FOREIGNIZATION IN

TRANSLATIONPREPARED BY: MOUNADI

IDRISSI ABDELBAAR

INTRODUCTION Translation is not just about

transmitting a text/speech from one language to another, it is , rather, a set of procedures and strategies to be followed in order to produce a new, coherent and appropriate text that fulfills the goal of translation and transmits, as much as possible, the meaning of the source text. Among these strategies, we find that of Foreignization which comes into question along with domestication whenever it comes to translating from one culture to another; that is, the discussion of these two notions raises from the focus on the cultural aspects in translation.

INTRODUCTION What are, then, the notions of

Foreignization and domestication? what is the relationship between them? Where did they come from? What characteristics distinguish them from each other and from the other translation strategies? How do they function within translation? What is the benefit of adopting any of them when translating? And to what extent did the contribution of the functionalist approach succeed in solving this issue by adopting the Skopos theory?

WHAT IS FOREIGNIZATION? Linguistically speaking, the term

«foreignization» comes from the adjective foreign, meaning something that is strange and different.

In the field of translation, «foreignization» means:

According to Outi Paloposki « foreignization often refers to the preserving of the original cultural context, in terms of setting, names… etc »1

Xuxiang Suo: « Foreignization or exoticiezation is to keep the source culture setting of the story in

1- Poloposki ” Domestication and foreignization”

WHAT IS FOREIGNIZATION?Order to create a sense of strangeness and cultural

distance from the target audience; that is, to keep some linguistic and cultural aspects of the source text when translating »2

Forignization, according to Venuti, is “an ethnodeviant pressure on those (cultural) values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad.”3

From the above definitions of foreignization, we can say that it is a translation strategy in wich the translator preserves the cultural and linguistic aspects and values of the source text and transform them into the target text retaining in the meantime the ST constituents’ flavour.

2- Suo. “A New Perspective on Literary Translation Strategies Based on Skopos Theory”3- (Venuti 1995)

WHAT IS DOMESTICATION?Foreignization comes linguistically from

the verb «to domesticate», which means «to make a wild animal used to living with or working for humans»4

In translation studies, Wenfen Yang defines Domestication as

the strategy that “designates the type of translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers”5

4- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford University Press5- Yang, “Brief Study on Domestication and Foreignization in Translation”

WHAT IS DOMESTICATION? Lawrence Venuti presents domestication

as “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language cultural values, bring the author back home”6

For Jeremy Munday, “foreignization advocated by Venuti and his followers is a non-fluent or estranging translation style designed to make visible the presence of the translator by highlighting the foreign identity of the ST and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target culture”7

6- (Venuti. Ibid)7- Munday. Qtd in « Yang »

WHAT IS DOMESTICATION? From the above stated definitions,

we can say that domestication is the strategy adopted in order to produce a transparent, fluent and easy translation that conforms to the norms and rules of the target audience’s culture and language without any traces or existence of any aspect of the ST in the TT

THE ORIGINES OF «DOMESTICATION» AND «FOREIGNIZATION»

The two notions came into being with the publication of Lawrence Venuti’s book (The Translator’s Invisibility: A history of translation) in which he stands against domestication in favor of foreignization which, for him, «helps to resist the hegemonic English-language nations and the unequal changes in which they engage their global Others».8

Venuti’s ideas were based, according to many critics, on the german theorist Frederich Schleiermacher’s 1830 lecture ‘On the Different Ways of Translation’ in which he stated that the translator has to adopt one of two strategies:

8- (Suo. Ibid)

THE ORIGINES OF «DOMESTICATION» AND «FOREIGNIZATION»

Either « to leave the author in peace and move the audience towards him/[her] » (Foreignization)

Or « to leave the audience in peace and move the author towards them »9 (Domestication)

o In fact, Ventu is said just to have denominated both ideas and adopted them to face Eugine Nida’s ‘Dynamic Translation’ and the Anglo-American translation strategies accordingly. But generally speaking, Venuti is considered as the founding father of « domestication and foreignization. »

9- (Paloposki. Ibid)

THE ORIGINES OF «DOMESTICATION» AND «FOREIGNIZATION» Venuti stated that the translator can do

either of two things:I. « To make him/herself invisible to his/her

readers by making the text reads fluently; that is to leave no traces or influence of the SL in the target text » (domestication)

II. « [Or] to make him/herself visible by showing that the text is a translation, through leaving the traces of the SL and culture showing up in the text »10 (foreignization)

10- (Suo. Ibid)

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION Domestication and Foreignization are both

charatcterised by their independence in use and they both come into the surface when it comes to cultural translation.

Outi Paloposki stated that "‘foreignization’ may consist of many practices starting from the choice of the text, the use of language (archaic/modern), and any other deviating practices into keeping and preservation of cultural aspects and forms."11

11- (Paloposki. Ibid)

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION Xuxiang Suo mentioned that: «

foreignizing translation can retain the foreignness and cultural otherness of a foreign text only by destroying the target culture and its norms »

He adds that « foreignization is author-centered and SL-culture oriented », while «domestication is reader-centered and target-culture oriented » 12

12- (Suo. Ibid)

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION The next diagram is suggested by

the Chinese translation theorist, Xuxiang Suo, to show the relationship between ‘foreignization’ and ‘domestication’ and the other translation strategies: 13

13- (Suo. ibid)

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION

Thus we see that foreignization can, in a way or another, include all the other strategies that aim at faithfulness and commitment to the ST, while Domestication involves all the technics that aim at creating a text in a new, different and creative style sticking in the meantime to the meaning of the ST. In this respect, and depending on the above diagram, we can consider foreignization and domestication as two headings or subordinates situated under the umbrella of ‘Translation strategies/technics’ and involving as much as possible all the other different translation strategies that deal with the linguistic and cultural differences in translation.

The Functions of domestication & foreignization The Chinese translation theorist Hui Guo stated that “The purpose of translation is to promote understanding and communication between different linguistic and cultural communities.” In order for translation to fulfill this purpose of communication, “Linguistic competences are not the only requirement[…]-though the most important one- another important requirement is [having] enough acquaintance with the target culture” 14

Xuxiang Suo argued that «domestication strategy helps the readers overcome both linguistic and cultural barriers and make the target text more readable and easier to understand »15, while the function of Foreignization, on the contrary, is to introduce the reader to the source culture and deepen their knowledge about the ‘other’ foreign linguistic and cultural values, traditions, expressions, idioms…etc.

14- (Paloposki. Ibid)15- (Suo. Ibid)

The Functions of domestication & foreignization in translation

Thus, both Foreignization and Domestication are translation tools that facilitate, simplify and emphasize the purpose of communication and contribute each in its way to the realization of this purpose, the first by introducing the readers to to the environment of the foreign culture and language and enriching their knowledge about the ‘other’, while the second contributes by bringing the ‘Other’ closer to the readers and helping them get in touch with this (Other) in simple and easy ways. Here, the burden of the communication process is placed on the translator.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADOPTING DOMESTICATION & FOREIGNIZATION

As already stated, the benefit of adopting any of these two strategies lies in their ability to tackle cultural, ethnic and linguistic issues in translation. Each of them emphasizes on the communicative and cross-cultural function of translation in its own way. Foreignization itroduces the audience into the realm of strangeness and exoticism of the source-culture, while demestication simplifies the exoticism of the source culture and make it easy for the reader to cope with. It generally helps the audience overcome the obstacles and cultural barriers of the ‘other’ cultures.

The role of domestication and foreignazation within the Skopos theory

1- The Skopos theory: the word ‘Skopos’ is derived from Greek and denotes ‘purpose’

In the fiels of translation: Skopos theory is a concept from the field of translation studies. It provides an insight into the nature of translation as a purposeful activity; [purpose driven], which is directly applicable to every translation project.

It was established by the German linguist Hans Vermeer and comprises the idea that translationg and interpreting 

should primarily take into account the function of both the source and target text. 15

The functionalist approach, states Xuxiang Suo, “emerged [in translation] in order to solve and answer the questions concerning Foreignization and Domestication and their use and function in translation”16

15- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skopos_theory 16- (Suo. ibid)

In the functionalist approach to translation, the use either of foreignization or domestication depends on the skopos of translation; that is, why we translate that specific text is the criterion of adopting this or that strategy. In other words, « Skopos is the top-ranking rule determining any translation process. Therfore, the strategy to be adopted in translation must be compatible with the purpose the initiator or translator intends to fulfill »17

The Skopos rules are static ones; they do not differ from one language to another; that is, the purposes of translating any text exist in all languages, therefore, the rules do not and should not differ

The role of domestication and foreignazation within the Skopos theory

17- (Suo. Ibid)

Concerning who decides what principle to be adopted in translation, Vermeer, the inventor of the Skopos theory, stated the term ‘Translation Brief’18 which gives the translator a general idea how a ST should be translated and leaves him/her to decide which principles/strategies are appropriate to fulfilling the skopos of translation

The skopos is always about the TT. The functionalist approach to translation works

according to the principle of « the end justifies the means »19; that is, the skopos/purpose justifies the strategy adopted to fulfill the purpose.

The role of domestication and foreignazation within the Skopos theory

18- (Suo. Ibid)19- ibid

In the Skopos theory, there is only one criterion to measure the quality of translation, which is « the adequacy » of the TT. This means that « the target text is considered adequate as long as it fulfills its skopos of translation regardless whether it is equivalent to the ST [or not] » 20

The role of domestication and foreignazation within the Skopos theory

20- (Suo. Ibid)

From the above mentioned points, we can say that the functionalist approch to translation, introduced by Vermeer, doasn’t prefer domestication or foreignization, it rather considers both of them as translation tools that can be adopted either individually or mutually according to the Skopos of translation. They have different functions inside translation. « both of them have positive and negative points. We should [however] take a dynamic view to determin which strategy we should use in translation »20

The role of domestication and foreignazation within the Skopos theory

20- (Suo. Ibid)

Bibliography Hui Guo. “A Brief Analysis of Culture and Translation.”

Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 343-347, February 2012. doi:10.4304/tpls.2.2.343-347

Paloposki, Outi “Domestication and foreignization.” Handbook of Translation Studies. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Amsterdam

Suo, Xuxiang. “A New Perspective on Literary TranslationStrategies Based on Skopos Theory” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 176-183, January 2015http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0501.24

Venuti, Lawrence. The Translator’s Invisibility: A history of translation. Routledge: NewYork, 1995.

Yang, Wenfen. "Brief Study on Domestication and Foreignizationin Translation" doi:10.4304/jltr.1.1.77-80

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th Edition. Oxford University Press: NewYork.

Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skopos_theory

Bibliography