Further Reading
Baker, M. (ed.) (2006) Translation and Context, Special issue of the Journal of Pragmatics 38.3.
Bührig, K., J. House and Jan D. ten Thije (eds) (2009) Translational Action and Intercultural Communication, Manchester: St Jerome.
Nord, C. (2003) ‘Function and loyalty in Bible translation’, in M. Calzada-Pérez (ed.) Apropos of Ideology: Translation studies on ideology – Ideologies in translation studies, Manchester: St Jerome, pp. 195–212.
Pym, A. (2004) ‘Propositions on cross-cultural communication and translation’, Target 16.1: 1–28. See also a pre-print version at usuaris.tinet.cat/apym/on-line/intercultures/cross-cultural.pdf
Pym, A. (2010) Exploring Translation Theories, Abingdon and New York: Routledge, ch. 4.
Research projects
- The question of the translation of metaphors in business texts was discussed in section 5.1.1. Look at a variety of text types in your own language pairs to see how metaphors are used. Consider linguistic metaphors (Newmark 1981) and conceptual metaphors (Dickins 2005). How would you translate them? Does the translation vary according to text type? Are other factors involved?
- Look again at the Snell-Hornby typology of text types (Figure 5.2 in Chapter 5). Consider how it would be applied to texts that you yourself have translated or analyzed. How successfully do you feel Snell-Hornby achieves her aim of integrating literary and technical translation?
- In the theory of translatorial action, the translator is considered to be the expert of intercultural transfer, although not always a trained expert in the subject-specific area of the TT. How far do you agree with this assessment and what does it imply for the role of the translator in modern-day communications?
Pym (2004: 7) talks of translation as ‘a relatively high-effort, high-cost mode of cross-cultural communication, normally suited to short- term communication acts’. How does this compare with the theory of translatorial action?
- According to skopos theory, a translation commission must give details of the purpose and function of the TT in order for adequate translatorial action to take place. Try to find examples of translation skopoi to see how detailed they are and to see what this reveals about the translation initiator. For instance, what kind of translation skopos is explicitly and implicitly stated in university examination papers? If you are a professional translator, or have access to one, investigate how they are informed of and negotiate the skopos of a specific text.
- The main assessment criterion in skopos theory is ‘functional adequacy’ rather than equivalence (which would be ‘functional constancy’). Follow up this concept in Nord (1997: 34–7, 2005: 31–3) and consider how ‘adequacy’ is to be judged, and by whom.
Exploration
5.3 Jiménez-Crespo, M. (2011) ‘To adapt or not to adapt in web localization’, JosTrans 15, www.jostrans.org/issue15/art_jimenez.php.
5.4 Babych, B., A. Hartley, K. Kageura, M. Thomas and M. Utiyama (2012) ‘MNHTT: A collaborative platform for translator training’.
5.5 Mason, I. (2000) ‘Audience design in translating’, The Translator 6.1: 1–22.
Discussion point 3, p. 139
McDonough Dolmaya, J. (2012) ‘Analyzing the crowdsourcing model and its impact on public perceptions of translation’, The Translator 18.2: 167–91.
See also the Free Reading Materials tab.