The translation process - interplay between literal rendering and a search for sense

Abstract

This research focuses on the type and proportion of the revisions made by translators during target text production. Eighteen professional translators used the keyboard logging software Translog while carrying out a translation task on a computer. As Translog registers and displays all keyboard activity in relation to time, all the revisions in the log files can also be identified and counted. The revisions were categorised as revisions of typing errors, revisions of literal translation and other revisions. Typing error revisions account for 51.5%, literal translation revisions for 20.5% and other revisions for 28.0%. If typing error revisions are ignored, literal translation revisions account for 42.3%. Revisions of literal translation were observed at all linguistic levels and in all translators’ log files, irrespective of the quality of their final translations. These results suggest that literal translation constitutes an integral element of the translation process and can perhaps be considered as a strategy to expand the translator’s working memory. The results also give support to the Monitor Model of translation, which maintains that literal rendering is the default strategy of target text production.