Descriptive Translation Studies Research Articles

Em busca de relevância no olhar: à procura de semelhança interpretativa através de dados de rastreamento ocular

Este trabalho se situa no ramo dos estudos descritivos da tradução e no sub-ramo de estudos processuais, desenvolvendo-se a partir de dados de rastreamento ocular, registro de teclado e de protocolos retrospectivos, coletados na pesquisa de Fonseca (2016). Utiliza-se como arcabouço teórico a Teoria da Relevância e o seu conceito-chave de semelhança interpretativa (cf. Gutt, 2000; Alves, 2000). O objetivo principal é identificar e discutir potenciais ocorrências de semelhança interpretativa ótima e o suposto equilíbrio entre esforço processual e efeitos cognitivos no processo tradutório. Os dados foram coletados no Laboratório Experimental de Tradução (LETRA) da UFMG e este estudo explora somente dados de um participante que traduziu um texto curto de popularização da ciência, do inglês para o português, sem acesso a auxílios externos e sem pressão de tempo para concluir a tarefa. Como ferramentas para a coleta e análise de dados, foram utilizados o rastreador ocular Tobii T-60, o software Tobii Studio, o software Translog II, além de protocolos retrospectivos escritos. Após o desenvolvimento de análises quantitativas e qualitativas, algumas hipóteses são levantadas com vistas ao desenvolvimento de pesquisas futuras, apontando questões desafiadoras para o campo dos estudos processuais da tradução e, consequentemente, para os estudos sobre competência tradutória e expertise em tradução e estudos da cognição em geral.

Explicitation, simplification and neutralisation in the translation of reference

Recurrent features of translation, sometimes labelled as ‘translation universals’, have been intensively investigated within Descriptive Corpus-based Translation Studies. Numerous language pairs have been set under researchers’ lens with a view to observing languages from a contrastive viewpoint, but also individually, in their translational manifestations. This has enabled the identification of characteristic features of the translational facets of languages, which have generated more and more nuanced scholarly theories. This paper examines the occurrence of some of the most frequent features of translation, namely: explicitation, simplification and neutralisation in the translation of reference as a cohesive device. Methodologically speaking, the investigation combines the theoretical and applied areas of Translation Studies, with an interdisciplinary dimension provided by the fusion of methodological input borrowed from Descriptive Translation Studies, Discourse Analysis and Contrastive Studies. The theoretical component of the research refers to issues of contrastiveness between English and Romanian viewed from a translational angle, in terms of equivalence and the occurrence of the three features of translation. The applied area of Translation Studies comprises the empirical approach to the translation of reference, while addressing not only the researchers’ community, but also the practitioners in translation and the translator training environment. The research applies both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the data selected from John Fowles’ novel Mantissa (1982) and its translation into Romanian by Angela Jianu (Fowles 1995). The findings provide insights into the nature and functions of referring expressions as formal links, but also as stylistic devices, and shed light into issues related to contrastiveness of reference between English and Romanian, to aspects of equivalence and translatability, as well as to the occurrence of translation universals.

Food Name Translation Practice: A Case Study of Indonesian – English Menus

This paper analyzed the translation practice on chained hotel restaurant menus, especially on Indonesian traditional menu into English. The translation of food names requires translators to consider both the cultural associations embedded in the names, their meaning and function in the source language (SL) as well as the translatability of the terms in the target language (TL). Employing Descriptive Translation Studies, 33 Indonesian traditional food names from five hotel restaurants in Surabaya are analyzed in order to reveal the common practice of Indonesian traditional food name (SL) into English (TL). Out of 33 data, there are 21 traditional food name translation compared and elaborated using Descriptive Translation Studies approach. The translation procedures identified then are grouped based on Kwiecinski. The result indicated that exoticizing procedures only constitute of 9.5%, while rich explicatory procedures accounts for 61.9%. Further, recognized exoticism procedures was found in one data or 4.8%, and assimilative procedures are applied in five data or 23.8%. Thus, the most common practice in translating Indonesian traditional food names into English is mostly by describing the appearance of food completed by a list of side dishes and condiments. Thus, there is an attempt to generalize the unique feature of traditional food which may help target readers to recognize the food. However, the long information provided rarely explains the taste, and weights more into the serving appearance of the traditional food, reducing the potent of introducing the identity of Indonesian traditional food.

A corpus-based approach to the translation of conceptual metaphors in legal language: Chinese Yuān (冤) and English ‘Injustice’, ‘Wrong’ and ‘Tort’

ABSTRACT Yuān (冤) is a Chinese word literally meaning ‘bent’ which translates into English as ‘injustice’, ‘wrong’ and ‘tort’. It realises various conceptual metaphors in Chinese, such as yuan is bent, yuan is dirty, and yuan is dark. How does the English translation change these conceptual metaphors and their reception by target text readers? This study takes a Descriptive Translation Studies approach to answer this question. First, it introduces the methods of retrieving and analysing linguistic data, such as corpus search, and the principle of Cognitive Equivalence. Second, it shows the metaphors that yuān realises in Chinese and those realised by its translations in English, and compares their legal meanings. This study has found that ‘injustice’, ‘wrong’ and ‘tort’ are bent, as yuān is, although ‘tort’ is fully lexicalised and does not activate this mapping in contemporary English. None of the translations for yuān maps dirtiness and darkness onto the corresponding abstract notions. The legal meanings of these words in the two languages are also significantly different.

Leaving Readers and Writers in Peace: Translation of Religious Terms of Shakespeare’s "Coriolanus" into Arabic considering Venuti’s Invisibility

This paper is an endeavour to examine the translation of religious terms (praying and oath words) in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus pertaining to two translations by Muhammad al-Sibā‘ī (1881-1931) and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920-1994) into Arabic. This paper seeks to ascertain whether the translators opt for leaving readers in peace and bringing source text (ST) writers’ home or leaving writers in peace and sending target text (TT) readers abroad. The study is based on the theoretical framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) and the pivotal role the translated literature as facts of the target culture in the poly-system of world literature. The study reveals that each of these translations represents a specific strategy in translation. Visible translator is mostly adopted by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra and invisible translator is mostly adopted by Muhammad al-Sibā‘ī.

Textual Criticism, Translation Studies, and Symmachus’s Version in the Book of Job

Abstract The late second century CE translator/reviser Symmachus took a very different approach to the versions of his predecessor Aquila. His renderings do not appear to have survived in Jewish circles but were much admired by early Christian scholars, thanks to their preservation in Origen’s Hexapla. However, for textual critics of the Hebrew Bible Symmachus’ free approach has limited his value since his readings cannot be easily retroverted, unlike those of Aquila or Theodotion. In the case of the book of Job, although Symmachus’ “transformations” (to use a term from Descriptive Translation Studies) differ in nature from the freedoms observed in OG Job, while rejecting the narrow isomorphism of Aquila and Theodotion he nevertheless adheres quite closely to his Hebrew Vorlage. This offers the possibility of identifying elements significant for textual criticism in his rendering, including variant reading traditions or a different consonantal text.

Cultural adaptations

Abstract Linguistic and pragmatic aspects of the translation of politeness in contemporary novels were examined under the theoretical framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) (Toury 1995) and Newmark’s functional theory (1988). The analysis revealed that linguistic expressions tied to socio-cultural meaning and values were often neutralised due to the avoidance of creating non-normal target text expressions. Normalising culture-specific expressions was a strategy adopted by translators, enabling target language readers to relate to the stories according to their own cultural understanding. Notable differences in strategies to render texts were found across translators. From an educational perspective, this research provides realistic examples for intercultural language teaching and learning. An important implication is that the findings highlight the fact that, unlike European languages that share roots with English, a universal theory and approach to translation is not viable due to socio-cultural meaning and values that are specific to Japanese culture. The study also contributes to social psychology and consideration of the role of culture in understanding universal and culturally specific values and the attribution of meaning in collectivist and individualist societies.

Cătălina Iliescu-Gheorghiu: a polysystemic model for the comparative analysis of drama from the perspective of descriptive translation studies

This review presents a recently published book authored by Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, an academic actively involved in Romanian studies and a translator of Romanian literature. As the title suggests, it is a study that falls under the scope of Descriptive Translation Studies implying the polysystemic model posited by Lambert and Van Gorp for the comparative analysis of drama. The corpus under scrutiny is made up utterances extracted from the play A treia țeapă (The Third Stake) by Marin Sorescu and the corresponding utterances from two of its translations into English. The analytical part is backed up by a solid theoretical framework with its latter section lending the overall structure of the analysis. The categories subject to investigation are (i) preliminary data, (ii) the macro-level structures, (iii) the micro-level structures and (iv) the systemic context. The methodology experimented with drama translation and the findings deriving from it have proved their validity and are valuable input for other similar and possibly more comprising research that can use these findings as hypotheses to be tested further.

The Applicability of Munday’s Systemic Model for Descriptive Translation Studies on Human and Machine Arabic Translations of an English Text

The Applicability of Munday’s Systemic Model for Descriptive Translation Studies on Human and Machine Arabic Translations of an English Text

Translating irony into Arabic – who’s having the last laugh? Dubbing Monsters Inc.: Egyptian vernacular vs. modern standard Arabic

Monsters Inc., an animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios in 2001, received significant recognition worldwide. The film was nominated in 2002 for the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards by the Box Office Films. Two dubbed versions of the film were later released with Arabic translations using Egyptian Vernacular, a spoken dialect, and Modern Standard Arabic, used primarily in formal, written communications.This study examines humor in translation and irony as humor which represents a common technique in “Pixar plotting”. The research investigates the strategies, types, and categories of irony as humor within the translations and the success of those translations at accurately transmitting the humorous meaning. Towards exploring the problems of translating irony across languages and cultures, this research examines the shifts in translations between the two Arabic language versions using an interdisciplinary theoretical approach encompassing humor studies, audiovisual translation studies, and descriptive translation studies. Furthermore, the research adopts Muecke’s (1978) classification of irony markers to categorize and identify the strategies used in translating irony as humor. The study finds that the two different versions of Arabic utilize similar strategies at times and divergent ones at others, such as explication, substitution, omission or addition, in translating irony as humor with each succeeding/failing at varied levels of meaning transmission. The research suggests translators’ creativity, or lack thereof, and the language variant used are primarily responsible for the success or failure of transmitting irony as humor for dubbing into Arabic.

An analysis of manga translated from Japanese to Russian: based on descriptive translation studies

The purpose of this study is to analyze the Japanese version and the two Russian versions of the Japanese Manga written by Nakazawa Keiji, Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen), based on Descriptive Translation Studies, and find out tendencies of the translation. Manga, the Japanese comic, is one of the materials for knowing Japanese culture, especially subculture along with Anime; therefore, Manga serves as an attractive learning material for foreign learners of Japanese. The present researcher used the three-phase methodology proposed by Toury (1995). In the first stage, the author situated a translated text within the target culture system; in the second stage, compared the Source Text and the Target Text for shifts, identifying relationships between ‘coupled pairs’ of the Source Text and Target Text segments; in the third stage, attempted to draw some generalizations regarding the translation strategies employed. The result showed that the new translation of Russian versions adopted a Source Text-oriented translation strategy in pages structure of Manga; that is, it emphasized Japanese culture. Henceforth, research findings enable identifying translation strategy’s naturalness (RT1 / RT2) by quantitatively analyzes of linguistic expressions and structure translation of pages. Key words: Japanese, Russian, Manga, Descriptive Translation Studies.

Shifts of agency in translation: a case study of the Chinese translation of Wild Swans

This paper calls for a reconsideration of transitivity as a useful analytical tool in descriptive translation studies, especially for the investigation of the translation of agency. Transitivity is the ensemble of lexico-grammatical resources that “represent reality in language” (Eggins 2001/2005: 206). Such choices in translation have been usefully explored by a number of translation scholars with a strong orientation towards Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), although there has not been much recent scholarly interest within the wider community of translation studies (TS), perhaps due to the perceived complexity of SFL’s analytical framework. This paper returns to transitivity analysis for its continued relevance to TS, especially for those interested in uncovering the way agency, ideology, characterization and narrative are manifested in text. This paper incorporates new linguistic methodologies of analysing transitivity in combination with additional linguistic systems of voice, theme, and modality because this combination allows for a more holistic view of transitivity. Focusing on the translation of Mao’s agency at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in Chang’s politically volatile autobiography,Wild Swans, it has found dramatic shifts in the characterization of Mao in the Chinese translation by Pu Zhang, published in Taiwan, which alters the overall narrative. This paper proposes a categorization of equivalences and shifts of linguistic agency based on a text-based analysis, thus contributing to a more systematic categorisation of the translation of agency.

Review

Review

(A)bridging the Gap – A study of the norms and laws in the intralingual translation of the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

In the last decade, intralingual translation has started to gain momentum amongst a number of translation academics. Nevertheless, some types of intralingual translation remain largely undiscovered, such as the process of abridgement in the production of simplified versions of classic literary works (i.e. graded readers). This article subjects three chapters of the abridged version of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie to qualitative analysis using Descriptive Translation Studies theory. The aim is to contribute to bridging a research gap in Translation Studies by examining the norms and laws governing the process of abridgement. Translation norms and laws are detected by situating the source and the target texts in their respective socio-cultural backgrounds and by analysing translation shifts. Relevant shifts are identified by means of a check-list of features elaborated on the basis of theory on graded readers, which classifies them into lexical, structural and information shifts. The results of the analysis showcase the vast research potential of intralingual translation for language learning purposes.

El papel de la revisión editorial en la autoría múltiple del texto traducido: la versión española de <em>Beautiful Children</em>, de Charles Bock, como estudio de caso

La descripción de regularidades en los textos traducidos ha constituido una de las preocupaciones principales de la investigación en la rama descriptiva de los Estudios de Traducción. En el campo de la traducción editorial, los esfuerzos se han centrado en sistematizar y explicar tendencias traductoras, pero hasta hace unos años, no se ha prestado excesiva atención a las modificaciones lingüísticas en la versión final de la traducción debidas a la intervención editorial en la fase de edición del libro y, por lo tanto, no directamente imputables al traductor. Para ilustrar la importancia de la revisión editorial en la narrativa traducida, este trabajo presenta los resultados de un estudio de caso donde se comparan las elecciones léxicas en la novela Beautiful Children, de Charles Bock (2008), con las opciones léxicas del manuscrito de la traducción entregado a una editorial española, así como con el texto que finalmente se publicó en forma de libro. El interés del estudio es destacar el papel de la intervención editorial en la configuración del texto final y subrayar la relevancia de este tipo de estudios para detectar patrones de normas de edición, tanto implícitas como explícitas, en el proceso final de edición de una traducción.

De Cumbe a Run for It: tradução e questões étnico-raciais

Cumbe (2014), de Marcelo D'Salete, é um romance gráfico que retrata a resistência dos negros escravizados durante o período colonial no Brasil, a partir de suas perspectivas. Neste artigo, abordamos a tradução de Cumbe para o inglês: Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for Their Freedom (2017). Considerando as relações entre linguagem, tradução e questões étnico-raciais, nosso objetivo é compreender como as escolhas tradutórias e a recepção da obra constroem sentidos em seu contexto de publicação. Para tal, analisamos os paratextos que compõem o livro (capa, quarta capa, notas de rodapé, entre outros) e fragmentos selecionados da obra. Como referencial teórico e metodológico utilizamos os Estudos Descritivos da Tradução (Lambert e Van Gorp, 1985; Toury, 1995; Bassnett e Lefevere, 1990; Tymoczko, 1999) em diálogo com os Estudos Culturais (Tymoczko, 2007) e os Estudos do Discurso (Bakhtin, 2000; Rocha, 2014; Maingueneau, 2008). Os principais resultados apontam para determinadas estratégias tradutórias que propõem sentidos com o intuito de didatizar a experiência de leitura do texto em seu novo contexto e suavizar a opressão racial imposta aos escravizados no Brasil, tal como foi retratada na obra de D’Salete.De Cumbe a Run for It: traducción y cuestiones étnico-racialesResumenCumbe (2014), de Marcelo D'Salete, es una novela gráfica que retrata la resistencia de los negros esclavizados durante el período colonial en Brasil, desde sus perspectivas. En este artículo, abordamos la traducción de Cumbe al inglés: Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for Their Freedom (2017). Al considerar las relaciones entre lenguaje, traducción y cuestiones étnico-raciales, nuestro objetivo es comprender cómo las elecciones del traductor y la recepción de la obra construyen sentidos en su contexto de publicación. Para esto, analizamos los paratextos que componen el libro (portada, contraportada, notas a pie de página, entre otros) y fragmentos seleccionados de la obra. Como marco teórico y metodológico usamos los estudios descriptivos de la traducción (Lambert y Van Gorp, 1985; Toury, 1995; Bassnett y Lefevere, 1990; Tymoczko, 1999) en diálogo con los Estudios Culturales (Tymoczko, 2007) y los estudios del discurso (Bakhtin, 2000; Rocha, 2014; Maingueneau, 2008). Los principales resultados apuntan a determinadas estrategias de traducción que proponen sentidos con el objetivo de didactizar la experiencia de lectura del texto en su nuevo contexto y suavizar la opresión racial impuesta a los esclavizados en Brasil, tal como fue retratada en la obra de D’Salete.Palabras clave: Cumbe, Run for It, cuestiones raciales, estudios descriptivos de traducción, estudios culturales, estudios del discursoArtículo recibido: 30/04/2019Artículo aceptado: 28/06/2019Cómo citar este artículo: Silva, L. de M., de Almeida, F. S., Giorgi, M. C. y Castro, A. de C. (2019). De Cumbe a Run for It: tradução e questões étnico-raciais. Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción, 12(2), 406-432. doi: 10.27533/udea.mut.v12n2a04

Blood Wedding in (re)translation

Abstract This article is a comparative study of four different translations into English of Federico García Lorca's play Bodas de sangre (1933) carried out in the United Kingdom and Ireland throughout the 1990s. Since the publication of Antoine Berman's seminal article on 'retranslation', this theoretical concept has provided a fecund framework for descriptive translation studies, illuminating the variety of solutions translators provide when confronted with the same original text. This article furthers that body of scholarship while simultaneously providing new angles on Lorca's dramatic work. The comparative approach to several English translations of this classic work concentrates on two key scenes of the play and discusses the linguistic, pragmatic and theatrical adequacy of each translation.

Interview with Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen

As a sequel to the first part of the interview on translation, this transcript further explores issues related to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and translation studies. Christian Matthiessen and Bo Wang first discuss the acceptance of the term ‘systemic functional translation studies’ in academia. Then, Christian Matthiessen comments on the contributions made by various scholars, including J. R. Firth, Erich Steiner and his group, Mona Baker, Juliane House, and J. R. Martin. Finally, Christian Matthiessen explains the relationships between SFL and some translation theories, i.e. skopos theory, polysystem theory and descriptive translation studies. Our discussions are expected to contribute to the debates on translation studies and SFL as well as the applications of SFL to translation.

A literatura infantojuvenil e as amarras da literatura: arte com funcionalidade

Informado pelos Estudos Descritivos da Tradução, este artigo problematiza algumas questões centrais para a literatura infantojuvenil (LIJ) e para a reescrita desse tipo de literatura. Com base na noção de reescrita de André Lefevere e no entendimento de que aspectos ideológicos e poetológicos condicionam a publicação de obras literárias, discute-se o caráter teleológico da LIJ, bem como as imposições de ordem cultural, ideológica ou mercadológica que podem interferir na criação da LIJ ou da literatura em geral. Considera-se que para a compreensão dos fenômenos tradutórios em dada cultura meta faz-se necessário analisar, além de aspectos literários, as condicionantes particulares dessa cultura, observando especialmente as propostas ou concepções de literatura e de sociedade por parte daqueles que atuam no processo de elaboração e difusão das reescritas. Observa-se ainda que diferentes perspectivas ideológicas e poetológicas podem ser entrevistas não somente na diacronia que separa as reescritas mais antigas das contemporâneas, mas também as reescritas publicadas em um mesmo momento histórico poderão apresentar propostas distintas, as quais são concretizadas, por meio de estratégias tradutórias, na própria reescrita, no modo de reler o Outro. Para isso, o artigo ilustra com exemplos concretos a discussão teórica apresentada, sendo abordados casos de projetos tradutórios em sistemas literários distintos, especificamente, Estados Unidos, Polônia e Brasil. Ao discutir as implicações de uma “literatura para” e abordar as fronteiras porosas entre os termos usualmente utilizados na reescrita de LIJ (tradução, adaptação, história recontada), este trabalho objetiva abordar a complexidade da LIJ quanto a sua própria definição e as suas formas de apresentação em detrimento de perspectivas que inserem a LIJ em uma posição de inferioridade ou à margem da literatura.

The undergraduate learner translator corpus: a new resource for translation studies and computational linguistics

Around the world, a growing interest has been seen in learner translator corpora, which are invaluable resources for teaching and research. This paper introduces a new resource to support researchers from different interdisciplinary areas such as computational linguistics, descriptive translation studies, computer-aided translation technology, Arabic machine translation applications, cognitive science, and translation pedagogy. Motivated by the lack of learner translator resources that provide data about learners of translation from and into Arabic, the undergraduate learner translator corpus (ULTC) is an ongoing, error-tagged sentence-aligned parallel corpus of English, Arabic, and French, with Arabic as its main language. The present corpus, consisting of parallel texts of female learners of translation from English or French into Arabic, is the first of its kind in terms of the languages represented, tasks covered, and number of students involved. It is also unique in terms of combining many complementary corpora of cross-lingual data, each of which has its own web-based query interface and corpus analysis tools. This paper describes the ULTC compilation process, preliminary findings, and planned future expansion and research.