Browsing by Author "Diyalagoda, D.P.N.S."

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A comparative study between Yasõdarãvata and Its English translation by Ranjini Obeyesekere
(Proceedings of the Undergraduate Research Symposium (HUG 2019), Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya. Sri Lanka, 2019) Thiloka, R.A.D.A.; Diyalagoda, D.P.N.S.; Withanage, W.P.R.D.
Translation is generally defined as the process of converting textual materials in one language into another language. One of the major categories of translation is literary translation, in which a literary work from its source language is converted into the target language. In some occasions, the process of translation could be complex, due to the uneven qualities of the cultural aspects of the source language and the target language. The literary works selected for the study were Yasõdarãvata and its English translation by Ranjini Obeyesekere. Yasõdarãvata is an elegy, of which the author is anonymous. It consists of 130 stanzas. The work depicts the main concepts, incidents related to Buddhism and Buddhist culture and the life stories of prince Siddãrta (Lord Buddha) and his wife, princess Yasõdarã. It was expected to study how far the translator had been successful in the translation, when compared with the source text. Thirty stanzas from the source text were selected for the study. The efficacy of the translator in converting literary techniques (similes, metaphors, rhythmic pattern, etc.), cultural facts and religious concepts mentioned in the source text were discussed. Then, how far the translator had been faithful to the content and the style of the source text were analysed in the study. Accordingly, it was obvious that the translator had not done any harm to the content of the source text. However, the final outcome of the study was, that the effort of the translator was praiseworthy, yet there were deductions and omissions in presenting the aforesaid components and certain terms in the source text where the translator has not been much successful as far as the author of the source text is.
Portrayal of Sinhalese Culture through Translation: A Comparative Study of the Socio-cultural Terms Used in the Sinhalese First Translation and the Retranslation of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
(Department of Sinhala, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2023) Diyalagoda, D.P.N.S.
Translation is the conversion of an idea in one language to another language. When this process is considered in depth, one clear thing is that it is not merely a linguistic process, but acts as a medium for exchanging culture-related facts. If the translation is done between two heterogeneous cultures, the translator encounters a challenge i.e.the non-availability of equivalent socio-cultural terms when translating a text (belonging to the Western culture) that is originally in English into Sinhalese while presenting with closeness to the Sinhalese reader. This research aimed to identify which translation presents the socio-cultural terms closer to the target language culture when the source text has been translated twice into the same target language. Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations has been translated into Sinhalese by several translators from time to time. When its’ Sinhalese first Translation, Romāgē Vāsanāva by E. R. Erathne (1944/2016) and retranslationUdāraApēkṣā (2001/2011) by Chandra Anagirathne are taken into consideration, it is observed that the presentation of socio-cultural terms in the source text to target reader community has been done in ways different from each other. This research has been conducted using a comparative analysis under a qualitative methodology, having selected the extracts with sociocultural terms from the source text and their corresponding first translation and retranslation. The analysis depicted that, through the strategy of domestication, the translation has been done with closeness to the Sinhalese culture rather than retranslation.