ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Editor-in-chief: Kinga Klaudy
Volume 8, Issue 1, 2007
pp. 1-16
ON THE IDEA OF A THEORY
ANDREW CHESTERMAN
MonAKO, Department of General Linguistics,
University of Helsinki
Unioninkatu 40, Helsinki 00014, Finland
E-mail: chesterm@mappi.helsinki.fi
Abstract: This article is based on a lecture that has been given to several groups of doctoral students at various
times and in various places. It outlines five notions of what has been taken to constitute a “theory”: myth, metaphor,
model, hypothesis and structured research programme. The most fundamental of these is the hypothesis. These
different ideas of what a theory can be are illustrated with examples from Translation Studies. Any theory aims at
description and explanation, and these two concepts are also discussed. A final comment takes up the idea that
translations themselves are theories, and that a translator is thus a theorist or theôros.
Key words: theory, model, hypothesis, myth, metaphor, research
pp. 17-32
EXPLICITATION AS A UNIVERSAL IN SYNTACTIC
DE/CONDENSATION
PETRA KONŠALOVÁ
Institute of Translation Studies
Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague
Hybernská 3, CZ-110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 221 619 512, Fax: +420 221 619 528
E-mail: konsalova@yahoo.com
Abstract: The aim of this study was to test the explicitation hypothesis (Blum-Kulka 1986) on the morphosyntactic level. A bi-directional comparable corpus of popular texts on history, as well as German and Czech parallel
corpora were analysed in order to investigate the tendency in translations to use more explicit modes of expression
instead of syntactic condensation devices. At the first stage of the study, the frequencies of finite verbs in main and
subordinate clauses, participial phrases and infinitive constructions, and deverbative nouns and adjectives in original
Czech and German texts were contrasted. Results showed that Czech prefers more verbal/explicit modes of expression
in contrast with the more nominal/implicit German style. The second stage of the study consisted of the examination of
explicitating and implicitating shifts in both German-to-Czech and Czech-to-German translations. The findings fully
confirm the explicitation hypothesis, with explicitation exceeding implicitation by 40.6% in Czech and by 47.8% in
German translations. The word count analysis also supports the hypothesis. At the third stage, translations were
subjected to the same quantitative analysis as was conducted at stage one on original texts. The frequencies revealed in
translations were then compared with those obtained from original target language texts. The German comparable
corpus proved to have a higher degree of explicitness in translations while the Czech comparable corpus did not show
any clear-cut explicitation tendencies in translations.
Key words: explicitation hypothesis, implicitation, syntactic condensation, translation universals
pp. 33-54
ARABIC LEXICAL DOUBLETS:
TRANSLATION STRATEGIES
HISHAM A. JAWAD
English Department, College of Arts & Social Sciences
Sultan Qaboos University
P.O Box 42, P.C. 123 Al-Khod, Muscat, Oman
Email: hajawad@hotmail.com
Abstract: This paper aims to explore the norms, strategies and procedures of translating lexical doublets in
Arabic literary discourse. Lexical doublets are sets of two (near-) synonyms connected with ‫‘ و‬and’, ‫‘ أو‬or’, or the zero
article. The empirical basis material for this study consists of a three-part autobiography (al-Ayyām, ‘The Days’) and a
narrative (Hadīth ´Īsā ibn Hishām, ‘´Īsā ibn Hishām’s Tale’). Findings show that patterns of repetition are shifted in the
English translations, and various translation strategies are applied, the most common being grammatical transposition
and reduction. A quantitative analysis of the translation of lexical doublets in three samples is also conducted. The
samples are about 2500 words each, randomly selected from the three parts of the autobiography. The figures indicate
that one translator (that of Part One) adopts a source text-oriented strategy while the other two translators prefer a
shifting strategy. This may be seen as a useful indicator of the translations’ orientation towards either adequacy or
acceptability (Toury 1995).
Keywords: lexical doublets, translation strategies, translational norms, Arabic discourse
pp. 55-80
CENTRIPETALITY AND CENTRIFUGALITY IN TRANSLATION:
WITH REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN LANGUAGES AND CHINESE
LAURENCE WONG
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Translation
Phone: +852 2609 7694, Fax: +852 2603 5173
E-mail:wongkp@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract: Practitioners of translation who have had the experience of translating between any two major European
languages as well as between Chinese and a European language will be aware that the former type of translation is
much less complex than the latter. With reference to English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and
Chinese, this article examines translation in various directions, and shows how centrifugality and centripetality
account for increased or reduced complexity of the translation process.
Key words: centrifugality, centripetality, translation process, types of translation, complexity of translation
pp. 81-101
CHALLENGES IN MULTILINGUAL SOCIETIES.
THE MYTH OF THE INVISIBLE
INTERPRETER AND TRANSLATOR
CARMEN VALERO-GARCÉS
University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
E-mail: mcarmen.valero@uah.es
http://www2.uah.es/traduccion
Abstract: This paper concentrates on communication with minority groups through a third party or intermediary in
the public services. The variety of settings in which these encounters take place (hospitals, schools, government offices,
police stations, customs checkpoints, etc.) raises questions on the role played by this intermediary, the importance of
culture, the recognition of his/her job as a profession, the acceptance of the varied forms of professionalism, and the
consideration of the different attitudes of the society and its institutions. This study concentrates on the different names
and roles assigned to this link, with special emphasis on one of them: the interpreter and translator, and the debate
surrounding the new roles he/she should (or should not) perform.
Keywords: intercultural communication, community interpreting, translation, mediation, multilingual societies
pp. 103-122
AUTONOMOUS LEARNING: WHAT MAKES IT WORK IN
POSTGRADUATE INTERPRETER TRAINING?
ILDIKÓ HORVÁTH
Interpreter and Translator Training Centre,
ELTE University, Budapest
Múzeum krt. 4/F, H-1088 Budapest, Hungary
E-mail: h_ildiko@t-online.hu
Abstract: Autonomous learning is a complex and multi-faceted construct. It can be defined as the learners’
capacity to self-direct their own learning, which means taking responsibility for the decisions concerning the different
aspects of the learning process. However, there is more to autonomous learning than its purely management aspect.
Autonomous learning, first of all, means critical thinking, planning and evaluating learning, and reflection, a conscious
effort on the part of the learner to continuously monitor the learning process from beginning to end. This is the
cognitive side of autonomous learning. This paper reports on the findings of an empirical investigation conducted at the
Interpreter and Translator Training Centre (ITTC) of ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary. ITTC offers postgraduate
translator and interpreting training. The current research focuses on the role of autonomous learning in interpreter
training in particular. The study explores the research question whether interpreter training at ITTC develops the
students’ capacity to carry out autonomous learning. It also intends to ascertain what makes autonomous learning work
in the context of postgraduate interpreter training.
Keywords: learner autonomy, learner training/development, cooperative learning, self-access.