60 research outputs found
Preliminary norms in the selection of children's books for translation in South Africa
No full textThis paper presents the results of a macrotextual and paratextual analysis of a sample of 42 English and Afrikaans children's books (21 source texts and their translations). The sample consists of books for the age group six to 12, and includes readers and picture books, and books of South African as well as international origin. The aim of the analysis is to explore some of the preliminary norms that may influence the selection of books for translation in the Afrikaans/ English language pair. In this, the focus is on perceived function (specifically as evident in paratextual material), cultural content, and verbal style, as three dimensions that may affect text selection in particularly salient ways. The analysis (primarily of the source texts) indicates potentially significantly different selection criteria for different subgroups of children's books (for example, readers and picture books, local and international books, Afrikaans and English books).http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2011.647492http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2989/16073614.2011.64749
What’s happening when nothing’s happening? Combining eyetracking and keylogging to explore cognitive processing during pauses in translation production
No full textThis article investigates whether a combination of eyetracking and keylogging can yield a better understanding of the cognitive processing that occurs during pauses in translation production. It analyses the interaction between a number of temporal and spatial variables associated with pausing (including pause duration, the syntactic location of the pause and reading behaviour during the pause). Eight third-year students of translation, translating from English to Afrikaans, translated a 180-word text while their keystrokes and eye movements were recorded. Pauses were defined by means of a predetermined cut-off point, and coded for the temporal and spatial variables above. The relationships between these variables form the focus of the analysis. The findings of the study point to a complex relationship between pause duration, the syntactic position of the pause, syntactic asymmetries between the languages involved, reading behaviour and cognitive effort
Exploring a new narratological paradigm for the analysis of narrative communication in translated children's literature
No full textCurrent contributions attempting to draw together translation studies and narratology are based almost exclusively on structuralist narratology, proceeding from the assumption that changes on the micro-level of the text will result in changes to the various narrative dimensions of the text, and will lead to a different configuration of the narrative communication situation in translated texts as compared to original works. However, it is argued in this paper that this approach, firstly, results in a conceptualisation of the narrative communication situation for the translated text that is particularly unwieldy and becomes even more so when considered in the context of translated children’s literature. Secondly, this approach does not take adequate cognisance of the role (or potential role) of the reader and the context, leaving both these aspects largely outside the process of analysis. Methodologically, it also means that narratological shifts in translation are mostly identified by means of comparative analysis, which, while useful, leaves the natural reading situation (where readers do not usually have access to the source text) out of consideration. Instead, this paper presents a preliminary and exploratory investigation of an alternative narratological framework that includes the reader as a constitutive component. The framework, based on the ideas of Bortolussi and Dixon (2003), proposes a two-part, interlocked conception of narratological elements: textual features and reader constructions. It is argued that such a framework provides a simultaneously simpler and more sophisticated means of understanding narrative communication in translated children’s literature. Firstly, translations and their source texts may be analysed comparatively in terms of their textual features, which may reveal the presence of the translator. However, the second dimension of the proposed framework posits that despite the fact that translation shifts effect changes in narrative features, child and adult readers’ responses to translated children’s texts do not necessarily and by default incorporate an awareness of the presence of an additional “voice” in the text, that of the translator. At this point the framework departs from standard narratological approaches to narrative communication in translated texts in proposing the necessity of investigating reader constructions rather than textual features alone.http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1011254arhttp://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1011254a
Postcolonial Polysystems: Perceptions of Norms in the Translation of Children's Literature in South Africa
No full textPolysystem theory provides a useful, though necessarily limited, entry point for an investigation of the complex relationships that underlie the production of children’s books in various languages in South Africa, and the role that translation plays in this process. In particular, it provides a theoretical means of hypothesizing reasons for the tensions between original production and translation in relation to different language groups, and an explanation of the ways in which tensions between domesticating and foreignizing approaches to translation are perceived by various role players. This paper first argues that there is a systemic relationship between different types of literary texts for children in the various languages in South Africa, and that this provides a possible key for explaining the tensions outlined above. Against this background, the paper presents some findings of a survey conducted among South African translators of children’s literature, focusing specifically on translators’ perceptions of preliminary norms and the basic initial norm. Based on these findings, it is then argued that the dynamics and power differentials among the different languages in South Africa may challenge conventional interpretations of systemic relationships and their effects on norms and (possible) laws or universals of translation, particularly relating to binary conceptions of and conventionally held assumptions about the relationship between source-text and target-culture orientation (or domestication and foreignization) as linked to polysystemic position.https://www.stjerome.co.uk/tsa/volume/1572
A corpus–based study of the mediation effect in translated and edited language
No full textThis paper presents the results of a study investigating the hypothesis that the recurrent features, or universals, of translated language are primarily the result of a mediation process that is shared among different kinds of mediated language, rather than the particularities of bilingual language processing. The investigation made use of a comparable corpus consisting of a subcorpus of English texts translated from Afrikaans, a subcorpus of comparable edited English texts, and a subcorpus of comparable unedited (and also untranslated) English texts. The frequency and distribution of linguistic features associated with three of the universals of translated language (explicitation, normalisation/conservatism, and simplification) across the three subcorpora were analysed. The study was guided by the hypothesis that the frequency and distribution of linguistic features associated with the universals of translated language would demonstrate similarities in the two subcorpora of mediated text (i.e., the translated and edited subcorpus), as compared to the subcorpus of unmediated text (i.e., the unedited subcorpus). However, the study yields almost no evidence for a mediation effect that is shared by translated and edited language, at least not along the linguistic features investigated. There is, however, evidence for what appears to be a separate translation-specific effect, which seems likely to be more unconscious, more proceduralised and more related to the linguistic level alone. This offers some support for the hypothesis of universals of translated language that are unique to this kind of text mediation specifically. Furthermore, the findings of the study suggest that editing may involve a different kind of mediation effect altogether, which frequently remains invisible in conventional corpus-based studies comparing translated and non-translated language, and which requires further investigation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/target.24.2.07kruhttp://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/target.24.2.07kr
Child and adult readers' processing of foreignised elements in translated South African picturebooks: an eye–tracking study
No full textThe tension between domesticating and foreignising translation strategies is particularly strongly felt in the translation of children’s literature, and has been a key issue in many studies of such literature. However, despite the pervasiveness of the concepts, there is little existing empirical research investigating how child (and adult) readers of translated children’s books process and respond to foreignised elements in translation. This means that scholars’ arguments in favour of either domestication or foreignisation in the translation of children’s literature are often based on intuition and personal experience, with no substantial empirical basis. This article presents the findings of an experiment undertaken to investigate Afrikaans child and adult readers’ processing of and responses to potentially linguistically and culturally foreign textual elements in translated children’s picturebooks, against the background of postcolonial/neocolonial cultural and linguistic hybridity in South Africa. The paper reports the results relating to two of the research questions informing the study:1. Does the use of foreignised elements in translated children’s picturebooks have any significant effect on the cognitive effort involved in reading for child and adult readers?2. Is the comprehension of child and adult readers affected by the use of foreignised elements in translated children’s picturebooks?A reading study utilising eye-tracking was conducted, involving both child and adult participants reading manipulated domesticated and foreignised versions of pages from two picturebooks translated from English to Afrikaans. To answer research question (1), data obtained by means of eye-tracking were analysed for dwell time, fixation count, first fixation duration and glances count for areas of interest (AOIs) reflecting domesticating or foreignising translation strategies. In order to answer question (2), short structured questionnaires or interviews with participants were used, focusing on the degree of comprehension of the two texts. Overall, the findings of the experiment demonstrate that while there are perceptible effects on processing and comprehension associated with the use of foreignising strategies, these effects are not straightforward or uniform, with notable differences not only for different AOIs, but also for child and adult readers.http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/target.25.2.03kruhttp://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/target.25.2.03kr
Fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation: a cognitive perspective
No full textThis paper argues for the addition of a cognitive perspective to the concepts of fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation. Given the disjunctions between the ontological levels (and analytical levels of specificity) implied in these concepts (cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural), the paper first sets out an argument for how these ontologies are related, demonstrating how cognitive processing, and specifically cognitive effort for both translators and readers, form a second-level constituent of both these sets of concepts, by drawing on usage-based theories of language. From within this conceptual frame, the paper turns its attention to an empirical investigation. The study demonstrates how a combination of product and process methods may be utilised to explore the cognitive effort involved in domesticating and foreignising choices. The findings of the study are used to formulate some suggestions regarding how investigations of cognitive effort in translation may contribute to an understanding of fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation in diverse contexts
Professional and personal ethics in translation: a survey of South African translator's strategies and motivations
No full textThe aim of the study reported on in this article was to explore South African translators’
responses to various kinds of ethically contentious material at the textual level, in the context
of particular text types and hypothetical translation situations. The study made use of a survey
design based primarily on closed-ended questions, administered to an availability sample of 31
South African translators drawn from the membership of the South African Translators’
Institute (SATI). The survey was, in the first instance, designed to solicit respondents’ opinions
regarding which translation strategies they would most likely select to deal with particular kinds
of ethical challenges. In order to better understand the factors affecting the selection of
translation strategies, the impact of two translator factors (experience and age) and two text
factors (text type and type of ethical problem) was investigated. In the second instance, the
survey aimed to investigate why respondents selected particular strategies, and indirectly how
they view their ethical responsibility. To this end, possible reasons for the selection of specific
translation strategies were formulated and categorised as primarily influenced by either
personal or professional ethics. In addition to this overall analysis, the study analysed
differences in the role of personal and professional ethics depending on the type of ethical
problem, the type of text, respondents’ age, and different levels of translation experience. The
findings of the study suggest an overwhelming preference for faithful translation, but also reveal
an interplay between personal and professional ethics as the motivation for this choice, with
some differences across text type and kind of ethical problem. It appears that experience leads
to a greater preference for both faithful translation strategies and a stronger influence of
professional ethics. However, the data also suggest that age and/or generational differences may
play a role in the selection of translation strategies, as well as in the effect of personal and
professional ethics, with the oldest and youngest respondents in the sample more likely to opt
for strategies other than faithful translation, motivated more frequently by personal rather than
professional ethics.http://dx.doi.org/10.5842/43-0-613http://spil.journals.ac.za/pub/issue/view/4
Using the features of translated language to investigate translation expertise: a corpus–based study
No full textThe study reported on set out to test the hypothesis that linguistic operationalisations of the features of translated language will demonstrate signficant differences in the work of experienced and inexperienced translators. A custom–built comparable English corpus was used, comprising three subcorpora: translations produced by experienced translators, translations by inexperienced translators, and non–translated texts. A number of linguistic operationalisations were selected for three of the features of translated language: explicitation, simplification and normalisation. The differences in these linguistic features in the three subcorpora were analysed, using parametric or non–parametric ANOVA, and T–tests or Mann–Whitney U–tests as post–hoc tests where applicable. The findings of the study indicate substantial (though not unqualified) support for the hypothesis. It is argued that experience–related variation in register sensitivity, language competence, awareness of written language conventions and sensitivity to translation norms are the main factors contributing to expertise.https://www.benjamins.com/#catalog/journals/ijcl.20.3.02red/detailshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.20.3.02re
Register and the features of translated language
No full textAgainst the background of current corpus-based research on the features of translated language, this study investigates two research questions that emerge as “gaps” in existing research: (1) What are the occurrence patterns for the different hypothesised features of translated language, investigated together? (2) What is the relationship between register and the features of translated language? Utilising a comparable corpus of translated and original English produced in South Africa, the study tests two hypotheses based on the above questions. The first hypothesis is that the occurrence of linguistic realisations associated with particular features of translated language will demonstrate significant differences in a corpus of translated English texts and a comparable corpus of non-translated English texts, reflecting overall more explicit, more conservative, and simplified language use in the translation corpus than in the corpus of original writing. As a starting point for factoring in the variable of register, it was further hypothesised that the frequency of these features in the translation corpus will show no significant effect for the relationship between corpus and register — in other words, the translation-related features would not be strongly linked to register variation. This has the collateral effect of suggesting a broader hypothesis that in the translation corpus less register variation, or sensitivity to register, will occur, specifically as a consequence of translation-specific effects. The findings from the investigation provide limited support for the first hypothesis, with statistically significant differences between the two corpora for only two of the features investigated: the use of the optional that complementiser, and lexical variety. The second hypothesis, that the interference of the translation process will lead to a “levelling out” of registers, is not supported by the findings.http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1556/Acr.13.2012.1.3http://www.akademiai.com/content/02700w1hk14u05hl/?p=41051d3ab2f444c7acfa12948d92c877&pi=
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