Practical Part
There are five main rules of translation of irony:
1)Full translation with slight lexical and grammatical transformations only in cases when the verbal and grammatical structure of the ironical clause of the original texts allows it. Also if the social and cultural associations of the two languages match.
When I left my public school I had an extensive knowledge of Latin and Greek literature, knew a certain amount of Greek and Latin history and French grammar, and had "done" a little mathematics. Окончив частную гимназию, я неплохо знал античную литературу, имел представление об античной истории и французском языке, а также "прошел " азы математики.
2) An extension of the original ironical clause is used in those cases when the concept of the ironical word choice is not obvious for the foreign cultural environment. In such cases, a part of the implicated components of the irony is realized into a verbal form with the use of absolute and adverbial participle clauses, extended attributive constructions etc.
Thinking up titles is an art in itself, but we, legions of would-be authors, face another literary crisis: title depletion. Heedless of the future, successful authors the world over keep consuming a precious resource -- book titles -- as if there were no tomorrow, and that puts the rest of us off. And they have creamed off the best. Maybe I would have written The Brothers Karamazov, but some older guy got it first. We're left with odds and ends, like The Second Cousins Karamazov.
Придумывание заглавий -- само по себе искусство, но мы, легионы писателей будущего, сталкиваемся с кризисом жанра: с истощением источника названий. Не заботясь о будущем, писатели во всем мире, уже получившие свое, продолжают эксплуатировать драгоценные ресурсы -- месторождения названий книг, -- как будто будущего вовсе не будет, и тем самым лишают нас последнего. А сами между тем снимают сливки. Я, может, назвал бы свой роман Братья Карамазовы, да какой-то дед уже обошел меня. Вот нам и остаются только отвалы', а не назвать ли мне свою книгу Кузены Карамазовы!
3) Antonymous translation is a type of translation with the usage of opposite grammatical and lexical meanings. It is used when a direct translation makes the translational structure more complicated due to the differences of grammatical and lexical norms. In this case, the direct translation darkens or totally loses any sense of irony.
When I left my public school I had an extensive knowledge of Latin and Greek literature, knew a certain amount of Greek and Latin history and French grammar, and had "done" a little mathematics. Окончив частную гимназию, я неплохо знал античную литературу, имел представление об античной истории и французском языке, а также "прошел " азы математики.
4)The addition of conceptual components is used in cases when it is necessary to maintain the original lexico-grammatical forms in terms of lack of similar or analogue forms in the target language.
To read or not to read? All books can be divided into three groups: books to read, books to re-read, and books not to read at all. Все книги можно поделить на три группы, снабдив их этикетками: "читать", "перечитать", "не читать".
5) Culturally-situational replacement is used in cases when the direct reproduction of the irony is impossible because of the difficulties in comprehending of the translating culture. However, the irony still has to take place, for it plus a significant role in the context.
The Ekaterininsky Canal is notorious with its muddy waters among the rivers and canals of St. Petersburg. Екатерининскийканалхарактеризуетсяпрямокак "грязный". При таком раскладе компонентов, конечно, теряется часть исходной информации, но зато сохраняется сам прием иронии как способ характеристики образа.
IV.Conclusion
In this course work are shown all methods of translation of irony in literature. Irony is a really grand phenomena, that’s why the conclusion of the translation of irony is a highly constitutive of the theory of translation. The ironical expressions from English and American literature, translated into Russian help our people understand deeply the mentality of the oversea nations. The usage of irony is not restricted on the area of literature. It’s very important aspect in English literature. And on the contradiction of it the irony may appear in different spheres of human life. Therefore, in order not to get caught flat-footed, translator should pay more attention to the study of this aspect of translation theory. Irony poses one of the biggest challenges to the translator of texts of narrative fiction, as it depends on a wide range of factors of different nature: subjective, cognitive, pragmatic and cultural.
In the course work are exposed a deep investigation of areas in which irony is most likely to be used; different materials about the history of irony; different types of irony with interesting examples; all the possible methods of translation of irony; efforts to facilitate the work of future translators. I really hope that my course work will be helpful for the future young translators as a source of comprehensive explanation of the basic methods and ways of translation of ironical clauses from English into Russian.
Anyway, that by now the listener had a really good idea of just what irony is and how it shaped the way we view the world around us. So, the next time you walk up to a friend after you've been out working under a greasy car and getting oil splattered, or have been playing football in the mud with the guys and you come home to your wife and she says, "Well! Aren't you just a handsome sight!" You'll know she just used irony on you.
References
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- Behler, Ernst. Klassische Ironie, Romantische Ironie, Tragische Ironie. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1972.
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- Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. Sämmtliche Werke. Berlin: Veit und Comp., 1845.
- Hartman, Geoffrey H. The Fateful Question of Culture. New York: Columbia UP, 1997.
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- Prickett, Stephen. "Coleridge and the Idea of the Clerisy." Reading Coleridge: Approaches and Applications. Ed. Walter B. Crawford. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1979. 252-273.
- Readings, Bill. The University in Ruins. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996.
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