The methods of data analysis are based on two models: first, the descriptive method of data analysis in TS as proposed by Toury in his research on the issues which influence the translation process in the literary genre; second, the contrastive model which is based on investigating the mutation in ST data by comparing them with TT data. I will first explain what is meant by the descriptive model, and then I will discuss the criteria which were adopted in the comparative model and how the two models were used in a combined quantitative and qualitative reading of the results.
Stressing the need to follow a descriptive approach in the empirical analysis of a translated text, and in order for TS to be a scientifically tested discipline, Toury assumed that the text analysis process should rely on an actual description of what actually happens during the translation process. This approach underlines the importance of moving from a theoretical speculation about the foundations of an adequate translation theory to a descriptive analysis which investigates translated texts “only with regard to the underlying (…) ‘functors’. Thus even if surface representations take priority in terms of mere description, their explanation can be attempted only on the basis of their underlying functions, which have therefore to be extracted from the utterance.” (Toury in Hermans 1985: 21) The descriptive model of analysing translated texts can be seen as a selective model where the elements to be considered in researching a translation issue should be functional enough in making the text count as performative. The following paragraph highlights the importance of the descriptive approach for TS:
“What we need (…) is not isolated attempts reflecting excellent intuitions and supplying fine insights (which many of the existing studies certainly provide) but a systematic scientific branch, seen as an inherent component of an overall discipline of translation studies, based on clear assumptions and armed with a methodology and research techniques made as explicit as possible.” (ibid., 17)
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The descriptive approach to text analysis in TS was later referred to as the TT-oriented approach since it deals with the TT as a point of departure in studying the theoretical issues of translation. In other words, the translator should approach the translated text as though it were a ST in its own culture because, once produced, it loses its relevance to the ST and starts to function in another linguistic and cultural system, i.e. that of the TL. To be accurate, Toury did not mean that the TT should be subject to a description which tests its translatability as a ST. He clarified that to see translations as “facts of the target system is by no means to claim that every fact of the target system is (a candidate for) a translation” (1985: 19). Rather, it implies that the TT should be analysed vis-à-vis its ability to function in the TL, which means that the TT-oriented approach gives prominence to the notion of Functional Equivalence. Therefore, the researcher has to be selective in identifying and analysing his/her data in light of their functionality in the TT:
“For the purposes of descriptive research, translations should therefore be regarded as functions which map target-language utterances, along with their position in the relevant target systems, on source-language utterances and their analogous position. The source utterances, at least up to a certain point in the study, may comprise not only actual linguistic utterances, but also hypothetical ones, reconstructed, as it were, on the basis of the target utterance.” (ibid., 20)
Throughout the process of data analysis I followed a hybrid methodology based on Toury’s descriptive model and the traditional comparative model where the text analysis
results were read quantitatively and qualitatively by the rate of mutation (shifts and loss) influencing the ST selected data and based on a functional reading of the TT data. It is important to merge the statistical reading of the results with a qualitative analysis because while the quantitative analysis reveals general tendencies about metaphor use in relation to a certain domain and within a certain genre, the full potential of such an analysis can only be reached when combined with a qualitative approach, which helps us analyse the functional and stylistic implications of metaphor use within context, whether the analysis is done for the purpose of literary criticism, autobiographical deconstruction, or applied text linguistics.
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The question here is how to represent the statistical results in qualitative research? The answer is in our approach to the notion of a ‘translational shift’ throughout our comparative analysis of ST data and TT data. The purpose, in this case, is to see whether the changes in the TT data reflect changes in the components of the original Shakespearean metaphors under translation, or rather the presence of different interpretations of the concepts in question. In other words, the analysis of the TT material should be conducted, not only in light of the mutation that influenced the ST material but also according to the two following guidelines: - The identification of loss or shifts in ST data should be coupled with an investigation of
the TT data in terms of their acceptability in the target culture and their effectiveness in dealing with a specific translation problem or performing a certain pragmatic function (Toury 1985: 21-22).
- The descriptive analysis of the TT material should be based on a comparison of the different TTs, in each case of mutation, i.e. triangulation of the results, as this can be helpful in detecting the main tendencies behind data mutation rather than adopting a subjective approach to analysing the translated text in terms of being accurate or not accurate. This was recommended by Toury in his descriptive approach which called for a comparison of “several translations into one language done by different translators either in the same period or in different periods of time” (ibid., 24).
During the data analysis process, I referred to the following table which classifies the data by the type of mutation influencing ST data (Conceptual Metaphors and traditional types of metaphor). In other words, the table of data analysis listed the translation techniques that were adopted by the translators in dealing with the ST metaphors and conceptual patterns from English into Arabic from the perspective of the ST-oriented approach (contrastive analysis) and the TT-oriented approach, as clarified in below:
050 Original ST Metaphor Type and
Context
ST Conceptual Mappings
TT Equivalent and Conceptual Mappings by Shifts and Losses
Exact wording and structure of the metaphor - Simile - Personification - Metonymy - Symbol - Idiomatic expressions - Biblical reference - Mythological reference - Stylistic feature
TD IS SD - Shifts and Losses in ST Conceptual Metaphors (in at least one of the following components: SD, TD, the association between the SD and TD) - Shifts and Losses in ST Metaphor
Types
- New Conceptual Metaphors introduced in the TT (TT-oriented approach)
To sum up, the empirical research of this dissertation is made up of two parts: the procedural part and the descriptive and analytical part. As for the procedural part, it covers the two processes of data identification and extraction, and data quantification and qualification. On the other hand, the analytical part deals with the two processes of: data analysis in terms of the shifts and losses influencing ST data in each translated text; and data description and qualification in terms of the shifts and losses that influenced ST data across the three TTs, taking into consideration the cases of data mutation according to the TT- oriented approach. The motive behind the double approach to data analysis is to detect the functional factors which play a role in the translation of metaphor in an experiential and factual approach to the process of translation.
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CHAPTER FIVE
A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO METAPHOR ANALYSIS IN
OTHELLO and MACBETH
This chapter presents the first part of the empirical research based on an experiential study of Shakespeare’s metaphor in relation to the main notions and assumptions of Cognitive Metaphor Theory. The chapter consists of four sections. The first section will provide a review of the literature on Shakespeare’s language, dealing with the stylistic features of his imagery and discussing the relevance of his texts to the topic of this research. The second section will review the history of translating Shakespeare into Arabic, concluding with an account of the choice of the particular translations (TTs) for the empirical study.
The third section will focus on an empirical study of metaphor in the ST corpus within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. This section will provide a synthesized reading of the empirical research results by quantifying and qualifying the data extracted from the ST according to the three patterns of conceptual metaphor: ontological metaphors, image schemas and structural metaphors, paving the way for ST data selection and description for the second part of the text analysis. The fourth section will deal with a descriptive account of ST data selection discussing the category of creative metaphor in Othello and Macbeth. The selected ST data will be quantified and described according to two types of creative metaphor in Conceptual Theory: extended creative metaphors and blended creative metaphors. Examples from both STs will tackle the creative processes of extending and merging kernel conceptual metaphors to produce a creative image.
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