A study on English to Sinhala translations of Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka and Sam’s Story by Elmo Jayawardena

Translation is the process of rendering the message from the source language to the target language. Translation strategies are methods used by translators to overcome the challenges faced in the process of translation. It is an intricate process that includes effective transference of cultural nuances, idiomatic expressions, linguistic choices, socio-political situations, and pragmatic contexts. This study investigated the translation strategies used by the translators in translating the English novels Chinaman and Sam’s Story to Sinhala and to examine how contextual discrepancies are projected through the misuse of translation strategies. Textual analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. The qualitative data was gathered through close reading of the original novels and their translations. Translation strategies of Peter Newmark, Mona Baker, and Vinay and Darbelnet were used as the theoretical framework to analyze the translation strategies. The study identified over 500 discrepancies in the two translations. A subset of 20 randomly selected samples was further analyzed to examine how contextual inconsistencies are forecasted through the misuse of translation strategies. Accordingly, free translation, semantic translation, omission, addition, and cultural translation were identified as major translation strategies. Furthermore, the study identified that the misuse of translation strategies leads to inconsistencies in diverse contexts. In conclusion, the findings highlight that the original meaning is not generated through the translations due to the incorrect use of translation strategies.