FORUM. Revue internationale d’interprétation et de traduction / International Journal of Interpretation and Translation - Volume 22, Issue 1, 2024

Abstract

Realia has always been thought of as a great challenge for translators. The native language and cultural background of a translator can be a factor potentially affecting the selection of equivalents and translation procedures. This paper aims to explore whether being a normal or a service translator would have any effect on adopting source- or target-oriented translation procedures. ‘Service translators’ are those who translate into a foreign language, while ‘normal translators’ are those who translate into their mother language. In other words, normal translators should be target-language native translators. The corpus includes the realia extracted from The Holy Qur’an and its four English translations by two service translators (Abdel-Haleem 2005 and Starkovsky 2005) and two normal translators (Arberry 1955 and Abu Nasr 1985). The data were analyzed on the basis of Liang’s (2016) model. Findings revealed that the normal translators showed a slightly greater tendency (1%) towards source-oriented procedures than the service translators. On the other hand, target-oriented procedures adopted by the service translators exceeded those of the normal translators by 0.50%.

Abstract

Drawing on Venuti’s foreignization and domestication and Derrida’s concepts of iteration, supplementarity, différance and ghostliness, this article suggests that Khalil Mutran’s and Jabra Jabra’s translations are not duplications of Shakespeare’s Hamlet but they appear as apparitions of an apparition. This study adopts a descriptive analytical approach that presents the collected data from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1992), Jabra’s translation (1979) and Mutran’s (2012), respectively. Through the analysis of the chosen examples, we contend that intertextuality, translation and ghosts are deconstructive of temporality, ontology and meaning as they entail ‘repetition’ and ‘différance’.

Abstract

In 1959, Toufic Fahd – a professor of Arabic language, literature, and civilization – made a fortuitous discovery. During a visit to the University of Istanbul, while perusing the University’s library, Fahd stumbled upon an Arabic translation of a Greek work, namely the famous dream interpretation book of Artemidorus, known as the Oneirocritica. The original Greek text is fascinating as it stands as the sole surviving classical work on dream interpretation. The discovery of its later Arabic translation, however, is captivating in its own right. The context of this translation alone is of particular interest to any Islamic historian, having been initially commissioned during the height of the ʿAbbāsid Translation Movement and undertaken by the renowned translator, Ḥunayn Ibn ʾIsḥāq. The intention of the present paper is to compare these texts, highlighting intentional changes made to the content of the Greek work, specifically in instances related to mythology, sexuality, and cultural practices. These changes are noteworthy as they have rendered the Arabic translation as more of a work of interpretation itself, modifying the 2nd century AD Greek text to reflect the realities of its new religious and geographic setting in 9th century Baghdad.

Abstract

Since the advent of Google NMT in 2016, human translators have been overwhelmed by the concern about being replaced by machine translation. Although professional translators argue that the machine translation output is not refined enough to surpass human translators, their claims are sometimes emotional and based on incorrect perceptions, without verification and substantiation from user evaluation and specific quality evaluation data. Therefore, this study examines the evolution of NMT output from English to Korean diachronically and provides specific user evaluation data that can verify and substantiate the claims. Despite the steady improvement in NMT performance observed in recent years, it has been recognized that there is still a significant gap that must be bridged for NMT to achieve parity with human translation. Nevertheless, as the collaboration between NMT and human translators is expected to increase, it is essential to reinforce relevant systems, such as technological and legal support systems.

Abstract

Translation practice on the internet has produced a new mode of translation activity that has significantly changed the traditional understanding of translation, especially the relationship between different agents. Drawing on Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT), this study attempts to explore the networking procedure of the translation activity on the website Wuxia­world of the Chinese martial arts novel Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre, examining the dynamics of the formation and function of the network and the roles played by the actors involved. It focuses on the four aspects delineated by ANT: the confirmation of the scenario, the problematization of content, the enrollment of actors, and the completion of the network. The findings suggest that the translation practice on Wuxia­world establishes a well-constructed, not a random and unorganized, network, which attracts loyal fan-readers, enrolls qualified translators, maintains a well-functioning network, and presents a dynamic structure of immediate interactivity. All these lead to a new and reshaped translator-reader relationship of instant interaction.

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the booming of remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI), which poses new cognitive challenges for interpreters. This study explores how interpreters adapt to these challenges, specifically the functionality of live transcripts generated automatically by Zoom Meetings in RSI. The study aims to: (1) investigate whether access to live transcripts enhances the overall performance of interpreters; (2) explore whether RSI with live transcripts increases cognitive demands; (3) identify visual attention patterns in RSI with live transcripts. A group of professional interpreting trainees (N = 13) were recruited for the study to examine their interpreting with live transcripts and interpreting without live transcripts, which yields three preliminary findings: Firstly, using live transcripts significantly improves overall interpreting performance. Secondly, RSI with live transcripts is more cognitively demanding. Lastly, live transcripts attract the highest visual attention during the interpreting process.

This article reviews The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Cognition