A Study on the Relationship between Literary Translation and Socio-linguistics: With Special Reference to ‘giraya’ and its Translation /girəjə/

Abstract

Linguistics is the scientific study of language which includes several other branches which are important for individuals who are interested in language studies. Among these branches applied linguistics is of a great importance since it applies the theories and teachings of linguistics to the practical world. Translation is one of the most important parts of applied linguistics and it is always interrelated with the practical world. On the other hand socio- linguistics is another important branch of linguistics which studies the functioning of a language in a society. Literary translation is simply defined as the translation of literary pieces of work such as fiction and non-fiction which are associated with literature and it is quite a proven fact that the literary translator has not only to tackle the language but also the cultures of both SL and TL. In that sense it is apparent that the literary translator deals not only with the language but also with the society and culture of both the SL and TL. Similarly, socio- linguistics studies the functioning of a language in a society. When paying close attention to literary translation and socio- linguistics it is noticeable that both these phenomena are related with the society and culture. This study will utilize the novel Giraya written by Punyakante Wijenaike and its translation by Cyril C.Perera in extracting the necessary instances and examples in assessing the socio-linguistic phenomena and the other related phenomena which indicate a close relationship with the society. On the other hand the book, A Textbook of Translation by Peter Newmark will be used in identifying the non-sociolinguistic phenomena that correlates with the society. In that sense this will be a theoretical study which is mostly based on the literature of the related fields namely translation and socio-linguistics.