UDC 81

DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION BY TRANSLATION OF PROPER NAMES IN “HARRY POTTER”

Sedova Alyona Dmitrievna
Tomsk State Pedagogical University

Abstract
The article considerss the concepts of domestication and foreignization. It gives examples and accounts for their usage in "Harry Potter".

Keywords: domestication, foreignization, Harry Potter


Article reference:
Sedova A.D. Domestication and foreignization by translation of proper names in "Harry Potter" // Philology and literature. 2013. № 10 [Electronic journal]. URL: https://philology.snauka.ru/en/2013/10/572

View this article in Russian

Translation does not only involve giving the equivalent meaning in the target language, it involves considering the values of the target language and the source language whether they are linguistic values or cultural ones. By translating texts we can use different strategies which will either make our text more comprehensible or preserve some original features. These strategies are domestication and foreignization. First of all, what do these strategies imply?

Domestication is the strategy of making text closely conform to the culture of the language being translated to. In translation practice, it will make a translated text as readable as possible in the target language, without any traces of the source text linguistics or unfamiliar expressions, making it fluent and transparent.

The second approach is foreignization. It is the strategy of retaining information from the source text, and it involves breaking the conventions of the target language to preserve its meaning. Foreignization in translation can be used to keep the culture of the source language by involving cultural aspects in the source language to the target language.

As an example for analysis I chose the translation of Harry Potter from English into Russian by Mariya Spivack. The most interesting thing that attracted my attention was the translation of the characters’ names. The translator here operates with both strategies. Thus, for instance, the names of main heroes remain unchanged, the only transformations they undergo are transliteration or transcription (Harry Potter – Гарри Поттер, Hermione Granger – Гермиона Грейнджер, Ron Weasley – Рон Уизли). The thing is there is no additional information contained in their names in English, and there is no need to think up anything new in Russian. If we take the names like Oliver Wood, Kathy Bell, Tom Riddle – we will see that the translator could translate them directly, but, firstly, it would sound weird in Russian, and, secondly, the author didn’t have any purpose to connect the characters with their surnames. Thus, the translator prefers to preserve them as Оливер Вуд, Кэти Белл, Том Риддл.

However, there are other names that were considered by the translator to be charactonyms – names aptly suited to their owners. For instance, Neville Longbottom (Невилл Долгопупс), Gilderoy Lockhart (Златопуст Локонс), Horace Slughorn (Гораций Слизнорт), Pomona Sprout (Помона Стебль), Vernon Dursley (Вернон Дурсль), Luna Lovegood (Полумна Лавгуд), Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody (Аластор «Грозный Глаз» Грюм). By using the strategy of domestication the author showed particular features of the characters. In such a manner the reader can understand that Долгопупс (Longbottom) is tall and plump and Помона Стебль (Pomona Sprout) is easily remembered as the professor of agrostology. Gilderoy Lockhart (Златопуст Локонс) is something totally different in the Russian translation; the translator simply decided to find a new name that sounds partially similar to the English variant, but creates an image of a man with golden curly hair who talks a lot off the subject. As for Luna Lovegood, here the translator reaches two goals at once: she preserves the connection with the name “Luna” in translation as it sounds similar, and at the same time names the girl “Полумна” which in English means “Loony”. Vernon Dursley could be translated as “Вернон Дерсли”,or “Вернон Дёрсли”; however, M. Spivack chooses another variant – “Вернон Дурсль” which is associated with the word „fool” in Russian. Obviously, if the personage was positive, the translator would choose another variant to make it more harmonious.

If we look at the names of places, we will notice again that both domestication and foreignization were used by the translator (“Diagon Alley” – Косая Аллея, “Knocktum Alley” – Лютный Переулок, “Spinner’s End” – Паучий Угол, “Godrick’s Hollow”- Голрикова Впадина, “Hogsmeade Village” – Деревня Хогсмид ). Let us concern some examples in a more detailed way. For instance, the name of the street where Harry lived is Privet Drive. It was translated as “Тисовая улица” („Yew-tree street”). The translator changed the tree used in the street name, and there are two reasons why she did so: firstly, „Тисовая улица” sounds more harmonious in Russian; and, secondly, a yew-tree is more common in Russia than a privet-tree. Some other translators preferred transcription by translating – Прайвет Драйв – that preserved for readers the perception that the street is located in England. Such names as “The Burrow”, “Shell Cottage”, “Shrieking Shack”, “The Leaky Cauldron” were translated as “Нора”, “Коттедж Ракушка”, “Визжащая Хижина” and “Дырявый Котёл” to retain the certain features of the houses. One more peculiar case is translation of the French school name “Beauxbaton”. If the translator simply made a transcription, it would sound French but make no sense for the Russian readers. M.Spivack offers another variant translating the name partially – “Шармбатон” (“Charmbaton”). Thus, the reader can easily figure out that it is a school for girls, and it still sounds French.

In conclusion, it is plausible to mention that domestication and foreignization are suitable in particular cases. A translator should analyze what pros and cons this or that method has in a given situation, and find a golden mean. As we can see from the examples above, there is no one possible and correct strategy, the best way to translate is to combine the two strategies and produce the translation that, on the one hand, will be easily understood by the readers, but, on the other hand, will retain cultural peculiarities of the source text.


References
  1. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone/J.K. Rowling. – London: Scholastic Press, 2003.
  2. Venuti, L. The translator’s invisibility: a history of translation/ L. Venuti.- London and New York: Routledge, 1995.


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