7 . The translation process : diachronic and synchronic

1. TRANSLATION 7. The translationprocess: diachronic and synchronic Lingua Inglese 2 LM

2. LESSONS 1-6; 7-14 LESSONS 1-6 - Translation and text in relation to: • Medium – man or machine? • Language – Intra-language equivalence – word/sentence/text • Genre – what type of text • Culture, context – of ST, TT, readers, writers LESSONS 7-14 – The translating process • diachronic/synchronic • purpose of the translation • Individual strategies of the translator

3. Translationprocess The translation process can be viewed in different ways a. Translation over time (a historical process) – a diachronic process b. Translation as action in the present – a synchronic process - the example of global news reporting

4. A. Translation process over time • Bassnett (1991: 45-50) - "The history of Bible translation is a history of western culture in microcosm”: • St. Jerome's translation into Latin in 384 A.D. • John Wycliffe  (1330-84) and the 'Lollards' • William Tyndale (1494-1536) – burnt at stake • Martin Luther – New Testament 1522, Old Testament 1534 • Try Biblegateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible

5. Translations of the Bible over time a. 1.1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, 1.2 the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light. b. 1.1 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth 1.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light. c. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 1.2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light.

6. Translations of the Bible over time Differences 1.1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, 1.2 the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light. b. 1.1 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth 1.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. Andthe Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light. c. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 1.2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. 1.3 And God said, “Let there be light”: And there was light. WHICH VERSION CAME FIRST ?

7. English versions of the Bible over time

8. Koran translation • SeeUniversityofSouthernCalifornia:http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ • Warning on the website "Note that any translation of the Qur'an immediately ceases to be the literal word of Allah, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur'an in its original Arabic form. In fact, each of the translations on this site is actually an interpretation which has been translated."

9. The processoftranslating news for a global audience Translationisheavilyinvolved in the diffusion of news stories world wide. ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN NEWS AGENCIES • The locallanguageof the eventistranslatedinto English • The English story is sent around the world • The English story istranslatedintolocallanguages

10. HOW A NEWS AGENCY (e.g. Reuters) WORKS - fromeventto news story Event: Explosion on a train in North Korea 1. News came in from the Chinese News Agency in Chinese and English 2. Nothingcame in from the North Korean News Agency 3. News came in from South Koreanagencies in Korean and English (Itisbecoming more common tohaveinterpreters directlytranslating news coming in byphone) 4. Translators in local bureaux worked on putting the Chinese and Koreanversionsinto English 5. Alltranslatedtextswere sent to a central editing desk (reports are collated and turnedinto a homogeneous story) 6. The English version of the story was sent tolocal news agencies around the world and translatedagainintootherlanguages for local use 7. Local news agenciesdistributed the story tolocal newspapers, broadcasters, etc.

11. Translationas editing and journalism Translation helps to get local stories around the world • “Translators in local bureaux worked on putting the Chinese and Korean versions into English” (Chinese to English) • “The story was sent to local news agencies around the world and translated again into other languages for local use” (English to Italian) • Newspapers will often produce an English version of a local story on their own website (Italian to English)

12. Translating news = editing and journalism “Clearly translation is a requirement for the production of news in a Reuters news bureau. But it is not translation pure and simple, rather the production of a news service, a news product in a specific language, tailored to a specific local audience and reflecting journalistic norms in that region”. Reuters manager

13. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? • News stories are translated into English and out of English into other languages. • What happens in this translation process? • n.3

14. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? • Change of HEADLINE Titles are often substituted for new ones to meet the expectations of the target reader or the requirement of the target publication.

15. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? Changeof HEADLINE • Headline in Spanish ST Cerveceria guatemalteca produciracerveza para seguidores de cienciaficcion • Headline in English TT Bluebeerfor science fiction fans - CHANGE REFLECTS READERS TASTES - SPANISH/ITALIAN HEADLINES ARE LONGER THAN ENGLISH ONES

16. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? An agency story often has a long LEAD (informative subtitle)

17. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? There is often a change of LEAD (informative subtitle) LEADS (informative subtitles) are often substituted for new ones, added or eliminated so as to better suit the needs and background knowledge of the target audience

18. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? ADDITION or ELIMINATION of background INFO When the target readers change, it might be necessary to add or eliminate background information to meet the prior knowledge of the target audience

19. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslated out of English ? ADDITION or ELIMINATION of background INFO ELIMINATED FROM ORIGINAL Bomber, truck, explosives Hama at least Reported …….. … ADDED Last Sunday.

20. Whathappensto global news whenitistranslatedinto English ? The information in news stories translated into English have to be structured according to the inverted pyramid CHANGE IN STRUCTURE Translations out of English change the info and so don’t necessarily keep the inverted pyramid structure

21. The problemof “equivalenteffect” • ‘The relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message’ (Nida 1964: 159) • But how is this to be achieved when the TT audience is far removed from the ST context? • And how does the translator determine who the audience is and what the ST author’s intention was?

22. MessagevEffect Proverbs 18:24 • “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (King James Bible) • “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.”(The Message) The message is the same but the effect is different. The translator has chosen to maintain the semantics and use a modern English style (this is called domestication) What about the Saddam translation?

23. The Saddam translation - foreignisation Here the translator is trying to give the TT reader access to the ST voice: • Literal translation • Old English pronouns - “ye”, “thy” • Biblical style - capital letters • strange use of brackets; • strange phraseology (“that, and also because …”) This strategy is called “foreignisation” IS THIS STRATEGY SUCCESSFUL? • does the English reader get the message? • what kind of message is transmitted? • what is the point of publishing a translation of this speech?

24. Whathappenstotranslated global news? CHANGES AT THE DISCOURSE LEVEL – DOES THE TT HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON ITS AUDIENCE AS THE TT? DOES FOREIGNISATION DILUTE UNDERSTANDING

25. Foreignisationvdomestication • Foreignisation is a translator’s preference for equivalent effect - the translator prefers to maintain the original effect of the ST even though the meaning might be lost. Foreignisaion is often a strategy used in literary translation. • Domestication is the opposite. When translators choose domestication they prefer equivalent semantics (getting the same message across) to equivalent effect (getting the same effect across) • Domestication is normally used for translating foreign news (because news has to be accurate) • This is why it is strange that The Guardian decided to use a foreignisation strategy to report Saddam’s speech (which is news).

26. Foreignisationvdomestication • The BBC sometimeschoosesforeignisation. Some BBC interviewswithnon-EnglishspeakingItalians; the dubbing in English hasanItalianaccent • The foreignisationvdomesticationdecisionisimportant in areaslikeBibletranslation: - do youwanttoget the messageacross? (domesticationrequired) - do youwanttoretain the historicflavourof the oldBible? (foreignisationrequired)