Abstract
Grammatical gender and the related concept, 'social gender', are important linguistic categories which, in this article, are used to illustrate that the translation process is not only a 'cross-cultural transfer' but also a cross-ideological transfer. By departing from the view that different languages reflect different ways of perceiving reality, it is argued here that the linguistic structure of languages with regard to gender (i.e. grammatical vs. pronominal gender), as well as different connotations of gender, have a considerable influence upon the translation process and, hence, on how the reader of the target language is meant to perceive reality. The article emphasizes the importance of the translator's role in analyzing gender aspects in the source text and determining the ideological impact gender connotations may have in both the source and the target text.
Highlights
Translation has been described as a "cross-cultural transfer"1 (Vermeer 1986), it is important to note that this transfer implies an ideological transfer as well, if ideology is understood in its broad sense, i.e. as the standard set of values, ideas and beliefs that govern a community, and, a translator must possess in-depth knowledge of the ideas, beliefs, and values that connect to the languages being translated
But interrelated linguistic categories of gender, I intend to illustrate in this article to what extent ideological considerations play a role if the translation takes place between languages that structurally differ with respect to these categories
The exposition of some of the problems that arise when translating gender has shown that a variety of parameters are involved when translators have to make their choice of gender. This is especially true of the translation of expressions where the determination of social gender has turned out to be more complex and ambiguous than the selection of expressions which inherently belong to a specific gender
Summary
Translation has been described as a "cross-cultural transfer" (Vermeer 1986), it is important to note that this transfer implies an ideological transfer as well, if ideology is understood in its broad sense, i.e. as the standard set of values, ideas and beliefs that govern a community, and, a translator must possess in-depth knowledge of the ideas, beliefs, and values that connect to the languages being translated. But interrelated linguistic categories of gender (grammatical, pronominal and, especially, social gender), I intend to illustrate in this article to what extent ideological considerations play a role if the translation takes place between languages that structurally differ with respect to these categories
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