Assessing the vietnamese english translation of the articles in the section of vietnam country and people on the vnat homepage

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER STRATEGIES IN TRANSLATING PROPER NA

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

STRATEGIES IN TRANSLATING PROPER NAMES

FROM ENGLISH INTO VIETNAMESE IN

FANTASY LITERATURE: A CASE STUDY IN BOOK I OF THE GAME OF THRONES SERIES

Supervisor: Trần Thị Minh, M.A

Student: Nguyễn Hồng Linh

Course: QH2013

HÀ NỘI – 2017

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

CHIẾN LƯỢC DỊCH ANH – VIỆT TÊN RIÊNG TRONG VĂN HỌC KỲ ẢO: NGHIÊN CỨU

TRƯỜNG HỢP TẬP 1 TRÒ CHƠI VƯƠNG QUYỀN

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Thạc sĩ Trần Thị Minh

Sinh viên: Nguyễn Hồng Linh

Khóa: QH2013

HÀ NỘI – 2017

ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Nguyen Hong Linh from QH.2013.F1.E15, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Nguyen Hong Linh

Date

May 4th, 2017

I wish to offer my special thank to an editor at Alpha Books for her spending valuable time to join in a meaningful interview with me Her kindness and cooperation made a significant contribution to this study

Last but not least, I would like to show my appreciation to any future readers

of this thesis Thank you for taking interest in my work and hope you can find useful references in this material

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ABSTRACT

A multitude of studies has disproven the notion that proper names are a mundane issue in translation and demonstrated this phenomenon to be one of the greatest challenges faced by translators Proper names in fantasy literature, in particular, is a unique subject in the realm of proper names given its multiple purposes, novel creation, and far-reaching effects in translation To further investigation in the English – Vietnamese translation of proper names in fantasy,

the researcher has conducted a study on ―Strategies in translating proper names from English into Vietnamese in fantasy literature: A case study in Book I of the Game of Thrones series‖ This study aims to identify strategies employed in

translating proper names in the case study as well as to propose helpful implications

in translating proper names from English into Vietnamese in fantasy Document analysis and personal interview are the two main research instruments adopted in the study Based on the framework by Fernandes (2006), the thesis has determined translation strategies of proper names in the selected case, namely Rendition, Copy, Substitution, Recreation, Deletion, Addition, and Transposition Several translation patterns and tendencies were also presented for each group of proper names It is hoped that this study will be beneficial for students and translators dealing with the translation of proper names, particularly those in fantasy literature

1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1.1 Definition and characteristics of fantasy literature 6

2.2.4 Proper names in the Game of Thrones series 14 2.3 Translation strategies of proper names in general 16

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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Strategies employed in translating proper names from English into

Vietnamese in Book I of the Game of Thrones series 26

4.1.1 Strategies used in translating proper names of people 26

4.1.2 Strategies used in translating proper names of places 32

4.1.3 Strategies used in translating other proper names 35

4.2 Justifications for the use of some translation strategies of proper names in

4.5 Single titles translated by the strategy of Rendition and

4.9 Title + personal name translated by the strategy of Copy 31

4.11 Place names translated by the strategy Rendition 32 4.12 Place names translated by the strategy of Copy 33 4.13 Place names translated by the strategy of Rendition and Copy 33 4.14 Place names with inconsistent translation 35

4.15 Proper names for a group of people translated by the strategy

4.16 Proper names for a group of people translated by the strategy

4.17 Proper names of events, objects and languages translated by

4.18 Other proper names with inconsistent translation 38

1.1 Statement of the problem

Among various facets of translation, proper names have always been a matter

of debate for linguists, scholars, and translators Over many decades, there have been different schools of thought concerning proper names in general and the translation of proper names in particular The first significant view is that proper names lack meaning and therefore do not need to be translated This opinion is shared by scholars like Mill (1882), who asserts: ―The only names of objects that connote nothing are proper names‖(p 43) Vendler (1975) also agrees with this view

as he claims proper names are labels attached to persons or objects and they are left unchanged in translation

However, scholars such as Searle (1975) and Strawson (1975) oppose to the aforementioned ideas since they believe proper names can carry senses Tymoczko (cited in Fernandes 2006) also criticizes the idea that proper names are unproblematic and should be kept intact in translation, and he states: ―Indeed, a naive or inexperienced translator (…) may look forward to the proper names in a text as islands of repose‖ (p 44) Thus, the translation of proper names cannot be neglected as it is one of the greatest challenges that translators may encounter Many researchers have suggested various strategies to deal with translating proper names Hervey and Higgins (1992) present three strategies to translate proper names namely exotism, transliteration, and cultural transplantation Meanwhile, Newmark (1988) suggests that proper names can be treated through the process of transference, translation or naturalization depending on the type of proper names and their connotations Other approaches have been proposed by researchers such as Davies (2003), Nord (2003), and Fernandes (2006), who continue to demonstrate translating proper names is a challenging task

To investigate strategies in translating proper names from English into Vietnamese, this study centers on proper names in fantasy literature This genre of literary has always proved itself to be a great source of proper names (Burelbach,

1982) In great fantasy works such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, or Harry Potter,

it is certainly not a surprise to count hundreds of proper names, including names of characters, places, titles, objects and so on Proper names in fantasy novels not only carry identifying functions, but they can also serve multiple purposes such as

"denoting characters, amusing the reader, imparting knowledge or evoking emotions" (Coillie, 2006, p 123) Therefore, careful consideration and complex decision-making process are required for any translators who work with proper names in this genre of literary The translation of proper names in fantasy literature can be even more problematic as many proper names are coined by authors, and they do not appear in dictionaries For instance, J.K Rowling is well-known for her

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creation of numerous new words in the Harry Potter series such as Muggle,

Horcrux, Mudblood, and Animagus, to name but a few Newly invented words in fantasy books like these ones certainly pose considerable challenges to translators

The Game of Thrones series (also known as A Song of Ice and Fire) by

George R R Martin was chosen as the case study in this thesis Belonged to the

fantasy kingdom, with its major scope and depth, Game of Thrones itself is a vast

source for proper names The author George R R Martin once admits naming is a difficult task, and in his books, there are names used with certain intentions such as creating backstories or attempting to achieve a medieval atmosphere (blinkbox

Books, 2014) New proper names are also common in Game of Thrones; for

example, Septa, Khaleesi, Valyrian, and Maester With the typical features of a

fantasy novel when it comes to proper names, Game of Thrones is a suitable case

study for this research The series was also chosen as it is considered a phenomenon

in literature and a modern classic in the realm of fantasy However, due to time constraint, the researcher was unable to study all proper names in the series; hence, only proper names in Book I were selected

Due to all the above reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct a study on

“Strategies in translating proper names from English into Vietnamese in

fantasy literature: A case study in Book I of the Game of Thrones series."

1.2 Research objectives and research question

This study is expected to determine strategies employed to translate proper

names in Book I of the Game of Thrones series By identifying and analyzing these

strategies, the researcher hopes to make useful implications about translating proper names from English into Vietnamese in fantasy literature In order to achieve these objectives, the thesis attempts to answer the following question:

What strategies are applied in translating proper names in Book I of the

Game of Thrones series?

1.3 Significance of the study

Firstly, the study will be beneficial for students and translators who work with the translation of proper names, especially proper names in fantasy books and

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novels The results yielded from this study will help them be more aware of various procedures and approaches used to translate proper names in fantasy literature They can also learn and adopt the strategies investigated in this paper to real-life context

to produce the most appropriate translations of proper names As a result, this study will, to a certain extent, help to facilitate the task of translating English – Vietnamese proper names in fantasy

Secondly, it is hoped that the study will make a modest contribution to the existing body of research on this topic and be a reference for further investigation In the process of analyzing the research subjects, it is expected that new translation strategies of proper names can be identified Nevertheless, the study does not aim to establish any generalizations, but rather offers an in-depth understanding of the case and gives preliminary notes on the translation of proper names in fantasy Thus, future researchers studying related issues can find this paper as a helpful foundation

1.4 Scope of the study

This thesis investigates strategies in translating proper names from English

into Vietnamese in fantasy literature through Book I of the Game of Thrones series

The sampling of this research includes 697 proper names appearing in Book I and their translations in the Vietnamese version

1.5 Organization

The thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction states the rationale, objective, question,

significance, scope, and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review develops the theory for the thesis by defining,

reviewing and discussing relevant terms and frameworks, including fantasy literature, proper names, and translation strategies of proper names

Chapter 3: Methodology includes a detailed description of the research

design, research instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures

Chapter 4: Results and discussion presents the findings of the research and

offers some implications for the translation of proper names in fantasy

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Chapter 5: Conclusion answers the thesis research question, indicates the

limitations, and provides recommendations for future studies

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter lays the theoretical foundation for the research by critically reviewing literature about fantasy literature, proper names and translation strategies of proper names

―fantasy literature‖ and ―fantasy‖ is generally accepted, this paper uses both terms to indicate a genre of literature

There is no single definition of fantasy literature, but many critics have agreed that stories of this genre always incorporate unreal elements (Grant & Clute, 1997; Armitt, 2005; Saricks, 2014) In other words, ―a fantasy is any story in which

at least one element cannot be found in our human world‖ (McGowen, n.d) These unreal elements can range from the creation of imaginative worlds, the existence of mythical beasts to the use of magic, and the appearance of supernatural phenomenon

Although fantasy and science fiction both have unreal elements in them, they have differences that worth noting While science fiction tends to look forward and the story often involves technological and scientific advance, fantasy tends to look backward and sets the narrative in a pre-industrial or medieval societies Another distinction is that science fiction depicts events that readers can still regard possible,

2.1.1.2 Characteristics

There has been extensive discussion on the characteristics of fantasy literature, but the list of features varies, depending on the view of different scholars, writers, and linguists Nevertheless, world building has been one of the most largely mentioned characteristics and considered an integral part of fantasy (Bernardo & Murphy, 2006; Oppegaard, 2012; Ahmed, 2013; Saricks, 2014; Ekman & Taylor, 2016) Given its vital role in fantasy and its relevance to the subject of this study, the researcher will focus on the feature of world building in this part of the thesis

World building can be simply understood as the practice of creating another world, and authors of fantasy are often referred as ―world builders‖(Saricks, 2014, p 267) They not only introduce plots and characters to readers, but they also have to construct entire new worlds, many of which are presented with complete history, geography, society, languages, and customs Swails (cited in Dwyer 2016) comments on the challenging task of building fictional worlds as:

Building a unique world for characters to live in is complex, even more so when an author is writing fantasy and science fiction An author must juggle hundreds of details and facts […] Those details include—but are certainly not limited to—dates

of historical events, geography, languages, government, economics and currency, and dietary habits of imaginary or long-forgotten tribes (Swails, cited in Dwyer

2016, p 5)

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These details and elements help frame the story and even make the readers form a sense of meaningfulness from a realm or world that is not real (Bernardo & Murphy, 2006; Saricks, 2014) This is the reason why great fantasy writers always impress readers with their elaborate fictional worlds such as Middle Earth (J R R Tolkien), Narnia (C S Lewis), Wonderland (Lewis Carroll), Oz (L Frank Baum), Earth-Sea (Ursula K Le Guin), and Westeros (George.R.R.Martin), etc To enrich their worlds, these writers might create unusual languages, names or complex social

and political structures For instance, in The Lord of the Ring, J R R Tolkien was

famous for inventing Elvish languages, including Quenya and Sindarin, as well as for creating a fictive humanoid race called Hobbit Meanwhile, Lewis Carroll created Wonderland with unique characters like animated playing cards (Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts) and talking animals (White Rabbit, Caterpillar, and Bill the Lizard)

2.1.2 The Game of Thrones series

Game of Thrones, also known as A Song of Ice and Fire, is a fantasy series written by George.R.R.Martin Like any great work of fantasy, Game of Thrones

holds its appeal in the art of world building Martin‘s fictional world is set in the European Middle Ages, and it has its own geography, government, society, and religion, etc The series takes place on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos – the otherworlds created by its author With his description and the use of accompanied maps, the author delivers a detailed picture of the two continents as each includes a number of cities, towns, citadels, rivers, and mountains, etc In terms

of government, Westeros follows the system of feudal monarchy, with a king ruling the Seven Kingdoms and Lords leading noble houses In addition, Martin also creates invented languages, namely High Valyrian and Dothraki Although these languages are not as fully developed as those of J R R Tolkien, Martin‘s board sketches of the tongues still give the readers a better depiction of different cultures and societies in his world To be more specific, High Valyrian signifies a civilized language of a noble and complex society, while Dothraki is a simpler tongue meant for the Dothraki - a group of people with a primitive and barbaric lifestyle

include archaic words (unman, wench, whence), phrases (must needs, breaking their fast), and archaic address form (Your Grace, Lord, my lord, my lady) Moreover,

historical vocabulary is used to foster a medieval atmosphere (Yliopisto, 2015) For

example, there are words linked to medieval warfare such as longswords, crossbows, daggers, or medieval fashion like bodies, breeches, and capes Another

aspect playing an important role in the construction of a fictive world is proper names When writing the books, Martin has planned to have a large number of characters and many different settings; thus, readers should not be surprised to find thousands of proper names mentioned in the series Personal names and place names help set apart different peoples and regions, and they even assist the writer in achieving "the flavor of medieval England" (Yliopisto, 2015; blink Books, 2014) More details on proper names in the series will be analyzed in the later section

2.2 Proper names

2.2.1 Definition of proper names

Many scholars have proposed their own definitions of proper names, but it is

a general consensus that proper names are used to identify individual referents (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990;Hardie, 1992; Matthews, 1997;Nord, 2003) Proper names and proper nouns are sometimes used interchangeably Alexander (1988), who makes no distinction between the two terms, defines: ―A proper noun (sometimes called a ―proper name‖) is used for a particular person, place, thing or idea which is, or is imagined to be, unique‖(p 38) In the Oxford Dictionary, the term ―proper noun‖ and ―proper name‖ are also stated to be the same as: ―A name

In this thesis, when proper names are mentioned, they are understood as the words refer to a particular person, animal, place, or thing, etc., and they are formed from any word classes and written with an initial capital letter

2.2.2 Classification of proper names

Classification of proper names can be performed according to various perspectives From the function aspect, Hermans (cited in Aixelà 1996) classifies proper names into "conventional" and "loaded" Conventional proper names are seen

as "unmotivated" for translation, and they have no meaning other than the function

of identification On the other hand, loaded proper names are "motivated" and carry meaningful connotations, which can be achieved when a part of a proper name is a common noun or has a strong connotative meaning However, this classification can

be problematic in practice since detecting a proper name is conventional or loaded is

no easy task, especially when all proper names "are obviously not non-informative" (Nord, 2003, p 183) A proper name can tell us if a referent is a human, a pet or a place, or it can deliver information about the sex, age, and geographical origin of a person (Nord, 2003) Moreover, in literature, it is the writer that decides the meaningful implication of proper names Thus, Hermans‘s classification seems to be only justified if it is carried out under a clear and detailed examination of the writer‘s intention

Proper names can also be categorized on the basis of onomastics, which is the science studying names (Crystal, cited in Alicja 2008) This discipline often divides

Another classification is proposed by Newmark (1988, pp 214-216) He categorizes three types of proper names, namely people's names, names of objects, and geographical terms People's names are names used for a person, and they contain first and surname Names of objects are proper names contain trademarks, brands, or proprieties Geographical terms are names attached to things that possess geographical features and usually appear in atlases With this classification, Newmark also notes that people's first and surnames are often taken into TT without translation, but names having connotations in imaginative literature can be translated Meanwhile, translators can remain proper names of objects the same as the original and add a classifier if the name is unlikely to be known to the TL readers Lastly, Newmark recommends that place names should be treated according

to the convention in each country In fact, a number of studies in proper names have shown a certain degree of concurrence with Newmark's conclusion For instance,

Alicja (2008) and Yulianto (2014), while studying proper names in the novel Three Men On The Bummel and the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey respectively,

find out that personal names are copied directly from ST to TT However, different ideas from Newmark's are not rare; for example, Jonikaitė (2014) reveals that translators could prefer to adapt personal names to TL form rather than preserve them in the original form Moreover, Alicja (2008) points out that names of objects and places can sometimes actually be translated, not transferred like Newmark's

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suggestion This various opinions on the treatment for each group of proper names truly intrigue the researcher and pose the question: whether there is any typical difference in the treatment of various classes of proper names?

Therefore, in this thesis, the researcher adopts both Traboulsi‘s and Newmark‘s classifications to develop a thorough categorization for the sampling as well as to attempt to find a relation between the classification and translation strategies of proper names Proper names in this study are categorized into three

major groups: (1) Proper names of people (including first names, last names, epithets, nicknames, titles), (2) Proper names of places (including geographical and institutional entities), (3) Other proper names (including all proper names that are

not fall into the other two categories) It is hoped that this classification will help the researcher examine if the conclusions mentioned by Newmark and other studies can

be applied in translating proper names from English into Vietnamese

2.2.3 Proper names in fantasy literature

As previously mentioned above, world building is an indispensable feature in fantasy literature Proper names, one of the many language components in a fantasy novel, does have a significant involvement and effect in the process of world building The essential part of proper names in this creative process is best presented through the practice of nomenclature, since Bulreback (1982) asserts: ―If you were writing a fantasy novel, one of your first concerns would be to select names for the places and characters‖ (p 131) The names of people, things, and places can provide insights into the fantasy worlds and help readers shape a vivid visualization of the story settings (Williams, 2010) Saricks (2014, p 274) even declares that for readers

of this genre, having a long glossary of places or list of characters is an indication that they are reading a ―real‖ fantasy novel Hence, naming in general and the usage

of proper names in particular constitute a vital role in writing a fantasy

Besides its contribution in world building, another characteristic of proper names in fantasy is the ability to carry different meanings First of all, proper names

in fantasy can have semantic meanings as they can be used to convey the characteristics of a character, a place or to develop a storyline (Fernandes, 2006)

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For example, the name Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series denotes the

character‘s personality as Draco in Latin means ―snake‖ or ―dragon‖, which are often seen as devious creatures In addition, Mal-foy means ―bad faith‖ in French; thus, the name seems to evoke a villainous and vicious sense Unlike place names in real life, which are often straightforward and not descriptive, place names in fantasy literature can provide readers with a description of them, such as Dark Tower, Blue

Mountains in The Lord of The Rings In terms of narrative function, writers may use

proper names to indicate a background story or a future storyline As an illustration,

the name Hodor in the Game of Thrones series is derived from the phrase

―Hold-the-door‖, which is intended by the author to imply an event in the character‘s life Generally, these descriptive and imaginative proper names are common in fantasy, and they tend to have high translatability since most of them derive from common nouns, adjectives, or adverbs (Alqahtani, 2010)

Secondly, proper names in fantasy may act as the carriers of sound symbolic meanings (Fernandes, 2006) They can imitate real-life sounds; for instance, a horse

in the Chronicles of Narnia is named Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah to imitate the

whining of a horse In other cases, proper names can be a sound or a sound cluster that are connected with a meaning As an example, the name of Salazar Slytherin in

Harry Potter has the initial cluster /sl/, which can be found in words having negative

connotations such as ―slime‖, ―slithery‖, ―slug‖; therefore, it can depict the notorious reputation of the character

Thirdly, according to Fernandes (2006), from a semiotic view, proper names

in fantasy literature can also indicate gender, class, nationality, religion, historical events, myths, and so on For instance, in terms of gender, proper names like Lyanna, Catelyn are often female names, whereas Jon, Joffrey are male names Class can be identified through titles such as Ser, Lord (Ser Ilyn Payne, Lord Renly Baratheon)

With the above characteristics, it can be seen that translating proper names in fantasy literature is a no easy task Li (2010) claims that proper names are one of the major obstacles in translating fantasy literature, given the fact that proper names in

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fantasy novels are usually cultural-bound words What is worth noting here is that these words are not only grounded in the source culture but also in the ―book culture‖ (Kok, 2012, p 29), which is the imaginary culture developed by the writers This foundation on a fictive culture, combining with the various meaning proper names can hold in fantasy literature, can make the loss of meaning an inevitable part

in translating these elements

Additionally, since proper names made of coined words or expressions are commonplace in fantasy novels, translators are required to have a great amount of creativity (Hegedus, 2004) When proper names are entirely the products of the writers‘ imagination, it may be impossible to find equivalents in the TL As a result, translators need creativity to invent new terms in the TT, which still have to be faithful to the authors‘ intention and induce the same feeling in the target culture as the source culture

Navrátil (2010) also emphasizes the long-term effect of proper names in fantasy literature Because fantasy literature books tend to come in series that use the same world and the same terminology, the correct and consistent translation of

proper names is even more eminent As an example, the fantasy series Discworld by

Terry Pratchett has 41 books, which makes the translation of every language aspects, including proper names, exert a far- reaching impact

To sum up, proper names in fantasy literature are not just identifiers of different entities, but they also contribute to the practice of world building and may hold various significance Accordingly, translators of this genre should consider the translation of proper names a serious and critical task It is important that they are aware of the connection between proper names and the fictive world, the possibility

of loss meaning as well as the extensive implication of their translation

2.2.4 Proper names in the Game of Thrones series

When creating the series, George.R.R.Martin has intended to shape a world with numerous characters and places Thus, the series contains an outstanding number of proper names, and if character names are counted only, they can be up to

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around 2,000 This enormous number itself can be a daunting and tremendous task for any translator

Proper names in Game of Thrones can reveal the origin of characters or

separate different parts of the setting (Yliopisto, 2015) This explains why personal names used in Westeros are often English or European names like Jon, Jaime, Brienne, whereas names in Essos are more exotic and seem to come from fictional languages like Daenerys, Qorgyle, and Xaro Xhoan Daxos For these proper names, translators may have to decide whether to keep the strangeness or transform them to

a more acceptable form in the target language

As the last section points out, proper names in fantasy literature not only fulfill indicating function, but they also carry intended meanings For example, Martin devises many names or nicknames which denote the personality or appearance of characters such as Aerys II the Mad King, Argilac the Arrogant, Gregor the Mountain That Rides, etc Other proper names may constitute a backstory or allude to real events such as Torrhen Stark the King Who Knelt, Jamie Lannister the Kingslayer, or Viserys the Beggar King Place names like Shadow Lands, Mud Gate, and Jade Sea also give readers a hint on the characteristics of these places As a result, it is essential for the translator to render these names correctly so that their meanings can be retained corresponding to the writer‘s intention

Another problem translators may face are coined proper names, which are mainly in the form of titles, religious terms, or languages While a range of familiar titles is used in the series (King, Queen, Lord, Prince, and Princess), Martin also formulates his own titles such as Maester, Grand Maester, Septa, or Khalessi Similarly, religious terms such as The Faith of the Seven, R'hllor or languages like Valyrian, Braavosi, and Dothraki, etc are entirely invented by the author Since these proper names are not listed in dictionaries, it would be difficult to find an equivalence in the target language; hence, possibly posing great challenges for translators

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2.3 Translation strategies of proper names in general

For the aforementioned reasons, it is no doubt that proper names can be problematic in the act of translation Newmark (1993, p 15) states that proper names are ―a translation difficulty in any text‖ This idea is also shared by Vermes (2003), who claims:

[…]the translation of proper names is not a trivial issue but, on the contrary, may involve a rather delicate decision-making process, requiring on the part of the translator careful consideration of the meanings the name has before deciding how best to render it in the target language (p 90)

Given the complexity of this matter, over the years, many scholars have discussed and proposed different strategies to translate proper names In his

dissertation Proper names in translation: A relevance-theoretic analysis, Vermes

(2003) introduces four strategies including transference, substitution, translation, and modification Vermes defines transference as the process of keeping proper names in the original form Substitution is replacing the SL proper name by an equivalent existing in the TL Translation means rendering an entire or a part of SL proper name by a TL expression which can produce the same implication in the TT Finally, modification is replacing a proper name with a TL one which is unrelated or only partly related to the original Although Vermes considers omission, addition, and generalization as subcategories of modification, he fails to give them a detailed description Additionally, no justified reason is mentioned in his dissertation to explain the grouping of these strategies under the category of modification

Another approach to translation of proper names is proposed by Davies (2003), who studies proper names as culture-specific items She proposes seven strategies, namely preservation, addition, omission, globalization, localization, transformation, and creation Preservation occurs when a translator copies the SL item without any modifications or translate it literally Addition means the original item is unchanged and is provided with extra information Omission is the opposite strategy to addition when translators omit a problematic case Globalization is replacing culture-specific references with general ones Localization includes a phonological and grammatical adaptation of proper names, and it occurs when

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translators attempt to make the translation closer to the TL Transformation is defined by Davies as ―alternation or distortion of the original‖ (p 86), and the last strategy – creation is creating an item which is not present in the ST Compared to Vermes‘s approach, Davies‘s is more detailed as she clearly explains strategies such

as addition and omission Nevertheless, Davies‗s strategy of transformation can be problematic when being used in practice because it is not well-defined and the scholar herself also states that its scope is not clearly distinguished from the strategy

of addition

In 2006, Coillie presents another model of translating proper names He recommends ten strategies as follows: (1) non-translation (reproduction or copying), (2) non-translation plus additional explanation, (3) replacement of a personal name

by a common noun, (4) phonetic or morphological adaptation, (5) exonym, (6) replacement by a more widely known name from the source culture or an internationally known name with the same function, (7) replacement by another name from the TL, (8) translation of names with a particular connotation, (9) replacement by a name with another or additional connotation, (10) deletion Even though Coillie‘s model of strategies is developed in great detail, it is only based on the study of character names Hence, this model cannot be employed in this study, whose sampling includes other types of proper names besides personal names

Based on Hermans (1988)‘s ways to render proper names (copy, transcription, substitution, and translation), Fernandes (2006) offers a classification

of ten strategies: (1) rendition, (2) copy, (3) transcription, (4) substitution, (5) recreation, (6) deletion, (7) addition, (8) transposition, (9) phonological replacement, (10) conventionality This set of strategies is appropriate for the subjects of this thesis because it is built for all categories of proper names Furthermore, in comparison with other mentioned set of strategies, the number of strategies labeled

by Fernandes is the most optional one Despite mainly building on Hermans‘ theory, Fernandes‘s strategies also include ideas of the aforementioned scholars For instance, Fernandes‘s strategy of rendition is similar with Vermes‘s translation and Davies‘s literal translation At the same time, Fernandes‘s classification comprises

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of strategies such as transposition and phonological replacement, which are not discussed by other scholars Thus, it is hoped that Fernandes‘s strategies would allow the researcher to trace and analyze as many choices as possible made by the

translator when dealing with proper names in Book I of the Game of Thrones series

Accordingly, the researcher has decided to adopt Fernandes‘s proposed strategies as the theoretical framework of translation strategies in this thesis Below is a description of Fernandes‘s strategies, and it is possible that the following strategies can be combined to render proper names Examples of each strategy are selected by the researcher

Rendition

This occurs when proper names in the SL are translated literally

White Rabbit  Thỏ Trắng

Gryphon  Sư Tử Đầu Chim

Carroll, L (1865) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland London, United

Kingdom: Pan Macmillan

Copy

This is a procedure in which proper names are reproduced in the TT without any changes or modifications

Aslan  Aslan

Digory Kirke  Digory Kirke

Lewis, C.S (1950 – 1956) The Chronicles of Narnia New York, NY:

HarperCollins

Transcription

Transcription means transcribing a proper name in the nearest form of the

TL To be more specific, proper names can be adapted at the level of morphology, phonology, or grammar, etc

Peter  Bít-tơ

Potter, B (1902).The Tale of Peter Rabbit London, United Kingdom: Frederick

Warne & Co Rebeccah  Rơ Béc-ca

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Potter, B (1908).The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck London, United Kingdom:

Frederick Warne & Co

Substitution

In this procedure, a proper name in the ST is replaced by an unrelated proper name in the TT The substitute and the original can be different in terms of form and/or semantic meaning

Michel Delving  Mỏ Cộ

Stoor  Đại Cồ

Tolkien, J.R.R (1954) The Fellowship of the Ring London, United Kingdom:

George Allen & Unwin

Recreation

Recreation consists the procedure of recreating a proper name in the ST into the TT so that the TL item can produce a similar effect as the original Recreation is different from substitution since the recreated item in this strategy does not exist in the SL or TL

Horcrux  Trường Sinh Linh Giá

The Pensieve  Chậu Tưởng Ký

Rowling, J.K (1998 – 2007) Harry Potter series New York, NY :Arthur A

Levine Books

Deletion

As the name suggests, this procedure includes the removing of an entire or a part of a proper name in the TT

Mad Hatter  Người làm mũ

Carroll, L (1865) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland London, United

Kingdom: Pan Macmillan Howl‘s Moving Castle  Lâu Đài Biết Đi

Jones, D.W (1986) Howl’s Moving Castle London, United Kingdom: Methuen

Publishing

Addition

Addition is employed when the translator adds extra information to the original name

Maegor the Cruel (adjective)  Maegor Bạo Chúa (noun)

Brandon the Burner (noun)  Brandon Thiêu Trụi (verb)

Martin, G.R.R (2011) A Game of Thrones New York, NY: Bantam Books

Phonological replacement

When this strategy is used, an ST proper name is replaced by a TT one that imitates its phonological characteristics While transcription adopts a proper name to the TL phonology/morphology, phonological replacement only changes the original item to a TL proper name which is phonemically/graphologically similar to it

Tabitha Twitchit  Tám Tíu Tít

Mittens  Míp

Potter, B (1907) The Tale of Tom Kitten London, United Kningdom: Frederick

Warne & Co

Conventionality

Conventionality is applied when there is a TL proper name typically considered as the translation of an SL proper name This strategy can be seen in the names of historical figures or geographical locations The instance below is offered by the researcher:

Washington  Hoa Thịnh Đốn

New York  Nữu Ước

It should be noted that although Fernandes‘s proposed strategies are used as the framework for this study, it is still possible that this is not an exhausted list of translation strategies for proper names Therefore, the researcher hopes that through the analysis of proper names in the sampling, more strategies, besides those mentioned by Fernandes, can be identified

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodology employed in the research, including research design (case study and qualitative approach), research subjects, research instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures

3.1 Research design

3.1.1 Case study

Case study is used as the research design in this research According to Yin (1994, p 13), a case study is ―an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident‖ Meanwhile, Merriam (1988) defines a case study as ―an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single instance, phenomenon or social unit‖ (p 27) There are other definitions of case study, but many scholars have agreed that one of the most outstanding features of case study research is the object of study - the case (Johansson, 2003) Thus, case study method allows researchers to concentrate on a single entity and gain rich information about that individual

Moreover, the merits of case study have been confirmed as Baxter and Jack (2008) assert that this method is suitable for novice researchers because it provides a great opportunity to gain detailed insight into a case Bell (2005) also claims that case study enables in-depth study of a problem within a limit time scale

Given the advantages above and the aim of this paper, it is believed that case study is an appropriate research design and can help the researcher answer the proposed question of the study

The first book of the Game of Thrones series was selected as the case of this

research The series itself was firstly chosen because it represents the common characteristics of naming practice in fantasy literature, which is the focus of this

study Proper names in Game of Thrones are not only used as referents but many of

them also carry semantic meanings Furthermore, proper names coined by the author

appear frequently in the books Secondly, Game of Thrones is considered one of the

best fantasy books of all time as well as a phenomenon in modern literature

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(Grossman, 2014) This significant position of the series also intrigues the researcher and acts as a motivation for the researcher to conduct this study However, due to time constraint, it is impossible to study proper names in the entire series; therefore, the researcher only studies proper names in Book I of the series The first book is the introduction to the world of Westeros and Esso, and many proper names will be carried out in the other books of the series

3.1.2 Qualitative approach

Since case study in this thesis is considered a research design rather than a research method, it may either be qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both approaches (Tight, 2017) While data provided as numbers and statistical results are better analyzed using a quantitative approach, data in the form of texts and narratives are suitable for a qualitative approach (Litchman, 2006) According to Creswell (2014), the qualitative approach is used to explore, explain and understand the meaning of individual cases, whereas the quantitative approach aims to test hypotheses by investigating the relation among variables

Given the nature of the research is to describe translation strategies in a particular case, it is believed that qualitative research is the most appropriate approach By adopting this approach, the researcher will be able to analyze the data and deliver an in-depth description on strategies used to translate proper names in

Book I of the Game of Thrones series

Books

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In the second phase, to seek justifications for the use of some translation strategies found in phase one, it was necessary to ask for the participation of people engaging in the translating and editing process of the Vietnamese version Hence, The Translator and The Editor were chosen purposively (The names of the translator and the editor will not be mentioned to ensure their anonymity) However, only The Editor was available for the study, since The Translator was unable to participate because of her tight working schedule As a result, a mix of purposive and convenience sampling was used in this phase, in which convenience sampling means ―drawing samples that are both easily accessible and willing to participate in

a study‖ (Teddie & Yu, 2007, p.78)

3.3 Research instruments

This research utilized document analysis as the research instrument in phase one because this method is ―particularly applicable to qualitative case studies - intensive studies producing rich descriptions of a single phenomenon, event, organisation, or program‖ (Stake, cited in Bowen, 2009, p 29) The researcher

carefully read the original English version of Book I of the Game of Thrones series

and its translation to gather proper names that appear in the original and its translated text After that, translation strategies applied in proper names were identified

In the second phase, a face-to-face interview of semi-structured type was used A face-to-face interview would help produce authentic and deep descriptions and encourage the free disclosure of information from participants (Knox & Burkard, 2009) Furthermore, the semi-structured type would allow the researcher to ask not only pre-prepared questions but also other questions emerging from the conversation with the interviewee The interview included both closed and open-ended questions and lasted approximately 30 minutes

3.4 Procedures of data collection

Stage 1: Document analysis

Step 1: Collect proper names

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All proper names were collected from the original English text and matched with the corresponding expressions in the Vietnamese translation For each proper name, only the first occurrence in the text was recorded

Step 2: Categorize proper names

The collected proper names were classified into 3 groups: Proper names of people, Proper names of places, and Other proper names

Step 3: Build the database

697 proper names were listed alphabetically in each group and presented in tables with their translations

Stage 2: Interview

Step 1: Prepare the interview

Firstly, an invitation to participate in the interview was sent to The Editor Once the proposal was confirmed, the researcher compiled a list of draft questions and sent to the supervisor for feedback Then, the draft of interview questions was sent to The Editor in advance Only when the interview questions were approved by The Editor and the supervisor, did the researcher arrange the official interview

Step 2: Conduct the interview

The interview was conducted in Vietnamese in order for the participant to freely and clearly express her opinions The content of the interview was recorded at the informant‘s permission so that all data would be collected fully and accurately

In addition, note-taking was utilized during the interview to assist the researcher in formulating new questions and checking for clarity when necessary

3.5 Procedures of data analysis

Data from document analysis

Step 1: Describe the translation strategy used in each proper name

The researcher carefully examined each proper name to give an accurate description of its translation strategy

Step 2: Compare with the framework and identify translation strategies

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Compared with Fernandes (2006)‘s theoretical framework, strategies used to translate all proper names were figured out It was also expected that new strategies, which were not mentioned by Fernandes, could be uncovered

Step 3: Analyze and discuss the data

Subsequently, translation strategies applied for each group of proper names were thoroughly discussed Besides, special cases and typical patterns were analyzed for further implications

Data from the face-to-face interview

Step 1: Transcribe the interview

A full transcription of the interview was made so that the researcher could perform a thorough and detailed analysis

Step 2: Code and analyze information

The collected data was coded into different themes and analyzed accordingly The interpretation of the interview data was expected to cast light on a number of findings from document analysis

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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the findings of the study In the first part, strategies

applied in translating proper names of people, proper names of places and other

proper names are identified and analyzed The second part gives justifications for

the use of some translation strategies, and the last part gives further implications

from the findings

4.1 Strategies employed in translating proper names from English into

Vietnamese in Book I of the Game of Thrones series

4.1.1 Strategies used in translating 474 proper names of people

Data analysis showed that there were some recurring translation patterns as

the same procedures were applied for proper names having similar characteristics or

structures Four major patterns in translating proper names of people were identified

In the first pattern, 200 proper names, including 113 first names, 8 last

names, 70 full names (first name + surname) and 9 diminutives were kept

unchanged in the TT, which matched the strategy Copy in Fernandes‘s framework

The table below gives some examples of this translation strategy:

Full name Daenerys Targaryen Daenerys Targaryen

Diminutive Ned Ned

Table 4.1 Personal names translated by the strategy of Copy

It can be seen that all of these proper names are character names, and they

neither hold any special meanings nor have any equivalents in Vietnamese; thus,

they cannot be translated In addition, the strategy of Copy could be a sensible

choice since as mentioned in section 2.2.4 (Chapter 2), different origins and settings

can be hinted by character names in Game of Thrones By borrowing these proper

names from the original without any alterations, the translator could retain their

strangeness and sound effects, possibly helping readers notice the differences

between exotic names such as Qotho, Jhiqui and ordinary English names like Robert

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or Jamie

The second noticeable pattern was seen in epithets, which usually contains a

personal name and an adjective or a noun phrase, and they are used to describe people‘ character or qualities For this structure, the translator showed a tendency to copy personal names and literally translate the descriptive parts Compared with Fernandes‘s set of strategies, this procedure was a combination of Copy and Rendition strategies 25 out of 32 epithets were translated by this procedure, and some instances are provided in table 4.2

Serwyn of the Mirror Shield Serwyn Khiên Kính

Table 4.2 Epithets translated by the strategy of Copy and Rendition

It is clear that the adjectives or nouns in this kind of proper names often carry

meaningful denotations For example, Lann the Clever denotes the wits of Lann – a legendary hero from the Age of Heroes, and Barristan the Bold alludes to the

bravery of the great knight named Barristan Selmy Hence, these proper names were conveyed literally in most cases While Copy was used in all personal names of epithets, the adjectives or nouns were also treated with Subsitution (2 instances) or Tranposition (4 instances) An example of Subsitution could be seen in the epithet

Aegon the Conqueror, which was translated into Aegon Đại Đế Conqueror,

according to CambridgeDictionary, means a person taking control of a country or people Meanwhile, following the Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary by Nguyen Quoc

Hung, Đại Đế means the king of a great and strong country Tranposition was applied in cases such as Brandon the Builder (noun) Brandon Kiến Thiết (verb) and Maegor the Cruel (adjective)  Maegor Bạo Chúa (noun)

The third translation approach was observed in nicknames, which are usually

comprised of a single noun or a noun phrase A total of 52 nicknames were identified, and the most dominant strategy was literal translation, or according to

Table 4.3 Nicknames translated by the strategy of Rendition

One interesting case in this group of proper names was Sword of the Morning, which had two different translations, namely Hiệp sĩ Ánh sáng and Thanh Kiếm Sáng Substitution was employed in the former translation, and the later was a

literal rendition of the original While it seemed that both translations were acceptable, the translator should have chosen one translation only to avoid inconsistency and prevent confusion for readers

It should be noted that other procedures were used to translate nicknames Particularly, when a nickname was paired with a character name, the translator always preserved the character name in its original forms, resulting in the couplet of

Copy and Rendition (e.g.: Arya Horseface  Arya Mặt Ngựa, Fat Tom  Tom Bự, Old Nan  Già Nan)

Finally, the translator revealed some tendencies in dealing with various forms

of titles appearing in Book I of the series (190 instances) There were three structures of titles identified in this study, including Single title, Title + place and Title + personal name

A total of 19 single titles were collected, and Rendition was the most

common approach, which was employed for proper names having Vietnamese equivalents (7 occurrences) Table 4.5 presents examples of this strategy:

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Protector of the Realm Người Bảo Vệ Đại Vương Quốc

Table 4.4 Single titles translated by the strategy of Rendition The second most used strategy to translate this kind of title was the combination of Rendition and Deletion (6 occurrences) In these cases, the translator omitted parts of proper names while rendering them literally

Lord Commander of the Kingsguard tướng chỉ huy Ngự Lâm Quân

Lord Commander of the Night's Watch Tướng chỉ huy của Đội Tuần Đêm

Sworn Brother of the White Swords anh em chí cốt của Đội Bạch Đao

Table 4.5 Single titles translated by the strategy of

Rendition and Deletion

It can be seen that the word Lord in the first two examples were excluded

According to the website A Wiki of Ice and Fire (n.d), which is a part of the premier

fan site for the series, Lord Commander is a title held by the most senior member of

various organizations such as the Kingsguard, the Night's Watch or the City Watch The person holding this title has the highest authority and oversees the entire

organization The website also mentions that the word Lord may connote the noble

origin or status of the leader; as a result, the omission may make the translations

lack this connotation Similarly, the word Sworn was deleted in the later two instances Sworn Brother is a title used in groups in which members have to take an oath upon joining, and Sworn itself derives from the verb ―swear‖, which means

making a promise However, the Vietnamese translations seem to underrepresent

this meaning because đồng hữu only means people in the same group, class or age, whereas chí cốt signifies a close and intimate relationship For this case, the researcher would like to recommend the original Sworn Brother to be translated literally into Anh Em Kết Nghĩa, which could perhaps be a more accurate and

sufficient translation

Meanwhile, for High Septon, a single title that did not exist in the SL, the

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translator opted for the strategy of Recreation by using the term Đại Tư Tế in the

TT High Septon is the head of a religion called the Faith of the Seven, and a male clergy of this religion is called a Septon, whose duties include presiding religious ceremonies In the TL culture, Tư Tế indicates a person with similar responsibilities

Therefore, it is assumed the translator had considered the duties performed by the title while recreating the SL item

The next structure of title was the combination of a title and a place (24

instances) Two major translation procedures were shown in this category of title, namely Rendition and the couplet of Rendition and Copy While the former was used for titles paired with place names having denotative meanings, the later was applied for those went with locations not having such meanings Some examples are illustrated in Table 4.6 and Table 4.7:

Defender of the Vale Người bảo vệ Thung Lũng

Keeper of the Gates of the Moon Người Gác Cổng Trăng

King of the Iron Island Vua Đảo Sắt

Table 4.6 Title + place translated by the strategy of Rendition

Lord of Winterfell Lãnh chúa vùng Winterfell

Table 4.7 Title + place translated by the strategy of Rendition and Copy However, for place names that can be literally translated in this group of titles, inconsistency, particularly in word choice, was detected To cite an instance, when the title ―Warden‖ was paired with four regions of Westeros, the translator

showed very different ways of translation (Warden of the East Thủ Lĩnh Xứ Đông, Warden of the North Thủ Lĩnh Phương Bắc, Warden of the South Thủ Lĩnh Phương Nam, Warden of the West Thủ Lĩnh Miền Tây) In another case, the East

31

was not rendered into Xứ Đông, but into Phương Đông (True Warden of the East

Thủ Lĩnh Thực Sự của Phương Đông)

The last form of title was a single title accompanied with a personal name

(133 instances) Personal names in this group can be first names, last names or full names, and they were all treated with the procedure of Copy For the title parts, Rendition was used if Vietnamese equivalents are available, resulting in the combination of Rendition and Copy Some titles with this treatment are presented in the table below

Lord Tywin Lannister Lãnh chúa Tywin Lannister

Table 4.8 Title + personal name translated by the strategy of

Rendition and Copy

On the other hand, imaginative titles created by the author were kept unchanged as the original As a result, when these titles were paired with personal names, the entire structures were copied into the TT Table 4.9 provides some instances of this strategy:

Grand Maester Aethelmure Grand Maester Aethelmure

Table 4.9 Title + personal name translated by the strategy of Copy

It should be pointed out that among titles that were copied from the ST, a number of them were given extra information in the form of footnotes It was

assumed that since imaginative titles such as Ser, Magister or Khal, etc emerged

multiple times in the book, the translator decided to only include footnotes to cases