Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2023

Abstract

As is often claimed, “the central problem of translation practice is that of finding target language translation equivalents” (Catford 1965, 21). Translation equivalence occurs when a source language (SL) and a target language (TL) text can be related to the same substance. Therefore, translation failure occurs when a concept in SL cannot be related to the equivalent in TL. Translation failures can be classified into two cases: those where it is impossible to find linguistic equivalence in TL, and those where it is impossible to secure cultural equivalence in TL. This study focuses on the latter, especially how to establish the equivalence of culturally specific concepts from SL to TL. Nobody can understand the meanings of words in a certain culturally specific domain if they do not understand some social institutions, and some history of social practices, in which these words are interpreted. Japanese words sontaku (roughly, surmise) and haragei, (literally, belly art) are examples of those culturally specific concepts. Translating these concepts into a TL text includes the identification of their semantic representation. For this purpose, using frame semantics paves the way. By defining frame elements and relations between them and also by identifying cultural practices, we can have a clear understanding of the concepts, which in turn can be related to the TL terms. It is also worth noting that culture-specific words have varying degrees of untranslatability, which can be defined by comparing synonymous words in terms of the frame semantic approach. This research sheds new light on the method of rendering culturally specific untranslatable concepts exemplified by sontaku and haragei more transparent by drawing on frame semantics.

Abstract

This paper reports on a case study implemented at the University of Salento and, partially, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, concerning the use of subtitles as a didactic tool to develop intercultural communication skills. This study examines the intralingual and interlingual translations of the reportage Fortress Italia: Capsized in Lampedusa, about migrant arrivals in Italy and Europe. Although the video is of interest to international viewers, the lack of proper subtitling may undermine its accessibility to non-native English speakers. On the one hand, subtitles do not appear when Standard English is used, so the comprehension of those utterances depends on the receivers’ listening skills; on the other hand, the official retextualizations are characterized by formal register and editorial additions that may affect their readability. For these reasons, an alternative rendering was commissioned to a number of undergraduate and postgraduate students of Translation and Interpreting, in order to enquire into new areas of adoption of English as an International Language and as a Lingua Franca. The analysis of the selected corpus of extracts will pinpoint the strategies of lexical and structural simplification and condensation, along with the selection of specific verb tenses and aspects, which are expected to enhance the envisaged recipients’ understanding of the video’s message. Since these features of English are actively selected, by the subjects that were involved in this research, so as to foster cross-cultural communication between the authors and viewers of the news report, this study contends that specific lingua-franca uses can be activated when subtitling multimodal texts. Hence, the notion of ‘audiovisual mediation’ will be introduced in order to label an approach to audiovisual translation aiming to: (i) make the illocutionary force accessible and acceptable to the envisaged, international audience; and (ii) overcome the conventional associations between dubbing and domestication, and subtitling and foreignization.

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the potentials and limits of translation and English as International Language as tools of inclusion in accessible tourism. Accessible tourism can be defined as a form of tourism that enables people with access requirements, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of access, to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of universally designed tourism products, services and environments. This research will try to identify the main linguistic, translational and multimodal features characterising a series of accessible tourism texts in English and Italian, in order to show how translation and English as International Language may increase, or sometimes hinder, the actual level of accessibility and promotional aims of these texts, raise awareness on disability issues and, mostly, contribute effectively to the development of a more inclusive and egalitarian society.

Abstract

Translation in CLIL? It may seem a contradiction in terms. CLIL means Content and Language Integrated Learning, and is based on the assumption that content is taught through the second/foreign language. No room is left to the learners’ mother tongue, which is either declared off limits or used in very limited cases. So, what is the role of translation in CLIL? Is there any place for it at all? In the past few years, there has been a series of hectic efforts put in by schools and universities to organise CLIL programmes and teacher training courses, and a number of studies have appeared to help with the process. In spite of the wide support that is now being given to the use of the first language in language learning, CLIL proponents tend to neglect the role of translation in content and language learning. Drawing on current research on CLIL, this study sets out to investigate the nature of the contribution that translation makes to language and content learning. The work is grounded on research conducted on empirical data drawn from CLIL courses taught since 2005, inspired by social constructivist pedagogy in a networked learning environment, and a collaborative translation approach.

Abstract

The present paper aims at expanding the English as an International Language (EIL) paradigm and providing new insights into the current status and role of EIL. The main focus of the study is on information structuring (IS) in dialogic speech events to show how IS affects the use of particular constructions, namely it-clefts, wh-cleft and topicalisation (left dislocation) which seem to show higher frequency in EIL than in standard English (Biber et al. 1998). For the purpose of this preliminary study, samples of spoken ELF data including private dialogues and academic discussions were selected from the VOICE (Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English) to investigate left-right asymmetries in EIL interactions, which is an area still lacking of attention with respect to lexical and other phrasal phenomena.

Abstract

Increased attention to professionalism and realism in translation classes at university has resulted in the development of a wide range of approaches to foster future translators’ construction of knowledge and identity pertaining to their upcoming professional career and community. This paper centres on a professionalizing seminar that shared these aims. Employing corpus, stance and discourse analysis, it examines the retrospective reports written by the future translators who participated in the seminar to unveil beliefs on their experience of the seminar, their university training, their perceived competence, and their present and future identities as translators. The results of the study suggest, on the one hand, that participants perceived that the seminar fostered awareness of the professional domain of translators, heightened cognizance of their skills, and gave them authentic practice as translators and, on the other, participants perceived lacunae in their training and gaps in their competences, with potential implications on their (perceived) employability.

This article reviews Exploring the Translatability of Emotions: Cross-Cultural and Transdisciplinary Encounters9783030917470