The Cognitive Aspects of
Translation, The sea by J.
Pupačić
Rafaela Božić-Šejić
University of Zadar
Croatia
rsejic@unizd.hr
Three translations
Fikret Cacan
Boris Orehov
Olga Ostrogorski Jakšić
The questions:
Will the difference in the type of the language
competences influence translations (in what
way)?
Will the readers recognize the same elements of
the poem as the most important?
Will the readers understand certain phrases in
the same way?
What does that tell us about the reception of the
poem?
Josip Pupačić - More
I gledam more gdje se k meni penje
I slušam more dobrojutro veli
I ono sluša mene ja mu šapćem
O dobrojutro more kažem tiho
Pa opet tiše ponovim mu pozdrav
A more sluša pa se smije
Pa šuti pa se smije pa se penje
I gledam more gledam more zlato
I gledam more gdje se k meni penje
I dobrojutro kažem more zlato
I dobrojutro more more kaže
I zagrli me more oko vrata
I more i ja i ja s morem zlatom
Sjedimo skupa na žalu vrh brijega
I smijemo se smijemo se moru
Problems of Translation
Cultural Differences
Linguistic Differences
Problems of translating metaphors:
cognitive approach to metaphor.
(Metaphors as basic resources for thought
processes.)
The research of N.N. Aleksandrova, B.V.
Orehov i А. Salihova
Research on “stereoscopic” view to a
text.
Task 1
Read 3 different translations of the by P.B. Shelly
and try to give your view on how the original text
looked like.
Слишком часто заветное слово людьми
осквернялось,
Я его не хочу повторять, (Перевод К.Д.Бальмонта)
Унижено слово, зато
Его не унижу, (Перевод В. Корнилова)
Глумясь, обесценивать слово
Негоже певцу. (Перевод А. Шараповой)
Task 2
Find the most important word in the
text and give to it your first
association.
Reasons for different approach
Much more similar translations.
I wanted to analyze the understanding and
perception of certain phrases by Russian
and Croatian readers.
Q – data about the readers
Gender
Age
Education
Knowledge of Croatian language
Knowledge of Croatian culture
Associations to the word: the sea
The place of the sea in Russian literature
The place of the sea in Russian culture
Questionaire – 2nd part
What are the feelings of the I towards the sea?
What are your emotions towards the sea after
reading this poem?
Which elements of the poem are most
important?
Which phrases you consider the most beautiful?
Which phrases you don’t understand?
Which phrases are strange to you?
After reading the translation choose one which
is: the most beautiful, understandable, strange,
rhytmical.
Questionaire 3rd part
Explaine the phrase: море что в
движеньи, море утром набегает, море
движется ко мне.
Explaine the greeting: говорит мне море
с добрым утром, море здравствуй
говорит, моря утренний привет.
Explaine these adjectives: золотое,
дорогое.
Problems
Not all of the readers answered all of the
questions. Answers were different in style
and difficult to compare.
Factors of Equivalency and
Freedom
Translation 1 – 63%, 33%
Translation 2 – 68%, 16%
Translation 3 – 63%, 39%
I gledam more gdje se k meni
penje
И вижу море движется ко мне
и я смотрю на море что в движеньи
я вижу море утром набегает
I gledam more gledam more zlato
и вижу море море золотое смотрю
и я смотрю на море золотое
смотрю на море море дорогое
I slušam more dobrojutro veli
и слышу моря утренний привет
и говорит мне море с добрым утром
я слышу море здравствуй говорит
Conclusions
The influence of language competence
Most important elements – recognized
Some important phrases not understood in
the same way
Message – transferred – but to what
degree (?)