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- Volume 59, Issue, 2013
Babel - Volume 59, Issue 2, 2013
Volume 59, Issue 2, 2013
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Research competences in translation studies
Author(s): Sonia Vandepittepp.: 125–148 (24)More LessIn previous discussions relating both research and translation/interpreting to each other (e.g. Andrew Chesterman & Wagner 2002; Klaudy 2006; Pöchhacker 1992), the main focus was either on the extent to which research findings improve translation/interpreting processes and competences or on different paradigms within translation research (Gile 2008). This article heuristically investigates any links between translation/interpreting competences, on the one hand, and competences required for research, on the other hand.To establish a research competence taxonomy that is related to translation studies, four different sources of information have been relied on: two public authorities, one scholarly organization and one translation and interpreting training institution. This conceptual study points out that many competences required for research within translation studies are closely related to translation and interpreting competences (Vandepitte 2007), so that an integrated view of research competences and translation competences is called for. Such a view will reduce the translation and interpreting institutions’ task of teaching research competences to a set of ten major academic competences.
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Van Leuven-Zwart’s model revisited
Author(s): Farzaneh Farahzad and Amin Zangeneh Inalupp.: 149–159 (11)More LessTranslation shifts are among the disciplines that have always been in focus. Many scholars have discussed in this regard and have proposed some models. Three main types of shifts have been paid attention to including syntactic, semantic and stylistic shifts. First models like the ones introduced by Catford and Vinay and Darbelnet mostly had tendency toward syntactic shifts. On the contrary, the later frameworks have studied semantic and stylistic shifts.Undoubtedly, Van Leuven-Zwart’s framework that studies syntactic, semantic and stylistic shifts all together has been one of the most detailed ones. It has been presented to establish and describe shifts in translations of narrative texts. However, some scholars including Toury have not paid attention to this model in shift studies because of its complexities.
This paper aims at briefly introducing Van Leuven-Zwart’s framework and speaking about its strengths and drawbacks, respectively, in order that researchers and students get more familiar with this influential model. It also gives some suggestions for further researches.
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Processing metaphorical expressions in Sight Translation: An empirical–experimental research
Author(s): Binghan Zheng and Xia XIANGpp.: 160–183 (24)More LessThis empirical–experimental study focuses on the processing of metaphorical expressions in sight translation (STR), a particular branch of interpreting. In order to test whether linguistic metaphors pose cognitive challenges for sight translators, we designed a within-subject experiment with 30 undergraduate taking an intermediate-level interpreting course at a Chinese university. Three streams of data, namely processing times, translation quality assessments, questionnaires and retrospective interviews, were collected and analysed for triangulation purposes.The results showed that metaphorical expressions took more time to process, and their presence resulted in more translation failures. In other words, the inclusion of linguistic metaphors slowed down the speed of production and compromised the quality of translation, meaning that the STR of metaphors requires more effort than for their literal counterparts.
The results also suggested that the extra effort was mainly invested in the reading phase, rather than in the production phase. The data revealed that mistranslations resulting from incomplete understanding, and the ensuing imbalance in the allocation of processing capacity between the reading and production tasks, far outnumbered those resulting from the failure to find appropriate target-language terms. By adopting STR as the vehicle for examining metaphorical expressions, this study also shed some light on how metaphors are processed in a bilingual environment.
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The essence of light: Sacred texts in translation
Author(s): Renato Tomeipp.: 184–208 (25)More Less‘The Essence of Light in Translation’ takes the move from George Steiner’s After Babel and his observations on the word ‘Light’. Scope of the present contribution envisages to highlight the awareness of the dynamics of ‘otherness’ and diachronic variation by examining the one key-word (Light) as it is thematized and foregrounded in sacred texts across cultures, with a focus on English and varieties of English. The comparative approach here focuses on parallel texts and intertexts to propose a different ‘vision’ of a major theme, where conceptual and semantic variation accounts for the choice of one specific theme, i.e. spiritual illumination, revelation, and the resulting creation and ‘trans-creation’ of the same theme in translation.
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The ethical positioning of the interpreter
Author(s): Hong Jiangpp.: 209–223 (15)More LessAs a participant in interpersonal communications, the interpreter is subject to a number of different and sometimes conflicting ethical constraints. It may be argued that the interpreter negotiates between three main ethical spheres: that of the professions they provide interpreting service to, that of the interpreting profession, and the personal ethics of the interpreter himself.This article compares the ways translators and interpreters define their ethical positions in terms of paratexts and framing. The author argues that while paratexts are not available for the interpreter to define and delimit his ethical position, there are other factors that effectively frame this position. These factors are either controlled by the interpreter himself, encoded in the codes of his professional association or stipulated by the regulations of the profession that he provides interpreting service to. By examining how such factors intersect, the author believes that it is ultimately personal ethics that prevail in the ethical positioning of the interpreter. From such an understanding the article seeks in particular to define the ways in which an interpreter frames her personal ethical position in the interpreting setting.
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The challenges of translating English compounds into Arabic: For better or for worse
Author(s): Walid M. Amer and Karim Menacerepp.: 224–243 (20)More LessThis paper examines the main challenges of translating English compounds into Arabic. Compounding is linguistically a common process across many languages where compounds are frequently formed. In English compounding is highly creative and innovative, and often used as a means of introducing new phrases or coining new words into the lexicon. In contrast, Arabic is less resourceful. Arabic does not possess similar multiword expressions as an integral linguistic mechanism that merges language items to form a unit of language that can be broken down into single words and display idiosyncratic features. (Sag et al. 2002). As the English text-writer and the Arabic translator use their respective languages from different mental pictures and from disparate thought processes, each operates from a different worldview, so transferring English compounds often leads to loss of meaning. Understanding and interpreting compounds has been a long-standing area of interest in Indo-European language research but remains under-researched in Arabic. This paper contributes to the debate on how to deal with English compounds in Arabic.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 71 (2025)
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Volume 70 (2024)
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Volume 69 (2023)
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Volume 68 (2022)
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Volume 67 (2021)
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Volume 66 (2020)
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Volume 65 (2019)
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Volume 64 (2018)
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Volume 63 (2017)
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Volume 62 (2016)
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Volume 61 (2015)
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Volume 60 (2014)
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Volume 59 (2013)
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Volume 58 (2012)
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Volume 57 (2011)
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Volume 56 (2010)
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Volume 55 (2009)
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Volume 54 (2008)
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Volume 53 (2007)
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Volume 52 (2006)
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Volume 51 (2005)
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Volume 50 (2004)
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Volume 49 (2003)
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Volume 48 (2002)
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Volume 47 (2001)
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Volume 46 (2000)
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Volume 45 (1999)
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Volume 44 (1998)
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Volume 43 (1997)
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Volume 42 (1996)
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Volume 41 (1995)
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Volume 40 (1994)
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Volume 39 (1993)
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Volume 38 (1992)
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Volume 37 (1991)
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Volume 36 (1990)
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Volume 35 (1989)
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Volume 34 (1988)
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Volume 33 (1987)
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Volume 32 (1986)
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Volume 31 (1985)
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Volume 30 (1984)
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Volume 29 (1983)
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Volume 28 (1982)
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Volume 27 (1981)
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Volume 26 (1980)
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Volume 25 (1979)
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Volume 24 (1978)
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Volume 23 (1977)
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Volume 22 (1976)
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Volume 21 (1975)
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Volume 20 (1974)
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Volume 19 (1973)
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Volume 18 (1972)
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Volume 17 (1971)
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Volume 16 (1970)
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Volume 15 (1969)
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Volume 14 (1968)
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Volume 13 (1967)
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Volume 12 (1966)
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Volume 11 (1965)
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Volume 10 (1964)
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Volume 9 (1963)
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Volume 8 (1962)
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Volume 7 (1961)
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Volume 6 (1960)
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Volume 5 (1959)
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Volume 4 (1958)
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Volume 3 (1957)
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Volume 2 (1956)
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Volume 1 (1955)
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