Accommodation in Translation

Abstract: Faithfulness was once considered the iron rule in translation in the history of translation in China
as well as in the West. Yet when we take a closer look, accommodation, or adaptation, is found in most
published translations. This article attempts to investigate the reasons why accommodation is frequently
needed and enumerates the following types of accommodation translators or interpreters make in their
work: cultural accommodation; collocation accommodation; ideological accommodation; aesthetic
accommodation.
What does accommodation mean?
Accommodation in this article is considered a synonym of adaptation which means changes are made so
the target text produced is in line with the spirit of the original. A text which is not obviously a translation in
the traditional sense is thus created. Here, we must in the first place define translation. Translation
consists of providing, in the receptor language, the closest natural equivalent of the source language
message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. (Nida, 1984). Is translation a scientific
study or artistic endeavor, researchable theory or technical craft, a branch of linguistics or of literature? It
seems that all of these definitions have their advocates among translators and those who have sought to
characterize its theory and its practice. Here the somewhat sterile debates about translation as a process
or translation as a product give way to fresh opportunities to cohere the semiotic, the linguistic, the social,
the cultural and the psychological perspectives on communicating. In short, it offers a broader concept of
what it means to understand (Christopher N Candlin: the General Editor's Preface of Discourse and the
Translator by Basil Hatim & Ian Mason.1990). We believe translation is not merely linguistic conversion or
transformation between languages but it involves accommodation in scope of culture, politics, aesthetics,
and many other factors.
Translation, in terms of methodology, may be literal translation or free translation, which used to be an
irreconcilable dilemma in translation circles on which unfortunately no authoritative conclusion has been
reached. In China, it is agreed by many that one should "translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free
translation" (Fan Zhongying, 1994: 97). Yet few abide by such a rule for reasons that will be discussed
shortly. The opposite of adaptation is transcription, which is a word-for-word method of translation rarely
applied in translation practice with the exception of lists and catalogues, because linguistic differences
forbid us from doing so, especially when the two languages belong to quite different language families
such as English and Chinese.
Accommodation is also translation, a free, rather than literal, kind of translation. Moreover, it is inevitable
in practice if the translation is to maintain the source message's essence, impact, and effect. The
theoretical bases of this statement will be the topic of the next section.
Theoretical Bases
In the West there is an interesting saying: A translation is like a woman: if it is faithful, it is not beautiful; if
it is beautiful, it is not faithful. The faithfulness-beauty contrast was often used by Chinese translators to
describe the effect of a piece of translated work. Most would rather prefer faithfulness to beauty when
evaluating a translation. I suspect the reason is most probably that the Chinese traditional morals or
values influence the translators' choice. Academically, it is the dispute between source-centered and
target-centered trends. During most of the history of translation both in China and the West, source-
centeredness was regarded a priority and was strictly followed. More than one hundred years ago, during
the Qing Dynasty, Yan Fu, who was a household name in the Chinese translation circles placed
faithfulness as the first o his three-word principle: faithfulness, smoothness, and elegance. Lu Xun, a well-
known translator and man of letters, is a strong supporter of such a view and his translations co-authored
with his brother evidently proved his idea, although their translations were accused by some as unnatural
or even non-understandable (Chen Fukang: 2000). Similarly, in the West, A. F. Tytler (1747-1814)
proposed his principles:
A translation should:
give a complete transcript of the ideas and sentiments in the original passage 
maintain the character of the style 
have the ease and flow of the original text. (A. F. Tytler: 1790) 
This is cited here to demonstrate the historical fact that source-centeredness was prevalent, not to prove
that these principle are wrong or should be abandoned altogether. Instead, one should study them
seriously and apply them in practice. Our suggestion is that if for linguistic or cultural reasons the source
cannot be transcribed, we must make accommodations rather than translate it literally. As a matter of fact,
accommodations are made exactly to preserve the original style or manner. As translation theories
develop, a shift can be observed from source to target, from form to content and meaning which is
essential in any form of human communication.
In modern times, a new theory appeared to offer a compromise. It was proposed by by Christiane Nord
(2001), who introduced a pair of terms: Documentary (preserve the original exoticizing setting) vs.
instrumental translation (adaptation of the setting to the target culture). Whether a translation ought to be
instrumental or documentary when cultural and historical elements are involved is therefore the
translator's decision. If s/he focuses on the transmission of the original flavor for the reader's reference,
documentary translation is preferred; if s/he mainly intends to convey the information for basic
communication, instrumental translation is sufficient. Moreover, if the purpose of a translation is to
achieve a particular purpose for the target audience, anything that obstructs the achievement of this
purpose is a translation error. This is significant in its emphasis on the target-centeredness.
Accommodation
Collocation accommodation
Because translation is primarily a linguistic endeavor, either oral or written, we would like initially to deal
with accommodation in the linguistic sphere.
If language were simply a nomenclature for a set of universal concepts, it would be easy to translate from
one language to another. One would simply replace the English name for a concept with the Chinese
name or vice versa. Learning a new language would also be much easier than it is. Actually, each
language articulates or organizes the world differently and languages do not simply name existing
categories, but they articulate their own.
Collocation is a difficult factor for anyone learning a foreign language. Talking from my own experience, I
from time to time find myself puzzled with some English collocations and it is not rare that in my
translation practice I often make such collocation mistakes which I do not notice until a foreign colleague
or friend points them out. There seems to be no reason for certain collocations. Builders do not produce a
building; authors do not invent a novel. Regular dictionaries are of little help in translating collocations,
and the translator must often resort to accommodation. For example, when butter or eggs go bad they are
described in English as rancid and addled respectively. Both rancid and addled mean 'stale/rotten' but
swapping modifiers would make unacceptable collocations. When translated into Chinese, a common
collocation is choule, meaning 'has become stinky.' Here accommodation is made un hesitantly and
naturally, for the original English collocation. Another example is the English phrase 'dry cow,' which is
correctly rendered in Chinese as 'the cow has stopped providing milk,' because a literal translation ganniu
would perplex the Chinese speaker, causing communication to fail.
Cultural accommodation
Culture is too broad a term and it may cover everything. Culture can mean the arts collectively: art, music,
literature, and related intellectual activities; knowledge and sophistication: enlightenment and
sophistication acquired through education and exposure to the arts; shared beliefs and values of a group:
the beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or people; shared attitudes: a
particular set of attitudes that characterizes a group of people (Encarta, 2003). If applied in the sense
expounded above, the present article can all be covered in one word—cultural accommodation. Yet for
purpose of stress, I list these four categories. Here I use the term in a much narrower sense, for instance,
the shared attitudes or values of a group.
The Chinese national character which is shared, to my knowledge, with the Japanese is implicature in
talking to people as opposed to the direct and open way of the Westerners, especially Americans. In both
interpreting and translation, accommodations must be made so communication may proceed smoothly,
with neither party feeling offended and irritated. Anyone who has had traveling or living experiences in an
exotic culture will readily confirm my statement. I am only calling translators' and interpreters' attention to
the fact that accommodation as a skill will make their job more successful.
Ideological accommodation
By ideological accommodation I mean sexual and political concerns. Most Chinese, even today, avoid the
topic of sex, which is usually considered pornography. If you do not, you will be regarded immoral,
dishonest, unreliable and simply bad. This is one of the principle reasons why sex education is in the
school curriculum but never seriously taught. The teacher just tells the students to read what is written in
the textbook and discourages the students from asking a question. So in translation we either omit or
abbreviate the original graphic description of a sex scene. This does not mean that Chinese literature
never touches upon sex. It is only in the way of depicting sex where the difference lies. We will edit the
language or the scene, or make it implicit instead. In English-Chinese translation, the translator would
always make accommodations to soften the original tone, hoping not to offend the readers (as well as to
escape censorship?), I do not wish to present my judgment here but wish to state a fact in translation
practice when sex is involved.
Another theme is politics to which no less attention ought to be paid. Let us assume that a foreign
medium carries offensive statements against the Chinese government. It is advisable for the translator
that the details not be translated. At most, it is sufficient to mention that the government is being criticized.
Patriotism forbids one from making critical or unfavorable statements or spreading them by translating.
This is where heavy accommodations should be made. Some of those who neglected this advice have
gotten into serious trouble.
Aesthetic accommodation
Poetry has been notoriously believed to be untranslatable. Robert Frost once said, "Poetry is what gets
lost in translation." This is sufficient evidence of the difficulty involved in translation of poetry; therefore
accommodation is even more necessary. Because poetry is fundamentally valuable for its aesthetic
value, aesthetic accommodation becomes a skill instead of a basic requirement. A good poetry translator
instinctively knows the difference between the aesthetic traditions of different cultures, so his/her
translation can be better appreciated by the target reader and can achieve the required effect. Otherwise
the translation is doomed to be a failure no matter how close or similar it looks to the original. In Chinese
translation circles the following example of accommodation is quoted quite frequently to demonstrate an
effective skill or to attack the rigidity of the source-centered point of view.
Wang Rongpei (1995), a senior translator, changed the original Chinese image to adapt to the English
aesthetic tradition when he translated a poem in the ancient poetry collection generally known as the
Book of Songs. The ancient Chinese used the following simile to depict a beautiful girl (literally
translated): her hands are like soft sprouts; her skin, condensed cream; her neck, larva of a scarab; her
teeth, deviltree; her head, qing ( a cicada-like insect); and her brows, the shape of a moth. Let's not
inquire about the reasons why the ancient Chinese made such comparisons or analogy. One thing is
sure: Westerners would not be able to appreciate such a 'beautiful' girl. Wang's version, after his artistic
modification or adaptation, reads like this:
Her hands are small, her fingers slim;
Her skin is smooth as cream;
Her swan-like neck is long and slim;
Her teeth like pearls do gleam.
A broad forehead and arching brow
Complement her dimpled cheeks
And make her black eyes glow.
Summary
In the above I have discussed the need for accommodation in translation with an example. I suggest that
accommodation is also translation, even if it means addition or loss of information, explanation, rewriting,
or re-creation.