Germanistische Beiträge 27.2010
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The present paper is a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the various relationships between language and law. It is impossible to deal with all these relationships in the present study. Therefore the relationship between language and law will be dealt with in this paper as far as it points out the relationships between linguistics and jurisprudence. Considering the diverse relationships between the fields of linguistics and jurisprudence, the interdisciplinary collaboration between these two disciplines could be improved by establishing a branch of study dealing with legal linguistics.
The following analysis is based on a practical experience of translation and tries to offer a series of solutions to the problem posed by culture-specific elements known in German translation studies as „Realia”. The recent translation studies generally acknoledge the importance of maintaining certain culture-specific elements as such in the target text; Antoine Berman speaks about ethic versus ethnocentric translation. Several authors describe four possible solutions for dealing with culture-specific elements in translation in order to preserve to a certain degree the cultural identity of the target text. The translation of „Realia” belonging to the sphere of nationalsocialism raised a series of difficulties during the actual translation of Das Buch Hitler, a document which was put together for Stalin by soviet intelligence in the years following WW II. Three types of „Realia” were identified in the source text and treated as such in the translation, following the theoretical guidelines proposed by Markussen and Berman.
Presenting the actual theoretical debates (of Göhlich, Welsch, de Nancy, Bachmann-Medick) with respect to the concept of transculturality, underlining the related aspects such as hybridity, intertextuality, globalisation, the author traces the aspects of transculturality in the process of the translations from Romanian to German. The success of the literary transfer is conditioned by the intra- and intercultural competence, by the knowledge of the identity factors, of the specific operational frame and of the key texts (translations or originals) from the literatures that come into contact with it. As in other countries, where there are specific basic cultural notions with a certain symbolic charge like „birch” in Russia, „hut” in the Czech republic, the traditional cultural universe affirmatively or polemically resorts to cultural words such as „plai” (poetic realm), „codru” (forest), „mioritic” (mioritical). Tracing by means of rich examples the history of translations, the author distinguishes the stages of translations motivated by philological, ethnographic, political interests and lastly and parallel to it, by aesthetical interests. These translations contribute to the identitary image of the Romanians, being normally recorded with an increased attention and sensibility. Concretely applying the discussed theoretical concepts on a text, the author presents the German translation of an essayistic text by Andrei Pleşu, arguing the possible interest of the German public for the writer, emphasizing the ironical hybrid and ludic signs that are important for the translation, with all untranslatabilities of the word games, in order to find at least an adequate, if not equivalent, transfer. The annotations and the translation (starting with the analysis of the title) constitute a demonstration of transculturality applied live.
In this work we aim to analyze the statute of the Romansh language and of its idioms in the Grison/Graubűnden Canton (Switzerland), from the Sursilvan lyrics perspective of Tresa Rűther-Seeli and her contemporary, Linard Candreia. Because of the massive split of the five Romanic idioms with own writing, of the fact that none of them had developed into a standard literary language, as well as of the massive decrease in the population who speaks them, the situation of these idioms becomes dramatic, in spite of and because of the intervention of the political factor to impose a standard official language – Romansh.
"Hoch soll er leben!" : Routineformeln als Forschungsaufgabe der phraseologischen Kontrastivik
(2010)
Phraseological issues are of great interest to researchers in the field of German studies outside German-speaking countries as well. If one looks back upon the achievements and insights of phraseological research elsewhere, it becomes obvious that there are lots of areas of investigation still to be expanded, as far as the German and the Romanian languages are concerned. The research approaches suggested here are meant to highlight more specific aspects of linguistic phraseological material.
The paper focuses on aspects of comparative phraseology and paremioloy between two languages, German and Romanian and aims at disclosing differences and similarities in connection with proverbs and idioms on “the devil”. 112 items circling around “the devil” and its synonyms are being analyzed as to the life experience, world perspective and superstitions reflected in the proverbs, by drawing parallels between the equivalent structures functioning in the two languages, their form and content.
The lexeme „Deisam” in the sense of ‘sourdough’ is part of the vocabulary our ancestors brought with them from the German speaking space. Here in Transylvania the word gained its own meanings along the centuries, which is evidenced in particular word constructions, with interesting semantic content. These form the basis of linguistic processes of mixture and compensation within the whole vernacular landscape, which are typical for a colonial dialect. Since Transylvanian Saxon is assigned to the Franconian dialects of the Middle Rhine, in my exposition I also make reference to the Rhenish and Palatine lexicons. Dialectical references taken from the two dictionaries are identified in the footnotes.
In the present article Bernhard Schwaiger, a Latin language teacher at a school in Thüringen, treats some aspects of the greater or lesser importance of some objects of study, in this case of the foreign languages, importance that is usually determined aleatorily. The article becomes a pleading for the study of the Romanian language as one of the most interesting Romance languages, the Romanian culture being complex and the tourist landscape from Romania very interesting as well. The conclusion of the article is that it is very important for pupils on their way to identity construction to know all the cultural components of Europe, to submit to a critical analysis any object defined „from the outside” as important, because the European continent consists not solely of important countries and languages (such as France, Spain, England, Italy) but also of a multitude of other languages and cultures.
In Auszügen rezipiert – Bemerkungen zu der Übersetzung von Max Frischs Tagebüchern ins Rumänische
(2010)
Romanian readers interested in Max Frisch’s literary diaries can find the Romanian translation of some heterogeneous notes or groups of notes, dispersed in different periodicals from 1972 to 2001, and the volume Journal (1984) including a selection of fragments from the diaries Tagebuch 1946-1949 and Tagebuch 1966-1971 translated by Corina Jiva. The present article emphasizes favorite as well as excluded thematic fields while making the selection and pinpoints the translator’s role as an authority endowed with preventive censorship.
Formelhafte Sprache als gattungskonstituierendes Element in Michel Beheims Vlad-Ţepeş-Gedicht
(2010)
The 15th century medieval German poet Michel Beheim is a marginal (and in terms of his writing not very well thought of) figure in the realms of German literature. In his poetic oeuvre, a 1070 verses long poem about the Valachian nobleman and ruler Vlad Ţepeş, better known as the original Dracula, can be found. This poem will serve here as an example of late medieval literary achievements, typical for the literature of this century. A close analysis of its style will reveal certain poetological aspects, that are central to its structure of composition, but hitherto have not been closely investigated and revealed. These formal aspects include various instances of formulaic speech, such as double-formulae („men and women”, „the young and the old” etc.), formulaic episode endings („and he did many worse things” etc.), and others. The massed and purposeful application of these instances of formulaic speech leads to the conclusion, that these are part of the poetological framework which the author applied in order to fulfil the needs of a literature which was directed primarily to an auditory performance and served entertainment purposes mainly. The disclosure of these formulaic aspects in 15th century literature and its functional reinterpretation in a context of contemporary performance might help to re-evaluate the German literature of this not very well investigated and estimated century.
The paper aims at pointing out some characteristics of postmodern theatre, starting from the fact that, theatre no longer favors the traditional concept of the Aristotelian drama, but tends to a mixture of discourses, of verbal and non verbal types of communication, as well as of interdisciplinary, intercultural and intertextual means of expression. Theoretical considerations are followed by the analysis of: the play Nyktophobie, oder: Mephistos später Gruß an Faust (Fear of the Dark, or Mephisto’s Belated Greetings to Faustus), an adaptation by C.E. Puchianu and R.G. Elekes, known as Duo Bastet. The analysis points out some didactic aspects of drama and theatre as well.
The analysis of the relationship between Word and God in the poetry of Paul Celan is obviously the purpose of this study. The starting point of my reflections is representing the prologue of the Gospel according to John 1:1: „In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The question is: does the loss of Word at the logical-semantic level implicitly conduct to the loss of God in Celan’s poems?
„Der rechte Weg geht über Steine” : zur romantischen Dimension der Lyrik von Frida Binder-Radler
(2010)
In order to argue my hypothesis of the romantic dimension of poetry written by Frida Binder-Radler, a very little known Romanian-German author (1908-1986), better known as „poetess of the Saxon world”, I am referring to the poems of the author edited 2006 by her son Wolfgang Binder in Augsburg under the title Licht ins Dunkel (second enlarged edition). The volume contains fifty poems of which the first twenty-one were written in the German language, the other twenty-nine poems were translated from Transylvanian-Saxon dialect into German, most of them by the author herself, and published 1947 in the volume Gedichte. The idea of infinity that characterises romantic poetry, expressing itself as longing („Sehnsucht”) for a lost paradise, justifies the poems of love of Frida Binder-Radler. The elements of nature (flowers and birds, clouds and fog, moon, night and shadow), the melancholic atmosphere of her poems, but also the vivid imagery of her poetic language, its simplicity without being simple are diagnosed and interpreted as elements of a romantic-poetical arsenal.
The article analyses the early novels stillborn, Terminifera und Magma by Michael Stavarič in respect of their compliance with the theory of postmodern novels. The analysis concludes that the works of th e academically educated writer correspond in very high proportions to the theory and attitudes of post-modernism.
The paper analyzes the handling of sources in the historic and ethnographic literature about Roma. In it a tradition of copying can be found without sufficient acknowledgement of sources, the unchecked assumpti on of foreign statements and inadmissible generalization. These characteristic features are integrated into a pejorative structure. The historic and ethnographic literature is characterized by a moralizing condemnation of those referred to as „gypsies” whereas the social realities remain largely hidden. It is based on only a few sources, in which statements about Roma in the Transylvanian area take a key role. Texts from the 17th to the 19th century are referred to in context of this aspect and are analyzed on their contents.
On August 13, 2010 Horst Schuller, university professor, former head of the German Studies Department of the University of Sibiu, Romanian-born German critic and literary historian reached the age of 70 years. The present article pays homage to the well-known scientist at reaching the venerable age.
The present study which was presented at an international scientific session dedicated to the Bologna process and to its implementation in Romania – session organized in Sibiu in the period May 6-8, 2010 – makes reference to the structure of the Bologna-type structure within the German Studies of Sibiu. There have been taken into account the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees as well as exemplifications regarding curricular aspects. The study points out both the strengths of the Bologna process and its weaknesses such as a more modest interaction between research and instruction within the Bachelor’s degree studies, whereas this desideratum can be better met within the Master’s degree programmes, the crowning achievement within the research activity being the doctorate.
The 25th Volume of the Germanistische Beiträge Hermanstadt can be viewed as an attempt to reevaluate and recontextualise the works of Joachim Wittstock. Through a shift of perspective towards international Paradigms and a dislocation of the analysed works from canonical interpretational networks the seven contributing scholars achieve to refresh the way we perceive and read Joachim Wittstocks writings.
The following paper presents the latest book Literatur im Streiflicht of Carmen Elisabeth Puchianu, associate professor of the Transilvania University of Braşov. The paper makes a short presentation of all chapters included in Puchianu’s collection of studies. The aim is to give an overview to the specific aspects that the author is dealing with in her research: the literature of Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka, the German-language Literature in Romania setting the main focus on Joachim Wittstock and on the German poetry written in Romania during the oppressive 80ies.
The following paper presents the 12th volume of the Studies on German Language and Literature – Kronstädter Beiträge zur germanistischen Forschung 2010. The theme of the volume is humor, so that each article aims at analyzing various aspects in rendering humor in language and literature.