Text and Context in Translation

1. Text and Context in Translation Juliane House University of Hamburg

2. 1. Text and Context 2. Context from Different Perspectives 2.1. Philosophical and Psychological 2.2. Anthropological, Sociolinguistic, Discourse, Conversation Analytical 2.3. Linguistic 3. Context - Text -Translation

3. 4. Translation as an Act of Re-contextualisation 4.1. A Theory of Translation as Re-Contextualisation 4.2. Two Types of Translation: Overt and Covert Translation 4.3. The �Cultural Filter� in Covert Translation 5. Global English and Cultural Filtering

4. �Text�: (A unit of) connected discourse. Its function is communicative, and it is an object of analysis and description �Context�: A general type of connection or relationship; circumstances relevant to something under consideration�; the environment surrounding a phenomenon (such as e.g. a text!) that determines its meaning, similar to setting, background, frame, (figure and) ground. 1.The Notions �Text� and �Context�

5. �Text� and �context� are closely related concepts. �Context� is the more complex notion and thus in need of further exploration.

6. 2.1. Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives of Context Contextualism versus Universalism Linguistic actions are embedded in the environment in which they occur and fulfil certain functions versus Sentences obey formal rules, principles and parameters, The local, the particular, the social, the situated, the individual, the unique, the relative versus the generally valid, the typical, the supra-individual, the absolute

7. Wittgenstein�s idea that language is a form of action, and that the meanings of linguistic forms are their use in specific �forms of life� Austin�s emphasis on how the contexts of speech acts influence the conventions of language use, and how speech act performance depends on the enveloping context and language user�s intentions. Gadamer�s and Steiner�s hermeneutic interpretive study of texts with its �fusion of horizons� uniting writer and reader in their context-dependence.

8. Grice�s conception of context as part of a theory of language use - including conversational maxims which guide the conduct of talk and express an underlying co-operative principle. Sperber and Wilson�s notion of relevance as a set of internalized contextual factors for interpreting utterances

9. Forgas� view that utterance meaning and speakers� shared views of context result from collective cognitive activities. Clark�s idea of language use as a form of collaborative action bound up with contexts as �common ground�, i.e., knowledge, beliefs, assumptions which language users bring to joint activities

10. 2.2. Context in Anthropology, Sociolinguistics, Discourse and Conversation Analysis �Context� as �culture� is central in anthropology. It comprises conventionalized expectations made to fit a specific, local situation For sociolinguists, language reflects context and language also determines the context in which it is used. Contexts are evolving systems undergoing constant change and mutual influence with language Context is also at the core of discourse analysis, since all interaction involves context. In order to understand, speakers must rely on context, and their linguistic choices are motivated by contextual factors (topic, participants, place, time, etc.)

11. Conversation analysts focus on utterances-in-sequence which both create context and are conditioned by it. Utterances are organized linearly in time, such that what is said now relies on what was said before. Context and talk are in a �reflexive relationship�: talk and its interpretation shapes context as much as context shapes talk.

12. 2.3.Context from Linguistic Perspectives Hymes� �Ethnography of Speaking� as �contextual linguistics� explicitly designed as an �anti-Chomsky model�: stark contrast between �functional, contextual linguistics� and �formal, competence linguistics�. The latter has an idealized view of language divorced from the context in which it is actually used by human beings. Context in functional linguistics includes setting, behavior, language itself, knowledge, and is subject to multiple interpretations of immediate environments and wider socio-cultural frameworks

13. A prime example of functional linguistics is pragmatics. Here context plays such an important role that its very definition is bound up with context - Pragmatics is the study of linguistic acts and the contexts in which they occur - Pragmatics is a theory of language understanding that takes context into account Gumperz� notion of �contextualization cues� is based on assumptions about context and connects linguistic forms with cognitive and social phenomena

14. Halliday�s systemic-functional theory explicitly links text and context and combines broad functional explanations of social phenomena with detailed description of linguistic forms

15. 3. Context, Text and Translation In most disciplines, Context is thought to refer to both external (situational,cultural) and internal (cognitive, psychological) factors which influence each other in acts of speaking and listening Context is often regarded as dynamic rather than static, as more than a set of pre-fixed variables that impact on language. Context and language are viewed as mutually dependent, such that language shapes context as much as context shapes language. For translation, such a view of context is NOT useful!

16. In translation, a �finished�, and in this sense �static� stretch of written language as text is available to the translator in its entirety from the start. Full availability of a written text - as opposed to the bit-by-bit unfolding of discourse - is thus constitutive of translation. Translating involves RE-CONTEXTUALISING and as such the creation of a discourse out of a written text, i.e., the creation of a �living�, but essentially NOT dynamic, cognitive-social entity replete with contextual connections. In translation, Context is NOT �negotiated� or �emergent�, but rather static. This �staticness� arises in the space opened up by the separation in time and space of writer and reader, and through the translator�s limited power to define what the context is.

17. The realisation of a discourse out of a text can only involve imaginary, hidden, mental interaction between writer and reader in the translator�s mind. The natural unity of speaker and listener in oral interaction is replaced by the real-world separateness in space and time of writer and reader. But the translator can overcome this separateness: S/he creates a new unity that transcends the text�s givenness (with its immutable arrangement of linguistic elements) by activatingthe text�s context in its old and new variant - imagined and miraculously united in his mind.

18. 4. Translation as an Act of Re-  Contextualisation For translation as an act of re-contextualisation, a TEXT is a stretch of a contextually embedded ensemble of linguistic forms. And CONTEXT is the means of converting �inert (static) text� into discourse in an ex- post facto, cognitive �meaning making� The translator�s re-creative act is thus critically different from the type of observable on-line transformative power a speaker in talk-in-interaction has over the path of the developing discourse.

19. 4.1. A Functional Theory of  Translation as Re-contextualization House�s Theory of Translation as Re-contextualisation: Translation texts are doubly contextually-bound: to their source text and to the new recipient�s contextual conditions. This double-linkage is the basis of the equivalence relation � the conceptual heart of translation.

20. Equivalence is determined by context, and comprises at least the following: Source and target linguistic features and the rules of the two language systems The extra-linguistic world and how it is perceived by members of L1 and L2 communities L1 and L2 conventions and genres guiding the translator Structural, connotative, and aesthetic features of the original The translator�s interpretation of the original and his or her �creativity� The translator�s theory of translation Translation traditions holding in the target culture

21. Since appropriate use of language in communicative performance is what matters most in translation, it is functional pragmatic equivalence which is crucial. This type of equivalence underpins House�s functional translation model.

23. This model explicates the way semantic, pragmatic and textual meaning are re-constituted across different contexts. Translation is conceived as the replacement of an L1 text by a semantically and pragmatically equivalent L2 text. An adequate translation is then a pragmatically and semantically equivalent one. A first requirement for this equivalence is that a translation text have a function equivalent to that of its original.

24. If we use a concept such as �function� of a text, we must be sure that there are elements in a text which can reveal a text�s function. Function here is NOT identical with �functions of language� as suggested by philosophers and linguists such as B�hler, Jakobson,Popper and many others. Different language functions always co-exist in a text, there is no simple equation of language function and textual type.

25. The function of a text is simply the application of a text in a particular context, and there is a systematic relationship between context and the functional organization of language-in-text, which can be revealed by breaking down context into a manageable set of �contextual parameters�: FIELD �TENOR- MODE The pre-translation analysis results then in a text-context profile that reflects the text�s function. Whether and how this function can be maintained, critically depends, however, on the type of translation sought.

26. 4.2.Two Types of Translation: Overt and Covert Translation Overt and covert translation are outcomes of different types of re-contextualisation They resemble Schleiermacher�s famous distinction between �verfremdende und einb�rgernde �bersetzungen� (�alienating� and �integrating� translations) which has had many imitators using different, but essentially similar terms. What sets the overt-covert distinction apart is the fact that it is integrated into a coherent theory of translation, within which these terms are explicated.

27. In overt translation, recipients are quite �overtly� NOT directly addressed, because an overt translation is quite overtly a translation, not a �second original�. And it shows: while an overt translation must needs be embedded in a new context, it also, at the same time, schizophrenically, signals its origin. The translator�s work is important and visible: it is to enable L2 members to observe and judge the original�s impact �from outside� Although an overt translation and its original are equivalent at the levels of Language/Text, Register, Genre, only second-level functional equivalence is possible: giving access to the original�s function. Since this access is to be in the L2, a contextual switch is necessary. But because there is this three-tier equivalence, the original�s context is co-activated in the minds of the translator and L2 addressees so as to enable them to �eavesdrop� and appreciate the original�s function in its new guise.

28. A covert translation is a translation which enjoys the status of an original text in a new context. The translation is covert because it is not marked as a translation, but may, conceivably, have been created in its own right. An original and its covert translation are pragmatically of equal concern for L1 and L2 addressees in their different contexts The translator re-creates an equivalent speech event and reproduces the original�s function with the result that a covert translation operates solely in the new L2 context, with no attempt made to co-activate the context in which the original had unfolded.

29. The translator�s express task is to �betray� the original, to hide behind its transformation.The translator acts in a self-effacing manner. Since true functional equivalence is the goal, the original may be legitimately manipulated at the levels of Language/Text and Register. The translator takes exclusive account of the new context into which the translation is inserted. To facilitate this insertion seamlesssly as it were, the translator applies a CULTURAL FILTER.

30. 4.3. The �Cultural Filter� A �cultural filter� is a means of capturing contextual differences in expectation norms between recipients in L1 and L2 contexts.The application of a cultural filter should however ideally not be left to accidental individual intuition, but be in line with relevant cross-cultural research. What do we mean by �culture�??

31. �Culture� Whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to a society�s members, and do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves .... Culture is not a material phenomenon; it does not consist of things, people, behavior, or emotions. It is rather an organization of these things. It is the forms of things that people have in mind, their model of perceiving, relating, and otherwise interpreting them. (Goodenough, 1964: 36)

32. As in the case of context, a �dynamic�, negotiable view of culture is NOT useful for translation, because in translating a text, one must refer to a concrete point in time and space and adopt a static, necessarily �essentialist� idea of culture. This should not be disqualified as naively ignoring the complexity of culture, as in translation we also take account of empirical research into cultures as interpretive devices for understanding communicative behavior.

33. Empirical research into communicative norms in L1 and L2 cultures can give substance to the cultural filter and thus complement tacit native-speaker knowledge. For example, in the case of the German and Anglophone linguistic-cultural communities, the cultural filter has been substantiated through extensive empirical contrastive-pragmatic research. Its results show differences in behavioral norms that can explain acts of re-contextualization in covert translation.

34. For example: Germans often express themselves in more direct, explicit and content-oriented ways than Anglophone speakers Such cross-cultural differences can be displayed along dimensions such as directness vs. indirectness explicitness vs. implicitness focus on vs. focus on content persons

35. The Cultural Filter: Examples Sign at Frankfurt Airport at a building site: Damit die Zukunft schneller kommt! [Such that the future comes more quickly!] vs. English translation: We apologize for any inconvenience work on our building site is causing you!

36. Software manual (original English, Back Translation from German) WordPerfect is backed by a customer support system designed to offer you fast, courteous service. If you�ve exhausted all other Help Avenues and need a Friendly Voice to help you with your problem, just follow these steps... vs. WordPerfect has established a Support Centre, whose employees offer you competent support with problems. If, despite the support available to you in WordPerfect, you were not able to solve a problem, turn to our support centre.

37. Preface, Perl Cookbook (Original English, backtranslated from German) That's what Learning Perl, a kinder and gentler introduction to Perl, is designed for. It is for this that books like Introduction to Perl are meant.

38. Instruction leaflet, oven ware (original German backtranslated into English) Kerafour has been tested for being ovenproof in independent testing institutes. So that you can enjoy it for a long time, we give you some instructions for use: 1. Never put an empty cold vessel into the heated oven - �empty� also refers to a vessel which is only rubbed with fat! vs. Kerafour oven-to-table pieces have been tested by independent research institutes and are considered ovenproof and micro-wave resistant. Here are a few simple rules for using Kerafour: Never put a cold and empty piece into the heated oven.

39. ADVERTISEMENT AIR FRANCE (Translations from French into English and German, backtranslated) We know how hard it is for business travellers to have to concentrate on their work while waging the eternal battle of the armrest, so we have re-arranged the space between our L�Espace Europe seats. Where there used to be rows of three seats, there are now two seats separated by a table. Your seat is now much wider, more comfortable and the total space more conducive to a little privacy. Business travellers want to study their files, read newspapers or prepare themselves quietly for a meeting. Preferably without getting too close to the man sitting next to them. Or the woman. This is why we have completely re-arranged our L�Espace Europe. Bigger, more beautiful and comfortable and above all with very welcome space for putting things on between the seats. For much elbow room for reading, eating and relaxing in exactly the right distance. And also for stimulating conversations.

40. FILM TITLES (Original ENGLISH-Backtranslation from GERMAN) Where are the children?----Limitless Suffering of a Mother Jack the Bear----My Dad-a totally incredible father The Surrogate ----Murder after Birth Whatever happened to Aunt Alice----A widow kills softly Silent victim �.Accusation: Abortion Backlash�..The secret of the five graves Shadow of the Past----The corpse in the boot etc.

41. Michel Bond�s classic book �A Bear called Paddington� in translation An example of massive cultural filtering in children�s literature. Examples here backtranslated from the German :�Paddington unser kleiner B�r�

42. (Mr Brown offers Paddington some cakes) I�m sorry they haven�t any marmalade ones, but these were the best I could get There is nothing with marmalade (Paddington in a shop) Mr Gruber took Paddington into his shop and after offering him a seat. �. Then he pulled the little bear into the shop: �Sit down!� (Small Talk) �Hallo Mrs Bird� said Judy �It�s nice to see you again. How�s the rheumatism?� �Worse than it�s ever been� began Mrs Bird�. (Zero-Realization in the German Translation�)

43. The Body Shop: Corporate Statement (Original English, Back Translation from German) We consider testing products or ingredients on animals morally and scientifically indefensible� We are of the opinion that experiments with animals in the cosmetics industry are neither necessary nor morally defensible

44. We know that you're unique, and we'll always treat you like an individual. We are of the opinion that every man or woman is beautiful, everyone in his or her own way

45. P&G CEO Speech to students at small US College (Original English, Back Translation from German)Simulation of oral impromptu talk: I thought I�d use my time here to talk to you about� I�ll give you one more example� I will use the time allotted to me to report on... I will report on another case...

46. Congruent Presentation of states of affairs and events When I was first started to put together my remarks for today, I asked for some input from Dr. Amos Bradford, who provided a broad list of subjects he thought you�d be interested in hearing about: For the preparation of my presentation today I asked Dr. Amos Bradford for a few suggestions...

47. After I�ve finished, I�ll be happy to answer any questions you have and, hopefully, to engage in a bit of conversation about the issues we�ll raise here this afternoon. After my presentation I will gladly answer all your questions and talk about this afternoon�s topics.

48. Second Person Pronouns �he provided a broad list of subjects he thought you�d be interested in hearing about: You�re tempted to put off a discussion� ..he provided me with a long list of topics, which he considered interesting� One is tempted to delay a conversation...

49. Evaluations And it�s important to note that it is not just a piece of paper� And more positively, governments and other companies really do want to deal with companies they feel... It is not simply a piece of paper� Governments and other firms prefer to cooperate with companies which act�

50. Multisyn Vision 2000 (Original English, Back Translation from German) ...obsessively search for new ideas, by observing, listening and learning from everyone

51. I want to be part of a company where I am challenged to.. have unrelentingly high expectations of myself and others

52. Goldsmith Corporate Statement (Original English, Backtranslation from German) Our long term success requires a total commitment to exceptional standards of performance and productivity, to working together effectively Our long-term success is only possible, if we set ourselves exceptional standards of performance and productivity, and if we cooperate efficiently and with all preparedness.

53. Milton Meissner Letter to Sharesholders 27.12.1971 (Original English, backtranslated from German) As you will note, we have asked that you designate a bank (or broker) to which your dividend certificates will be sent. Your bank (or broker) should indicate its confirmation of your signature� As you will note, we have asked you to name a bank (or a broker) to which the dividend certificates shall be sent. You have to ask the bank (or the broker) to confirm your signature�

54. CULTURAL FILTERING IN SCIENCE TEXTS�HIV Vaccines: Prospects and Challenges� Scientific American, July 1998/ Backtranslated from German Spektrum der Wissenschaft, October 1998 Most vaccines activate what is called the humoral arm of the immune system. Most vaccines activate the so-called humoral arm of the immune system (after Latin humor, liquid.

55. Buchbinder, S. �Avoiding Infection after HIV Exposure� Scientific American July 1998; Backtranslation from German Spektrum der Wissenschaft October 1998 �Prevention after HIV Contact� Treatment may reduce the chance of contracting HIV infection after a risky encounter. An immediate treatment after contact reduces under certain circumstances the danger that the human immuno-deficiency-virus establishes itself in the body.There is no guarantee for this, moreover new risks arise.

56. Suppose you are a doctor in an emergency room and a patient tells you she was raped two hours earlier. She is afraid she may have been exposed to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS but has heard that there is a "morning-after pill" to prevent HIV infection. Can you in fact do anything to block the virus from replicating and establishing infection? In the emergency room of a hospital a patient reports that she had been raped two hours ago and was now worrying that she had been exposed to the AIDS-Virus. She said she had heard that there was an "After-Pill", which might prevent an HIV-infection. Can the doctor in fact do anything which might prevent potentially existing viruses from replicating and establishing themselves permanently in the body?

57. M.F. Perutz, Hemoglobin structure and respiratory transport, Scientific American, December 1978, Backtranslated from German, February 1979 Spektrum der Wissenschaften Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and helps to transport carbon dioxide back to the lungs. It fulfils this dual role by clicking back and forth between two alternative structures. Hemoglobin, the substance responsible for the blood�s red color, carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and facilitates the backtransport of carbon dioxide to the lungs. The molecule fulfils this double function because it changes between two structures. �Why the grass is green and our blood red, are secrets which nobody will ever know. In this dim state, poor soul, what will you do?� (John Donne �On the soul�s progress�)

58. David Hounshell, �Two Paths to the Telephone, Scientific American�, June 1981 As Alexander Graham Bell was developing the telephone, Elisha Gray was doing the same. Bell got the patent, but the episode is nonetheless an instructive example of simultaneous invention. Back Translation from German �The Race for the Telephone Patent�, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, August 1981. Independent of each other Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray handed in nearly identical construction plans for a telephone in 1976 � but only Bell received the patent and became rich and famous. Gray on the other hand had misjudged the importance of his invention and had moreover been badly advised.

59. INTERVIEW with German translator of Popular Science Texts (Scientific American/Spektrum der Wissenschaft) �A bit more rational strength, a bit more: what can we really do and what do we really know? What can we really build on? Many popular science texts written in English, when you translate them, you notice that they are written totally imprecise. You consume them in a way for your entertainment, and if you realize that then you don�t find it so bad. But try to get this into German! The English language actually permits you to express yourself much more imprecisely, then everything is like chewing gum with a taste of science��

60. 5. Global English and Cultural Filtering Globalisation has created a demand for texts simultaneously meant for recipients in many different contexts. They are either translated covertly or produced simultaneously as �comparable texts�. In the past, translators routinely applied a cultural filter. Due to the global dominance of English, there is now a tendency towards cultural �neutralism� - which is in reality a drift towards (universal) Anglo-American norms.

61. While Anglophone influence is amply documented in the area of words and phrases, we know very little about what happens at the levels of text and context. However, investigating textual shifts from local contexts towards pseudo-neutral Anglo-contexts is an important research task. A first step in this direction is the project �Covert Translation� at Hamburg�s Research Center on Multilingualism. Here we investigate Anglophone influence on translations and comparable texts in other languages, using quantitative and qualitative diachronic analyses on the basis of multilingual corpora, interviews, and ethnographic background material.

62. Covert Translation Corpus I: Primary Translation Corpus: Translations of English Texts into German, French, Spanish (later Chinese, Persian, Arabic) Two Genres: Popular Science Texts Economic Texts -Business-/Product Information -Letters to Shareholders -Visions and Missions II: Comparable Corpus: English, German, French, Spanish (later Chinese, Persian, Arabic) Authentic original texts in the same genres III: Validation Corpus 1. Translations into English using the same genres 2. Interviews with Translators,Translation Commissioners, Editors 3. Background Documents, e.g. Business PR Materials 4. Press Corpus (Translation Corpus + Comparable Corpus) International Dailies International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Globalized Magazines: National Geographic

63. The analyses show that German communicative preferences �unlike French and Spanish ones! � have indeed changed over the past 25 years (Two time frames: 1978-1982 and 1999-2002; 550 texts, 800 000 words) Particularly vulnerable are the functional categories pronouns, conjunctions, pronominal adverbials, mental verbs and modal particles. They trigger changes in text norms There is a general tendency towards colloquialisation in German texts - where formerly a more �scientific�, �serious� norm was the rule in popular science and economic texts, and a cultural filter enabled German readers to be informed in a more detached manner rather than the entertaining person-oriented Anglo-manner.. All this, it seems, is now changing.

64. Non-Filter Examples Michael Rose: �Can Human Ageing be Postponed?� Scientific American, December 1999, Backtranslated from German March 2000 �Can Human Ageing be Held up?� Spektrum der Wissenschaft Anti-ageing therapies of the future will undoubtedly have to counter many destructive biochemical processes at once. Effective therapies must however take up the fight against many destructive biochemical processes simultaneously.

65. Ian Tattersall: �Once we were not alone�, Scientific American, January 2000, Backtranslated from German, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, March 2000 As far as can be told, these two hominids behaved in similar ways despite anatomical differences. And as long as they did so, they somehow contrived to share the Levantine environment. As far as we can judge this, both hominids behaved in a similar way despite all their anatomical differences. And as long as both stayed that way, they also succeeded in sharing the environment in the Near East.

66. Hans Moravecs, �Rise of the Robots�, Scientific American, December 1999, Backtranslation from German Spektrum der Wissenschaften �Robots will overtake us�January 2000 Nevertheless, I am convinced that ... By 2040, I believe, we will finally achieve the original goal of robotics and a thematic mainstay of science fiction: �Why do I believe that rapid progress and stunning accomplishments are in the offing? Despite previous failures I am convinced that.... By 2040 we will, so I think, have finally reached the great goal which has also been often praised in science fiction...How do I come to be so optimistic and believe�

67. Jill Tarter and Christopher Chyba �Is Life elsewhere in the universe?� Scientific American December 1999 At a minimum we will have thoroughly explored the most likely candidates, something we cannot claim today. We will have discovered whether life dwells on Jupiter�s moon Europa or on Mars. And we will have undertaken the systematic exobiological exploration of planetary systems� �Is there extra-terrestral life?� Spektrum der Wissenschaft March 2000, backtranslated We will at least have thoroughly examined the most likely candidates, something we cannot yet claim today. Until then we will for example find out whether we will find traces of life on the Jupiter moon Europa or on Mars. And we will have begun to systematically and biologically investigate extrasolar planets�

68. While there is then some evidence that cultural filtering is replaced by �All-Anglo Norms�, we cannot be sure that the dissolution of the natural ties between texts and their local contexts is traceable to hegemonic English via translation processes It might for instance be the case that the observed changes reflect a current general (media-induced? youth-culture conditioned?) tendency for texts to become more colloquial, more oral, more ,personal�!

69. The changes in the link between text and context can presently not be definitively explained. Much more empirical research is needed - with different genres, different language pairs and larger diachronic corpora - before plausible hypotheses can be formulated that might explain how global English changes the link between texts and their local contexts.