The Whale Rider

85 Pages·2016·0.79 MB·English

by  Renča Folwarczna

Masaryk University
Faculty of Education
Department of English Language and Literature

Witi Ihimaera's “The Whale Rider”
Translation and Analysis
Diploma Thesis

Brno 2016

Supervisor: Written by:
Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. Renata Folwarczná
Annotation
This diploma thesis deals with the translation of seven initial chapters of Witi Ihimaera‘s
novel The Whale Rider. The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part is practical
and it includes the original English version of part of the novel and its Czech translation. The
second part contains the analysis of the translation.

Anotace
Tato diplomová práce se zabývá překladem prvních sedmi kapitol knihy The Whale Rider,
jejímž autorem je Witi Ihimaera. Práce je rozdělena do dvou hlavních částí. První část je
praktická a zahrnuje originální anglickou verzi části příběhu a její český překlad. Druhá část
obsahuje analýzu překladu.

Key words
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera, translation, translation analysis

Klíčová slova
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera, překlad, analýza překladu

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Declaration
I hereby declare that this diploma thesis is my own work and that the information I used
has been fully acknowledged in the text and included in the reference list. I agree with putting
the thesis on public display at Masaryk University for study purposes.

…………………………………
Brno, 20.11.2016 Renata Folwarczná

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. for his guidance, advice,
positive attitude and readiness.
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Table of contents:

1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6
2 AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND) ...................................................................................... 8
3 THE AUTHOR ................................................................................................................. 11
4 TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK THE WHALE RIDER (part) .................................... 13
5 TRANSLATION ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 49
5.1 Definition of a translation .......................................................................................... 49
5.2 The translator ............................................................................................................. 50
5.3 Translation principles ................................................................................................ 53
5.4 Recent translational methods ..................................................................................... 55
5.5 Translation and culture .............................................................................................. 57
5.6 Stylistics ..................................................................................................................... 59
5.6.1 Style and colloquialisms ..................................................................................... 59
5.6.2 Proper names ...................................................................................................... 62
5.6.3 Direct speech ...................................................................................................... 66
5.6.4 Repetition ........................................................................................................... 68
5.6.5 Personal pronouns .............................................................................................. 70
5.7 Syntax ........................................................................................................................ 71
5.7.1 Word order ......................................................................................................... 71
5.8 Lexicology ................................................................................................................. 73
5.8.1 Collocations and phrases .................................................................................... 73
5.8.2 Interjections ........................................................................................................ 74
5.8.3 Maori expressions .............................................................................................. 76
5.8.4 Determiners ........................................................................................................ 78
5.8.5 Non-finite verb forms ......................................................................................... 79
6 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 82
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 84

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1 INTRODUCTION
This diploma thesis is based on the translation of seven initial chapters of Witi
Ihimaera‘s novel The Whale Rider. There are several reasons why I have chosen this area of
linguistics and this particular novel written by a New Zealander, who is of Maori descent.
Firstly, I have always been enchanted by New Zealand’s nature and its history which
is influenced by the Maori culture and way of life. Since my childhood, Aotearoa, the Land of
Long White Cloud in the Pacific Ocean, have always been on my bucket list of adventure
destinations, especially the civilisation-free magical beauties of the two islands. Fjords,
deserted beaches, penguins, seal pups, kiwis, giant kauri trees, whales, dolphins, giant fern
trees, cliffs, glaciers, craters, volcanoes, boiling mud, and many more.
Secondly, when I was first watching the movie adaptation of The Whale Rider, I was
not even half-way through and I already knew that it is going to be very easy for this piece to
make it to my list of the best feel-good movies out there. Simply because the story is as
enchanting and breath-taking as is the setting of the movie - the nature of New Zealand.
I just could not resist opening the google search engine immediately after I finished
watching The Whale Rider. I wanted to discover more about how this heartwarming movie
was created. I was curious about all the awe-inspiring locations of the movie set. Then, only a
few moments after I began surfing the internet for more information, I found out that The
Whale Rider movie is actually based on a novel of the same title, which had not yet been
translated into Czech language. At that moment, I thought to myself that translating a part of
the story sounds like a perfect topic for my diploma thesis.

I have chosen the communicative translation method to create the practical part of this
thesis - the translation of seven initial chapters of The Whale Rider. The communicative
method aims at reproducing the ideas/messages rather than the word choice of the original
text. It is important to note that this way of translating may increase the possibility of
deviating from the original text. However, using this method makes the target language text
sound natural to its readers.
Translating is not just about reproducing a text in a different language, but it also takes
lots of creative work to produce a really good translation. Thus, every translator needs a few
essential skills such as imagination, creativity, or stylistic skills. His or her command of both
the original and the target language should be outstanding. However, what sounds perfectly
fine and natural in a source language may sound completely unnatural to native speakers of a
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target language. Therefore, even though Czech is my native language, I sometimes decided to
consult also a book called Jak psát a jak nepsat česky, simply because I wanted to make sure
that the final translation sounds as natural as possible. However, virtually all my decisions in
terms of translating challenging parts of the text are based on my own language feeling and
intuition.
When it comes to creating the Czech version of the title The Whale Rider, I was able
to come up with only one idea that actually sounded quite acceptable and appealing both to
me and my family and friends, who always gladly gave me their valuable opinions about
every conceivable idea that came to my mind during the translation process. I believe that the
best Czech version of the original title would be Pán velryb.

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2 AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND)
Witi Ihimaera’s novel is set in New Zealand. It is a young country, in both geological
and human terms. In fact, this Land of Long White Cloud was the last habitable place in the
world to be discovered. The first settlers, the ancestors of Maori, arrived on ocean-going waka
(canoes) from the Pacific islands in east Polynesia between 1200 and 1300 AD. They were
experienced sailors and discovered New Zealand while they were exploring the Pacific,
navigating by ocean currents and the winds, and stars during the night.1

If you want to understand New Zealanders, you first need to find out more about the
influence of Maori people and culture. This influence runs deep in many aspects of New
Zealanders’ daily life – from their cuisine, their language, their art, their attitudes, from what
children learn at school to how the country is governed. Maori are the indigenous people of
New Zealand. Their language – Te Reo – is an official language of the two islands, the two
green gems in the Pacific Ocean, along with English and sign language. Nearly 700,000
citizens of New Zealand are of Maori descent, which is more than one in seven New
Zealanders.2

The following set of essential information about Maori people is based on the online
version of Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.3
In over 700 years of settlement, Maori people have shown an extraordinary ability to
adapt - first to a new environment when they discovered New Zealand and decided to settle
on the newly-found islands, and then, approximately 500 years later, they needed to adapt to
the arrival of European immigrants and their completely different culture. They have
exhibited great inventiveness and resourcefulness in sometimes extremely hostile
circumstances. Thus, it is no surprise that the creation of ocean-going craft to cross vast
distances is almost iconic in world history.
Ancestors of Maori arrived to New Zealand on canoes from Pacific islands and
archipelagos in Polynesia. They first settled in various locations on the coast of the two
islands, where they hunted seals and large flightless birds, the moas. Staying close to the sea
would also give them a good access to fishing and shellfish grounds. Later, they began to

1 https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/history-government/a-brief-history
2 https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/settling-in/maori-culture
3 http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/maori?utm_source=newzealandnow.govt.nz

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grow food and some of them decided to turn inland and move to the forests. Maori culture
moved from being mainly coastal-life based to one which, in certain places, was dominated
by trees and bird life. They lived in small autonomous tribes in valleys and harbours, with a
rich culture of spoken stories, and strong traditions of warfare.
Their ancestors, as well as the gods of the natural world, had a very special importance
to Maori people. There was also a belief that humans were part of nature – the forests, seas
and waterways. People saw themselves in a sacred relationship with the natural world and the
exploitation of natural resources was conducted under strict regimes of tapu (sacredness) and
mana (spiritual authority) administered by tohunga (priests).
After the arrival of Europeans in the early 1800s, many Maori learnt to read and began
trading thanks to the newcomers. ‘Māori’ actually means ‘ordinary’ in English and the term
did not exist until first Europeans arrived. Maori people used the term to distinguish
themselves from Pākehā4 - the fair skinned newcomers. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi
established British Law and government, but it did not prevent warfare in 1840s and 1860s
when Maori sought to defend their lands and to preserve and strengthen the independence of
their local authorities and tribal structures. Maori eventually lost millions of acres of their
lands through confiscation and sale, mostly to the growing population of British settlers.
During the first half of the 20th century, Maori society and culture reached its lowest
ebb – with a much smaller population (compared to the estimated number of European
immigrants) and dwindling resources, Maori’s chances to influence the affairs of the nation
were drastically reduced. At those times, important Maori leaders worked hard to make life
better for the indigenous people. The goal of their efforts was also the promotion of Maori
culture – there was a new interest in the language as well as arts such as carving and weaving.
After the Second World War, many Maori moved to the cities in search of jobs.
Nowadays, there are around 700,000 people of Maori descent living in New Zealand.
In 2000s the Maori people were more diverse and dispersed than at any other time in their
history. At present, most of them seem to prefer living in cities and urban centres, but there
are still a small number of those who continue living in the traditional tribal areas. Also,
Many Maori New Zealanders live overseas, especially in Australia or Great Britain. As for the
future, there are numerous challenges that lie before Maori, including lifestyle diseases, poor
housing or lack of job opportunities. Unemployment rates have been consistently higher than

4 Pākehā is a Māori language term for non-Maori or for New Zealanders who are "of European descent".
Recently, the word has been used to refer inclusively either to fair-skinned persons or any non-Māori New
Zealander. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pākehā)

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for Pakeha, and moreover, there is the question of their identity as a distinct people in an
increasingly diverse yet integrated society of New Zealand.
Maori culture has been going through enormous change since 1970. Maori educational
system has been established. There are preschool language nests and schools where teaching
and learning is conducted substantially in the Maori language. In 2001 there were over 500
kohanga reo (language nests) for over 10,000 preschool children; over 50 kura kaupapa Maori
(teaching schoolchildren in full Maori-language immersion programmes); and three whare
wananga (tertiary institutes). There is also a Maori television and radio stations, businesses
and tourist ventures, a number of Maori members of Parliament, and many creative projects in
film, music and art, one of which is also the The Whale Rider movie by Witi Ihimaera.
Ihimaera belongs to a number of Maori individuals from New Zealand who are regarded as
major national figures or who have international reputations in their chosen fields.

Interestingly, the above mentioned list of prominent New Zealanders who are of Maori
descent also features Keisha Castle-Hughes, the actress who rose to prominence for playing
Paikea “Pai” Apirana in the Whale Rider movie adaptation. Due to not having any previous
acting experience (she was 11 years old at that time), she went directly from her Auckland
school classroom to the film set when the shoot began in New Zealand in late 2001. The
actress received widespread critical acclaim for her performance in the Whale Rider. The
movie was nominated for many awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Castle-Hughes didn’t win the award but she became the youngest person nominated in this
category at the time, and she also became the second Polynesian actress to be nominated for
an Oscar. The movie was also nominated for an award at the Broadcast Film Critics
Association Awards for Best Young Actor/Actress, which she won in 2004.5

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keisha_Castle-Hughes

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