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Sophia Dias
Professor Jeanette Novakovich
English 213/4 D
11 April 2011
Translation through Time: a Concise Overview of Translation History, Theories, and Tools
The art of translation consists of more than just transposing a text from one language to
another; it aims to convey meaning. It communicates ideas, theories, explanations, and much
more to people all over the world, no matter what language they understand. Many different
aspects, such as historical, theoretical and technological, define translation and its evolution.
First of all, translators, often regarded as the silent mediators between languages, played
important roles through history. Their involvement in the invention of alphabets, in the
affirmation of national languages and in the transmission of cultural values has not only added
credibility to the profession; it has contributed to the evolution of translation. What’s more, over
time, many translation theories were established in order to normalize the process of translation.
Prominent translators made the difference between literary and pragmatic texts and established
the guidelines pertaining to each type of translation. These theories are certainly renowned;
nonetheless, they have undergone many changes throughout the years. Lastly, translation tools
have evolved and have progressively acquired a different significance: from paper-based sources
to machine translation, technology has had a definite impact on the process of translation.
Thus, translation’s roles in history, its supporting theories as well as the fundamental
technological tools that serve translators in their work have greatly evolved through time and are
still constantly changing and adapting to people’s linguistic needs.
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THE EVOLUTION OF TRANSLATION THROUGH HISTORY
When one reflects on important historical events, one usually thinks of the inspiring people that
have become heroes, and not of their right hand man, who has played a key part in the success of
the endeavour. Much like Cyrano de Bergerac, who was constantly overshadowed by his rival as
well as by his own fears, translators are usually the unnoticed and unimportant middlemen
between two cultures. However, throughout history, these linguistic professionals have had a
substantial impact on languages and on the art of translation.
Translators and the Invention of Alphabets. The earliest form of writing is the Sumerian
cuneiform script, which was found in Mesopotamia and was used to simplify agricultural and
commercial bookkeeping (Delisle and Woodsworth 7). The expansion of writing for practical
purposes has had a decisive impact on translation. In fact, as Jean Delisle and Judith
Woodsworth concisely put it in their book, Translators through History, “With writing, history
was born. Translation, too” (7). In other words, the need for translation was felt as soon as
written forms began to exist. For instance, the first example of translation can be found in
Sumerian-Eblaite vocabularies written on 4500-year old tablets (7). Thus, translation has existed
for centuries and was used to fulfill practical purposes.
A pivotal aspect of the flourishing of written forms of languages is the Phoenician
alphabet, which represented a revolutionary alternative to the thousands of hieroglyphics,
pictograms and ideograms that already existed. Created in around 1000 BC, it consisted of about
30 characters, each one of them representing a sound. Among others, it gave birth to the Greek
alphabet, which is the basis of the Latin alphabet (although Etruscan was an intermediary step).
This alphabet was spread throughout the world by the Phoenicians, who were merchants (7).
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The creation of alphabets by translators has benefited many cultures in diverse,
impressive ways. For example, James Evans, a Methodist minister, fulfilled his purpose as an
evangelist and educator in Canada by permitting the Cree Indians of Canada to become educated
without depending on an interpreter (16). He did so by inventing a means of communication that
was able to transmit the word of God in the native language. Born in England, he immigrated to
Canada in 1822 to teach at a school for young Indians near Toronto. At first, he learned Ojibway
and transcribed it into Latin characters in order to pursue his passion: translation. He then created
an Ojibway writing system, which was the basis of his subsequent work. In 1840, he was sent on
a mission to Christianize the Cree of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba (17). Since both languages
belong to the Algonquian family, he used his Ojibway syllabary as a model to create the Cree
syllabic alphabet, which was simple to learn and consisted of nine symbols (triangles, angles,
arcs, pothooks, etc.) that could be written in four different positions (pointing up, down, right or
left). The symbols represented the 36 sounds of the Cree language (18). His invention permitted
the Cree to read the Bible, thus spreading the faith. Therefore, translators played their part in the
invention of alphabets, which in turn permitted many historical events to take place.
Translators’ Role in Shaping National Languages. Not only did translators help create alphabets;
they also contributed to the formation of national languages. Translators were able to make a
mark on language and culture through the work given to them. In fact, according to Jean Delisle
and Judith Woodsworth, “the power of the sponsors, or the critical context in which translation
took place, helped provide impetus and, in some cases, ammunition to translators, and gave
legitimacy to their work” (25). The said sponsors were important authority figures such as
monarchs, aristocrats and institutions.
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An example of translators’ contribution to the English language can be seen through
Alfred the Great, who became King of Wessex in 871. He advocated using English instead of
Latin (which was the most widespread language of the time) as the language of instruction of his
people. When he was nearly forty years old, he learned Latin in order to be able to translate key
texts and fight to preserve his country’s culture. He translated a number of works ranging from
philosophy to pastoral care. His opinion was that “[translating texts from Latin to English] would
encourage literacy and thereby strengthen the English language” (28) because Latin was no
longer understood by the people. As a monarch, he was able to promote translation, combat
cultural decline, create a sense of unity in his nation and “rescue the English language” (28).
However, England was not the only country that had to fight for the cultural affirmation
of its national language. France, for instance, was heavily influenced by the Roman conquest,
which occurred between 58 and 51 BC. In fact, the Romance languages (including French) come
from “vulgar” Latin (i.e. the language of the people, not the language of the Church and of
education) (35). Since French was an extremely young language compared to Latin, translators
were hard pressed to transmit all the cultural elements from one language to another: many
words did not exist in French that could adequately describe the Latin concept. Translators
solved this problem by creating new words, paraphrasing and borrowing words from other
languages (36). What’s more, the Académie Française, created in 1634, aimed to develop and
purify the French language. It gave translators the opportunity to play a part in this process
because they were members of this group and could discuss issues related to vocabulary, spelling
and pronunciation (40). The Académie still exists today and remains the main authority in
regards to the French language. Thus, translators were able to empower themselves through their
work and played a key role in the establishment of national languages.
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Translators and the Transmission of Cultural Values. Translation consists of more than merely
transposing a text from one language to another; it communicates meaning. Reading between the
lines, it is possible to discover that through meaning come values and ideologies. Translators had
the power to enhance or suppress these points of view through their work.
Translation in England, for instance, served utilitarian purposes (it dealt with subjects
such as education, health, and so on). It also aimed to enrich the national language because
English was considered “ineloquent” compared to the classical languages and contemporary
Italian, French or Spanish (201). In the second half of the sixteenth century, also called
Elizabethan England, the choice of the texts to be translated depended on that century’s view of
education (202), and the role of translation was expected to serve that specific purpose (204). For
example, Il libro del cortigiano, written in 1528 by Baldassare Castiglione, was translated from
Italian by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1561. Its English title is “The Courtyer” (qtd. in Matthiessen
1931: 8-53). The work illustrates how a gentleman should act in all aspects of public life. Some
concepts, however, were wrongly translated because the target culture (in this case, England) did
not accept the values featured in the source culture (Italian). For instance, the word
“sprezzatura”, which means “nonchalance”, was translated into “recklessness”, which has a
negative connotation and suggests disapproval from the translator toward what was described in
the text (204).
Translation also played its part in France from 1789 to 1799. In fact, in the midst of the
French Revolution, the rebels needed to send a message to all the citizens, not only to the small
percentage of educated people. From 1790 to 1792, the official decrees were translated into all
the languages spoken in France, from the countryside to the urban centers. Consequently, the
translation of the decrees could be qualified as “doubly revolutionary”: it simplified the
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information in order to make it accessible to everyone, not just to the educated classes; and it
made all the different languages spoken in France equal to the French language itself (208).
To sum it up, many situations that occurred in the past influenced the evolution of
translation. Far from being unremarkable and remaining in the background, translators played
exceptional roles in shaping cultures and societies, roles which had a concrete impact on how we
see the present and how we will envision the future.
TRANSLATION THEORIES
The way translation is applied has evolved over time because this field of study serves different
purposes: one the one hand, it is meant to convey practical messages about concrete topics such
as law and education; on the other hand, it is a way of transmitting values and points of view
through a more literary approach. This distinction motivated many translators to impose rules
aiming to regulate the process of translation. Translation theories do not merely consist of
“whatever was needed to get [translation students] through [their] exams” (Chesterman and
Wagner 1), they contribute to different schools of thought and encourage linguistic professionals
to consider using theories that they do not necessarily agree with.
Literary Texts versus Pragmatic Texts. It is essential to distinguish literary texts from pragmatic
texts, as both require the use of different strategies when it comes to translation. In other words,
translators would not translate a novel the same way they would translate a recipe book.
Many factors determine literary texts (or “artistic texts”, according to Jean Delisle in his
book, L’analyse du discours comme méthode de traduction (29)). First of all, the form in which
the text is written is highly important: the sentences have to be nicely structured and must respect
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criteria of beauty, not only functionality. They also communicate the author’s vision and
perception of the world: the author develops his or her emotions and states of mind and writes
from his or her own perspective (Delisle, “L’analyse” 29). In addition, they stand the test of time
and communicate universal values (31) such as life, love and death. For instance, although
Shakespeare’s works were written centuries ago, people still feel the need to read them because
they find them valuable and relevant today. Examples of literary texts include novels and plays.
Pragmatic texts, as the name suggests, rests on practical guidelines such as clarity of
expression (32). They are usually subjected to space constraints; thus, they do not always permit
stylised writing (28). The transmission of information is the key. The author of pragmatic texts is
usually unnoticed. Once again, the content is more important than the writer. Finally, the content
of the text is ephemeral: the subject could become irrelevant or inexact in a matter of days, or
even hours! Any general, non-specialized text like a recipe or an article is an example of a
pragmatic text.
Different Translation Strategies. When considering translation strategies, theorists were split into
two main categories: those who valued the translator’s objectivity during the process of
translation (which was based on the study of linguistics), and those who insisted on the
translator’s subjectivity (they considered the translation in its context).
The theorist Eugene A. Nida, for example, was among those in favour of the first
category. As André Lefevere conveniently summarized in his book, Translating Literature, Nida
developed the technique of “componential analysis”, which consisted of separating words into
their respective components (for example, bachelor = male + unmarried) (Lefevere 7). He also
introduced “dynamic equivalence”, which “attempted to define a translation as the closest natural
equivalent to the original” (8). Both his theories proved to be very normative and context-free, as
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is shown by the famous counter-example: the word pope (it also means “male + unmarried”, but
it represents something more than a bachelor). This situation shows that sentences are not simply
strings of words put together; they all hold a specific meaning. In fact, translation goes further
than that: “a sentence is always ‘somewhat more’ than a string of equivalent words, and a text is
always ‘somewhat more’ than a string of equivalent sentences” (8).
The second category, supported by George Steiner, is less prescriptive. Steiner favoured
the “hermeneutic” approach to translation. In fact, the translators who advocate this theory
maintain that “translation means interpretation, and the translator is the mediator between two
texts, no longer the finder of equivalencies” (11). In other words, Steiner thought that translation
should take the meaning of the text into account, as opposed to merely words, but he also
thought that a perfect translation is impossible. Thus, this theory is vague because it remains
caught up in the psychological aspects of translation, and not in translation itself.
The translation theory adopted by Lefevere is acculturation, which was developed by
Anton Popovic, Itamar Even-Zohar and Jiri Levy. Acculturation is neither prescriptive nor
descriptive: it focuses on making decisions in order to transpose a text from one culture to
another. In short, this theory regards translation as a “process of negotiation between two
cultures” (11).
These three theories all apply the art of translation in different ways. It is interesting to
discover how some theorists use techniques featured in other theories, even though they clash
with the theorist’s general point of view. For example, although the theory or acculturation
rejects Nida’s normative and stringent approach, it takes into account Nida’s techniques of
componential and functional analysis (12). This is one of the many examples of how translation
theories are constantly changing and adapting to people’s linguistic needs. Theorists will
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constantly make new discoveries and analyse translation according to different perspectives,
which is a welcome, open-minded perspective.
THE CONSTANT EVOLUTION OF TRANSLATION TOOLS
Many authors, linguists and professors readily admit that any language-related profession
requires the use of extensive resources in order to convey ideas effectively and coherently. The
constant development of technology significantly improved the speed of communication: we are
a far cry away from the time when scribes copied each book by hand and took endless amounts
of time. Translators now have access to a plethora of technological tools that help them in their
work.
Technology Is Taking Over. According to Jean Delisle’s student manual, La traduction
raisonnée, a translator who works from English to French should have access to French
dictionaries, such as Le Nouveau Petit Robert; English dictionaries, like the Oxford English
Dictionary; English-French dictionaries; thesauruses; encyclopaedias; and even more (89-91).
These sources are all primarily paper-based. Until recently, technology has not played a major
role in language-related professions. However, its presence has become more and more
necessary for translators: some of the aforementioned dictionaries, for instance, offer a complete
electronic version online. Although paper-based sources continue to be valuable, many people
would argue that it is indeed faster to consult an online source as opposed to endlessly flipping
through pages.
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The Rise of Machine Translation. In today’s day and age, time is money. Many companies who
need to translate documents often neglect to rely on seasoned professionals and are content with
fast translations. Hence, machine translation has progressively become a resource on which
employers, and even translators, are relying. In its website, the European Association for
Machine Translation (EAMT) defines machine translation as “the application of computers to the
task of translating texts from one natural language to another” (EAMT). Machine translation
tools, such as Google Translate and Babel Fish, input texts in the source language and produce a
version in the target language. However, more often than not, the results are incoherent. An
example from Miguel Helft, author of the article “Google’s Computing Power Refines
Translation Tool” in the New York Times, illustrates this point in a humorous, yet enlightening,
manner. Google needed to translate a text from Korean into English, and used a certain
translation service to do so. The original message stated that Google was “a favourite search
engine” (Helft A1), while the translated text said “The sliced raw fish shoes it wishes. Google
green onion thing!” (A1). Thus, machine translation cannot always be reliable.
Even though it has its shortcomings, machine translation could be advantageous in
certain contexts. Not only is it free and easy to use, it is accessible to everyone: one does not
need to be a professional translator in order to use it. It is also practical for “content scanning”
(EAMT), which consists of using the software in order to obtain a preliminary draft of the
translation. Afterwards, it is possible to have a translator do the rest of the job.
By distancing itself from paper-based sources, machine translation definitely represents
the important part technology is playing in the industry of translation. However, even more
advanced tools have begun monopolizing the market, maximizing productivity and efficiency.
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Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) Tools. While machine translation can be used by anyone
who knows how to type words in a search bar, computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools tailor
specifically to translators’ needs. Jost Zetzsche, author of The Translator’s Toolbox: a Computer
Primer for Translators, defines CAT tools as “the numerous families of software tools that
translators use for their work” (199). CAT tools differ from machine translation because they
offer many additional features such as terminology management, code protection, project
management, spell checking, and so on. Although these tools are often costly and complicated to
learn (in general, people need to be familiar with the process of translation in order to use them),
they serve translators well by catering specifically to linguistic professionals. Many types of
CAT tools, such as Trados and MultiTrans, are currently competing against each other on the
market, trying to envision the best ways to offer the solutions to translators’ problems.
In short, translation tools evolve according to society’s values. While society has
gradually started to neglect the use of paper-based sources, it embraced the use of technology in
everyday life. However, much like it was the case for translation theories, different types of
translation tools (paper-based or software) can be used together, thus creating a diversified and
complete tool kit. The advent of more specialized tools has encouraged competitiveness on the
market, which stimulates the economy and caters to translators’ (and clients’) linguistic needs.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, whether they are historical, theoretical or technological, many factors have
influenced the evolution of the art of translation. The important roles translators played in
language-related matters in history; the many theories that examine the application of translation;
and the plethora of tools that assist translators in their profession demonstrate that the translation
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world is ever-changing, not unlike language itself. One may ask why it is so important to
underline the constant transformations the art of translation goes through. The reason is that
translation, like any other language-related profession, deals with communication, which is
essential to people everywhere in the world, especially when they live in an English- and Frenchspeaking province like Québec.
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Works Cited
Chesterman, Andrew, and Emma Wagner. Can Theory Help Translators? A Dialogue
Between the Ivory Tower and the Wordface. Great Britain: St. Jerome Publishing,
2002. Print. Translation Theories Explained.
Delisle, Jean. L’analyse du discours comme méthode de traduction: Initiation à la
traduction française de textes pragmatiques anglais. Canada: Éditions de
l’Université d’Ottawa, 1984. Print.
Delisle, Jean. La traduction raisonnée: Manuel d’initiation à la traduction
professionnelle de l’anglais vers le français. 2nd ed. Canada: Éditions de
l’Université d’Ottawa, 2003. Print.
Delisle, Jean, and Judith Woodsworth (eds.). Translators Through History. Vol. 13.
Canada: Benjamin’s Translation Library, 1995.
Helft, Miguel. “Google’s Computing Power Refines Translation Tool” New York Times
(Mar 8, 2010): A1. Web. 28 Jan 2011.
Lefevere, André. Translating Literature: Practice and Theory in a Comparative
Literature Context. New York: The Modern Language Association of America,
1992. Print.
“What is Machine Translation?” EAMT. European Association for Machine Translation, n. d.
Web. 12 Apr. 2011.
Zetzsche, Jost. The Translator’s Toolbox: A Computer Primer for Translators. Version 8.
International Writer’s Group, LLC, Nov. 2009. Web.