Translation and Stereotypes as Cultural Facts

Abstract

The paper joins forces with the increasing literature on translation and cultural studies and places translation in the context of cross-cultural communication. It is my intention to analyse the factors that affect translation and the influence of stereotypical attitudes on the production of texts for a target culture (TC). Assuming that translations are facts of target cultures as Toury points out (1995), I will concentrate on a very specific topic: stereotypical attitudes towards Latino sexuality and its influence on the production of target texts (TTs). For this purpose, I will first introduce the topic of translation and culture; secondly, I will write about the use and functions of stereotypes in cross-cultural communication with specific reference to attitudes towards Latinos in the USA; and thirdly, I will make a case study of stereotypes on the translation and production of materials related to AIDS. In doing so, I will talk about the position and function of the translations as entities in the target culture (TC), the translating activity related to an ethnic minority within the American culture, and the form the translations have (the product). The article presents the analysis of informative brochures on AIDS originally produced in English and translated into Spanish for the Latino community in the USA.