Indirect translation explained

Focused on key issues in researching indirect translation, this article presents a dialogue with and between three scholars from different branches of Translation Studies: news translation, interpreting and literary translation. The aim of this dialogue is to address fundamental questions concerning the history of indirect translation studies, the methodological challenges faced by researchers investigating this practice, and the impact of English as a lingua franca and recent advancements in machine translation on the quality and future of indirect translations. This intra-disciplinary exchange allows us to identify unique perspectives and potential blind spots in approaches to indirect translation within specific branches of Translation Studies. At the same time, the dialogue sheds light on the various overlaps and complementarities between these approaches. We hope that the insights gained from this dialogue will not only deepen our understanding of indirect translation as a field of practice and research but also foster opportunities for future intra-disciplinary collaborations.

Drawing on a structured literature review, this article offers a meta-analysis of published research on indirect translation in different domains between 2017 and 2022. The article first presents the rationale and method used in designing and implementing bibliographic searches, as well as in examining selected publications. It then presents the findings of the structured literature review, focusing on the date of selected publications, their authorship, translation domains and research approaches. The results show a significant increase in publications on indirect translation, with much more co-authored papers and a slight move towards author specialisation in this field. Our findings also show that literature is still the prevalent domain, and empirical studies prevail, particularly those that are product-oriented and look at the quality of indirect translations. Process-oriented, participant- oriented and context-oriented studies are still a minority, and they mainly emerge from research on non-literary texts. The article also includes a compilation of references to publications analysed as part of the literature review. A dataset resulting from this meta-analysis is shared in open access to ensure replicability. We hope that this meta-analysis will help highlight recent developments and blind spots, serving as useful tools for researchers wanting to diversify perspectives in indirect (literary) translation.

Iberian and Translation Studies: Literary Contact Zones offers fertile reflection on the dynamics of linguistic diversity and multifaceted literary translation flows taking place across the Iberian Peninsula. Drawing on cutting-edge theoretical perspectives from a comparative standpoint and on a historically diverse body of case studies, the volume’s sixteen chapters explore the key role of translation in shaping interliterary relations and cultural identities within Iberia. Mary Louise Pratt’s contact zone metaphor is used as an overarching concept to approach Iberia as a translation(al) space where languages and cultural systems (Basque, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish) set up relationships either of conflict, coercion, and resistance or of collaboration, hospitality, and solidarity. In bringing together a variety of essays by multilingual scholars whose conceptual and empirical research places itself at the intersection of translation and literary Iberian studies, the book opens up a new interdisciplinary field of enquiry: Iberian translation studies. This allows for a renewed study of canonical authors such as Joan Maragall, Fernando Pessoa, Camilo José Cela, and Bernardo Atxaga, and calls attention to emerging bilingual contemporary voices. In addition to addressing understudied genres (the entremez and the picaresque novel) and the specific phenomena of self-translation, indirect translation, and collaborative translation, the book provides fresh insights into Iberian cultural agents, mediators, and institutions such as publishing houses and theatre companies. Iberian and Translation Studies: Literary Contact Zones is indispensable reading for those interested in Iberian studies, translation studies, in particular the history of translation in the Iberian Peninsula, and comparative literature.

This paper has provided an overview of methodological constraints hampering larger-scale research on indirect translation. Since the 2000s a growing academic focus on indirect translation, a phenomenon for long marginalized by Translation Studies scholars, can be observed, in particular among scholars coming from the so called “peripheral” languages and cultures. However, methodological difficulties, coupled with conceptual and terminological inconsistencies, encumber the development of a more systematic and mutually comparable body of knowledge about indirect translation in various linguacultural contexts and translation domains. In this paper a particular attention has been paid to the methodological issues related to the collection of data on indirect translations of literary texts into Croatian. The use of various sources, ranging from bibliographies and national libraries catalogues to reference works is discussed, followed by an analysis of peritextual elements that can be symptomatic of the directness of translation. Among peritextual elements particularly indicative is the title, as has been shown on the example of the first Croatian translation of The Prince and the Pauper (1907) by Mark Twain and the first Croatian translation of Agatha Christie’s Three-Act Tragedy (1961). The discussion of methodological steps that can be used in such research is illustrated with examples drawn from my previous and current research on Croatian literary translation practices, with the aim to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the available sources and methods applied. Although in the Croatian context indirect translation has been abundantly practised, and is still widely present, this phenomenon is still not in the focus of Croatian translation scholars. A more extensive and sustained research of indirect translation into Croatian could bring valuable insights into the hidden dynamics of cross-cultural transfers through translation, and thus contribute to our knowledge about Croatian translation history as an integral part of cultural historiography as well as to our knowledge of contemporary translation practices in Croatia.

Translatology of modern Kazakhstan has actualized the problem of translation of Kazakh literature into worldlanguages. The active process of literary translation has increased the interest of foreign readers in the national culture, creativity, and identity of the Kazakh people. It set a new vector for the research of Kazakh scholars in translation studies. However, owing to the lack of professional translators, direct translation from Kazakh into English has always been problematic, so Kazakh writers’ works were translated indirectly fromRussian into foreign languages. The article presents the problem of defining “indirect translation” by Western, Russian, and Kazakh linguists. Authors consider ways of adapting the direct and indirect translations bycomparing them with the source text of A. Nurpeisov's novel “Songy Paryz”. The paper aims to reveal theways of implementing linguocultural, pragmatic aspects of the original text and strategies for transferring artand pictorial means of the Kazakh language in direct and indirect translations. Experts in linguistics, translation studies, cognitive science, linguocultural studies, and literary criticism will be interested in the researchresults.

Through a series of questions and responses, in this dialogue-based article we aim to stimulate reflection on indirect translation within the audiovisual translation community, offering perspectives on this practice. We start by delving into the historical roots of indirect translation in the industry, questioning how far back such practices extend. Then we shift the focus to the challenges translators face in indirect translation workflows, to the potential contributions of research to the ongoing debates surrounding indirect translation, as well as to how indirect translation and machine translation intersect. Finally, looking to the future, we examine potential developments in indirect translation workflows and consider how educational programs can adapt to meet the changing demands of the industry.

Reviewed by: The Translator on Stage by Geraldine Brodie Melanie Dreyer-Lude (bio) Geraldine Brodie. The Translator on Stage. New York: Bloomsbury Academic 2018. Pp. viii + 195. $29.95. Geraldine Brodie’s The Translator on Stage offers an in-depth and carefully researched examination of the relationship between the translation process and artistic practice on the contemporary London stage. Given the continuing debate surrounding translation (is this cultural appropriation?), the play that results (does it pass the speakability test?), and the professional value of translation practice (will it count toward tenure?), Brodie’s investigation provides a refreshing perspective. Brodie focuses her book on translation in production, identifying what we can learn about linguistic signification, cultural context, power structures, and economics. She carefully examines the composition of production teams, asking: Where does the translation process start? Who contributes to the construction of the translated text? Who can claim authorship once the play has reached the stage? She considers power dynamics by exposing when, where, and how translators are included or excluded in the construction of new, newly translated, and adapted work. Theoretically framed and well researched, the primary data supporting Brodie’s investigation comes from the field, specifically eight productions in the London professional theatre during the 2005 season. All of the plays considered in this book were translated from another language into British English. [End Page 143] In addressing her reasoning for the structure of her investigation, Brodie states “My research and discussions reflect the shifting nature of the subject itself; theatre translation is a field of mutability and sometimes unexpected liminality. It is also very exciting” (13). This book is not primarily a theoretical text. Brodie is concerned with the agency of the translator and the impact of power positioning on the final translation product. The composition of the creative team will necessarily shape and guide the translation process, one that is variant and particular to cultural context both geographic and economic. In order to examine translation agency, Brodie limits the field of independent factors. By selecting mainstream London theatres and one production season, she narrows the breadth of her investigation, allowing for more depth in her research. Using archival material and interviews with participating artists, Brodie investigates three modes of translation: direct translation (from source language to target language), literal translation (a non-interpreted, dramaturgically based translation used as a reference document), and indirect translation (a translation created by a non-native speaker using a literal translation as the source text). Using these frames, Brodie considers whether literal translators are considered hired guns or significant members of the creative team. She investigates correlations between the direct translation process and that of the indirect translator regarding issues of cultural tension. She considers the degree to which economic pressures influence the selection of translated texts and the shape of the final text used in production. Does a literal translation have a life beyond its function as a reference document, or it is merely a “disposable commodity”? (152). “My aim was to map the processes of translation, attempting to identify the choices and positions of the agents, in order to assess the extent to which the interplay of the personal and the collective is demonstrable in theatrical translation, as a theoretical concept, but also as a perceptible activity” (155). Each of the eight productions Brodie examines cover a substantial range of time: “from commission to performance” (13). In the first section of her book, Brodie creates an overview of the field of translation, locates the act of translation within the context of dramatic texts, and creates a summary of the productions and the artistic teams for each. Section 2 offers an in-depth discussion of each of the sites of investigation, providing an overview of each theatre, as well as the role each institution plays in the London theatre community. There are two useful tables which identify sources of revenue, and provide a reference for her discussion regarding the influence of box office receipts on the translation process. She shifts from an examination of the production site to the specific texts in section 3. Here she reveals the mechanisms of each production, detailing the process of selecting the text, the roles...

This paper deals with a central aspect related to translation that has been given surprisingly little attention in Translation Studies: sameness. We study sameness in a type of translation that according to previous studies entails additional shifts and losses – indirect translation. By indirect translation we mean a ‘translation based on a text (or texts) other than (only) the ultimate source text’ Our aim is to identify what stays the same in indirect literary translation in terms of plot. Our article is based on two case studies that comprehend particularly fuzzy chains of texts: the first Finnish translations of Robinson Crusoe and Peter Pan. Our main units of analysis are the plots of both works. We approach plot from a structural perspective and utilize plot function theory in our analysis. Our main research questions are: What in the plots of the two works studied has remained unaltered throughout the textual chain? What is the relation between plot elements that have been altered versus plot elements that have remained the same?

It seems that, for various reasons, indirect translation still occupies a marginal role in Translation Studies (see Pięta 2014) and it has not asserted itself as a research field in its own right. This paper discusses the role of indirect translation and mediating languages in translating children’s literature. The reasons for indirect translations in the Croatian context are explained. The process of indirect translation is investigated within the theoretical background of retranslation. Indirect translation is exemplified by Arnold Lobel’s story The Surprise (from Frog and Toad All Year), a story which has been translated into Croatian through the medium of German. The reasons for indirect translation are investigated as well as the effects of indirect translation on the final translated text. The article examines signals of foreignisation and domestication in the target text and the extent to which they can be attributed to German as the mediating language and German culture as the mediating culture.

Although indirect translation (ITr) has always been commonly accepted and necessary, it is seldom discussed in translation studies. Issues such as the reasons for ITr, the visibility of ITr, the ways of mediating, the agents and other influential factors in ITr, and the its reception have suggested its complex nature, and thus determined that many facets of ITr remain to be studied. The present article will try to encompass the complexity of ITr by looking into the reasons for translating indirectly, the challenge of finding out mediating texts (MTs), indirectness in both translation and interpretation, and the possible influences the two types of indirectness can bring to the translated images of a foreign literary work, as well as the validity of a prevailing and lasting hypothesis about ITr. In the course of the discussion, the ITr(s) in the Chinese translations of Andersen's tales, most of which have been translated and interpreted indirectly through major languages like English, will be employed as examples. Hopefully, this study will offer more insights into the nature of translation as a social activity and raise further interests in studying translation as a complex phenomenon.

Dubbing is one of the oldest modes of audiovisual translation (AVT). Its origins can be traced back to the late 1920s, with the need to transfer the new sound films to other languages and countries. Once multilingual movies had been abandoned because they were both too expensive and unpopular with foreign audiences who wanted to see the original actors and actresses on screen rather than their local counterparts, and once subtitling had fallen out of favour in some countries – due to factors like low literacy levels, linguistic chauvinism and reluctance to learn new languages in countries speaking major languages, together with a consolidated financial basis to meet the high costs of dubbing – sound engineers invented and improved a kind of revoicing known as dubbing. Although the first dubbings were technically poor and met with a very icy reception, dubbing voices – voice talents – gradually became more credible, lip-syncing came onto the scene and translators began to produce convincing scripts, ideally meeting all the demands of the different synchronization types, but still creating the illusion of original dialogues (for an extensive review of the history of dubbing and audiovisual translation see Izard 1992, 2001; Ivarsson 2002; Diaz Cintas 2003; Diaz Cintas and Remael 2007; and Chaume 2004a, 2010). Some 80 years later dubbing is more globally widespread than ever: cartoons for younger children are dubbed all over the world, even countries historically reluctant to dubbing like Portugal, Denmark and Norway (Tveit 2009) are beginning to dub some teen films (teen pics), while in Russia dubbing is trying to take the place once held by voice-over, South American and Turkish soap operas are also now dubbed in Greece and in the Maghreb. Moreover, dubbing also occurs in other complex audiovisual translation modes: in video game localization, especially in blockbusters, dialogues are usually dubbed; some commercials are dubbed even in traditional subtitling countries; ‘fandubbing’ is becoming internationally popular; DVDs may include dubbings into traditional subtitling languages, etc. It seems that in the new world of a la carte services, audiences can now actively choose their preferred audiovisual mode, product and platform at all times. This boom in AVT modes, platforms, electronic devices, new windows and new habitshas inevitably attracted the attention of researchers. New research has extended seminalstudies, making AVT research a leading field in translation studies – where literary translation once reigned. In what follows, both old and new research will be examined, together with the new promising paths that will be broadened and followed throughout the twenty-first century.

Despite its importance in a globalized world, indirect translation is a peripheral and under-researched topic in translation studies. Existing research on indirect translation is almost exclusively limited to literary translation and focuses mainly on historical aspects. From a methodological perspective, textual analysis based on close reading is the main source of insight into indirect translation, while distant reading using computational approaches remains unexplored. In order to promote methodological innovation, this study gives a replicable demonstration of how to apply supervised machine learning to corpora of indirect translations. The study is based on comparable corpora of proceedings from the European Parliament. Open-access data is used to ensure the replicability of the proposed methodology. Based on the computational findings, the methodological caveats of this approach are discussed.

This article explores the emerging field of the sociology of translation, focusing especially on two key areas: literary translation and news translation. While literary translation is a major area in translation studies, news translation has until recently received relatively little attention. It is argued that a sociological input to the study of both literary and news translation reveals not only important aspects of the social context in which translation occurs and contributes to a renewed understanding of the field, but also makes translation studies relevant to other disciplines, in particular sociology and globalisation research.

Studies of news translation and indirect translation have challenged classical concepts of Translation Studies, but the two subfields have taken separate paths. This article applies Assis Rosa, Pięta, and Bueno Maia’s (2017b) classification of indirect translation to data collected via workplace studies conducted in two multilingual news agencies based in Switzerland and one monolingual broadcaster based in Canada. Illustrative examples are provided of the first six types of (in)direct translation in the classification. This typology allows for the inclusion of phenomena that may have been previously disregarded as translation, such as oral mediations and transfers from public-relations agencies to news agencies and other media outlets. However, news translation is a borderline case of translation that pushes Assis Rosa, Pięta, and Bueno Maia’s (2017b) classification to its limits because of the centrality of reported speech in news stories. Indirect translation seems to be able to bridge various subfields of Translation Studies.

In spite of the recent expansion and consolidation of Translation Studies as a scholarly field, there are few studies in this area concerned with indirect translation. Considering this gap, this text deals with the concept of indirect translation in three different translational contexts, aiming to reflect on and expand the traditional understanding of what may be considered an indirect literary translation.