[New publication] Meta: Volume 63, Issue 2
Volume 63, Number 2, August 2018
Link to this issue: https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/meta/2018-v63-n2-meta04194/
D’« Altazor » à Larva : le courant transformationniste en traduction, by Amaury de Sart
Abstract: The transformationist movement in literature related to the French literary review Change (1968-1983), developed a conception of translation that mainly focused on poetical distortions, far from any consideration of fidelity to the original text. The case analysed is an excerpt of Julián Ríos’s first novel Larva, translated by Gérard de Cortanze. Before approaching Gérard de Cortanze’s strategies, his translation of Vicente Huidobro’s poem “Altazor” along with its preface have been first taken into consideration. These were published a few years before his translation of Larva. One of the most remarkable features in de Cortanze’s project of translating Larva relies therefore on the application of translation techniques of avant-garde poetry. From Annie Brisset’s sociocritical perspective in her analysis of the translation of “Altazor” (2006; 2011), this article investigates the motivations of Gérard de Cortanze’s translation of Larva in relation to its contemporary critical discourse.
Mediated and Marginalised: Translations of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature in Spain (1949-2010), by Maialen Marin-Lacarta
Abstract: The history and reception of translations of modern and contemporary Chinese literature in Spain form the basis of the discussion in this article. Eighty-four translations of modern and contemporary Chinese literature were published in Spain – either in Spanish or in Catalan – between 1949 and 2010. Using this under-researched corpus as a starting-point, this article explores two interrelated premises: the marginalisation of modern and contemporary Chinese literature in Spain and the mediation of its Spanish reception by Anglophone and Francophone literary systems. To do so, the study investigates the history of translations, pays attention to the evolution of types of translation (direct and indirect), and uses concrete examples from paratexts (back covers and prefaces) and translation reviews. After a discussion of the predominance of indirect translations, three recurring motifs inferred from an analysis of the paratexts and reviews are presented: (a) a preference for documentary value, (b) an insistence on difference and (c) an emphasis on politics and trauma (censorship, dissidence and the Cultural Revolution). In addition, I demonstrate the connections between these recurring motifs in the Spanish reception of Chinese literature in relation to European orientalism and area studies. Ultimately, the recent history of translations of modern and contemporary Chinese literature in Spain helps us to reflect on the complexity and hierarchical nature of literary exchanges on a global scale.
Lolita’s Love Affair with the English Language: Heterolingualism and Voice in Translation, by Margarida Vale de Gato
Abstract: This article is a first-person account of the translation of Lolita into Portuguese dealing primarily with the question of how to treat English as a source language that should be replaced by the translating language. The novel foregrounds the narrator’s stridency as a non-“native illusionist” (Nabokov 1955/1991: 317), along with a heterolingual bend, presenting remarkable challenges for translation: how to represent the geopolitics of linguistic hybridity in the TT and how to maintain the ambiguity of alignments between (implied) reader(s), author(s) and competing instances of narratorial authority, including the “fictional translator” (Klinger 2015: 16). Selective non-translation is suggested as an option for addressing linguistic hybridity through which, in this context, the “differential voice(s)” (Hermans 2007; Suchet: 2013) might foreground linguistic (and hence cultural/ideological) difference and deviation. The adherence to a strategy of “overt translation” (House 2001) is not intended to break the “translator’s pact” (Alvstad: 2014); it refuses, however, the convention of transparency as one of its tenets. It also shifts the focus from phonocentric authority to a polyphonous palimpsest and an archaeology of language(s) – not an entrenched foreignization, but an availability for “other-languagedness” (Bakhtin: 1981).
La traducción del cuento literario costarricense en Estados Unidos: producción, selección e imagen, by Francisco Javier Vargas Gómez
Abstract: The results of a research project on the translation of the Costa Rican short story are presented. Sixteen translation anthologies with translations of Costa Rican short stories, published in the United States during the second half of the 20th century, were analyzed from a sociological perspective (Thompson 1990). The objective was to determine the forces behind their production as well as the image they portray of the source literature and, in the process, shed some light on the mechanics governing the translation of minority literatures and their emergence in linguistic and literary hegemonic contexts. After contrasting the contextual, sociosituational, and paratextual realities of the sixteen anthologies, it is possible to conclude that the translation of minority literatures is a subsidiary and instrumental activity with no apparent capacity to set its own goals and is at the service of primary activities and systems that rule over it.
The Deliberate Non-Subtitling of L3s in Breaking Bad: A Reception Study, by Mathias Krämer and Eva Duran Eppler
Abstract: This paper presents the results of the first empirical reception study on the deliberate non-subtitling of L3s in the multilingual TV series Breaking Bad. Multilingual films and TV series are on the increase both in terms of success and penetrating wider audiences in a global market. This puts the focus on how multilingualism is conveyed to the audience and how audiences respond to it. While the translation strategies used in multilingual productions have received some attention, audiences’ reactions to them have only been investigated through an analysis of comments posted on an online movie message board. This study presents the results of a survey on the perception of and response to non-translation of L3 segments in a multilingual prestige TV series among hearing viewers. It shows that audiences are not only acutely aware of deliberate non-translation but also actively seek to identify motivations for it, which are context-sensitive and largely coincide with the filmmakers’ motivations for this practice. On the translation-theoretical side, this paper suggests that Corrius and Zabalbeascoa’s (2011) framework for the translation of L3s in dubbing would benefit from a supplement for other translation modes. On the applied side, the findings of this empirical reception study can inform agents in the international film and TV industry about audiences’ viewing preferences and potentially change AVT practices.
Same-sex Couples in Children’s Picture Books in French and in English: Censorship Somewhere Over the Rainbow?, by Julie Tarif
Abstract: This paper focuses on children’s picture books featuring same-sex couples in Anglophone and Francophone cultures, and more particularly in France and in the United States, with a particular interest in the censorship of these works. Censoring a book is common in the United States. This essay is a reflexion on the publication and reception of Francophone picture books on the topic – originals and translations. In this perspective, it also considers the question of the circulation of these books between the two cultures, as well as towards the two cultures respectively, Francophone picture books tending to be bolder in content than their Anglophone counterparts. Some references used to explain reception are gathered thanks to primary sources, in particular personal communications; others come from secondary sources, such as academic publications, blogs, and newspaper articles. This paper also explores the different forms of censorship, including the translation of a work from another culture or the alterations to the illustrations of an original work in an adaptation. The contrastive approach adopted reveals that, despite the growing number of picture books featuring same-sex couples, censorship is not only an American reality but a French reality as well.
Womanhandling Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Feminist Translation Strategies in a Spanish Translation from 1917, by Iris Muñiz
Abstract: This article analyzes a 1917 indirect translation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879) by María Lejárraga (1874-1974) as an example of early feminist translation. Relying on the existing theoretical outcomes at the intersection of gender and translation studies, it proposes a way of analyzing diverse translation strategies as a means for womanhandling the literary text, and thus making the most of the prevailing feminist interpretation of its international reception while reinforcing the budding feminist debate in Silver Age Spain and facilitating a specific understanding of the play. The importance of this case study as an example of early feminist translation is based on several factors: (a) this theatre text had a symbolic value in first wave feminism; (b) this Spanish translation was widespread due to Ibsen’s international fame and the national fame of the (overt) mediator Gregorio Martinez Sierra; (c) the feminist activism of the (covert) translator that made her select the text to spread a “thesis” she deemed necessary in Spain at that time for the developing of feminism; and (d) the numerous interventions at different levels (textual, contextual and paratextual) traceable in the translation.
Variation dénominative avec conséquences cognitives : quelques exemples détectés autour de « musée », by Anna Joan Casademont
Abstract: This article aims at contributing to the description of phenomena related to dynamicity in specialised discourses. Specifically, we analyse denominative variation (with cognitive consequences) in museum studies and museography using Spanish language corpus. We consider units with the morpheme muse(o)- extracted using the tool TermoStat (Drouin 2003). For the analysis, we will use the denominative variation typology by Fernández-Silva (2013), which will allow us: (a) to confirm that the typology is adequate for disciplines other than fishing (for which it was created at the beginning); (b) to find and characterise possible tendencies of variation, in museum studies discourses, which will allow us to orientate subsequent lexicographic decisions related to the relevant information to be explicited.
Análisis de la función cognitiva de la variación denominativa en la Lexicografía brasileña: patrones conceptuales de variación y distancia semántica entre las variantes, by Lucimara Alves da Costa and Sabela Fernández Silva
Abstract: This article explores the cognitive function of terminological variation, specifically its contribution to the construction and transfer of specialized knowledge in texts. For that purpose, explicit term variation – introduced by equivalence markers – was analysed in a corpus of 300 texts about lexicography written in Brasilian Portuguese. A cognitive semantic analysis was carried out in two steps: first, a description of the conceptual specification patterns (Kageura 2002) of variants allowed us to identify how different viewpoints on the concepts are provided by terminological variation. Second, variants were classified according to the degree of semantic distance from the base term (Fernández-Silva 2016) in order to quantify the informativity degree of term variation. Results showed that term variation reflects the multidimensionality of conceptual structuring, where different perspectives on the same concept cohabitate in texts. Furthermore, 85% of term variants provide additional information on the concept, specifically about its internal features and the relationships that it establishes with other concepts within the field. In conclusion, this study supports the thesis that term variation can be used as a cognitive device. It makes it possible to depict different aspects of the conceptual content and, in turn, contributes to a richer representation of knowledge in texts.
La traduction vers une langue étrangère : compétences, attitudes, contexte social, by Tomáš Duběda
Abstract: We explore the issue of L2 translation, which is frequently practised in many cultures, despite the risks that it involves. The sociological aspects of this type of translation are approached through the prism of “cross-cultural allowance,” which affects the addressees, clients, agencies and translators. A sample of 160 translations (40 translators; two cohorts – advanced students and practising translators; two foreign languages – English and French; two directions; two text types – promotional and legal) was used to assess Czech translators’ competence in non-native translation. The results of the analysis confirm the assumption that translating into one’s mother tongue is optimal and indicate that technical texts are more compatible with L2 translation than texts of a more expressive nature. According to the collected data, contrary to native translations, the quality of L2 translation does not increase in line with the length of professional practice. The effect of previous experience on the quality of L2 translation for the analysed text types yields controversial results.
Las competencias del gestor de proyectos de traducción: análisis de un corpus de anuncios de trabajo, by Cristina Plaza-Lara
Abstract: In recent decades, the translation market has undergone notable changes as a result of the process of globalization. Several agents enter into play in this scenario, which has led to the need for project management as a method of organizing work. In spite of the fact that this method has been used in other sectors, research in our discipline has paid scant attention to project management, in part because the one-off and temporary nature of the projects and the characteristics of the sector make it difficult to draw conclusions. This is emphasized further when looking in detail at the competences of a project manager (PM). To address this gap in the research, in the present study the results of an analysis of a corpus of job advertisements directed at translation project managers are presented, in order to understand how employers describe the competencies required of a PM. The corpus is made up of a total of 100 advertisements, which were analyzed using the technique of content analysis, and compared with the competences described in the translation and project management literature. The data extracted can be used to define a project manager’s competences in this area.
Work Placements in Masters of Translation: Five Case Studies from the University of Western Australia, by Hélène Jaccomard
Abstract: In Australia work placements are an essential part of most postgraduate qualifications in Translation Studies as a way to guarantee graduates’ job-readiness. Work placements, however, are not always run ethically and efficiently. This research paper analyzes the pragmatic and theoretical aspects of professional placements in Translation Studies, and reports on work placements of five Masters students at the University of Western Australia. The students’ experiences were diverse and proved that safeguards need to be put in place for work placements to be successful tripartite collaborations between universities, trainees and hosts. Flexibility and students’ autonomy seemed to play an important part in the success of work placement arrangements. Both work supervisor and subject coordinator must be properly prepared for their tasks, perhaps taking guidance from their counterparts in vocational studies. Nonetheless, all students in these cases studies were confronted with real-life issues that translators have to routinely solve and this rapidly increased their job-readiness.