Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Albert Vermes: Proper names in translation: a case study

confirmed by the statistical results: names with an empty logical entry are mostly transferred, whereas those with an at least partly filled-in logical entry are largely translated - unless a conventional TL correspondent preempts these options or the encyclopaedic entry of the name contains some relevant assumptions which necessitate the modification of the name in the TL. These findings are easily explained on the basis of our initial assumption that translation is a communicative process, governed by the principle of optimal resemblance. On this assumption, the choice of a particular translation operation in a given situation is made in line with the need to preserve, as far as possible, the range of contextual effects that the semantic contents of the name contribute to in the source text. Thus, when the logical entry contains information, it is preserved by applying the operation of translation proper; when the encyclopaedic entry contains relevant information, it can be preserved by modifying the name in the translation. On the other hand, the relatively large number of substituted cases is explicable by evoking the notion of processing effort: the use of a conventional correspondent is clearly the solution that requires the least amount of effort from the audience. Therefore, a reasonable translator will consider a different solution only when the gains in effects would probably outweigh the losses caused by the increase of processing effort. Another factor in the decision to apply a particular operation, as we have seen in several examples, is the need to maintain consistency in the translation on three different plains: with prevailing practices (standard usage) in the TL, with characteristic solutions across texts and with solutions within the given text. This train of thought, again, leads us straight to considerations of the balance between contextual effects and processing effort. In summary, we have found that the pragmatic theory we have chosen to couch our examinations in, relevance theory, appears adequate for our purposes: it has enabled us to explain in lucid terms how and, partly, why the particular operations were applied in particular cases. Primary sources Vonnegut, Kurt (1986). Slaughterhouse-Five. London: Jonathan Cape. Vonnegut, Kurt (1980). Az ötös számú vágóhíd. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó. Translated by László Nemes. 176