil MacClaren
Awarding institution:
University of Granada, Spain
Examiner(s): Not provided
Completion date: 2003
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Posted by: Luis Perez Gonzalez date: 01-09-2005 | 12:09 PM.
Investigating Lexical Patterning in Translated Brazilian Portuguese: A Corpus-based Study
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Carmen Dayrell
Author contact details:
Keywords: collocations, corpus linguistics, lexical patterning, Portuguese
Dissertation abstract:
The primary objective of this study is to develop a suitable corpus-based research methodology for comparing lexical patterning in translated and non-translated language. The main issue under investigation is whether collocational patterns tend to be less diverse in translated texts in comparison with non-translated texts of the same language. Diversity is analysed in quantitative as well as qualitative terms.
The analysis is based on a comparable corpus of Brazilian Portuguese (BPC), which has been compiled as part of this research project. The corpus consists of two separate subcorpora designed according to the same criteria and specifications, one made up of translated Brazilian Portuguese and the other consisting of non-translated Brazilian Portuguese. BPC comprises two different text genres fiction and self-help and hence it is composed of four subcorpora: translated fiction, non-translated fiction, translated self-help and non-translated self-help. Collocational patterns of translated and non-translated texts are compared within each genre; that is to say, translated fiction is compared with non-translated fiction, and translated self-help with non-translated self-help. BPC contains approximately 2 million words in total, consisting of 1 million words of translated Brazilian Portuguese and 1 million words of non-translated Brazilian Portuguese. Each subcorpus contains approximately 0.5 million words.
The results indicate that collocational patterns tend to be less diverse in translated texts in comparison with non-translated texts of the same language, irrespective of the text genre. It is also found that differences between translated and non-translated texts are more pronounced in the fiction than in the self-help genre. The latter seems to reflect the peculiarity of the genre within the context of Brazilian Portuguese; self-help is in itself a translated genre.
Supervisor: Mona Baker
Awarding institution:
Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
University of Manchester, UK
CTIS website
Examiner(s): Michael Scott (external), Maeve Oholan (internal)
Completion date: 2005
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Author: Carmen Dayrell
Author contact details:
Keywords: collocations, corpus linguistics, lexical patterning, Portuguese
Dissertation abstract:
The primary objective of this study is to develop a suitable corpus-based research methodology for comparing lexical patterning in translated and non-translated language. The main issue under investigation is whether collocational patterns tend to be less diverse in translated texts in comparison with non-translated texts of the same language. Diversity is analysed in quantitative as well as qualitative terms.
The analysis is based on a comparable corpus of Brazilian Portuguese (BPC), which has been compiled as part of this research project. The corpus consists of two separate subcorpora designed according to the same criteria and specifications, one made up of translated Brazilian Portuguese and the other consisting of non-translated Brazilian Portuguese. BPC comprises two different text genres fiction and self-help and hence it is composed of four subcorpora: translated fiction, non-translated fiction, translated self-help and non-translated self-help. Collocational patterns of translated and non-translated texts are compared within each genre; that is to say, translated fiction is compared with non-translated fiction, and translated self-help with non-translated self-help. BPC contains approximately 2 million words in total, consisting of 1 million words of translated Brazilian Portuguese and 1 million words of non-translated Brazilian Portuguese. Each subcorpus contains approximately 0.5 million words.
The results indicate that collocational patterns tend to be less diverse in translated texts in comparison with non-translated texts of the same language, irrespective of the text genre. It is also found that differences between translated and non-translated texts are more pronounced in the fiction than in the self-help genre. The latter seems to reflect the peculiarity of the genre within the context of Brazilian Portuguese; self-help is in itself a translated genre.
Supervisor: Mona Baker
Awarding institution:
Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies
School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
University of Manchester, UK
CTIS website
Examiner(s): Michael Scott (external), Maeve Oholan (internal)
Completion date: 2005
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Posted by: Luis Perez Gonzalez date: 01-09-2005 | 09:29 AM.
In Other Words. Coming to Terms with Irish Identities through Translation: Readings of the Twelve Plays Produced by the Field Day Theatre Company, 1980-1991
Type of dissertation:
doctoral dissertation
Author: Aidan OMalley
Author contact details:
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Keywords: Field Day Theatre Company, Irish historiography, Irish identities, postcolonialism, poststructuralism, translation theory
Dissertation abstract:
This thesis gauges the cultural intervention of the Field Day enterprise into the fraught politics of the Northern Irish Troubles in the 1980s by uncovering the diverse ways in which notions of Irish identities were problematised in the dramatic productions of this group. It does this by concentrating on the predominance of the idea and act of translation in Field Days output. Translation, it is argued, performs the contradictions that are inherent in the selfs interactions with the other, and hence the contradictions that are inherent in constructions of identity.
Each play is read separately, but rather than being considered in chronological order, the dramas are thematically grouped together. The chapter themes are all aspects of the act and idea of translation: mapping and naming; home, domestication, hospitality and hostility; fidelity to the spirit and/or the letter; the (im)possibility of reciprocation and resolution; duplicity and treason; and the ways in which history can be considered as an act of translation. These themes are all suggested in Field Days first production, Friels Translations, which is the subject of the first chapter. The subsequent chapters not only further explore these issues through the other plays, but they also expose that plays hermeneutic view of translation (based as it is on Steiners After Babel) to a more poststructuralist strain of thought, in particular to Derridas suggestion that translation is impossible and necessary. This approach allows for a deeper investigation into the contradictions involved in the act of translation and, at the same time, outlines what might be termed a possible ethics of translation: the need to translate in the face of, or precisely because of, the impossibility of ever achieving a conclusive translation. An ethics of this sort, the thesis argues, informed Field Days intervention into Northern Ireland.
Through this theoretical focus on the idea of translation, the thesis rethinks the relationship between history and literature and the ways in which their interactions are involved in the creation of, in particular, postcolonial identities.
Supervisor: Luisa Passerini, Richard Kearney (Boston College)
Awarding institution:
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Examiner(s): Not provided
Completion date: 2004
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Author: Aidan OMalley
Author contact details:
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Keywords: Field Day Theatre Company, Irish historiography, Irish identities, postcolonialism, poststructuralism, translation theory
Dissertation abstract:
This thesis gauges the cultural intervention of the Field Day enterprise into the fraught politics of the Northern Irish Troubles in the 1980s by uncovering the diverse ways in which notions of Irish identities were problematised in the dramatic productions of this group. It does this by concentrating on the predominance of the idea and act of translation in Field Days output. Translation, it is argued, performs the contradictions that are inherent in the selfs interactions with the other, and hence the contradictions that are inherent in constructions of identity.
Each play is read separately, but rather than being considered in chronological order, the dramas are thematically grouped together. The chapter themes are all aspects of the act and idea of translation: mapping and naming; home, domestication, hospitality and hostility; fidelity to the spirit and/or the letter; the (im)possibility of reciprocation and resolution; duplicity and treason; and the ways in which history can be considered as an act of translation. These themes are all suggested in Field Days first production, Friels Translations, which is the subject of the first chapter. The subsequent chapters not only further explore these issues through the other plays, but they also expose that plays hermeneutic view of translation (based as it is on Steiners After Babel) to a more poststructuralist strain of thought, in particular to Derridas suggestion that translation is impossible and necessary. This approach allows for a deeper investigation into the contradictions involved in the act of translation and, at the same time, outlines what might be termed a possible ethics of translation: the need to translate in the face of, or precisely because of, the impossibility of ever achieving a conclusive translation. An ethics of this sort, the thesis argues, informed Field Days intervention into Northern Ireland.
Through this theoretical focus on the idea of translation, the thesis rethinks the relationship between history and literature and the ways in which their interactions are involved in the creation of, in particular, postcolonial identities.
Supervisor: Luisa Passerini, Richard Kearney (Boston College)
Awarding institution:
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Examiner(s): Not provided
Completion date: 2004
Publications based on dissertation:
Not provided
Posted by: Luis Perez Gonzalez date: 01-09-2005 | 09:22 AM.