An annotated translation (English-Maltese) of one chapter from the first book of George R.R. Martin's saga 'Game of Thrones : a song of ice and fire'

Abstract

In the first chapter an overview of translation as a process and its difficulties is given, and a few key factors that are involved in the translation process are mentioned. This is done in order to introduce the following chapter of the dissertation, which involves the theories of translation. The second chapter is divided into various sections and focuses on the main issues that affect the translator. It is essential to give a general idea of the challenges involving the task of translation, hence I listed various types of translation approaches which have been used throughout the years when translating different types of literary texts. For each of these examples one can understand the way the translator tackled the text at that time and the reason behind his or her decision. Apart from prose, I also decided to add other types of literary translations, so that the reader can fully grasp the challenge in translating literature. Moreover, since my translation is a chapter from a novel, the last section is specifically focused on prose translation. This is an important chapter because it prepares the reader to fully grasp the work involved in writing the actual translation which can be read in the following chapter. As I said, every translation has a different approach, and in this dissertation, I have decided that the best way to do so is to keep the names which are used in the English version (foreignisation) since the public is already accustomed to the names, being a popular read in these last few years. Most of the names are also used amongst the Maltese population and are therefore not considered ‘foreign’ at all. Having said that, I will try to revive as much as possible our Maltese language and find a balance between the modern world and that of the book. I will do so by using some archaic terms which fit perfectly with the ambience of the book, but considering at the same time the fact that this will be read by people who do not use archaic terms anymore. The third chapter focuses on the book chosen for this dissertation. The first thing to do was to translate the book’s title. After that, I decided that an overview of the author’s mindset was a must in order to understand the way the book was written and this whole new world that he has created. Two prominent aspects found in the book are also dealt with in this chapter. These are the historical and magical aspect, and are the basis of every book of the saga. After concluding the translation, in the fourth chapter I will analyse in detail the way the translation was carried out and the choices that were made during the process. I will also explain the reasoning behind it all. It also involves the kind of shifts were used in the process (level shifts and category shifts). Some of these linguistic characteristics are found in the chapter and are shown by giving examples from the text. Other features, such as proper names, style and figures of speech, are inevitable and tricky to translate. Thus, they are important to mention as they contribute to the challenges of translation. The issue of translatability is also present and tackled. It is important to keep in mind what the author has achieved in his book and how he does so in order to produce a linear translation which reflects the original text in the best possible way. One has to remember that no translation is a perfect one but it is very important to keep in mind the meaning and scope of it all.