Translation studiesLesson 2 of 2 in the course Translation theory

Domestication, Foreignization, and Venuti’s Ethics of Difference

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Translation involves more than replacing words in one language with words in another. Translators also make choices about how a text’s cultural features should appear to readers in the target language. This lesson introduces domestication and foreignization, explains Lawrence Venuti’s role in defining their modern significance, and considers the cultural and ethical questions these strategies raise.

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What is domestication?
A strategy that adapts a translation to the norms and expectations of the target language and culture, potentially making source-culture differences less visible.
What is foreignization?
A strategy that retains or signals features of the source text’s linguistic and cultural context, even when they feel unfamiliar to target readers.
What role did Lawrence Venuti play in this debate?
He gave domestication and foreignization their modern significance in translation studies, introducing them in his 1995 book and developing the discussion in 1998.
Why does Venuti regard translation as culturally mediated?
Choices about what to translate and how to translate, edit, review, and read it are shaped by cultural values in the target language.
Why does Venuti advocate foreignization?
He sees it as an ethical way to make source-culture differences visible and resist their assimilation into dominant target-culture values.

Quiz questions

  1. According to Venuti, why are translation choices not entirely neutral?Answer: They are shaped by cultural values circulating in the target language.
  2. Which statement best describes Venuti’s preference for foreignization?Answer: It is an ethical argument, not a rule for every translation.
  3. What is the intended aim of foreignization beyond making a text difficult?Answer: To let readers notice the text’s different linguistic and cultural context.
  4. Why can foreignization be an ethical choice in Venuti’s view?Answer: It can resist the dominant culture’s tendency to assimilate difference.
  5. What does Venuti urge translators to recognize about fluency?Answer: Treating it as a neutral standard can hide the cultural significance of choices.

Based on the Wikipedia article Domestication and foreignization, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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