Shepel Yu.A. LINGUAL AND CULTURAL PECULIARITIES OF ORIGINAL PROTOCOL SPEECHES OF BARACK OBAMA AND METHODS OF THEIR TRANSLATION INTO UKRAINIAN
Shepel Yu.A.
Doctor of Science (Philology), professor,
Oles’ Honchar Dnipropetrovs’k National University
LINGUAL AND CULTURAL PECULIARITIES OF ORIGINAL PROTOCOL SPEECHES OF BARACK OBAMA AND METHODS OF THEIR TRANSLATION INTO UKRAINIAN
The main objective of this work is to identify discourse markers of original protocol speeches and in searching for appropriate transformations for their interpretation.
International relations have occupied an important place in the life of every state, society and the individual. Style of official documents is a combination of linguistic resources, function of which is to serve the areas official relationships that arise between state bodies, organizations and their departments, organizations and individuals in the course of their industrial, economic, commercial, diplomatic and legal activities.
The translation of documents is characterized by a certain more or less limited number of topics. Similarly, style of official documents, according to scientists, is characterized by high regulation of language, formality, impersonality. Diplomatic discourse, as well as the political, legal, advertising, religious and homiletic, belongs to a group of argumentative that embodies «focused communicative act on socially determined situation to develop cognitive and axiological unison». The term “protocol” means different types of official documents, which put the results of negotiations in a solemn and authoritative form. Draft of these documents can be very flexible. The word “protocol” comes from the Greek word “protokollon” (protos – the first; kolla – to glue). Protocol formulas in documents are means of expressing politeness at the international level.
In our work we analyze the protocol speeches of the US President Barack Obama. The text of any speeches of American presidents is based on the law of rhetoric. Category of discourse markers is widely recognized since the publication in 1983 of D. Shiffrin in which the author refers many diverse items, including conjunctions, particles, adverbs and etc. to the group of discourse markers. By providing an understanding of the text, discourse markers facilitate its translation task, confirming the idea of translatability, because the markers have a text-forming function and reflect the stylistic features of protocol documents. The translator usually has to use grammatical transformations, lexical replacement, and various stylistic devices to transfer the contents of the source text in the target language on the process of translation. Lexical replacements provide an adequate functional equivalent of the original marker. They help the translator avoid literalism, and create special stylistic coloring of translation text. Here is an example on a slide:
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. — Я дякую президентові Бушу за його службу нашій країні, а також за його великодушну співпрацю під час передачі влади.
We see in this example a lexical replacement within the word combination in which we see two homogeneous parts of the sentence are transferred into word combination with adjective and noun. Grammatical transformations can be different in translation. We analyzed such as antonymic translation, addition and omission. Here is an example of such grammatical transformation as antonymic translation:
After all, you don't call Russia our number one enemy – and not al Qaeda – unless you're still stuck in a Cold War time warp. — Попри все, ви кличете нашим ворогом №1 не Аль-Каїду, а Росію, як ніби ви застрягли в мисленні Холодної війни.
Addition is a grammatical transformation which provides an increasing number of words or parts of sentences.
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. — Я промовляю тут сьогодні, смиренно усвідомлюючи те завдання, що стоїть перед нами, вдячний вам за виказану мені довіру, і пам’ятаючи про жертви, принесені нашими предками.
Omission is grammatical transformation in the result of which some words of the sentence can be omitted in the translation.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. — Тепер уже цілком очевидно, що криза набирає обертів.
Discourse markers serve as means of sequential presentation of information to help keep a clear structure and establish logical ties of speech. D.Shiffrin includes following attributes to the discourse markers of addition: and, also, as well as, moreover, too, furthermore, additionally. These markers are used to emphasize certain points that the speaker wants to add to his statement.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. — Я дякую президентові Бушу за його службу нашій країні, а також за його великодушну співпрацю під час передачі влади.
Sequence markers include: first(ly); first of all, to begin with, and others.
Tonight I want to begin by congratulating the men and women of the 112th Congress, as well as your new Speaker, John Boehner. — Сьогодні я хочу насамперед привітати чоловіків і жінок 112-го скликання конгресу, а також нового спікера, Джона Богнера.
Concession and opposition markers include but, however, even, despite, in spite of; on the one hand ... on the other hand; in contrast, on the contrary; in fact, after all, yet.
Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. — Однак доволі часто ця присяга звучала на фоні зловісних темних хмар та шалених буревіїв.
- Shiffrin distinguishes the following example markers – instance, like, say, for example, as an example, for instance; in particular; including.
Then there’s my favorite example: the Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them in when they’re in saltwater. — І я хочу навести мій улюблений приклад: Міністерство внутрішніх справ відповідає за лосося, коли риба знаходиться у прісноводних водоймах, якщо риба знаходиться у воді солоній, відповідальне вже Міністерство торгівлі.
Discourse markers of cause and effect indicate the cause or the consequence of your action because, as, thus, for, since; that is why, that is the reason why, for this reason; due to, owing to, as a result, on account of, thanks to.
Thanks to the tax cuts we passed, Americans’ paychecks are a little bigger today. — Завдяки зниженню податків, яке ми ухвалили, зарплати американців сьогодні стали трохи більшими.
Discourse markers of underlying make an emphasis on one or another specific event: above all, especially, significantly, indeed, notably.
And above all, it will require us to choose a vision of the America we want to see five and ten and twenty years down the road. — І, перш за все, це вимагатиме від нас обрати бачення Америки, якою ми її хочемо бачити через п’ять, і десять, і двадцять потому.
Code glosses serve as markers of paraphrase, explanation. Speakers resort to explanations, clarifications with the help of code gloss. In English, the most striking example of code glosses is X means Y.
I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn't return. — І це означає, що я знаю, що таке посилати молодих американців на війну, бо я тримав у своїх руках руки матерів і батьків тих, хто не повернувся.
Ethos of «international comity», respect and honor to all representatives of countries and state partners is mandatory for diplomatic speeches. Replica containing compliments are used in dialogue aimed at establishing or regulating interpersonal relationships. The usage of emotive adjectives (such as great, good, the best, marvelous etc.) confirms formed relationships and reduces social distance between communicants.
We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. — Ми хочемо винагороджувати хороших вчителів і припинити виправдовувати поганих.
Quotes are important in speeches. These are brief thoughts about certain phenomena (aphorisms) or words of famous people (characters) which bring us back to the speech situation, building a bridge between the actual situation of speech and speech situation in which a particular quote was taken. In the speeches of American presidents there are the following sources of quotations: words of their predecessors; words of famous public figures; works of writers and poets; Biblical phrases and allusions; their relatives and friends.
As Ronald Reagan’s own budget director said, there’s nothing «serious» or «courageous» about this plan. There’s nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires… — Як сказав бюджетний директор самого Рональда Рейгана, нічого «серйозного» чи «сміливого» в цьому плані немає. Немає нічого серйозного в плані, який претендує на зменшення дефіциту, витрачаючи трильйон доларів на податкові послаблення для мільйонерів та мільярдерів…
Allusions are text elements that indicate the relationship of the text with other texts or contain references to certain historical, cultural, and biographical facts. In analyzing the use of allusions by president Barack Obama in speeches, we noticed the humorous nature of these allusions.
During the second hundred days, we will design, build and open a library dedicated to my first hundred days. It's going to be big, folks. In the next hundred days, I will learn to go off the prompter and Joe Biden will learn to stay on the prompter…Finally, I believe that my next hundred days will be so successful I will be able to complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day, I will rest. — «За другі сто днів ми розробимо, побудуємо і відкриємо бібліотеку, присвячену моїм першим ста дням. Народ, вона буде великою. За наступні сто днів я навчуся обходитися без суфлера, а Джо Байден навчиться ним послуговуватися…За наступні сто днів я серйозно замислюсь над тим, аби втратити холоднокровність. Нарешті, я думаю, що мої наступні сто днів будуть настільки вдалими, що я зможу завершити їх за 72 дні – а на 73-й день я відпочиватиму».
Here is a table on a slide with a percentage of usage of lexical and grammatical transformations, discourse markers, and ethnic and specific components.
To conclude the aforesaid:
Diplomatic discourse is a communicative speech act; it is the embodiment of communicative intentions in the statement.
Protocol speech is a genre of diplomatic discourse characteristics of which are generally not covered even from the standpoint of modern achievements in communicative linguistics and translation studies.
Discourse markers in protocol speeches have text-forming function and reflect the stylistic features of documents. Discourse markers have an emphatic function during the speeches; the speaker focuses audience’s attention on something particular using these markers.
Obama largely address compliments to the audience; he uses widely quotation of his predecessors, friends, and well-known political figures. We figured out that Obama doesn’t use many allusions in his speeches.
