STRATEGIES APPLIED IN THE ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE...

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

STRATEGIES APPLIED IN THE

ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF

POEMS IN THE POETRY COLLECTION

“LOVE & MISADVENTURE” BY LANG LEAV

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thuý, M.A

Student: Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Phương

Course: QH2013.F1.E16

HÀ NỘI – 2017

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC ÁP DỤNG TRONG DỊCH

ANH-VIỆT CÁC BÀI THƠ TRONG TUYỂN TẬP

THƠ "YÊU LÀ THƯƠNG HAY VẬN RỦI"

CỦA TÁC GIẢ LANG LEAV

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Th.S Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thuý

Sinh viên: Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Phương

Khóa: QH2013.F1.E16

HÀ NỘI – 2017

I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Phương, QH2013.E16, being a

candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (English Language) accept the

requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s

Graduation Paper deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the

library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in

accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care,

loan or reproduction of the paper.

Signature

Date

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Diệu

Thuý, M.A – Lecturer of Faculty of English Language Teacher Education. Had it not

been for her helpful guidance and active encouragement over the last months, this

graduation paper could not have been successfully completed. Her insights and

expertise in translation studies and research methodology have greatly assisted me

upon carrying out the study.

I am also deeply indebted to my family and friends for their solid support

during the process of my research. Without their mental and financial assistance, I

would not have mustered enough motivation to finalise this study.

I am heartily thankful to my classmates for their enthusiastic support and

valuable suggestions on my thesis. A special thank goes to Ms. Phạm Hồng Anh for

providing me with a source of inspiration, so that I could decide on the topic of this

research. I am also truly grateful to Ms. Nguyễn Thu Nhàn who has wholeheartedly

accompanied and motivated me along the process of research conduct.

Finally, I would like to offer my warm regards to all the readers of this thesis

paper. I appreciate your constructive feedback and hope that this study will be of use

to anyone who takes an interest in its topic.

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ABSTRACT

Poetry translation has always been regarded as a more perplexing task than the

translation of any other literary texts due to its intrinsic literary and aesthetic

complexity. Hence, concerted efforts have been made to identify translation methods

or strategies that can be adopted to preserve the poet’s message and stylistic

uniqueness, thus generating equivalent effects in target language. The aims of this

study were to find out the translation strategies applied to translate the poems in the

poetry collection Love & Misadventure written by Lang Leav, concerning André

Lefevere’s seven strategies (1975), and subsequently draw some lessons about poetry

translation from English into Vietnamese. The data were obtained from 65 English-

written poems and their Vietnamese translated versions in the bilingual book Love &

Misadventure – Yêu là thương hay vận rủi by means of document observation. The

theoretical model used was seven strategies for translating poetry devised by André

Lefevere (1975). The researcher opted for a qualitative approach, and the data were

analysed descriptively. The findings showed that the translator applied three out of

seven strategies proposed by Lefevere which were metrical translation, rhymed

translation, and blank verse translation. Blank verse translation was the most

frequently used strategy, followed by metrical translation and rhymed translation.

These results implied the translator’s tendencies to transfer poetic form and meaning

in her translation, as well as revealing certain gaps in Lefevere’s methodology in the

case of translating poetry from English into Vietnamese.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement .................................................................................................... i

Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii

Table of contents ...................................................................................................... iii

List of tables, figures, and abbreviations ................................................................. v

1. Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................................... 1

1.1. Statement of problem and rationale .................................................................. 1

1.2. Aims and objectives of the study ...................................................................... 3

1.3. Significance of the study ................................................................................... 4

1.4. Scope of the study ............................................................................................. 5

1.5. Organisation of the paper .................................................................................. 5

2. Chapter 2 – Literature review .......................................................................... 6

2.1. Poetry translation .............................................................................................. 6

2.1.1. Definition ....................................................................................................... 6

2.1.2. Characteristics ................................................................................................ 7

2.1.2.1. Loss of poetic elements ............................................................................... 7

2.1.2.2. Particular difficulties in poetry translation.................................................. 8

2.1.2.3. Translator expertise ..................................................................................... 9

2.2. Approaches to translating poetry ...................................................................... 10

2.2.1. Dryden’s triadic model (1680) ....................................................................... 10

2.2.2. Raffel’s four audience-based types of poetry translation (1988) ................... 11

2.2.3. Holmes’ four traditional approaches (1988) .................................................. 12

2.2.4. Lefevere’s seven strategies for poetry translation (1975) .............................. 13

3. Chapter 3 – Methodology ................................................................................. 18

3.1. Selection of subjects .......................................................................................... 18

3.2. Sampling ........................................................................................................... 19

3.3. Data collection procedure ................................................................................. 19

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3.4. Data analysis procedure .................................................................................... 19

4. Chapter 4 – Findings & Discussion .................................................................. 21

4.1. Lefevere’s translation strategies applied in Love & Misadventure ................... 21

4.2. Most dominantly used strategies in Love & Misadventure ............................... 22

4.2.1. Blank verse translation ................................................................................... 22

4.2.2. Metrical translation ........................................................................................ 26

4.2.3. Rhymed translation ........................................................................................ 29

4.3. Some lessons about poetry translation from English into Vietnamese ............. 32

5. Chapter 5 – Conclusion ..................................................................................... 38

5.1. Summary of major findings .............................................................................. 38

5.2. Limitations of the study .................................................................................... 39

5.3. Suggestions for further studies .......................................................................... 40

5.4. Contributions of the study ................................................................................. 40

References ................................................................................................................ 42

Appendix .................................................................................................................. 45

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LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations

ST Source Text

TT Target Text

SL Source Language

TL Target Language

Tables

Table 4.1. The translation strategies applied in translating Lang Leav’s poems

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CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION

This chapter specifies the research problem and rationale, objectives of the

study and research questions, the scope and the significance of the thesis, as well as

the organisation of the whole paper.

1.1. Statement of problem and rationale

Literary translation holds an influential position among other types of

translation given the complex nature of literary texts. One of the most prominent

translation scholars, Peter Newmark, states that the greater the quantity of a

language's resources (e.g. polysemy, word-play, sound-effect, metre, rhyme) a text is

charged with, the more challenging it is to be translated, and the more worthwhile

(1988). In this sense, a large number of researchers have set out to build a solid

foundation for literary translation with regard to both theoretical frameworks and

empirical approaches.

Within the field of literary translation, poetry rendering seems a more

challenging task than translation of other literary modes. Poetry is characterised by

its distinctive literary and aesthetic features. The former consist of rhymth, rhyme,

metre, and the latter involve figurative language and rhetorical devices such as

metaphor, simile, hyperbole. Since form and content of poetry are highly

interconnected and inseparable, the translator has to take into consideration both these

two aspects in the translation process. In consequence of such seemingly

insurmountable difficulties, the issue of poetry translatability has given rise to

considerable theoretical and practical debates among scholars. Jacobson (1959)

believes that poetry is by definition untranslatable; similarly, Frost (cited in Bassnet

& Lefevere, 1998) describes poetry as “what gets lost in translation”. On the other

hand, despite acknowledging the varying degrees of loss of meaning in poetry

translation, Newmark (1988) asserts that poetry is by no means unsuitable for

translation. In fact, poetry has been “superbly and closely translated at various times”,

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reflecting a linguistic harmony between the poet and the poet-translator. Besides,

poetry renderings prove to be a demonstration of the translator’s “suggestive and

tactful compensatory sound techniques”.

Considering these polarised views on the translatability of poetry, more time

and efforts have been dedicated to investigating the problems of translating poetry

than any other literary genres. Boase-Beier (2009) claims that “far more has been

written about the translation of poetry than either prose or drama”. Methodological

studies of poetry and translation from a non-empirical position are regarded as “most

valuable and most needed” by Bassnett (1980). In this regard, translation theorists

have proposed various strategies to translate poetry, such as Holmes’ four traditional

approaches to verse form translation (1988), or Lefevere’s seven descriptive strategies

(1975). Nevertheless, in the context of English-to-Vietnamese translation, it could be

noticed that few studies have been conducted in the matter of poetry translation from

English into Vietnamese. Meanwhile, taking the serious challenges of translating

poems into account, there is a clear need for in-depth researches to be conducted into

this branch of literary translation, particularly specific strategies to overcome those

difficulties.

Therefore, this thesis paper is dedicated to contribute to the limited existing

research body in the field of translated poetry from English into Vietnamese. By

testing the application of theories on strategies into real practice of translation, the

study expects to offer new insights and corroborate earlier findings in the field of

poetry translation in Vietnam. As one of the few translated poetry books in Vietnam,

Love & Misadventure – Yêu là thương hay vận rủi has been warmly welcomed by

Vietnamese readers since its publication. The reputation of its author (Lang Leav) as

a best-selling contemporary writer and the translator’s credibility (Zelda) as a well-

known writer and poet herself have justified the researcher’s decision to undertake

the study into this translated work.

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1.2. Aims and objectives of the study

By investigating the strategies applied by the translator in translating poems

based on Lefevere’s seven strategies for translating poetry, the study aims to

incorporate the theoretical model proposed by Lefevere to the real practice of

translation. Specifically, the objectives of the study are:

- to identify all the translation strategies applied in the translated version of the

poetry collection Love & Misadventure

- to identify the most dominantly applied translation strategies in the translated

version of the poetry collection Love & Misadventure

- to draw useful lessons about poetry translation from English to Vietnamese

and make recommendations for further researches on translation studies

Also, the study attempts to put forward a strategic approach to poetry

translation as a source of reference, which can be of use to future translators working

in the field of literary translation.

In order to achieve those objectives, the research aims to answer these

following research questions:

1. What are the translation strategies employed in the translation of poems

in “Love & Misadventure” by Lang Leav from English into Vietnamese,

concerning Lefevere’s seven strategies of poetry translation?

2. What is the frequency of each translation strategy? What is the most

dominantly used strategy by the translator?

3. What lessons about poetry translation from English into Vietnamese can

be drawn from the application of Lefevere’s seven strategies by Zelda in the

Vietnamese translated version of the work “Love & Misadventure”?

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1.3. Significance of the study

The study aims at supporting translators-to-be of Translation and Interpreting

Division, ULIS, VNU as well as novice translators in particular and anyone who has

the same interest in literary translation.

Firstly, the study is expected to provide readers with a source of reference

regarding theories on poetry translation and particularly specific strategies to translate

poetry. More distinctively, the study presents a theoretical overview of poetry

translation including definition, classification, characteristics, and translation

strategies with focus on Andre Lefevere’s seven strategies. Concepts and uses of

Lefevere’s strategies will be delivered to readers through examination of their

application in the Vietnamese version of the poem collection Love & Misadventure.

To some extent, this can contribute to enhancing readers’ understanding of particular

methodological strategies which can be useful for poetry translation in general.

Secondly, readers can find in this research the most dominant translation

strategies properly applied in the Vietnamese version of poems in the collection Love

& Misadventure. Thus, the study offers a deep and critical insight into specific poetry

translation strategies useful for professional literary translators and further academic

researches on poetry translation.

Finally, certain lessons about adopting translation strategies in translating

poetic works will be drawn from the application of Lefevere’s proposed strategies in

the Vietnamese version of Love & Misadventure. Such suggestions may be of

practical use to translators and anyone interested in the field of literary translation,

particularly poetry translation, so that they can decide on the most effective strategies

to employ in their translations. Furthermore, the findings of the study will supply

researchers with a source of relevant and trustworthy information for their further

studies in the future.

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1.4. Scope of the study

As the title implied, the study focused on the translation of the poem collection

Love & Misadventure from English to Vietnamese by the translator Zelda.

Consequently, the researcher clearly mentioned and critically analysed all the main

dimensions of Lefevere’s proposed poetry translation strategies consisting of

phonemic translation, literal translation, metrical translation, poetry into prose,

rhymed translation, blank verse translation, and interpretation.

Moreover, the researcher extracted quotations and examples all from the

original English version and Vietnamese translated version of the work Love &

Misadventure.

1.5. Organisation of the paper

The structure of the study is as following:

Chapter 1 – Introduction: Provide an overview of the study with rationale,

aims and objectives, significance and organisation of the study

Chapter 2 – Literature review: Provide a theoretical background in the field

of poetry translation and specific methodological strategies to translate poems

Chapter 3 – Methodology: Present methods of the study including selection

of subjects, research instrument, procedures of data collecting and procedures of data

analysis

Chapter 4 – Findings and discussion: Discuss the results of the study and

explain how these results are discovered, then justify how they answer the research

questions.

Chapter 5 – Conclusion: Summarise discussed points, limitations of the study,

suggestions for further researches as well as contributions of the study to this field.

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CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides a theoretical background relating to poetry translation,

including its definition and dominant charateristics. Besides, an overview of poetry

translation strategies proposed by different scholars is also presented in this chapter.

2.1. Poetry translation

2.1.1. Definition

Poetry translation may be defined as relaying poetry into another language

(Jones, 2011). Besides text transformation, poetry translation also involves cognition,

discourse, and action by and between human and textual actors in a physical and

social setting. Jones (2011) goes further to state that poetry translation is typically

overt. Poetry translators are concerned to analyse a source poem's layers of meaning,

to relay this interpretation reliably, and/or to “create a poem in the target language

which is readable and enjoyable as an independent, literary text.”

Another definition of poetry translation is given by Mathews (1966) (cited in

Wilss, 2001). He equates translating a whole poem with composing another poem. A

whole translation will be faithful to the matter, and it will “approximate the form” of

the original. The translated poem will have a life of its own, which is the voice of the

translator.

Both Jones and Mathews point out what action is involved in the translation of

poems, but neither of them provides an insight into the nature of poetry translation.

Boase-Beier (2009) fills this gap by addressing three dimensions of poetry to be

reproduced in translation: semantic content, aesthetic form, and pragmatic effect. On

the semantic level, it is “some message or statement about the real world or the

author’s reaction to it” that must be reproduced in any translation. Regarding aesthetic

or stylistic features, many scholars emphasise the necessary preservation of rhymes,

metre, and poetic forms in translated poetry. Finally, the pragmatic dimension of a

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poem refers to its ability “to arouse sentiment and to produce emotional effect”

(Boase-Beier, 2009), which is considered the most difficult to account for in

translation. Overall, Boase-Beier’s discussion has helped to further clarify the

fundamental nature of poetry translation.

2.1.2. Characteristics

Researches have indicated that poetry translation is characterised by the

inevitable loss of certain poetic elements, peculiar difficulties in translating poems,

and special requirements of translator expertise.

2.1.2.1. Loss of poetic elements

One of the most dominant characteristics of poetry translation is the inevitable

loss of basic poetic qualities as stated by Longfellow and Martindale (cited in Brower,

1966). According to Frost (1969), the main characteristic of poetic discourse that

distinguishes it from common discourse is that in poetry form and content are

inseparable. Therefore, poetry translators must strive to reproduce both poetic form

and content, which is certainly not a simple task.

Regarding the transference of poetic features, Venuti (2004) holds quite a

pessimistic view about both form and content reproduction in the translation of poetry.

He goes further to state that in general “the form is usually sacrificed for the sake of

the content.” In contrast to Venuti’s content-emphasized approach, Nida (1964) calls

for “a greater focus of attention upon formal elements” in poetry. He points out the

necessary sacrifice of content in translation of poetry and stresses the unavoidable

formal restrictions on poetic content.

Overall, as languages do not share the same phonology, syntactic structures,

vocabulary, literary history, prosody or poetics (Attwater, 2013), certain aspects are

bound to be missing in the translation of poetry.

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2.1.2.2. Particular difficulties in poetry translation

The special literary features of poetry often pose special problems to translators

in this field. According to Raffel (2010), there are five significant aspects of the

original literary work which cannot be reproduced in the new language, including

phonology, syntactic structures, vocabulary, literary history, and prosody. Raffel’s

categorisation seems to put an increased emphasis on the linguistic and literary facets

of poetry translation.

Meanwhile, Hariyanto (n.d.) proposes a different classification of problems

inherent in poetry translation, which is built on Raffel’s work and improved by adding

one more aspect. According to Hariyanto (n.d.), the problems in translating poetry

can be categorised into linguistic problems, literary or aesthetic problems, and socio-

cultural problems.

The linguistic aspect deals with collocations and obscured (non-standard)

syntactical structures in poetry. Collocations in poetry fall into two classes:

syntagmatic or horizontal, and pragmatic or vertical. Where there is an accepted

collocation in the SL, the translator must find and use its equivalent in the TL if it

exists. Meanwhile, a closer attention should also be paid to the collocation with

similar form but different meaning in the SL and TL. Obscured (non-standard)

syntactic structures may be intentionally adopted in a poem to perform the expressive

function of the text. Hence, such structures should be rendered as closely as possible.

Literary or aesthetic factors include poetic structure, metaphorical expressions,

and sound (rhyme, rhythm, assonance, onomatopoeia, etc.) Poetic structure includes

the plan of theoriginal poem as a whole, as well as the shape and the balance of

individual sentences in each line. Metaphorical expressions, as the second factor,

mean any constructions evoking visual, sounds, touch, and taste images, the

traditional metaphors, direct comparisons without the words "like' and "as if", and all

figurative languages. The last of literary or aesthetic factors is sound which is

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anything connected with sound cultivation including rhyme, rhythm, assonance,

onomatopoeia, etc. The job of poetry translators is to maintain these aesthetic factors

as much as possible in their rendering in order to successfully convey the feeling and

the hidden message of poems.

In terms of socio-cultural aspect, it is culturally-bound words or expressions

that create certain problems to poetry translators. The socio-cultural problems exist in

the phrases, clauses, or sentences containing word(s) related to the four major cultural

categories, namely: ideas, behavior, product, and ecology (Said, 1994). The "ideas"

involves belief, values, and institution; "behavior" involves customs or habits;

"products" involves art, music, and artifacts; and "ecology" involves flora, fauna,

plains, winds, and weather. Due to the wide gap between some cultures, the task of

translating these culturally-bound words in the poetic context becomes increasingly

challenging.

Overall, in comparison with Raffel’s categorisation, Hariyanto’s appears to be

more comprehensive as it takes into consideration the socio-cultural factor of poetic

works together with linguistic and literary/aesthetic elements. These three aspects

summarise the specific difficulties that translators may encounter when they translate

poetry.

2.1.2.3. Translator expertise

Due to its peculiar difficulties, poetry translation requires special expertise in

order to produce a satisfactory poetic rendition. Not only do translators have to

possess linguistic competence but they must also acquire a sound knowledge of poetic

discourse.

Dryden (cited in Miremadi, 1995), one of the greatest English poets of the

seventeenth century and a poetry translator, pioneers by asserting that “to render a

poem, the translator should be a poet him/herself.”

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Bassnett (1998) and Folkart (2007) both agrees that translators need to be

expert source-poem readers and expert target-poem writers. The job of poetry

translation demands crosslanguage expertise so that the translators are able to find

appropriate counterparts for complexes of source-poem features. In case no

equivalence is found, poetry translators have to make the literary judgement as to

“what to reproduce, what to recreate more loosely, and what to abandon.”

Rose (1981) further supports this point by emphasising the importance of the

translator’s knowledge of “the source language's cultural matrices, its etymologies,

syntax, and grammar, as well as its poetic tradition.” He also adds that the translator

needs to culturally and politically identify him/herself wholeheartedly with the

original poet. Besides, the expectations and sensibilities of the poetic tradition of the

target language must be successfully met in order to make the translation become a

poem. In general, the most successful translators of poetry are frequently “bilingual

and bicultural and, above all, poets in the target language.”

2.2. Approaches to translating poetry

Fully aware of the tough challenges translators encounter when they translate

poetry, researchers and scholars have tried to develop relevant strategies and methods

to face them. Throughout history, valiant attempts have been made at establishing a

methodological framework for translating poetry.

2.2.1. Dryden’s triadic model (1680)

One of the first schools of translation theories is formulated by Dryden (cited

in Hopkins, 2013). As a distinguished poet and translator, Dryden, in the Preface to

Ovid’s Epistles (1680), proposed his tripartite division of translation into metaphrase,

paraphrase, and imitation. This trichotomy of terms is respectively linked with the

more common terms in use today: word for word, sense for sense and free translation.

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Metaphrase is rejected by Dryden on the grounds that it produces “unidiomatic

and obscure renderings” and fails to convey the spirit of the original. Also, imitation

is not considered a desirable approach because it gives the translator so much liberty

that the results stand a high chance of being “original compositions than translations”.

Dryden comes to the conclusion that paraphrase is the most appropriate style of

translation, compromising between the two unacceptable extremes.

2.2.2. Raffel’s four audience-based types of poetry translation (1988)

For Raffel (1988), translation of poetry can be classified into four broad types

on the basis of different target audiences. These types are listed below:

(1) Formal translation

Formal translation is aimed primarily at scholars and those taught by scholars,

largely for scholarly rather than literary purposes. It deals with scholarship works

including examining, classifying, categorising, even comparing. Accordingly, the

formal translators opt for “literal”, or “faithful” translation of the original, which

means an exact reproduction of literary form, prosody and so on. They make every

effort to avoid any kind of interference between the original and their rendering and

prove perfectly willing to sacrifice literary for scholarly values.

(2) Interpretive translation

Interpretive translation is aimed primarily at a general audience who reads for

literary reasons. In order to serve this group of audience, the translators try to remain

faithful to the original poetic features such as the sequence of images, the rhythms,

and the tone. Their main goal is “to recreate something roughly equivalent in the new

language” which can be considered good poetry and successful in conveying “a

reasonable measure of the force and flavour of the original”.

(3) Expansive (or "free") translation

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Expansive translation is aimed at those who usually prefer to read something,

anything, new rather than anything old. It allows translators freedom to do essentially

whatever they like with the original in their own individual way rather than the

original poet’s way, such as adding, clarifying, and rearranging information. However,

Raffel (1988) considers such practice a destruction of the basic purpose of translation,

and comments that not many translators adopt this approach.

(4) Imitative translation

Imitative translation is aimed at an audience who wants the work of the

particular translator rather than the work of the original poet. Raffel (1988) criticises

this approach as “barely translation at all”. The so-called translation is self-sufficient

and separate from its sources. Lines are dropped, stanzas are moved, images are

changed, and metre and intent are altered.

Raffel admits that there exists some inevitable overlapping among these

categories, and most translators, as well as writers of translation, are unlikely to

approve of his classifications. Also, contrary to the prevailing viewpoint of most

commentators on translation, Raffel argues that no single type of translation is "best"

for each and every audience. The translators need to be aware of the existence of

linguistic and cultural matters during the translation process.

2.2.3. Holmes’ four traditional approaches (1988)

Regarding poetry translation, Holmes (1988) believes that the kind of verse

form translators choose and the kind of effect their translation produces are closely

connected. According to him, there are four traditional approaches that translators

have adopted for the translation of poetry into poetry.

The first approach is “mimetic form”, which is usually described as “retaining

the form of the original”. Holmes bases this method on the idea that no verse form in

one language can be completely identical to a verse form in any other, “however

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similar their nomenclatures and however cognate the languages”. The translators who

adopt this approach will try to imitate the form of the original as best as they can,

resulting in a translation bearing a fundamental similarity with the form of the ST.

The mimetic form is associated with foreignisation and poetry in translation of the

nineteenth century.

The next approach is the “analogical form”, which substitutes the SL poetic

tradition for a TL poetic tradition of a parallel function. This method is directly related

to domesticating strategies and translated poetry of the eighteenth century. Both the

mimetic form and the analogical form are classified by Holmes as “form-derivative”

forms as they both seek some kind of formal equivalence between the ST and the TT.

The third approach is called the “content–derivative form” or “organic form”,

which allows the translation to take its own poetic shape from the original semantic

material. Holmes (1988) describes this method as “fundamentally pessimistic” about

the possibility of form transfer and associates it with the twentieth century.

Finally, there is the “deviant form” or “extraneous form”. This form does not

derive from the original poem at all, and the TT is put in a form that bears no relation

to the form or content of the ST. It has been resorted to since the seventeenth century

by translators who “lean in the direction of imitation”.

Holmes’ theory shows an acknowledgement of both form and content rendition

in the translation of poetry. However, he has yet to explain in details how poetry

translation should be conducted to transfer poetic form and content in each approach.

2.2.4. Lefevere’s seven strategies for poetry translation (1975)

Despite the above-mentioned different approaches towards poetry translation,

few theoretical frameworks for specific strategies on translating poetry have been

established. By investigating seven English translations of a Latin text – Poem 64 by

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Catullus, Lefevere (1975) proposes seven corresponding strategies for translating

poetry.

(1) Phonemic translation

This strategy attempts to reproduce the SL sound in the TL while at the same

time producing an acceptable paraphrase of the sense. However, such results are

rarely achieved. The sounds of source and target texts usually diverge too widely;

hence, it seems almost impossible to obtain an acceptable rendering of the source-

language sound in the target text.

Lefevere considers this phonemic approach to be moderately successful in the

translation of onomatopoeia and proper names. Nevertheless, the concentration on

sound alone leads to “a fairly constant distortion of the sense of the source text”, and

the overall result is clumsy and often devoid of sense altogether.

(2) Literal translation

As the name suggests, literal translation aims for word-for-word equivalence,

placing emphasis on fidelity to the meaning of the ST. From a literary point of view,

Lefevere deems literal translation an undesirable approach in the context of poetic

translation. It focuses on translating each word of the ST rather than conveying the

meaning of each expression or sentence using words that sound natural. Therefore,

literal translation poses various problems to the work of literary translators, two of

which are listed by Lefevere: lack of accuracy or comprehensiveness and deprivation

of communicative value of certain words due to the search for a sense equivalent.

On the other hand, Lefevere defends the literal translation method as one major

strategy that can serve translators at the preliminary stage of poetry translation. It

offers a fully exact rendition of the source text, forming a basis of meaning on which

the translators can comprehend the text and later on construct their own translation.

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(3) Metrical translation

The metrical translation strategy emphasises the recreation of the original

metre into the TL. By this dominant criterion of the SL metre reproduction, this

strategy proposes an easy way to remain as faithful as possible to the original text.

However, since each language has its own specific stress patterns and unique

pronunciation systems, the translation where metrical strategy is applied may end up

inappropriate in terms of meaning and structure. The metrical translators focus their

attention exclusively on the metrical features of the source text, thus subduing other

poetic features and destroying the balanced structure of that text. Lefevere concludes

that, like literal translation, this method concentrates on one aspect of the SL text at

the expense of the text as a whole.

(4) Poetry into prose

Prose translation involves the reproduction of the ST poem in another literary

genre different in form, ignoring the rhyme scheme and the metre of the ST and TT.

Translations of poetry into prose prove to be “fairly elegant in language, avoiding

most of the distortions and verbal antics in verse translations” while maintaining

accuracy and closeness to the source text (Lefevere, 1975).

Nevertheless, this method entails the loss of some of the sense, communicative

value and syntax of the ST, as well as failure to preserve the beauty of the original

poem and its artistic tone. Such losses result from the distinctive features of translating

poetry into prose. Since prose translation shows different organisations of words in

the target texts, it is incapable of directing the reader's attention towards certain words

like the poetry can. In addition, as the prose translators try to the preserve ST content

closely by rendering individual words with the same communicative value in the

original, eventually they have to resort to using more words and longer sentences. In

this sense, syntax will be weighed down and the original poetic form will be lost.

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(5) Rhymed translation

The rhyming translation method emphasizes the transfer of the rhyme of the

original poem into the translation in the TL. To be more specific, translators have to

rhyme the translation according to the schemes of the source language. This type of

translation requires not only a profound understanding of ST poetic material, but also

a full awareness of the author’s creative process and the search for the most suitable

words to produce a poetic effect and flavor in the target culture.

Despite the poetic flavour brought by this strategy, rhyme imposes a constraint

upon the translators regarding the choice of words. The matter may become more

serious when the translator is forced to distort not just a word but an entire line to

achieve the rhyming effect of the translation.

(6) Blank verse translation

Blank verse is another type of translation strategy discussed by Lefevere in his

analysis of the translations of poems by Catullus. It is a form of poetic rendition

usually with no rhyming scheme but with a predominant metrical pattern, whether the

traditional iambic pentameter or a freer form. This implies that blank verse translators

will therefore attempt to strike a balance between adhering to a scheme and

disregarding it, between the rule and the exception.

Lefevere sees blank verse translation as a strategy which exhibits the

characteristics of poetic features in the TL culture. Although the restrictions imposed

on the translator by the choice of structure are inevitable, greater accuracy and higher

degree of literalness can be obtained by application of this method.

(7) Interpretation approach

Interpretation is the last strategy proposed by Lefevere, in which the translator

uses a new form for the translated original poem, yet retaining its original sense. A

17

translator who chooses to interpret the ST must be a master of both languages, and

must understand both the characteristics and spirit of the original author, as well as

following the aesthetic principles of the target culture.

In this strategy, Lefevere discusses the difference between translation, version,

and imitation based on the degree of interpretation. The translation proper is content

to “render the original author's interpretation of a theme accessible to a different

audience”. Upon producing versions, the translator retains the substance of the source

text, but changes its form. In this sense, a version of a poem in the TL will be

semantically identical to the original, but physically very different, which is later

referred by Lefevere as “basically an exercise in rewriting”. The writer of imitation

produces a poem of his own which has “only title and point of departure, if those, in

common with the source text”. In other words, an imitation is a different poem but

shares the same title, topic, and starting point with the original. Therefore, imitation

bears little relation to translation, and to Lefevere, “the imitator writes a different

work, using the ST merely as a source of inspiration.”

Overall, Lefevere has established quite a descriptive methodology for

translating poetry in terms of specific strategies. However, Connally (1991)

comments that it is rare to find any of these discussed strategies used exclusively in

practice. It is thus recommended that the translator attempt to use several methods

together to achieve the optimal results (Attwater, 2013).

In the present study, the researcher has chosen Lefevere’s (1975) seven

strategies for poetry translation as the main theoretical framework. Lefevere’s seven

strategies are comprehensive enough since they address both the two main poetic

components: form and content. Literal, metrical, and rhymed translations emphasise

the "form" or "poetic structure" of the poem while the other types emphasise the

transfer of the precise meaning into the TL. Moreover, the elaboration on each

strategy is well-defined, which can further facilitate the progress of the study.

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CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY

This chapter clarifies the selection of research subjects, as well as presenting

data collection instrument, data collection and analysis procedures of the current

study.

3.1. Selection of subjects

The main research subject of the study is the poetry collection Love &

Misadventure by Lang Leav and its Vietnamese version translated by Zelda under the

title of Yêu là thương hay vận rủi. Both these two versions are printed in a bilingual

book, published by Thế Giới Publishers in mid-2016. This study was

methodologically conducted by collecting, analysing, and interpreting data on cases

of poetry translation strategies employed by the translator in the translation. The

poetic work Love & Misadventure was chosen for the following reasons:

Firstly, Lang Leav is the best-selling author of four poetry collections: Love &

Misadventure, Lullabies, Memories, and The Universe of Us. She is a Sydney-based

contemporary author and artist whose imagination stretches across a variety of

disciplines including art, poetry, and books. Leav is also the recipient of The Qantas

Spirit of Youth Award which recognises outstanding young Australians for their

creative talent. This has confirmed her remarkable artistic capability and hence

motivated the researcher to investigate her works.

Secondly, Love & Misadventure is the only poetry collection by Lang Leav

translated and published in Vietnam, bearing the most dominant characteristics of her

writing style. The original book is a best-selling work in the US, and Leav’s

contemporary style of poetry proves to strongly appeal to young people’s taste.

Judging by this fact, the Vietnamese version of Love & Misadventure is worth

researching in order to produce more insight into translation of contemporary poetry

which so far has not been studied thoroughly.

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Thirdly, the translator – Zelda – is a poet herself with her own published poetry

collection and other writing works in Vietnamese. Thus, her literary understanding

and direct experience of poetic conventions can justify the translation quality of Love

& Misadventure from English to Vietnamese.

3.2. Sampling

In order to ensure the reliability of the study, the researcher intended to choose

all the poems in Love & Misadventure for investigation. In total, there are 74 poems

in the poetry collection, including 65 verse poems and 9 prose poems. However, since

Lefevere’s theoretical framework only addresses strategies to translate verse poetry,

it is not applicable to prose poetry. Therefore, the researcher employed purposive

sampling as the sampling method to exclude 9 prose poems from the study. The

sample size then was reduced to 65 poems out of 74.

3.3. Data collection procedure

Observation of documents was the main data collection method to be applied

in the study. First of all, the English original versions of 65 poems and their

corresponding Vietnamese translations in the bilingual book Love & Misadventure

were collected and put in comparison. Next, both the source text and the target text

were read carefully and critically. After a process of comprehending and highlighting

the most noticeable expressions, all dimensions of Lefevere’s poetry translation

strategies were identified from each translated poem. Then, the result obtained

became the subject for further research of the study.

3.4. Data analysis procedure

When the data collection process had been completed, the set of collected data

was analysed through the following phases:

Step 1: Coding

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In this phase, the researcher applied the content data analysis method. All data

from the data collection process were analysed in depth to find out all translation

strategies used by the translator. In case more than one strategy was adopted in a

translated version of a poem, all the applied strategies were considered. The result of

this phase answered research question 1: What are the translation strategies employed

in translating the poems in Love & Misadventure from English into Vietnamese,

concerning Lefevere’s seven strategies of poetry translation?

Step 2: Grouping

The coded data then were grouped into different categories in terms of seven

poetry translation strategies proposed by Lefevere. In this phase, the quantitative

analysis method was employed as the researcher counted the identified strategies to

figure out their frequencies. The data were transferred into numerical statistics and

presented in tables and charts. The result of this phase answered research question 2:

What are the most common translation strategies used by the translator?

Step 3: Analysing

Finally, the researcher applied qualitative analysis method again to analyse the

choice of the translator regarding translation strategies, considering the advantages

and disadvantages of each strategy described in the theoretical framework. Then, the

researcher drew some implications for translation of poetry from English to

Vietnamese based on the application of Lefevere’s strategies, as well as suggesting a

possible approach to the issue of translating poetry from English into Vietnamese.

The result of this phase answered research question 3: What lessons about poetry

translation from English into Vietnamese can be drawn from the application of

Lefevere’s seven strategies by Zelda in the Vietnamese translated version of the work

Love & Misadventure?

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CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS & DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the major findings of the study in order to answer the

research questions, discusses the main points in the findings and draws some

implications for poetry translation.

4.1. Lefevere’s translation strategies applied in Love & Misadventure

According to Lefevere (1975), there are 7 translation strategies which can be

applied in translating poems. The translation strategies are phonemic translation,

literal translation, metrical translation, poetry-into-prose translation, rhymed

translation, blank verse translation, and interpretation. However, in translating Lang

Leav’s poems, the researcher found that there are only 3 out of 7 strategies employed.

The following Table 4.1 presents the number and percentage of each translation

strategy applied by the translator in translating Lang Leav’s poems in Love &

Misadventure.

Table.4.1 The translation strategies applied in translating Lang Leav’s poems

No. Translation strategies Total Percentage (%)

1 Blank verse translation 33 50.8%

2 Metrical translation 27 41.5%

3 Rhymed translation 5 7.7%

Total Data 65 100%

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Blank verse translation was the most frequently applied strategy whose

dimensions were identified in 33 translated poems (50.8%). The translator also

adopted metrical translation with high frequency; this strategy was used in 27 poems

(41.5%). Lastly, the frequency count of rhymed translation was 5, accounting for

7.7% of all translated poems in Love & Misadventure. The other translation strategies

proposed by Lefevere (1975) including phonemic translation, literal translation,

poetry-into-prose translation, and interpretation were not employed by the translator

in the translating process.

4.2. Most dominantly used strategies in Love & Misadventure

4.2.1. Blank verse translation

Blank verse translation, as described by Lefevere (1975), is a form of poetic

rendition usually with no rhyming scheme but with a predominant metrical pattern,

whether the traditional iambic pentameter or a freer form. In the case of poetry

translation from English to Vietnamese, blank verse translation implies the use of a

particular metrical pattern in the target language with no rhymed syllables at the end

of lines.

Some examples of blank verse translation strategy applied in Love &

Misadventure are provided below.

Example 1: (No. 16)

Wallflower

Shrinking in a corner,

pressed into the wall;

do they know I'm present,

am I here at all?

Hoa đinh hương vàng

Run rẩy trong góc

ép sát vào tường

họ có biết được

tôi đang ở đây?

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Is there a written rule book,

that tells you how to be—

all the right things to talk about—

that everyone has but me?

Slowly I am withering—

a flower deprived of sun;

longing to belong to—

somewhere or someone.

có sách nào chỉ dạy

phải trái như thế nào

nói mọi chuyện đúng sai

chỉ mình tôi không có

Chậm rãi tàn úa do

hoa tôi thiếu ánh trời

mong mỏi được thuộc về

một nơi hay một người.

It is obvious that the translator attempted to apply the four- and five-syllable

verse form in her translation of the poem. The count of syllables in each line of the

original text ranges from 5 to 8, which was not recreated in the translated version.

While the first stanza was rendered using the four-syllable form, the translator applied

the five-syllable for the other two.

The title of the original poem Wallflower is the name of a garden plant with

yellow, orange or red flowers with a sweet smell (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary).

Figuratively, it also refers to a person who, because of shyness, unpopularity, or lack

of a partner, remains at the side at a party or dance. However, the translation Hoa đinh

hương vàng only expressed the very first literal layer of meaning of this word.

The first stanza was translated quite accurately in terms of meaning although

run rẩy did not fully cover the original definition becoming smaller in size of

shrinking. In the next stanza, not all the components of the ST were transferred to the

TT, but in general the translation did achieve an acceptable degree of accuracy. For

example, a written rule book was reduced to sách only; similarly, everyone on the

fourth line was clearly not transferred to the translation. However, such omission did

not seriously affect the main content of the poetic lines. There were also some other

additions and changes in the Vietnamese version; for example, how to be was further

24

clarified in its Vietnamese version phải trái như thế nào. The translation of all the

right things to talk about was slightly different in structure (nói mọi chuyện đúng sai),

but readers could still perceive the original idea.

In the translation of the last stanza, the translator managed to reproduce both

form and content of the source text. All the key elements of poetic meaning were fully

and accurately transferred: slowly – chậm rãi, withering – tàn úa, flower – hoa tôi,

sun – ánh trời, longing – mong mỏi... Furthermore, the translator also recreated the

rhyme scheme of the ST sun and someone (line 2 & 4) into trời and người (line 2 &

4).

Overall, the translation could be considered successful concerning the fact that

all the essential shades of meaning were fully conveyed and presented in a TL verse

form, indicating the translator’s use of blank verse translation strategy.

Example 2: (No. 8)

Sea of Strangers

In a sea of strangers,

you've longed to know me.

Your life spent sailing

to my shores.

The arms that yearn

to someday hold me,

will ache beneath

the heavy oars.

Please take your time

and take it slowly;

Đại dương người lạ

Giữa đại dương người lạ

anh lại muốn biết em

cả đời anh chỉ để

dong buồm về bờ em.

Cánh tay này đeo đuổi

mong ôm em một ngày

sẽ đớn đau tất thảy

dưới mái chèo nặng tay

Xin anh hãy chậm lại

và hãy thật từ từ

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as all you do

will run its course.

And nothing else

can take what only—

was always meant

as solely yours.

vì tất cả mọi thứ

sẽ chẳng đi lạc đâu.

Và không còn gì khác

có thể lấy được đi

điều chỉ luôn dành trước

điều duy nhất cho anh.

The original poem does not have a fixed metre, yet its translation was written

in five-syllable verse form. Some ending rhymes could be identified, for example:

thảy and tay in the second stanza, từ and thứ in the third stanza. Still, the dominant

translation strategy applied by the translator for the whole poem was blank verse

translation.

In the first stanza, the phrase a sea of strangers was translated quite literally

into đại dương người lạ. Instead of choosing the more common equivalent of sea in

Vietnamese, which is biển, the translator opted for đại dương. This word triggers a

feeling of vastness, thus enhancing the communicative value of the expression a sea

of strangers. On the second line of the first stanza, the translation of longed into muốn

did not fully express the connonative meaning of the ST word. To long means to want

something very much especially if it does not seem likely to happen soon (Oxford

Learner’s Dictionary) whereas the word muốn in Vietnamese sounds neutral and does

not convey a strong desire like long in English. The last two second lines were

translated quite successfully. The translator deliberately moved sailing on the third

line in ST to the fourth line in TT (dong buồm) in order to balance the number of

syllables in each line and maintain the metrical pattern (five-syllable verse form).

In the second stanza, the word yearn was rendered into đeo đuổi, which is a

better translation than the case of long and muốn. Đeo đuổi in Vietnamese means to

pursue something with determination despite difficulties, and this equates to the

26

meaning of yearn in English. There were also some changes in word positions within

a line and between lines. For example, the TT version for someday hold me was ôm

em một ngày; it is clear that the translator switched someday and hold me in her

translation. The underlying reason might be to rhyme ngày with thảy and tay on the

third and fourth line. The phrase tất thảy was also added in the TT for rhyming effects

even though the ST does not contain such meaning.

In the third stanza, the first two lines were translated quite closely to the

original version. On the third line, you do was missing from the translation tất cả mọi

thứ, but the whole meaning was not seriously affected. The translator deliberately

used the phrase tất cả mọi thứ to rhyme thứ with từ at the end of the second line. Run

its course on the fourth line means to develop in the usual way and come to the usual

end. Considering its translation chẳng đi lạc đâu, the translator managed to capture

the spirit of the context and expressed the author’s idea in a different yet still

comprehensible way.

The last stanza does not contain difficult words or phrases in terms of linguistic

and cultural meaning. Therefore, readers were provided with a faithful translation

which showed great accuracy and high degree of literalness. This also implies the

proper use of blank verse translation strategy by Zelda in this poem.

4.2.2. Metrical translation

Metrical translation involves the work of recreating the original metre of ST

into TT, which includes the count and the character of syllables in each SL verse line.

This method concentrates on the formal aspect of the SL text, and the translation bears

a strong resemblance to the original in terms of form. However, due to differences in

prosodic features between English and Vietnamese, the English stress cannot be

exactly rendered to Vietnamese, so the translator could only reproduce the number of

syllables on each line.

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Example 3: (No. 18)

His Cause and Effect

He makes me turn,

he makes me toss;

his words mean mine

are at a loss.

He makes me blush!

He makes me want

to brush and floss.

Nhân quả của anh

Anh khiến tôi xoay

khiến tôi chao đảo

lời anh khiến tôi

lạc vào mất mát.

Anh khiến tôi đỏ mặt

Anh khiến tôi muốn

chải chuốt đẹp mắt.

The original poem consists of four-syllable verse lines, which was almost

perfectly recreated in the translation. Except for the fifth line, all the other lines of the

translated poem contained four syllables.

As can be clearly seen from this example, the translator faithfully followed the

word order of the original verse lines in her translation. In the first two lines, the

author made use of the phrase toss and turn which means to constantly move and be

unable to sleep because of worrying. This described the woman’s restlessness when

she was deeply in love with the man. However, the translation did not completely

convey this word play to readers because there is no equivalent of such expression in

Vietnamese. The translator only literally translated turn into xoay and toss into chao

đảo. On the fourth line, the idiom at a loss was used by the poet to reveal the woman’s

dishevelled mood and inability to communicate properly in front of the man she loved

dearly. Such meaning, nevertheless, was not successfully imparted through its literal

translation: lạc vào mất mát. Indeed, this phrase sounded quite obscure and unnatural

in Vietnamese, which might cause difficulties for TL readers to fully understand the

author’s intention. On the last line, brush and floss are what people usually do to have

28

healthy and white teeth. It is totally understandable for a woman to try to look

attractive in the eyes of the man she loves; besides, the author also intended to rhyme

brush with blush (line 5) and floss with loss (line 4). The phrase brush and floss was

rendered into chải chuốt đẹp mắt, which showed the translator’s efforts to convey the

author’s original message to TL readers. Moreover, the word mắt also added sound

effects to the translated poem by rhyming with mặt on the fifth line.

Although some nuances of meaning were not successfully rendered, this

translation was an exemplary case of metrical translation strategy which emphasises

the reproduction of the original metre.

Example 4: (No. 62)

Golden Cage

A bird who hurt her wing,

now forgotten how to fly.

A song she used to sing,

but can't remember why.

A breath she caught and kept—

that left her in a sigh.

It hurts her so to love you,

but she won't say good-bye.

Lồng vàng

Con chim tự thương ở cánh

giờ đã quên cách để bay.

Bài hát cô từng hát hay

nhưng không thể nhớ nguồn cơn

Hơi thở cô giữ duy trì

thành tiếng thở dài tan tác

Yêu anh là tổn thương lớn

nhưng cô không thác lời từ.

In this example, most of the verse lines in the source text are formed by six

syllables (except the second line). This six-syllable verse form was transferred to the

translation, producing a metrically similar poem in the target language.

29

The meaning of the first two lines was fully and accurately conveyed in the

translation. The phrase hurt her wing might be literally translated as làm tổn thương

cánh của mình; the translator used a shorter expression for this idea: tự thương ở cánh

in order to align the number of syllables in the translation with that in the original.

Comparing the third line in ST and TT, it could be easily noticed that the translator

added hay in her translation even though the ST does not contain such meaning. This

might lie in her intention to create a rhyming effect between bay (line 2) and hay (line

3). The same reason could also be applied to explain the translation of why into nguồn

cơn, so that cơn (line 4) would rhyme with lớn (line 7). On the sixth line, a sigh was

rendered into tiếng thở dài tan tác. Obviously, the translator deliberately added

meaning to the original phrase, with tan tác emphasising the woman’s grief and

frustration. The word order of the seventh line was reversed: it hurts her so – tổn

thương lớn and to love you – yêu anh, yet the meaning remained the same. The

translator used quite a complicated expression in TL không thác lời từ to translate

won’t say goodbye. Thác in Vietnamese means to make up excuses in order not to do

something; lời từ can be understood as goodbye (từ as used in từ biệt). Despite the

complexity in word choice, the content is still proper and comprehensible to readers.

Moreover, it might be the translator’s deliberate intention to use the word thác so that

it would rhyme with tác at the end of line 6, which offered a more balanced and

melodious tone to the verse.

On the whole, the translation has succeeded in conveying the original message

and offering a rhythmical sense by adopting rhymed translation strategy.

4.2.3. Rhymed translation

Rhymed translation refers to the reproduction of the rhyme scheme of the

source poem in the target poem. Choosing this method, the translators aim to convey

poetic flavour to readers of the translations. However, due to striking differences

between English and Vietnamese rhymes, rhymed translation strategy imposes a

30

constraint upon the translators regarding the choice of words. Therefore, without an

intimate knowledge of ST and TT poetic materials, it will be a tough challenge for

any translator who tries to apply this translation method.

Example 5: (No. 47)

Swan Song

Her heart is played

like well-worn strings;

in her eyes,

the sadness sings—

of one who was destined

for better things.

Bài ca thiên nga

Trái tim cô chơi

như vĩ thanh mòn

đôi mắt buông lời

buồn hát héo hon

về người được định

những điều tốt hơn.

In the TL text, the syllables at the end of line 2, 4, 6 (strings, sings, things)

rhyme with each other. This rhyming scheme was transferred exactly to the translation

of the poem; the ending rhymes were situated on line 2, 4, 6 in the Vietnamese version.

Regarding the content aspect, the first line was not translated accurately in

accordance with the author’s intention. The original text Her heart is played was

written in passive voice; meanwhile, the translator changed it into active voice yet

still kept the same subject Trái tim cô chơi. The back translation of the TT should be

Her heart plays, not is played like the original verse line. The author compared her

heart with a musical instrument which has well-worn strings and can be played.

However, considering strings translated as vĩ thanh, it seems that the translator did

not successfully communicate this idea to TL readers. Vĩ thanh means the last sound

or note in a song or a musical play, hence not matching with strings. On the other

hand, the next two translated lines were not only accurate in terms of meaning but

also evoked a literary flavour. All the components in the ST were fully rendered in

the TT: her eyes – đôi mắt, sadness – buồn, sings – hát. The translator, besides, also

added some other factors to fulfil the four-syllable metrical pattern such as buông lời

31

and héo hon. Those words contributed to bringing a feeling of deep sorrow to the

poem and helping TL readers to better understand the character’s sentiments. Apart

from that, héo hon was particularly chosen by the translator also because it would

produce a rhyming effect with mòn (line 2) and hơn (line 6). The last two lines did

not pose any special challenges regarding figurative meaning, thus a faithful

translation within the restriction of four syllables each line.

Generally speaking, the translation has reflected the translator’s determined

effort to faithfully reproduce the ST rhyme scheme and bring emotivity to language

though some original senses were not accurately transferred.

Example 6: (No. 61)

Written in Traffic

A quiet gladness,

in the busy sadness;

inside the final tussle,

of love and its madness.

Its goodness and badness,

its hustle and bustle.

Viết giữa dòng người

Mừng rỡ trong lặng yên

giữa nỗi buồn liên miên

trong trận chiến cùng cuối

của ái tình và điên

Tình xấu xa tốt hiền

bon chen và náo nhiệt.

The rhyming scheme in this example is more complicated than the previous

one. Not only do the ending syllables on line 1, 2, 4, 5 (gladness, sadness, madness,

badness) rhyme with each other, but those on line 3 and 6 (tussle, bustle) also form a

rhyming pattern. In her translation, Zelda recreated the ending rhymes on line 1, 2, 4,

5 (yên, miên, điên, hiền) to match the pattern in the original poem. Though the ending

rhymes on line 3 and 6 were not transferred, it is obvious that the translator attempted

to adopt rhymed translation strategy in translating Written in Traffic.

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The overall meaning of the original poem was well preserved in its translated

version. The translator carried out a structural conversion on the first line: a quiet

gladness (noun phrase) into mừng rỡ trong lặng yên (adjective phrase) with the whole

message kept intact. Liên miên in nỗi buồn liên miên was not the exact equivalent for

busy in the busy sadness. Instead, it means to be constant and uninterrupted; however,

such meaning is still suggestive of being busy and reflects the translator’s effort to

remain consistent to the manner of the original word. Besides, liên miên was chosen

because of the rhyming pattern it formed along with lặng yên (line 1), điên (line 4),

and tốt hiền (line 5). Attempt to create sound effect was also the reason for the change

in word order on the fifth line: goodness and badness – xấu xa tốt hiền. Hustle and

bustle is a fixed phrase in English which describes noisy and busy activity of a lot of

people in one place. Its translation into bon chen và náo nhiệt could be considered

successful in conveying the tone and notion of the original expression.

In general, both original semantic and aesthetic qualities were delivered in the

translation through the employment of rhymed translation strategy, suggesting the

translator’s profound understanding of ST and TT poetic materials.

4.3. Some lessons about poetry translation from English into Vietnamese

The data shows that blank verse translation with the frequency count of 50.8%

is the most frequently used strategy by Zelda. Metrical translation is also employed

almost as frequently as blank verse translation, accounting for 41.5% of translated

poems. These frequency counts indicate that the translator has attempted to render

both poetic form and meaning in the process of her translation, instead of choosing

only one aspect and sacrificing the other.

Blank verse translation is a strategy that exhibits the characteristics of poetic

features in the TL culture. Blank verse translators try to strike a balance between

maintaining poetic structure and simultaneously obtaining greater accuracy of

meaning rendition. The frequent use of this strategy implies that the translator of Love

33

& Misadventure has made efforts to infuse a TL poetic flavour into her translation, so

that readers can enjoy the experience of reading poetry in its true sense. The primary

cause of strong preference for this strategy may lie in the fact that Zelda is a poet

herself. It is, therefore, not difficult for her to apply a predominant metrical pattern in

the translation, which is not a simple task for non-poet translators.

On the other hand, blank verse translation strategy is devised on the basis of

blank verse as an English form of poetry. Therefore, when it is applied to translate

poems from English to Vietnamese, it does not address all the poetic features of

Vietnamese poetry. To be more specific, blank verse translation as defined by

Lefevere is a form of poetic rendition usually with no rhyming scheme but with a

predominant metrical pattern, whether the traditional iambic pentameter or a freer

form. In short, this translation strategy implies the rendering of the original text into

blank verse, a form of poetry written with regular metrical (almost always in iambic

pentameter) but unrhymed lines. Blank verse has been described by Parini (2006) as

"probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since

the 16th century". Also, Fussell (1988) has estimated that "about three-quarters of all

English poetry is in blank verse." Such popularity explains the choice of blank verse

as the TL verse form to translate into. The situation, however, is not the same in

Vietnamese poetry. Blank verse does not exist in the system of Vietnamese verse

forms, so it is not an option for poetry translators to take. Instead, translators may

choose from other commonly used verse forms in Vietnamese poetry, such as four-

syllable, five-syllable, or six-syllable poetry. This is also the approach that Zelda

adopted in translating poems in Love & Misadventure as blank verse translation by

its precise definition cannot be fully applied in the case of poetry translation from

English to Vietnamese.

As for metrical translation, this strategy puts emphasis on the reproduction of

SL metrical features. It insists on fidelity to the formal aspect of the original text. The

high frequency count of metrical translation indicates the translator’s attempt to

34

remain as faithful as possible to the SL poems. Since Lang Leav’s poems do not have

fixed metre, Zelda’s adoption of metrical translation was carried out by rendering the

number of syllables in each verse line of the original poems into their translated

version. It means that the translator paid close attention to the formal aspect of poetry

and tried not to diverge from the form of TL poems.

It is the differences between English and Vietnamese prosody that lead to the

fact that not all the dimensions of metrical translation as proposed by Lefevere were

applied in the translation of Love & Misadventure. Most metrical systems, including

English and Vietnamese, are structured both by the count and the character of

syllables. While in English verse syllables are categorised by stress, in Vietnamese

verse syllables are categorised by tone. For metrical purposes, the 6 distinct phonemic

tones in Vietnamese are classified as either “flat” or “sharp”. Thus, a line of metrical

verse consists of a specific number of syllables, some of which must be flat, some of

which must be sharp, and some of which may be either. Due to this difference in

categorisation, it is an impossible task to perfectly recreate both the count and the

character of English syllables into Vietnamese. When Lefevere investigated the

translations of a Latin poem into English and thereby formulated seven strategies, the

target language was English. Meanwhile, the target language examined in the current

study is Vietnamese, and admittedly English stress cannot be reproduced in

Vietnamese. Therefore, in the case of translating poems from English to Vietnamese,

Lefevere’s metrical translation could only be partly adopted by rendering the original

number of syllables in each SL verse line into the target language.

Rhymed translation can evoke poetic flavour in the translation since it involves

transference of the rhyme scheme of the original poem into the translation in the TL.

The translator only employed this strategy in less than 10% of the poems. However,

it is still a valiant effort because this type of translation requires not only a profound

understanding of ST poetic materials, but also a full awareness of the author’s creative

process and a careful choice of words. The application of rhymed translation also

35

reflects the translator’s concern for reproducing poetic effects, which may benefit

readers who expect to read poetry in its true sense.

Even though rhymed translation is not the most dominant strategy adopted by

the translator, the heavy use of ending rhymes can be easily noticed throughout the

translated poems in the whole collection. Not all the translated poems with ending

rhymes are classified as rhymed translation since this strategy requires a reproduction

of the entire rhyme scheme from ST to TT. However, the majority of the original

poems by Lang Leav are characterised by rhymic syllables at the end of verse lines.

The translator, accordingly, attempted to make use of ending rhymes in her

translations of the English poems wherever possible without considerably changing

the meaning. This could be regarded as a clear manifestation of rhyme reproduction

in poetry translation. Instead of strictly following the ST rhyme scheme which might

lead to distortion of words, the translator chose to adopt a more flexible approach and

still preserved the rhymic features of the original poems – abundant ending rhymes.

The four strategies which were not applied by the translator are phonemic

translation, literal translation, poetry into prose translation, and interpretation.

Phonemic translation concentrates on sound reproduction only and disregards sense.

It seems unapplicable in translating poems from English to Vietnamese because the

two languages are radically different in their sound systems. Literal translation, which

aims for word-for-word equivalence, is considered “an undesirable approach in the

context of poetic translation” by Lefevere (1975). Accordingly, the translator of Love

& Misadventure did not apply this strategy perhaps due to its deprivation of

communicative values. The fourth strategy named poetry-into-prose translation

involves reproduction of the ST poem in another literary genre different in form. This

strategy was not used probably because the translator wanted to preserve poetic

structure from ST to TT instead of changing the literary genre. Finally, interpretation

is the strategy in which the translators create their own TL poem based on their

perception of the original poem. The result of this type of translation will be more

36

literary and elegant in language, but it entails the absence of the SL text in the target

language. Zelda did not opt for this strategy in her translation, which means that she

preferred the translated poems to stay close to the original ones rather than be rendered

into physically different poems.

Overall, it can be noted that the translator showed two main tendencies towards

poetry translation: either obtaining accuracy of meaning and employing TL metrical

patterns, or retaining the poetic form of original poems and producing an acceptable

paraphrase of meaning. The former may stem from the fact that the translator is a

poet; therefore, she was able to apply the aesthetic principles of the target culture in

her translation. The latter is more likely to bring out a translation-like result which

remains faithful to the source text.

In the case of translating from English to Vietnamese, Lefevere’s theoretical

framework of poetry translation strategies proves not completely applicable.

Although the fundamental features of Lefevere’s strategies were still observed in the

translated poems, certain dimensions could not be applied. The primary cause for this

gap is the fact that Lefevere’s seven strategies are established on the foundation of a

translated Latin-to-English text. Therefore, the principal focus is on the poetic

features of the target language during Lefevere’s investigation, which is English.

Vietnamese prosody and verse forms show clear differences from those in English,

so not all the dimensions of Lefevere’s strategies are applicable to poetry translation

in Vietnamese.

Lefevere’s framework of poetry translation strategies will gain more

applicability if they are better adapted in accordance with the TL’s poetic

characteristics. Specifically in the case of translating poems from English into

Vietnamese, translation into blank verse should be replaced by other more popular

Vietnamese verse forms. For instance, four-syllable and five-syllable poetry as

employed frequently by Zelda in the translation of Love & Misadventure are two

37

practical options; besides, six-eight folk verse is also particularly prevalent among

Vietnamese poetry readers. It depends on each individual translator to choose the

verse form that is most suitable for their translation. Secondly, metrical translation

should take into consideration the distinctions between English and Vietnamese

metrical systems and concentrate on the shared features between two systems.

Accordingly, metrical translators from English into Vietnamese are recommended to

focus directly on Vietnamese metrical elements such as syllable count, tone class, and

rhyme in their translations. It is understandable that English stress pattern is skipped

during translation process due to its impossibility to be perfectly reproduced into an

unstressed language like Vietnamese. Rhymed translation could be adjusted to give

translators more flexibility in reproducing rhymes. Since recreating the entire rhyme

scheme proves an arduous task and may lead to sense distortion, translators would

find it simpler to render a part of the rhyming patterns of the original poem. Provided

that the most noticeable rhymic features of the ST, such as ending rhyme or internal

rhyme, are found in the TT, the translated poem could be considered a result of

rhymed translation strategy.

It is recommended that in order to achieve better literary results in the task of

poetry translation, translators should be equipped with special instructions and

training regarding methodological frameworks. It would be advantageous for poetry

translators to become aware of all the existing strategies for poetry translation

proposed by different scholars. Such knowledge will enable them to make better

decisions in choosing the most appropriate method for their translations and arriving

at the best poetic effects.

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CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION

This chapter provides a summary of the major findings and draws a conclusion

on the work of the researcher. It also addresses certain limitations of the current

research and puts forward suggestions for further studies, as well as pointing out

contributions of the study to the field.

5.1. Summary of major findings

The study focused on seven poetry translation strategies proposed by André

Lefevere (1975) and their application by Zelda in the Vietnamese translated version

Yêu là thương hay vận rủi of the poetry collection Love & Misadventure written by

Lang Leav. Through a critical analysis and discussion of the data accumulated from

observation of documents, several key findings to answer research questions were

revealed as follows:

To begin with, the translator employed three strategies out of seven in her

translation of the poems in Love & Misadventure. The applied strategies included

metrical translation, rhymed translation, and blank verse translation. No dimensions

of phonemic translation, literal translation, poetry into prose, and interpretation

approach were observed from the Vietnamese translated poems.

Secondly, blank verse translation was the most dominantly used strategy by

Zelda to translate more than half of the poems in Yêu là thương hay vận rủi. With

nearly 40% of the investigated poems, metrical translation ranked second as regards

frequency count. The adoption of rhymed translati

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