LINGUA E TRADUZIONE PER L IMPRESA INTERNAZIONALE Dott.ssa LAURA PICCHIO Lezione 6
DO YOU REMEMBER? Translating advertising over languages and cultural barriers Translating advertising TT should be functionally communicative for the receiver Translating cross-cultural advertising: o painting the tip of an iceberg (not only words but also culture) o culture acts as a filter do not be culturally insensitive o culture influences copy and graphic we may apply cultural filters o HCC vs LCC (Hall) o power distance; individualism/collectivism (Hofstede) o advertising styles
HOMEWORK
Analysis Translation
BIBLIOGRAPHY Beverly Adab, Cristina Valdes, Special Issue The translator, St. Jerome, 10:2, 2004 Jeremy Munday, Introducing translation studies, Routledge, 2001 Lucia Molina, Amparo Hurtado Albir, Translation techniques revisited: a dynamic and functionalist approach, Meta, XLVII: 4, 2002, pp. 498-512
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Translation Translation analysis
Translation analysis allows us to understand how translation works, how it functions in the TL/TC; how the translator has achieved his/her goal, which method and strategies s/he has applied in his/her project.
(I) Translation analysis may refer to: o Textual elements text/product, process o Extra-linguistic elements context
(II) o Context extra-linguistic elements of ST vs TT (e.g.: audience) o Text, Product textual units of ST vs TT o Process how the translator has carried out his/her work
(III) o Text, Product (micro-level of analysis) translation techniques: how TT unit functions in relation to the corresponding ST unit o Process (macro-level of analysis) translation method: which option the translator applied to his/her translation project translation strategies: how the translator solved translation problems
Translation method, strategies and techniques can be seen as an instrument of textual analysis that [ ] allows us to study how translation equivalence works in relation to the original text. (Molina and Albir, 2002: 498)
EQUIVALENCE AND EQUIVALENT EFFECT Roman Jakobson (1995) Eugene Nida (1964) Peter Newmark (1981, 1985)
Roman Jakobson: intralingual, interlingual, intersemiotic translation o Interlingual translation: SL TL Linguistic meaning: linguistic sign (arbitrary) = signifier + signified Equivalence: no full equivalence between codeunits, therefore interlingual translation involves substituting messages in one language not for separate code-units but for entire messages in some other language. (Munday, 2004: 37) 2 equivalent messages in 2 different codes (SL vs TL).
Eugene Nida o Meaning is not fixed, but it varies according to context (and culture) denotative vs connotative meaning o Formal equivalence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content. One is concerned that the message in the receptor language [TL] should match as closely as possible the different elements in the SL (Nida in Munday, 2004: 41) o Dynamic equivalence is based on the principle of equivalent effect, where the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message (Ibid.: 42) TT has to be tailored to the needs and the expectations of its readers.
Peter Newmark o Semantic translation attempts to render as closely as the semantic ans syntactic structures of the second language [TL] allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original. (Ibid.: 44) o Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtain on the readers of the original. (Ibid.)
o According to Newmark (cf. table 3.1 in Munday, 2004: 45), communicative translation is appropriate for advertisements because: it is TT reader focused It is oriented towards TL and TC it transfers foreign elements into the TL it is loyal to TL norms Examples with idioms [look at the following slides]
All bark and no bite Can che abbaia ma non morde Tutto fumo e niente arrosto
Like a bull in a china shop Come un elefante in una cristalleria
Hold your horses Aspetta un attimo!
EQUIVALENCE AND TRANSLATING ADVERTISING So translating advertising it should look for o 2 equivalent messages o dynamic / communicative equivalence equivalent effect (and function! [functionalist theories])
In other words translating advertising o it should act as an instrumental translation (Nord 1988/91) o It should act as a covert translation (House 1997), applying cultural filters So as to produce a functionally communicative and adequate TT Very often we see products advertised, and although we know that the manufacturer is not based in our home country, we assume that the message is meant for us. (Adab, Valdes, 2004: 161)
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS Translation method Translation strategies Translation techniques
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS: TRANSLATION METHOD Translation method refers to the way a particular translation process is carried out. It depends on the aim of the translation, on the goal the translator wants to achieve. It may be described as a global option that affects the whole text. (Molina, Albir: 507-508) This global option determines the overall strategy the translator applies: each solution will respond to this method.
[Looking at slides 21-22], In translating advertising, one of the most useful methods is the interpretative-communicative one, which has the aim of translating the sense of the ST (cf. Ibid.: 508).
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS: TRANSLATION STRATEGIES When translating, the translator may encounter some problems. In these cases, s/he activate translation strategies. Strategies are the procedures (conscious or unconscious [ ]) used by the translator to solve problems that emerge when carrying out the translation process. (Molina and Albir: 508)
Thanks to strategies the translator finds a suitable solution for a problematic translation unit. This solution will be materialized and actualize in a particular technique. Therefore, strategies and techniques occupy different places in problem solving: strategies are part of the process, techniques are part of the result. (Ibid.)
TRANSLATION ANALYSIS: TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES Translation techniques describe the actual steps taken by the translator in each textual microunit, according to the general methodological option chosen and the particular strategy applied. (Ibid.: 499) Translation techniques help you reflect and comment on your translation choices.
Process ( abstract level) Method Strategies Product ( concrete level) Techniques
The validity of translation techniques depends on: o The genre of a text o The text type o The purpose of translation o The target audience o The translation method
A POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES Adaptation Equivalence Amplification vs Reduction Description Borrowing Calque Compensation Generalization vs Particularization Literal translation Transposition Variation Modulation
Some of these techniques focus on domestication, while others focus on foreignization Domestication moves the ST towards the target audience Foreignization moves the target audience towards the ST (Venuti, 1995)
DOMESTICATION OR FOREGNIZATION?
ADAPTATION Domesticating technique A shift in cultural environment Adapting a culture-bound element of the ST, by replacing it with one from the target culture, i.e. a cultural equivalent. E.g.: [legal drinking age] 21 years 18 anni Moana Oceania
ESTABLISHED EQUIVALENT Domesticating technique Using a term or expression recognized (by dictionaries or language in use) as an equivalent in the TL E.g.: Like a bull in a china shop come un elefante in una cristalleria But pay attention to contest. E.g.: [Peta ad] Alive and kicking vivo e vegeto?
AMPLIFICATION VS REDUCTION AMPLIFICATION Domesticating technique Addition of further information and explicative material, which are not formulated and/or explicit in the ST. E.g.: il Ramadan, il mese del digiuno E.g.: le patatine Popchips REDUCTION Domesticating technique Omission of redundant and unnecessary elements, which become implicit in the TT. E.g.: il Ramadan, il mese del digiuno E.g.: overflows the wafer
DESCRIPTION Domesticating technique Replacing a term or expression with a description of its form or/and function, a sort of paraphrase. E.g.: panettone traditional Italian cake eaten on New Year s Eve.
BORROWING Foreignizing technique To take a word or expression straight from another language
BORROWING PURE Foreignizing technique Taking a word or expression straight from another language. E.g.: Maxfactor. The make-up of make-up artists NATURALIZED Domesticating technique Borrowings adapted to fit the TL grammar/spelling rules E.g.: to chat chattare
CALQUE Foreignizing technique Literal translation of a foreign word or phrase. E.g.: skyscraper grattacielo E.g.: weekend fine settimana
COMPENSATION Domesticating technique Introducing a ST element of information or stylistic effect in another place in the TT because it cannot be reflected in the same place as in the ST. E.g.: Tangled Rapunzel. L intreccio della torre.
GENERALIZATION VS PARTICULARIZATION GENERALIZATION Domesticating technique Using a more general or neutral term or phrase. PARTICULARIZATION Domesticating technique Using a more precise or concrete term E.g.: Teddy Bear peluche E.g.: assault weapon kalashnikov
LITERAL TRANSLATION Foreignizing technique Translating a word or an expression word for word. E.g.: Drink Coca-cola Bevi Coca-cola
TRANSPOSITION Domesticating technique Changing a grammatical category E.g.: I wrote to you early this year ti ho scritto all inizio dell anno He limped to his car ha raggiunto la macchina zoppicando
VARIATION Domesticating technique Changing linguistic elements that affect aspects of linguistic variation. E.g.: children vs adult audience (diastratic variation) Nutella Teddy Bear Toast porta la creatività in tavola con Nutella Chocolaty filling Ripieno cioccolatoso
MODULATION Domesticating technique Changing the point of view, focus or cognitive category in relation to the ST, using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to convey the same idea. E.g.: I clear my throat mi schiarisco la voce Forecasts say in base alle attuali previsioni Negative/positive: It is difficult non è semplice Active/passive: He is said to be funny dicono sia divertente Abstract/concrete: I haven t heard a word from him non ho avuto sue notizie
Let s compare https://www.apple.com/ and https://www.apple.com/it/
ASSIGNMENT Try to comment on your translation of Strut like a fish (Nike ad 1, slide 3). Justify your choices by making reference to the aforementioned translation techniques and theories as well as to the overall method and strategies you have applied. Analyse, translate and comment on your translation of Heavy as a feather (Nike ad 2, slide 51).