VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  BÙI THỊ MAI ANH A TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE NOVEL THE NOTEBOOK BY PETAL LÊ (2010) USING PETER NEWMARK’S MODEL (Đánh giá chất lượng dịch tiếng Việt tiểu thuyết Nhật ký (2010) Petal Lê dịch theo mơ hình Peter Newmark) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.01 HANOI, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  BÙI THỊ MAI ANH A TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE NOVEL THE NOTEBOOK BY PETAL LÊ (2010) USING PETER NEWMARK’S MODEL (Đánh giá chất lượng dịch tiếng Việt tiểu thuyết Nhật ký (2010) Petal Lê dịch theo mơ hình Peter Newmark) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.01 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến HANOI, 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby state that the thesis entitled “A translation quality assessment of the Vietnamese version of the novel The Notebook by Petal Lê (2010) using Peter Newmark’s model” is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Hanoi, 2014 Student Bùi Thị Mai Anh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been completed without the support of many people, to whom I am profoundly grateful First and foremost, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Lê Hùng Tiến, my supervisor, for his invaluable advice, fervent guidance and enthusiastic support during all the stages of this research Without his advice and indefatigable perseverance, I would not have been able to complete this paper Besides, I want to show my appreciation to my mother and my husband whose encouragement represents the best inspiration I have ever had Their energy and enthusiasm always help me move forward, over tiredness and boredom when everything seems to be in the middle of nowhere This experience would never have been my satisfaction, at least for now, without my friends and colleagues who gave me helpful advice, suggestions and encouragement during my exhaustion ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the translation quality assessment of the Vietnamese version of the novel The Notebook translated by Petal Lê The Introduction states the rationale for the study as well as establishes the objectives, scope and methods of the study The main part of the thesis starts with the theoretical background which presents issues relevant to the study comprising translation, translation methods, translation equivalence and translation quality assessment After all the theories have been introduced, the researcher evaluates the Vietnamese version of the book using Peter Newmark‟s model The five-step model has been followed strictly with the emphasis on step 3, also known as the heart of the critique In the last part of the study, the critic summaries what she has gained after assessing the translation in order to answer the research questions set in the first part Suggestions for further studies are also offered iii ABBREVIATIONS SL: Source Language TL: Target Language ST: Source Text TT: Target Text iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii ABBREVIATIONS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Objectives of the study Scope and method of the study 3.1 Scope of the study 3.2 Method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Theoretical Background 1.1 Translation Theory 1.1.1 Definition of Translation 1.1.2 Translation Methods 1.1.3 Translation Equivalence 1.1.3.1 Definition 1.1.3.2 Types of Equivalence 1.2 Translation Quality Assessment 1.2.1 Definition 1.2.2 Translation Quality Assessment Models 1.2.2.1 Juliane House‟s Model 1.2.2.2 Peter Newmark‟s Model Evaluation of the Translation basing on Newmark’s Model 12 2.1 A brief analysis of the source language text 12 2.1.1 The author‟s purpose 12 2.1.2 Characteristic of the readership 12 2.1.3 The topic 12 2.2 The translator‟s interpretation 13 2.2.1 Omission of original text 13 2.2.2 The translator‟s method 16 2.2.3 The translation‟s likely readership 16 2.3 Comparison of the translation with the original 17 v 2.3.1 The title 17 2.3.2 The structure 18 2.3.2.1 Simple sentences vs Compound sentences 18 2.3.2.2 Active vs Passive voice 19 2.3.2.3 Order of clauses 24 2.3.2.4 Use of antonym 24 2.3.2.5 Change of subject 24 2.3.3 Proper names 25 2.3.3.1 People‟s names 25 2.3.3.2 Geographical names 26 2.3.3.3 Other names 27 2.3.4 Hierarchical pronouns as a cultural feature 28 2.3.5 Borrowed words 29 2.3.6 Puns 31 2.3.7 Some minor issues 32 2.3.7.1 Spelling mistakes 32 2.3.7.2 Mistranslation 32 2.3.7.3 Sentences that sound unnatural in the target language 34 2.4 An evaluation of the translation 35 2.5 Potential importance of the work within the target language culture 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 38 Concluding remarks 38 Suggestions for further studies 39 REFERENCES 40 vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study As the acclaimed translator Edith Grossman writes in the Preface of her book Why Translation Matters (2010), translation has a transcendent significance: “Translation not only plays its important traditional role as the means that allows us access to literature originally written in one of the countless languages we cannot read, but it also represents a concrete literary presence with the crucial capacity to ease and make more meaningful our relationships to those with whom we may not have had a connection before Translation always helps us to know, to see from a different angle, to attribute new value to what once may have been unfamiliar As nations and as individuals, we have a critical need for that kind of understanding and insight The alternative is unthinkable.” Literary translation, on the top of that, is the one effective way to enhance intercultural understanding Not every one has the chance to know well even one foreign language to appreciate a literary work that they so yearn for It is translation and translators that fill the gap and open up new worlds for booklovers to explore Globalization and integration have created great opportunity for a huge amount of foreign literary works to come within reach of Vietnamese readers While booklovers always hunger for new literary works to come out, translators, at the same time, have to cope with enormous workload of translating the originals as fast as possible This makes translation a demanding and tough job that requires not only broad cultural background knowledge but also enthusiasm, professional conscience and scrupulousness However, every now and then, owing to objective and subjective reasons, the translated versions still contain mistakes of various types There are even translated works that cause translation disasters and spark off vigorous debates With thousands of literary translations published every year by hundreds of publishers in Vietnam, translation quality control seems an impossible task Besides highly appreciated and well-received translation works such as Wuthering Heights and Gone with the Wind by Dương Tường, Harry Porter series by Lý Lan, The Twilight Saga by Tịnh Thủy, there remain works of poor quality, for example, the Vietnamese version of Harry Porter and the Order of the Phoenix by Trần Thắng Minh (Văn hóa – Thông tin Publisher, 2003), The da Vinci Code by Đỗ Thu Hà (Văn hóa – Thơng tin Publisher, 2006), The Elementary Particles by Cao Việt Dũng (Đà Nẵng Publisher, 2006), The Things They Carried by Trần Tiễn Cao Đăng (Văn học Publisher, 2011), Seal Team Six by Đoàn Châu Hoài Giang (Alphabooks Publisher, 2012) These translated versions have received a great deal of criticism since their publication due to their vocabulary, grammar, style, spelling, typing mistakes that even an ordinary reader cannot bear Therefore, this minor thesis would like to concentrate on the evaluation of one literary translation in order that readers and booklovers can have better conception and comprehension of some models of translation quality assessment initiated by notable linguists in the world such as Juliane House and Peter Newmark Since the limitation of a minor thesis, Juliane House‟s model and Peter Newmark‟s model will be introduced and Newmark‟s will be selected as the main means to evaluate the Vietnamese version of The Notebook by Petal Lê to reveal the good points and bad points of the translated texts with regards to the original In addition, the author would like to look into the outstanding equivalence types the translator has achieved in translating this popular literary work so that other translators can get some experience from him Objectives of the study The study covers the following aims:  To assess the translation quality of the translated version of the novel The Notebook in terms of the aspects discovered from theories raised by different scholars including Juliane House and Peter Newmark with Newmark‟s model as the main criteria  To suggest some implications for the translation of literary works To successfully achieve the above aims, the thesis seeks to answer the two research questions:  How good is the Vietnamese version of The Notebook according to Newmark‟s model?  What recommendations can be made from the translated version? Scope and method of the study 3.1 Scope of the study The work of fiction The Notebook consists of twelve chapters in total Since this is a story of logical coherence and requires complete penetration, the researcher finds it is a good idea to evaluate the translation text on a general basis However, due to limitation of time for this study, certain emphasis on highlights of this fiction will be presented 3.2 Method of the study Since this is the study to evaluate the translated version of The Notebook by Petal Lê, a theoretical insight into some different translation quality assessment models by different linguists is necessary Peter Newmark‟s model, for its advantages in terms of applications, will be used as the major criteria for evaluating the Vietnamese version of the novel ... VERSION OF THE NOVEL THE NOTEBOOK BY PETAL LÊ (2010) USING PETER NEWMARK’S MODEL (Đánh giá chất lượng dịch tiếng Việt tiểu thuyết Nhật ký (2010) Petal Lê dịch theo mơ hình Peter Newmark) M .A MINOR THESIS... methods of translation as followed: Source Language Emphasis Target Language Emphasis Word-for-word translation Adaptation Literal translation Free translation Faithful translation Idiomatic translation. .. methods, translation equivalence, and translation assessment Evaluation of the Translation basing on Newmark‟s Model In this part, Newmark‟s five-step translation quality assessment model aforementioned