Cover not available
Article published In:
Target
Vol. 36:1 (2024) ► pp.137–157

How to break a norm and get away with it

A case study of two translators

ORCID logo | Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Norm conformity and violation constitute two sides of norm operation: the former maintains the stability of the system while the latter motivates its modification, evolution, and change. While previous studies have concentrated on the constraints of norms in translators’ behaviour and their conformity to them, few have examined norm violation, especially why translators choose violation over conformity and how they get away with the violation. This study explores motivation and risk management concerning norm violation based on a case study of two Chinese translators who violated the norm of standard Chinese and got away with it when translating a dialect in the source text. The case study shows norm violation is the result of an optimal trade-off between translators’ reward-seeking behaviour and risk management in their negotiation with multiple conflicting norms, rather than an abnormal behaviour involving negative consequences, as suggested in previous studies. Whether one can get away with the violation is often related to its impact on the system. The study contributes to norm studies by illuminating the complexity of norm-governed behaviours and norm violation, offering new insights on norm dynamics and risk management in translation.
Keywords: norms, translation norms, norm violation, norm conflict, risk management, dialect translation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Reward seeking and risk management in norm conflict
  • 3.The dominance of standard Chinese and norm conflict in dialect translation
  • 4.The established translator and his endorsed violation
  • 5.The unknown norm breaker and his violation for distinction
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 September 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.21008.yu
References (47)
References
Cao, Yu, and Runxin Li. 1993. “文学语言应该规范化 [Literary language should be standardized].” Language Planning 111: 15.Google Scholar
Chen, Guohua. 1997. “论莎剧重译(下) [On retranslation of Shakespeare’s dramas: II].” Foreign Languages Teaching and Research 31: 48–54.Google Scholar
Cheng, Shi. 2004. “Preface.” In 赫克尔贝利·费恩历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ], Mark Twain, translated by Cheng Shi, 1–13. Beijing: People Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew. 1998. “Description, Explanation, Prediction: A Response to Gideon Toury and Theo Hermans.” Current Issues in Language and Society 5 (1–2): 91–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016. Memes of Translation: The Spread of Ideas in Translation Theory. Revised ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dai, Zhaoming. 1987. “方言土语、语言风格和语言修养 [Dialect and patois, language styles and linguistic cultivation].” Language Planning 41: 24–29.Google Scholar
Dickens, Charles. 1957. 艰难时代 [orig. Hard Times ]. Translated by Quan Zenggu and Hu Wenshu. Shanghai: New Literature and Art Publishing House.Google Scholar
. 1963. 游美札记 [orig. American Notes ]. Translated by Zhang Guruo. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House.Google Scholar
. 1980. 大卫·科波菲尔 [orig. David Copperfield ]. Translated by Zhang Guruo. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House.Google Scholar
Editorial. 1955. “为促进汉字改革、推广普通话、实现汉语规范化而努力 [Make efforts to promote the reform of Chinese characters, promote Putonghua, and achieve the standardization of Chinese].” People’s Daily, October 26, 1955.Google Scholar
Gong, Siyu. 2016. “他们, 用文学留住方言 [They, use literature to save dialects].” Lianzheng Liaowang 21: 41–41.Google Scholar
Hardy, Thomas. 1928. Tess of the d’Urbervilles. London: Macmillan & Co.Google Scholar
. 1955. 卡斯特桥市长 [orig. The Mayor of Casterbridge ]. Translated by Shi Heng and Shu Qin. Shanghai: Shanghai Publication Corporation.Google Scholar
. 1957. 德伯家的苔丝 [orig. Tess of the d’Urbervilles ]. Translated by Zhang Guruo. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar
. 1958. 无名的裘德 [orig. Jude the Obscure ]. Translated by Zhang Guruo. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar
. 1999. 德伯维尔家的苔丝 [orig. Tess of the d’Urbervilles ]. Translated by Sun Zhili and Tang Huixin. Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House.Google Scholar
He, Xizhang, and Zhong Wang. 2006. “方言与中国现代文学初论 [On dialect and modern Chinese literature].” Literary Review 11: 27–31.Google Scholar
He, Zhongming, and Zengyi Zhang. 2019. “1950年代的“方言问题讨论”与乡土小说的语言方向 [The ‘discussion of the problem of dialect’ in the 1950s and the linguistic orientation in vernacular fiction].” Journal of Nanjing Normal University 31: 132–140.Google Scholar
Hermans, Theo. 1996. “Norms and the Determination of Translation: A Theoretical Framework.” In Translation, Power, Subversion, edited by Román Álvarez and M. Carmen-África Vidal, 25–51. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
. 1991. “Translational Norms and Correct Translations.” In Translation Studies: The State of the Art: Proceedings of the First James S. Holmes Symposium on Translation Studies, edited by Kitty van Leuven-Zwart and Ton Naaijkens, 155–169. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kang, Ling. 2015. “方言如何成为问题?——方言文学讨论中的地方、国家与阶级 (1950–1961) [How did dialect become a problem? Locality, state and social class in discussions about dialect literature (1950–1961)].” Journal of Modern Chinese Studies 21: 30–41.Google Scholar
Lin, Handa. 1955. “译者的话 [The translator’s words].” In 大卫-考柏飞 [orig. David Copperfield ], Charles Dickens, translated by Lin Handa, 1–3. Beijing: China Youth Press.Google Scholar
Liu, Jin. 2013. Signifying the Local: Media Productions Rendered in Local Languages in Mainland China in the New Millennium. Leiden: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, Zhaoxiong. 1993. “论普通话的确立和推广 [On the establishment and promotion of Putonghua].” Applied Linguistics 21: 57–65.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Margaret. 1942. 飘 [orig. Gone with the Wind ]. Translated by Fu Donghua. Shanghai: Longmen United Book Store.Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 2008. “On Toury’s Laws of How Translators Translate.” In Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury, edited by Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger, and Daniel Simeoni, 311–328. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2015. “Translating as Risk Management.” Journal of Pragmatics 851: 67–80. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pym, Anthony, and Kayo Matsushita. 2018. “Risk Mitigation in Translator Decisions.” Across Languages and Cultures 19 (1): 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Qin, Chuan. 2001. “译者的话 [The translator’s words].” In 哈克贝利-芬历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ], Mark Twain, translated by Qin Chuan, i–ii. Hainan: Haitian Press.Google Scholar
Schäffner, Christina. 1999. “The Concept of Norms in Translation Studies.” In Translation and Norms, edited by Christina Schäffner, 1–8. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Shaw, Bernard. 1956. 匹克梅梁 [orig. Pygmalion ]. Translated by Yang Xianyi. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1999. “A Handful of Paragraphs on ‘Translation’ and ‘Norms’.” In Translation and Norms, edited by Christina Schäffner, 9–31. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
. 2012. Descriptive Translation Studies – and Beyond. Revised ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Twain, Mark. 1956. 哈克贝利··费恩历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ]. Translated by Zhang Yousong and Zhang Zhenxian. Beijing: China Youth Press.Google Scholar
. 1989. 赫克尔贝利·费恩历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ]. Translated by Cheng Shi. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar
. 1995. 哈克贝里·费恩历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ]. Translated by Xu Ruzhi. Nanjing: Yilin Press.Google Scholar
. 2001. 哈克贝利-芬历险记 [orig. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ]. Translated by Qin Chuan. Hainan: Haitian Press.Google Scholar
. 1948. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Wang, Dongfeng. 2001. “译家与作家的意识冲突:文学翻译中的一个值得深思的现象 [Conflicts in perception between literary translators and writers].” Chinese Translators Journal 22 (5): 43–48.Google Scholar
Wu, Guorui. 1958. “德伯家的苔丝 [Tess of the d’Urbervilles].” Western Languages and Literature 21: 242–246.Google Scholar
Xu, Guangyao. 2012. “方言写作让小说更接地气 [Dialect writing makes novels more authentic].” Jiefang Daily, November 14, 2012.Google Scholar
Yu, Jing, and Minhui Xu. 2017. “From Norm-Breaking to Norm-Making: A Sociological Study of the Genesis of a New Norm.” Perspectives 25 (1): 66–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yu, Jing. 2004. “迎合与抗争：中国二十世纪五六十年代的文学翻译 [Domestication and foreignization in China’s literary translation from the 1950s to 1960s].” Journal of Translation Studies 11: 105–118.Google Scholar
. 2014. “从三部作品看文学方言在中国的翻译和出版 [Translation and publication of dialect literature in China – A case study of Tess, Huck Finn and Pygmalion ].” Translation Quarterly 41: 70–94.Google Scholar
Yu, Yungen. 1996. 英美名著翻译比较 [Translation comparison of English and American classics]. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Ling. 2004. “我心中的翻译家父亲 [Remembering my father as a translator].” In 张谷若翻译艺术研究 [A study of the translation art of Zhang Guruo], edited by Sun Yingchun, 18–29. Beijing: China Translation & Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar