ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Editor-in-chief: Kinga Klaudy
Volume 6, Issue 1, 2005
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ABSTRACTS
pp. 5-13.
ON A CONTRADICTION IN THE DISCOURSE ON LANGUAGE
ARRANGEMENTS IN EU INSTITUTIONS
CARLO MARZOCCHI
Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori
Via F. Filzi 14 - 34127 Trieste, Italy
Phone: +39-040-5587607
PhD Program in Translation and Intercultural Studies, Universitat Rovira i Virgili,
Tarragona, Spain
E-mail: cmarzocchi@units.it
Abstract: On the basis of recent literature on EU language work and of
observation, this discussion note draws attention to the conflicting translational norms,
and ultimately the contradictory discourses on translatorial ethics, that inform EU
language work. As a paradoxical case in point, a passage of authoritative discourse on the
values presiding over EU language services is contrasted with anecdotal evidence of the
language use prevaling in the institutions. Possible directions in the search for a less
contradictory ethical discourse and translation practice in EU language work are
mentioned.
Key words: EU language policy, institution, translation norms, ethics, translator's
role
pp.13-28.
IMPLICITATION IN TRANSLATION:
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR OPERATIONAL
ASYMMETRY IN TRANSLATION
KINGA KLAUDY1 & KRISZTINA KÁROLY2
1
Interpreter and Translator Training Centre,
Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University,
Múzeum krt. 4. Building “F” H-1088, Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36 1 4116500, Fax: +36 1 4855217
E-mail: kklaudy@ludens.elte.hu.
2
Department of English Applied Linguistics,
School of English and American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University,
Ajtósi Dürer sor 19-21. H-1146, Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36 1 4604421, Fax: +36 1 4604413
E-mail: karolyk@ludens.elte.hu.
Abstract: This study focuses on the notions of explicitation and implicitation in
translation and aims to provide empirical evidence for operational asymmetry (Klaudy 2001).
Bi-directional (SL=L1→TL=L2 and SL=L2→TL=L1) comparisons show that when
explicitation takes place in the L1→L2 direction, implicitation can be observed in the
L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as symmetric explicitation. It may also
happen, however, that when explicitation is carried out in the L1→L2 direction, no
implicitation occurs in the L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as
asymmetric explicitation. It would be logical to suppose that all cases of language-specific
explicitation in the L1→L2 direction are symmetrical (i.e. matched by implicitation in the
L2→L1 direction), but this does not seem to be the case. The present paper reports on the
findings of an empirical study designed to investigate the validity of the asymmetry
hypothesis in the translation of reporting verbs in literary texts translated from English into
Hungarian and from Hungarian into English.. Using the method of two-way qualitative
translation analysis, the study demonstrates that translators tend to prefer the more explicit
forms to the more implicit ones in both directions and often fail to perform implicitation.
The study may thus provide further evidence for the assumption that semantic explicitation
is in fact a universal translation strategy.
Key words: implicitation, bi-directional comparison, operational asymmetry, twoway operations, one-way operations, asymmetric explicitation
pp. 29-45
THE GREVIS PROJECT: REVISE OR COURT CALAMITY
LOUISE BRUNETTE1, CHANTAL GAGNON2 & JONATHAN HINE3
1Études
langagières, Université du Québec en Outaouais
C.P. 1250, succursale Hull, Québec, Canada, J8X 3X7
E-mail: louise.brunette@uqo.ca
2School
of Languages and Social Sciences
Aston University
Birmingham, United-Kingdom, B4 7ET
E-mail: gagnonc@aston.ac.uk
3Department
of Foreign Languages & Literatures
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia, 22807
E-mail: hine@scriptorservices.com
Abstract: GREVIS (Groupe de recherche en révision humaine) aimed to set up an
accelerated method of revising while improving the quality of the operation. The project
has a threefold objective: to strengthen the place of revision in the field of translation
studies, to increase revisers’ satisfaction and to help the translation industry. The
hypothesis of this study was that monolingual revision is just as effective as bilingual
revision, and could be done at a lower cost, because it is less time-consuming. However,
the results of the study disprove this hypothesis: bilingual revision was more than twice as
effective as monolingual revision. The 19,407 words corpus comprises translations from
the E>F pair (translated and revised in Canada) and from the F>E pair (translated and
revised in United-States). Each sub-corpus (E>F and E>F) was analyzed by a team of
scholars and/or revisers, according to Louise Brunette’s (1997) revision criteria: accuracy,
readability, appropriateness and linguistic coding. The study looks at the number of
corrections, omissions and revisor-injected errors, in relation to these four criteria.
Key words: Translation Quality Assessment, bilingual revising, monolingual
revising, English-French translation, revision criteria
pp. 47-65.
INTRA- AND INTERTEXTUALITY IN LITERARY
TRANSLATION: THE CASE OF A NON-CONTEMPORARY
PIECE OF WORK1
PILAR MUR DUEÑAS
Department of Filologia Inglesa y Alemagna
Facultad de Filosofia y Letras
Universidad de Zaragoza
C/Pedro Cerbuna 12. 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
E-mail:pmur@unizar.es.
Abstract: Any text can be considered a semiotic unity composed of an intervowen net of
signs which interacts with other previous texts. It is believed that translators should bear
in mind, first, the inter-semiotic interactions within the text, i.e. the intratextual set of
relationships, to come out with a consistent, coherent target text, and, second, the intersemiotic interaction across the text, i.e. the intertextual set of relationships, which allows
readers to perceive certain suitable intertextual links. This paper aims to analyse the intraand inter-textual network of relationships of a literary text from a contrastive point of
view, comparing Henry James’s original Daisy Miller and two of its current translations
into Spanish. It will be argued that had the Spanish translators taken into consideration the
intratextual set of relationships of the source text at the time of producing a target text,
some inconsistencies could have been prevented and a more cohesive, coherent and
appealing text would have ensued. It will be argued as well that the translators of this
nineteenth-century piece of work should allow target readers to perceive certain
intertextual links between their target texts and other texts written in Spanish at that time
and other translated texts of works originally written in that century in order for target
readers to get an equivalent effect to that perceived by current source readers and to
render a faithful image of the writer.
Key words: semiotics, coherence, intertextuality, intratextuality, translation
analysis
pp. 67-77.
A KNOCK AT THE DOOR: ON THE ROLE OF
TRANSLATED LITERATURE IN CULTURAL IMAGE
MAKING
IEVA ZAUBERGA
Department of Contrastive Linguistics, Translation and Interpreting,
The University of Latvia
Visvalza 4a, Riga LV-1050, Latvia
Phone: 371-7034817, Fax: 371-7227802
E-mail: izaub@lanet.lv
Abstract: This article addresses the question of the extent to which today translations
from minor cultures can affect the recognizability of this culture in the eyes of the rest of the
world and whether translations can serve as a tool of cultural self-assertion. The article is based
on the assumption that translations of literature from minor cultures have a much smaller impact
on the image of a culture than we would like to admit. The paper discusses some of the reasons,
such as general decline in reading habits, the self-interest of the initiator and the mode of
translation.
Translations of Latvian literature (and most probably other minor cultures) mostly start not with a
need on the target pole but with a wish to become known generated on the source pole.
Translations enhance source culture without much of a concern for acceptability. As the source
pole initiates and pays for translation, that is to say – controls the process, there is no danger of
assimilation but, on the down side, the distribution and resonance are limited.
Key words: minor cultures, manipulation, rewriting, anthology, initiator, continuity,
social space, globalisation
pp. 79-93
REWRITING ROME IN POST-1945 GERMAN-LANGUAGE
LITERATURE
SCOTT G. WILLIAMS
Department of Modern Languages, University of Texas at Arlington
Box 19557, Arlington, Texas 76019-0557
Tel: (817) 272-5650, Fax: (817) 272-5408
E-mail: scottw@uta.edu
Abstract: In order to understand any process of cultural appropriation, one needs
to examine the relationship of concepts such as Lefevere's "image," Snell-Hornby's
"norm," Bourdieu's "habitus" as well as "tertium comparationis." Broader application of
discussions within Translation Studies proves essential for understanding a key aspect of
Cultural Studies. Case in point here is the appropriation of classical Rome in post-1945
German-language literature. The Rome that appears in contemporary fiction is neither the
city proper nor the historical empire per se, but rather Rome as an invention. It is a
cultural concept construed historically without itself being necessarily historical. It
enables the process of cultural appropriation by providing basic characteristics accepted
by the appropriating culture, and whose presence ensures the impression of fidelity to the
appropriated culture. The invariant here is artificial. Although the image operates on
something close to an unconscious level (black box), it is nonetheless discernable because
it manifests itself in the context, choice of themes, and metaphors prevalent in a text.
Rome's image involves its historical demise. While the Greek tradition is almost
exclusively tapped for its mythology, allusions to the Roman heritage tend to focus on its
historical figures and circumstances.
Key words: classical antiquity, Antikerezeption, cultural appropriation, habitus,
image, norm, rewriting, Rome, tertium comparationis.
pp.95-11
THE SECOND BEST THING
GAME PLANNING FOR A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE OR JUST
FOR ENJOYING THE PROCESS OF THE WORK
YONG ZHONG
School of Modern Languages
University of New South Wales
Sydney NSW 2052, Australia
Tel: 612-93853812
E-mail y.zhong@unsw.edu.au
Abstract: This paper discusses the use of game theory in the thinking and practice of
interpreting, especially in the often impossible context of SI. By introducing game theory
together with the basic concepts and accompanying reasoning, the author intends to explore and
present a manageable and rationalised way of preparing and undertaking a difficult SI
assignment. So in the development of his ideas, partly through telling a Chinese legend and
partly through presenting a case study of a real life SI assignment, he will make the following
points. First, the interpreter must have a good knowledge of his/her own strength and of the
nature and difficulty of assignment and must undertake research to enhance that knowledge.
Secondly, on the basis of the knowledge, he/she must set an optimal and realistic objective for
the assignment. Thirdly, through research, he/she must design strategies to achieve the selected
objectives and, at the same time, through research, he/she must assess the costs and risks and
then design specific strategies to contain/reduce the costs and manage/minimize the risks in
order to optimise the results of the assignment. Last but not least, he/she must evaluate the
game plan designed for the job to facilitate future game planning. In the spirit of game theory,
SI becomes a very brainy, intellectual activity and is no longer a process of mechanic
reproduction, pedantic compilation of glossary and an unmanageable chancy behaviour.
Key words: game theory, simultaneous interpreting, objective-based solution, problembased solutions, opportunity cost, cost and cost management, risk and risk management