Latent Semantic Analysis, Corpus stylistics and Machine Learning Stylometry for Translational and Authorial Style Analysis: The Case of Denys Johnson-Davies' Translations into English.

摘要

The analysis of style in translation discipline typically relies on methods borrowed from literary studies. Most of the style-related research conducted in translation studies has either focused on the style of the author or on the text type as manifested in the translation as opposed to the style of the translator. The few studies of translator style that have been carried out using corpus methodologies present some methodological limitations related to corpus compilation and control which affect the analyis of style. To address these limitations, the present study adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), and methods from Corpus Stylistics, and Machine Learning Stylometry in order to develop a rigorous framework for studying translator style. The suggested framework is developed based on the investigation of the translations and creative writings of Denys Johnson-Davies (J-D), a British creative writer and an Arabic-English translator. This study attempts to trace instances where the style of J-D the translator intersects with the style of J-D the author. It investigates the effect of J-D's translating activity on his own writing and vice versa in order to determine the extent to which the two activities influence each other. The computational stylistic (corpus & machine learning) and the thematic (LSA) analyses suggest that J-D's style as a translator impacted his style as a writer. In addition, it was evident that translation helped J-D to develop his writing skills and style. Indeed, the translating activity served as a source of inspiration and intertextuality for his creative writing. As for the interaction between J-D's creative writing and the post-creative writing translations, the findings show that J-D's creative writing impacted the selection of short stories he translated after the production of his creative writing, which revolved around themes he developed as a creative writer.