Further Reading
For recent studies from a discourse analysis perspective
Baker, M., M. Olohan and M. Calzada-Pérez (eds) (2010) Text in Context: Essays on Translation and Interpreting in Honour of Ian Mason, Manchester: St Jerome.
House, J. (2002) ‘Universality versus culture specificity in translation’, in A. Riccardi (ed.) Translation Studies: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–110.
Mossop, B. (2007) Revising and Editing for Translators, 2nd edition, Manchester: St Jerome.
Munday, J. (forthcoming, 2012) Evaluation in Translation: Crucial Points of Translator Decision-Making, Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Williams, M. (2004) Translation Quality Assessment: An Argumentation-Centred Approach, Ottawa: Ottawa University Press.
Research projects
- Quality and errors are central to House’s model. Yet her model is written from a strongly academic viewpoint. Compare how translation errors are categorized by translator associations, translator agencies and organizations (e.g. the UN). What criteria do they give for revising translations and assuring quality? Look also at the criteria by which your own translations may be evaluated. Assess the advantages and weaknesses of these classifications, and how they compare to House’s model. Look at Williams (2004) and Mossop (2007) for additional ideas (see Further Reading).
- Later work by House (2002: 107, see Further Reading) suggests that there is now ‘a trend towards cultural universalism and cultural neutralism – which is really a drift towards Anglo-American norms’. She feels that a consequence of this is a reduction in cultural filtering. How much cultural filtering do you note in texts translated into your languages?
- Find translations of President Obama’s 2009 inauguration speech in your own languages. How do the translators deal with questions of dynamic language, including the degree of evaluation, potentially contested key concepts and pronoun choice? What differences do you note between translations and interpretations of the speech? A transcription of the original speech can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/.