Introducing Translation Studies.

Theories and Applications

Chapter 1 - main issues of translation studies

1.1 the concept of translation

In this book the focus is on written translation. Translation derives from latin translatio, from the
verb transferre “to carry over”. So the process of translation from one written language to another
involves a source text in a source language that goes to a target text in a target language.

According to the russo-american structuralist Roman Jakobson we can have 3 categories of

translation: intralingual, interlingual, intersemiotic (eg. From text to visual). In semiotic, the
science of communication, language is only one system of a more big scenario.

1.2 what is translation studies?

Written and spoken translation has always been crucial in interhuman communication.
Translation studies as an academic field borns in the 70’s thanks to the dutch us based scholar
James s Holmes. Thanks to the increasing interest in translation studies, 4 types of translation
studies have born: specialized programs at university; conferences, books and journals; general
instruments such as anthologies, database, encyclopedias; international organizations that have
prospered like the federation Internationale des traducteurs (1953).

1.3 an early history of the discipline

The practice of translation was crucial for the dissemination of key cultural and religious texts
and concepts. For example in western europe the translation into latin of the Bible was for a
thousand years the battelground of conflicting ideologies.

Another area in which translation became the subject of research was contrastive linguistics: the
study of two languages in contrast in an attempt to identify differences between them (peak during
60s and 70s). This approach was fundamental for linguists such as vinay and dalbernet and catford.
This more systemic approach began to introduce science in translation, marking it as a scientific
discipline.

1.4 the holmes/toury “map”

A seminal paper in the development of the field was James s Holmes “the name and nature of
translation studies”(1972). He described what translation studies covers:

- translation’s “pure” areas or research: translation that is divided into

1 the theoretical branch (its general principle) divided into general and partial theories;
2 the descriptive branch (descriptive translation studies DTS) that are divided into:
product oriented DTS (that examines existing translations); function oriented DTS (the
function of translations is collocated in the sociocultural situation, the important of context;
process oriented DTS (what happens inside the mind of the translation, what guides his/her
choices.
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 - translation’s “applied” area of research: how translator works in the translation process
(his/her technics, tools such as dictionaries, the evaluation of translations.

Holmes himself points out that theoretical, descriptive and applied areas do influence one another.
The map is still often employed as a departure point of translation studies.

1.5 developments since holmes

New technologies and new areas of interest have changed (especially in the new millennium) the
field of translation studies.

1.6 the van doorslaer map

Van doorslaer (2007) maps translation studies according to:

- translation strategies (the orientation of the text): free translation, idiomatic translation,
functional translation, literal translation, source oriented translation, target oriented translation,
foreignizing, etc.
- Translation procedures (the specific techniques): calque, expansion, interpretation,
modification, recategorization, adaptation, borrowing, coniage, imitation, paraphrase, omission
etc.

1.7 discipline, interdiscipline or multidiscipline?

Nowadays a fundamental characteristic of translation study is its interdisciplinarity (linguistics,

languages, literature, cultural studies, philosophy, sociology, history).

Chapter 5 - functional theories of translation

5.0 introduction

In the 70s and 80s translation studies shifted from a more linguistic perspective to a more
communicative approach.

5.1 text type

Katharina reiss (1970) viewed the text at the level of its communicative intention. So Reiss links
text types with communicative situations in which they are used. A text can be: informative,
information, knowledge, opinions; expressive, creative composition; operative, inducing
behavioural responses. Text types are therefore categorized according to their main function. Of
course there is some sort f hybridation between text types, for eg. A biography can both be
informative and expressive.

Reiss suggests specific translation methods according to text type. The TT of an informative text
should transmit the factual content of the ST, the TT of an expressive text should transmit the
aesthetic of the ST; the TT of an operative text should produce the desired response in the TT
receiver.

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 5.1.1 discussion of the text type model

The reiss model can be criticized. Why there should only be 3 types of language functions? How to
translate metaphors? Etc.

5.1.2 mary snell-hornby’s “integrated approach”

She proposes (1988) a stratificational model proceeding from the most general (A) to the most
specialized (F)

5.1.3 web localization and digital genres

Since the 90s technological developments have seen new texts such as emails, webpages, blogs etc.
often these texts require an automatic translation. So a multilingual version is produced through a
process known as localization.

5.2 translatorial action

The translatorial action model is proposed by Justa Holz-Mänttäri. She sees translation as a
purpose-driven process, it is a message transmitter process that involves intercultural transfer.
Translation (interlingual) is a communicative act that involves roles:
the initiator who needs translation,
The commissioner who contacts the translator,
The ST producer,
The TT producer (translator),
The TT user (the person who uses the translation, ex a teacher who reads a textbook),
The TT receiver,
Translation has to be suitable to the TT culture.

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 5.2.1 discussion of the model of translatorial action

Justa Holz-Mänttäri model place translation into its sociocultural context, but it can be criticized:
for example, it wants to give guidelines for intercultural transfer, but it fails to consider cultural
difference in more detail.

5.3 skopos theory

It means “purpose”. It was introduced in translation studies in the 70’s by Vermeer (1930-2010) and
his work with reiss towards a general theory of translational action (1984). The translation has to
be negotiated and performed and has a purpose. A TT must be fit for purpose, it must be
functionally adequate. A translational action is determined by its skopos and it has to fit with the
target linguistic and cultural context. The function of a TT in the target culture is not necessarily the
same as the ST.

5.3.1 discussion of skopos theory

This theory can be criticized because the translatum (the TT) does not pay sufficient attention to the
linguistic nature of of the ST nor to the reproduction of micro-level features in the TT.

5.4. translation-oriented text analysis

Christiane Nord’s text analysis in translation (1988/2015) presents a more detailed functional
model. She makes a first distinction between 2 types of translation product:
Documentary translation, that serves as a document of a source culture communication between the
author and the ST recipient;
Instrumental translation, a message transmitting instrument in a new communicative action in the
target culture.
In her model she pays more attention to features of the ST. she stresses the importance of the
translation commission (the translator needs to compare the ST and the TT profiles defined in the
commission to see where the two texts may diverge. The translation commission should analyze
the intended text function, the addresses, time and place of text reception, medium, motive. It is also
important the role of ST analysis. All of these info enables translator to prioritize what information
to include in the TT.

Chapter 8 - cultural and ideological turns

(Inserito in paper 2 mid-term exam)

introduction

Mary snell-hornby (1990) shift from considering translation as a text to considering translation as
culture and for this she introduces the term cultural turn.

8.1 translation as rewriting

Andrè lefevere (1945-1996) focuses on the examination of very concrete factors in translation
viewed as a cultural turn such as: power, ideology, institution and manipulation.
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 The literary system in which translation functions is controlled by professional and patrons which
partly determine the ideology. Patrons may be influential and powerful individuals in a given
historical era, groups of people, institutions.

8.1.1 poetics, ideology and translation in Lefevere’s work

For Lefevere, the most important consideration is the ideological one. In this case, it refers to the
translator’s ideology or to the ideology imposed upon the translator by patronage.

8.2 translation and gender

Translation lives a process of disciplinary hybridization. Sherry Simon (1996) approaches

translation from a gender-studies angle.

8.2.1 language and identity

Identity travels through language, the social and ideological environment conditions the exchange.
For ex. If some gay terms are explicit in the ST they can be omitted, changed in the TT.

8.3 postcolonial translation theory

In translation and gender, sherry Simon’s focus centres on underlining the importance of the
cultural turn in translation. Cultural studies brings to translation an understanding of the
complexities of gender and culture. Translation has to transfer the multiple “post” realities of today:
poststructuralism, postcolonialism and postmodernism.

Postcolonialism is generally used to cover studies of the history of the former colonies, the
resistance to the colonialist powers and the studies of the effect of the imbalance of power relations
between colonized and colonizer. The central intersection of translation studies and postcolonial
theory is that of power relations. Translation into English has generally been used by the colonial
power to construct a rewritten image of the ‘east’.

8.4 the ideologies of the theorists

Theorists themselves have their own ideologies that drive their own criticism. These are what
brownlie (2009) calls ‘committed approaches’ to translation studies. Sherry Simon is for ex explicit
in stating that the aim of her book on gender and translation is to ‘cast the widest net around issues
of gender in translation…and, through gender, to move translation studies closer to a cultural
studies framework’ (1996). All of this is part of the rewriting process described by Lefevere. The
cultural turn might also be described as an attempt by cultural studies to colonize the less
established field of translation studies.

8.5 translation, ideology and power in other contexts

The question of power in postocolonial translation studies has led to the examination of power and
ideology in other contexts where translation is involved. This research is interested in uncovering
manipulations in the tt. The macro-contextual constraints of censorship that may exist in

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 authoritarian regimes are perhaps the most obvious example of ideological manipulation. Kate
sturge (2004) looks at the ideology behind the selection of texts in nazi Germany for ex.

Chapter 11 - new directions from the new media

The emergence of new technologies have transformed translation practice.

11.1 audiovisual translation

11.1.1 early days: the “virgin area of research”

Katharina reiss (1971) had included what she termed as ‘audio-medial’ text type. The non verbal
elements that marked out audiovisual translation are important. Dirk delabasita said in an article
‘translation and mass-communication: film and tv translation as evidence of cultural
dynamics’ (1989) that the field was ‘still a virgin area of research’.
Audiovisual translation involves a multi channel and multi code type of communication: the verbal,
the literary and theatrical, the proxemic and kinetic, the cinematic.

11.1.2 the name and nature of the field

There are different types of audiovisual activity such as:

Interlingual subtitling;
Bilingual subtitling, subtitles provided at the same time in 2 languages;
Intralingual subtitling, for the hard of hearing;
Dubbing;
Voice over, for ex in documentaries or interviews;
Surtitling, subtitles projected on stage during performances;
Audio description;

11.1.3 the linguistic and prescriptivist nature of subtitling research

Subtitling style will vary somewhat with genre, but some subtitling lines are almost universal.
Grammar and lexical items tend to be simplified and cleaned up. Subtitling focuses on those items
that are informationally most relevant.

11.1.4 norms of audiovisual translation

These are:
the human agents;
the products (TTs);
the recipients (addressees and customers);
the mode (characteristics of audiovisual translation);
the institution (critics, distributors, TV channels, etc. which participate in the
preparation and making of the film);
the market (cinemas, film clubs, etc. which decide the screening of the TTs).

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 11.1.5 multimodal transcription

Christopher taylor (2003) analyzes the micro-context of multimodal transcription, how to record
and analyse a multimodal product in writing. Interpersonal component is extremely important and
also non-verbal material.

11.1.6 codes and narratives

Fredric chaume proposes a combination of translation studies and film studies in an attempt to
produce an ‘integrated’ model of analysis of ‘rules’ and norms designed for the analysis of ‘the
signifying codes of cinematographic language’ (Chaume 2004: 13, 16).
Focussing mainly on dubbing, Chaume identifies ten codes.
The first four concern the acoustic channel:
The linguistic code,
The paralinguistic code,
The musical and special effect code,
The sound arrangement code.
The other six relate to the visual channel:
The iconographic code,
Photographic codes,
The planning code (close ups on characters),
The mobility code,
Graphic codes,
Syntactic codes.
Chaume’s codes are useful in drawing attention to the non-linguistic and particularly to the visual.

11.1.7 subtitles as ‘vulnerable translation’

There exists a paradoxical situation for the subtitler: on the one hand, the subtitles are visible to all,
yet more often than not the individual translator is not credited with his/her work and remains in a
state of ‘forced invisibility’. This is the ‘vulnerable translation’: a viewer with some understanding
of the ST will have an expectation of the subtitles which, when disappointed may cast doubt on the
quality of those titles.

11.1.8 fansubs and video games, a site for transcreation

Fansubs is the practice of amateur subtitling. Video game translation is a blend of audiovisual
translation and software localization, the games may be subtitle or dubbed or both. Bernal merino
(2006) discusses the term transcreation ‘used by a new wave of companies seeking to distance
themselves from traditional translation firms’. Transcreation is used to stress the creative and
trasformative nature of the process.

11.2 localization, globalization and collaborative translation

In the digital age, translation has become big buisness and industry, under the name of GILT:
globalization, means the buisness process of marketing, management, consumer care;
internationalization, a translation must function internationally;

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 localization, refers to the adaptation of the product to the target locale (country/region and
language), ‘the combination of a sociocultural region and a language in industrial setting’.
Localization may involge the substitution of inappropriate cultural symbols and the translation of
text;
Translation.

There is a growing number of technologies in this new translation environment such as computer-
assisted translation tools (CAT) or machine translation tools (MT). A more recent phenomenon
which needs to be taken into account is that of collaborative translation (also known as
crowdsurcing) often among large groups of non-professional translators (ex. Wikipedia).

11.3 corpus-based translation studies

In 1998, the ‘corpus-based approach was being suggested as a new paradigm in translation studies,
the approach drew on the tools of monolingual corpus linguistics that had been developed in the
early 1980s by John Sinclair and his team working on the COBUILD English Dictionary project at
Birmingham. It was possible to create an electronic corpus of naturally occurring texts that could
then be analysed with software to investigate the use and patterns of the word-forms it contained.
Then p.baker worked identifying typicalities of the language of a corpus of translated texts.

11.3.1 different types of corpus

Monolingual corpora: collections of texts in the same language (ex. British national corpus or
cobuild).
Comparable bilingual corpora, which are normally specialized collections of similar STs in the two
languages and which can be ‘mined’ for terminology and other equivalences.
Parallel corpora, of ST-TT pairs, which, when aligned, can allow the strategies employed by the
translator(s) to be investigated.

11.3.2 other corpus-based and corpus-driven studies

The combination of rapid access to the ‘big picture’ of quantitative data, supported with close
critical analysis of the texts in their sociocultural environment, comprises a complementary
interdisciplinary methodology that reveals patterns that may otherwise pass unnoticed. It is also
noticeable that a good number of studies adopt a contrastive analysis approach, using the analysis of
comparable corpora that may be genre specific. there is continued interest in the ways in which the
corpora approach can assist translation theory.
There is a distinction between the ‘corpus-based’ approach (which takes a pre-existing theory as its
starting point) and ‘corpus-driven’ research (which builds up from corpus data towards patterns and
generalizations).

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