[New publication] Translation Spaces, 7 (2)

Translation Spaces, 7 (2)

Link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jbp/ts/2018/00000007/00000002

 

Of ostriches, pyramids, and Swiss cheese

Carmen Canfora and Angelika Ottmann

Abstract: Risk management for translations is a relatively new topic in translation science. Damages caused by translation errors can have grave consequences for all agents involved in the translation process, especially in safety-critical sectors. In these sectors, effective models and instruments for risk mitigation have long been established, with near-misses management being one of the most effective instruments. In this paper, we examine the structure of damages caused by translation errors and compare them to the structure of damages in safety-critical sectors in general. We find that damages caused by translation errors in safety-critical sectors are comparable to damages in safety-critical sectors in general and conclude that near-misses management methods can also be applied to translations. Further examination of damages caused by translation errors is necessary to broaden the empirical base.

Understanding urban intervention as a translational activity

Ayşe Ayhan and Emine Bogenç Demirel

Abstract: This article aims to examine Yeldeğirmeni, a historically multilingual and multicultural neighborhood in Istanbul, as a translation zone. The language landscape of Yeldeğirmeni, along with its social and cultural texture, has been transformed by both social and political changes in Turkey, and as a result of urban interventions by institutional and individual actors. We discuss the Yeldeğirmeni Revitalization Project and Mural Istanbul Festival as urban interventions that transform the social and cultural texture of the city in translation zones, owing to the significant role played by cultural mediators. Yeldeğirmeni is analyzed as a discourse in the context of cultural translation, and urban intervention is viewed as a medium of translation.

Productively losing control, or how Architecture can inspire translation ethics

Georgios Floros

Abstract: In this article, an attempt is made to view Architecture as a source of inspiration for translation ethics. First, it is argued that Architecture is not a discipline that is as distant from translation studies as it might seem at first sight. Second, the example of the Wyly Theater in Dallas is discussed in an attempt to summarize contemporary concerns in architectural practice: “productively losing control,” a motto used by Prince-Ramus (2009), is then applied to translation ethics and the paper goes on to explore possible parallels between how a building may function within its surroundings and how texts may function within a social context. More specifically, it is shown that selected functional aspects of the Wyly Theater might form a guiding principle for teaching how to resolve ethical issues in the translation of politically sensitive texts taken from the Greek and Cypriot contexts.

Translators’ perceptions of literary post-editing using statistical and neural machine translation

Joss Moorkens, Antonio Toral, Sheila Castilho, and Andy Way

Abstract: In the context of recent improvements in the quality of machine translation (MT) output and new use cases being found for that output, this article reports on an experiment using statistical and neural MT systems to translate literature. Six professional translators with experience of literary translation produced English-to-Catalan translations under three conditions: translation from scratch, neural MT post-editing, and statistical MT post-editing. They provided feedback before and after the translation via questionnaires and interviews. While all participants prefer to translate from scratch, mostly due to the freedom to be creative without the constraints of segment-level segmentation, those with less experience find the MT suggestions useful.

Usability tests for personalised subtitles

Lluís Mas Manchón and Pilar Orero

Abstract: Over the past decade, subtitles have developed along with broadcast and broadband technology. Viewers nowadays enjoy new opportunities to customize subtitles to best meet their personal preferences or needs. This study aims to identify end-user subtitle setting preferences, to investigate whether these settings have an effect on content comprehension, and to explore subtitle usability for two groups of participants, those under the age of 65 and those over 65. In an experiment, three subtitle features were open to customization: the position, the box and the size of the subtitle, before and after participants watched an on-demand TV documentary produced by the Catalan public broadcaster TVC. Results confirm a preference for bottom and medium subtitles. Furthermore, while the under 65 segment made satisfactory use of the system, the over 65 segment experienced different levels of usability and reported different capabilities and problems.

Audio description in 360º videos

Anita Fidyka and Anna Matamala

Abstract: This article discusses how audio description could be integrated into 360º videos by reporting the results from two focus groups conducted in the initial stages of the ImAc project. To involve participants in the research process, the project adopted a user-centered methodology, and a series of focus groups was conducted with professional audio describers and end users to gather feedback about their needs and expectations regarding the implementation of audio description and, secondarily, audio subtitling. Results indicate that content selection in this medium raises concerns for audio describers, and needs to be further researched. The results obtained from the end users not only highlight the need to audio describe the main action, but also their interest in having different parts of the visual scene audio described. Results also indicate that auditory cues would allow end users to orient themselves in the scene, and feel more immersed in the content presented.

“A pretty village is a welcome sight”

Sofia Malamatidou

Abstract: This paper analyses adjectival descriptions used to frame and promote physical space in tourism texts in English and in Greek, and how any differences are negotiated in translation. A comparison is drawn across three categories of space (human-made, natural, and abstract) to investigate how each locality affects and is affected by linguistic choices. Methodologically, a corpus triangulation approach is employed, combining corpora created from three types of tourism websites: original or non-translated Greek websites; their translations into English; and non-translated websites in English. Results reveal that, while important differences are observed between English and Greek non-translated texts, translations tend to stay very close to their source texts, with small differences observed across the three categories of space. This study contributes to both tourism and translation studies by offering insight into how space is framed across languages, which can inform, and ultimately, transform, translation practice.