Methods Followed in Translating Drama Songs

Abstract

A drama is a composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue. It is typically designed for theatrical performance. Songs are one of the key features of a drama. They are sung either by the characters or by the singers. When it comes to translating dramatic texts, translating the songs affecting the target audience in the same way as the originals may be supposed to have affected its audience is of paramount importance. The aim of this study has been to identify methods followed in translating drama songs. Selected dramatic texts containing songs and their Sinhalese translations have been used as the primary sources and the songs in the originals and their translations have been compared in order to identify the methods. Literal translation or metaphrase in which the original is directly converted into the target language has been avoided. Sense-for-sense translation is the most common methodology identified. Adapting, adding and omitting certain elements can be seen under this. Structural changes can also be seen in this. It appears that such minor changed are required in order to maintain the sense of the original and to make it more comprehensible to the target audience. Replacing the original song with an existing target language song and adding a song into a dialog which does not contain a song in the original text are the other methods identified.