The Translator’s Perspective

1. The Translator’s Perspective Ian Mason Heriot Watt University

2. Case studies - 1 • Police investigation of train massacre in Spain, 11 March 2004. • Italian police place microphones in flat of suspect, Rabei Osman Sayed. • They intercept Osman’s conversations and translate them from Arabic. • The evidence is used by Spanish prosecutors.

3. Spanish translators dispute the Italian translations and accuse translators of “adjusting the translation to a context which did not exist”. • El Mundo 30.05.07

4. Italian version • “The thread of the Madrid operation was mine, you understand?...The trains… all were my group. I wasn’t actually with them but on the 4th I contacted them and got all the details”

5. Spanish version • “All my friends have gone, some died in God’s path in Afghanistan. I won’t hide from you the Madrid operation they have just done… the Madrid train that exploded”. • “Ah yes” • “It was my people who did it… our people… I wasn’t with them but I knew about it but exactly what was going to happen they didn’t tell me”.

6. Legal perspective • A prosecution case is often based upon exact words spoken by an accused person.

7. Case studies - 2 • Iraq War: case for Weapons of Mass Destruction. • US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, presented to the UN Security Council on 05.02.03 recordings of three intercepted conversations between Iraqi military officers, with an English translation.

8. “Modified vehicle” • “forbidden ammo” • “OK buddy”

9. Signs and sign values • What is the exchange value of these tokens in Arabic? • What is their exchange value within the restricted genres of the Iraqi military? • What was the set of indicators and assumptions available to the translator? • What is the value of the distinction between ‘ammunition’ and ‘ammo’ in English? What does (not) constitute ‘ammo’? • What ST sign triggered the TT distinction?

10. Assumptions about translation • In international diplomacy, business, public service and among general public: • Automatic; input = output • Among Translation Studies scholars: • Choice: range of possible versions. • Even the word “equivalence” is unsafe because it implies that such a thing is possible.

11. Dichotomies (in western translation studies) • Literal/free (traditional) • Formal/dynamic equivalence (Nida) • Semantic/communicative (Newmark) • Overt/covert (House) • Documentary/instrumental (Nord) • Foreignizing/domesticating (Venuti)

12. Formal and Dynamic Equivalence • Equivalence of form and content • Versus • Equivalent effect on readers of ST and TT

13. Overt and Covert Translating • Overt: • TT addressees not being directly addressed (by ST); • ST tied to SL community and its culture; • ST directed towards SL addressees but of interest to TL readers. • Covert: • ST not specifically aimed at SL readers; • TT enjoys status of an original in TL culture • ST and TT have equivalent purpose. House (1997)

14. Documentary and Instrumental • Classification according to TT function: • A documentary translation aims at reproducing in TL (aspects of) a communication between a SL producer and a SL audience. • An instrumental translation aims at producing in TL a new communication between SL producer and TL receivers, using (aspects of) ST as a model. Nord (1997)

15. Foreignization and Domestication • Domestication: • Aim = fluent syle; • Minimize strangeness of ST for TT readers; • Translator’s presence invisible. • Foreignization: • Retain foreignness of ST; • Break TL conventions; non-fluent style; • Register linguistic/cultural difference.

16. Question for discussion • In the light of these distinctions and • Remembering our rejection of the ‘Code model’ of communication: • How can we describe what has happened in the two case studies we began with?

17. These translators confuse instrumental with documentary translating • These pairs of strategies are not usually a matter of free choice: • Depends on design (interpersonal and intertextual) • Pragmatic focus: what was actually said?

18. Translators’ strategy • Some fields and genres: • The Bible/The Qur’an • A Government directive/ legislation • Websites • Press agency reports • Film subtitling • Instructions for assembly of equipment • Tourist brochures

19. 1. Holy, ‘sensitive’ texts • Depends on purpose: • Preserve the “word of God” or • Communicate with, appeal to readers in a different cultural environment.

20. 2. Government directives • Many governments have to interact with more than one language community. • TT has to be legally valid in each TL. • Concern to avoid any chance of dispute of the meaning of a text.

21. 3. Websites • ‘Localisation’ • Many translation agencies say this is the largest part of their business; • Involves conforming to TL cultural norms and meeting user expectations; • May take place within one language, e.g. USA > UK.

22. 4. Press agency reports • Localisation • Adjustment according to assumptions of mutual manifestness. • May involve deletions as well as additions.

23. 5. Film subtitling • Target audience needs to follow the thread of a dialogue; • Target audience does not necessarily need to know what ST speakers actually said; • Focus can change when: • Jokes • Understanding depends on words spoken

24. 6. Assembly instructions • Instrumental translating: • ST words are of no relevance to TT readers; • What counts is being able to assemble the equipment; • Focus on ‘perlocutionary effect’ or reader response. • Can be co-written instead of translated.

25. 7. Tourist brochures • Instrumental translating • ST can be changed in order to appeal to TL community. • In some cases, what appeals within one cultural community is of less interest in another community • Example: Island of Jersey (UK)

27. Ethics of translation • ‘Foreignization’ largely an ethical recommendation by Venuti. • Similar ethical issues involved in other cases, e.g. dialogue interpreting.

28. Immigration interviews (Polish/English) • SL: skoły (‘school’) • TT: ‘an English course’; ‘a car mechanics course’

29. Medical consultation Pat.No this thing happens then depending on - on the circumstances - of life Int. (to Pat)Well at- at this particular moment do your life circumstances cause you pain once a week or- or more often? Pat. Sometimes more often Int. (to Pat)Sometimes more often. (to Doc) Once or twice a week maybe: and(to Pat) And th- this thing- this is related to stressright? Pat.Yes Int. (to Doc) Sometimes the chest pain is stress- related sometimes it’s exertion related. Bolden (2000)

30. Question • How do we know how receivers respond to particular translations? • Very little research into the effect on readers of different translations.

31. Example of European Parliament translation • Irish member of parliament expresses regret for what ‘we’ did in ‘my country (“we closed down our railways”) and suggests what ‘we’ as Europe should do. • French translation reduces mention of ‘we’, presents events as just happening (without a human cause) and introduces element of obligation (“the railways had to be closed down”).

32. Experiment: reader response • Multiple-choice test: ‘Who was responsible?’ • Answers depended on which version of text had been read. • Summarising test. • Respondents re-used structures they had read, even when not repeating content they had read.

33. Conclusion • All these examples and distinctions have relevance for translator training. • Need to reflect variety of genres and functions in pedagogical situation.