Ảnh hưởng của việc xác định đối tượng độc giả tới cách dịch những từ ngữ tục tĩu trong bản dịch trăng non và nhật thực của tịnh thủy

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC XÁC ĐỊNH ĐỐI TƯỢNG
ĐỘC GIẢ TỚI CÁCH DỊCH NHỮNG TỪ NGỮ TỤC TĨU
TRONG BẢN DỊCH TRĂNG NON VÀ NHẬT THỰC CỦA
TỊNH THỦY

Giáo viên hướng dẫn:Th.S. Ngô Hà Thu
Sinh viên: Trần Hồng Hạnh
Khóa: QH2011.F1.E20

HÀ NỘI – 2015


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

THE ROLE OF READERSHIP IN TRANSLATING
PROFANITIES IN YOUNG ADULT NOVELS:
TINH THUY’S TRANSLATION OF NEW MOON AND
ECLIPSE

Supervisor: Ngô Hà Thu, MCS
Student: Trần Hồng Hạnh

Class: QH2011.F1.E20

HANOI – 2015


I hereby state that I: Tran Hong Hanh, QH2011.F1.E20, being a candidate for the
degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) 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

Date

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe the completion of this research to these following people. Without their help
and support, I could not have finished this paper.
Firstly, I would like to express all of my sincere gratitude to Ms. Ngo Ha Thu, my
supervisor, for her inspiration, invaluable advice as well as great encouragement
throughout the study and beyond.
My thanks then go to Ms. Tinh Thuy, the translator of New Moon and Eclipse and
many friends of mine for their contribution to my research.
Finally, I would also like to thank my family for the being supportive during the time

that I was conducting this research.

i


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3.1

List of interviewees & their code name

Table 4.1

Frequency of Translation Strategies

Table 4.2

Table 4.2. Illustration of Compensation

Table 4.3

Illustrations of Omission

Table 4.4

Illustrations of Literal Softening

Table 4.5

Illustrations of Cultural equivalence

Table 4.6

Illustrations of Compensation

Table 4.7

Illustrations of Omission

Table 4.8

Illustrations of Literal Softening

Table 4.9

Illustrations of Cultural equivalence

ii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

NO.

Terms

Abbreviations

1

Source Language

ST

2

Source Text

TT

3

Target Language

SL

4

Target Text

TL

5

Young Adult(s)

YAs

iii

ABSTRACT

Translating profanities in Young Adult novels for their targeted readership can be a
great challenge for any translators. However, so far, there have only been a limited
number of studies focused on this problem. Studying Tinh Thuy’s translation of New
Moon and Eclipse, this paper investigated the strategies that the translator employed to
render profanities in those novels and investigate her opinions on readership as well as on
profanities to conclude whether there is a connection between the translator’s awareness
of the targeted readership and her way of translating profanities. In addition, the
researcher sought to find out how some readers can respond to profanities translated by
different strategies. To achieve this goal, document analysis and interviews were adopted
as the main instruments. After analyzing collected data, the final findings indicate that
literal softening, compensation, cultural equivalence and omission were mainly used as
the strategies to render profanities in New Moon and Eclipse. Even though the translator’s
goal while translating is to be faithful to the original version, these decisions of the
translator were still partly affected by her awareness of readership. About the response of
readers to the translation, most of them were positive. They might not expect translators
to transfer all those profanities, but they showed great appreciation to the translation that
is in YAs’ language. Recommendations for further studies are provided in the last
chapter.

iv


CONTENT
Table of contents

page

Acknowledgements ………………………………………….………….i
Abstract……………………………………………………………….…ii
List of figures and tables………………………………………………...iii
List of abbreviations ………………………………………………….….iv
Table of contents………………………………………………………....v
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study…......................1
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study……………………………….……3
1.3. Research questions …………………………………………….….…4
1.4. Significance of the study……………………………………….….…4
1.5. Research method ……………………………..……………………...5
1.6. Scope of the study……………………………………………………5
1.7. Overview of the study …………………………………...….………6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Translation……………………………………………………………7
2.1.1. Definition of translation……………………………………7
2.1.2. Literary translation…………………………………………8
2.2. Readership in translation …………………………….………………8
2.2.1. Definition ………………………………………..…………8
2.2.2. The role of readership in translation………….……………9
2.3. Young adult novels……………………………………………..……10
2.3.1. Definition of Young Adult…………………………………10
2.3.2. Definition of YA novels……………………………………11
2.3.3. Characteristics of YA novels………………………………12
2.4. Profanity…………………………………………………………...…13
2.4.1. Definition of profanity…………………..…………………13
2.4.2. Classification of profanities…………..……………………14
2.5. Translating profanities in YA novels…………………………………14
2.5.1. Translating for YAs…………………………………………14
2.5.2. Translating profanities in YA novels……..…………………15

2.5.3. Strategies to translate profanities in YA novels….…………16
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Research subjects………………………………………………….……18
3.2. Participants ………………………………………………………..……19
v


3.3. Data collection method ………………………………………………21
3.4. Data collection procedures……………………………………………22
3.5. Data analysis procedures………………………………………...……23
CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
4.1. Research question 1: Strategies used by Tinh Thuy used to translate
profanities New Moon and Eclipse ……………………………………25
4.2. Research question 2: The influence of identifying targeted readership on Tinh
Thuy’s decision on the translation strategies to render profanities in New Moon
and Eclipse………………………………………………………31
4.3. Research question 3: The responses of the target readers to the translation of
profanities in New Moon and Eclipse…………………………………33
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1. Summary of findings………………………………….………………39
5.2. Limitations of the research……………………………………………40
5.3. Recommendations for further research…………………………….…41
.
REFERENCES
APPENDICE

vi


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This initial chapter explains the central problem of the study: the influence of
readership on translating profanities in YA novel within the case of New Moon and
Eclipse. The chapter includes a statement of the problem, objective of the study,
research questions, and significance of the study, research method, and
organization of the study.
1.1.

Statement of the problem and rationale for the study

These recent years have witnessed the emergence of one significant literature
genre- literature for Young Adult. Even though it was previously neglected and
regarded as “children literature” (Cart, 2001), novels of this genre have now
become the sensation and constantly hit the bestseller lists all around the world
(Picket, 2014). With the first YA novel “Seventeenth Summer” published in
1942, the history of YA literature is considered relatively new compared with other
genres (Strickland, 2013). As a consequence, in many countries, YA novels have not
yet caught on as the choice of authors and publishing houses, leading to a shortage
of reading materials from domestic writers for adolescents. For example, in
Vietnam, the number of YA novels written by domestic authors falls far behind the
demand of the targeted readers (Quyen, 2009). To deal with this situation, many
publishing houses have started translating and publishing foreign YA novels to
satisfy readers’ need. In Vietnam, some bookstores, translated novels dominate the
top shelves and sometimes, far outnumbering ones written by Vietnamese authors
(Quang, 2014). The growing numbers and success of these novels have attracted
attention from experts, yet, little research has written about YA works in translation
(Jensen, 2014).
Despite its modest quantity, studies on the translation of YA novels cover a wide
range of aspects, from translators’ translating process to readers’ reception. Miskin
(2011) examined the translator’s role in the success of a YA novel by reviewing and
analyzing the translations of a batch of YA novels that won Batchelder awards.

1


Ismawati (2013) studied the translation procedures that translator applied to translate
cultural words in YA novel. Kobelová (2010) focused on the problems of
equivalence and the importance of style in translating YA fiction. Yet, many aspects
including the translation of profanities in YA novels need to be shed more light on.
The reasons why profanity translation in YA novel has not been studied lies in
the lack of attention on profanities in literature. In fact, the majority of the works on
profanity translation belongs to the screen translation field. For instance, Fernández
(2006), although fascinated with the translation process of English swear into
Spanish, used the film South Park as a study case. This research provides a detailed
analysis on the use of swears in both cultures as well as explanation for translator’s
intervention in the translation of swears. However, since screen and literary
translation are different in many ways, the findings of the research on one field can
be quite inadequate to be the reference for the study of the other field. As a result,
even such significant finding, translating profanities in fiction is still an
undiscovered territory that needs more exploration. A reason to explain for the “cold
shoulder” researchers have given to profanities in literature is literature is commonly
considered as unpopular choice adolescents for leisure compared to music, film,
video games or television (Irwin, 2003). Thus, exposure to profanities in YA
literature seems to be less dangerous than in other well-liked media.
Translating profanities in fiction itself is challenging enough for translators,
translating them for a specific group of readers, especially one with many unique
traits like young adults, is at a whole new level. To explain why translating
profanities is such a hard task for translator, Pantelejeva (2009) suggested that the
job of translator are not just translating the words but also making them suitable for
a target audience that lives in a different society and culture. She also names some
strategies that translators used to deal with the sensitive words in two Young Adult
novels. This work, despite being thorough in answering questions about the

translation process of sensitive words, did not cover all sides of the problem. The
2


response or opinion of readers should also be taken into consideration by translators.
As identifying and profiling the novels’ readership is one of many pre-translating
responsibilities (Newmark, 1988), it would be wrong if translators only focus on
being culturally correct and ignore their readers’ preferences. A profound insight
into readers’ mind would be useful and essential to figure out the appropriate
strategies dealing with profanities in Young Adult novels.
Twilight Saga is one of iconic YA novels of this decade with millions book sold.
With the boost of the success of its movies, the influence of the series has reached
all over the world (Sawer & Mendick, 2010). Vietnam is one of the countries that
are caught in this Twilight storm. The second and third book of this series occupied
the first two spots in the best seller list in Vietnam in 2009 (Thuy, 2010) In addition,
just like most novels of this genre, the Saga also contains many profanities. In fact,
according to Dailymail, the two middle books of the saga, New Moon and Eclipse,
recently have received warning from parents for having too many profanities that are
obscene or vulgar (“Bad language”, 2012 ). Thus, for these important features,
Eclipse and New Moon from this Twilight Saga make an ideal case of this study.
All the above reasons inspired the researcher to conduct a study on “The role of
readership in translating profanities in Young Adult novels: A study on Tinh
Thuy’s translation of New Moon and Eclipse”
1.2.

Aims of the study

This paper examined the profanities in the second and the third books of Twilight
Saga to find out the translator’s strategies to translate those words into Vietnamese
for target readers. Moreover, the thesis also sought to figure out readers’ opinion and

preference in the translation of these words and compared them with the translator’s
ideas and speculation about target readers’.

3


Overall, through analyzing those features, the researcher aimed at the relation
between readership and translator’s pattern of choices in translating profanities, if
any, in Young Adult novels.
1.3.

Research questions

Question 1: What were the strategies that Tinh Thuy used to translate
profanities in New Moon and Eclipse?
Question 2: How does the stage of identifying readership affect Tinh Thuy’s
decision on the strategies to translate profanities in New Moon and Eclipse?
Question 3: What are the responses of the target readers to the translation of
these profanities?
1.4.

Significance of the study

Each age group has a different perception on profanities and the use of it. To
teenagers, cursing is not just a way of expressing their frustration but also an action
that makes them look more mature (Roberts, 2006). And to adult in general and
parents in particular, using profanities is not a thing that teenagers should not do.
This difference in views of two generations put any translator in tough spot of
choosing whether to translate these profanities or not. Even when the translator
decides to do so, how much literal he/she is willing to translate also puts the

translator in a dilemma. With this thesis, the researcher aimed at helping translators
to find answers for these outstanding questions.
In addition, although profanities and translating those words have been the
subjects of research, little has looked in to translating profanities in novels for
specific groups of readers. In addition, in most of the studies, it was investigated
under only one side’s point of view, mostly translators’; few studies include points
of view of both parties. Adopting latter approaches and focuses on the relation
between readership and translator’s strategies to translate profanities in Young Adult
4


novel, this thesis is expected to give a more insightful look into what happened in
the translator’s mind when he/ she is translating for a specific group of readers and
to emphasize the importance of correctly identifying and profiling target readership.

1.5.

Research method

This study utilized mainly qualitative method; hence, findings were
concluded by analyzing materials collected from documents and interview.
First, New Moon and Eclipse were read thoroughly to spot profanities within
their contexts and to compare against their translations. These profanities are
identified by based on their features proposes by Anderson and Trudgill (1990, p.
53). Each profanity and their translation were sorted based on their translation
strategies. These strategies include compensation, literal translation, softening,
omission and cultural equivalence. Through analyzing the frequency of each
translation strategy, the researcher could gain more knowledge on the relationship
between the translator’s awareness of the targeted readers and her decision while
translating profanities.

Next, the researcher interviewed the translator and conducted a survey of the
readers on how they respond to the translation of profanities. The participants were
selected based on the knowledge that the researcher gained through a set of
questionnaire to guarantee the objectiveness of the procedure. The results of this
contributes greatly to the final finding on how would readers react to different ways
of translating profanities.
1.6.

Scope of the study

The research chose to study New Moon and Eclipse from a famous Young
Adult novel-Twilight Saga. The Vietnamese translations of Tinh Thuy were then
5


selected for analysis as first; they were published by a Tre Publishing House, which
is a prestigious publication and second, they are the only officially recognized
translation.
Although the English and Vietnamese versions of the series were studied,
only some aspects of the translation were mentioned and analyzed by the researcher.
As stated in the title, the paper focuses on readership and its influence on the
decision of translator when translating profanities. However, given that the number
of readers of Twilight Saga is high and might belong to different demographics, the
researcher only chose its main target readers which are young adults who are from
13 to 25 year old to study.
Readership has a tremendous influence on the translation process but in this
paper, the researcher selected one area which is translator’s lexical choice.
Therefore, only profanities that appear in the second and third books of Twilight
Saga and their translation were studied closely.
1.7.

Overview of the study

This paper has five chapters:
Chapter I: introduces the study examining the influence of readership on
translating profanities in YA novel within the case of New Moon and Eclipse. The
chapter includes a statement of the problem, objective of the study, research
questions, and significance of the study, research method, and organization of the
study.
Chapter II: includes definitions of key terms such as YA novels and
profanities and some theories and results of research related to these key concepts.
Chapter III: explains in detail the methodology which has been utilized
through describing research’s object, participants, instrument, the data collection
and analysis methods and procedures.
6


Chapter IV: presents the findings of the study after analyzing the data.
Chapter V: summarizes the findings, discusses implications and offers
recommendations for further researchers

7


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter includes definitions of key terms such as YA novels and profanities and
some theories and results of research related to these key concepts.

2.1. Translation
2.1.1. Definition of translation

According to many scholars, translation can be considered one of the most
significant jobs in modern society as it serves as a bridge to link countries to
countries and culture to culture.
Latishev (1988) suggested that translation is a form of communication:
“Translation is a type of language mediation, socially serving to approximate a
mediated bilingual communication by fullness, effectiveness and naturalness to a
common monolingual communication” (p.160). In another words, Latishev’s theory
implied that translation’s role is conveying the messages in a complete, effective and
natural way.
Different from Latishev’s views, Newmark (1981, p.8) stated that translation
is not just “communication” but “a craft”. According to Newmark, this craft consists
of “the attempt to replace a written message and statement in one language by the
same message and/or statement in another language”. Generally, to him, translation
is a complicated process that required various skills of the translators, which is
conveying the meaning of the original text and the author’s intention from one
language to another. Even though there are differences between two perspectives, a
striking similarity can still be seen: “translation is the transposition of a text written
in a source language in to a target language” (Weber, 1984, p.3).
Susan-McGuire Bassnett (1991) argued that the message is not the only
element that needs to be transferred from SL to TL. She claims that the structures of
8


the SL should also be “preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL
structures will be seriously distorted” (p.2). In short, this means that in addition to
the meaning of the SL, the structure should be kept to an extent, which is, however,
not compulsory as different languages may have different sentence structures.
It can be concluded that translation is a process of transferring texts from the
SL to the TL. When translating, the most significant element is the message, the

overall meaning of the text. The style and structure of the text should also need to be
paid attention to since it would contribute greatly to the quality of the translators’
final product.

2.1.2. Literary translation

Regarded as one subcategory of translation, literary translation is applied on
literary texts of all genres of literature, including drama, prose, and poetry. Although
each genre of literature possesses different forms and content, there are still some
common characteristics which differentiate literature from other kinds of writing
(Guerin, 1979). The first trait that characterizes literature is its ambiguity. As
literature can be subjective, its meaning might changes depended on one’s own
interpretation. Another characteristic is that literary texts are placeless and timeless.
It is hard to oppose the view that masterpieces endure across the time and hold the
same value in any place in the world. Given its characteristics, according to Okeke
(1995), translate literary texts can be a challenging tasks because the translators have
to master the language and be sensitive to art.
When translating a literary text, a translator has to respect every feature by
considering all syntactic, stylistic and aesthetic elements of the text (Newmark,
1988, p.1). Therefore, recognizing all significant characteristics of the literary text
would support the translators greatly in fulfilling their task.

2.2. Readership in translation
9


2.2.1. Definition

In a society, there are many different groups of people with totally different
characteristics, life styles, age, social class and personal preference that co-exist.

Therefore, before starting translating, translators should always take these elements
into consideration.
It is known in the translation studies field that Eugene Nida was the first
linguist to introduce the concept of “readership”. Previously, readership was
generally a synonym of translation and readership was mistaken as a vague,
imaginary person (Munday, 2001, p.20). With his theory of dynamic equivalence,
Nida (1968, p.160) presented the idea that translators should not only pay attention
to transferring the ST to the TT, but also to communicating with its readers.
After Nida’s idea, the interaction between translators and readers started
receiving recognition and being seen in a different light. Gradually, readership
became a decisive factor in translation process: “Translators are always translating
for their readers, they are always acting in a dialogic relationship with the author of
the original, publishers, and, above all, the future readers of the translation“
(Oittinen, 2002, p.12).

2.2.2. The role of readership in translation

Nida is not the only scholar to recognize the significance of readership; many
have done and continued studying its role in translation process. On the role of
target readership in translation, Reiss and Vermeer (1984, p.101) claimed that
adequate knowledge of the intended target group enables translator to choose the
correct translation strategies. Agreeing with Reiss and Vermeer’s conclusion, Nord
(2005, p.11) added that translators can establish the function of the text and fulfill
the clients’ needs better if they have more detailed information about the TT
addressees. Thus, it is recommended by many experts that translators should pay
proper attention to the target readership of the TT.
10


However, determining how much attention should be paid to readers of TT is

not a simple job. According to Newmark (1988, p.13), translators have to
“characterize the readership of the original and then of the translation” in the ST
analysis process. Newmark also stated that knowledge about the level of education,
the class, age and sex of ST readership can be gained by evaluating “the variety of
language used in the original” (p.13). Although Newmark emphasized how the full
understanding of target readership can benefit translators in terms of choosing a
proper tone and degree of formality for the text, he suggested that translators of
“poems or any work written primarily as self-expression” only need to care little
about its readership”(p.13). On the other hand, some experts believe that readers
play an enormous role in the success of a translation. Nida and Taber (1982, p.1)
supported this view by arguing that the correctness of a translation is hugely
determined by “the extent to which the average reader for which a translation is
intended will be likely to understand it correctly". Their view is also similar to
Weber’s that considers it is translators’ responsibility to translate in the way “that
can be easily understood by the reader” (1983, p.3). Since the 80s of the 20th
century, the status and role of readers in translation process have been highlighted,
influencing the translators’ decision-making process
Generally, the role of readership is increasingly acknowledged by linguistics and
translators worldwide. As a result, having readers in mind has become a common
practice in the translators training and professionally translation.

2.3. Young adult novels
2.3.1. Definition of Young Adult

Pinpointing the exact definition of Young Adult can be quite difficult as there
is no fixed range for the age of adult and the term “young” is quite subjective.
However, there have been many attempts to identify the term “young adult”.
The Young Adult Library Services Association firstly used the term in 1960s
11

to represent people in the 12- 18 age range (Cart, 2001). Since then, the concept and
its meaning have gradually changed with time. Goodreads, a website of Amazon
that has more than 12 million members, specified the age range of YAs as from 13
to 21. It can be seen that the term “Young Adult” no longer limits to people in their
teen but it has expanded to people in their early twenties as well. Cart, the former
president of the Association, shared a similar view and states that the age for young
adult novel can even be extended to age 25 when, he explains, human brains reach
maturity (Cart, 2001). Explaining why there are many opinions on this one term, Le
Phuong Lien, Head of the Children’s literature at Kim Dong publishing house, said
that since people grow up in different environment and their experiences, the age
range of young adult is not fixed (Anh, 2011).
Despite all debates over the age of YAs, many psychologists have conducted
studies and agreed on many certain significant and distinctive characteristics of
YAs. In one of his research on adolescents’ psychology, Havighurst (1972)
described the phrase as a time when adolescents prepare for the lifetime ahead of
them. According to Havighurst, in this stage, YAs try to become independent from
parents, start accepting and proud of their roles in the society as well as their
physical feature and form and develop their set of values and an ethical system, etc.
In other words, YAs are at vital stage where they search for their identity.
Overall, the term “YA” is determined by both physical and mental maturity of
a person, making it quite hard to identify correctly. Nevertheless, it is save to
conclude that “YA” refers to a transitory phrase of human’s life when a person
realizes it’s time for them to say goodbye to their childhood and start taking their
first steps on the road towards adulthood (Nilsen & Donelson, 2001).

2.3.2. Definition of YA novels

The term Young Adult novel, which can be used interchangeably with many
other names, for instance ‘Literature for Adolescence’, ‘YA Fiction’ and ‘Teen

12


Novels’, is broadly defined as the material written, published and marketed for
people age twelve and up (Young Adult Library Services of the American Library
Association, 2011). The genre can also be defined as ‘anything that readers between
the approximate ages of 12 to 18 would choose to read’ (Nilsen & Donelson, 2001).
These two definitions agree that the readership should be at least 12 years of age and
more importantly, that the content is intentionally developed to suit the interest of
young adult readers.
Knowles and Nakmjaer (1995) described the genre as a type of reading
material that created to satisfy the demand of “readers [who are] too old for
children’s stories and not yet ready for ‘adult’ literature” (p.142). This might be a
reasonable definition of the term as it concludes the most basic characteristics and
position of YA novels among other kinds.

2.3.3. Characteristics of YA novels

Since it was first emerged, YA novels have been often mistaken as children
literature (Cart, 2001). As time passed by, this perception has gradually been
corrected because people have realized that YA novel is a distinctive genre, different
from other literary genres.
The first difference between this type of novel with others such as Adult and
Children one is the subject they discussed. According to Lamb (2001), YA novels
can deal with “intense and serious subject” as people from this age group have
“high tolerance for ambivalence in both character and plot” (pp. 24-25). For
instance, situations such as “sex, death, family tensions, social class, teenage
violence and race relations” (Knowles & Malmkjaer, 1996, p.142) might never
appear in children literature but can be featured in novels of this genre. In addition,
the main character is also a factor that sets YA novels apart from other literature

genres (Bronzo & Simpson, 1995). They concluded that YA novels always center on
a likeable young adult protagonist who readers can identify with. These characters
13


are likely to face events or problems that related to the life of young adults. By
creating those characters and situations, YA novels can provide readers with what
they want about themselves in books.
With the rapid growth in recent years, YA novels have eventually found their
place in literary field, separating themselves from other kinds of literature.

2.4. Profanity
2.4.1. Definition of profanity

Hughes (2006, p.362) claimed that the Latin word, fanum, meaning “a
temple” is what “profanity” comes from. Initially, the word refers to action or words
that “desecrate or violate temple”. However, as time passed by, its religious
association gradually became uncommon and nowadays, the word is generally
defined as a “vulgar or irreverent action, speech, etc” (Collin English Dictionary,
n.d.). According to Hughes, profanities, in America, “fall under the board category
of swearing”. In fact, “profanity” is synonymous with various broad terms such as
“cursing, dirty, profane” and “swearing” (Andersson & Trudgill, 1990).
A profanity, or swearing, is considered a common feature of human
communication in most societies and cultures. Asher (1994) defined swearing, or
profanities, as words aiming at a person or object to “invoke damnation, misfortune
or degradation” (pp. 4512-13). Profanities usually relates to “personal and bodily
functions, sex or religion” (Fernandez, 2006). In most cases, profanities are used to
express strong feeling and emotion such as anger or frustration towards a person or
an object. In most countries, profanities are regarded as the “most obvious forms of
bad language”, therefore, inappropriate in the most contexts (Andersson & Trudgill,

1990, p.14).
Every culture has its own set of profanities, so the exact characteristic of
those words can be listed fully. This is the reason why the line between profanities
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and others acts or words is ill defined. As an attempt to characterize profanities,
Andersson and Trudgill (1990, p. 53) came up with three following features:
- Profanities refer to something that is taboo and/or stigmatized in the culture;
- Profanities should not be interpreted literally;
- Profanities can be used to express strong emotions and attitudes.
However, profanities also have its positive and significant meaning in the
societies. Lakoff (2004, pp.242) asserted that “profanities serve as a condensed
symbol of the expression of emotion in talk, and the right to “cuss” is a sign of the
right to express emotion”. In other words, using profanities sometimes can be an act
of showing freedom and rights to vent out one’s own emotion.

2.4.2. Classification of profanities

Although there are countless words and expression that considered
profanities, not all of them have the same meaning and degree of offensiveness.
Some words are even regarded as a part of daily conversation in some countries,
whereas some type are so intense that they are prohibited to use. For example, in
some American broadcast television, severe profanities are censored. There have
been many attempts to classify profanities. Andersson and Trudgill (1992, p.60-61)
put profanities into four categories based on their uses. These four categories are
expletive, abusive, humorous, and auxiliary.
-

Abusive: abusive words are directed towards others. They insult and

offence others by cursing or calling them bad names. You bastard! is one
example of this type.

-

Expletive: profanities in this are used to express emotions. These words
do not aim at any certain person or object. Some examples are Hell! and
Shit!

-

Humorous: profanities of this kind occur in jokes or are used
for humorous intent.
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-

Auxiliary: in this group using swearwords is like a way of speaking.
Some examples from this type of profanity are this fucking X.

2.5. Translating profanities in YA novels
2.5.1. Translating for YAs

The process of translating a text for different audience can be similar. The
most prominent difference between translating for YAs and other groups is
obviously the target readership. As stated in the previous part, literature has great
impact on the character development and well being of YAs; hence, it is
understandable to conclude that the task of translating novels for YAs is extremely
important. Consequently, to fulfill this task successfully, translators have to satisfy

many criteria.
Translating for YAs or for any other audience has to firstly, be faithful to the
ST, if not, the product would lose all its value. Being unfaithful is equal to simply
publish books written in translator’s own words (Roy- Seifert, 2004).
Secondly, knowing one’s target audience is recommended but letting it
consume all translators’ thought and control their decision is a different story. If the
translators become obsessed with making the text educational and suitable for YAs,
the story would lose its appeal and become an uninteresting and pedagogical book
(Roy-Seifert, 2004).
In summary, translating for YAs, just like translating for any group of
readers, requires respect for the ST and knowledge of the characteristics of the
targeted audience.

2.5.2. Translating profanities in YA novels

Since every culture and every generation has different perception on swear
words, leading to different evaluation on the appropriateness of using profanities in
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