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- Volume 67, Issue 5, 2021
Babel - Volume 67, Issue 5, 2021
Volume 67, Issue 5, 2021
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The axis of professionalization
Author(s): Martin Djovčoš and Pavol Švedapp.: 533–552 (20)More LessAbstractUsing the results of two surveys conducted by the present authors, this paper examines translators’ and interpreters’ behaviour in the translation market and factors that influence it in (Slovak) society. In keeping with the familiar fact that not all translators are alike, we believe that empirically measurable factors enable us to observe behavioural patterns among translators and interpreters that are distinguishable along an axis of specialisation and an axis of professionalisation. The authors conducted two separate surveys involving 550 translators and interpreters – including literary translators, court translators and interpreters, translators of technical texts, audiovisual translators, institutional interpreters, and freelance translators – who worked across Slovakia’s market spectrum. In the analysis of the survey results, we found that, among other things, the level of professionalisation played a crucial role in translators’ decision-making processes within the broader social and professional context. In line with Toury’s (1995, 55) definitions of the norm, we hoped to “distinguish regularity of behaviour in recurrent situations of the same type” according to certain factors, including the degree of professionalisation and age, education, and type of translatorial activity.
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Interpreting in Tanzania from the perspective of Tanzanian interpreters
Author(s): Elizaveta Gettapp.: 553–578 (26)More LessAbstractThe study overviews the role of interpreting services in Tanzania, presenting mainly the experience of practicing freelance interpreters. The two official languages of Tanzania – English and Swahili – have separate roles in the country. Although most Tanzanians accept English as a necessary medium of intercultural communication, Swahili is perceived as an important part of Tanzanian national identity. It is the country’s lingua franca. On the one hand, Tanzania aims to preserve communication in Swahili; on the other hand, there is an inevitable need for intercultural communication with the rest of the world that grows especially in the context of globalization. The paper focuses on the role, status, education, working languages, conditions of Tanzanian interpreters, and the requirements of local and international clients. The study also creates a broader context that mentions crucial historical moments that have influenced the country’s current character of intercultural communication.
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Looking at redefining sex(uality)
Author(s): José Iglesias Urquízarpp.: 579–598 (20)More LessAbstractThis article examines the dubbing of the 2014 American gay-themed series Looking and its treatment of sexual references into Castilian Spanish with a view to exploring the role of audiovisual translation in the discursive construction of homosexuality. While some scholars have decried a historical tendency in translation to attenuate or even suppress references in connection with non-normative sex, the dubbing of Looking, I claim, amplifies these references by way of two strategies: up-scaling and increased explicitness. Drawing upon Jeremy Munday’s (2012) concept of “evaluation” and on appraisal theory as expounded by Martin and White (2005), I aim at revealing the significance of the translator’s lexicogrammatical selections and how these may alter the semiotic import of the characters and, thus, of a certain portrayal of homosexuality. Additionally, such choices may be indicative of the translator’s own stance towards issues of sexuality. Though the strategies analyzed may appear to perpetuate commonplaces regarding gay sexual experience, they ultimately serve, I argue, as a device to generate a language that goes beyond diluted expressions of homosexuality.
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Adaptable-translation, pseudotranslation, and translation from the perspective of Buddhist sutra translations in early medieval China
Author(s): Zhejie Jiangpp.: 599–619 (21)More LessAbstractThis article provides an early medieval Chinese perspective to further the discussion of adaptation, pseudotranslation, and translation. During the first to the fifth centuries CE, Chinese translation of Buddhist sutras included some unconventional practices. Translators either rendered source texts that were incomplete or partially rendered the complete source texts in their possession. The works were accepted as faithful translations of genuine sources from India and helped disseminate Buddhism, though theoretically, believers would only accept literal translations of sutras. Based on Bastin’s conceptualization of adaptation and the features of Buddhist translations, I have labeled it as “adaptable-translation” and argue that in early medieval China, there were adaptable-translations with pseudotranslation elements and adaptable-translations with the nature of pseudotranslation. Detailed analysis and case studies of five specific modes of “adaptable-translation” will show how they differ from “adaptation” of Bastin and “pseudotranslation” of Toury or Bassnett. Based on the analysis, I argue that a judgment of the nature of a text as a “translation” can be both qualitative and quantitative.
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Understanding intervention in fansubbing’s participatory culture
pp.: 620–645 (26)More LessAbstractThe development of digital technology over the past two decades has made audiovisual products an indispensable way of entertainment and witnessed the emergence of new sociocultural phenomena, including the rise of participatory culture and civic engagement. Drawing on the Systemic Functional Linguistics-informed multimodality, this article compares some of the most distinct practices in official subtitles and fansubs in the complex sociocultural context of China. The aim is to examine how fansubbers manipulate semiotic resources to design highly innovative strategies and investigate how these interventionist practices maximize their visibility and increase the film’s participation. The results show that Chinese fansubbers tend to produce subtitles in a highly aesthetic, functional, and semiotically coherent way by breaking the conventions established by the professionals. This tendency is not only a reflection of their resistance and dissatisfaction with the official subtitles under the state constraints but also a manifestation of the rapidly developing participatory culture in this increasingly digitalized world.
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“All the pieces matter”
Author(s): Javier Ortiz Garcíapp.: 646–672 (27)More LessResumenEste artículo aborda el problema de la traducción del lenguaje vulgar desde una perspectiva práctica. Para ello, se emplean ejemplos de tres episodios diferentes de la aclamada serie The Wire, donde el uso de este tipo de lenguaje aparece en todos los estamentos sociales y profesionales de personajes. En primer lugar, se contextualiza la serie dentro del espectro televisivo del que procede, el estadounidense, y se analiza la importancia que en ella tiene el empleo del lenguaje vulgar. A continuación, se estudian las diferentes posibilidades estratégicas que el traductor puede emplear a la hora de traducir textos en los que aparece el lenguaje vulgar de manera reiterada. Por último, se examinan cualitativamente los tres ejemplos de la serie seleccionados y sus traducciones oficiales. Se concluye el estudio ofreciendo alternativas a esa traducción disponible en el mercado con el fin de ilustrar un posible visionado del programa más adecuado en el que se ha prestado especial atención al empleo del lenguaje vulgar traducido.
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Critique de Gravet & Lievois (2021): Vous avez dit littérature belge francophone ? Le défi de la traduction
Author(s): Manon Hayettepp.: 673–677 (5)More LessRésuméDès son indépendance en 1830, la Belgique a œuvré pour se créer une identité culturelle à travers l’élaboration d’une littérature nationale. Cependant, la littérature belge francophone est souvent marginalisée et reste méconnue de son propre public, si bien que la « belgitude » de ses auteurs – pour reprendre le terme de Klinkenberg – se voit effacée, au profit d’une identité pseudofrançaise. En outre, cette littérature s’avère mal diffusée à l’international, car peu traduite. Il est donc indispensable d’encourager la recherche en traductologie à ce sujet, ce qu’opère précisément le livre collectif commenté ici, qui dérive du colloque « La traduction de la littérature francophone » organisé à l’Université de Mons en décembre 2018. Après une introduction générale des éditrices Catherine Gravet et Katrien Lievois (p. 7–23), l’ouvrage se divise en quatre parties, intitulées respectivement « Traduction et création », « Travail et Archives de traducteurs », « Traduction et réfraction » et « Inventaires ».
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Review of Boria, Carreres, Noriega-Sánchez & Tomalin (2020): Translation and Multimodality: Beyond Words
Author(s): Xi Wangpp.: 678–682 (5)More LessThis article reviews Translation and Multimodality: Beyond Words
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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