Translation Spaces - Volume 4, Issue 2, 2015

In spite of recent improvements in non-visual web access, images on the web still present an accessibility barrier to screen reader users. For this population group the presence of inappropriate text alternatives for images, or simply their absence, usually results in a poor web user experience. In this paper, we propose a controlled language (CL) rule-based approach that enables translation professionals to ensure image accessibility during the web localisation process. We describe the set of 40 CL rules we developed and then present the results of the evaluation of a selection of ten rules from the set. During the study, which sought to assess their impact on the appropriateness of text alternatives in French, the ten rules were applied using Acrolinx, a state-of-the-art CL checker. The results of the evaluation suggest that this sub-set of ten rules can help translators significantly improve the level of image accessibility obtained in the localised web product.

EULAs (End-User License Agreements) present specific translation challenges, ones contingent on how the EULAs will be used. In a recent study, the decisions made by forty-seven translation students while translating a EULA were observed and analyzed. The aim of the study was threefold: (1) to observe the criteria used for decision-making when translating a EULA; (2) to observe how decision-making criteria changed after using specific resources designed for translating EULAs (lawcalisation.com); and (3) to evaluate the overall usefulness of the lawcalisation.com resource. Results suggest that by providing translators with a single website portal of specific resources, they were able not only to find the equivalents they needed but also to consult the relevant legal and translation information that ultimately helped them develop more solid criteria for translation decision-making. Decisions were guided by principles of law applicability, terminology, legislation, and translation studies Skopos theories.

Contrary to perceived wisdom, we explore the role of machine translation (MT) in assisting with the translation of literary texts, considering both its limitations and its potential. Our motivations to explore this subject are twofold, arising from: (1) recent research advances in MT, and (2) the recent emergence of the ebook, which together allow us for the first time to build literature-specific MT systems by training statistical MT models on novels and their professional translations. A key challenge in literary translation is that one needs to preserve not only the meaning (as in other domains such as technical translation) but also the reading experience, so a literary translator needs to carefully select from the possible translation options. We explore the role of translation options in literary translation, especially in the context of the relatedness of the languages involved. We take Camus’ L’Étranger in the original French language and provide qualitative and quantitative analyses for its translations into English (a less-related language) and Italian (more closely related). Unsurprisingly, the MT output for Italian seems more straightforward to be post-edited. We also show that the performance of MT has improved over the last two years for this particular book, and that the applicability of MT does not only depend on the text to be translated but also on the type of translation that we are trying to produce. We then translate a novel from Spanish-to-Catalan with a literature-specific MT system. We assess the potential of this approach by discussing the translation quality of several representative passages.

In the fertile ground between cinema and video games, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid saga stands out for its auteur’s clear tendency to use film language and aesthetics and for his evident inspiration from pop culture and the American cinematic tradition. Moreover, the series is rich in quotations meant to pay tribute to cinema and communicate with movie-cultured players intertextually. With regard to the process of localization, auteurist references to film culture represent a constraint for translators rendering Kojima’s game into different languages for a Metal Gear Solid-educated audience. This paper presents a comparative analysis of some film quotations in their English into Italian and Spanish localizations of Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series in order to demonstrate the importance of loyalty to the game experience as a whole within a translational-cultural approach to localization.

In these competitive times for tourism marketing, “place branding” has become an essential element of a tourist destination’s success, an element of market differentiation with respect to rival tourist areas. Place branding captures the attention of potential tourists using experiential marketing; it creates destination loyalty using techniques such as heritage interpretation to create unique and memorable experiences for visitors. A memorable tourism experience may produce repeat visits and word-of-mouth or active social web promotion of the destination. Heritage interpretation communicates information to visitors and tourists about the sites and destinations they visit. An interpretive plan specifies exactly how heritage interpretation will be used to communicate with potential visitors using oral, written and digitally communicated language. A well-constructed plan is necessary in order to generate tourist income responsibly and sustainably for local communities. This article examines the value-added roles heritage interpretation and interpretive planning play in experiential marketing and in destination management as a whole. It looks at interpretation at the personal on-site level and as used on the internet. The goal of place branding is to allow communities to function as their own destination management organizations and to exert control over their most valuable economic resources, their intangible heritage: landscape, ecosystem, and traditional way of life. The general framework considered is responsible geotourism, designed to improve the quality of life for the host and the quality of experience for the tourist.

The current reintroduction of the concept of ‘literal translation’ is an important development for two main reasons. Firstly, it has led to a range of intriguing empirical findings. Secondly, this revival exemplifies a more profound development in the field. This paper argues that the trajectory of this concept is one example of how cognitively oriented explanatory models are driving an integration of product- and process-based approaches to translational phenomena. In order to better understand this development and to investigate its potential to change Translation Studies, the paper first provides a brief historical overview and then proceeds to decompose the concept into key constituent parts. Two constituent concepts will be used as the basis for identifying the alternative ways in which product and process-oriented approaches have studied the same phenomenon. As a way of moving forward, pertinent theoretical tools from bilingualism research are identified, and concluding remarks focus on implications for the field.