Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts - Volume 10, Issue 3, 2024

Abstract

Addressee identity awareness often affects how speakers structure discourses. The study views male cosmetics advertising through a pragmatic lens to investigate how customer identity is shaped cross-culturally through men’s deodorant advertisements on the English and Greek market. The study uses communication styles (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010) to account for (a) naturalistic translation shifts in verbal or multimodal data which tend to improve product reception in the Greek target context and (b) experimental data to confirm how masculinity is shaped and attributed to male customers by well renowned deodorant companies. The data analysis reveals that socio-pragmatic parameters are operative in accounting for differences in the two contexts. Findings show cross-cultural variation along three of Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov’s (2010) communication styles, namely, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity and uncertainty avoidance/tolerance, correlating it with a fourth dimension of the framework, the high/low power distance one. The significance of the research lies in that it shows how commercial content producers register locally shared gender identity assumptions relevant to the audience type they address. Translation is another platform where pragmatic variation may be fruitfully explored cross-culturally.

Abstract

The study examines transfer strategies in identity construction instances, in Greek and Russian audio-visual translation (AVT) modalities (subtitling and dubbing), of the English animated film for children, The Rise of the Guardians (2012). It explores whether and how translator awareness of target cultural background may affect the strategies used in the transfer. Results suggest that the level of un/familiarity of a target culture with a source-text (ST) cultural item affects the translation strategies across English-Russian and English-Greek differently, on the basis of preferred politeness orientations (negative and positive, respectively) prevailing in the target environments. Testimonies of film viewers and questionnaire respondents who are unfamiliar with the cultural items confirm aspects of the analysis. The significance of the research lies in that it provides further insight into the way Greek and Russian AVT practices handle and transform English audio-visual unfamiliar entities, which may advance understanding of cross-cultural processes in AVT.

Abstract

There is fairly little research on using translation to advance pragmatic competence in learners of English and highlight how translation can advance cross-cultural pragmatic awareness in EFL. The study attempts to explore how audio-visual translation (AVT) can introduce cross-cultural pragmatics to Greek learners of English. The data derive from the animated film Inside Out (Pixar 2015). The study takes dubbed dialogues to be a target-oriented data set, with the subtitles as an intermediate, constrained type of transfer where pragmatic shifts may be least visible or not at all. The research uses (a) the positive/negative politeness distinction as manifested through interpersonal proximity/distance (Brown and Levinson 1978; Sifianou 1992; Yule 1996; Horn and Ward 2006), and (b) the un/certainty avoidance communication style (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010). The aim is to familiarize learners with the significance of cross-cultural pragmatic awareness and its use in EFL teaching and learning. Analysis of the data is followed by a questionnaire addressing bilingual participants who confirmed the findings of the study. Results show types of pragmatic variation across English and Greek: for instance, the subtitles showed less signs of positive politeness strategies and more uncertainty features, while dubbing manifested more positive politeness strategies and stronger uncertainty avoidance, i.e., in alignment with features of the target language. Findings allow learners to look beyond grammaticality, at the level of pragmatic preference.

Abstract

Aesop’s fables have been multiply adapted and translated over the years to meet the needs of intended audiences. The study selects two Modern Greek (1993, 2011) and two English (1991, 2013) versions of Aesop’s fable The Woodcutter and Mercury to trace intra- and cross-cultural pragmatic variation in story-telling perspectives. Analysis of the four versions suggests that the Modern Greek versions of the fable seem to be more aware of the power differentials between Mercury and the Woodcutter, whereas the English versions rather focus on the woodcutter, somewhat blurring the figure of the god. A questionnaire addressing 15 respondents confirmed (a) power distance variation cross-culturally (with visuals in two of the versions conforming to intended power distance dynamics), and (b) variation in addressee age group identity. The significance of the research lies in that pragmatic aspects of meaning-making become cross-culturally visible in versions of the fable and draw attention to the potential of translation to advance understanding of what is adjusted in cross-cultural transfer.

Abstract

Aesopic tradition has been highly adaptive (Lefkowitz 2006) as manifested in multicultural versions of fables. The study explores shifts in Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse to highlight shifts in the representation of characters, in agreement with pragmatic tendencies across cultures, as — for instance — in the power distance between the lion and the mouse. It examines two Modern Greek (2003 and 2012), an English (1996), a Russian (2012) and a Ukrainian (1990) version of the fable to trace local perceptions of it. Analysis shows that translators (as storytellers) transform aspects of the fable in pragmatically meaningful ways: they add up to the adaptation process conforming to locally appreciated values. The significance of research lies in that translation is seen as another layer of adaptation which a source fable may undergo intra- and inter-culturally.

Abstract

The study analyzes three Greek versions of two of W. B. Yeats’ poems, ‘When You Are Old’ and ‘No Second Troy’, both related to the theme of unrequited love, merging feelings of bitterness and love. It examines how power distance manifests itself in the three versions of the poems. The study designed a questionnaire to evaluate potential variation in the type and intensity of feelings shaped in the three Greek versions of the two poems. Findings show that there is variation in the interpersonal distance between the poet and the beloved: some translators seem to emphasize bitterness and empathy on the part of the disappointed poet, while others assume more equal power distribution between the poet and the beloved

Abstract

The study examines how impoverishment and disillusionment in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1949) have been rendered on the Greek stage (transl. Papathanassopoulou 1984). Ιt examines the use of impoliteness which renders the protagonists’ outcast identity and frustration, as Godot is not showing up. Findings show that respondents appreciated both foul language (impoliteness) and humour (low-power distance) in the Greek version of the play. The significance of the study lies in that target audiences may enjoy aspects of characters’ identities perhaps unsuspected in the ST, because local contexts may prioritize codes manifesting intended attitudes.

Abstract

The study examines two Greek target versions (1952, 2004) of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (1611) in order to examine how politeness orientations and awareness of power distance change to shape the relational dynamics between characters. In the two target versions male characters vary intra-culturally and interculturally, while themes such as female submissiveness and gender relations show intra-cultural variation. Analysis of naturalistic translation data shows variation in the way certain characters are reshaped in the two versions, which is confirmed by experimental data elicited by a questionnaire. The significance of the research lies in that pragmatics may provide a basis for the study of intra-cultural variation in characters’ identities in a play, and in that translation is a rich resource for tracing pragmatic variation in the manifestation of pragmatic phenomena.

This article reviews Pragmatics in Translation — Mediality, Participation and Relational Work9781009261210

This article reviews Translation and Intercultural Awareness, English vs. Greek9876185726898