TS (not Taylor Swift)

Discuss the concept of translation, drawing on Jakobson’s classification

in his work linguistic aspect of translation, he divides the concept of translation into three categories:

• interlingual translation

• intralingual translation

• intersemiotic translation

what are the contributions of Holme’s paper ‘The name and nature of translation studies” to the field of translation studies

• defines process and product —> legitimizes both

• maps the filed (theoretical, descriptive and applied)

• institutional recognition to TS, before, it was studied under linguistic, and it has no home of its own

• it opened the door to the professional application of TS research.

describe the theoretical, descriptive and applied branches of translation studies, following Holmes’s map of TS

• theoritical : goal is to explain and predict translation phenomena

  • general theories : applicable to all types of transaction (rare)

  • partial theories; specific aspects os translation

    • medium restricted

    • area restricted

    • time-restricted

    • rank restricted (linguistic levels)

    • text-type restricted

    • problem restricted

• descriptive : goal is to describe what happens

  • product-oriented: focus on existing translation (tools like corpora)

  • process-oriented: what happens while translating (eye-tracking, keyboard logging, (retrospective) think aloud protocols).

  • function-oriented:role of translations in a specific culture (surveys, focus group)

• applied: goal is real-world application

  • translator training : improve

  • translator-aid: MT

  • translation criticism: evaluate translation and their reception

what is taboo/offensive language and how can it be translated

Ávila-Cabrera distonguises between taboo language and offensive language.

• offensive language : includes expressions generally considered insulting across cultures (violence, expletives, swear words, insult, invective, swearing)

• taboo language: is contexte-dependent, terms that are inappropriate in some cultures (bodily function, blaspheme, sex, drugs)

different strategies: RADIOEE

• rephrasing

• annotation

• domestication

• initialism

• omission

• equivalence

• explanation

so it can be

• toned down

• toned up

• neutralizaed

• maintained

• ommited

which methodology is used in Zanettin et al (2015)’s paper to review the field of translation studies? what are the author’s main findings?

he used 27 analytic categories in the TSA (translation studies abstract online) to try and define what were the most popular fields in to translation and interpreting studies. he also used a, automatic corpus-based analysis made of 16000 titles. the period covers was 1996-2011. first, he assigned one of the 27 analytic categories to each title of the bibliography, but when it was digitalized, he was able to assign more. so the results were that literary ts, ts and intercultural studies were the most popular. terminology and religious studies have a sharo decline. finally, more attention has been paid to AVT.

discuss and illustrate Vinay & Darbelnet taxonomy of translation strategies and translation procedures

in their work “comaprative stylistic of French and English”, they offered a first taxonomy of translations strategies and procedures. they came up with a taxonomy of 2 strategies and 7 procedures we use (unconsciously) when we translate.

• 1st strategy: direct translagtion= when in cruise mode

  • calque

  • literal translation

  • borrowing

• 2nd strategy: oblique translation: when in bump mode

  • modulation

  • adaptation

  • transposition

  • equivalence

discuss and illustrate pym’s taxonomy of translation solutions

Anthony Pym does not opt for the use strategy like Vinay and Darbelnet, but rather solution. He wanted to come up with a solution that was applicable to all languages pair, not only English and French.

he distinguishes between two mode while translating:

• bump mode

• cruise mode

his typology is based on several principles: it concerns when he has a choice to make (not obligatory), more than one language pair, does not prescribe when a particular solution should be used, the purpose is pedagogical.

when you enter bump mode, you have 3 main categories of solution:

• copying: word or structure

• expression change:

  • perspective change

  • density change

• content change:

  • addition

  • ommission

Discuss Nida’s Princple of Equivalence Effect

based on the idea that “the relationships between audience and message should be the same as the which which existed between the original receptors and the message”. he was talking about the Bible, but that can be applied to all types of translation. he wanted to make sure that model reader of the Bible had a similar experience the the message as the original audience did. he proposed two types of equivalence:

• formal equivalence : focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content.

• dynamic equivalence : the focus is on the effect.

what is the pedagogical value of taxonomy of translation solutions (strategies, procedures,…)?

• taxonomy help students reflect on their own translation choices. they are encouraged to analyse not only the solution they choose but why they choose them.

• they reflect on the difficulty to theorize TS

• they learn to recognize where strategic thinking is necessary

What are functionalist approaches to translation?

They were developed in Germany in the 70s and 80s. they try to move away from purely linguistic approaches to translation. they emphasize that translation is a communication act that takes place in a certain context.

several principles:

• functionality principle: the translation purpose determines the choice of the translation method

• the translation purpose is defined by a translation brief

• function is not an inherent quality of the text, but one that is attributed to the text by the receiver in the moment of reception

discuss reiss’s taxonomy of text types. how do text types relate to genres and translation methods

Reiss says that equivalence is not sought at word or sentence level but rather at text level. she goes back to the main function of a text and interaction between humans which is communication. she classifies texts within three categories, depending on their communicative function:

• informative text-type: the aime is to communicate knowledge. example: wikipedia page

• expressive text type: here the aesthetic dimension is more important than the content itself. you need to be true the author. example: poem

• operative text-type: persuade people to act a cartian way. example: political speech.

some genres are typically connected to a certain text type. some to two, or three (biographies)

she says that identifying the function will help the translator selecting the appropriate method

• informative: plain prose

• expressive: identifying

• operative: more freedom

what is skopos theory?

develoepd by Hans vermeer. key functionalist approach that is valid for all texts. the term skopos refers to the aim of the translation. it focuses on what it is used for, the purpose of the translation shapes how the translation is produced. a translation can be judged on what Vermeer calls functional adequacy which relies on two aspects:

• coherence rule (intratextual coherence): the translation should be cohrent int itself, make sense to the reader and fit their needs.

• fidelity rule: intertexual coherence between ST and TT, but it comes after. ed

define and illustrate Nord’s documentary and instrumental translation

• documenary translation: it occurs when the reader is aware that he is reading a translation

• instrumental translation: the reader is not aware of the fact that he is reading a translation and it does not really matter. also called hidden or covert translation.

discuss Nord’s translation-oriented text analysis. what are its advantages and drawbacks?

while the purpose of the text remains important, nord pays more attention to the source text. it takes into account both linguistic and extralinguistic features. the aim is to provide students with a ST analysis that is applicable to all types of texts.

• advantages: applicable to all types of texts. by analyzing the source text, the translator will understand its typical feature and apply the appropriate strategy

discuss the importance of the translation brief in the functionalist models

it includes instructions that determines the translator’s choice based on the intended purpose of the translation. according to nord, a proper translation brief should have five keys elements:

• intended text function: what the TT is to accomplish

• adresses: who will be using the TT

• time and place of reception: when and where will the TT be used?

• Medium: the organization of the TT influences tone and design: how

• Motive: why is the TT being translated?

a good translation brief helps choose and justify translation strategies

what are the three main methodological orientations in TS? describe and provide examples

• product oriented: focuses on the translated text itself. analyse the TT without taking into account how it was produced.

  • methods:

    • corpus based studies

    • TQA: translation quality assessment : accuracy, fluency and adequacy

• porches oriented: analyse the cognitive process. focus is on what happens in the mind.

  • methods:

    • keystroke logging

    • eye tracking

• participant oriented: developed in the 90s

  • methods: surveys, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

what are mixed-methods approached in TS? illustrate with an example

combining different types of data collection and analysis method within the same study. often: bot quantitative and qualitative or process, product, participant.

• quantitative method: objective: aim is to identify patterns : corpus analysis, frequency counts…

• qualitative: subjective: discourse analysis, interviews, focus groups..

example: Rivas-Genel and Morotens paper on ChatGPT:

• quantitative: corpus of posts and threads in practice-oriented translation networks

• qualitative: questionnaire