When translations are really adaptations

Type of content
Publisher's DOI/URI
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Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Global, Cultural and Language Studies
University of Canterbury. School of Language, Social and Political Sciences
Journal Title
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Date
2014
Authors
Low, P.A.
Abstract

Humans love meddling with other people’s words. Not many of us can retell a joke or story without changing the details. In the case of folktales such as Cinderella, there are hundreds of versions. A general term for these is adaptations. While adaptations occur in many genres, the focus of this paper is on literary fiction.

Here’s the differential distinction I use:

  1. A translation is “a target text where all significant details of meaning have been transferred”.
  2. An adaptation is “a derivative text where significant details of meaning have not been transferred which easily could have been”. These definitions make sense etymologically: ‘translate’ means ‘carry across’ (über-setzen), while ‘adapt’ means ‘make suitable’. The term ‘adaptation’ is thus the appropriate one where “considerable changes have been made in order to make the text more suitable for a specific audience” . These changes may be omissions, rewritings or additions. My definitions are an attempt to pinpoint what has been called the “point at which adaptation ceases to be translation at all.”
Description
Citation
Low, P.A. (2014) When translations are really adaptations. Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters Annual Conference (NZSTI), 21-22 Jun 2014.
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ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::47 - Language, communication and culture::4705 - Literary studies::470530 - Stylistics and textual analysis
Field of Research::20 - Language, Communication and Culture::2005 - Literary Studies::200599 - Literary Studies not elsewhere classified
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