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Building an Arabic Transcreation Practice
Introduction
Globalization, the integration of international socioeconomic communities fueled by
rapid advances in information and transportation technology, exists as an
indisputable fact of life in the Internet era. Yet, despite the spread of English as the
international business world’s lingua franca, the translation industry continues to
grow and expand with profit projections regularly surpassing more than $20 billion
each year (Sprung 2000). Accordingly, multinational firms from Apple to Nike and
everywhere in between increasingly invest millions of dollars in translation and
location services, defined as the adaptation of products, services, and messages from
one culture to the sociolinguistic standards of another. The language service
industry, the sector which facilitates international and multilingual business
communications, proves indispensible to the process of translation and localization;
duties performed by language service industry include translation, interpretation,
language technology development, and linguistic consulting (ECLI). Of the
industry’s array of manifestations, transcreation, the “adaptation of a message from
one language to another, while maintaining its intent, style, tone and context,”
(Morrison 2013) displays the greatest future growth potential and, moreover, aligns
most closely with my own professional and academic skills and interests. As such,
the following industry research report introduces and analyzes the practice of
transcreation, performs a case study of Craft Worldwide, explores possibilities for
developing an Arabic language transcreation practice, and delineates how I plan to
launch my career in the field.
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Transcreation
Accurate, effective translation goes far beyond simply substituting the words of one
language with their equivalent terms in another. Rather, it requires the adaptation
and transmission of the original message’s intent, context, style, and tone and to the
target language as well. Bell supports this assertion, describing translation as “the
expression in another language...of what has been expressed in [the] source
language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalencies,” (1991:5). Scholarly
definitions thus link the linguistic act of translation with awareness and
understanding of the target language’s culture, its communicative norms, and
expectations—all of which fall precisely within the domain of sociolinguists.
Industry professional Matt Moore essentially states as much, writing that a linguistic
“approach to translation focuses primarily on the issues of meaning and equivalence
(same meaning conveyed by a different expression)...[that] tries to discover ‘what’
the language actually means,” (Moore 2009) rather than merely what is said. All the
while, “it is necessary to be clear about the cultural differences between the foreign
language and the native language and how the target-language culture is reflected in
its language” (Geng 2013:977). In essence, then, “Translation is not a matter of
words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture
,” the agentive act of
“[trans]creating a text for the target audience,” (Balemans 2010). Robert Sprung
(2000), “founder and manager of the translation and transcreation unit within
CRAFT Worldwide [this Indurstry Research Report’s company of inquiry] ”
(LinkadsfedIn) regards translation as the cross-cultural transmission and adaption
of messages from one sociolinguistic standard to another. According to Bassnet
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(1998: 79-81) task of the translator, therefore, “is not to ignore cultural differences
[or] to pretend that there is such a thing as universal truth and value free [of]
cultural exchange, but rather to be aware of those differences,”—a matter I am
keenly aware of and familiar with.
My Interest in the Field: Why Transcreation
As a sociolinguist, I am broadly interested in the professional applications of
sociolinguistic analysis and using my linguistic training to overcome challenges of
intercultural communication. Gumperz (1982), and Scollon (1996) establish the
critical nature contextual knowledge to sound cross-cultural communications; from
applied experience working abroad in the Kingdom of Jordan, during which time I
bidirectionally translated official project documents for government institutions
Arabic-English, I understand how crucial sociolinguistic knowledge of and
experience in the target culture proves to effective and accurate translation
(Homeidi 2004). Accordingly, I hope to combine my formal linguistics training and
Arabic language skills in a productive capacity for international language service
provider firms operating in Arabic speaking countries. Transcreation, which
requires one with “ an excellent knowledge of both the source language, the target
language [and] a thorough knowledge of [the target language’s]cultural
backgrounds,” (Balemans) provides the ideal career path in which to apply my
personal, professional, and academic interests.
Craft Worldwide, Industry Leader
Seeking to apply sound linguistic principles to “leverage brands and products
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worldwide,” (Sprung 2000:ix) while solving the types of linguistic problems
frequently encountered in the international business world, language and linguistic
analysis forms the very core of Craft Worldwide’s key competencies. As a pioneer in
the field of transcreation, “seamless [socioculturally relevant] adaptation is at the
heart of Craft Worldwide’s value proposition,” (craft-translation). To that end, Craft
employs keen-minded, analytical interculturalists with a “love of language and drive
to solve linguistic problems...to transmit [a] brand’s message, intact, from one
market or cultural group to another,” (craft-translation).
Working with Fortune 500 clients as diverse as Coca-Cola, General Mills, and
Xbox, Craft conceives of its employees as agentive ‘craftsmen’, who, equipped with
their array of foreign language skills, linguistics training, and functional-area (i.e.,
industry) expertise and experience meld and mold language in a variety of different
manners and methods as per client requests and target culture needs and
expectations. Craft’s referring strategy on its website thus positions language as a
powerful, malleable tool used to communicate messages across cultures and
different languages. Accordingly, the company both considers and employs
language in ways that intercultural scholars such as Gumperz and Scollon, with their
emphasis on cultural and contextual knowledge, would endorse: Craft, in short,
seeks skilled and motivated employees with the repertoire of foreign language,
linguistic, and analytical skills to overcome the inherent challenges of cross-cultural
communications and marketing.
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My Fit at Craft
Greg Niedt, former employee in Craft Worldwide’s Translation and
Transcreation department, current translation project manager at Shuttershock,
and MLC alum (Class of 2011) provided my initial introduction to the company by
way of an informational interview. Regarding the relevant skills and experience
that transcreation firms seek in job applicants, Greg stated that companies most
value those candidates possessing previous translation and transcreation
experience and a demonstrated academic and professional passion for language.
Given my hands-on Arabic-English translation and transcreation experience as a
project manager in the Kingdom of Jordan, I fit the bill in both respects: During the
summer of 2012, I translated a Ministry of Planning and International Planning
internship project manual Arabic-English and a demography survey proposal
English-Arabic for the Ministry of Social Development; subsequently, as the
principal project consultant for a start-up hearing aids manufacturer, I authored and
secured a $50,000 CAD grant from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives; created a
Site Master File in English as per ISO-9000 standards for and approved by the
Jordanian Food and Drug Administration to gain GMP and ML (Manufacturing and
Marketing) licenses; and completed the start-up registration process with the
Jordanian Customs Department to being operations as an official medical device
vendor in the country. These past experiences, as well as my current job
transliterating and translating Arabic books, journals, and DVDs as Georgetown
University’s Arabic Metadata Specialist constitute the exact type of “unique trial-byfire background they'll [translation firms] want to see.”
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Greg further made the crucial distinction between the roles of translator and
project manager at transcreation firms. Companies expect translators to translate
into their native language (i.e., a native Arabic speaker bilingual in English translates
from English into Arabic, while a native English speaker bilingual in Arabic
translates from English into Arabic), possess relevant certificates and education in
their given translation language(s), and meet industry standards for quality control
words translated per minute. Project managers, on the other hand, largely “traffic
documents, deal with clients, and proof-reading/spot-checking across many
languages.” As a native English speaker proficient in Arabic with graduate-level
linguistics training and experience transcreating official project documents Arabic
to English, I thus appear best suited for a project management position with a
transcreation and translation firm. Following my informational interview with Greg,
I contacted Robert Sprung, founding manager of Craft Worldwide’s Transcreation
unit, to inquire about an informational interview. While we have yet to speak by
phone, Robert indicated over email that he is interested in building an Arabic
practice at Craft, a proposal towards which my report now turns.
Proposal for an Arabic Practice
As established, effective and accurate translation from one sociolinguistic
standard to another requires individuals intimately familiar with the target culture,
its language, and expectations for socially acceptable behavior. Given my academic
and professional background with the language, I constitute the ideal project
manager for an Arabic transcreation unit. I understand the sociocultural nuance,
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depth, and expectations of Arab communities; possess the Arabic language skills,
linguistics training, and applied transcreation experience coveted by translation and
localization firms; and, moreover, have experience performing a variety of duties in
a managerial capacity. As the Arabic project manager, then, I will be responsible for
networking, liaising, and negotiating with client corporations whose advertisements
we will transcreate for the Arabic marketplace; trafficking documents; proofreading
translated texts; and managing workflow.
In order to best preserve clients’ “signature style in the foreign-language
copy” (Sprung 2000:13), I further propose hiring two native Arabic-speaking
translators on a freelance basis, adding more as our unit expands. In addition to
myself, the initial Arabic will include: one literary translator who excels with
technical materials and “is used to delivering high volumes on tight deadlines,”
(Sprung 19); and one technical translator, “who can recreate the [source] voice in a
foreign language,” (Sprung 19). Expected to possess sound research and analytical
skills, these translators should demonstrate “strong fluency in English, with a keen
ear for idiom,” and, “a professional, fluid style in the target language, with a
penchant for brevity,” (Sprung 20). Working from English into their native language,
they must possess certificates from accredited institutions verifying their skills as
English-Arabic translators, a solid record of past translation experience and success,
and demonstrate familiarity with computerized translation tools such as Trados and
MemoQ. Ideally, they will also have past experience working on international
marketing campaigns.
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Matthew Mermel
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Arabic Practice Transcreation Workflow
As the Arabic project manager, I will network, negotiate, and secure contracts
with client corporations whose marketing campaigns and communications our team
will transcreate for the emerging Arabic language marketplace; transfer and track
documents, proofread translated texts, and manage workflow as per a documented
quality control procedures, a model of which appears below (adapted from Sprung
22-23):
Text/Ad
Campaign
Received
Presented to
Client
Tracked by
Management
Software
Edited and
Proofread
Translated
by Native
Speaker
EnglishArabic
Focus Group
Review by All
Team
Members
Regular review sessions of current projects will prove particularly crucial to the
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Arabic unit’s success: during these meetings, I will lead the translation team in a
principled evaluation premised in linguistic analysis to determine how to best adapt
and transmit message tone, intent, context, and affect from English to Arabic.
Going Forward
Going forward, I will continue to engage the industry by monitoring social
media and professional blogs, reading about the trade in non-scholarly and
academic sources, and researching companies like Craft and Hogarth, another
renowned transcreation firm. Networking has and will continue to prove most
effective as I seek a career in the field. Via Shelley Morrison, whose transcreation
workshop I attended at the SIETAR conference in November 2013 and reconnected
with at the 2014 International Management Conference, I connected with Meritxell
Guitart, president of Hogarth Americas, and interviewed in-person for a summer
internship position with their transcreation team in New York City. Additionally, I
interviewed by phone with both Craft Worldwide and RR Donnelly Global Language
Services for a similar positions on their translation and transcreation teams. As of
this writing, I am awaiting final word from all three corporations regarding my
summer employment and will update this report accordingly upon notification of
their final decisions on my candidacy.
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REFERENCES
Balemans, Percy. (7/14/2010). Transcreation: Translating and Recreating.
Translating is an Art. Retrieved 3/6/14 from
http://pbtranslations.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/transcreationtranslating-and-recreating/.
Bassnett, S. (1998). Translation Across Culture, in Language at Work. British Studies
in Applied Linguistics 13, 72-85.
Bell, Roger T. (1991). Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. New York:
Longman Inc.
Translation. CRAFT Worldwide. Retrieved 3/6/14.
http://www.craftww.com/translation/
Homeidi, M. A. (2004). Arabic Translation Across Cultures. Babel 50(1), 13-27.
Geng, Xiao (2013). Techniques of the Translation of Culture. Theory and Practice in
Language Studies 3(6), 977-981.
Gumperz, John J. (1982). Interethnic Communication. Discourse Strategies, 172-186.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Language Industry Web Platform. European Commission. Retrieved 3/6/14,
from
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/programmes/languageindustry/platf
orm/index_en.htm
Moore, Matt. (11/19/2009). The Linguistic Approach to Translation. One Hour
Translation Blog. Retrieved 3/6/14 from
http://blog.onehourtranslation.com/linguistic-service/the-linguisticapproach-to-translation/
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Scollon, Ron (1996). Discourse Identity, Social Identity, and Confusion in
Intercultural Communication. Intercultural Communication Studies 6(1), 1-16.
Sprung, Robert and Simone Jaroniec (2000). Translating into Success. Philadelphia:
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Sprung, Robert (2014). Robert Sprung. LinkedIn. Retrieved 3/6/14 from
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=48467655&authType=NAME_SE
ARCH&authToken=XdIT&locale=en_US&srchid=2796647731394166555604
&srchindex=1&srchtotal=13&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsear
chId%3A2796647731394166555604,VSRPtargetId%3A48467655,VSR