Imitation and Paraphrasing in Literary Translation
Imitation and Paraphrases
Imitation itself (‘mimesis’) is a form of copy, a ‘travesty’ that gives us back the same content and style as the original text. It is a substitution, in the sense of imitating something, but above all a form of continuous and natural addiction in literature.
In imitation, we find different degrees:
Replay
To say the same but in different words. We invent, imagine… We substitute a few words with others (equivalent to those of the original text) to create a new text.
Copy
It is imitation in degree zero. It is replacing the original text as it is. The rate of originality in this case is not very high since everything is moved to the new text. With the risk of translating literally (copying everything to the letter), the sense of the original text can be lost.
Concentrator Imitation
It consists of contrasting information from different sources and taking from each text what we need, putting it all together consistently, and creating a new one. Here, the originality rate is high, but not without copying ideas already discussed in other texts. It could be considered a form of ‘swarming’ between texts. Taking as a base the subtle mystical poem of Rumi, Ibn al ‘A weeping girl, “version of Byron’s poem ‘I saw the weep’, is a clear example of recreation. It recreates the original poem’s theme, how wide and passed a woman crying (throughout the original poem) to a woman crying (in Byron’s poem) just laughing at the end of the poem.
Imitation is just pure repetition. It will replace the original items with other new media. This is a pure copy where the redundancy rate is high.
Emulation or Recreation
In the sense of simulation, it is another form of imitation. It is a version of the original text (collecting information from other texts) to the new text that exceeds the original or in translation if the translation of the original text fits the target culture. For example, Larra said that comedians had to translate texts to emulate because in a language that can grace can not have it otherwise we must adapt the text to cause grace to the recipient of the translation. Emulation is then a set of new elements to the base of the original text.
Then there is the paraphrase, a free interpretation of a text, usually amplified. It can be made from works written in the same language or in completely different ones. At the same time, it can have a didactic or literary purpose. In the first case, it would reduce the tropes of the original text and explain the meaning of expressions that may lead to doubt. The second is a recreation of the poetic tropes of the original text, which can be like other tropes in the paraphrase. (A metaphor can be explained by another metaphor). The paraphrase of this type is a kind of imitation of the subject but can have both merit and originality as its model.
For Schleiermacher, as interpreted by Ortega’s article, we take ‘Misery and Splendor of Translation’, the paraphrase is a pseudo-translation that misses the meaning of the original text.
To perform the paraphrase and modify the text, several categories are used (AQTS), which are:
Add
It’s a way to amplify. We use three of the leading figures to carry out this rhetorical device.
Anaphora
Repetition of words that sound the same at the beginning or repetition of the same structure at the beginning of each verse. Example: Green fields, Green your eyes, Green…
Alliteration
The repetition of one or more sounds in a word or phrase to reinforce the content of what we mean. E.g., under the wing aleve mild range.
Parallelism
Repetition of the same grammatical structure or the same thought.
Remove
Ellipsis
Removal of one or more words in a phrase whose meaning can be understood. Example: The Good, yes (is) good, (is) twice as good.
Asyndeton
Removal of links in a verse to acquire the most vivid expression. Example: the boy running, jumping, flying…
Transpose
Hyperbaton
It is to alter the logical order. Example: From living in the dark corner.
Antithesis
Contrasting two terms with more or less opposite meanings.
Comparison
It is to compare one item with another to give a clear and livelier image of the first.
Apostrophe
It is to interrupt the speech to speak to a person. Example: How long, Lucia, abuse our patience?
Replace
This is the key figure in the translation. To do this, we use tropes such as:
Metaphor
Identification of a real term with an imaginary one among which there is some resemblance. Example: I can say of someone that he is brave, but sometimes I say he’s a lion.
Allegory
A kind of extended metaphor, which covers more than one word and can develop into a sentence or a whole text.
Personification
Attributing human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects. Example: The wind hits your face.
Metonymy
It designates one thing with another name with which it bears some relation of contiguity (the effect for the cause, the concrete to the abstract, the instrument by the person using it…). Example: Give me a drink? (replace the contents of the bowl with the object).
Delay
We can also delay by modifying categories:
Add
Strict or relaxed repetition of a word or part of a sentence. The repetition is to use several times the same terms or the same line, either by simple ornamentation of speech or expression to achieve a stronger and more emphatic effect.
Anaphora
Repeat words that sound alike at first or repeat the principles of the verses. Ex: Green fields, Green your eyes, Greens….
Alliteration
The repetition of one or more sounds in a word or phrase to reinforce the content of what we mean. E.g., under the wing aleve mild range.
Parallelism
Repetition of the same grammatical structure or the same thought.
Thus, in the above, we can comment that imitation is used for literary texts to try to lose as little as possible of the “original” original text. While paraphrasing, on the other hand, would be used for scientific or technical texts because, here, keeping the style is not a priority.
Also interesting is the contribution of Goethe on Translation:
A French
In German: This form is what Ortega believes the ideal for literary translation. In turn, this would be the lowest form of alienation of the above views.