2. Translation Studies and Linguistic Variation
2.5 Beyond Standards‐with‐Dialects
the norm” that should be rendered in translation, not a given source‐text variety (2000:72). Pym refers to this as syntagmatic alteration of distance. In order to investigate the potentiality of translation of linguistic variation, the present paper takes as its focal point syntagmatic alteration of distance as translation strategy. In particular, I will explore the effectiveness of this strategy to deal with parodic
function as created through manipulation of the Chinese diglossic language scenario.
2.5 Beyond StandardswithDialects
As can be seen in the review of literature presented thus far, discussion of (un)‐
translatability of linguistic variation has focused mainly upon geographical and social dialect and the issues relating to their translation. A variety of issues —
semantic, aesthetic, ideological, political, and ethical — have been addressed, but the discussion has been confined to an unrealistic, single‐user‐single‐variant context. By
“single‐user‐single‐variant”, I refer to the status of the presumed speaker of a geographical or social dialect taken as theoretical object upon which most debate has been focused. The dichotomy created in much literature and, as such, found to pervade the (un)‐translatability of linguistic variation debate is that of a mono‐
lingual/mono‐variant speaker of one dialect — standard or non‐standard; majority language or minority language, central or periphery, and so on — placed in contrast to a mono‐lingual/mono‐variant speaker of another. Although the community in which the interaction takes place may be multilingual, the actors within the community are usually taken to be mono‐lingual/mono‐variant. The contrast between mono‐lingual/mono‐variant speakers of opposing dialects is then played out upon any number of levels including, but not limited to, semantic, aesthetic, ideological, political, and hierarchical. It seems that the mono‐lingual/mono‐variant speaker is an oversimplified point upon which to base any discussion of (un)‐
translatability of linguistic variation because: Firstly, mono‐lingual/mono‐variant agents are not the only ones represented in works of literature; and secondly, many
language communities are not composed of only mono‐lingual/mono‐variant speaking individuals.
Within the Translation Studies literature, there have been a small number of
scholars who have explored linguistic variation from a point of entry other than the usual standard‐with‐dialects or minority‐majority dichotomies. I will discuss briefly four: Ben‐Z Shek (1977, 1988), Muhammad Raji Zughoul and Mohammed El‐
Badarien (2004), Jane Wilkinson (2005), and Reine Meylaerts (2006). Shek is one of the first to investigate the effects of diglossia on translation. Shek’s research takes up the issue of imbalance in literary translation in Canada (French translated into English much more highly represented than English into French). As way of explanation for the imbalance, Shek proposes the diglossic historical relationship between the nation’s two official languages — French and English. It is important to point out that Shek explores, as he puts it, “Quebec’s socio‐cultural evolution” and not just a static moment, for example, in present‐day Canadian society. This is an important distinction because it is not entirely clear whether or not modern‐day Quebec (post‐1974, when French was made the only official language) meets the requirements to be categorized as a diglossic community. However, viewed over the full course of its history, Quebec would probably make an interesting example of what Ferguson (1959) refers to as an evolution away from diglossia toward a standard‐with‐dialect or, perhaps, a majority‐minority situation. Regardless, Shek’s work helps to balance
an otherwise monolingual‐heavy discussion of (un)‐
translatability of linguistic variation.
In contrast to the questionable categorization of Quebec as a diglossic community, research on translation and the diglossic nature of Arabic carried out by Muhammad Raji Zughoul and Mohammed El‐Badarien (2004) can without a doubt be viewed as related to diglossia in the classic sense of the word. In response to their view that
“treatment of variation has always been restricted to “dialect” and has not encompassed the notion of diglossia” (2004:447), Zughoul and El‐Badarien investigate equivalence of variety to context as it pertains to translation into the
Arabic diglossic situation. Although it is quite prescriptive in nature, their
conclusion — “use of the wrong variety in translating a text not only fails to transfer the intended meaning but also distorts the message” (2004:454) — might still be instructive in that it refers to a diglossic community that Ferguson, himself,
described as belonging to a category in which prestige of the high language is such that “H alone is regarded as real and L is reported ‘not to exist’” (1959:29). Of course, not all members of a community will hold such a view, but it surely will affect both meaning and reception at various levels of society.
Finally, both Jane Wilkinson (2005) and Reine Meylaerts (2006) return the focus back to issues related to national identity. Wilkinson explores theatre translation in German‐speaking Switzerland. In particular, she discusses translation from H to L variety within a language community that meets an extended definition of diglossia as opposed to a classical one. The distinction between extended and classical diglossia is that Ferguson’s original categorization did not include genetically unrelated languages while later research in both psychology and sociology — John Gumperz (1961, 1962) and Joshua Fishman (1967) — helped to extend the
definition of diglossia to allow H and L to be represented by genetically unrelated or historically distinct languages. Wilkinson’s argument, with respect to such a
diglossic community — in particular, modern‐day German‐speaking Switzerland — holds that translation choice often reflects an L‐side desire to promote local and national identity and to resist H‐side culture (2005).
In a similar vein, Reine Meylaerts (2006) delves into some of the issues relating to the struggle for equality — or, perhaps, dominance — that often arises between H and L language varieties in a diglossic setting. Meylaerts explores translation of Flemish novels into French within the heteroglossic context of Belgium during the 1920s and 30s. The unique heteroglossic nature of the context is such that
monolingual, H‐variety‐French speakers comprise the target audience for which multilingual Flemish‐French speaker‐produced L‐variety Flemish novels are translated. Much like Shek’s research into “Quebec’s socio‐cultural evolution,”
Meylaerts work investigates within a diglossic setting an L‐variety language in the early stages of resisting H‐language‐variety dominance. The study of translation — in all its permutations — as it exists across an evolving — both in space and time — diaglossic community is an interesting area that to‐date has not received much attention in the field of Translation Studies. For the time being, however, the present paper will deal with just one instance of translation from a diglossic community — Mainland China — to a non‐diglossic one — North America and the UK.
3.
Diglossia
3.1 Definition and Ferguson’s 9 Variables
In order to expand the focus of the discussion, the present paper looks at a contrasting — but, perhaps, more realistic — scenario in which speakers have access to more than one dialect at a time — namely, diglossia. Linguist Charles Ferguson (1959) coined the term diglossia in order to refer to a situation in which
“two varieties of language exist side by side throughout the community, with each having a definite role to play” (1959:25). A more detailed definition is as follows:
A relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language (which may include a standard or regional standards), there is a very divergent, highly codified (often grammatically more complex) superposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature either of an earlier period or in an other speech community which is learned largely by formal education and used for most written and formal spoken purposes but not used by any sector of the community for ordinary conversation (Ferguson 1959:34‐35).
In his investigation of this phenomenon, Ferguson focuses upon four diglossic language communities: namely, Arabic, Modern Greek, Swiss German, and Haitian Creole (1959:26). According to Ferguson’s classification system, separate varieties in a diglossic community are called either “H” for the high variety — the superposed dialect, or “L” for the low variety — standard or regional dialects. In his 1959 paper, Ferguson describes 9 variables — function, prestige, literary heritage, acquisition, standardization, stability, grammar, lexicon, and phonology — inherent to a diglossic language community.
First, Ferguson outlines issues relating to the function variable. According to
Ferguson, H and L varieties of diglossic languages can be differentiated on the basis of a disparate specialization of function. As Ferguson, himself, puts it “in one set of situations only H is appropriate and in another only L” (1959:29). It is important to note that Ferguson admits there is a certain degree of overlap between the two sets