BOSTON BOMBINGS: WAS DAGESTAN THE STARTING POINT?
Theory and Practice of Translation
Seminar 4
TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE AND EQUIVALENTS
1. What is translation equivalence? Define it.
2. What helps to find proper translation equivalents?
3. What is a unit of translation? What are the optimal units for practical translation?
4. What is full and partial translation equivalence? Give definitions.
5. What are syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects of translation equivalence? Which of them is the most important for adequate translation?
EXERCISES
Ex. 1. Translate into Ukrainian. Define translation equivalence conditions (context, situation, background information) that helped you find proper equivalents. Divide the text into translation units and prove your choice of units.
BOSTON BOMBINGS: WAS DAGESTAN THE STARTING POINT?
By Steven Rosenberg, BBC News
27 April 2013 Last updated at 00:04 GMT
The stunning scenery in Russia's Dagestan is in stark contrast to the shootings, explosions and assassinations which blight the region. Was this troubled republic a breeding ground for the extremism which drove the Boston bombing suspects?
When Tsar Nicholas I was searching for somewhere to build a fortress on the eastern fringes of the Russian empire, it's little wonder he chose what became known as Makhachkala. This town is blessed with such natural beauty. It would catch the eye of any Emperor. To one side are the Caucasus Mountains - their jagged peaks stabbing the sky like daggers. On the other, is the Caspian Sea. With its beaches and its promenades, and with a little imagination, Makhachkala could be Russia's St Tropez. But St Tropez doesn't have nearly as many problems as this town.
The resort hotel I stayed in felt more like a last resort.
There was no running water, much of the building seemed to have been abandoned. At night, the door to our corridor was kept locked by hotel staff - and we had no key. But, then again, security is important in the republic of Dagestan. This is Russia's most dangerous region. You can see that just by reading the local government newspaper. I bought a copy when I arrived.
Making the news that day was the arrest of two men who had tried to sell seven rocket launchers and 2,000 rounds of ammunition on the black market; the murder of a former politician outside a mosque, and a roadside bomb that narrowly missed killing a police chief.
Shootings, explosions and assassinations occur with frightening regularity in Dagestan. There are clashes between criminal gangs. There is also an ongoing Islamist insurgency. And there are many factors fuelling it, such as economic hardship and deep-seated feelings of social injustice. Some here take up arms to tear the North Caucasus away from Moscow and turn the entire region into an Islamic state. The Russian authorities maintain the violence is encouraged and funded by militants abroad.
That brings me to the explosions thousands of miles away in Boston and to the question: was Tamerlan Tsarnaev - the suspected mastermind of the Boston attacks - influenced or inspired in any way by Islamic militants in the North Caucasus? Was it here that he was drawn to radical Islam? And did he go on to radicalise his younger brother Dzhokhar?
Last year Tamerlan travelled to Russia from the United States and spent six months in the North Caucasus, much of that time in Dagestan. Why did he come? What did he do here? Who did he meet?
This week, journalists in Dagestan had the chance to put these questions to the parents of the two young men.
Their mother Zubeidat and father Anzor gave an improvised press conference. At times it was a chaotic affair. There were tears, and there was plenty of fist-banging.
Anzor said that Tamerlan had come to Dagestan in 2012 to spend time with cousins and apply for a Russian passport. And yet he never collected the document he'd applied for. The father denied that his son had met up with militants - Tamerlan, he said, had spent time helping him renovate a flat. Yes, Anzor said, his son had prayed in a mosque which is known for preaching a more fundamentalist form of Islam. But that doesn't make him a bomber. I asked Tamerlan's mother, Zubeidat, what impression his six months in the volatile North Caucasus had made on her son. "He was telling me about the killing," Zubeidat said. "That the situation was strange here, with people killing each other."
But on his return to America, she maintains there was nothing to suggest that he had changed or become radicalised. He was no terrorist. She and her husband refuse to accept their sons are guilty.
Vladimir Putin thinks they are. The same day as the parents' news conference, live on Russian television President Putin described Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as "criminals" and called on Russia and the West to work more closely on the fight against terrorism.
US investigators spent two days in Makhachkala this week questioning the parents. There are many unanswered questions. A direct link between the Boston bombings and Islamic militants in the North Caucasus has yet to be proven.
But I wanted to find out how have people in Dagestan have reacted to the attacks and to suggestions there may be a connection with their republic. I asked a taxi driver called Magomed - he'd been following the news and told me the suspects "had brought shame on the whole of the North Caucasus." But I was surprised to find that not everyone in Makhachkala was so interested. At an internet café I chatted to a teenager. "What do I think about the Boston bombings?" he asked. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "Here in Dagestan, we have our own Boston every day."
Ex. 2. Translate into Ukrainian. Indicate missing aspects of translation equivalence, if any.
a) Chief justice; justice of the peace; court is in session; take the lead; take shape; to hold at arm's length; closed matter; harbor hopes; take a dim view; exit polls; gender gap; popular vote.
b) Keep off the grass; in the exact middle; floors tiled and carpeted; for time out of mind; to throw caution with the wind; to collect one's wits.
c) I took a taxi in a downpour of October rain, and on my way I even thought she might be there, that I would see Holly again. But there was no one on the premises except the proprietor. Joe Bell's is a quiet place compared to most Lexington Avenue bars. It boasts neither neon nor television. Two old mirrors reflect the weather from the streets; and behind the bar, in a niche surrounded by photographs of ice-hockey stars, there is always a large bowl of fresh flowers that Joe Bell himself arranges with matronly care. That is what he was doing when I came in. "Naturally," he said, rooting a gladiola deep into the bowl, "naturally I wouldn't have got you over here if it wasn't I wanted your opinion. It's peculiar. A very peculiar thing has happened." "You heard from Holly?" He fingered a leaf, as though uncertain of how to answer. A small man with a fine head of coarse white hair, he has a bony, sloping face better suited to someone far taller; his complexion seems permanently sunburned: now it grew even redder. "I can't say exactly heard from her. I mean, I don't know. That's why I want your opinion. Let me build you a drink. Something new. They call it a White Angel," he said, mixing one-half vodka, one-half gin, no vermouth. While I drank the result, Joe Bell stood sucking on a Tums and turning over in his mind what he had to tell me. Then: "You recall a certain Mr. I.Y. Yunioshi? A gentleman from Japan."
Ex. 3. Translate into Ukrainian, suggest units of translation and types of equivalents used in translation. Pay special attention to the italicized text and suggest background information required for translation.
CLASSIC NEW YORK FOOD
from http://www.lonelyplanet.com
This excerpt from our New York City guide lets you know how to eat like a New Yorker.
Unlike California or the South or even the Southwest, New York is never really referred to as having one defining cuisine. Try asking for some ‘New York food,’ for example, and you could wind up getting anything from a hot dog to a South Indian feast or a $500 Japanese prix fixe at the Time Warner Center’s Masa. Cuisine in this multicultural town is global by definition, and constantly evolving by its very nature. That said, it’s the food items with the longest histories that folks usually have in mind when they refer to New York City specialties. Those at the top of the list – bagels and slices of pizza – were introduced by Eastern European Jews and Italians, because those groups were among the earliest wave of immigrants here. But egg creams, cheesecake and hot dogs, just to name a few, are also uncontested staples of New York eats.
Hot Dogs
A derivative of sausage and one of the oldest forms of processed food, the hot dog goes back thousands of years, making its way to New York via various European butchers in the 1800s. One, Charles Feltman of Germany, was apparently the first to sell them from pushcarts along the Coney Island seashore. But Nathan Handwerker, originally an employee of Feltman’s, opened his own shop across the street, offering hot dogs at half the price of those at Feltman’s and putting his former employer out of business. Today the original and legendary Nathan’s still stands in Coney Island, while its empire has expanded on a national scale. And there is barely a New York neighborhood that does not have at least a few hot-dog vendors on its street corners, although some locals would never touch one of those ‘dirty-water dogs,’ referring to the new wave of chi-chi hot-dog shops that can be found all over town. Enjoy yours, wherever it’s from, with ‘the works’: plenty of spicy brown mustard, relish, sauerkraut and onions.
Bagels
Bagels may have been invented in Europe, but they were perfected around the turn of the 19th century in New York City – and once you’ve had one here, you’ll have a hard time enjoying one anywhere else. Basically, it’s a ring of plain-yeast dough that’s first boiled and then baked, either left plain or topped with various finishing touches, from sesame seeds to chocolate chips. ‘Bagels’ made in other parts of the country are often just baked and not boiled, which makes them nothing more than a roll with a hole. And even if they do get boiled elsewhere, bagel-makers here claim that it’s the New York water that adds an elusive sweetness never to be found anywhere else. Which baker creates the ‘best’ bagel in New York is a matter of (hotly contested) opinion, but most agree that H&H Bagels (www. handhbagel.com), with locations on the Upper West Side (2239 Broadway at 80th St) and the main store in Midtown West (639 W 46th St), ranks pretty high. The most traditionally New York way to order one is by asking for a ‘bagel and a schmear,’ which will yield you said bagel with a small but thick swipe of cream cheese. Or splurge and add some lox – thinly sliced smoked salmon – as was originally sold from pushcarts on the Lower East Side by Jewish immigrants back in the early 1900s.
Pizza
Pizza’s certainly not indigenous to Gotham. But New York–style pizza is a very particular item, and the first pizzeria in America was Lombardi’s (32 Spring St btwn Mulberry & Mott Sts), which opened here in 1905. While Chicago-style is ‘deep dish’ and Californian tends to be light and doughy, New York prides itself on having pizza with thin crust and an even thinner layer of sauce – and slices that are triangular (unless they’re Sicilian-style, in which case they’re rectangular). Pizza made its way over to New York in the 1900s through Italian immigrants, and its regional style soon developed, its thin crust allowing for faster cooking time in a city where everyone’s always in a hurry. Today there are pizza parlors about every 10 blocks, especially in Manhattan and most of Brooklyn, where you’ll find standard slices for $2.50. The style at each place varies slightly – some places touting crackerthin crust, others offering slightly thicker and chewier versions, and plenty of nouveau styles throwing everything from shrimp to cherries on top.
Egg Creams
This frothy, old-fashioned beverage contains no eggs or cream – just milk, seltzer water and plenty of chocolate syrup (preferably the classic Fox’s U-Bet brand). But when Louis Auster of Brooklyn, who owned soda fountains on the Lower East Side, invented the treat back in 1890, the syrup he used was made with eggs, and he added cream to thicken the concoction. The name stuck, even though the ingredients were modified, and soon they were a staple of every soda fountain in New York. While Mr Auster sold them for 3¢ a piece, today they’ll cost you anywhere from $1.50 to $3, depending on where you find one – which could be from one of the few remaining old-fashioned soda shops, such as Lexington Candy Shop on the Upper East Side, or an old-school deli, like Katz’s Deli.
New York–Style Cheesecake
Sure, cheesecake, in one form or another, has been baked and eaten in Europe since the 1400s. But New Yorkers, as they do with many things, have appropriated its history in the form of the New York–style cheesecake. Immortalized by Lindy’s restaurant in Midtown, which was opened by Leo Lindemann in 1921, the particular type of confection served there – made of cream cheese, heavy cream, a dash of vanilla and a cookie crust – became wildly popular in the ’40s. Junior’s (1515 Broadway at 44th St), which opened on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn in 1929 and in Midtown just a few years ago, makes its own famous version of the creamy cake with a graham-cracker crust. Today, you’ll find this local favorite on plentiful dessert menus, whether you’re at a Greek diner or haute-cuisine hotspot.
Ex. 4. (OPTIONAL)Read the article “Адекватність та еквівалентність перекладу”, and then make notes in your copy book (maximum one page).