Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association - Volume 20, Issue 1, 2025

This article uses a three-way comparable corpus to compare pseudotranslations “from Chinese” written in English with genuine translations from Chinese and genuine texts written in English. The research question is “will pseudotranslations, which seek to pass as genuine translations, be closer stylistically to genuine translations or to works written originally in English?” Using hierarchic clustering analysis, the answer, surprisingly, is both. In terms of the use of specific vocabulary related to China, the pseudotranslations were closer to genuine translations, but in terms of other stylistic markers, pseudotranslations were closer to genuine works in English. The results suggest that writers attempting to construct pseudotranslations concentrate on the obvious content as a marker of authenticity, whereas the author’s natural facility in English means that there is no hint of “translationese.” In addition, the case study shows some evidence that seems to contradict Toury’s thesis concerning pseudotranslation as the imitation of genuine translation.

This quasi-experimental study explored professional Australian Sign Language (Auslan)/English interpreters’ strategic additions when interpreting an Auslan presentation into spoken English in the simultaneous mode. The product analysis involves the researcher and a research assistant identifying and categorizing participants’ strategic additions independently, using a corpus-driven approach. The process analysis entails the researcher analyzing participants’ retrospective interviews to find their motivations for producing strategic additions. The results show that the five most frequent types of strategic additions in this corpus of signed-to-spoken language simultaneous interpretations include explicitation, adding referents to numbers, referring to previous relevant information, adding conjunctions, and elaboration. Striving for optimal relevance appears to be the interpreters’ main motivation for making strategic additions in conference interpreting. The results suggest that professional interpreters are usually user-oriented and make strategic additions, consciously or subconsciously, to enhance the communicative impact of their interpretations.

We present a case study of a group of activist interpreters Ciocia Wienia, a Vienna-based informal pro-choice collective. The activists facilitate abortion travel from Poland to Austria, offer onsite support and interpret in abortion clinics. We analyze original data from a corpus of 13 qualitative in-depth interviews with members and associates of Ciocia Wienia. Based on a qualitative content analysis, this contribution investigates which situations and stressors are described as emotionally challenging as well as which coping strategies and techniques of self-care and mental hygiene are employed to process burdensome emotions. Our results suggest that negative feelings such as sadness, frustration, anger, stress, and uncertainty make work in such a context emotionally taxing, even though positive emotions are reported as well. Apart from sharing with the group and supervision, only a few activists seem to have developed a set of distinct individual self-care and coping strategies.

The notion of an invisible interpreter in medical interpreting can conflict with the goals of the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) during aphasia assessment. This study trained interpreters at an urban rehabilitation hospital in the U.S. regarding the purpose of aphasia assessments, examined how their role changed to become more visible, and evaluated the preliminary impact of the training. Eight interpreters participated in two SLP aphasia assessments for native Spanish speakers with aphasia. Between the two sessions, half of the interpreters were randomly assigned to a training group. We analyzed changes in interpreter behaviors in the latter session. The untrained group showed little variation, while the trained group showed a reduction in the number of errors between time points across multiple categories. These results provide preliminary evidence that it is possible to improve interpreter-mediated aphasia assessments by training interpreters on how to shift their role to actively support SLP diagnostic goals.

For healthcare information to be accessible and effective, both quality translations and their effective dissemination are necessary. This article investigates the dissemination of healthcare translations in the diglossic context of Arabic speakers in Australia and the impact that dissemination medium and Arabic variant have on comprehension and intent. Four groups of Arabic speakers with low English proficiency were exposed to one of the following options and asked to complete a print questionnaire: (1) brochure in Modern Standard Arabic; (2) brochure in Lebanese Arabic; (3) video awareness material in Modern Standard Arabic; and (4) video awareness material in Lebanese Arabic. This was followed by discussions with three focus groups on the strengths and weaknesses of the four dissemination options. The findings show that most participants prefer to receive health messaging through audiovisual resources in Modern Standard Arabic, but content comprehension is higher when information is provided in print.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a sharp rise in social media communication trafficking in divisive stereotypes. The article traces and analyzes the translingual and cross-cultural dialogues around the racist term “Chinese virus” on Twitter and its Chinese counterpart, Weibo. For that purpose, a corpus of online translated texts related to the dissemination and reception of “Chinese virus” was constructed. Analysis found that the strategies of transliteration, literal translation, hybrid translation, acronyms, semiotic translation and coinage were used by Chinese netizens to engage in active resistance against racism. Through the improvisational use of the semiotic resources of different languages, resistance strategies emerged in active online translingual and cross-cultural communication, challenging and even de-centering English-language hegemony, and empowering voices against anti-Chinese racism during the pandemic. Translation as a venue for both racism and anti-racism, however, is evident in the increased occurrence of language violence and the rise of nationalism and xenophobia.