New Insights into Arabic Translation and Interpreting 9781783095254

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New Insights into Arabic Translation and Interpreting

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New Insights into Arabic Translation and Interpreting Edited by Mustapha Taibi

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Buffalo • Toronto

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Taibi, Mustapha, editor. Title: New Insights into Arabic Translation and Interpreting/ Edited by Mustapha Taibi. Description: Bristol: Multilingual Matters, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015044279| ISBN 9781783095247 (hbk : alk. paper) ISBN 9781783095254 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Arabic language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. | Arabic language—Translating—Study and teaching. | Arabic language—Semantics. | Language and culture. Classification: LCC PJ6066 .N49 2016 | DDC 492.7/802—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015044279 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-524-7 (hbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Website: www.multilingual-matters.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com Copyright © 2016 Mustapha Taibi and the authors of individual chapters. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable, and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru & Chennai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by the CPI Books Group Ltd.

Contents Contributors

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Introduction Stuart Campbell

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Through the Master Discourse of Translation Said Faiq 1. Introduction 2. The Master Discourse of Translation 3. Translation from Arabic 4. Conclusion

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Curriculum Innovation in the Arab World: Community Interpreting and Translation as an Example Mustapha Taibi 1. Introduction 2. Social Need for Community Interpreting and Translation 3. The Role of Universities and Training Institutions 4. Criteria for Effective Training in Community Interpreting and Translation 5. A Case of Curriculum Innovation 6. Conclusion Appendix Translating for Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia: A Matter of Quality Mustapha Taibi and Ahmad Qadi 1. Introduction 2. Translating for Pilgrims: A Special Case of Community Translation 3. The Data 4. Quality Assessment 5. Conclusion Interpreting Taboo: The Case of Arabic Interpreters in Spanish Public Services Mustapha Taibi and Mohamed El-Madkouri Maataoui 1. Introduction 2. Interpreting, Translation and Culture 3. Arab Cultures and Sex-Related Taboos 4. Taboo in the Context of Community Interpreting 5. Conclusion v

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Terminology in Undergraduate Translation and Interpreting Programmes in Spain: The Case of Arabic as a First Foreign Language 91 Naima Ilhami and Catherine Way 1. Introduction 91 2. Terminology and Arabic 92 3. Differential Aspects of Terminology in Spanish and in Modern Standard Arabic 96 4. Terminology Training in the Translating and Interpreting Degree at Spanish Universities 99 5. Adequacy of the Content and Approach of the Terminology Module for the Needs of Arabic B Language Students 106 6. Conclusions 111

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Towards a Functional Approach to Arabic–English Legal Translation: The Role of Comparable/Parallel Texts Mohammed Mediouni 1. Introduction 2. Legal Translation Between Subject Field and Function 3. Legal Translation and Parallel/Comparable Texts 4. Teaching Legal Arabic–English Translation Through Comparable/Parallel Texts 5. Case Study: Translation of a Bilateral Agreement from Arabic into English 6. Testing the Relevance of Parallel/Comparable Texts 7. Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 Appendix 6

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Translating Colour Metaphors: A Cognitive Perspective Sami Chatti 1. Introduction 2. The Continuum: Language, Culture and Translation 3. Conceptual Blending of Colour Metaphors 4. Conclusion

Concluding Remarks: The Turn of Translating (into) Arabic Said Faiq Index

115 115 116 120 127 128 139 144 145 149 151 152 158 160 161 161 162 168 174 177 182

Contributors

Associate Prof. Mustapha Taibi is Director of Academic Programme (Languages, TESOL, Interpreting and Translation) at Western Sydney University, Australia. He is the leader of the International Community Translation Research Group and Editor of Translation & Interpreting: The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research (www.trans-int.org). Since 2008 he has been on the New South Wales Regional Advisory Committee of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). Examples of his publications are Tarjamat Al-Khadamaat Al-Aammah (Community Interpreting and Translation; Dar-Assalam, 2011), ‘Public Service Translation’ in The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies (ed. K. Malmkjaer and K. Windle; Oxford University Press, 2011), and Community Translation (co-authored with Uldis Ozolins; Bloomsbury, 2016). Emeritus Prof. Stuart Campbell was Pro Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at Western Sydney University, Australia. During his career at WSU (and its predecessors) he held numerous management positions, including foundation Head of the School of Languages and Linguistics. He has a track record of leading change and development in learning and teaching, including establishing programmes in languages, interpreting/translation and teacher education. Stuart’s main research specialisation is the psycholinguistics of translation. In the field of translation studies, he is internationally known for his work in developing psycholinguistic models of translation competence as the basis for curriculum and assessment. Prof. Said Faiq, FRSA, is Professor of Intercultural Studies and Translation at the American University of Sharjah (UAE). His positions there have included Chair/Head of Department (2003–7, 2009–10) and Director of the Graduate Programme in Translation and Interpreting (2002–11). Currently he is a visiting professor at Exeter University (UK), but he has worked in Africa, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom (Salford University, 1990– 2003). At Salford, he was director of studies for undergraduate and graduate programmes in Arabic/English translation and interpreting. Previously, he was a visiting lecturer in applied linguistics at Leeds University (1996–98). vii

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He has served as consultant to private and public organizations for educational and related sectors and serves on a number of academic editorial and consultancy boards/agencies. An established figure in intercultural and translation studies and allied areas, he has directed and examined graduate research (e.g. Cambridge, McGill). His publications include Agency and Patronage in Eastern Translatology (co-edited with Ahmed Ankit, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), Culguage in/of Translation from Arabic (co-edited with Ovidi Carbonnell and Ali Almanna; Lincom, 2014), Beyond Denotation in Arabic Translation (co-edited with Allen Clark; Sayyab Books, 2010), Cultures in Dialogue: A Translational Perspective (Ati-Academic, 2010), Translated: Translation and Cultural Manipulation (University Press of America, 2007), Identity and Representation in Intercultural Communication (IAICS, 2006), and Cultural Encounters in Translation from Arabic (Multilingual Matters, 2004). Dr Ahmad Qadi is an Assistant Professor in Translation at Umm Al-Qura University (Mecca, Saudi Arabia) and Deputy Dean of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research. In 2011 he completed his doctoral dissertation, Language services for pilgrims to the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, which is the first study on interpreting and translation services provided during the annual pilgrimage. Dr Mohamed El-Madkouri Maataoui is a Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. He teaches graduate courses on translation in Spain and Italy (La Sapienza), with a special interest in legal translation and migration. He has been a visiting professor in Italy, Sweden, Egypt, Bosnia and Morocco, among other countries. He has published more than 100 journal papers and book chapters on linguistics, translation studies, and critical discourse analysis. His most recent works include La Imagen del Otro: Lo Árabe en la Prensa Española (Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámico, 2009); Traductología y Traducción (IEHL, 2012) and Escuela e Inmigración: la Experiencia Española (Instituto de Estudios Ibéricos e Iberoamericanos de la Universidad de Varsovia, 2012). He is a member of several editorial boards and is involved in several research projects related to translation and international migration. Dr Catherine Way is a Senior Lecturer in Translation at the University of Granada, Spain, and lead researcher of the AVANTI research group. She has published on legal translation, co-edited several books, is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Puentes, and until recently was the editor of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer (she remains on its editorial board). She is a member of the Advisory Board of Fachsprache, ILLD, IJLTCT, and the book series Aprende a traducir and has written peer reviews for several publishers. She recently co-edited the Proceedings of the EST Conference for Benjamins.

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Her main fields of research are legal translation, translator training and court interpreting. Dr Naima Ilhami is an external expert trainer in the Professional Master in Translation of the University of Granada, Spain. She has been a member of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the same University, where she has taught Arabic–Spanish translation for four years. She is a freelance translator of Arabic, French and Spanish and a member of the AVANTI research group. Her main fields of research are curriculum design, Arabic translator training and legal translation into Arabic. Dr Mohammed Mediouni is Head of the English Section at King Fahd High School of Translation (Tangier, Morocco). He holds a doctorate in English Linguistics from l’Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). His research interests include terminology, lexicography, legal translation, and translation studies. His recent publications include ‘Can dictionaries (monolingual or bilingual) help translators overcome collocation pitfalls?’ in Turjuman 22:1, Actes du Colloque ‘Traduction et Lexicographie’ (April 2013). Dr Sami Chatti is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, and a certified translator in English, French and Arabic. He holds a Doctorate and a Master in English Linguistics from the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle, and obtained a second Master in translation from the ESIT School of Interpreters and Translators in Paris. His research interests include cognitive semantics, translation studies and corpus linguistics. He has recently published a book on the Semantics of English Causative Verbs (Paf, 2012), and contributed several articles to specialised journals in linguistics and translation. Currently, he is a member of the Tunisian Centre of Translation and coordinator of the translation programme at King Abdulaziz University.

Introduction Stuart Campbell

In London in the early 1970s I had the privilege of being taught by Safa Khulusi (1917–1995), the noted Iraqi scholar and author of the 1956 book Fannu at-Tarjama (‫[ )ﻓﻦ اﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺔ‬The Art of Translation]. Dr Khulusi’s Wikipedia entry notes his expertise as ‘linguist, writer, poet, journalist, translator, lexicographer, historian’. My recollection is of an erudite and courtly man, devoted to bridging the cultures of the Arab and Anglophone worlds; I was especially intrigued by his theory of Shakespeare’s possible Arab ancestry and his love of the Lake District. I mention Safa Khulusi in the introduction to this book for two reasons. First, in the intervening 40 years, academic specialisation – including in translation studies – has sharpened to the point where few scholars can claim such a broad range of expertise. Second, the exploration of the relationship between the cultures of East and West – especially since Said’s Orientalism (1978) – has become an academic specialisation in its own right, and one that is highly germane to translation studies. Consider the Arab World 40 years on: communities of Arabic speakers are now part of the demographic profile of European cities such as Stockholm and Paris; respect for human rights in the Arab World is becoming an expectation rather than a forlorn hope; the Arab Spring may or may not turn out to be the final excruciating unravelling of the Arabs’ colonial experience; Arab women show extraordinary courage in demanding equality; Lebanese pop music engages millions; social media tools are totally Arabized; Arabic literacy is now widespread in the Arab World and English is becoming a prerequisite for advancement among the Arab professional classes; and large numbers of Arabs are studying in Western universities before returning home to form the elite strata of their societies. As all of these changes reshape the ecology of the Arabic language, they impact who uses Arabic, how they use it, and why they use it. In turn, the changing ecology of Arabic throws up new contexts or variations on old contexts in which Arabic is translated – whether they be graphic arts studios, refugee camps, boardrooms, or military interrogation cells. Despite the surge of scholarship on translation since the 1970s, European and North American voices have dominated the field and largely shaped it. With a few notable exceptions such as Mona Baker and Basil Hatim, it is 1

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only since 2005 that Arab scholars have begun to add their voices in substantial numbers; on the whole, Arab scholarship has consumed rather than produced new ideas in translation research. As a result, teachers and students in the Arab World have largely had to depend on references that were developed for language combinations and sociocultural contexts other than their own. This lack of a modern native Arab translation studies movement merely reinforces a relationship of intellectual dependence on the ‘producer’ cultures. This book attempts to redress this imbalance by offering Arab practitioners and translation schools a collection of articles by established as well as young researchers from different parts of the world, including Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Spain. It addresses translation and interpreting in the Arab World, translating from and into Arabic, and teaching translation from and into Arabic, with a special focus on new fields of study and professional practice, new lines of research, and innovative teaching approaches and resources. Written by Arab scholars and non-Arab authors with expertise in the Arab culture and translation from and into Arabic, this volume will be a significant local addition to translation resources in Arab institutions and a contribution of fresh ideas and perspectives to translation studies in general. The common thread running through the chapters in this collection is that they attempt to examine Arabic translation from the inside and not from the outside. This collection demonstrates two propositions. One is that research into Arabic translation is becoming an established specialisation within the broader field of translation studies. The other is that scholarship on Arabic translation is inextricably tied up with how the cultures of the Arab World and the West confront each other, accommodate each other, and shape each other. The chapters by Faiq and Taibi are, in contrast to the later chapters, broad in scope. Both engage with the relationship between Arabic and ‘dominant’ languages and cultures, but in quite different ways. Faiq’s chapter takes us to the heart of the relationship between the cultures of East and West by examining the special case of Arabic and the role of the ‘master discourse of translation’ through which the Arab World is so negatively portrayed and understood. I shall not steal Faiq’s thunder here, but I shall remark on his observation about the one-sidedness of the flow of cultural information between Arab and Western cultures. His statistics on the tiny number of Arabic books translated into English are depressing, just as they were 10 years ago. The inequality is further emphasised by the smooth adaptation in the Arab World of Western media and entertainment formats such as talent shows and music videos. It is hard to think of any Arab literary or artistic form that has survived importation into Western culture without undergoing stereotyping and manipulation as it is filtered through the master discourse. Faiq concludes with what I interpret as an appeal for an ethical stance for translation that works towards cultural understanding.

Introduc t ion

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Taibi’s chapter on community interpreting and translation education in the Arab World is essentially a call to action to ensure service provision to speakers of languages other than Arabic. The author sets out from the premise that for quality language services to be available, three conditions must be applied: recognition and policymaking, appropriate training, and quality assurance. He then focuses on training, argues that Arab universities need to address social needs in interpreting and translation, and describes a new initiative by a Saudi university intended to cater to social groups not previously utilised as reference points (pilgrims to Mecca and migrant workers in the Gulf region generally). Community interpreting and translation is a relatively recent phenomenon that arose in the West as a response to the needs of immigrants, and as an authentic form of human rights in action. In Australia, which is cited in Taibi’s chapter as a pioneer in this field, it is worth noting that community interpreting and translation was the main driver for establishing professional interpreter and translation education in that country, as well as for the development of a system of training and accreditation that was quite unlike anything in Europe. The starting point for Australian community interpreting and translation was the power imbalance between authority and client; its aim, inter alia, was to recover that balance, whether between doctor and patient, magistrate and accused, or finance provider and applicant. The success of the community interpreting and translation enterprise depended on government largesse, which in turn was driven by proactive multicultural policy – essentially an agreement between taxpayer and government that the powerful and powerless had an equal right to access essential services. Taibi’s chapter shows how the Western community interpreting and translation model can be adapted in the Arab World to cater to three client groups: speakers of minority languages, migrants, and pilgrims. In some respects, for example the case of Tamazigh speakers in Morocco, the model is reminiscent of interpreting for indigenous citizens in remote Australia; Taibi’s call is for the reality of everyday practice to match the guarantee of an interpreter in the Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure. The Western model takes on an original twist in its application to pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, where no inherent power imbalance is involved. The following chapters are characterised in one way or another by their specialisation and their location at the interface of Arab culture and the West – even in the case of language services for the Hajj, which are under pressure to improve at least in part because of the need to adopt international business practices. Moreover, four of the chapters share two other phenomena: they are the outcome of the work of teacher-researchers and exhibit methodologically rigorous use of data. In highlighting the teacher-researcher role, I might be accused of stating the obvious, but it is worth considering the place of translation studies in the broader context of the contemporary comprehensive university, especially in

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an era of international competition for research talent and an education sector in thrall to international rankings. Put bluntly, one wonders whether there is a future for the teacher-researcher in translation studies, or whether we shall see a specialisation of roles. In Australia, the concept of teachingonly positions is becoming more common in universities, where research academics are expected to meet set performance targets in publications and grant income. At the same time, translation programmes are relatively small and unable to achieve the economies of scale of disciplines such as business or health studies that permit research concentration. The question I pose is whether the model that has served us for the past few decades needs to evolve. I leave this question unanswered, but note that the importance of collaboration and partnerships – both local and international – will become more important in maintaining the strength of the discipline. This collection is evidence that the emerging subdiscipline of Arabic translation studies is taking collaboration seriously. Taibi and Qadi break completely new ground with their chapter on translating for pilgrims during the Hajj each year. With well over a million foreign pilgrims annually visiting Mecca, it is remarkable that their language needs have been unresearched until recently. Umm Al-Qura University does have a special mission to research the Hajj, but it is interesting to speculate on the broader motivations for the work reported here. One is undoubtedly the adaptation of the community translation model developed in Europe and Australia as a response to the needs of immigrants. Another might be the adoption of risk management and customer service principles from the globalised world of business; indeed, the translations collected for the dataset of this chapter fall well down the scale of acceptability in terms of managing risk or serving the ‘customers’ of the Hajj. Indeed, some are just unacceptable. The detail of this chapter is fascinating in its own right: We discover a genre that blends the mundane language of public notices with references to the Quran. Among the examples cited, the Makkah Transportation Company’s promotional material must be one of the most rhetorically unusual texts one might encounter; the challenges of producing a universally acceptable translation seem to be almost insurmountable. The chapter concludes with a set of stern recommendations to the relevant authorities, backed up by a rigorous error analysis of public notices and online material. The chapter by Taibi and El-Madkouri Maataoui on sex taboos in community interpreting is firmly located in the zone of Arab–Western cultural mediation, specifically in public service interpreting in Spain, and underlines how translation studies has adapted to the contemporary landscape. The authors note how our discipline has gradually elevated cultural transfer to a position alongside language transfer; in retrospect, it is difficult to imagine why scholars of the 1970s expended so much energy on defining equivalence. Perhaps the raw material was the problem; in parallel with the incorporation into translation studies of cultural perspectives, we have seen the adoption

Introduc t ion

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of empirical research methods (research based upon data rather than convenient examples plucked from thin air). As Taibi and El-Madkouri Maataoui’s chapter demonstrates, the raw material is uncomfortable and difficult; in real life people do have to talk about sex in medical and legal situations, and translators (more often, community interpreters) have to deal with the cultural fallout. Two findings stand out in this chapter: One is that religion is not the prime determinant in constraining discourse practices that relate to sex in the Spanish–Arabic community interpreting setting; instead, the broader Arab culture drives these practices. The other is that community interpreters are not at all unanimous about how to deal with sex taboos; indeed, the diversity of contexts and of interpreters (e.g. endogroup and exogroup interpreters) defies clear-cut solutions. Specialisation is a hallmark of contemporary translation studies, and the chapter by Ilhami and Way underscores this hallmark in its treatment of the teaching of Arabic terminology. The authors contextualise their study by describing terminology creation in Arabic, the constraints on the Arabicisation movement and the history of terminology as a component of translation and interpreting programmes in Spain. They then address the extent to which the Terminology module is adequate for the specific needs of students whose B language is Arabic. Like so many of the advances in translation studies since the mid-1970s, the work reported in this chapter is driven by the need to improve the teaching of translation; as I have noted, our discipline is characterised by a strong connection between teaching and research, with teacherresearchers developing underpinning theory and teaching strategies in tandem. In this tradition, Ilhami and Way round off their chapter with a critique of terminology training at their own university and a proposal for improvements to support students translating between Spanish and Arabic. Mediouni’s special expertise is in Arabic–English legal translation, a field that is developing momentum through a number of doctoral theses. The theoretical insights he presents have been gained through his work as a teacher-researcher. Whereas Mediouni catalogues in great detail his methodology for teaching legal translation, the core of his argument is the efficacy of multilingual corpora in providing ‘terminological and phraseological equivalents’. The conventionalism of legal texts, Mediouni maintains, means that parallel or comparable texts in English and Arabic will do ‘as much as 80–90% of the task’. His example of auditors’ reports illustrates the point at the level of terminology, while his case study of a bilateral agreement between Morocco and Senegal extends the point to syntax with, for example, a conventional equivalence found between English participle forms and Arabic clauses opening with the particle ‘‫‘( ’إذ‬id- ’). Chatti’s chapter rounds off the collection with an accomplished account of the translation of colour metaphors. The chapter draws on a number of theoretical perspectives in order to develop a cognitive model that includes

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the notion of a ‘blending space’ in which different cultural perceptions of colours can be resolved. On a practical level, this chapter offers guidance on getting colour translation between English and Arabic optimally right; given the ubiquity of colour metaphors, this is one area of cross-cultural transfer where translators cannot afford to be making mistakes. In conclusion, I wonder what Safa Khulusi might have made of this collection. I think the author of Fannu at-Tarjama would have been pleased to see the revival of a native Arabic translation discipline, and I suspect that the plentiful use of data in the various chapters would have appealed to his exacting attention to detail in textual analysis. He would, I am sure, have agreed that this collection is to be commended as an example of how the longstanding power imbalance in translation studies can be corrected.

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Through the Master Discourse of Translation Said Faiq

Translation does not exist; it becomes. This becoming is realized through a complex process that should be explored in a cross-cultural site of interaction. Currently, globalization is the term used to refer to this site where intercultural communication through translation-becoming takes place. Here, information is communicated as translation that forms or further consolidates an existing body of knowledge of the translating culture about the translated one. Cronin, 2013

1. Introduction Axiomatically, globalisation invokes the existence of something else that is not so globalised – something local. It is a truism to say that different cultures have historically represented each other in ways that have reflected the type of existing power relationships between them. Nonetheless, since the 1990s postcolonial and translation studies in particular have contributed a great deal to illuminating issues of the formation of cultural identities and/ or representation of foreign cultures; in 1999, (the late) André Lefevere named this process ‘composing the other’. The conceptualization of translation involves a binarism based on conflict, as Salama-Carr puts it: From within the discipline itself, the traditional issue of mediation linked with the increased visibility of the translator and the interpreter as agents, a shift of perspective promoted in great part by the so-called ‘cultural turn’ in translation and interpreting studies, followed and complemented by a ‘sociological’ engagement has paved the way for the growing interest in the role and responsibilities of translators and interpreters in relating and formulating conflict, and in issues of trust and testimony that often arise in that context of shifting power differentials. (2013: 32) Negative representations of ‘weak’ cultures by ‘powerful’ ones – the latter mostly assumed to be Western – have been part of the scheme of history 7

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(the terms ‘West’ and ‘Western’ are used here to refer to intellectual framings rather than to geographical places). However, no culture has been misrepresented and deformed by the West like the Arab/Islamic one. Between these two antagonistic worlds, translation remains a prime medium of communication/interaction. Translation usually refers to the handling of written texts and spoken discourse is left to the realm of interpreting (i.e. oral translation). In addition, translation normally refers to both the process of translating and to the product, the target text. As such, the term covers a broad range of concepts and both denotes and connotes different meanings. Within this context, the purpose of this chapter is to examine the constraints and pressures of the discourse through which translation is carried out. Particularly from perceived weaker cultures, translations are received by audiences at whose disposal is a master discourse that animates issues of identity, similarity and difference across cultures. Drawing on textual import from Arabic, the chapter shows how a culturally defined master discourse affects the act of translating at all levels.

2. The Master Discourse of Translation Across the different approaches/models of translation, whether named or not, the primary objective is to achieve the same informational and emotive effects in the target translations that are contained in and by the source texts. Opposition and conflict between various approaches/models has been the norm in translation studies. According to Salama-Carr, Much of the academic discourse on translation and interpreting has been articulated more or less explicitly in terms of conflict. Whilst some authors have focused on the tensions that are inherent in the process of translation (source texts versus target text, adequacy versus acceptability, literal translation versus free translation, semantic translation versus communicative translation, and formal correspondence versus dynamic equivalence, to name but a few dichotomies and constructed oppositions that underpin discussions of translation and classification of approaches and strategies), others have represented translation as an aggressive act. (2013: 31) The given that is at the heart of the dichotomies listed above, the main theoretical basis has centred on the concept of equivalence. Therefore, actual equivalence in and through translation has been sought at both the content level and the expressive (form) level. This search has often led theorists and translators alike to focus on aspects of either form or content. But such polarization of what translation involves ignores two simple facts: any text produced through a given language is the product of a unique union between form and content (manner and matter), and the production and reception of

Through the Master Discourse of Transl at ion

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a text are embedded in a specific cultural context. Seeing translation as an equivalence-seeking endeavor has further ignored that languages and their associated cultures are different and that complete equivalence, at one or multiple levels, is impossible. In the main and except for specific samples, texts cannot be accurately, faithfully, and neatly translated into other languages and still be the same as their originals. Linguistic difficulties (vocabulary, idioms, grammar, collocations, etc.) and cultural difficulties (perceptions, experiences, values, religions, histories, etc.) persist. Since the 1980s, translation studies has been extended to consider various and challenging issues. In particular, the view of culture-modeling through translation has ushered in questions that cannot be adequately answered by the conventionalised notions of equivalence, accuracy, fidelity, or ‘sourceer vs. targeteer’ approaches to translation and translating. The focus has shifted from (un)translatability to the cultural, political, and economic ramifications of translation; away from concerns with translated texts towards treating translation as a combination of social, cultural, and political acts that occur within and are attached to global and local relations of power and dominance. Marinetti comments: [C]ulturally-inflected studies have looked at translation as cultural interaction and have developed the question of translation ethics in the context of political censorship, endorsement of or resistance to colonial power and gender politics, generating a substantial body of literature that has developed these ideas into legitimate sub-areas. (2013: 29) It follows then that translating involves the transporting (carrying-over) of languages and their associated cultures to specific target constituencies, and the recuperation of the former by the latter. Such constituencies have at their disposal established systems of representation which include norms and conventions for the production and consumption of meanings vis-à-vis people, objects, and events. These systems ultimately yield a master discourse through which identity and difference are marked and within which translating is carried out (Faiq, 2007). In this respect, Venuti (1996: 196) succinctly sums up the nature of translation, as a particular instance of writing, within the Anglo-American tradition: The violence of translation resides in its very purpose and activity: the reconstitution of the foreign text in accordance with values, beliefs and representations that pre-exist it in the target language, always configured in hierarchies of dominance and marginality. (1996: 196) Elsewhere, Venuti attempts to exorcise the ideological in the process of representation through translation. Using the terms ‘domestication’ and ‘foreignization’, he traces how, over the last three centuries, Anglo-American

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(by extension, Western) translation theory and practice have had normalising and neutralising effects. The ultimate aim of such effects has been to subdue the dynamics of texts and realities of indigenous societies and to represent them in terms of what is familiar and unchallenging to Western culture. In intercultural communication, translation should perhaps most appropriately be seen and appreciated as involving interaction (communication) between and across different cultures through the languages of these cultures. This communication means that those carrying out the acts of translating bring with them prior knowledge (culture) learned through their own (usually mother or first) language. In any communicative act (even between people of the same group), culture and language are so intertwined that it is difficult to conceive of one without the other (Bassnett, 1998). A culture seeks to instruct its members about what to expect from life; by doing so it reduces confusion and helps them predict the future, often on the basis of one or more pasts. Cultural theorists generally agree that the most basic elements of any culture are history, religion, values, social organization, and language itself. The first four are interrelated and animated and expressed through the fifth. Through its language, a culture is shared and learned behaviour is transmitted across generations for the purposes of promoting individual and group survival, growth, and development, as well as the demarcation of itself and its group vis-à-vis other cultures and their respective members. A very basic definition of language is that it is no more than the combination of a good grammar book and a good dictionary. But this definition does not explicate what users actually do with grammar rules and neatly listed words; in reality, these mean what their users make of and want them to mean. So use depends very much on the user, and language as a whole assumes its importance as the mirror of the ways a culture perceives reality, identity, self, and others. Because it brings culture and language together, translation requires transporting (in the literal sense, causing to travel) texts (comprised of languages and their associated cultures) so that they become other texts (that reside in other languages and their associated cultures). The culture of the others (the ‘destination’ culture) usually has an established system of representation that helps define it to its members but, more importantly, helps them to define the languages and cultures they are translating from vis-à-vis their own. Thus, translation is by necessity a cultural act (Lefevere, 1998). As such, translation has a culture (politics, ideology, poetics) that precedes the actual act of translation. Culture A views culture B in particular ways, and vice versa; in turn, these particular ways affect how Culture A translates from Culture B, and vice versa. To express this union between culture and language, perhaps one can say that translation means transporting

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texts from Culguage A into Culguage B, where ‘culguage’, the blend of culture and language, is intended to capture the intrinsic relationship between the two. In translation, the norms of producing, interpreting, and circulating texts in one culguage tend to remain in force when approaching texts transplanted through translation from another culguage. As with native texts, the reception process of translated ones is determined more by the shared knowledge of the translating community than by what the translated texts themselves contain. This means that the culture of translation can be defined as affecting (guiding and determining) the translation of culture. On translation as intercultural communication, Bassnett and Trivedi write: … translation does not happen in a vacuum, but in a continuum; it is not an isolated act, it is part of an ongoing process of intercultural transfer. Moreover, translation is a highly manipulative activity that involves all kinds of stages in the process of transfer across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Translation is not an innocent, transparent activity but is highly charged with signification at every stage; it rarely, if ever, involves a relationship of equality between texts, authors or systems. (1999: 2) The representation of (mainly external) others through translation is a powerful strategy of exclusion used by a particular culguage as normal, and even moral (Said, 1995; Venuti, 1998). This exclusion is accompanied by an inclusion process of some accepted members from the other culguage (foreigners) as long as they adopt and adapt to the norms of the culguage that is accepting them. The examples of some Maghrebi writers in French and some Indian and Arab writers in English are cases in point (Faiq, 2007, 2014). Calling for an enlargement of translation to empower translators, Tymoczko writes: When translators remain oblivious of the Eurocentric pretheoretical assumptions built into the discipline of Translation Studies, they not only play out hegemonic roles in their works, they willingly limit their own agency as translators … [Otherwise, t]ranslation in the age of globalization will become an instrument of domination, oppression, and exploitation. (2007: 8) Approached from this perspective, translation yields sites for examining a plethora of issues: race, gender, (post)colonialism, publishing policies, censorship, and otherness. In terms of each of these issues, all parties involved in the translation enterprise (from choosing source texts for translation to linguistic decisions about the target) tend to be highly influenced by their own culguage and the way it sees the culguage they are translating from.

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3. Translation from Arabic Almost a decade before the events of 9/11/2001, Benjamin Barber posited two futures for the human race. One future is dictated by the forces of globalisation through … the onrush of economic and ecological forces that demand integration and uniformity and that mesmerize the world with fast music, fast computers, and fast food – with MTV, Macintosh, and McDonald’s pressing nations into one commercially homogeneous global network: one McWorld tied together by technology, ecology, communications and commerce. (1992: 53) The other future is driven by what he calls ‘tribalism’ and is seen as the complete, extreme opposite of the former. This future represents … a retribalization of large swaths of humankind by war and bloodshed: a threatened Lebanonization of national states in which culture is pitted against culture, people against people, tribe against tribe – a Jihad in the name of a hundred narrowly conceived faiths against every kind of interdependence, every kind of artificial social cooperation and civic mutuality. (1992: 53) The choice here of the words ‘Jihad’ and ‘tribe’ to describe the dangerous future for humanity immediately conjures up images of Arabs and Islam as the main causes of destructive nationalisms (tribalisms) that threaten the ways of life of the ‘civilised’ West. This representation is not new, however; on the contrary, it preceded the spread of colonialism into Arab/Islamic lands. Colonialism furthered this view and augmented it with elites chosen from the ‘natives’ to act as apologists and/or guardians of its order and system of representation, both during and after colonial rule. Translation from Arabic into Western culguages, mostly English and French, has followed representational strategies within an established framework of institutions that has its own lexis and norms (Faiq, 2004; Said, 1993), as outlined by Barber (1992) and discussed above. In a global context, translation, aided by the media and its technologies, yields ‘enormous power in constructing representations of foreign cultures’ (Venuti, 1998: 97). Given this situation, cultural encounters that involve Arabic language (and, by extension, all language and culture that relates to Islam) that are facilitated through translation into mainstream Western languages have been characterized by strategies of manipulation, subversion, and appropriation, with cultural conflicts being the ultimate outcome. Such strategies have become nastier and dangerously topoied (represented) since the events of September 2001. The media have played a major role in the rapid diffusion of subverted

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translations and coverage of this world – suffocating the diversity and heterogeneity of different Arab and Muslim cultures, portraying them instead as a monolith and a homogeneous group, and forming on their behalf a specific cultural identity that creates an otherness of absolute strangers who ‘need to’ be isolated, avoided, and even abominated. This pervasive practice negates possibilities of tertium comparationis and ethical translatability. While seemingly both the West and the Arab/Islamic worlds have decided to block themselves in their own towers, media coverage has created more reasons for cultural misunderstandings. Representations – translations from – of Arabic and its associated culture(s) are carried out through lenses that fall within a situation aptly described by Sayyed: Ghosts are the remains of the dead. They are echoes of former times and former lives: those who have died but still remain, hovering between erasure of the past and the indelibility of the present – creatures out of time. Muslims [including Arab societies] too, it seems, are often thought to be out of time: throwbacks to medieval civilizations who are caught in the grind and glow of ‘our’ modern culture. It is sometimes said that Muslims belong to cultures and societies that are moribund and have no vitality – no life of their own. Like ghosts they remain with us, haunting the present. (1997: 1) The caricatures depicting Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, former US President George W. Bush’s use of the term ‘shit’ to describe the July 2007 war in the Middle East, the many mistranslations (misrepresentations) of concepts such as jihad and fatwa into fixed meanings and references that deform their native meanings and references, are further examples of authoritarian relationships between Western culture and how it represents – translates – the Arab/Islamic source culture. Although they are not translations as such, transliterations represent powerful strategies of fixing and popularizing in the target language/culture particular connotations that sustain cultural conflicts. Translation from Arabic has generally suffered from influences of the master discourse of the translating culture in terms of invisibility, appropriation, subversion, and manipulation. Such a situation not only distorts original texts but also leads to the influencing of target readers. Carbonell (1996), for example, reports that in his comments on Burton’s translation of the Arabian Nights, Byron Farwell (1963–1990: 366) wrote: The great charm of Burton’s translation, viewed as literature, lies in the veil of romance and exoticism he cast over the entire work. He tried hard to retain the flavour of oriental quaintness and naivete of the medieval Arab by writing as the Arab would have written in English. (cited in Carbonell, 1996: 80)

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Such views of translation, and by extension of readers, result in translations that imply the production of subverted texts at all levels, ‘not only the source text, but also the target context experience the alteration infused by the translation process when their deeper implications are thus revealed’ (Carbonell, 1996: 93). Such alteration ultimately leads to manipulations of the target text through the process of translation, thereby regulating and/or satisfying and agreeing with the expected response of and/or sought from the receivers of the translations, particularly given the pressures of the master discourse through which Arab and Islamic culture(s) are perceived prior to the translation activity itself. In this context, translation becomes a significant site for raising questions of representation, power, and historicity. The context is one of contested stories attempting to account for, to recount, the asymmetry and inequality of relations between peoples, races, languages. (Niranjana, 1992: 1) Translation from Arabic has followed representational strategies within an established framework of institutions with its own vocabulary and scripts (Said, 1993); that is, a particular master discourse and its centripetal pressures. In this framework of relations of power and knowledge, the West, satisfied and content with its own representations, has not deemed it necessary to appreciate and know fully, through translation, the literatures and respective cultures (with their differences and heterogeneity) of Arabs and Muslims (there are exceptions, of course, but they do not affect mainstream trends). Reporting on personal experience of translating contemporary Arabic literature into English, Peter Clark writes: I wanted … to translate a volume of contemporary Syrian literature. I … thought the work of ‘Abd al-Salam al-‘Ujaili was very good and well worth putting into English. ‘Ujaili is a doctor in his seventies who has written poetry, criticism, novels and short stories. In particular his short stories are outstanding. Many are located in the Euphrates valley and depict the tensions of individuals coping with politicisation and the omnipotent state. … I proposed to my British publisher a volume of ‘Ujaili’s short stories. The editor said, ‘There are three things wrong with the idea. He’s male. He’s old and he writes short stories. Can you find a young female novelist?’ Well, I looked into women’s literature and did translate a novel by a woman writer even though she was and is in her eighties. (1997: 109) Clark’s experience is not incidental. His account shows that translation from Arabic into mainstream Western languages is essentially still seen as an exotic voyage carried out through a weighty component of representation in the target culture, in which the objective knowledge of the source

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culture is substantially altered by a dialectic of attraction and repulsion. The Arabian Nights (a title preferred for its exotic and salacious resonance to the original (‫[ )أﻟﻒ ﻟﯿﻠﺔ وﻟﯿﻠﺔ‬A Thousand and One Nights], for instance, is more famous in the West than in the Arab East. The exotic, and often distorted, view of the Arab and Islamic worlds has led to a situation where the proportion of books written about this world in Western languages is greatly disproportionate to the small number of books translated from Arabic that are, in fact, about it. Centric assumptions about others – races, nationalities, literatures – has provided, in the West, the site for critiques of representations and language as well as for ideological ‘control’ of writers from the Arab/Islamic worlds. These assumptions return time and again to haunt the production, reception, and circulation of Arabic texts, and in turn to complicate the issue of translation. Concerning these same issues, Thomas examines the relationship between the Arab World and the West in general and the politics behind the awarding of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature to Naguib Mahfouz. In this regard it is interesting to consider Naguib Mahfoudh – the only Arab writer to have been given the full western seal of approval through his winning of the Nobel Prize. He worked as a censor throughout the Nasser and Sadat eras, eras not noted for liberal attitudes to the arts or critical awareness. … Despite what one may think of the literary merits of his work … the fact remains that nearly all of his work has been translated, which compares very favourably with translations of other Arab writers who have been much more critical of the West. (1998: 104–5) Arabic literary texts are not usually chosen for translation for their innovative approaches or for their sociopolitical perspectives. Rather, texts chosen are recognizable as conforming to the master discourse of writing about and representing Arabs, Arab culture, and Islam. This situation has led many Arab writers to write in and for translation. Discussing the discursive strategies of the female Arab writer Hanan al-Shaykh, in her novel Women of Sand and Myrrh, Dallal appropriately comments That Women of Sand and Myrrh was written specifically for Englishspeaking audiences is clear in the opening chapter. References specific to Western culture which would be unfamiliar to Arabs go unexplained, whereas references to customs or practices specific to Arab contexts are consistently accompanied by explanations. Suha explains why ‘the [imported] soft toys and dolls had all been destroyed’ by the authorities: ‘Every one that was meant to be a human being or animal or bird [was confiscated] since it was not permissible to produce distortions of God’s creatures’. This explanation of a particular interpretation of Islam (or outright fabrication, as most Arab Muslims would believe) used by the

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Gulf regimes would need no explanation for Arab audiences. However, the narrators’ references to ‘Barbie dolls and Snoopies and Woodstocks’ would not be recognized by most in the Arab world, and yet are left without explanation. (1998: 8) Closely related to this issue is the meagre number of translations from Arabic. Venuti (1995) reports that of all translations worldwide for the years 1982, 1983 and 1984, translations from Arabic into English were, respectively, 298, 322, and 536. Compared with translations from Spanish or Hungarian or even Classical Greek and Latin, one can easily notice the insignificance of the number of translations from Arabic. Translations during these years from these three sources were 715, 847, and 839 (Spanish); 703, 665, and 679 (Classical Greek); and 839, 1116, and 1035 (Latin). In an extensive survey of literary translation from Arabic in the UK and Ireland, Büchler and Guthrie (2011: 21) provide the following statistics for 20 years (1990–2010): Fiction (novel) 192

Memoir 11

Miscellaneous 1

Poetry 37

Short Fiction

Plays

65

3

From these numbers, the yearly average of literary translations from Arabic into English in the UK and Ireland comes to 15.45 titles (translations) per year. For the same period, Büchler and Guthrie (2011) provide a summary of the most translated authors from Arabic (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Most-translated Arab authors, 1990–2010

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Notwithstanding this miniscule volume of translation from Arabic, the information Büchler and Guthrie provide further reinforces the views discussed above (recall Thomas, 1998). This situation prompted Edward Said to publish the following conclusion, which remains apt two decades later: For all the major world literatures, Arabic remains relatively unknown and unread in the West, for reasons that are unique, even remarkable, at a time when tastes here for the non-European are more developed than ever before and, even more compelling, contemporary Arabic literature is at a particularly interesting juncture. (1995: 97) Despite this interesting juncture, despite a Nobel Prize in literature, and despite the current obsessive attention, bordering on hysteria, that is given to Arabs and Islam, translation from Arabic still proceeds along a familiar and established master discourse whereby stereotyping, strategies of signification and power [comprise] the network in which a culture is fashioned does appear as a texture of signs linked by endless connotations and denotations, a meaning system of inextricable complexity that is reflected, developed and recorded in the multifarious act of writing. (Carbonell, 1996: 81) Here are some other poignant examples. In his foreword to his translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Yawma Qutila az-Za’ı¯m (‫[ )ﯾﻮم ﻗﺘﻞ اﻟﺰﻋﯿﻢ‬The Day the Leader was Killed/Assassinated] into French, André Miquel explains that he kept footnotes to the very minimum (Mahfouz, 1989). Yet, Jacquemond (1992) counted 54 footnotes in a translation of 77 pages. What transpires is that the translator-cum-orientalist expert assumes total ignorance on the part of readers, and proceeds to guide them through assumed authoritative knowledge of an unfathomable world where backwardness and the assassination of peacemakers are the norms. But this would be acceptable compared with Edward Fitzgerald’s infamous comment on the liberties he had allowed himself to take with his version of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which evidently ‘really need a little art to shape them’ (Bassnett, 1998: 78). Commenting on the kind of English used to translate from Arabic, Lewis makes the intriguing observation that The cause of cultural communication has suffered some damage from a sort of Anglo-Arabese favored by many, particularly Victorian, translators— a pseudo-biblical, neo-gothic, mock-Elizabethan, bogus Oriental style which finds its ultimate form in Burton’s translation of the Thousand and One Nights and still seems to contaminate some other translators, recent and even contemporary. There really is no need to create a special form of English in order to translate Arabic. (1980: 47)

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The issue here is not language choices but rather the prior existence of a discourse that controls all involved, often including the authors of the Arabic source texts (what I label elsewhere (Faiq, 2006) as ‘orientalized orientals’). A case in point is the 2007 novel Girls of Riyadh [‫ ]ﺑﻨﺎت اﻟﺮﯾﺎض‬by Rajaa al-Sanea, translated into English by Marilyn Booth, apparently with considerable help from the author. The translator claims to have opted for a ‘foreignizing’ translation to let the source shine through, but when the translation appeared, Booth found it unacceptable; leading to the situation whereby such a translation is ‘[e]nforced by the prevailing practices of marketing, reading and evaluating translations’ (Emmerich, 2013: 200). If Booth’s translation was modified, then the modifications were prompted by the requirements of a particular master discourse, presumably forced into and onto the English text by those working for the publishers – in short, editors with little or no knowledge of Arabic. In the words of Lefevere: Two factors basically determine the image of a work of literature as projected by a translation. These two factors are, in order of importance, the translator’s ideology (whether he/she willingly embraces it, or whether it is imposed on him/her as a constraint by some form of patronage, and the poetics dominant in the receiving literature at the time of the translation). (1992: 41) In the translation of Girls of Riyadh (2007), a date given in Arabic (al-Sanea, 2005: 22) as 20/2/2004 becomes February 20, 2004 (al-Sanea, 2007: 14). Apparently, opting for such a representation was necessary because it is simply too difficult for US readers to understand the Arabic (also European) system of day/month/year. In the same Arabic text, a passage that literally translates into English as ‘Lamees sat in the passenger seat, while the rest of the girls, five in total, sat in the back seats. They all sang along with the loud music from the CD player and moved as if they were dancing’ (al-Sanea, 2005: 23), is given in the published English translation as ‘Lamees took her place next to Michelle while Sadeem and Gamrah climbed into the backseats. The CD player was on full blast. The girls sang along and swayed their abaya-clad shoulders as if they were dancing on the seats’ (al-Sanea, 2007: 16). One can easily notice that facts are changed (the original number, five, has disappeared) and that a superfluous description ahs been added (‘abaya-clad’). Seemingly, US readers need to be reminded of how these little Muslim girls dress. One also notes that the reviews of the English translation were firmly couched in the requirements of the master discourse of translating from Arabic into English. Without a single exception, the excerpts that appear on the back cover of the English translation all invoke a ‘most repressive society’ and ‘a rare glimpse [of a] secretive/closed society.’ The idea of the harem, the charm of Burton, Fitzgerald’s views, Lewis, and so on (in other words, the master discourse through which Arabic literature travels into English) – all are alive and well today.

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As a direct result of persistent adherence to the requirements and constraints and pressures of a master discourse, through translation Arabic source texts become situated into ways of representation engrained in the shared experience and institutional norms of the translating community or communities (self, selves, us). Source texts and their associated peoples are transformed from certain specific signs into signs whose typifications translators and others involved in the translation enterprise claim to know. As the antonym of the self (Us, the translating culture), the Other (Them, the translated culture) is used to refer to all that the self perceives as mildly or radically different. Historically, the Other and otherness have been feared than appreciated, with the exception perhaps of the phenomenon of exoticism, in which the other, though often misunderstood and misrepresented, is perceived as strange but at the same time strangely ‘attractive’ (cf. O’Barr, 1994).

4. Conclusion In intercultural contact that occurs through translation, otherness is measured according to a scale of possibilities within a master discourse: when the Other is feared, the expected discoursal strategies (centrifugal pressures) are those that realize hierarchy (i.e. dominance and subordination). Such entrenched otherness can and often does lead to the establishment of stereotypes, which are usually accomplished by representations that reinforce the ideas behind them. Some critics see stereotypes as complex, ambivalent, contradictory modes of representation, as ‘anxious as they are assertive’, and recognise that they tend to dehumanise certain groups, which in turn makes it easier for those who formulate and disseminate the stereotypes to control, appropriate, and subvert the stereotyped Other while also minimising the complex web of ‘guilt and shame’ spun by such an endeavor (Bhabha, 1994). The representation of others through translation is a powerful strategy of exclusion used by a self which is perceived as normal and moral (Said, 1995). This exclusion is further accompanied by an includsion process of some accepted members from the Other, as long as these accepted individuals adopt and adapt to the underlying master discourse and its associated representational system and ideology of the accepting self (cf. Faiq, 2000). Notwithstanding the complexities of intercultural communication, the ethics of translation, in theory, postulates that it should lead to a rapprochement between the au-delà (Bhabha, 1994: 1), the Arab/Muslim world for our purposes here, and the Western world, as the translator of this au-delà. And, since it covers the space-between, the ‘inter’ in ‘intercultural’ translation could render the encounter less painful, less conflictual, less antagonistic, and less bloody. In our age, more urgently than ever before, the ethics of translation postulate that the exercise should lead to a rapprochement between different culguages to bring about both globalisation (the culguage of the

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multinationals – often equated with the culguage of the US and Western Europe) and localization (individual culguages – often equated with the rest of the world) in order to celebrate differences. That is, translation should be defined within and carried out as a tool for some glocalisation objective, most often bringing the hegemonic global and the not-so-hegemonic local together in peaceful encounters. A critical understanding of the ways in which master discourses operate might contribute to more efficient self-monitoring on the part of all involved in translation, and might lead to making it a true process of intercultural understanding rather than a way of reinforcing existing representations and images of one culture about another. This can be achieved through a crosscultural appraisal of the discourses underlying translation and translating with a view to better understanding the issues of identity (self and other), translation enterprise (patronage, agencies, translators) and norms of representation (master discourse). If we are to examine the process of intercultural communication through translation, we ought to carefully consider the culture of doing translation since the culture of translation ultimately guides and regulates the translation of culture. In terms of translation from Arabic, Jraissati (2011) provides an appropriate framing for the scene: Compared to other regions in the West, the Arab world is known through past colonial ties, intense media coverage and immigrated populations – or by One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. It seems that the current situation of translation from Arabic remains faithful to its master discourse.

References Barber, B. (1992) Jihad vs. McWorld. The Atlantic Monthly 269 (3), 53. Bhabha, H. (1994) The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Bassnett, S. (1998) Translating across cultures. In S. Hunston (ed.) Language at Work (pp. 72–85). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Bassnett, S. and Trivedi, H. (1999) Introduction: Of colonies, cannibals and vernaculars. In S. Bassnett and H. Trivedi (eds) Post-Colonial Translation (pp. 1–18). London: Routledge. Büchler, A. and Guthrie, A. (2011) Literary Translation from Arabic into English in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 1990–2010. Mercator Institute: Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK. Carbonell, O. (1996) The exotic space of cultural translation. In R. Álvarez and M. Vidal (eds) Translation, Power, Subversion (pp. 79–98). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Clark, P. (1997) Contemporary Arabic literature in English. Why is so little translated? Do Arabs prefer it this way? The Linguist 364, 108–110. Cronin, M. (2013) Globalization and translation . In Y. Gambier and L. van Doorslaer (eds) Handbook of Translation Studies (Vol. 4, pp. 134–40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Dallal, J. (1998) The perils of Occidentalism. The Times Literary Supplement (24 April), 8–9.

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Emmerich, K.R. (2013) Visibility (and invisibility). In Y. Gambier and L. van Doorslaer (eds) Handbook of Translation Studies (Vol. 4, pp. 200–6). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Faiq, S. (2014) Culture, language and translation from Arabic. In S. Faiq, O. Carbonell and A. Almanna (eds) Culguage in/of Translation from Arabic. London: Sayyab Books. Faiq, S. (2007) Trans-Lated: Translation and Cultural Manipulation. Lanham & Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield. Faiq, S. (2006) Cultural dislocation through translation. In S. Faiq (ed.) Identity and Representation in Intercultural Communication (pp. 41–60). Trinity University, TX: IAICS. Faiq, S. (2004) The cultural encounter in translating from Arabic. In S. Faiq (ed.) Cultural Encounters in Arabic Translation (pp. 1–13). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Faiq, S. (2000) Back to the original: Translating Maghrebi French literature into Arabic. In M. Salama-Carr (ed.) Translating French Film and Literature II (pp. 201–217). Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi. Farwell, B. (1990) Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton. London: Penguin Books. Jacquemond, R. (1992) Translation and cultural hegemony: The case of French-Arabic translation. In L. Venuti (ed.) Rethinking Translation (pp. 139–58). London: Routledge. Jraissati, Y. (2011) ‘How Visible Is Arabic Lit on the International Scene?’. See http:// publishingperspectives.com/2011/02/how-visible-is-arabic-lit-on-the-internationalscene/(accessed 14 May 2014). Lefevere, A. (1992) Translating Literature. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Lefevere, A. (1998) Chinese and Western thinking on translation. In S. Bassnett and A. Lefevere (eds) Constructing Cultures (pp. 12–24). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Lefevere, A. (1999) Composing the other. In S. Bassnett and H. Trivedi (eds) Post-Colonial Translation (pp. 75–94). London & New York: Routledge. Lewis, B. (1980) Translating from Arabic. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 124 (1), 41–47. Mahfouz, N. (1989) Le Jour de l’Assassinat du Leader (trans. André Miquel). Paris: Sindbad. Marinetti, C. (2013) Cultural approaches. In Y. Gambier and L. van Doorslaer (eds) Handbook of Translation Studies (Vol. 4). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Niranjana, T. (1992) Siting Translation: History, Poststructuralism and the Colonial Context. Berkeley: University of California Press. O’Barr, W. (1994) Culture and the Ad: Exploring Otherness in the World of Advertising. Boulder: Westview. Said, E. (1995) Embargoed literature. In A. Dingwaney and C. Maier (eds) Between Languages and Cultures (pp. 97–102). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Said, E. (1993) Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto & Windus. Salama-Carr, M. (2013) Conflict and translation. In Y. Gambier and L. van Doorslaer (eds) Handbook of Translation Studies (Vol. 4). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Sanea, R. al- (2005) Bana¯tu Ar-Riya¯d (‫[ )ﺑﻨﺎت اﻟﺮﯾﺎض‬Girls of Riyadh]. London: Saqi Books. Sanea, R. al- (2007) Girls of Riyadh (trans. M. Booth). New York: Penguin Press. Sayyed, B. (1997) A Fundamental Fear. London: Zed Books. Thomas, S. (1998) Translating as intercultural conflict. In S. Hunston (ed.) Language at Work [British Studies in Applied Linguistics 13], (pp. 98–108). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Tymoczko, M. (2007) Enlarging Translation, Empowering Translators. Manchester: St Jerome. Venuti, L. (1995) The Translator’s Invisibility. London: Routledge. Venuti, L. (1996) Translation as social practice: Or, the violence of translation. In M.G. Rose (ed.) Translation Horizons Beyond the Boundaries of Translation Spectrum [Translation Perspectives IX] (pp. 195–214). Binghamton: State University of New York at Binghamton. Venuti, L. (1998) The Scandals of Translation. London: Routledge.

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Curriculum Innovation in the Arab World: Community Interpreting and Translation as an Example Mustapha Taibi

1. Introduction The term ‘community interpreting’ denominates a field of practice and study of increasing significance among modern multicultural societies and geographically mobile populations. As encapsulated by Pöchhacker (1999: 126–127), ‘community interpreting refers to interpreting in institutional settings of a given society in which public service providers and individual clients do not speak the same language … community interpreting facilitates communication within a social entity (society) that includes culturally different sub-groups’. According to Gouadec (2007: 35), ‘Community translation encompasses all translating (and interpreting) carried out to facilitate inter-community relations within a given country where diverse linguistic (and cultural) communities cohabit’. These definitions refer in very general terms to multilingual community situations requiring language services, yet community interpreting and translation have been associated with a few prominent host societies to large numbers of immigrants and refugees; these include Australia, Canada, Sweden, the UK and, since the 1990s, Southern Europe. The literature on community interpreting and translation (e.g. Barsky, 1996; Hale, 2007; Niska, 2002; Taibi, 2011; Wadensjö, 1998) abounds with references to migrants, refugees, and language minorities as the main clients of community interpreters and translators. This association between community language services and mainly European and North American immigration settings is solidly entrenched – as my own experience attests. During much of my time as a community interpreter and translator in Spain in the 1990s and, subsequently, as a lecturer in the field in Spain and Australia, I gave little thought to the situation of the 22

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same professional services in the Arab World. Nor am I alone in this: during a meeting held at a Saudi university in 2014 to discuss research and training in community interpreting and language services for pilgrims, a Saudi MP commented that this was the first he had heard of community interpreting and translation and noted the attendant need to recruit qualified professionals to guarantee quality services. Effectively, working with Arabic in dominant Spanish- or English-speaking cultures can foster a unidirectional view of Arabic speakers as consumers only, simply because in (for example) Europe and Australia they are usually migrants or refugees who need interpreters to communicate with/access mainstream public services. Yet this paradigm must clearly be inverted in many other parts of the world: in Arab countries it is Arabic speakers who provide the respective public services and, generally, speakers of other languages who use them. These anecdotes are mentioned to stress that there is always an initial stage of awareness and that, once needs are recognised, action is likely to follow. In my case, after I relocated to Australia in 2006, I began to consider the situation in Arab countries and analyse social contexts in which community interpreting and translation services are needed. In Taibi (2011) three situations were identified: autochthonous language minorities (e.g. the Amazigh in Morocco and other North African countries), migrant workers (e.g. South Asian workers in the Gulf States) and pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia. In this new social and cultural context, the focus of community translation and interpreting is still language minorities and migrants, but the perspective has changed. From this new angle, Arabic is not approached as a migrant language but as a mainstream one: Arabic speakers are mainstream public service providers, while public service users are non-Arabic speaking migrants, visitors, or local minorities. The findings in Taibi (2011) painted a bleak picture of the language services available to migrants, pilgrims, and language minorities in the region. However, confronting that image is necessary to raise awareness of community interpreting and translation in the Arab World, prompt change in the language services available to these social groups, and promote training and professionalisation in these areas of professional practice. To achieve the desired change, three cornerstones are proposed by Taibi (2011: 119–142): (1) recognition and policymaking, (2) appropriate training, and (3) professional accreditation and quality assurance. This chapter focuses on the second of these, namely training in community interpreting and translation as a means of ensuring quality professional services. It commences with an overview of the social needs warranting innovation in the translation and interpreting curriculum in the Arab World. Subsequently, it outlines the quality requirements for teaching to be effective in community interpreting and translation. Finally and most importantly, it discusses an initiative at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, which demonstrates that change is desirable, possible, and already taking place. The initiative, proposed in 2014, consists of an innovative programme in community (public

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service) interpreting which will likely be a significant contribution to training in community interpreting and translation and curriculum innovation in the Arab World.

2. Social Need for Community Interpreting and Translation As Angelelli asserts, ‘Multilingualism is the norm, rather than the exception, in most countries’ (2012: 264). Whether cultural and linguistic diversity in a given society is deeply rooted in history or a relatively recent development, multiple resources and strategies are clearly required to enable communication between speakers of different languages. Language learning or the use of a lingua franca may provide solutions, but in many situations the lack of a shared language can only be remedied with professional community interpreting and translation services. In everyday interaction or certain business dealings, people may be able to communicate with rudimentary language, numbers, or even nonverbally, but in critical settings such as health care consultations or court proceedings, the welfare and interests of human beings cannot be left to chance. As Pöchhacker’s (1999) and many other definitions suggest, public services are closely linked with community interpreting and translation. Indeed, what distinguishes these from other types of translation and interpreting services is that they bridge the access and equity divide between public service providers and community members who do not speak the mainstream language(s). Communication between these parties normally involves ‘an information gap’ and a ‘status differential between the clients’ (Gentile et al., 1996: 18); that is, between public service providers vested with institutional power and access to information, on the one hand, and lay (usually disadvantaged) users on the other. Community interpreting and translation enable language minority groups to participate in society; therefore, these are services with a social and empowerment mission, especially in contexts that include sociocultural and educational disparities (Lesch, 1999, 2004). Multilingual countries have responded differently to social and professional needs for community interpreting and translation. Whereas some (e.g. Australia, Canada and Sweden) have instituted organised services, training opportunities and quality assurance measures, others are still lagging, with responses ranging from ad hoc measures to neglect (Ozolins, 2000, 2010). Pioneering countries adopted what Ozolins refers to as a ‘comprehensive approach’ that ‘involved not only widespread provision of generic or specialised language services, but also a certification system, a training regime, and a degree of policy planning and evaluation’ (Ozolins, 2010: 195). Australia, for instance, has adopted a number of measures since the 1970s. Public organisations and services such as the nationwide Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) and the Community Relations Commission (CRC) in New South Wales

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have long been catering to the communicative needs of the linguistically diverse Australian community (Community Relations Commission, 2014). Public services can also engage accredited interpreters and translators through private agencies. The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) has been an effective instrument in establishing and maintaining professional standards for translators and interpreters as well as relevant training programmes. This accreditation body runs certification tests in more than 50 languages and has a recognition system in place for many others (NAATI, 2014). Australian universities and institutes of higher education have been offering courses which are characterised by a clear community focus, not only in terms of the range of community languages available but also in terms of contents and learning resources. By contrast, the countries where community interpreting and translation are still developing either accord little official recognition to the need for these services or have only begun to grapple with multilingualism since the 1990s. Southern European states such as Spain, Italy and Greece have evolved from emigration sources to immigration destinations. Other countries (e.g. South Africa) began to recognise their citizens’ linguistic and communicative rights as a result of political change. In all of these cases, community interpreting and translation are still far from being professionalised. Services are not widely available; recruitment processes are not rigorous; and, as a result, it is not uncommon to find relatives, friends or unqualified bilinguals acting as interpreters (Cambridge, 1999; Martin, 2000; Pöchhacker & Kadric, 1999; Taibi & Martin, 2006). In the Arab World there is also a strong need for community interpreting and translation services, but little has been done to provide them or to ensure appropriate training and certification for future professionals (Qadi, 2011; Raddawi, 2015; Taibi, 2011). At least three major community groups have been identified as in need of interpreting and translation assistance: domestic language minorities, migrant workers, and pilgrims (Taibi, 2011).

2.1 Language minorities The Arab World is usually portrayed as a large group of countries unified by a shared religious heritage (Islam) and a common language. However, the individual sociolinguistic situations are much more complex and varied than this picture suggests. Multilingualism is a reality in many of these nations, where different varieties of Arabic coexist with minority languages (e.g. Berber, Kurdish, Pulaar, Wolof, etc.) as well as colonial languages (e.g. English and French). Speakers of minority languages are usually able to acquire or learn Arabic through interaction with Arabic speakers, the media, and/or the education system. However, this is not always so: there are also linguistic minorities that have not had access to formal education (in Arabic) or have little contact

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with Arabic speakers and are, therefore, unable to communicate effectively in the mainstream language. Illiterate Amazigh people living in isolated enclaves in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are a case in point. It goes without saying that when these community members need a public service (e.g. a medical consultation or civil registry procedure), either the service provider must be from the same speech community or an interpreter must be engaged to facilitate communication. Local public services are usually equipped with bilingual human resources, but in some situations monolingual Amazigh citizens seek the assistance of relatives or acquaintances to facilitate their communication with Arabic-speaking service providers. It is clear that the use of non-qualified interpreters in such situations impinges on the quality and effectiveness of both the communication and desired public service (Cambridge, 1999; Pöchhacker & Kadric, 1999; Taibi & Valero, 2005). The need for community interpreting and translation in Arab countries with language minorities raises questions about the responsibility of the state and its public services, the role of professional bodies and educational institutions, and the extent to which communication rights are recognised as part of human rights. It appears that many Arab countries approach the issues of ethnic and language minorities from a political standpoint only. Advocacy for language rights is treated as a demand for political power, regional autonomy, or secession (Ennaji, 2005: 183). As a result, little has been done to ensure language minorities’ access to public services and their right to communicate effectively with them. In Syria, for example, Arab nationalism has led to Kurdish being banned in schooling and publications, as well as for use as place names and even for personal names (Spolsky, 2004: 136). In Morocco, Berber was systematically marginalised for centuries (Ennaji, 2014: 98) and only achieved recognition as an official language in 2011. Yet, despite its newfound official status, the language receives scant support in public instrumentalities, and monolingual Berber speakers have no access to professional interpreting assistance. This situation belies Article 318 of the Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure, which clearly recognises the right to an interpreter when a party or witness does not speak the language of the Court: The presiding judge shall order that the defendant be called in. If the latter speaks a language, dialect, or tongue that the judges, parties, or witnesses are unable to understand, or if written evidence needs to be translated, the presiding judge shall automatically appoint an interpreter, failing which the procedure will be null and void. (Moroccan Ministry of Justice, 2005, author’s translation) As a matter of course, speakers of foreign languages such as French, English, and Spanish are normally able to assert their statutory right to an interpreter, as recognised in the above legal instrument. This is not so with

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speakers of Berber, which is neither addressed in the accreditation system of ‘sworn translators’ nor accommodated by translation and interpreting programmes. Understandably, where formal status (interpreter/translator accreditation) and preparation (training programmes) are lacking, non-qualified interpreters or mediators are called in – if at all. Article 26 of Royal Decree No. 1.01.127, promulgated on 22 June 2001, states that ‘only an accredited interpreter is qualified to translate oral statements and written documents presented before the courts’ (author’s translation). However, Article 27 leaves the door open for non-accredited interpreters in some cases: ‘Exceptionally, the Court may seek the assistance of a non-accredited interpreter’ (Moroccan Ministry of Justice, 2001). As Berber is not covered by either the professional certification system or interpreting and translation training programmes, it appears that monolingual speakers of this language can only avail themselves of the assistance of bilingual relatives, acquaintances, or non-accredited interpreters.

2.2 Migrants Although some Arab countries (e.g. Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria) are well known as emigration sources, others, especially the Gulf States, experience large immigrant intakes. The economies of affluent countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates rely heavily on migrant workers – who in some instances outnumber native-born citizens, both in terms of population and labour market share (Abdullah, 2009; Al-Najjar, 2009). The importance of this manpower to the Gulf economies is widely recognised (e.g. Abdullatif, 2009: 49). However, much remains to be done in terms of recognising and respecting these migrant workers’ human rights (Human Rights Watch, 2010: 485–573) and, in particular, their communicative needs. Little has been done toward facilitating effective communication between migrant workers and public services and, by extension, enabling full access to healthcare, legal, social, and other services. As some academic literature and media reports show (e.g. Fatani, 2010; Gulf News, 2007; Mahmoud, 2010; Raddawi, 2015), the need for quality interpreting and translation services is generally underappreciated and qualified interpreters and translators are scarce; consequently, there is widespread use of ad hoc measures to facilitate communication between non-Arabic speakers and local public service providers. Speakers of international languages such as English may be in a relatively better position, as many public service staff are able to communicate in English to some extent. But many other linguistic groups (e.g. Urdu, Pashto, Malay, Bangla) lack full access to information and services due to language barriers. Migrants may occasionally encounter bilingual or multilingual public service staff conversant with their language, but even this is

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no real guarantee of effective communication. Public service interactions (e.g. healthcare consultations, court processes, police interviews) are so complex, specialised, and challenging that only appropriately trained and accredited interpreters can ensure quality interpreting services.

2.3 Pilgrims The third case where a social need for community interpreting and translation is evident is the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage. Every year, millions of Muslims visit Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, to perform this religious obligation and its attendant rituals. They come from a large number of linguistically and culturally diverse countries (see appendix). Statistics provided by the Ministry of Hajj show the annual pilgrimage alone (Umrah, the allyear optional pilgrimage, not included) is made by over 1.5 million nonSaudis (Saudi Ministry of Hajj, 2009; 2013). This group clearly includes Arabic-speaking pilgrims. However, as shown in Table 2.1, a statistical snapshot of the principally represented countries (those contributing over 20,000 pilgrims) in 2012 reveals that non-Arabic-speaking nationalities predominate over Arabic-speaking ones (11 and 7, respectively). Based on the totals for these major sources alone, non-Arab countries account for 1,069,248 pilgrims –roughly triple the contribution from Arab countries (321,679). Considered separately, only four nations contribute pilgrim numbers in excess of 100,000 each: Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, all of which are non-Arabic speaking. The pilgrimage sites consist of various open or closed spaces of religious significance, all concentrated in a relatively small area. As pilgrims come from practically every area of the globe, the result is a unique multilingual and multicultural gathering that shares the same limited space and available Table 2.1 Arab and non-Arab countries that contribute more than 20,000 pilgrims per year to the annual Hajj (Saudi Ministry of Hajj, 2013) Arab Countries Egypt Morocco Algeria Iraq Sudan Yemen Oman

TOTAL

98,588 49,196 45,088 36,883 36,794 31,593 23,537

321,679

Non-Arab Countries Indonesia Pakistan India Bangladesh Nigeria Turkey Iran Malaysia Afghanistan Britain Russia TOTAL

216,223 187,016 178,317 111,868 96,793 95,785 76,850 31,484 31,321 22,789 20,802 1,069,248

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religious and non-religious public services (e.g. transport, accommodation, food outlets, healthcare, etc.). Effective management of this temporary community – and of the Hajj event itself – requires, among other things, effective communication: between local and international authorities, between service providers and pilgrim representatives, and between service providers and individual pilgrims. However, a number of studies (e.g. Al-Hariri, 1422 H; Al-Sharif 1425 H; Al-Shafie & Al-Sharif, 1424 H; Al-Sharif & Khidr, 1425 H) suggest that information and communication are areas in dire need of improvement. Al-Shafie and Al-Sharif (1424 H), for instance, report gaps in the information available to pilgrims and a shortage of translators and interpreters. In their study, 85.3% of the pilgrim participants were not aware of the locations of religious advice services. Of those who managed to locate religious advice, many (44%) faced communication barriers due to the unavailability of interpreting services. Al-Sharif and Khidr (1425 H) acknowledge multilingual initiatives such as Radio of Hajj Awareness, but their research suggests that Arabic is still dominant in Hajj education and awareness programmes and that other languages are not given the attention they require. As the statistics above suggest, a number of languages should be covered by translation and interpreting services in Saudi Arabia to ensure both effective response to the Hajj language diversity and adequate communication with major pilgrim collectives. Before this can occur, however, translation and interpreting programmes must provide appropriate training in numerous language combinations or at least the major ones (e.g. Indonesian, Urdu, Bengali, Malay, Pashto, Turkish and Persian). Regarding the three major groups identified above (language minorities, migrants and pilgrims), it is clear that Arab states, instrumentalities, and relevant professional bodies have a major responsibility to provide community interpreting and translation services and to ensure that these are of an adequate standard. The principal argument for this provision is that communication is a basic human right that is neither dissociated from nor less important than all others. Additional supporting arguments may include ‘quality of consumer care, cost effectiveness, legal obligations, avoiding malpractice, marketing and competitive pressures’ (Puebla Fortier, 1997: 176). In addition, by doing so Arab countries would improve their images and human rights records, create new employment opportunities, and increase the efficiency of their public services.

3. The Role of Universities and Training Institutions As is argued in Taibi (2011), change in the situation of community interpreting and translation in the Arab World requires three building blocks: political goodwill and favourable policies, effective training, and

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quality-assurance measures. The first step towards these changes is to raise awareness of the needs outlined above. Awareness will gradually lead to recognition of the problem and thus to favourable policies. Another essential step is the establishment of an accreditation system to make sure that only competent translators and interpreters are employed. Nevertheless, political goodwill, effective policies, and quality-assurance measures cannot be effective in any field without one essential precondition: appropriate training. Policies and good intentions implicitly rely on – and would yield little without – a corps of capable professionals. Quality education for translators and interpreters is therefore the cornerstone and only real assurance of delivering full community access to public services, whether for local language minorities, foreign migrant workers, or pilgrims (annual or perpetual). This need presents a challenge but also an opportunity for Arab universities to make a major contribution to community engagement, community-engaged learning, service to the community, and service to the profession of interpreting and translation. The notion is echoed by Maurasse (2001: 8) who, under the title ‘The Mission of Higher Education’, observes that ‘Higher education, the community partnerships movement suggests, must as a part of its mission take ownership of its broader environment; the institution must see itself as a citizen with a responsibility to its neighbors.’ This idea of universities as institutions with a connection to their environments and a social role to play has been reiterated by Arab scholars and education leaders. Sharqi (2008), for instance, argues that universities need to study the needs and problems of their societies and contribute to addressing them. He believes that, when designing education programmes, priority should be given to assuring quality, fulfilling labour market needs, and creating conditions not only to equip students with knowledge and skills but also to connect them to their local and broader environments. Al-Obaidi (2009), the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Educational Planning in Yemen, reviews a number of studies that suggest poor correspondence between the programmes of Arab universities and societal and market needs. He links the quality of higher education outcomes to community needs and recommends, among other measures, both conducting studies on the qualities and competencies needed in professional markets and promoting new specialisations that match social and professional realities. In terms of interpreting and translation programmes, Arab universities and translation schools have contributed to creating and/or consolidating links between their local societies and the surrounding international environment (e.g. through programmes related to trade, diplomacy, literature, science, and technology). However, in terms of social mission and service to the local community, much remains to be done. There are practically no translation or interpreting programmes with a community focus; most remain limited to major European languages (English, French and Spanish)

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while locally needed domestic or emerging languages are ignored (these deficiencies are illustrated above with the situation of Berber in Morocco). Another example involves the languages of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and migrants in various Arab countries, especially the Gulf States. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, most translation programmes only offer English and Arabic as working languages. The languages of major pilgrim or migrant groups such as Indonesian, Urdu, Malay, Pashto and Turkish are not offered. By updating their curricula, offering programmes in community translation and interpreting, and covering the languages needed locally, Arab universities can fulfill a number of objectives. First, they may increase the relevance of their programmes to the surrounding societies and markets. Second, they may increase the employability of their graduates. Third, they may create and/or strengthen links between teaching programmes and local communities, industries, and organisations. Last, but not least, they may improve the learning experiences and outcomes of their students because these links would provide opportunities for community leaders and public service providers to become involved in teaching, and would create more professional practicum placements for students, as well as more research partnerships.

4. Criteria for Effective Training in Community Interpreting and Translation Although training in community interpreting has been supplied worldwide by numerous initiatives, the education of community interpreters and translators generally is still in its infancy; Taibi and Martin (2006) describe this area of translation studies as ‘an uncharted field’. In a review of community interpreting training programmes available worldwide, Abril Marti (2006) concludes that training in this area is not widespread, that in many cases it consists of ad hoc initiatives set up to address emerging needs, and that the education providers in this sector tend to be NGOs and continuing education institutions rather than universities. Hale (2007: 163) agrees that there is a ‘shortage of adequate training programmes’, adds that this shortage is closely linked to a general lack of recognition of the importance of training in this particular area, and notes that in many countries training is not a prerequisite for employment. Corsellis (2008) concurs with this view: the shortage of ‘training opportunities lies in the lack of commitment on the part of the authorities to insist on the level of competence needed in the public service context and to provide the necessary resources and structures to reach it’ (2008: 53). Probably as a result of this shortage, little has been written about the criteria for training in community interpreting (and translation) or the competencies that future professionals will need to acquire. In the relatively small body of literature available, a number of skills are referred to implicitly or in general terms, although Hale (2007: 185–192) briefly proposes ‘an

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integrated training framework’ that maps knowledge, skills, competencies, theoretical content, and practical exercises. Gentile et al. (1996: 65–68) suggest five components of competence for community interpreters: language competence, cultural competence, technical competence, memory competence, and professional competence. Abril Marti (2006) draws upon Kelly’s (2002, 2005) competence model for written translation to propose a similar one for community interpreting; it includes communicative and textual competence (interpreting techniques), cultural and intercultural competence (culture and anthropology), subject area competence (e.g. knowledge about public services and their internal organisation), professional and instrumental competence (e.g. terminology management), and professional ethics. Hale (2007: 177–178) summarises the types of knowledge and competences required for community interpreters as knowledge of professional issues, knowledge of setting and subject matter; an advanced set of skills covering language, interpreting, and related matters such as listening and comprehension, memory, public speaking, and note taking; as well as (interactional) management skills, intercultural awareness, and knowledge of relevant linguistic, discourse, and translation theories. Corsellis (1999) identifies five ‘golden threads’ in community interpreting education. They are, verbatim, ‘adequate background knowledge and understanding of the domain, knowledge of the working languages at different levels of register, accurate transfer techniques, an understanding of the code of ethics and good practice, and strategies for personal and professional growth’ (1999: 202). The author also provides general advice such as the need to be aware of and cater to diversity in students’ educational backgrounds and personal circumstances, the need to cover different levels of register in order to prepare students for different types of discourse, and the need to equip trainees with strategies for personal and professional development. In another publication, Corsellis (2008) proposes general principles for student selection, course design, course content, and assessment, suggesting that ‘The central course content is usually approached through the chosen domain’. Contents are structured on the basis of the domain or setting to be covered and each domain includes a number of units that cover the main areas, departments, or specialities. The medical setting, for instance, would normally include prenatal care, paediatrics, gynaecology, cardiology, and so on (Corsellis, 2008: 71). In terms of teaching methods, Corsellis stresses the importance of setting-specific observation visits, presentations by relevant institutional personnel, and interpreting role-plays. (In community interpreting training, observation visits and presentations by professionals such as doctors, lawyers, social workers, et al. equip students with basic institutional and thematic knowledge; role-play is the method commonly used to develop interpreting and other professional skills.) Through involvement in and observation of simulated interpreter-mediated interactions, trainees develop language and discourse awareness, language skills, confidence in

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interactional management, and the ability to assess and reflect on different aspects of interpreting, such as accuracy, register, fluency, voice, note-taking, etc. (Corsellis, 2008: 73–75). As Colin and Morris (1996) put it, ‘There is no “right” model’ of training. Curriculum design, teaching/learning practices, and resources vary according to local and institutional needs, financial and time constraints, student backgrounds, and so on. For community interpreting and translation in the Arab World, based on the literature above as well as my own teaching and curriculum design experience, general principles and suggestions can be put forward in terms of a series of needs: (1) Training institutions that cater to both (community) interpreting and (community) translation. The existing programmes in Arab countries focus on translators over interpreters, while public services need both, and the respective competencies are not interchangeable or even always overlap. (2) Programme objectives, course contents, and learning outcomes centred on the core skills and competencies required of graduates once they commence professional practice. For community interpreting programmes, this may include knowledge of institutional structures and discourses, full awareness of professional and ethical standards, advanced listening and comprehension skills, memory skills and effective note-taking, public-speaking skills, interpreting skills in different interpreting modes, and interactional management skills. (3) Clear formulations of the objectives of the programme and the learning outcomes of each component. (4) A clear link between learning activities and expected learning outcomes. In this regard, programme structures and learning outcomes developed by course managers or institutional leaders often risk being inaccessible to (or disregarded by) the teachers who conduct or supervise the learning/teaching activities. (5) Learning resources and communicative situations that are appropriate for the objectives of the programme, relevant to national and local needs, and meaningful in their immediate contexts. These qualities are very important as some trainers may unwittingly assume that translation/interpreting skills are the same across settings, and therefore that the type of text or communicative situation used for practice are not major issues. (6) Teaching and student activities centred on developing skills rather than offering ready solutions along the model described in Enns-Conolly (1986) as ‘classes [that] involved professors asking students for their renditions of particular sentences, and then pointing out the divergences from their own master copies’ (2). Many would assume the practice is outmoded, but I can attest that it persists. As a coordinator of a

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(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

community translation and interpreting training programme, I have been able to observe sight-translation exercises that consisted of students taking turns to read out a text sentence by sentence, provide an oral translation, and receive the tutor’s final version. As a programme director, I have also received inquiries from sessional tutors (professional interpreters and translators who teach on a part-time basis) asking whether they should provide model translations to their students. Meaningful formative feedback given to students in a regular and timely fashion. This includes positive feedback to boost student selfconcept and incentive, since one of the most common complaints among students is that feedback tends to focus on errors, which is demotivating for some at least. Assessment that is as transparent and formative as possible. Summative assessment may still be used when appropriate (e.g. final exams), but more weight should be given to formative assessment, achievement testing (Hatim & Mason, 1997), and continuous feedback – especially in the Arab World, where summative and opaque assessment processes are still common. Like student activities in Point 6 above, assessment should be centred on skill development and achievement of the course learning outcomes. Clear and transparent articulation of the link between assessment and learning outcomes, as well as explicit information about criteria and performance standards (e.g. within course documentation) provide clarity not only for students but also for assessors (Sadler, 2005). Teaching arrangements and/or activities that are sufficiently flexible to accommodate practising interpreters and translators as well as fresh students. Community interpreting and translation programmes are often undertaken by mature practitioners with relevant professional experience. Although they may not have received formal training, their backgrounds are usually enriching for the classroom and motivating for students. At the same time, the presence of fresh students side by side with experienced (but untrained) interpreters and translators poses some challenges. For example, practitioners in paid employment while undertaking an interpreting/translation programme require flexible timetables or delivery modes so that they may complete their formal training without impinging on their work or other commitments. A mix of backgrounds also requires flexible and innovative teaching practices to keep the groups motivated and engaged, and to create a classroom environment where each can learn from the other. Teachers who are trained in teaching skills and methods specifically relevant to community interpreting and/or translation. As in many other parts of the world, translation and interpreting training in Arab countries has traditionally been focused on other areas of translation studies; therefore, teachers who have expertise in (for example) literary translation or conference interpreting might need to develop expertise

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in new areas. In addition, it is quite common, for several reasons, to involve language teachers and practising translators and interpreters in teaching community interpreting and translation. Logically, these individuals would require specific training before they are able to contribute effectively to teaching in these areas. Finally, a point worth stressing, although it might be inferred from some expressed above, is that community interpreting and translation training demands a situated learning approach. Essential to this approach are learning as enculturation, the use of authentic activities, collaborative learning, problem solving, and apprenticeship (Brown et al., 1996). As recommended above, the learning resources and communicative situations used to train future community translators and interpreters must be relevant to the expected learning outcomes and to the local contexts in which these future professionals will work. The consequent emphasis is on meaningfulness and authenticity. As Brown et al. (1996) express it, ‘Authentic activity … is important for learners, because it is the only way they gain access to the standpoint that enables practitioners to act meaningfully and purposefully’ (1996: 30). In community interpreting, for instance, one way of making learning activities authentic, meaningful, and purposeful is to engage students in carefully prepared role-plays. This practice situates learners at the heart of the typical communicative situations they will need to deal with in the future and allows them to interactively acquire and integratively apply the necessary knowledge, concepts, and skills.

5. A Case of Curriculum Innovation In 2014, the Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies at the College of Languages and Translation of King Saud University (Saudi Arabia) proposed three new training programmes: the Graduate Diploma in Conference Interpreting, the Graduate Diploma in Legal and Administrative Translation, and the Graduate Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. The latter is particularly innovative in the sense that it introduces community interpreting into the translation and interpreting curriculum for the first time in the Arab World. In light of the need for both service provision and training in community interpreting and translation, as outlined in sections 1 and 2 above, this initiative demonstrates that there are signs of positive change and that further awareness–raising is likely to lead to more improvements in both training and the services available. As the programme description states: The Graduate Diploma in Public Service Interpreting is a response to the need for highly qualified professional interpreters in Saudi public services. The Programme aims to equip students with the different skills

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required for interpreting at different government and private organisations, including courts, hospitals, police stations, and pilgrim and migrant services. This one-year, full-time programme will be offered in the language combinations of English–Arabic, French–Arabic, Persian–Arabic and Turkish–Arabic. Its documentation has left the door open for other language combinations that include Indonesian, Urdu and Swahili, should there be sufficient demand. Thus another innovation consists of offering non-traditional language combinations (e.g. Persian–Arabic and Turkish–Arabic). This innovation is a response to pilgrimage needs in particular (see Section 1.3), and a commendable example of a tertiary education provider demonstrating its awareness of the social environment and its commitment to community engagement. The programme consists of seven interpreting courses (Interpreting and Translation Ethics, Introduction to Translation Studies, Principles of Dialogue and Consecutive Interpreting, Remote Interpreting, Police Interpreting, Healthcare Interpreting, Court Interpreting) and a practicum. Each is explicated below. Interpreting and Translation Ethics is intended to equip students with general knowledge about the translator’s and interpreter’s codes of ethics, as well as critical analysis skills to enable them to distinguish between different professional settings and the ethical requirements of each context. The course is delivered by means of a combination of theoretical presentations and a comparative study of codes of ethics in different countries on the one hand, and application and critical analysis of authentic or simulated cases on the other. Introduction to Translation Studies introduces students to the field, including both translation and interpreting. It covers the characteristics of these two modes, the similarities and differences between them, and the skills they require. Students familiarise themselves with the most influential theories in translation studies and the professional standards with which interpreters and translators are expected to comply. Principles of Dialogue and Consecutive Interpreting covers both theoretical and practical aspects of consecutive and dialogue interpreting. It introduces students to the features of these modes of interpreting as well as to the challenges involved and the skills required, including communicative skills, listening, note–taking, discourse structure and coherence, and participant coordination. The course focuses especially on the role of the interpreter in triadic situations (e.g. doctor-interpreter-patient, lawyer-interpreter-defendant), which are a distinctive feature of public service interpreting. Remote Interpreting is a relatively new way of providing interpreting services in special circumstances such as remote–area public services or cases with special confidentiality requirements. The nature of telephone triadic interaction (lack of visual contextual cues), for instance, calls for interpreters

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equipped with special skills. Such technical constraints are the focus of this course. Police Interpreting trains students in dialogue interpreting and sight translation in communicative situations relevant to police and security settings, although there is some common ground with other public service contexts. Learning activities focus on interpreting in encounters and interviews such as general police enquiries, passport interviews, criminal complaints, police statements, and police interrogations. Healthcare Interpreting trains students in dialogue interpreting and sight translation within simulated healthcare settings. Students apply their previously acquired theoretical knowledge of dialogue interpreting to develop specialised terminology and interpreting skills, and analyse and discuss the nature of healthcare communication and the language and cultural challenges associated with it. They also learn to assess their own and other colleagues’ performances based on the criteria covered in other courses, especially Introduction to Translation Studies and Principles of Dialogue and Consecutive Interpreting. Court Interpreting trains students in dialogue interpreting, sight translation, and chuchotage (whispered simultaneous interpreting) in court settings. Class materials and simulated situations include prosecutorial statements, witness examination, legal argument, and sentencing. Special attention is given to terminological accuracy and register appropriateness due to their importance in legal interpreting and the potential real-life consequences of distortions. Practicum consists of a minimum of 50 hours of practice, under the supervision of a professional interpreter, at public services such as courts, police stations, hospitals and Hajj services. During this period, trainees observe public service procedures, take note of how they are organised and transacted, and practise supervised interpreting. Practicum activities must be relevant to public service interpreting, and students must submit a final report in accordance with the established criteria and specifications. The programme structure and focus indicate a long-overdue response to a number of social, communicative, administrative and educational needs in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Its strong focus on key public service settings relevant to non-Arabic-speaking groups (e.g. police, health providers and courts) is an attempt to fill a gap in communication between Saudi public service providers and millions of residents and visitors who need their services but do not speak Arabic. By including professional ethics in the curriculum, using simulated community-interpreting situations, and requiring students to undertake a professional practicum, the programme addresses key requirements of situated learning and several ‘golden threads’ (see Section 3). As mentioned above, it is essential for training in community interpreting – as in other areas – to utilize learning resources and communicative situations that are relevant both to the learning outcomes of the programme and the

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social context of prospective professionals. In this regard, inclusion of Hajj services in the scope of the programme is a welcome initiative that addresses special needs in a special context (see Section 1.3 and Taibi & Qadi, this volume).

6. Conclusion Arguably, the need for community interpreting and translation has existed for as long as there have been institutional structures and multilingual populations that interact with them; however, scholarly and educational interest in these subfields of translation and interpreting is quite recent. Modern principles of access and equity require that wherever there is a multilingual community, qualified professionals must be available to facilitate communication for its members, at least in formal settings. However, community interpreting and translation services are not widely available, nor are they professionalised. For every country such as Australia, Sweden and Canada – considered pioneers in the field – there are many others that either do not recognise the need for these services or are still adopting ad hoc solutions. Arab countries are among the latter. Although various sociolinguistic situations and social groups require community translation and interpreting services (e.g. local language minorities, migrant workers, and pilgrims), little has been done to acknowledge these realities and respond to them in a systematic manner. Arab universities have a key role to play in this regard, both in terms of community-engaged research that informs policy and decision making, and innovative educational programmes that respond to market and social needs. If appropriately disseminated, research activities and findings can be very effective in raising awareness of the social need for community interpreting and translation services, and thereby to influence policymakers to support their creation, organisation and professionalisation. Innovative and socially focused educational programmes can help train translators and interpreters who are not only professionally qualified but also socially committed. In this respect, the Graduate Diploma in Public Service Interpreting, proposed in 2014 by the College of Languages and Translation, King Saud University constitutes a worthy example of how curriculum innovation may have a positive impact on both the educational institution and society. The programme introduces community interpreting into the translation and interpreting curriculum for the first time in the Arab World and simultaneously brings a new focus into translation and interpreting training. Informed by a philosophy that centres on universities as institutions with ethical obligations and a social mission, the programme pioneers an approach to training in interpreting and translation based on a direct assessment of local societal needs (e.g. serving immigrants at hospitals, courts and police

Cur r iculum Innovat ion in the Arab World

39

stations) and the specificity and diversity of the local market and its communicative situations (e.g. the multinational visitor influx during pilgrimages). This initiative signals a growing appreciation of community interpreting and translation within the Arab World and a practical advance in improving their delivery. It is therefore to be hoped that similar innovative programmes – and, concomitantly, policies and attitudes that support communicative rights – will follow in other parts of the region. Such changes would improve the lives and experiences of millions of non-Arabic speaking citizens, residents and visitors.

Appendix Annual Hajj pilgrims, 2012–2013, by country of origin Country or territory

Year 1433 H (2012)

Year 1434 H (2013)

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbarossa Barbuda Belarus Belgium Benin Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Britain Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso

31,321 364 45,088 17 29 3,808 743 2,693 1 12,152 111,868 24 0 7 1,966 3,426 2 1,728 19 146 22,789 471 350 4,748

25,236 394 34,089 19 29 3,102 676 3,518 41 8,587 88,838 123 3 14 1,591 3,115 8 1,419 18 113 16,520 443 410 4,855 (Continued)

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New Insight s into Arabic Transl at ion and Inter pret ing

Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Caucasus Cayman Islands Central Africa Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Dagestan Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Fiji Islands Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Guam

89 888 3,697 3,890 4,662 2 541 7,460 4 13,996 2 1,112 104 28 2 3 2 855 1,148 4 4 10 98,588 483 8 6,943 0 67 176 11,782 113 1,697 45 4,659 5,874 5 260 12 0

114 1,011 3,684 3,524 3,800 0 651 7,118 4 12,174 27 955 141 48 1 5 0 516 922 0 3 2 73,427 453 8 7,182 3 168 167 8,005 45 1,451 15 3,668 5,585 5 237 5 1 (Continued)

Cur r iculum Innovat ion in the Arab World

Guatemala Guinea (Conakry) Guinea Bissau Haiti Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Kuwait (stateless) Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Mackay Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Martinique Mauritania Mauritius

3 8,790 19 0 25 6 178,317 216,223 76,850 36,883 221 624 4,732 3 55 17,636 5,117 3,524 1,014 18,857 859 19 6 13,947 18 267 11,092 3 12 1,425 10 175 94 31,484 1,041 8,982 2 2 5,200 1,417

41

0 7,711 300 4 25 42 141,589 174,103 64,933 28,584 216 555 4,425 4 25 12,095 4,412 3,778 911 6,585 508 13 6 6,850 22 221 8,859 4 2 1,343 14 201 133 23,661 837 7,679 3 4 4,430 1,134 (Continued)

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New Insight s into Arabic Transl at ion and Inter pret ing

Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Palestine (1948) Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Somalia South Africa

4 1 42 0 49,196 378 4,927 8 889 4,185 280 2 15,444 96,793 759 23,537 187,016 11,470 2,040 16 9 5 0 6,239 16 97 0 3,521 78 20,802 90 9,828 316 6 926 916 2 26 9,608 2,778

4 6 2 2 35,091 459 4,147 64 1,086 3,097 344 11 12,290 78,512 541 15,979 148,755 8,095 900 33 1 6 11 5,698 18 109 2 908 75 16,739 103 9,463 282 14 987 886 24 63 7,741 2,033 (Continued)

Cur r iculum Innovat ion in the Arab World

South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor Tirana Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan UAE Uganda Ukraine USA Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe Total (some countries with very small numbers are not included)

24 706 3,190 36,794 55 7 1,632 463 2,502 6,608 13,536 4 2,227 1,680 352 15,379 95,785 253 15,507 3 151 12,347 5,387 69 127 31,593 9 81 22 1,756,787

43

23 552 2,538 28,423 44 7 1,152 388 3,689 6,520 10,964 4 2,411 1,693 249 11,080 73,248 1,216 6,708 1,137 144 10,712 5,437 55 126 22,666 13 72 77 1,380,537

Note: In 2013, pilgrim numbers were lower than usual due to restrictions relating to restoration and expansion works at some of the holy sites in Mecca.

References Abdullah, A. (2009) Tah addiyya¯tu al-istitma¯ri fr¯ ra’si al-ma¯l al-bašarı¯ fı¯ duwali majlisi ˙ atta‘a¯wuni al-kalı¯jı¯ (‫اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺠﻲ‬ ‫[ )ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺎت اﻻﺳﺘﺜﻤﺎر ﻓﻲ رأس اﻟﻤﺎل اﻟﺒﺸﺮي ﻓﻲ دول ﻣﺠﻠﺲ اﻟﺘﻌﺎون‬Human capital investment challenges in GCC countries]. In Al-Mawa¯ridu al-Bašariyyatu wa at-Tanmiyyatu fı¯ al-kalı¯jı¯ al-‘Arabı¯ (‫[ )اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﺒﺸﺮﯾﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺞ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬Human Resources and Development in the Gulf Region] (pp. 57–78). Abu Dhabi: Markaz Al-Ima ¯ra ¯t li-Ddira ¯sa ¯t wal-Buh¯uti al-Istra ¯tı¯jiyyah. ˙¯

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Abdullatif, A. (2009) Tahaddiyya¯tu at-tanmiyyati al-bašariyyati fı¯ mintaqati al-kalı¯j (‫[ )ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺎت اﻟﺘﻨﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﺒﺸﺮﯾﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻨﻄﻘﺔ اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺞ‬Human development challenges in the Gulf region]. In Al-Mawa¯ridu al-Bašariyyatu wa at-Tanmiyyatu fı¯ al-Kalı¯jı¯ al-‘Arabı¯ (‫[ )اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﺒﺸﺮﯾﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺞ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬Human Resources and Development in the Gulf Region] (pp. 43–56). Abu Dhabi: Markaz Al-Ima¯ra¯t li-Ddira¯sa¯t wal-Buhu ¯ t i al-Istra¯tı¯jiyyah. ˙ ¯ Abril Marti, M.I. (2006) La interpretación en los servicios públicos: Caracterización como género, contextualización y modelos de formación. Hacia unas bases para el diseño curricular [Public service interpreting: Genre characterisation, contextualisation and training models. Towards foundations for curriculum design]. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Granada, Spain. Al-Hariri, O.S. (1422 H) Al-Ihtiya¯ju al-ma‘lu¯ma¯tı¯li jama¯hı¯ri al-hajı¯j (‫)اﻻﺣﺘﯿﺎج اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎﺗﻲ ﻟﺠﻤﺎھﯿﺮ اﻟﺤﺠﯿﺞ‬ ˙ ˙ [Pilgrim information needs]. Saudi Arabia: Umm Al-Qura University, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research. A l-Najjar, B.S. (20 09) Al-Ih tiya¯ja¯tu al-mustaqbaliyyatu lil‘ama¯lati fı¯ duwali majlisi at-ta‘a¯wuni ˙ al-Kalı¯jı¯: h a¯ja¯tun la¯ tuh addiduha¯ as-su¯q ˙ ‫)اﻻﺣﺘﯿﺎﺟﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺒﻠﯿﺔ‬ ˙ [Future needs for (‫ ﺣﺎﺟﺎت ﻻ ﺗﺤﺪدھﺎ اﻟﺴﻮق‬:‫ﻟﻠﻌﻤﺎﻟﺔ ﻓﻲ دول ﻣﺠﻠﺲ اﻟﺘﻌﺎون اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺠﻲ‬ migrant workers in GCC countries: Needs not determined by the market]. In Al-Mawa¯ridu al-Bašariyyatu wa at-Tanmiyyatu fı¯ al-‘K alı¯jı¯ al-‘Arabı¯ (‫[ )اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﺒﺸﺮﯾﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﻠﯿﺞ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬Human Resources and Development¯ in the Gulf Region] (pp. 97–112). Abu Dhabi: Markaz Al-Ima¯ra¯t li-Ddira¯sa¯t wal-Buhu ¯ ti al-Istra¯tı¯jiyyah. Al-Obaidi, S.J. (2009) Dama¯nu jawdati mukraja¯ti at-ta‘lı¯mi al-‘a¯lı¯ fı¯ ita¯˙ri ¯h a¯ja¯ti al-mujtama‘ ¯ ‫[ )ﺿﻤﺎن‬Quality of higher ˙ education ˙ (‫ﺟﻮدة ﻣﺨﺮﺟﺎت اﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻲ ﻓﻲ إطﺎر ﺣﺎﺟﺎت اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ outcomes in the context of societal needs]. Paper presented at the Twelfth Conference of the Arab Ministers for Higher Education and Research, Beirut, 6–10 December 2009. Al-Shafie H.A. and Al-Sharif, H.A. (1424 H) Wasa¯ilu tatqı¯fi al-ha¯jji bi ahka¯mi hajjih: ˙ [Pilgrim ˙ Education ˙ al-wa¯qi‘u wa al-ma’mu¯l (‫اﻟﻮاﻗﻊ واﻟﻤﺄﻣﻮل‬: ‫)وﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﺗﺜﻘﯿﻒ اﻟﺤﺎج ﺑﺄﺣﻜﺎم ﺣﺠﮫ‬ Media: Status Quo and Target]. Saudi Arabia, Umm Al-Qura University, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research. Al-Sharif, M.A. (1425 H) Dira¯satu ihtiya¯ja¯ti al-mu‘tamirı¯na at-taw‘awiyyah (‫[ )دراﺳﺔ اﺣﺘﯿﺎﺟﺎت اﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮﯾﻦ اﻟﺘﻮﻋﻮﯾﺔ‬A study of the information needs of Umrah pilgrims]. Saudi Arabia, Umm Al-Qura University, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research. Al-Sharif, M.A. and Khidr, I. (1425 H) Wa¯qi‘u juhu¯di at-taw‘iyyati fı¯ al-h ajj ˙ (‫[ )واﻗﻊ ﺟﮭﻮد اﻟﺘﻮﻋﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺞ‬Awareness-raising efforts during the Hajj]. Saudi Arabia, Umm Al-Qura University, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research. Angelelli, C. (2012) Challenges in interpreters’ coordination of the construction of pain. In C. Baraldi and L. Gavioli (eds) Coordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting (pp. 251–268). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Barsky, R.F. (1996) The interpreter as intercultural agent in convention refugee hearings, The Translator 1, 45–64. Brown, J., Collins, A. and Duguid, P. (1996) Situated cognition and the culture of learning. In H. McLellan (ed.) Situated Learning Perspectives (pp. 19–44). New Jersey: Educational Technology Publications. Cambridge, J. (1999) Information loss in bilingual medical interviews through an untrained interpreter. The Translator, Special Issue: Dialogue Interpreting 5 (2), 201–219. Colin, J. and Morris, R. (1996) Interpreters and the Legal Process. Winchester: Waterside Press. Community Relations Commission (2014) Exemption from fees. See http://www.crc. nsw.gov.au/services/language_services/fees/exempt (accessed 15 June 2014). Corsellis, A. (2008) Public Service Interpreting. The First Steps. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Corsellis, A. (1999) Training of public service interpreters. In M. Erasmus (ed.) Liaison Interpreting in the Community (pp. 197–205). Pretoria: Van Schaik.

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Ennaji, M. (2014) The Berber (Amazigh) movement in Morocco: Local activism, the state and transnationalism. In M. Ennaji (ed.) Multiculturalism and Democracy in North Africa: Aftermath of the Arab Spring (pp. 92–112). Abingdon: Routledge. Ennaji, M. (2005) Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco. New York: Springer. Enns-Conolly, T. (1986) Translation as an interpretive act: A narrative study of translation in university level foreign language teaching. PhD thesis, University of Toronto. Fatani, A.H. (2010) The state of the translation industry in Saudi Arabia. Accessed 30 April 2015. http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article2089.php Gentile, A., Ozolins U. and Vasilakakos, M. (1996) Liaison Interpreting, A Handbook. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Gouadec, D. (2007) Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Gulf News (2007) Spanish consul steps in to play translator in court (01 October 2007). See http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/spanish-consul-steps-in-to-playtranslator-in-court-1.204919 (accessed 26 March 2013). Hale, S. (2007) Community Interpreting. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Hatim, B. and Mason, I. (1997) The Translator as Communicator. London and New York: Routledge. Human Rights Watch (2010) World report 2010. See http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/ files/reports/wr2010_0.pdf (accessed 26 March 2013). Kelly, D. (2005) A Handbook for Translator Trainers. Manchester: St. Jerome. Kelly, D. (2002) Un modelo de competencia traductora: Bases para el diseño curricular [A translation competence model: Foundations for curriculum design]. Puentes. Hacia Nuevas Investigaciones en la Mediación Intercultural 1, 1–20. King Saud University (2014) Graduate Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. Unpublished course proposal. Lesch, H. (2004) Societal factors and translation practice. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 12 (4), 256–269. Lesch, H. (1999) Community translation: Right or privilege? In M. Erasmus (ed.) Liaison Interpreting in the Community (pp. 90–98). Pretoria: Van Schaik. Mahmoud, A. (2010) Ašwa¯iyyatu iktiyya¯ri al-mutarjimı¯na al-qa¯nu¯niyyı¯na tuksiru mı¯za¯na al-‘ada¯lah ¯ ‫[ )ﻋﺸﻮاﺋﯿﺔ اﺧﺘﯿﺎر‬Ad hoc selection of legal¯translators and inter(‫اﻟﻤﺘﺮﺟﻤﯿﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﯿﯿﻦ ﺗﺨﺴﺮ ﻣﯿﺰان اﻟﻌﺪاﻟﺔ‬ preters leads to miscarriage of justice]. Al-Khaleej, 28 February 2010. See http://www. alkhaleej.ae/portal/8e0adb26-e703-41d1-a9b1-2a8a9b209312.aspx (accessed 26 March 2013). Martin, A. (2000) La interpretación social en España [Community interpreting in Spain]. In D. Kelly (ed.) Aspectos Profesionales de la Traducción y la Interpretación en España [Professional Aspects of Translation and Interpreting in Spain] (pp. 207–223). Granada: Comares. Maurrasse, D. (2001) Beyond the Campus: How Colleges and Universities Form Partnerships with Their Communities. London: Routledge. Moroccan Ministry of Justice (2005) Qa¯nu¯nu al-mistarati al-jina¯iyyah (‫)ﻗﺎﻧﻮن اﻟﻤﺴﻄﺮة اﻟﺠﻨﺎﺋﯿﺔ‬ [Code of Criminal Procedure]. See http://adala.justice.gov.ma/production/legisla tion/ar/penal/CodePenal2.htm (accessed 7 April 2014). Moroccan Ministry of Justice (2001) Dhahir sharif No. 1.01.127. Al-jari:datu ar-Rasmiyyah, Issue 4918, 19 July 2001. See http://adala.justice.gov.ma/production/html/Ar/ liens/..%5C51367.htm (accessed 7 April 2014). NAATI (2014) About NAATI. See http://www.naati.com.au/about_naati.html (accessed 15 June 2014). Niska, H. (2002) Community interpreter training: Past, present, future. In G. Garzone and M. Viezzi (eds) Interpreting in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 133–144). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

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Ozolins, U. (2010) Factors that determine the provision of public service interpreting: Comparative perspectives on government motivation and language service implementation. JosTrans 14. See http://www.jostrans.org/issue14/art_ozolins.php (accessed 14 August 2010). Ozolins, U. (2000) Communication needs and interpreting in multilingual settings: The international spectrum of response. In R. Roberts, S.E. Carr, D. Abraham and A. Dufour (eds) The Critical Link 2: Interpreters in the Community (pp. 21–33). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Pöchhacker, F. (1999) Getting organized: The evolution of community interpreting. Interpreting 4 (1), 125–140. Pöchhacker, F. and Kadric, M. (1999) The hospital cleaner as healthcare interpreter: A case study. The Translator, Special Issue: Dialogue Interpreting 5 (2), 161–178. Puebla Fortier, J. (1997) Interpreting for health in the United States: Government partnership with communities, interpreters, and providers. In S.E. Carr, R. Roberts, A. Dufour and D. Steyn (eds) The Critical Link: Interpreters in the Community. Papers from the First International Conference on Interpreting in Legal, Health, and Social Service Settings (pp. 165–177). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Qadi, A. (2011) Language services for pilgrims to the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Western Sydney. Raddawi, R. (2015) Intercultural (mis-)communication in medical settings. In R. Raddawi (ed) Intercultural Communication with Arabs: Studies in Educational, Professional and Societal Contexts (pp. 179–195). Singapore: Springer. Sadler, R.D. (2005) Interpretations of criteria-based assessment and grading in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 30 (2), 175–194. Saudi Ministry of Hajj (2009) Ihsa¯iyyatun bi a’da¯di al-hujja¯ji al-qa¯dimı¯na li mawsimi hajji ˙ ˙ 1430 H hatta¯ ta¯rı¯ki 12/12/1430 (‫ ھـ ﺣﺘﻰ ﺗﺎرﯾﺦ‬1430˙‫إﺣﺼﺎﺋﯿﺔ ﺑﺄﻋﺪاد اﻟﺤﺠﺎج اﻟﻘﺎدﻣﯿﻦ ﻟﻤﻮﺳﻢ ﺣﺞ‬ ˙ 1430/12/12) [Pilgrim statistics for the 2009 season, updated 20/11/2009]. Saudi Ministry of Hajj (2013) Hajj statistics for the years 1433 H (2012) and 1434 H (2013). Unpublished statistics obtained from the Ministry. Sharqi, S. (2008) Dawru al-ja¯mi’a¯ti fı¯ tat wı¯ri wa tanmiyati al-mujtama’ ˙ in social development]. (‫[ )دور اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺎت ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﯾﺮ وﺗﻨﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬The role of universities Markazu Dira¯sa¯ti Al- K u¯fa, 169 –18 4. See http://w w w.iasj.net / iasj?func=fulltext&aId=30569 (accessed 15 June 2014). Spolsky, B. (2004) Language Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Taibi, M. (2011) Tarjamat Al-kadama¯t Al-’a¯mmah (‫[ )ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬Community Interpreting ¯ and Translation]. Rabat: Dar-Assalam. Taibi, M. and Martin, A. (2006) Training public service translators and interpreters: Difficulties in an uncharted field. In J. Kearns (ed.) Translator and Interpreter Training: A Special Issue of Translation Ireland (pp. 93–107). Dublin: Irish Translators’ and Interpreters’ Association. Taibi, M. and Valero Garcés, C. (2005) Miscommunication in institutional interaction through non-qualified interpreters. Turjuman 14 (2), 27–53. Tangier: King Fahd School of Translation. Wadensjö, C. (1998) Interpreting as Interaction. London and New York: Longman.

3

Translating for Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia: A Matter of Quality Mustapha Taibi and Ahmad Qadi

1. Introduction Every year, multitudes of Muslims visit Saudi Arabia to perform one of the most important Islamic rituals, the Hajj (pilgrimage). During the Hajj, which takes place in the last month in the Islamic calendar, D ˍ ū al-Ḥ ijjah, approximately 3–4 million pilgrims gather and move in a limited area (at and around the Holy Mosque, in Mecca) and for a limited time (a few days for the obligatory rituals, but up to a few weeks for optional visits and activities). In addition to this annual event, thousands of religious visitors arrive in Mecca and Medina throughout the year, especially during the month of Ramadan. They travel to the two holy cities to perform Umrah (the optional pilgrimage to the Kaaba, in Mecca), pray at the Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque, and visit his tomb and other religious sites at Medina. It goes without saying that these large numbers of pilgrims require various community services, including transport, healthcare, safety awareness, accommodation, legal and administrative advice and so on. Naturally, given the different nationalities and languages that are represented, these and other services cannot be effectively provided without translation and interpreting services. Saudi authorities have made laudable efforts to improve Hajj services and the pilgrim experience. A number of construction, expansion, and renovation projects (e.g. the multilevel Jamarat Bridge and circumambulation space around the Kaaba) have been undertaken to reduce overcrowding hazards and make Hajj rituals more comfortable. Ambitious transport projects have been completed or are in progress (e.g. Makkah Mass Rail Transit and Haramain High Speed Rail). A number of disease control and prevention measures have been implemented, including continuous monitoring of local 47

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and international health hazards, health requirements for Hajj and Umrah visas, and healthcare advice and services before and during visitation. These and other improvements have been complemented with awareness-raising initiatives such as TV and radio programmes that specifically address Hajjrelated issues, as well as flyers, road signs and illuminated panels that display information and advice. Institutions such as the Hajj Research Institute (Umm Al-Qura University) have also contributed to understanding the needs of pilgrims and improving Hajj services by undertaking Hajj-focused research in diverse areas such as administration, humanities, environment, health, architecture, engineering, information systems and communication. However, although developments in infrastructures, logistics, and public services are impressive, it appears that the same cannot be said about communication with pilgrims. Little research has been conducted on interpreting and translation services during this large-scale annual event, but the few studies available as well as anecdotal evidence suggest that the current offering is still far from covering the needs of pilgrims or meeting quality standards. In this chapter, we discuss written translations with a view to exploring these issues. Specifically, we focus on translations provided for English-speaking pilgrims. Twelve samples of translated materials, randomly collected from different Saudi pilgrim services, are analysed qualitatively to establish the extent to which they meet basic quality standards such as content accuracy, grammatical and lexical appropriateness, functional equivalence, cohesion, and clarity of meaning. Before proceeding however, it is worthwhile to contextualise our subsequent analysis and commentary with a brief discussion of translation for pilgrims in terms of its community-oriented (public service) dimension, and the situation of Hajj-related translation and interpreting services in Saudi Arabia.

2. Translating for Pilgrims: A Special Case of Community Translation In Taibi (2011a, 2011b) the case of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is described as an example of a community situation that requires community translation services. As Gouadec (2007) defines it, ‘Community translation encompasses all translating (and interpreting) carried out to facilitate inter-community relations within a given country where diverse linguistic (and cultural) communities cohabit’ (2007: 35). Although pilgrims visit Saudi Arabia for a short period of time, their diverse origins (scores of different countries and cultures) and mass presence in two major cities (Mecca and Medina) create a temporary multilingual and multicultural community with communicative as well as other needs. The Saudi local community, especially public service providers and businesses, needs to communicate with them as well albeit for different reasons.

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The communication ideal is confronted by various practical obstacles such as the multicultural and multilingual nature of community translation contexts, the power and information gap commonly found between service providers and users, and the diversity of target audiences’ socio-educational backgrounds. Accordingly, one major question in this area of translation practice concerns which approach to adopt. Lesch (2004: 257), one of the few to have written about community translation, stresses that translators in this context need to prioritise the efficiency and effectiveness of their translations. He argues that community translators need to be aware of the heterogeneity of the target readerships, and to consider their expectations, educational backgrounds and capacity to understand the translated materials. Taibi (2011a: 216) agrees with Lesch and adds that the mission of community translation consists of empowering linguistically and politically disempowered groups within a society by ensuring they have access to information, services, and participation. In other words, making community translations accessible and appropriate for the targeted community is an essential quality criterion. Lesch (2012) further suggests that a functional approach to community translation is best suited to ensure that translations are effective and meaningful acts of communication. This suggestion finds its explanation and support in the fact that community texts are generally practical and functional: they are not produced to entertain or produce an aesthetic effect, but to convey information (e.g. healthcare, legal, or environmental) and direct readers’ behaviours (e.g. civic conduct, social practices, participation in an election or census). Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia do not constitute a social or ethnic group that needs empowerment in the political sense. They are visitors who come to perform religious rituals and return to their respective home countries. However, they still need to access information, communicate with local authorities, and make their own (informed) decisions about a variety of matters. For this kind of empowerment to be possible, translation and interpreting services must be adequate in terms of both quantity and quality. For translators, reaching an adequate quality standard would require advanced proficiency in numerous working languages and cultures, knowledge about the institutional context of the source text (e.g. healthcare, police, civil protection, etc.), awareness of the purposes for which Hajj-related materials are produced and translated, and the ability to distinguish among different text types. In particular, they must be able to reformulate messages appropriately – that is, in a manner that is suitable for the function of the text at hand, for the language and cultural conventions of the target community, and for the target readers themselves. As Schäffner (1997) explains: A ‘pragmatically accurate’ TT [target text] is in conformity with the texttypological conventions in the target language and culture and thus fulfills the expectations of the TT addressees in a particular communicative

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situation … A ‘good’ translation is thus no longer a correct rendering of the ST [source text], in the sense of reproducing the ST meanings of micro-level units. It is rather a TT which effectively fulfils its intended role in the target culture’. (1997: 2) As has been argued in Taibi (2011a, 2011b, and this volume), for public services to be equipped to deliver interpreting and translation of an acceptable standard, there must be (1) a favourable political will to offer, organise, and fund language services; (2) appropriate training; and (3) a certification and quality-assurance process. Saudi Arabia has yet to work towards these objectives. In terms of training, the majority of Saudi universities offering translation programmes cater to English and Arabic only, which means that, notwithstanding a few exceptions (e.g. Arabic, French and English), the languages of pilgrims are not accommodated. Moreover, no translation programmes specifically focus on the community context (see Taibi, this volume, for an incipient initiative in this area). As for certification and quality assurance, collaboration is needed among the competent authorities (e.g. the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry), training providers, and translation practitioners to determine the best way to organise an effective system. The current certification system is based on a ministerial decree that dates back to 1976 and allows entry into the translation profession through various qualifications, including a generalist degree from a university where the language of instruction is the same as the language in which translator certification is sought (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2015). Naturally, and just like in any other country, quality standards will vary from one practitioner, service or field to another. However, the few studies available about the Saudi translation market appear to paint a discouraging picture. According to Al-Mahdia (2007), most translation practitioners in Saudi Arabia have not received appropriate training, and those trained locally show significant competence gaps. Fatani (2010), who concludes that ‘there is an amateurish approach to translation in Saudi Arabia’, found that quality standards are generally low and that quality assurance processes are nonexistent in many organisations. In a doctoral thesis specifically addressing language services during the Hajj, Qadi (2011) finds that the majority of language service providers (63.6%) do not have a system in place for assessing the performance of the translators they employ. The remainder provided little information about their evaluation systems but referred instead to general attributes such as ‘diligence’, ‘field experience’, ‘good conduct’, and ‘potential’ rather than to any clear mechanism for monitoring the translations produced and ensuring quality standards. Qadi’s qualitative analysis of a corpus of Hajj-related translations noted numerous distortions, ungrammaticality, lack of pragmatic equivalence, excessive literality, and readability issues. In his view, this reduces the effectiveness and usefulness of these materials such that most of them demonstrate a less-than-satisfactory quality standard.

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3. The Data The data used for this study consist of 12 Hajj-related documents in Arabic and their English translations (Table 3.1) collected from different Hajj services in 2010–2011. All translations were in print form, except Document 12, which was accessed in 2014 as an electronic text from the website of the Saudi General Directorate of Civil Defence. The data include materials from different Hajj service providers and concern different thematic areas. The selected translations cover healthcare, safety measures, transportation, crowd management, and so on – areas where advice and awareness–raising are essential for the Hajj to run smoothly and without undesirable incidents. However, it is by no means claimed that the chosen translations necessarily reflect all those available during the Hajj, or the corresponding quality standards. Rather, they are intended to provide examples of low-quality translations which impinge on communication between the Hajj authorities and the pilgrims and visitors. Regardless of whether or not the sample is representative, the main argument is that the presence of even a small portion of poorly translated information may have serious consequences in a large-scale event such as the Hajj. Dissemination of unintelligible, ineffective, or poorly presented materials can only thwart the efforts of the authorities to ensure high-quality services and a comfortable and safe stay for pilgrims.

4.

Quality Assessment

4.1 Poor language proficiency Normally, translators’ mastery of their working languages would be taken for granted. Translation quality assessment would focus on the extent to which the translation strategies used are appropriate for the type, function, and readership of the text at hand. However, in this case a number of translations show serious weaknesses at the most basic level of translator competence: language proficiency. These deficiencies do not consist of isolated spelling, grammatical, or collocation errors that affect translation readability alone; rather, they are serious and systematic indicators of a low second–language competence that impinges on translation intelligibility. Document 3 is a good example. Entitled ‫[ ﺣﺎﻓﻆ ﻋﻠﻰ أﺧﻼﻗﯿﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﻠﻢ‬Observing Islamic Conduct/Behaving like a Muslim], the flyer contains the following single message in several languages: ‫اﻟﺘﺰاﺣﻢ واﻟﺘﺪاﻓﻊ ﻋﻨﺪ اﻟﻄﻮاف واﻟﺴﻌﻲ ﻟﯿﺴﺖ ﻣﻦ أﺧﻼق اﻟﻤﺴﻠﻢ‬ Pushing and over crowded at pebble around circumambulate is not of Muslim behavior.

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Table 3.1 Written materials for Hajj pilgrims and visitors, 2010–2011 and 2014 No. and title

Content

1. No title

Safety instructions

Source

The Establishment of Mutawifs* for South Asia Pilgrims. Produced in coordination with the General Directorate of Civil Defence 2. Emergency exit [in Safety instructions The Establishment of Arabic] Mutawifs for South Asia Pilgrims. Produced in coordination with the General Directorate of Civil Defence 3. Observing Islamic Safety instructions The Establishment of conduct [in Mutawifs for South Asia Arabic] Pilgrims. Produced in coordination with the General Directorate of Civil Defence 4. Quality Policy Policy statement The Establishment of Mutawifs of Pilgrims of Turkey, Muslims of Europe, America, and Australia. 5. Makkah Transport Brochure describing the history of Makkah Transport Makkah Transport Company and its Company Co.: Honoured to Serve Pilgrims efforts in the service of pilgrims [in Arabic] 6. No title Healthcare/hygiene advice Coordinating Committee of Mutawif Establishments 7. No title Advice on group scheduling for Coordinating Committee of the jamarat site Mutawif Establishments 8. No title Advice on group scheduling for Coordinating Committee of the jamarat site Mutawif Establishments 9. No title Awareness flyer about begging Coordinating Committee of Mutawif Establishments Ministry of Municipal 10. Remarks for Safety instructions for the and Rural Affairs; Central Tafweej To ritual of throwing pebbles; Directorate for the Jamarat [sic] information about the Development of Projects development of the Jamarat Bridge and its surrounding area, which was intended to reduce accidents resulting from overcrowding

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Table 3.1 (Continued) 11. Message [sic] Brochure describing the mission and services of a charity organisation offering different services to pilgrims 12. Hajj Awareness Website containing different information on the General Directorate of Civil Defence and its services, as well as safety and advice in general and awareness contents for pilgrims in particular

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Haji and Mu’tamir Gift Charity Association. The Arabic text is available at http://hajigift.org General Directorate of Civil Defence (http://www.998. gov.sa)

*Mutawif is a pilgrimage-specific Arabic term for an authorised service provider who may assist pilgrims in numerous ways.1

The flyer advises pilgrims to avoid pushing and shoving during circumambulation around the Kaaba and the ritual walk between Safa and Marwa. To discourage this behaviour, the document invokes Islamic ideal conduct and manners by suggesting that it is not appropriate for a Muslim to push and shove. This type of advice is essential to Hajj safety, as many fatal accidents have occurred due to overcrowding and stampedes. However, it is hard to arrive at this message based on the English translation, where a sequence of inconsistent or incompatible parts of speech (e.g. ‘pushing’ and ‘over crowded’; ‘around’ and ‘circumambulate’) produces an unintelligible sentence. Another example is found in Document 5, a brochure which outlines the history of Makkah Transport Company and describes its pilgrim services. In celebration of 20 years of service, the brochure is entitled ‫ﺧﺪﻣﺔ اﻟﺤﺎج ﺷﺮف ﻟﻨﺎ‬ [Honoured to Serve Pilgrims] and provides information about the trajectory of the company and its current services. The tone of the text is characteristic of advertising, but given the religious context, it is full of intertextual references to the Quran and religious discourse. The language is highly rhetorical and metaphorical. In the following passage, the company refers to its name and early stages: ‫وﺗﺒﺮﻛﺎ‬ ‫وﺗﯿﻤﻨﺎ ﺑﺎﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﻤﺒﺎرك اﻧﻄﻠﻘﺖ ﻣﺴﯿ ﺮﺗﻨﺎ ﺑﺄوﻟﻰ ﺧﻄ ﻮاﺗﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺧﺪﻣﺔ ﺿﯿﻮف اﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎن ﺣﺠﺎج ﺑﯿﺖ ﷲ اﻟﺤ ﺮام وزوار‬ ...‫ﻣﺴﺠﺪ اﻟﻨﺒﻲ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻔﻰ ﺻﻠﻮات ﷲ وﺳﻼﻣﮫ ﻋﻠﯿﮫ ﻓﻜﺎﻧﺖ‬ ‫ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﻣﻜﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﻘﻞ ﻏﺮﺳﺔ ﻣﺒﺎرﻛﺔ وﻧﺸﺄة طﯿﺒﺔ أﺻﻠﮭﺎ ﺛﺎﺑﺖ وﻓﺮوﻋﮭﺎ ﻣﻮرﻗﺔ ﺗﺆﺗﻲ أﻛﻠﮭﺎ ﻛﻞ ﺣﯿﻦ ﻟﻘﺎﺻﺪي اﻟﺒﯿﺖ اﻟﺤﺮام‬ .‫وﻣﺴﺠﺪ ﺳﯿﺪ اﻷﻧﺎم ﻋﻠﯿﮫ أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺼﻼة وأزﻛﻰ اﻟﺴﻼم ﻣﻦ اﻟﺤﺠﺎج واﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮﯾﻦ واﻟﺰوار‬ ‫ ھـ وﺿﻌﺖ اﻟﻐﺮﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻷرض اﻟﻤﺒﺎرﻛﺔ ﺑﺄﯾﺪ ﺧﯿﺮة وﺳﻘﯿﺖ ﺑﻤﺎء زﻣﺰم اﻟﻤﺒﺎرك ﺧﯿﺮ ﻣﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ وﺟﮫ‬۱٤۰٤ ‫ﻓﻔﻲ ﻋﺎم‬ ‫اﻷرض ﻓﺘﺮﻋﺮﻋﺖ وﻧﻤﺖ وأﺻﺒﺤﺖ ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﻣﻜﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﻘﻞ ﻣﻦ ﻛﺒﺮى اﻟﺸﺮﻛﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺆدي ﺧﺪﻣﺎﺗﮭﺎ اﻟﻤﻤﯿﺰة ﻓﻲ ﻧﻘﻞ اﻟﺤﺠﺎج‬ .‫واﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮﯾﻦ واﻟﻨﻘﻞ اﻟﺪوﻟﻲ واﻟﻨﻘﻞ اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺣﻲ أﯾﻀﺎ‬

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Seeing Good omen in the blessed name, therefore, our journey launched by it’s first steps in serving of the Gracious’s guests, the pilgrimages of Allah’s holy mosque and visitors of prophet’s, pray and peace be upon him, mosque; hence, Makkah transportation Co. has been blessed seedlingand good formation has permanent origin and leafy branches that offer its eats every time for those who intend to go to the holy mosque and the mosqueof master of human being, peace be upon him, of pilgrims, Umrah and visitors. In 1404 H, the seedling has been put on the blessing ground by charitable hands and irrigated with Zamzam blessed water, best water on the earth, therefore, it grew up and developed to form Makkah Transportation Co., which become one of the largest transportation companies that offers its characteristics services intransferring of pilgrims, umrah doers, international transportation as well astourist transferring. [sic] The Arabic text above is admittedly challenging, especially for a nonprofessional translator. However, the translation shows instances of poor quality at levels far below an appropriate handling of style, intertextual links, and metaphor. At the presentation level, a number of jumbled words can be identified (‘seedlingand’, ‘mosqueof’, ‘intransferring’, ‘astourist’). Whether these errors are attributable to the translators or the typesetter, they are still a serious quality issue. At the linguistic level, the translation, especially the first paragraph, is scarcely intelligible. The original Arabic text emphasises that Makkah Transport Company took its name from the name of the sacred city of Makkah (Mecca), and continues to highlight the associations between the company and Islam through references to pilgrims, the Holy Mosque (Mecca) and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque (Medina). It goes on to strengthen these associations with an intertextual allusion to a well-known Quranic simile: ‘See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high). Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord, and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember. And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth, having no stability’ (Surah Ibrahim 14: 24–25; Al-Hilali & Khan, 1996: 331–332). However, ungrammatical structures such as ‘our journey launched by it’s first steps’ or ‘the pilgrimages of Allah’s holy mosque and visitors of prophet’s, pray and peace be upon him, mosque’ make it difficult to appreciate the propositional content of the source text, let alone its communicative power, its rich style and imagery, and its cultural and religious allusions. The translator misuses ‘pilgrimages’ for ‘pilgrims’, ‘blessing ground’ for ‘blessed ground/land’, and ‘characteristics services’ for ‘unmatched/distinctive

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services’. Probably due to mother–tongue interference and a low developmental stage of second language learning, the translator also produces long, unintelligible sentences. In the following example, it is difficult to identify the theme and predicate or the structural relationship between ‘those who intend to go…’, ‘pilgrims’, ‘Umrah’, and ‘visitors’: Makkah transportation Co. has been blessed seedlingand good formation has permanent origin and leafy branches that offer its eats every time for those who intend to go to the holy mosque and the mosqueof master of human being, peace be upon him, of pilgrims, Umrah and visitors. The original text refers to Makkah Transport Company as a seed which was sown in holy land and watered with holy water (zamzam) to become a blessed tree bearing fruit for visitors to the Holy Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque. These people may be performing the annual obligatory pilgrimage (Hajj), an optional pilgrimage (Umrah), or simply visiting and praying at the holy sites. However, the awkward English text fails to reflect not only the metaphorical richness of the source text, but also its basic semantic content and the syntagmatic relationship between its different referents. Another clear example of poor English language proficiency is found in Document 9. This is a leaflet with a single message and a very brief text: :‫أﺧﻲ اﻟﺤﺎج‬ ‫اﻟﺘﺴﻮل ظﺎھﺮة ﻏﯿﺮ ﺣﻀﺎرﯾﺔ‬ Dear pilgrim: The mendicancy (Uncivilizationphoenomenon)[sic] This one-sentence message is intended to discourage begging, a quite common practice in Islamic countries, especially at the doors of mosques and shrines and at religiously significant dates and times. During pilgrimage, many people seize the opportunity of mass congregations and high levels of spirituality to plead for alms. Although their needs may be legitimate, their persistence may constitute a nuisance and a distraction to pilgrims, as well as give a negative image of the Hajj and the country that hosts it. With a message as straightforward as ‘mendicancy/begging is an uncivilised practice/ behaviour’, the authorities intend to discourage beggars and, at the same time, invite pilgrims not to promote begging, for instance by not giving alms in the streets or at mosque entrances. While the English translation may still convey the message, through the keywords ‘mendicancy’, ‘Uncivilization’ and ‘phoenomenon’ [sic], it is clear that language proficiency is at its lowest. First, mother tongue transfer can be identified in the use of the definite article ‘the’ with ‘mendicancy’. Abstract nouns in Arabic take the definite article ‘al’, but

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no articles are used with abstract nouns in English. The second striking error is the use of the uncommon word ‘uncivilization’ instead of the adjective ‘uncivilized’, especially because it occurs in a pre-modifier position (before ‘phenomenon’). A translator with basic linguistic knowledge of English would know that this is not an appropriate pre-modifier. Finally, ‘phenomenon’ is misspelt in the translated document. A quick dictionary search could have assisted the translator to avoid this and the previous language errors. Interestingly, similar signs of poor language skills are also found on the website of the General Directorate of the Civil Defence, one of the public services heavily involved in Hajj logistics and safety, as the following English translation excerpt clearly shows: ‫إرﺷﺎدات ﻟﻠﺤﺠﺎج ﻋﻨﺪ اﻹزدﺣﺎم‬ :‫أﺧﻲ اﻟﺤﺎج‬ .‫ﺗﺠﻨﺐ اﻷﻣﺎﻛﻦ اﻟﻤﺰدﺣﻤﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﺤﺠﺎج ﻷن ذﻟﻚ ﻗﺪ ﯾﺆدي إﻟﻰ ﺣﺪوث ﻣﺎﻻ ﺗﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻘﺒﺎه‬ .1 .‫ اﻟﺪھﺲ ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ ﻟﺰﯾﺎدة ﻋﺪد اﻟﺤﺠﺎج ﻓﻲ وﻗﺖ واﺣﺪ‬.2 .‫اﻟﺘﻌﺮض ﻷﺷﻌﺔ اﻟﺸﻤﺲ ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ ﻟﻼزدﺣﺎم واﻟﺬي ﻗﺪ ﯾﺆدي إﻟﻰ اﻹﺻﺎﺑﺔ ﺑﻀﺮﺑﺎت اﻟﺸﻤﺲ‬ .3 ‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم ﻗﺪ ﯾﺆدي إﻟﻰ إﻋﺎﻗﺔ ﺣﺮﻛﺔ اﻟﻤﺮور ﻣﻤﺎ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺴﺒﺔ اﻟﻐﺎزات اﻟﻤﻨﺒﻌﺜﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻮادم اﻟﺴﯿﺎرات واﻟﺘﻲ ﻗﺪ‬ .4 .‫ﺗﺆﺛﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺻﺤﺘﻚ‬ ‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم ﻗﺪ ﯾﺆدي إﻟﻰ إﻋﺎﻗﺔ ﺣﺮﻛﺔ ﻣﺮﻛﺒﺎت اﻹﺳﻌﺎف واﻟﺘﻲ ﻗﺪ ﺗﺤﻤﻞ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺑﯿﻦ واﻟﺬﯾﻦ ﯾﺤﺘﺎﺟﻮن إﻟﻰ‬ .5 .‫ﻧﻘﻠﮭﻢ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺸﻔﯿﺎت أو اﻟﻤﺮاﻛﺰ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺔ‬ .‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم ﻗﺪ ﯾﺆدي إﻟﻰ زﯾﺎدة ﻋﺪد اﻹﺻﺎﺑﺎت ﻓﻲ ﺣﺎﻟﺔ وﺟﻮد ﻛﺎرﺛﺔ ﻻ ﺳﻤﺢ ﷲ‬ .6 .‫ﯾﺠﺐ ﻋﻠﯿﻚ ﻟﺒﺲ اﻟﻜﻤﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﯿﺔ ﻟﺤﻤﺎﯾﺔ اﻟﺠﮭﺎز اﻟﺘﻨﻔﺴﻲ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎزات اﻟﻀﺎرة واﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻨﺘﺸﺮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﮭ ﻮاء‬ .7

Guidance to the pilgrims during crush: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Avoid the crowded places because this may lead to an unsatisfied end. Over runs due to the increase of the pilgrimages at one time. Exposure to the sunlight due to the overcrowding may lead to sun strike. Crowding may hamper the passing process which will increase the percent of the gases emitted by the cars which may affect your health. (5) Crowding may hamper the passage of the emergency cars that have injured people on board that have to be transferred to the hospital. (6) Crowding may increase the number of the infected people if there was a disaster God forbid. (7) You must wear the medical respiratory muzzle to protect your respiratory system against harmful gases that are spreading in the air […] (General Directorate of Civil Defence, 2014). One would expect the translations available on a website to have undergone a thorough scrutiny, as online contents are both more visible and widely accessible. However, here too there are unintelligible sentences such as Point 2, as well as inappropriate lexical choices and syntactical structures. For instance, the translator uses ‘crush’ for ‘overcrowding’, ‘unsatisfied end’ for ‘undesirable consequences/unfortunate accidents’ and ‘respiratory

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muzzle’ for ‘respiratory mask’. The translator also uses awkward structures such as the sequence of relative clauses in points 4 and 5, which clearly indicate the influence of the mother tongue or the source text (see Section 4.4). These shortcomings demonstrate not only the inadequate language proficiency of some translators, but also – and most important – the lack of quality monitoring and assurance. These are documents that were translated, published, and disseminated by state authorities in charge of pilgrim services. If these public services had an appropriate recruitment system and a translation checking process in place, this type of poor-quality material would not have reached the public. Low-quality translations are detrimental not only to communication with pilgrims, but also to the image and services of these organisations and of the country itself. When funds are allocated to publications and translations, it would serve the interests of all stakeholders to ensure that the quality of these materials is of an adequate standard.

4.2 Lack of functional equivalence From a pragmatic perspective, the publications that the Ministry of Hajj and other Saudi authorities produce and distribute to the pilgrims have a mission to fulfil. These texts are written with the intention to simultaneously inform, instruct, and guide the behaviour of a large number of pilgrims, in order for the Hajj to run smoothly and without casualties. As in any translation task, the translator is expected to go beyond the propositional content of the text to capture its function and convey it in the most appropriate manner. However, the translations selected for this chapter present a number of inappropriate renderings, either due to an excessively literal approach to translation or to a shift in the pragmatic point and force of the original text. An example of literal translation can be found in Document 1, which includes a single-line safety instruction translated into several languages, including English, French, Persian, and Urdu. The Arabic text and English translation are: ‫ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ ﺳﻼﻣﺘﻚ اﺳﺘﻤﻊ ﻹرﺷﺎدات رﺟﻞ اﻟﺪﻓﺎع اﻟﻤﺪﻧﻲ‬ Listen to civil defense man instructions and notices. Although the translator did not translate the entire sentence word for word (‘for your own safety’ was omitted), they appear to have taken a literal approach at two points at least: first, translating the Arabic verb ‘‫’اﺳﺘﻤﻊ‬ as ‘listen’ rather than ‘follow’ and, second, rendering ‘‫ ’رﺟﻞ اﻟﺪﻓﺎع اﻟﻤﺪﻧﻲ‬as ‘civil defense man’. A more acceptable translation of the sentence would be ‘For your own safety, follow the instructions of civil defence personnel’.

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Document 12 includes another example. Under the heading ‘Guidance for the pilgrims during their presence outside the camp’, the website of the General Directorate of Civil Defence (2014) provides the following advice: ‫ أﺧﻲ اﻟﺤﺎج إن اﻟﺠﻠﻮس ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻄﺮق اﻟﻤﺨﺼﺼﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎه ﻋﻨﺪ وﺟﻮد ﺗﺪاﻓﻊ ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﺤﺠﺎج ﻗﺪ ﯾﺴﺒﺐ ﻟﻚ اﻟﻀﺮر‬.4

.‫ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻤﻈﻠﮫ اﻟﻮاﻗﯿﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﻤﺲ واﻟﻤﻄﺮ أﻣﺮ ﺿﺮوري ﻟﺴﻼﻣﺘﻚ‬.5 .‫ ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎ ﺗﺘﺴﺎھﻞ ﺑﺎﺗﺨﺎذ اﻷﺳﺒﺎب ﻓﻘﺪ ﯾﺤﺪث ﻣﺎﻻ ﯾﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻘﺒﺎه‬.6 .‫ ﻣﺎ ﺗﺮاه ﻣﻦ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت وﺿﻌﺖ ﻟﺨﺪﻣﺘﻚ وﻣﺤﺎﻓﻈﺘﻚ ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ دﻟﯿﻞ وﻋﯿﻚ‬.7

(4) Sitting on the road when there is a stampede among pilgrims may cause you harm. (5) Usage of the umbrella to protect you from rain and sunshine is definitely a necessary thing for you. (6) Don’t take reasons so easily as f there is nothing, for maybe bad things will happen. (7) If you follow the services that are being put for your safety, it will preserve you. The translator somehow manages to convey the original message in points 4 and 5 but fails to render it functionally (or even meaningfully) in Point 6. In Arabic, ‘‫ ’اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻷﺳﺒﺎب‬is used to refer to doing what is necessary to achieve goals (taking precautions, adopting measures, acting, looking for a job, etc.). In this context, the idea is that failure to take precautions may lead to undesirable consequences or accidents. The translator misses the point in the Arabic idiomatic expression and renders the word ‘‫ ’اﻷﺳﺒﺎب‬literally, as ‘reasons’. A functionally oriented translator would have produced a pragmatically suitable expression such as ‘Don’t take safety for granted’. Point 7 then shows not only a lack of functional equivalence but also comprehension issues. The original Arabic text literally means ‘the services you see are to serve you, and by preserving/looking after them you demonstrate that you are conscientious’. In other words, pilgrims are reminded that the services and facilities available are for their own safety and comfort. Therefore, they are expected to treat them respectfully as a sign of civic behaviour. The translation fails to convey this at both literal and functional levels. Document 6 provides healthcare or hygiene advice to the pilgrims, but the pragmatic point is lost in the English translation. The flyer includes a picture of pilgrims having their hair cut or shaved, a ritual to be performed once the core actions of Hajj or Umrah have been completed. The text is brief and to the point: :‫أﺧﻲ اﻟﺤﺎج‬ ‫ﻻ ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم اﻷدوات اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﺎﻵﺧﺮﯾﻦ ﺣﺘﻰ ﻻ ﺗﺼﺎب ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺪوى‬ Dear pilgrim Don,t use any tools that it.s not your’s [sic]

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The Arabic text consists of a persuasive sentence that instructs pilgrims not to share personal items, in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The English translation, in addition to its obvious spelling and syntactic issues, vaguely advises pilgrims not to use ‘tools’ that are not theirs, without mentioning the public health risk. One would hope that with the help of the picture, the reader of the English version would be able to understand the message, but the translation itself clearly fails to be effective. Document 7 further shows how the pragmatic point and force of the Hajj awareness materials can easily be lost if their translations are completed by unqualified translators. Again this is a one-sentence instruction, without much complexity, yet the translation fails both at the syntactic and the pragmatic level: ‫ﺗﻘﯿﺪ ﺑﻤﻮاﻋﯿﺪ ﺗﻔﻮﯾﺞ ﺟﺴﺮ اﻟﺠﻤﺮات‬ We hope from you abidance the time of throw Jamarat This short text asks pilgrims to respect the times allocated to different groups to perform the pebble-throwing ritual (Stoning the Devil). This advice is very important, as the site where the ritual is conducted has witnessed numerous fatal incidents due to overcrowding, especially before the Saudi authorities expanded it and developed a multilevel bridge in 2006– 2007. By organising and controlling group movements from encampments to the Jamarat Bridge, where the stoning takes place, the Saudi authorities make sure the risk of overcrowding and stampedes is minimised. The Arabic text uses the imperative form, which is appropriate for both requests and commands. The translation, however, does not clearly request an action: the intended declarative ‘We hope from you abidance…’ changes the point and force of the speech act in the original sentence. It tones the sentence down from a formal instruction to an expression of hope that pilgrims will comply with the arrangements made by the authorities. It could be argued that the translator’s decision was informed by intercultural differences between Arabic and English in relation to politeness. However, the manner in which the sentence above is written does not seem to suggest this higher level of translation skills and translator decision making. In addition, in English it is common to give written instructions and advice in the imperative mood, as can be seen in the following example from the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s Crowd Management Safety Guidelines for Retailers (2012): During the Sales Event: • •

Provide a separate store entrance for staff. Provide door monitors there to prevent crowd entry. Make sure that all employees and crowd control personnel are aware that the doors are about to open.

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• •

Staff entrances with uniformed guards, police or other authorized personnel. Use a public address system or bullhorns to manage the entering crowd and to communicate information or problems. Position security or crowd managers to the sides of entering (or exiting) public, not in the center of their path.

•

4.3 Non-culture-specific terms Hajj-related leaflets often contain culture-specific or religious terms, as well as Hajj jargon (e.g. ‘‫ رﻣﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﺮات‬،‫ طﻮاف‬،‫ ﺗﺮوﯾﺔ‬،‫)’ﺗﻔﻮﯾﺞ‬. The readership of translated Hajj material is peculiar in the sense that it shares the religious background of the local audience, but not necessarily the language or nonreligious components of culture. In order to fulfil the expectations of the readers and the intended role of the translation in the target culture, as suggested in Schäffner’s (1997) quotation above, the translator needs to conduct an assessment of the readers’ presupposed knowledge. If a term or expression is judged to be culture-specific and, therefore, unknown to the translation readership, the translator may choose between a number of strategies including calque, a functional equivalent, or transliteration with parenthetical explanation. But if the readers are known to be familiar with the term or expression in question (e.g. wudu for ablutions, salat for prayer, hajj for pilgrimage), transliteration would be sufficient. In many cases, as is shown in the examples below, terms and expressions unwittingly identified as culturespecific may refer to an object or process which is known and identifiable in the target culture. Document 10, for instance, is entitled ‘‫ ’ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻤﺎت اﻟﺘﻔﻮﯾﺞ إﻟﻰ اﻟﺠﻤﺮات‬in Arabic and ‘Remarks for Tafweej to Jamarat’ in English. The document offers advice about safety during the pebble-throwing ritual. As stated in the previous section, this advice is crucial for crowd management, which in turn reduces the risks of overcrowding and stampedes. However, the keywords in the title and the flyer, tafwīj (‫ )ﺗﻔﻮﯾﺞ‬and Jamarāt (‫)ﺟﻤﺮات‬, are simply transliterated, without even a gloss translation in parentheses. ‘Jamarāt’ is a Hajj-specific term which refers to both the Jamarat Bridge, where the stoning ritual takes place, and the actual pillars that pilgrims aim at when performing it. As Jamarat is the name of a pilgrimage site, it is likely that pilgrims will generally be familiar with it. Tafwīj, however, is not a proper name or a culturespecific term, which means that it should have been translated. In this case, the English transliterations of the Arabic terms do not yield an effective, functional rendition of their source language meanings. The term ‘tafwīj’ derives from the Arabic word ‘fawj’ (‘‫)’ﻓﻮج‬, meaning ‘group’ or ‘cohort’. In the Hajj context, it refers to the systematic process of organising the massive numbers of pilgrims into small groups so that they can proceed to the fairly limited space of Jamarat according to a strict schedule. This is a specialised and technical term in this context, but Arabic speakers may easily

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understand it based on its etymological root. For non-Arabic speakers, the word will most probably be unintelligible, but the concepts of grouping, group schedule, or crowd management can easily be expressed in their languages. Similar examples in Document 10 and others show that this is not an isolated case but rather a quite common misconception of normal words as untranslatable culture-specific terms. In the following advice, tawkīl is transliterated without any additional information or clarification: ‫ﯾﻨﺼﺢ ﻛﺒﺎر اﻟﺴﻦ واﻟﻤﺮﺿﻰ واﻟﻨﺴﺎء واﻷطﻔﺎل ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻘﺎء ﻓﻲ ﻣﻨﻰ وﺗﻮﻛﯿﻞ اﻟﻘﺎدرﯾﻦ‬ .‫ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺮﻣﻲ‬ Ladies, old men, patients, and children should stay at camp and do Tawkeel followed in Sunnah for capable men to throw instead The Arabic term ‘tawkīl’ (‘‫ )’ﺗﻮﻛﯿﻞ‬means delegating or authorising. In a legal context, it may be used as equivalent to ‘power of attorney’. In the Hajj context under discussion, it refers to the act of authorising or delegating another person to perform the ritual of throwing pebbles at the Jamarat pillars (i.e. to stone the Devil) on one’s behalf. This is usually permitted to help women and the elderly, as well as sick, unfit, or disabled pilgrims to avoid this physically demanding ritual and thereby to reduce hazards. Like tafwīj above, the word tawkīl would most probably be unintelligible for non-Arabicspeaking pilgrims. In addition, it is neither necessary nor warranted to treat it as an untranslatable culture-specific or technical term. The concept of asking someone to do something on one’s behalf can certainly be expressed in any target language. It is therefore inappropriate to transliterate such terms and use them as loanwords in the translated texts. The vast majority of pilgrims in any given year are first-time visitors to whom such words may be completely unfamiliar. It goes without saying that failure to deal appropriately with this type of keyword may render the entire translation ineffective, as the advice cannot be acted upon if it is not comprehended. These and many other recurrent transliterated terms were not even accompanied by parenthetical glosses or footnoted definitions. An adequately trained translator, especially if following a reader-oriented translation approach (e.g. Lesch, 2004, 2012), would have been able to distinguish between culture-specific and non-culture-specific lexical items. He or she would have made informed assumptions about what target readers would be familiar with or able to understand, and thereby would have managed to make the texts both accessible and effective. Translation errors and practices such as the examples discussed above produce less-than-optimal quality in the language services provided to pilgrims. Hajj-related semantics are part and parcel of the proper performance of this once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for millions of pilgrims, and should

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therefore be carefully addressed in the process of selecting, preparing and translating materials intended to facilitate a successful performance of this obligation. Similarly, mass movements during the Hajj make it essential to manage crowds and discourage any risky behaviour. Effective and meaningful translations are key to the success of this mission.

4.4 Cohesion and readability Cohesion – the way the various textual elements knit together – does not operate universally in the same manner. Instead, each language and culture employs different cohesive devices for different purposes. Working with and among multiple cultures and languages, the translator needs to be aware of such differences in order to avoid producing incohesive and incoherent translations. One well-known difference between Arabic and English is that ‘[s]tylistically, Arabic is a polysyndetic language’ (Abdul-Raof, 2001: 74). Cohesion in Arabic tends to rely on a small number of conjunctions (especially wa [and]) where English (and other languages) would make use of punctuation. Conjunctions in Arabic are usually found between lexical items, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. As Abdul-Raof (2001) puts it, what characterises Arabic is a ‘saturated use of the cohesive conjunctive element (‫و‬-and)’ (75). This textual feature has a significant impact on the manner in which information is amassed and presented, and on how logical relationships between textual elements are conveyed and determined. In this regard, Al-Qinai asserts: Compared to Arabic, English generally prefers to present information in relatively small chunks using a wide variety of conjunctions and a highly developed punctuation system to signal breaks in sentences. Unlike English, Arabic prefers to group information in large chunks within relatively complex (usually long) sentences. This is partly because punctuation and paragraphing are a recent development in Arabic. (2000: 507) When translating from Arabic into English, failure to address these differences and construct the target text in accordance with target–language cohesion norms will not only produce stylistically awkward texts, but may also lead to loss of meaning and logical relationships. In the translations studied for this chapter, one of the main contributing factors to opacity and poor readability was a mishandling of the cohesive ties present in the Arabic source texts. In many cases, the translator has rendered the sentences literally, without much consideration for the corresponding conventions and resources of the target language, English. The following excerpt from Document 4, a quality policy statement published by the Establishment of Mutawifs of Pilgrims of Turkey, Muslims of Europe, America and Australia, offers a revealing illustration. The passage

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refers to the establishment’s commitment to excellence and quality in its pilgrim and visitor services and, more specifically, highlights its compliance with the quality standards established by the Ministry of Hajj and the ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management System: ‫ﯾﺘﻢ ﺗﺤﻘﯿﻖ ھﺬا اﻟﮭﺪف ﺑﻤﺸﯿﺌﺔ ﷲ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل ﻣﺸﺎرﻛﺔ وﺗﻄﺒﯿﻖ واﻟﺘﺰام ﺟﻤﯿﻊ ﻣﻨﺴﻮﺑﻲ اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﺔ‬ .‫ﺗﺠﺎه ﺗﺤﺴﯿﻦ ﻧﻮﻋﯿﺔ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت ﺑﺎﻟﺘﺪرﯾﺐ اﻟﻜﺎﻓﻲ وﺗﺤﻔﯿﺰھﻢ ﻟﺘﺤﻘﯿﻖ ذﻟﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل اﻟﻌﻤﻞ اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻲ‬ ‫وذﻟﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل ﺑﻨﺎء ﻓﺮﯾﻖ إدارة ﻗﻮي وﻣﺘﻤﻜﻦ وﺑﻘﯿﺎدة ﻓﻌﺎﻟﺔ ﻟﻀﻤﺎن ﻓﻌﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻧﻈﺎم اﻟﺠﻮدة وﯾﻌﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ‬ .‫ﺗﻌﺰﯾﺰ وﺗﺤﺴﯿﻦ رﺿﺎ اﻟﺤﺠﺎج‬ ‫وﯾﺘﺤﻘﻖ اﻻﻧﺴﺠﺎم ﻓﻲ ﻧﻮﻋﯿﺔ ﺧﺪﻣﺎﺗﻨﺎ ﻣﻊ اﻟﻤﺘﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﻤﻘﺮرة ﻣﻦ وزارة اﻟﺤﺞ وﻣﺆﺳﺴﺔ ﻣﻄﻮﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﺣﺠﺎج ﺗﺮﻛﯿﺎ وﻣﺴﻠﻤﻲ أوروﺑﺎ وأﻣﺮﯾﻜﺎ واﺳﺘﺮاﻟﯿﺎ واﻷداء اﻟﻤﺘﻄﻮر اﻟﺬي ﯾﺘﺠﺎوز ﺗﻮﻗﻌﺎت …اﻟﺤﺠﺎج‬ ‫ﺑﺘﻄﺒﯿﻖ ﻧﻈﺎم إدارة اﻟﺠﻮدة‬ We will achieve our goals, if Allah wills, through teamwork and dedication from our staff by providing quality services, through adequate training and encouraging our staff to reach our goals with help from our Administration Department. Our target is to achieve the best services for the guests of Allah, meeting the requirements from the Ministry of Hajj and The Establishment of Motawifs for the Pilgrims of Turkey, Muslims of Europe, America and Australia and the development expected by the pilgrims by practicing the Quality Management System 9001-2000. ISO. Here, the English text echoes the stylistic and structural features of the Arabic source text by making use of long sentences and compiling information into large segments. These practices blur the relationships between the different constituents of sentences and paragraphs, however. It is difficult to grasp what is a means and what is an end. ‘Our goals’ in the first paragraph refers to the establishment’s objective, which consists of offering ‘the best services for the guests of Allah’ as mentioned in the second paragraph (and also in a previous paragraph not included in the excerpt above). The following phrase, ‘through teamwork and dedication from our staff’, suggests that the goals will be achieved by means of teamwork and staff commitment. However, as the same sentence continues with the phrase ‘by providing quality services’, it becomes unclear whether it is ‘staff teamwork and dedication’ or ‘achievement of the Establishment’s goals’ that will benefit from quality service provision. Either way, the sentence seems to fall into circularity that will likely create confusion in the reader’s mind. This likelihood is complicated further by the second part of the sentence: ‘through adequate training and encouraging our staff to reach our goals with help from our Administration Department’. The second paragraph presents similar issues. For instance, although one can identify the logical relationship between achieving targets and compliance with standards (‘meeting the requirements from the Ministry’), the position of ‘and the development expected by the pilgrims’ disrupts the

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paragraph’s cohesion and coherence. A translator with target language textual competence would have opted for breaking up the information into meaningful segments. Then he or she would have expressed the ideas in shorter sentences, making sure to insert appropriate cohesive devices that would signpost the referential and logical relationships between phrases and sentences. Ultimately, far from promoting the establishment and creating a positive image for the target audience, the English translation conveys a counterproductive message. Indeed, its poor quality is likely to arouse doubts about the quality standards to which the establishment claims to be committed. Another example is the excerpt below from Document 11. The passage is a mission statement for the Haji and Mu’tamir Gift organisation. This volunteer association provides a number of services to pilgrims and visitors, including welcomes and farewells, distributing the Saudi king’s gifts, providing religious and general advice, and emergency assistance as well as assistance to the disabled (Haji Gift, 2014). ‫اﻟﺮﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﻤﻌﯿﺔ ﺗﻄﻮﻋﯿﺔ ﻣﺘﺨﺼﺼﺔ ﺗﻘﺪم ﺧﺪﻣﺎت إﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ ﺗﺴﮭﻞ ﻟﻠﺤﺎج واﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮ واﻟﺰاﺋﺮ أداء ﻣﻨﺎﺳﻜﮫ‬ ‫وﺗﺤﻮل اﻟﺠﮭﻮد اﻟﺨﯿﺮة واﻟﻤﺴﺎھﻤﺎت اﻟﻤﺒﺎرﻛﺔ إﻟﻰ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت ﻣﺘﻤﯿﺰة ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل اﻟﺘﻄﻮﯾﺮ واﻹﺑﺪاع وﺳﺮﻋﺔ‬ .‫اﻻﺳﺘﺠﺎﺑﺔ ﺑﻜﻔﺎءة وﻓﻌﺎﻟﯿﺔ وﻓﻖ اﻟﻤﻌﺎﯾﯿﺮ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﯿﺔ ﺑﺈﺷﺮاف اﻟﺜﻘﺎت ﻣﻦ ﻣﺤﺒﻲ اﻟﺨﯿﺮ اﺣﺘﺴﺎﺑﺎ ﻟﻮﺟﮫ ﷲ‬ Message Specialized, voluntary association gives human services facilitating the rituals performance of Haji, Mu’tamir and visitor transforming charitable efforts and blessed contributions into distinguished services through improvement, creativity and quick response effectively and efficiently according to the international standards under the supervision of philanthropic authorities for the satisfaction of Allah. In addition to exhibiting poor language proficiency similar to the examples in Section 4.1 above, this passage renders the Arabic source text into English without much alteration in the structures of sentences and paragraphs. One long Arabic sentence is reproduced as one long English sentence. Probably unaware of the fact that short sentences and frequent use of punctuation is preferable in English, the translator produces a long incohesive stretch of text. Again, this is a question not only of stylistic appropriateness but also of readability and ability to convey meaning and logical relationships. The translated excerpt simply fails to convey a meaningful message. Another passage in the same brochure (Document 11) shows lack of cohesion and inconsistency even at the referential level: ..‫ھﺪﯾﺔ اﻟﺤﺎج واﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮ‬ ‫ رﺣﺒﺖ ﺑﻀﯿﻒ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ وﻗﺖ‬..‫رﺳﺎﻟﺔ ﺣﺐ و ﺳﻼم ﻣﻦ أھﻞ ﺑﻠﺪ أﻛﺮﻣﮫ ﷲ ﺑﺨﺪﻣﺔ أﻏﻠﻰ اﻟﻀﯿﻮف‬ ‫ ﺗﻌﻠﻤﮫ أرﻛﺎن اﻹﺳﻼم و اﻟﺴﻨﺔ ﻓﻲ‬،‫ وﺻﺤﺒﺘﮫ ﻓﻲ ﻛﻞ ﺧﻄﻮة ﻣﻦ ﺧﻄﻮاﺗﮫ‬،‫ﻧﺰل وﺛﻨﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ذﻟﻚ ﺑﮭﺪﯾﺔ‬ .‫ ﺣﺘﻰ ﺗﻮدﻋﮫ وھﻮ ﻋﻠﻰ أﺣﺴﻦ ﺣﺎل‬..‫ﻣﻨﺎﺳﻜﮫ وﺟﻤﯿﻊ ﺷﺆوﻧﮫ‬

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‘Haji and Mu’tamir Charity Gift Message of love and peace from citizens of country, Allah honor it for serving the dear visitors… Welcome The Most Merciful visitor anytime he/she comes and follow up with a gift, accompany him/her step by step, educate him/her the pillars of Islam, remind him/her of Sunnah in his/her rituals and all acts…Until let him/ her goes in the best state’. The Arabic passage refers to the Haji and Mu’tamir Gift, the package handed out to pilgrims and religious visitors upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, as ‘a message of love and peace’. Because the complimentary package and the organisation in charge of distributing it bear the same name (Haji and Mu’tamir Gift Charity Association), it is understood that the expression ‘Haji and Mu’tamir Gift’ in the original text refers to both. This reading is based on the statement that ‘it’ welcomes pilgrims, gives them a gift, and accompanies them throughout their stay at the holy sites. Although the acts of welcoming and accompanying can be metaphorically attributed to the gift, it can hardly be taken that the gift gives itself. A further indication that the main referent is the association and, by extension, its staff and the people it represents (Saudis) is the following phrase in the first line of the original text: ‘.‫( ’رﺳﺎﻟﺔ ﺣﺐ و ﺳﻼم ﻣﻦ أھﻞ ﺑﻠﺪ أﻛﺮﻣﮫ ﷲ ﺑﺨﺪﻣﺔ أﻏﻠﻰ اﻟﻀﯿﻮف‬literally, ‘message of love and peace from the people of the country that Allah honoured with serving the dearest guests’). Although there is potential (and probably intentional) wordplay whereby ‘‫ ’ ھﺪﯾﺔ اﻟﺤﺎج واﻟﻤﻌﺘﻤﺮ‬can refer both to the gift and the organisation distributing it, the referential cohesion in the Arabic source text is clear and consistent. Consistent use of pronouns and the third-person feminine verb form shows that the agent is the same throughout the sequence of actions. When the referent is different (e.g. the pilgrim or the country), it is indicated with the use of appropriate pronouns. For instance, in ‘‫’أھﻞ ﺑﻠﺪ أﻛﺮﻣﮫ ﷲ‬, it is clear that the pronoun refers to the country or land, and in ‘‫’وﺻﺤﺒﺘﮫ ﻓﻲ ﻛﻞ ﺧﻄﻮة ﻣﻦ ﺧﻄﻮاﺗﮫ‬, the referent of the two instances of the pronoun ‘‫( ’ه‬hu) is the ‘guest of Allah’ (i.e. the pilgrim or religious visitor). This referential cohesion firmly articulates the text, even though it consists of one long noun phrase with several embedded clauses. The translation, by contrast, is incohesive. In addition to reproducing the original’s lengthy and complex structures, it fails to properly render the anaphoric references in the original text. The verbs ‘welcome’, ‘follow up’, ‘accompany’, ‘educate’, and ‘remind’ are used without a subject, which makes it difficult to understand who or what the referent is. As the only verb preceded by a subject is ‘honor’ (in ‘Allah honor it for serving the dear visitors’), the reader may unwittingly be led to understand the subsequent verbs as referring to God. Also, whereas the Arabic text refers to ‘the people of the country which Allah honoured’, the translation obscures the reference to the country/land by failing to provide a referential link between

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‘country’ and the complement ‘it’ following ‘honor’ (‘Message of love and peace from citizens of country, Allah honor it for serving the dear visitors’). Probably due to poor grammatical competence, reference is also distorted in the following sentence: ‘Welcome The Most Merciful visitor any time he/ she comes’. Although initial capitalisation suggests that ‘The Most Merciful’ refers to God, failure to use the genitive ‘’s’ or the preposition ‘of’ leaves open the possibility of interpreting ‘Most Merciful’ (despite the capitalisation of the initial letter in each word) as a pre-modifier of ‘visitor’. These errors, together with a literal approach to translation and a low command of English, make the translation hardly readable or comprehensible.

5. Conclusion Saudi Arabia annually hosts one of the largest international events, the Hajj (pilgrimage), which attracts more than 3 million people. In addition, the country receives millions more religious visitors throughout the year. Basic requirements for both groups include healthcare, transport, accommodation, crowd management, and safety. Specifically in terms of Hajj services, Saudi authorities have made significant achievements in modernisation and optimisation by annually debuting new projects and innovative measures to make the event safer and its amenities and organisation more effective. Convinced that effectiveness and improvements cannot be achieved without the active collaboration of attendees themselves, Hajj authorities have also made efforts to raise awareness and influence pilgrims’ behaviours through TV, radio and print media. These advancements in infrastructures, transport, healthcare, administration, and other services, are praiseworthy. However, communication with pilgrims, particularly via multilingual information and translation services, is still an area in need of improvement. The very few studies conducted to date on communication with pilgrims, and interpreting and translating for them, indicate that the services available are inadequate. In this chapter, a sample of 12 translated documents, collected from various Saudi pilgrim services, were analysed qualitatively to verify whether they meet basic quality standards such as content accuracy, grammatical and lexical appropriateness, cohesion, readability, and clarity. The analysis shows that most of these translated materials exhibit numerous deficiencies such as major distortions, ungrammatical sentences, and meaningless or unclear renderings. The analyses above identify where improvements can be made by the Saudi authorities and agencies in charge of pilgrim services. These areas include better translator training, recruitment processes, and quality-assurance strategies with a view to ensuring effective communication between Saudi service providers and pilgrims.

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Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that only adequately qualified translators and interpreters are hired by public services and language service providers. The presence of such professionals, who would be equipped with appropriate language and translation skills, would facilitate and complement the achievements already attained in other areas of Hajj services. Naturally, development of the necessary skills cannot rely solely on individual endeavour and self-study, but instead requires appropriate and relevant training programmes. Saudi tertiary-education providers have a crucial role to play in this regard. Equally important is the need for language service providers to operate from clearly formulated criteria and for a unified system for following up and evaluating the performance of translation staff. A national accreditation body would be a desirable development, not only for Hajj-related language services but also for the translation and interpreting profession in Saudi Arabia.

References Abdul-Raof, H. (2001) Arabic Stylistics: A Coursebook. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. Al-Hilali, M.T. and Khan, M.M. (1996) Translation of the Meanings of The Noble Qur’an in the English Language. Madinah: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an. Al-Mahdia, H. (2007) La traduction professionnelle en Arabie Saoudite: Besoins du marché et formation des traducteurs professionnels a la lumière des approches linguistique et communicative de la traduction et d’une enquête sur le marché de la traduction [Professional translation in Saudi Arabia: Market needs and professional translator training in light of linguistic and communicative approaches to translation and of a survey of the translation market]. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle. Al-Qinai, J. (2000) Translation quality assessment: Strategies, parametres and procedures. Meta 45 (3), 497–519. Fatani, A.H. (2010) The state of the translation industry in Saudi Arabia. See http:// www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article2089.php (accessed 30 April 2015). General Directorate of Civil Defence (2014) Hajj Awareness. See http://www.998.gov.sa/ English/preventiveawareness/Pages/Introduction.aspx (accessed 16 June 2014). Gouadec, D. (2007) Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Haji Gift (2014) Ar-Ru’yah wa ar-Risālah (‫[ )اﻟﺮؤﯾﺔ واﻟﺮﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬Vision and Mission]. See http:// hajigift.org (accessed 22 June 2014). Hajj Research Institute (2014) Al-Abḥāˍt wa ad-Dirāsāt (‫[ )اﻷﺑﺤﺎث واﻟﺪراﺳﺎت‬Research]. See http://www.hajj.edu.sa (accessed 21 June 2014). Lesch, H.M. (2004) Societal factors and translation practice. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 12 (4), 256–269. Lesch, H.M. (2012) Gemeenskapsvertaling in Suid-Afrika: Die konteks van die ontvanger as normeringsbeginsel [Community Translation in South Africa: The Context of the Receiver as a Norm Governing Principle]. Stellenbsoch: SunMedia. Ministry of Commerce and Industry (2015) Ministerial Decree No. 346, dated 09/01/1397 concerning the organization of the translation profession. See http://mci.gov.sa/en/ LawsRegulations/LicensingRegulationsAndDecisions/Resolutionsoftheliberaprofes sions/3-10/Pages/3-33.aspx (accessed 30 April 2015). Qadi, A. (2011) Language services for pilgrims to the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Western Sydney.

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Schäffner, C. (1997) From ‘good’ to ‘functionally appropriate’: Assessing translation quality. Current Issues in Language & Society 4 (1), 1–5. Taibi, M. (2011a) Public service translation. In K. Malmkjaer and K. Windle (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies (pp. 214–227). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Taibi, M. (2011b) Tarjamat al-K ˍ adamāt Al-’Āmmah (‫[ )ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬Community Interpreting and Translation]. Rabat: Dar-Assalam. U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (2012) Crowd management safety guidelines for retailers. See https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/ Crowd_Control.html (accessed 24 June 2014).

4

Interpreting Taboo: The Case of Arabic Interpreters in Spanish Public Services Mustapha Taibi and Mohamed El-Madkouri Maataoui

1. Introduction One of the distinctive features of community interpreting (also known as public service interpreting) is the presence and participation of at least three persons in the interpreted communicative event: a service provider, a user, and an interpreter. Whether or not the interpreter is considered a party is the subject of ongoing debate (e.g. Barsky, 1996; Hale, 2007, 2008; Wadensjö, 1998), but there is indisputably a communicative situation comprising three vertices, as the title of Mason’s (2001) book, Triadic Exchanges, makes plain. The presence of three interlocutors (whether they are all considered as parties, or as two principal participants and an interpreter) conditions the manner in which utterances are formed and interpreted. A principal participant formulates and constructs a message; an interpreter decodes and recodes it; and another principal participant subsequently processes and responds to the interpreter’s rendering. As Wadensjö (1998) argues, the interpreter also co-constructs meaning with the main interlocutors and shares responsibility for the development of their exchange. As the interpreter’s clients usually come from linguistically and culturally distant communities, their exchanges typically involve linguistic and cultural asymmetries. Each principal participant (and the interpreter as well) follows a set of linguistic, social, and cultural norms that determine what and how much may be said, as well as how it may be said. These norms inform the way utterances are constructed and how they are supposed to be interpreted, in both senses of the word (interpretation as understanding or conceptualisation, and interpretation as oral or signed translation). This information implies that 69

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the interpreter must have a good command not only of the two working languages but also of their respective social and cultural conventions. Starting from the premise that linguistic output can hardly be disassociated from its social and cultural contexts, this chapter addresses the challenges that sex-related taboos present in community interpreting settings. Culture is understood herein as constituting a mould that shapes linguistic expressions in general, and linguistic forms relating to the human body and sexuality in particular. In this sense, feelings such as love, hate, and pleasure may be universal but cultural norms determine where, when, and how they may be expressed. The same feeling may have multiple verbal (and nonverbal) manifestations. Similarly, the same verbal (or nonverbal) representation may have a completely different impact on different audiences: what is an acceptable topic or expression for some cultural groups might be viewed as extremely offensive for others, at least in some contexts. Our focus in this chapter is upon interpreting in communicative situations that involve Arab cultural taboos, especially in public service settings such as hospitals and courts. In these situations (referred to as ‘ı¯b [‫ ]ﻋﯿﺐ‬in the Middle East or as h.šu¯ma [‫ ]ﺣﺸﻮﻣﺔ‬in some parts of North Africa), Arabs often use euphemistic expressions which can only be interpreted with the help of in-depth knowledge of the cultural code. In this chapter, the issue of taboo in community interpreting is discussed with special reference to the Spanish public service context and its Arab users. But the discussion is intended to draw attention to a number of issues generally related to intercultural communication and interpreting in public service settings, which may apply to other contexts and cultural groups as well. Our primary aim is to raise awareness among public instrumentalities and their staff of the need for intercultural sensitivity and special arrangements when engaging with users on intimate or sensitive subjects. Second, we explore the conflicting views among interpreters on the most appropriate manner to handle taboo topics and language. Finally, we distinguish between the situations and discourse constraints of different participant combinations and participation frameworks in interpreter-mediated public service encounters (e.g. male interpreter–female user–female provider; female interpreter–male user–male provider; culturally uniform user and interpreter; culturally different user and interpreter). Authentic examples are taken from public service situations involving an Arabic–Spanish interpreter, so as to illustrate the complexity of the task and analyse both observable and potential interpreting strategies.

2. Interpreting, Translation and Culture In the early stages of translation studies, language was central as both departure point and destination. Vinay and Darbelnet (1995 [1958]), for

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instance, believe that ‘In the process of translating, translators establish relationships between specific manifestations of two linguistic systems’ (30). Their influential (albeit now dated) work both offers a contrastive linguistic approach to translation and addresses a number of linguistic aspects of translation between French and English, such as differences between syntactic structures, the lexicon, word classes, stylistic variations, number, time, tense, and so on. For Nida and Taber (2003 [1969]), ‘Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the sourcelanguage message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style’ (12). For Brislin (1976), translation is ‘the general term referring to the transfer of thoughts and ideas from one language (source) to another (target), whether the languages are in written or oral form’ (1). Although references to culture could be found in these early stages, including in Nida’s work, it was only at later developmental stages in translation studies that the role of culture in translation was fully recognised. Bassnett (1980: 14) describes a translator as a surgeon who cannot operate on the heart (language) unaware of the surrounding body (culture). Vermeer (1986) believes that translation is a process of not merely linguistic but, more than that, cultural transmission whereby information provided in one culture’s language is imitated in another’s. For Vermeer, this belief implies that translators need to be bicultural, if not pluricultural. Similarly, Snell-Hornby (1995 [1988]) argues that translation involves both linguistic transfer and cross-cultural transfer. Hatim and Mason (1990) assert that ‘the translator has not only a bilingual ability but also a bi-cultural vision. Translators mediate between cultures (including ideologies, moral systems and socio-political structures), seeking to overcome those incompatibilities which stand in the way of transfer of meaning’ (1990: 223). This close connection between culture and language in translation (and interpreting, naturally) is properly captured in the culguage portmanteau used by Faiq (this volume), for whom translation consists of transporting texts from Culguage A into Culguage B. Developments in translation studies, especially after the ‘cultural turn’ of the 1980s, have given more prominence to culture in the notions and processes of translation and interpreting. Where there used to be a focus on language, linguistic communication, and interlinguistic mediation, there is currently more interest in culture, intercultural communication, and intercultural mediation. This shift is probably motivated by the very evolution of linguistics itself and our concomitant understanding of language phenomena. Linguistics has expanded its horizons from sentences and sentence structure (e.g. structural linguistics, transformational-generative linguistics) to supra-sentential manifestations of language use and contextual parameters (e.g. textlinguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis). However, the linguistic and cultural dimensions of discourse and, therefore, of translation and interpreting as well, are not mutually exclusive or opposed. Rather, they complement each other both at the comprehension

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stage, when the discourse to be translated or interpreted must be decoded, and at the recoding stage, when the translator or interpreter makes his or her own decisions and selections to produce discourse. Linguistic forms are essential to producing and understanding discourse, yet they are not everything; the same applies to the cultural context. Language users rely on general, cultural, and linguistic knowledge as well as on interpersonal and contextual cues to formulate and interpret messages. As Íñiguez Rueda (2009: 109) explains: Un discurso es un conjunto de prácticas lingüísticas que mantienen y promueven ciertas relaciones sociales. El análisis consiste en estudiar cómo estas prácticas actúan en el presente manteniendo y promoviendo estas relaciones: es sacar a la luz el poder del lenguaje como una práctica constituyente y regulativa. A discourse is a combination of linguistic practices which maintain and promote certain social relations. Analysis consists of studying how these practices act at present to maintain and promote these relations. It sheds light on the power of language as a constitutive and regulatory practice. (Our translation) Using different types of knowledge and skills, translators and interpreters are able to analyse, comprehend and communicate not only the referential meaning but also the interpersonal, social and cultural meanings of the discourses with which they work.

3. Arab Cultures and Sex-Related Taboos As Jakobson (1959) asserts, what can be expressed in one language may be expressed in another – at least to some extent. Effectively, social and cultural norms regulate the degree of explicitness, politeness, or circumspection that a given situation requires. Taboo topics and words are a case in point. According to Nida and Taber, The associations surrounding some words sometimes become so strong that we avoid using these words at all: this is what we call verbal taboo. On the one hand, there are negative taboos, with associated feelings of revulsion, or disgust, against such words as the famous four-letter words in English which refer to certain body organs and functions … On the other hand, there are positive taboos, associated with feelings of fear or awe: certain words (often the names of powerful beings) are also regarded as powerful, and the misuse of such words may bring destruction upon the hapless user. (2003 [1969]: 91) Taboo is relative in two senses: cultural group (what is taboo for some cultures may not be so for others) and intensity or offensiveness (the same

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topic or word may be taboo for different cultures, but the face (cultural) threat, risk, or offensiveness associated with it may vary from one culture to another). Referring to swear words: Often the semantics of an item in this category are not the same across languages, which means that a word might be used in one language, but its supposed equivalent in the target language does not in fact mean exactly the same thing, or it cannot be used in exactly the same way or same context. (Stratiy, 2005: 242) For this reason, it is very important for translators and interpreters – especially community interpreters – to be aware not only of cultural differences related to taboo, but also of the scale of face–threatening potential of the same act or expression for different cultural groups and different contexts. Regarding Arab cultures, it must be noted at the outset that, contrary to common belief, sex is not a taboo semantic field. The topic of sexuality per se is neither positive nor negative from the perspective of discourse practices among equals. Rather, sex-related taboos depend on a number of contextual factors such as when, where, and with whom the topic is to be discussed. Usually, sex may be discussed openly among peer groups of age and gender (e.g. teenage boys or adult women), but not between men and women (except in private settings or intimate interpersonal relationships) or between adults and children (except when the setting is educational and the language used is scientific or neutral). Space, time and interpersonal relationships influence the (culture-specific) judgments of acceptability and appropriateness. Also contrary to some common perceptions, it is society more than religion that sets the rules and constraints for discourse practices related to sex in the Arab World. Islamic religious and jurisprudential discourses are much more open and less conservative than popular discourses on sexuality and sex education. Islamic religious and jurisprudential publications – both classical and modern – are full of references to sexual intercourse, menstruation, and related matters. Similarly, mosque imams may address sexual relationships, including prostitution and extramarital intercourse, in the presence of both men and women of different ages. However, this does not apply to other, non-religious types of discourse in environments such as the family, the classroom, or the media (with some exceptions of course). This discourse or situational separation resembles the spatial gender segregation in some Arab countries. At the Holy Mosque in Mecca, the most sacred site for Muslims, men and women sit, pray, or circumambulate the Kaaba side by side. They may be jostled together in large crowds, and even women who usually veil all but their eyes (niqab) must uncover their faces. However, in secular public places such as restaurants, universities or buses, males and females must be separate and females must be covered. This varies from one country to another and from region to region; the point is that veiling and

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segregation by sex are linked to cultural tradition and social perceptions more than to religious commandments (Abu ¯ Šuqqah, 2011: 11–339). Similarly, the expression ‘‫‘( ’ﻻ ﺣﯿﺎء ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪﯾﻦ‬la¯ h.aya¯a fı¯-ddı¯n’), which literally means ‘there is no embarrassment or shyness in religion’, is commonly used to remind people that considerations such as ‘ı¯b or h.šu¯ma should not impede one from seeking or providing knowledge and advice about religion, which is understood to include areas as diverse as sexual intercourse, menstruation, childbirth, contraceptive methods, ablutions and personal hygiene. Moreover, enabling expressions can be invoked to signal open discussions of otherwise fraught topics. By pronouncing ‘la¯ h.aya¯a fı¯-ddı¯n’, an imam indicates that his sermon will subsequently address something considered both socially and culturally taboo; he may use the same expression to encourage someone with a like enquiry to overcome the reticence of convention. People seeking religious advice may also use the expression as an apology or face-saving introduction. In other words, religion affords an exception that overrides the social and cultural code on taboo, and religious practice accommodates this exception. Nonetheless, sex-related topics and language are among the most sensitive and restricted areas of discourse in the Arab World. Metaphor and euphemism are commonly used in this semantic field. Except in very limited contexts such as intimate and/or close familial relationships or age-group solidarity talk, for males or females to refer to sexual organs or sexual intercourse in an explicit manner is equivalent to losing one’s public image and being classified as vulgar. When unrelated males of the same sex and age engage in explicit talk about sex, it is normally in relation to prostitution or extramarital relationships, not one’s own spouse or fiancée. This is because family and honour are considered sacred values and, as such, mutually exclusive from any demeaning behaviour: speaking explicitly about one’s sexual partner would diminish her status – something few wish upon women they care for. Similarly, for a man to make sexual references to another man’s relatives, especially a mother, sister or daughter, is considered one of the most offensive acts in Arab culture. The use of euphemistic expressions for sex-related referents is common not only in general conversation but also in institutional encounters that may require a higher level of precision and explicitness, such as healthcare consultations. Even in this context, Arab doctors and patients tend towards euphemism. For instance, in a study about sexually transmitted diseases conducted with both the general population and healthcare providers in three Moroccan provinces, Manhart et al. (2000) found that the colloquial word ‘berd’ [cold] was the word most commonly used to refer to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in general. Also used to refer to the common cold and rheumatism, the word is vague enough both to dissimulate a sexrelated taboo and, as the authors rightly explain, to socially shield STD– infected persons. Interestingly, the authors also found that assammid, the Berber equivalent of berd, was used in the same manner, which indicates ‘the

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concept is universal between the two language groups and thus a cultural phenomenon rather than a linguistic one’ (Manhart et al., 2000: 1373). The fact that both Arabic-speaking and Berber-speaking Moroccans in this study used a like euphemism to denote STD is evidence that this is a taboo area in their shared culture.

4. Taboo in the Context of Community Interpreting 4.1 Intercultural awareness in public services A great deal of literature and professional guidelines relating to intercultural communication in public services suggest a general awareness that intercultural sensitivity and competence are key to a successful interaction between a service provider and a client who belong to distinct cultural groups. In healthcare settings, for instance Phelan and Parkman (1995) advise that ‘The doctor should also mention any potentially delicate or distressing issues that have to be covered and ask the interpreter if there are any specific cultural factors that may have a direct bearing on the interview’ (1995: 556). The authors also warn that ‘the patient may be inhibited from discussing embarrassing issues or disclosing past events, such as an abortion, in front of relatives’ (1995: 555). Referring to asylum hearings, Pöllabauer (2007) notes that ‘Questions or interrogation strategies, for instance, which are necessary to the officers for determining the relevance of the asylum-seekers claims, may be regarded as inadequate or even taboo in the asylum-seekers’ culture and, thus, will threaten the asylum-seekers’ positive image’ (2007: 42). For refugee interviews, the 1991 UNHCR Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women not only draw attention to cultural relativism but also provide gender-specific advice: In assessing the credibility of the female applicant, for example, do not judge it on the basis of such Western cultural values as the ability to maintain eye contact. Be patient with female applicants to overcome inhibitions, particularly regarding sexual abuse. Questions may need to be asked in a number of different ways before victims of rape and other abuses feel able to tell their stories … Do not ask for details of sexual abuse; the important thing in establishing a well-founded fear of persecution is to establish that some form of it has occurred. Understand that women in many societies do not have specific information about the activities of the men in their families. Gaps in their knowledge should not be construed as lack of credibility unless there is other evidence of such lack of credibility.

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Provide women the opportunity to be questioned by themselves, out of the hearing of other members of their family. Victims of sexual abuse may not feel comfortable recounting their experiences in front of their fathers, husbands, brothers, or children. Such standards are not always maintained in different public services and different countries, however. An example is the following awkward situation reported in Castillo and Taibi (2005). While an Iraqi family (parents, teenage daughter and younger son) were undergoing a medical consultation at a healthcare service of the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid, they were asked questions about their respective medical histories. When the doctor started to ask the teenage daughter about her menstruation, the interpreter intervened to suggest that such private questions were not appropriate in the presence of male relatives. The doctor responded by inviting the father and brother to leave the room. This created a situation of confusion and alarm within the family, who began to worry that this request presaged some grave announcement about the young woman’s health. In this case, the doctor or the institution could have avoided embarrassment for the young woman and consternation for her relatives by organising confidential individual consultations in advance. Indeed, appreciation of confidentiality in such a situation is not exclusive to Arab patients; other cultural groups may share it for different reasons or values (e.g. autonomy). Another case where intercultural sensitivity is required is cross-gender public service encounters. When the encounter involves physical examination or talk about private matters, Arab women (and men, although probably to a lesser extent) would normally prefer to be attended to by a professional of the same sex (Macdonald, 2004: 136). If an Arab woman is attending a gynaecological consultation or reporting a sexual crime, she would normally be more comfortable and ready to talk if the person on the other side of the desk is a woman. Similarly for interpreter-mediated consultations, female service users would normally prefer both facilitators (the service provider and the interpreter) to be female. In most cases, gender is a significant factor in the communicative situation. If the three participants (service provider, interpreter, and user) are of the same gender, communication is likely to be smoother than if the user’s gender is different from that of the other two. Conversely, the service provider and the interpreter should either or both be of the same gender as the user. This arrangement would normally be more comforting for female users, but even under such circumstances, there will still be information and feelings that, for cultural reasons, are not verbalised explicitly. For public service institutions and providers, it is therefore very important to be aware of such cultural sensitivities and make the necessary arrangements for them. It is equally important for public service providers – and naturally, interpreters – not to judge culturally different behaviour from the perspective of their own cultural backgrounds or from ideologically biased positions.

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In their roles as institutional representatives, their perceptions of difference will likely have consequences. As Freeden (2013: 22) suggests, the ideological factor is sometimes decisive in public service communicative situations. The power relationships that usually characterise public service encounters are due not only to institutional status but also to ideological considerations and how the encounter participants (service provider, interpreter and user) perceive one another. Attitudes and beliefs, whether individual or collective, influence the communicative process in general situations; in the case of public service interactions involving members of ethnic minorities, however, they are vested with paramount significance, as interaction in these settings is with the Other. These attitudes may vary from excessive paternalism to rejection and hostility, which can still be palpable despite the outward maintenance of appearances and formalities. Ethnocentric or ideologically charged interferences impinge on the ways that taboos are perceived, processed, and reacted to – a process that may have a negative impact on communication. Whether or not service providers (or interpreters) adopt a consciously paternalistic or hostile attitude towards the Other, they may associate the taboos of other cultures with an early (and therefore long-forgotten) developmental stage of their own culture. In other words, they may perceive a user’s taboo-related behaviour as a sign of ‘cultural immaturity’ or a discomforting reminder of their cultural background from decades or even centuries ago. For the public service provider and the interpreter alike, it is more appropriate and effective to recognise cultural differences for what they are, namely as synchronic variations resulting from sociocultural backgrounds and ways of seeing the world that, although they may be different, are equally legitimate.

4.2 Community interpreters and taboo Translation and interpreting literature abounds with references to the expectation that translators and interpreters should render the original message not only in terms of content but also with due attention to form. Referring to interpreting in legal settings, Dueñas González et al. (1991), affirm that ‘conservation of register is a major component of producing a legally equivalent interpretation. Modifying, by lowering or raising the register, can alter the global impression the jury or judge has of the witness’ (1991: 265). Writing about the medical setting, Tebble (1999) argues that ‘[t]he medical interpreter needs to convey both what was said and the way it was said, remaining as close as possible to the physician’s style’ (1999: 188). Hale (2004, 2007) contends that the interpreter’s role consists of rendering the illocutionary point and force of the original message and reflecting the original stylistic features, including register, hesitations, discourse markers, backtracking, and repetitions. ‘These features’, the author argues, ‘are important cues that help reveal the speaker’s attitudes, commitment to the truth of their utterance,

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level of education and even social and regional membership. If the interpreter aims to maintain such features, then the speakers will be given the opportunity to react to the message as it is presented to them, rather than receive a censored or edited version from the interpreter’ (Hale, 2007: 11). Referring to profanity in particular, Cambridge (2005) clearly states that even this type of language must be interpreted and that ‘the fundamental and most significant aspect of cursing is that it expresses a depth of emotion that is an intrinsic and indispensable part of the whole message’. The author adds: ‘If, therefore, a client or patient chooses to use language that they must be aware will cause shock or offence in the mother tongue and home culture, that choice must be respected and the integrity of what they said must be preserved’. Corsellis (2008) agrees that nothing should ‘be omitted because it is distasteful … Descriptions of rape and sexual abuse in criminal cases have to be precise and explicit. Paraphrasing such descriptions into “he behaved disrespectfully” … does not help anyone’ (2008: 45). For Cambridge (2005), an appropriate way to interpret taboo language is by taking into consideration the emotional weight of the expression, its pragmatic function (for instance, whether it is used for descriptive, exclamatory, or insulting purposes), and semantic equivalence, although Cambridge adds that this last criterion is rarely useful. Yet, studies have revealed that community interpreters often alter original utterances for politeness considerations. Berk-Seligson (1988), for instance, found that interpreters tended to produce relatively more polite versions of the original utterances. Mason and Stewart (2001) found that face-threatening elements of the original message were not interpreted pragmatically in their data; instead, they were ‘frequently modified in the course of the interpreting, regardless of the style of interpreting adopted’ (2001: 68). The examples discussed by these authors are probably not as face-threatening as swear words or offensive language; a difference which suggests that taboo language will, in all likelihood, trigger even more face-saving strategies on the part of interpreters. Mason and Stewart (2001) quote an example from Harris and Sherwood (1978) which appears to be close to taboo language in its intensity. During a business negotiation between an Italian immigrant and a monolingual Canadian, the Italian speaker produced what appears to be an insult (Digli che è un imbecille! [Tell him he’s an idiot]). Acting as an interpreter, his daughter rendered the utterance as ‘My father won’t accept your offer’ (2001: 52). Mason and Stewart comment on this exchange as follows: [A] literal translation of what is uttered in Italian would constitute a three-way threat to face: to the addressee, who is being insulted; to the speaker, whose positive face would be under threat, were he aware of the impact of his words in a different cultural setting; and to the interpreter, who might appear to be assuming responsibility for the words uttered. (2001: 52)

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Tryuk’s (2007) findings reveal an even stronger position. In a survey conducted with Polish sworn translators working as community interpreters, the author found that the participants believed ‘Interpreters should not translate vulgarisms or swear words’ (2007: 101). Paradoxically, the same participants indicated that interpreters were expected neither to alter or improve the style of the original speech nor to prompt their clients on how to behave. Given that community interpreting is undertaken in shared communicative and physical situations among linguistically and culturally different particpants, the interpreter has a number of competing considerations to attend to. At one level there is the meaning and pragmatic effect of the utterances; at another there are the requirements and expectations of the institutional setting where the interpreting occurs; and at yet another there are the intercultural and interpersonal relationships between the service provider and the user and between each of these and the interpreter. In relation to taboo, interpreters may find it necessary to omit or euphemise offensive utterances out of cultural sensitivity or because of their own cultural constraints. Like other language users, interpreters produce language (or refrain from doing so) based on a number of sociocultural considerations. As Íñiguez Rueda (2009) argues, ‘discourse is language as a social practice determined by social structures’ (2009: 109, our translation). These sociocultural considerations influence what may or may not be said. Torruella Valverde (2013) provides a good example, where an Arabic–Spanish female interpreter outlines the taboo-related discourse boundaries that affect her professional perfomance: – – – –

Entonces, ¿usted nunca interpretaría, por ejemplo, el proceso para unas tomas de muestra de semen? [So you would never interpret, for example, the process of taking a semen sample?] No, nunca. Yo nunca le podría pedir eso o traducirle eso a un hombre musulmán. [No, never. I could never ask or translate that to a Muslim man.] ¿Y si fuera un árabe, pero cristiano? [What about an Arab man who is a Christian?] Mmm … no, porque es de la misma cultura. ¿Ves?, a un saharaui [subsahariano] sí que se lo diría porque no es de la misma cultura, pero a un egipcio, argelino, jordano … ni hablar. Son cosas que una mujer no le preguntaría nunca a un hombre. [Mmm … no, because it’s the same culture. You see, to a Subsaharan (man) I would say it because he doesn’t belong to the same culture, but to an Egyptian, Algerian, Jordanian … no way! These are things that a woman would never ask a man]. (Our translation)

This example supports our claim in the previous section that Arab culture and society, more than religion, determine the constraints for discourse practices related to sex. The female Arab interpreter quoted above expresses

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the same unwillingness to talk about sex-related subjects with a Muslim Arab male patient as with a Christian Arab one. The same interpreter would, however, have less restraint with a male who does not share the same culture and, presumably, the same language. Indeed, it is well known that people find it easier and less offensive to utter and hear taboo words in a language other than their mother tongue. As Allan and Burridge (2009) explain, ‘Taboo words and phrases acquired by late bilinguals lack the cultural imprint of the forbidden and have different neurological representations’ (2009: 246). More importantly, the previous example shows how cultural constraints and culture-specific gender sensitivities may impinge on interpreter performance – a barrier that requires attention both from public service providers (e.g. by arranging same-sex interviews in sensitive encounters) and interpreters. Interpreters should be aware that, although they have their own cultural backgrounds and constraints, they are expected to live up to professional standards. Everything said in an interpreter-mediated encounter must be interpreted. In light of this requirement, a relatively easy and straightforward option for those who do not feel comfortable working in certain settings or with certain topics is to recuse themselves. Still, many interpreters would not consider taboo language or topics worrisome enough to necessitate declining an interpreting assignment or removing themselves during an interview. In addition, taboo references may occur as incidental one-off instances. All of these possibilities call for clear, culture/languagespecific professional guidelines that enable interpreters to assess each situation and choose the most appropriate strategy to deal with offensive or taboo language. The need for such guidelines is also warranted by the fact that while two languages and cultures may agree that a certain semantic field is taboo, they may differ in rating offensiveness or identifying the contextual cues that determine (in)appropriateness. In Spanish, the scope of taboo within the semantic field of sex has been reduced significantly. In other words, what used to be taboo in this area has become normalised, to the point of being commonly accepted in everyday conversations and even formal contexts. Formerly taboo words such as pene [penis] or vagina [vagina] would not trigger a strong reaction today. Some relatively more obscene terms have also been normalised and incorporated into everyday language. Coño [literally, cunt] is used as an interjection to convey surprise, disbelief, or irritation (e.g. Coño! Se me ha olvidado otra vez! [Damn! I forgot (it) again!]). This word may be used in business meetings, among family members, on public transport, and so on. In Arabic, however, the presumed equivalents of terms for genitalia are still considered extremely offensive and would only be used among equals in intimate or ingroup circles. They would not be used in formal meetings or family contexts, neither in their literal sense nor as part of expletives (as in the Spanish example above).

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One of the Arab interpreters who participated in Torruella Valverde’s (2013) study illustrates how Arabic interpreters deal with these cultural constraints relating to taboo: Bueno, las partes sexuales pues se dicen diferente… Por ejemplo, la ‘vagina’ se dice ‘parte baja’ o ‘lugar de la orina’, /mantiqat al-bawl/…; del hombre se dice/ al-’udw al-dhakry/, ‘miembro masculino’… Bueno, en argelino se dice así, otros árabes no sé. Igual con el ano (aquí la mujer lo dice en voz baja) que yo digo/ mantiqat al-biraz/, ‘lugar de las heces’. Well, sexual organs well they are said differently … For example, ‘vagina’ is referred to as ‘lower part’ or ‘the place of urine’ [mantiqat al-bawl] … for a man it is referred to as [al-’udw al-dhakry] ‘masculine organ’… Well, in Algerian dialect this is how it is said, I don’t know about other Arab countries. The same for ‘anus’ [at this point the woman whispers the word], I say [mantiqat al-biraz] ‘the place of excrement’. (Our translations from Spanish and Arabic) Similar euphemising strategies have been observed among Arabic–Spanish community interpreting trainees, some of whom are practising interpreters. In a number of courses and workshops one co-author gave in different Spanish universities, the students opted for euphemistic expressions when it became necessary to interpret taboo words. For instance, one exercise involved a reverse-sight translation (from Spanish back into Arabic) of a complaint statement made at an examining magistrate’s court by a Moroccan woman against her husband. The document to be sight-translated constitutes the record of the woman’s allegations, as rendered by her brother-in-law, who acted as an ad hoc Arabic–Spanish interpreter. The allegations include the claim that the husband had insulted his wife, expelled her from the conjugal home, and refused to divorce her unless she paid him an amount of money. The official statement in Spanish included the following: Que los hechos empezaron sobre las 12 de la noche, y cuando la echó de casa fue sobre las 3 de la mañana. Que todos los hechos ocurrieron a partir de las 12 de la noche. Que en la discusión la insultaba, le decía que era una puta etc. y que no se iba a divorciar. Que no la agredió, ni la tocó, ni tampoco en otras ocasiones. [That the incident started at about 12:00 midnight, and when he threw her out of the house it was about 3:00 a.m. That all the events occurred from 12:00 midnight. That during the argument, he called her ‘whore’ etc. and said he was not going to divorce her.

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That he did not assault or touch her, neither did he at other times]. (Our translation) When the trainees reached the point where the word ‘puta’ [whore] had to be translated, most of them used euphemistic expressions such as the following (in Moroccan Arabic): – –

W qalek ntina fasda [And he called you ‘corrupt’] (‘fasda’ is a much milder version of the colloquial Arabic word for ‘prostitute’). W qalek kelma hayba [And he called you ‘a bad word’]. (Our translation) ˘

In this classroom situation, the potential face threat is not just three-way (the original speaker, addressee, and interpreter), as Mason and Stewart’s (2001: 52) quotation above suggests; here, it also extends to the interpreter as a student, the teacher as an institutional figure, and other students as colleagues and co-participants in an educational event. The significance of this example is that it corroborates the tendency of Arabic interpreters to euphemise obscene language as a result of cultural (face) considerations. Such a euphemising strategy may be viewed as evidence of intercultural competence and sensitivity. However, it may not be appropriate in all settings and contexts – hence the need, again, for clear guidelines and for interpreters to conduct an informed professional assessment of each communicative situation. Interpreters should assess the risks involved in each interpreting assignment based on at leat three key criteria: the significance of language precision (shades of meaning, register, tone, sociolect, etc.) in a given institutional setting, potential face risks, and the relative equivalence of profanity across languages and cultures. In healthcare settings, staff usually use scientific or neutral terms to refer to body parts and substances. To refer to a stool sample, for instance, Spanish healthcare professionals would use muestra de heces [faeces], which an Arabic interpreter can easily render using a formal equivalent or euphemistic expression. However, there are cases where medical terms used need to be translated very precisely, especially when the communication is about specific body parts that require treatment or surgical intervention. If specific reference is made to clítoris [clitoris], recto [rectum], ano [anus] or testículos [testicles], for instance, euphemisms mentioned earlier (e.g. ‘the place of excrement’ or ‘the place of urine’) may not be accurate or appropriate. A better option would be equally formal lexical items in Modern Standard Arabic such as baz. r [clitoris] or h is. ya [testicle]. Due to the diglos˘ sia in the Arab World, some Modern Standard Arabic terms may be difficult for the average Arabic speaker to understand. In such cases, patients may ask the healthcare professional for further clarification, which the interpreter can duly render without feeling compelled to offer any independent explanation.

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In legal settings, accuracy of interpreting, including interpreting of taboo language, has paramount importance. As the quotation from Dueñas González et al. (1991) in Section 4.2. suggests, a faithful rendering of the register and form of the speaker’s discourse is essential to the court’s assessment of parties and witnesses. The authors refer, for instance, to a Florida court case that was retried because the interpreter had conveyed an inaccurate image of a witness by omitting her vulgar language and producing refined versions of her testimony. Accuracy is also crucial to establish the facts of the case. If a Spanish judge asks an Arab woman, ‘¿Está usted diciendo que su marido la violó después de haberla repudiado?’ [Are you saying that your husband raped you after he had disowned you?], and the interpreter, for cultural reasons, renders the question as ‘‫( ’واش ﻛﺘﻘﻮل ﺑﻠﻲ راﺟﻠﻚ ﻧﻌﺲ ﻣﻌﻚ ﺑﻌﺪ ﻣﺎ طﻠﻘﻚ؟‬Waš katqul beli rajlek n‘as m‘ak ba‘d ma t.elqek?) [Are you saying that your husband slept with you after he divorced you?], the employment of euphemism may have a negative impact on the proceedings unless someone becomes aware of the mistranslation and rectifies it. Similarly, the Moroccan Arabic verb ‘‫( ’ﺗﻜﺮﻓﺲ‬tkarfes) may variously mean ‘to abuse’, ‘to exploit’, or ‘to be unfair to somebody’, but it is also used euphemistically to refer to rape. By using it to translate violación [rape] into Arabic, without being sure that the other possible interpretations (abuse, exploit, etc.) are ruled out, an interpreter may be unduly sacrificing communicative accuracy and effectiveness in the name of intercultural sensi. tivity. A formal word such as ‘‫( ’اﻏﺘﺼﺎب‬ig tis.a¯b), literally meaning ‘usurpation’, in context a clear euphemism for sexual violation, offers a solution that is both accurate and face–saving.

4.3 Different interpreters, different needs The communicative situations requiring community interpreting may involve participants from different backgrounds. In relation to taboo, it is interesting to note that different participant combinations will usually give rise to different challenges and/or advantages. In particular, the gender and cultural backgrounds of service provider, user, and interpreter may create a more or less facilitating environment for communication and interpreting. Each participant combination poses its own issues and highlights different needs. In the following paragraphs, we address different gender-cultural participant combinations and their impact on communicating/interpreting taboo subjects/language. The point of reference is Arabic interpreters in the Spanish context, but the propositions below may apply to other language combinations and local contexts.

4.3.1 Endogroup interpreter In Spain, as in many other countries, most community interpreters are either migrants themselves or come from a migrant background. However, there are also translators and interpreters who are native speakers of Spanish and learnt another language (in our case, Arabic) as a foreign language. These

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are referred to here as ‘endogroup’ interpreters as they are members of the mainstream (Spanish) community, where the interpreting takes place. Unless they have lived in an Arab country for an extended period of time, these professionals would normally have learnt the language formally, that is to say based on a standardised, neutral, and prototypical version of Arabic, without much exposure to regional and local variations or to popular culture. Sociolinguistic variation and, more importantly, unshared cultural assumptions and discourse practices, are likely to result in comprehension challenges on both sides. Sociolinguistic variation may be overcome by using accommodation strategies in the form of Modern Standard Arabic or a middle variety of the language (e.g. Educated Spoken Arabic), provided both the Spanish interpreter and the Arab user are able to speak one of these. What is difficult to overcome in this case, however, is the likely gap between interpreter’s and user’s respective background knowledge of the social and cultural dimensions of the language. When the interpreter is a Spanish endogroup member, the communicative situation involves two participants (service provider and interpreter) who share a Spanish cultural background and one (the Arabophone patient, defendant, asylum seeker, student, etc.) who does not. Paradoxically, it is precisely in such a situation that the service user may be relatively more comfortable discussing taboo topics or using taboo language than he or she would be with an ethnoculturally Arab interpreter. As mentioned earlier, people usually find it easier to discuss taboo subjects with someone from outside their cultural background and/or in a language other than their mother tongue. In the scenario described here, the Spanish interpreter and Arabophone user share the language (to some extent at least, as their respective variants of Arabic may be quite distant), but as someone not ethnoculturally Arab, the interpreter is perceived as an outsider who neither shares the cultural code nor understands the connotations and emotive load of the taboo language used. What emerges therefore is a situation where less culturally equipped interpreters are likely to be exposed to more culturally loaded and taboo-related language. This situation may involve a risk of miscommunication. The mainstream Spanish interpreter may be able to understand the language (what is said), but not its cultural context (what is meant). Lack of awareness of cultural presuppositions, in general, and lack of a shared cultural framework for taboo, in particular, may result in either non-understanding or misunderstanding. Inability to comprehend what is being said is usually conveyed with the expression ‘¡No se le entiende!’ [One can’t understand him/her; It is impossible to understand him/her], often uttered in a tone indicating frustration. This expression may be used when either a public service provider or an interpreter is unable to grasp some or all of the user’s discourse. What is interesting about the Spanish ¡No se le entiende! is that the impersonal reflexive passive voice distances the hearer from the source of non-understanding. In other words, it is not the hearer (i.e. the service provider, if the user attempts ‘broken’

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Spanish, or the interpreter, if he or she does not share the speaker’s cultural or sociolinguistic background) who fails to comprehend; rather, it is the speaker (Arabophone service user in this case) who fails to be comprehensible. Misunderstanding, by contrast, may lead to inaccurate interpreting, which may go unnoticed or otherwise be detected and remedied during the course of the public service interview. If unnoticed, misunderstanding may result in the public service user being misrepresented and his or her interests being affected. In this sense, misunderstanding appears to have more serious consequences than non-understanding. Non-understanding leads to communication being interrupted or ceased, but misunderstanding – and, therefore, misinterpretation – produces an inaccurate and probably inconsistent representation of the client’s discourse. As Cambridge (2005) puts it, ‘Where there is non-understanding the parties are immediately aware of it and may ask for clarification. Only the interpreter can know if there is misunderstanding, where one or the other party believes that they have understood, but in fact they have not’. The author is referring to misunderstanding between the principal participants, but our point concerns misunderstanding in which the interpreter is involved. Unaware of the interpreter’s miscomprehension, the public service provider will likely assess an application, provide treatment, or process a claim based on inaccurate information. He or she may even conclude that the user or applicant is not acting in good faith. For endogroup interpreters, therefore, it is essential that they experience extended exposure to the cultural and sociolinguistic diversity of the Arab World in order to equip themselves with the cultural background necessary to understand and interpret from Arabic. This requirement reciprocally applies to ethnoculturally Arab interpreters in relation to Spanish culture, but because presumably they are Spanish residents with corresponding opportunities of local cultural exposure, these individuals are more likely to have developed the necessary cultural knowledge.

4.3.2 Exogroup interpreter As mentioned above, community interpreters are usually members of the migrant group for which they interpret. When this is the case, and for ease of reference, they are referred to herein as exogroup interpreters (as they are not rooted in the mainstream Spanish community, where the interpreting takes place). If these interpreters have achieved mastery of their working languages and cultures and have been appropriately trained in community interpreting skills and ethics, they will normally be able to offer service at appropriate or high standards. However, cultural and gender sensitivities in general and cultural taboos in particular may pose major challenges and impinge on the interpreter’s performance. Where user and interpreter are both ethnoculturally Arab, the former will generally be reluctant to talk about very private subjects (e.g. sexual dysfunction) or culturally stigmatised conditions (e.g. AIDS or other STDs).

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As mentioned in the previous section, the paradox is that users are more likely to be able to talk about such matters with an interpreter who is fluent in Arabic but does not share the same cultural background (e.g. an endogroup interpreter) and therefore may be less prepared to deal with culturally bound language. As previously mentioned, when the interpreter shares the user’s cultural code and is therefore more capable of comprehending and rendering culturally coded references, the client is likely to be less comfortable discussing them. In this case the user, instead of refusing to communicate outright, may rely heavily on metaphorical language, indirect talk, and non-verbal signs, which may increase the risk of misinterpretation or overinterpretation by the interpreter. Ethnoculturally Arab interpreters may perceive their role as that of communication facilitator and cultural broker. They may find it necessary to ‘interpret’ a user’s body language and elaborate on abbreviated responses to convey what, in their understanding, he or she might have meant to say. The following illustrates a commonly reported remonstration by Spanish public service providers regarding interpreted discourse: – – –

¡Si no ha hablado tanto! [But s/he didn’t say that much!] ¡Es que le da corte decirlo todo! [S/he is too shy to say it all!] ¡Y Vd. le complementa, claro! [And you obviously complement his/her words!]

The same reaction is common even when taboo subjects are not involved. Unaware of differences between languages, an interpreter’s assessment of interpreting may be based on his or her fluency and the length of the user’s speech turn alone. Still, the point is that, as suggested earlier, it would be safer to make the necessary arrangements for users to be assisted by interpreters of the appropriate cultural and gender group when delicate subjects are to be discussed. This precaution would avoid the risk of overinterpreting. If such arrangements cannot be made, interpreters are expected to use their professional judgment and skill to make the communicative event as successful as possible. Of course, an interpreting situation involving taboo topics and participants from different gender groups will likely result in awkwardness, not only for the client but also for the interpreter. Such awkwardness usually confuses the public service provider, who is probably not aware of the reason(s) behind the awkwardness and tension and, therefore, feels that he or she is losing control of the institutional encounter. As the following example from Torruella Valverde shows, the interpreter (in this case, an Arab woman) may find it difficult to enunciate sex-related lexical items. Pues soy directa. Para ‘vagina’ directamente señalo porque me parece algo vulgar llamarlo por su nombre. Sé que hay mediadoras que lo traducen como /mantiqat al-bawl/, pero claro, eso también puede servir para ‘pene’ porque es por donde sale

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el pipi. Para los hombres les digo /dialek/, que en dialecto marroquí es algo así como ‘el tuyo’, y si hace falta también señalo con más discreción. Y para ano, pues como aquí decimos, ¿no? ‘Parte trasera’, que sería /wara’/. (2013: 36) Well, I am straightforward. For ‘vagina’ I point [to the body part] directly because it seems to me vulgar to call it by its name. I know there are mediators who translate it as ‘the part of urine’, but that can also mean ‘penis’ because it refers to the place where peepee comes out. For men I use dialek, which means something like ‘yours’ in Moroccan dialect, and if necessary I also point more discreetly. And for ‘anus’, well, as we say here, right? ‘rear end’, which would be wara. (Our translation) It is the interpreter’s professional responsibility to choose the most appropriate option. As noted above, interpreters need to assess each situation based on the importance of language precision in each setting, potential face threats, and the relative equivalence of taboo words in the two working languages and cultures. Community interpreting does not have to be a ‘rude’ profession as Cambridge (2005) suggests. Rather, it should be a profession of informed and reasoned decision making, which includes balance among face needs, cultural appropriateness, and accuracy. Euphemistic expressions (such as dialek above) may be appropriate if the healthcare consultation does not involve specific parts of the sexual organ in question. Otherwise, it may be more appropriate to use equivalents in Standard Arabic – a common euphemising strategy even in everyday colloquial conversation. What is of questionable appropriateness is the use of nonverbal language to indicate body parts. This may cause even more awkwardness and confusion and may incur a number of additional questions: Should interpreters point at the user’s body or their own? How (culturally and professionally) appropriate is it for an interpreter to continue indicating body parts every time they are mentioned? Would this practice encourage a male patient, for instance, to use body language for sexual organs too? Would that situation not be offensive for the interpreter and for the service provider?

5. Conclusion Taboo is one of the most challenging areas of discourse, not only for community interpeters but also for their co-participants (public service providers and users). If not handled appropriately and effectively, taboo(s) may have a negative impact on communication in public service encounters. As is well attested, interpreting requires more than language competence, especially when conducted outside narrow settings such as soundproof booths. Cultural knowledge and intercultural sensitivity are essential to successful interpreting, especially when the interpreter-mediated communication involves taboo language or subjects.

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In this chapter we have focused on sex-related taboos, taking as a point of reference interpreter-mediated encounters between Spanish institutional professionals and Arabic-speaking users. We have explained that there are cultural differences between Spaniards (and members of other Western societies, for that matter) and Arabs, and that these must be taken into consideration when arranging interpreter services, conducting interviews cross-culturally, and interpreting. Appropriate management of communication and communicative needs is a shared responsibility: at different stages, public service providers, interpreters, and users must all take steps if the interpreter-mediated event is to be effective. It is equally important for institutional representatives and interpreters to be aware of cultural differences and to act upon that awareness. Taboo boundaries are not necessarily as tight in one culture as another, nor are the implications of obscenity or profanity the same across cultures. In Arab cultures, sex-related taboos are stronger than in Spanish or other European societies. Arabs generally identify sex-related talk as exclusive to the private circle and would only discuss such matters openly with peers (i.e. people of the same gender, age, and/or social status). When they must discuss this taboo subject in healthcare consultations, for instance, they prefer to do so with a professional of the same gender and to employ metaphorical or euphemistic language. In Spanish culture, by contrast, private space is smaller and less crucial; moreover, many topics and language expressions that were once taboo are no longer considered so. Because references to body parts or sexual practices which have been normalised in Spanish culture may be extremely offensive in Arab culture, at least in some contexts, intercultural sensitivity and special arrangements are required whenever possible in interpreter-mediated public service encounters. These parameters also require interpreters to establish and meet culture- and language-specific guidelines. Community interpreting literature is not unanimous on how taboo(s) should be treated. Some authors emphasise the importance of conveying the entire message in exactly the same style and tone – even if it involves swearwords or insulting comments – but others suggest that interpreters are full parties to the interactions they mediate and that triadic exchanges often require face–saving strategies. In any case, it is difficult to set rules for all community interpreting situations and settings or to generalise about entire cultural groups. Even among Arabs, it is possible to encounter individuals who are able to discuss taboo subjects so openly and explicitly that it is the interpreter who feels uncomfortable. This area is, therefore, one that requires reasoned caution and sound professional judgement. As suggested above, community interpreters should be (at minimum) bilingual and bicultural. In each interpreting assignment, they should assess the nature of the setting, the need for language precision (shades of meaning, register, tone, and so forth), potential face risks, and cultural sensitivites, as well as the relative impact of profanity and obscenity for different linguistic and cultural groups.

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Pöllabauer, S. (2007) Interpreting in asylum hearings. In C. Wadensjö, B. Englund Dimitrova and A. Nilsson (eds) The Critical Link 4: Professionalisation of Interpreting in the Community (pp. 39–52). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Snell-Hornby, M. (1995 [1988]). Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Stratiy, A. (2005) Best practices in interpreting: A deaf community perspective. In T. Janzen (ed.) Topics in Signed Language Interpreting: Theory and Practice (pp. 231–250). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Tebble, H. (1999) The tenor of consultant physicians: Implications for medical interpreting. The Translator 5 (2), 179–200. Torruella Valverde, J. (2013) La adecuación en la interpretación en los servicios públicos: Comunicación no verbal, temas ‘tabú’ y reacción a ciertos rituales (Árabe-Español) [Accommodation in community interpreting: Non-verbal communication, taboo subjects and response to certain rituals]. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Alcalá, Madrid. Tryuk, M. (2007) Community interpreting in Poland. In C. Wadensjö, B. Englund Dimitrova and A. Nilsson (eds) The Critical Link 4: Professionalisation of Interpreting in the Community (pp. 95–105). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. UNHCR (1991) Information note on UNHCR Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women. See http://www.unhcr.org/3ae68cd08.html (accessed 11 June 2014). Vermeer, H. (1986) Übersetzen als kultureller transfer [Translation as cultural transfer]. In M. Snell-Horby (ed.) Übersetzungswissenschaft – Eine Neuorientierung (pp. 30–53). Tübingen: Francke. Vinay, J.P. and Darbelnet, J. (1995 [1958]) Comparative Stylistics of French and English. A Methodology for Translation, translated and edited by J.C. Sager and M.-J. Hamel. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Wadensjö, C. (1998) Interpreting as Interaction. London and New York: Longman.

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Terminology in Undergraduate Translation and Interpreting Programmes in Spain: The Case of Arabic as a First Foreign Language Naima Ilhami and Catherine Way

1. Introduction Terminology appeared as a field in the second half of the eighteenth century when Christian Gothfried Schütz (1747–1832) first used the word ‘terminology’ as an alternative to ‘nomenclature’ (Marzà, 2009: 83), at that time the common term used to classify and name specialised lexical units in science. This change was made because of the need for rules to organise term formation, which foregrounded methodological and normative issues. In the last century, efforts to establish the linguistic grounds for terminology were especially significant in Germany, Austria and the former Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union. The modern study of terminology, which arose in the 1930s due to the work of Wüster (1898–1977), was meant to ‘overcome the obstacles in professional communication caused by imprecision, diversification and polysemy in natural language’ (Cabré, 2000a: 11). Further theoretical reflection and the establishment of the field (Cabré, 2003: 165) culminated in the general theory of terminology. The ‘polyhedral’ nature of terminology (Cabré, 1999: 99, 2000b: 36) gives it an interdisciplinary nature; users from many different fields attempt to ‘eliminate ambiguity in communication between specialists’ and ‘normalise the specific terms’ they use (Cabré, 2000a: 11). Since the mid-1980s, terminology has experienced steady growth not only as the field dedicated to the study of specialised terms but also as an answer to the practical needs of 91

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modern society. Translators and interpreters, the subjects of our research, are prominent users of terminology, which Dollerup and Loddegaard (1992: 3) considered ‘an established tool for translators’. The emergent field, however, did not include Arabic but initially developed in the languages (German, Czechoslovakian, Russian, English and French) of the countries where it first appeared (Marzà, 2009: 84). At the University of Granada (UGR) in Spain, Arabic was not included as a B language (active first foreign language) in the Translation and Interpreting Degree at the Faculty of Translating and Interpreting (FTI) until 2002; the curriculum was originally designed for English, French and German as B languages (active first foreign language). From its inception, the curriculum included Terminology as an instrumental module (along with others such as Computing for Translators and Research Skills) and was taught to multilingual B language groups indiscriminately. This structure initially was not an issue for the Indo-European B languages that had first been included in the degree programme. For Arabic, however, which is a Semitic language characterised by a strong diglossia (Ferguson, 1959) and a great degree of linguistic variation, the differences from the A (mother tongue) language, Spanish, are considerably more complex. As a result, as described in Sections 2 and 3, Arabic B language students face different problems than the students for whom English, French, and German are the B languages. In this chapter, we address the question of how adequate the teaching of terminology is for students with Arabic as their B language in the FTI as it is currently organised at UGR. We consider the training needs in terminology for this group of students by analysing the Terminology module programme and, via a questionnaire, the perceptions of terminology and translation students and staff on the adequacy of this module for their learning and training needs. We first contextualise our study by considering the role of terminology in the Arab World, particularly in higher education, and the differential aspects of terminology between Spanish and Modern Standard Arabic. Then we present the results of our questionnaires and conclusions.

2. Terminology and Arabic Before we broach the subject of the teaching of terminology for Arabic as a subject in universities in Arabic-speaking countries, we present a brief outline of where the field stands in relation to Arabic: the specificities of terminology for Arabic, the shortcomings it presents, and the challenges it faces. We then comment on examples of Terminology module programmes in the curricula of translating and interpreting centres which have traditionally taught this subject. Finally, we present the differential aspects of

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terminology between Spanish and Modern Standard Arabic, in order to establish the inherent differences between terminology for Arabic B language students and for Indo-European B language students.

2.1 Terminology and Arabic: The State of the Art Yaboudi (2004: 104) differentiates between two kinds of terminology: al-mustalahiyyatu al-‘arabiyya (‫ )اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬and mustalahiyya¯tu al-‘arabiyyah ˙ (‫)ﻣﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺎت˙اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬. According to this author, al-must˙alah˙iyyatu al-‘arabiyyah [Arabic terminology], refers to Russian, Canadian,˙ and˙ European theories and studies of terminology that are translated into Arabic; he highlights their lack of analysis and criticism. Studies identified as mustalahiyya¯tu al-‘arabiyyah ˙ and ˙ other languages, [terminology of Arabic], which are written in Arabic deal with the study of terminology in Arabic, the mechanisms for creating neologisms, standardisation, the creating of databases, and how information is retrieved. Here we are particularly interested in this second field of study as it deals with the aspects of interest for translating and interpreting students with Arabic as one of their working languages. Although all Arab states, after gaining independence from colonial powers in the 20th century, declared Arabic as their official language and almost immediately introduced a policy of Arabicisation of their institutions and educational systems, including the establishment of academies in charge of preserving and developing the Arabic language, an enormous lack of Arabic terms persists in all specialised fields. In particular, there are tremendous difficulties in naming the deluge of new concepts which are rapidly emerging in more scientifically and technologically advanced countries. These difficulties are aggravated by a lack of standardisation that are due to both linguistic and organisational factors. The linguistic factors are due, on the one hand, to Arabic itself, which is characterised by strong diglossia, the existence of numerous regional dialects, and rich synonymy. As Ibrahim (1989: 51) asserts, the variation and chaos in technical terminology are such serious problems in Arabicisation ‘that one often finds different Arabic equivalents for the same English or French term in glossaries and dictionaries printed by the same publisher’. On the other hand, linguistic factors result from the source languages, which influence the situation enormously as most scientific, technological, and social advances occur outside the Arab World; Arabic imports the results of these fields, mainly from French and English. Therefore, for one single concept we may find a term that comes from English (in the Middle East) and another from French (in North Africa). If we add to this disparity the inevitable variations within each source language, depending on the degree of specialisation of the communicative act, the number of terms used to designate one single concept increases even more. The organisational factors are due mainly to the geographical expanse covered by Arabic. Terminology is produced in the 22 Arab countries, both

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within institutions and in the professions. Furthermore, institutions outside the Arab World produce their own terminology based on internal criteria, for example the United Nations and its associated organisations, and NATO. Neologisms are not controlled either, as borrowings from other languages are often adopted either for concepts which already had a denomination in Arabic in the past (pyjama⇒bija¯ma⇒mana¯ma) or for concepts with foreign phonology when their origin was Arabic (sofa⇒su¯fa¯⇒soffa) (Kasimi, 2008: ˙ 202). This fact complicates the task of coordinating standardisation despite all the efforts of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation and its Arabisation Coordination Bureau. An illustrative example of the problem posed by standardisation is the name of this discipline itself. To date, seven major denominations have been proposed: ‘al-Dira¯sa al-Mustalahiyya (‫)اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ‬, al-Istilahiya ˙ ‫)ﻋﻠﻢ‬, ˙ ‘Ilm ˙ ‘Ilm al-Istilah (‫)ﻋﻠﻢ˙ اﻻﺻﻄﻼح‬, (‫)اﻻﺻﻄﻼﺣﯿﺔ‬, ‘Ilm al-Mustalah (‫اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺢ‬ ˙ ˙ ˙ al-Mus t alaha¯t (‫)ﻋﻠﻢ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﺎت‬, ‘Ilm al-Mus t alahiyya (‫)ﻋﻠﻢ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ‬, and ˙ ˙ al-Mus˙t˙alah˙iyya (‫( ’)اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ‬Yaboudi, 2004: ˙153). ˙ ˙ ˙ Despite these problems, terminology is clearly a growing discipline and a field of interest for many Arab scholars and institutions.

2.2 Arabic terminology in higher education Given the importance of terminology in the Arabicisation of education in the Arab World (Ibrahim, 1989: 45), the resolution of the Conference of Khartoum in 1994 stated that the field of terminology should be included in higher education as it is the most direct way to achieve Arabicisation. Basic terminology is taught to comply with the policy of Arabicisation encouraged in many Arab countries where teaching, especially in the sciences, is still conducted in French or English. As Bahumaid rightly indicated: Extensive scholarly efforts have been invested in the creation of Arabic terminology in various subject areas and in the publication of scores of specialised dictionaries, lexicons, and glossaries (see for example Abid, 1990). These efforts have greatly enhanced the Arabicising of teaching materials at both secondary and tertiary levels in several Arab countries. But it has not been possible to cope with the enormous flow of terms being created at the rate of a hundred or so every day world-wide (UNESCO report). (1994: 134) As a result, several universities introduced Arabic Terminology as a module. Here, we have chosen to use the term ‘Arabicisation’ rather than ‘Arabisation’. According to Ibrahim (1989: 53) and Al-Abed Al-Haq (1992: 55), the former refers to the use of Arabic rather than another language, whereas the latter comprises not only linguistic aspects but also Arab peoples and cultures.

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Zargan (1998: 463) describes the experience of the Institut Bourguiba des Langues Vivantes at the University of Almana¯r in Tunisia, which in 1976– 1977 introduced a module on terminology principles and their application in Arabic into the Translation curriculum, influenced by the relevance of terminology in translator and interpreter training in Canada, especially in Quebec (Abid, 1986). Yaboudi (2009) has cited the King Fahd Translation School in Tangiers, Morocco, as one of the first translator training centres to include terminology as part of its curriculum. At this time, the only module currently on the official website is Lexicography. According to direct information from the School, however, this module was eliminated in 2012 to be replaced by a Translation History module (Imrani, 2014). In 2005, terminology was introduced into the undergraduate degree programme in Arabic Studies in the Arts Faculties of Sais and Dhar El Mehraz (Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences Dhar El Mehraz) in Fez, Morocco. The objectives were to introduce terminological concepts, the concept of the term and its components, the epistemological foundations of terminology and terminography, a historical review on the effort of Arab scholars in terminological issues, and the mechanisms for generating terminological units. But the greatest step forward, according to Yaboudi (2008), has been the establishment of the first specialised masters course in Terminology and Language Development, offered since 2008. Yaboudi also mentions the Terminology module in the general Arabicisation programme of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. The École de Traducteurs in Beirut (ETIB) of the University Saint Joseph includes several modules related to terminology in the undergraduate Translation Studies course (ETIB, 2014). These include Introduction to Terminography (ETIB, 2014a) where students learn how to find documentation, how to search for terminology by field, and how to use parallel texts in the source and target languages. The Terminological Problems module (ETIB, 2014b) allows students to learn how terms are proposed and whether they should resort to old terms, expand their meaning, or even create a neologism. In the Terminology and Terminotics module (ETIB, 2014c), the focus is on further notions of terminology and IT applications to create, update, and disseminate terminological databases in different formats. The Terminology Project module (ETIB, 2014d) allows the students to perform a terminological search in a specific field in order to research it, assimilate its concepts, and compile terms and their definitions. The masters programme in research, in Translation Studies, also offers a Terminology and Translation Studies module (ETIB, 2014e) on the synergy between Terminology and Translation Studies to increase comprehension of the translation process. Unfortunately, finding detailed information on the modules which comprise the curricula in these universities is not easy. The information we have been able to find and that was offered by our contacts is sometimes incomplete.

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3. Differential Aspects of Terminology in Spanish and in Modern Standard Arabic We must remember that Spanish and Arabic, the languages under discussion here, belong to distant families; this distance implies the use of different lexical creation mechanisms such as lexical derivation. As a Semitic language, Arabic is characterised by a system of root-and-pattern morphology. Different morphological patterns are added to the root and that they may be accumulated, a process that generates highly effective procedures of derivation and neology. Spanish, by contrast, tends to agglutinate different lexemes (mostly of Greek and/or Latin origin) rather than morphological patterns. Arabic is less likely to accept barbarisms and tends to generate neologisms from Arabic roots, using its own morphological patterns. These characteristics, however, do not mean that it is impossible to resort to arabicised borrowings in Arabic; this can be done, but the results must comply with standardised Arabic rules of phonetics and morphology. Examples of arabicisation include ‘tilfa¯z’ for ‘television’, ‘fı¯ziya¯’ for ‘physics’, and ‘taqa¯na’ or ‘tiqniyyah’ for ‘technology’. Although Arabic is characterised by its strong diglossia (Ferguson, 1959), the disciplines which generate terminology are ruled by general tendencies of Arabic language for lexical creation. This is not always the case for colloquial terminology in Arabic, however. Thus, for example, construction terminology would be completely different in Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial Arabic, which leaves the field wide open to barbarisms. Furthermore, the lexis would be different for speakers from different geographical zones (which is not as true for Modern Standard Arabic). Considering all of the above, we must ask how terminology is created in Arabic. To highlight the principal differences in the teaching of terminology in translator and interpreter training between Arabic and other language combinations, we explore the different sources of terminology in Arabic.

3.1 Mechanisms for terminology in Arabic Terminology in Arabic draws on the legacy of moments of splendour in the Arab-Muslim civilisation, during which the scientific Latin, Greek and Persian works were translated into Arabic or scholars produced their own scientific works. As Ali (1987: 19–101) explains, a variety of mechanisms have been used to create neologisms, all of which respected the characteristics of Arabic. First we will outline the methods for lexical creation and development in traditional Arabic: ištiqa¯q (morphological derivation), ta‘arı¯b (arabicisation), naht (blending and coining by compounding), maja¯z (metaphor), transcrip˙ and borrowing. tion, •

Morphological derivation (ištiqa¯q) in Arabic is the process of creating new words from roots. The ištiqa¯q constitutes the most important neological

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and lexical creation mechanism in Arabic (Hamzé, 2004). This mechanism was widely used by classical translators and academics such as Hunain Ibn Isaac, Avicenas, and Al-Kuwarizmi, who revolutionised the volume of terminology in Arabic. Grammaticians define three types of ištiqa¯q: ištiqa¯q sag˙¯ır (simple), ištiqa¯q kabı¯r (wider), and ištiqa¯q bit-tarjamah (circumlocution/paraphrasing); these have been used since the times of the Abbasids (750–1258 C.E.). Nah t (blending and coinage by compounding). Although this mecha˙ is not popular with Arabic grammaticians and linguists (Kasimi, nism 2008: 445), it was eventually authorised by academies of Arabic language for use when necessary (Matloub, 1983: 182). However, scholars such as Al-Maghribi (1908) grant nah t special consideration: in its four ˙ forms (adjectival blending, verbal blending, nominal blending, and nisbah blending), nah t constitutes another resource for solving terminological ˙ scholars differentiate between nah t and coinage by comproblems. Arab ˙ productive, it mainpounding, and prefer the latter because it is more tains the words, and its meaning is clearer (Kasimi, 2008: 443). Ta‘rı¯b (Arabicisation). According to Al-Alami (2001), the meaning of this term has changed over time; currently, its meanings differ in the Middle East and the Maghreb. Until the middle of the twentieth century, two meanings were dominant: i) one was promoted by Jawharı¯ (1990: 179), who defined it as the adoption of foreign terms to which the morphological and phonological rules of Arabic were applied; and ii) the meaning conferred by Sibawayh, for whom it meant borrowing the foreign term as it stood (without any morphological or phonological adaptation). The advantage of Jawharı¯’s definition is that from such neologisms, other forms may be derived. Thus ta‘rı¯b is considered an important mechanism for enhancing Arabic and has been used since antiquity. For some Arab scholars, Arabicisation is the most appropriate mechanism for introducing foreign neologisms into Arabic as it preserves the purity of the language and the normalisation of terminology, in addition to reviving the Arab-Muslim cultural legacy (Ghazala, 2005). Its detractors, however, fear that it will dilute Arabic with foreign words (Elmgrab, 2011: 496). Currently, ta‘rı¯b has additional meanings: phonological Arabicisation, morphological Arabicisation, translation and, finally, the retrieval of words in disuse by assigning them the meaning of a foreign word. However, some scholars include the latter in what they call maja¯z (Al-Alami, 2001). Maja¯z (metaphor) is defined by Al-Khouri (2007) as widening the meaning of a word to designate a new meaning. This mechanism, which has enjoyed both past and present use, employs current words or recovers others in disuse, thereby giving them wider meanings for the designation of new concepts. The two most well known types of maja¯z are isti‘a¯rah (literally, ‘borrowing’) by which a word is given a meaning it does not

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usually have; and ta‘alluq ištiqa¯qi, which consists of using one form (pattern) in place of another (Al-Bouchikhi, 2009: 80–81). Maja¯z is considered one of the most important mechanisms for enriching Arabic. ¯ lami In his book Al-Mustalahiyyatu wa Wa¯qui‘u al-‘Amali al-Mustalahi fi al-‘A ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ al-‘Arabi (‫( )اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ وواﻗﻊ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬Terminology and Reality of Terminological Work in the Arab World), Yaboudi (2004: 109) describes some of the innovations in terminological creation since the Abbasid Dynasty (750–1258 C.E.): • •

•

• •

Terminological creation not only of simple radicals (mujarrad) as required by Arabic grammar, but also from derived forms (mazı¯d), especially from the fourth form and above. The use of different types of plurals, including the regular masculine (human masculine-sound plurals) to designate new concepts that refer to objects, despite the fact that this use is theoretically not permitted for inanimate objects in formal post-Koran Arabic. The creation of new adjectival forms from plural nouns (not singular nouns, which is the norm in Arabic). An example would be quru ¯h¯ı (rela˙ not tive to ulcers) rather than qurh¯.ı The adjective is derived from a plural, ˙ singular form. Morphological derivation of adjectives from foreign words. An example would be the creation of adjectives from arabicised foreign nouns (e.g. za‘fara¯n⇒muza‘far=saffron-coloured/flavoured). Authorization for the use of complex terminological units to express a simple terminological unit in the source language, to avoid searching for a simple unit in Arabic for every simple unit in the source language.

In addition to these mechanisms, academies of Arabic language have extended the possibilities for terminological creation by allowing other mechanisms. The Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, for example, has provided some nominal templates to create neologisms such as fi‘a¯lah (‫)ﻓﻌﺎﻟﺔ‬, fa‘la¯n (‫)ﻓﻌﻼن‬, fu‘al (‫)ﻓُﻌﻞ‬, fa‘a¯l (‫)ﻓﻌﱠﺎل‬, mif‘alah (‫)ﻣِ ْﻔﻌَﻠﺔ‬, and mif‘al (‫)ﻣﻔﻌﻞ‬. It also allows verbs to be derived from nouns (e.g. tawarrada from ward), which was unheard of in the past. The derivational character of Arabic does not facilitate the use of affixes – unlike Spanish, which uses this mechanism frequently as it is an agglutinating Indo-European language. This difference sometimes makes it difficult to translate from European languages into Arabic. To make terminologists’ and translators’ jobs easier, academies of Arabic have provided translations of the most common affixes into English (Kasimi, 2008: 467–470). In addition to all of the above, Arabic uses the combination of Arabic syntagms and those of other languages (Yaboudi, 2006: 110–111).

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3.2 Organisations that produce, standardise and document terminology in Arabic Another important consideration for future Arabic translators and interpreters is awareness of the different organisations and bodies which safeguard Arabic terminology. These organisations publish accessible works on terminology, including academic research and lexicographical or terminographical works such as general dictionaries, specialised dictionaries, thesauri, and online databases. Both Yaboudi (2004: 109ff.) and Sieny (1985: 155–160) provide extensive lists of bodies and organisations dedicated to the study of Arabic terminology, its creation, compilation, and even normalisation. Once students are aware of these resources, they can use them to solve terminological problems in their translations. Some of the most important organisations are various academies of the Arabic language (e.g. the ones in Damascus and Cairo ), the Arabisation Coordination Bureau in Rabat, and printed resources such as the Farabi Thesaurus (ALECSO, 2014) and The Expanded Thesaurus Maknaz by Abdul Hameed Shuman (2014), although the latter cannot be accessed for free. In light of these efforts and resources, it appears that for Arabic B language translation and interpreting students, learning about terminology in their B language is of vital importance and that such learning is equally or more important for them than for students with English, French or German as their B languages; this is because Arabic B students will be much more likely to encounter terminology vacuums. As Didaoui (1996: 8–9) observes, ‘Within the United Nations System, translators are the main terminology producers, notably in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. They are faced with neology as a major problem’. Moreover, this shortage in Arabic can be closely related to the level of scientific and technological development in Arab countries. As Ibrahim (1989: 45) explains, ‘As long as Arabic remains underutilized as a language of science it will continue to be hard to write on scientific topics in Arabic, because a less used language will have more gaps in concepts and terminology than a used one’.

4. Terminology Training in the Translating and Interpreting Degree at Spanish Universities Terminology was included in the first translating and interpreting degree curriculum as a core module in Spain in the early 1990s. The inclusion of terminology, a vital tool for translators and interpreters, was one of the most significant changes in translator and interpreting training at that time. The recent introduction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Spain, which aims to provide a unified three-tiered system of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in Europe, has led to considerable curriculum

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reform. Terminology, nevertheless, has remained a core module in translation and interpreting degrees along with other modules grouped under the denomination of Instrumental Modules. Although the translation and interpreting degree (TID) was initially designed with English, French, and German as its B languages, in 2002 Arabic was introduced as a B language and as a Semitic language had exactly the same curriculum as the other three Indo-European languages. The Terminology module is taught, for practical and logistical reasons, in multilingual B language groups. This practice may not pose a problem for the other three IndoEuropean B languages, but the increased distance between Arabic and the Spanish A language poses serious challenges (see Section 2). In order to substantiate this observation, we now address the question of how adequate the teaching of terminology is for students with Arabic as their B language as it is currently organised in the Translation and Interpreting Degree at the University of Granada, and describe the specific terminology training needs of these students. First, in order to contextualise our study, we offer a brief description of the history of Terminology as a module in translation and interpreting degrees in Spain and explain why it was included in the curriculum. Next, we describe the general Terminology module content approved for all translating and interpreting degrees, and then analyse the content of the Terminology module at the FTI of UGR. We end by presenting the Arabic B language students’ perceptions as well as the terminology teachers’ and translation teaching staff’s opinions, followed by the results and our conclusions.

4.1 Calls to include Terminology as a module in the Translating and Interpreting degree in Spain Constant scientific and technological advances and greater specialisation in the 1980s required increased intervention of translators and interpreters to facilitate international communication. In turn, this growing intervention subjected them to increasing pressure to be more efficient and constantly up to date with the ground-breaking fields. As languages cannot fulfil their expressive and communicative functions in specialised fields without terminology, translator and interpreter training was (and is) obligated to meet these new market requirements. Furthermore, as translating and interpreting are closely linked to intercultural mediation, it is not surprising that more and more translation studies scholars called for specific training in terminology for future translators and interpreters, in order to prepare them as intercultural communicators in an increasingly demanding and specialised market. Against this backdrop, and in the context of the first Conference to Exchange Teaching Experiences at University, held in Granada in 1982, a group of lecturers from the Escuela Universitaria de Traductores e Intérpretes

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(EUTI) presented a paper entitled ‘The Function of Research Skills, Terminology, Area Studies and Specialised Field Modules in Translation Studies’ (Mayoral et al., 1985). In keeping with the conference’s emphasis on the vital role of terminology and the need to include it in translator and interpreter training programmes, the authors stated that ‘The Translating and Interpreting curriculum must include a complete or partial module of Terminology, taught by lecturers specialised in the field’ (1985: 274). Mayoral et al. added that, bearing in mind the Canadian and Central-Northern European models, the module would aim to help students at various levels to: (a) develop the capacity for conceptual organisation; (b) acquire greater precision when assigning definitions to referents; (c) develop a greater capacity to discern when choosing the most appropriate term amongst several possibilities; (d) be able to create neologisms; (e) be aware of and familiar with the use of the tools available. (1985: 274) Ten years later, in 1991, Terminology was included as a core module in the curriculum of the newly approved Degree in Translating and Interpreting, although the description (definition of content) provided by the Spanish Universities Council was ‘Lexicology and lexicography applied to translation: Processing and representation of specialised knowledge’ (BOE, 2001). Gallardo (2003: 71) described the module’s objective thus: ‘To enable future graduates (in Translating and Interpreting) to solve the terminological problems that arise in translating and interpreting and in other types of professional communication, based on Terminology theory and its application’. Although this description was criticised because it could distort the content of the module (Mayoral, 1998: 126), the inclusion of this instrumental module represents one of the most important changes in translation and interpreting degrees.

4.2 Review of the 1991 curriculum and evaluation of the Terminology module In 2002, The Translation and Interpreting Faculty of the UGR hosted two important meetings, the Second International Colloquium on Terminology Teaching and the Second Seminar on Terminology Teaching in the Translating and Interpreting Degrees in Spain, in order to assess the changes in the curriculum and to adapt the teaching of terminology to the needs that had resulted from those changes. The debates arising in the seminar touched upon, amongst other questions, how much a translator and interpreter should know about terminology (as a field) and the competences that graduates of the translating and interpreting programme should acquire in order to use it.

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The agreements reached on the first question were that the module should focus on providing students with theoretical knowledge of terminology, lexical creation, and etymology; the methodology of terminological practices, communication, and specialised texts; and pragmatics and linguistic variation. Whereas the majority of these aspects are relevant for translators and interpreters, the last two are vital for translation and interpreting of Arabic due to the geographical extension of the language and the myriad of communicative situations which the speakers of a strongly multiglossic language encounter. It was decided that the module should at least include: – – – – – –

Theoretical basis: knowledge of the theoretical bases of terminology (pragmatic-communicative, linguistic and conceptual articulation); Lexical creation and configuration: how to form words, neology, and etymology; Communication and specialised texts: the diversity of specialised texts and genres; Pragmatics and linguistic variation: fundamentals of pragmatics and linguistic variation; Cognitive processes and concept structure: cognition, processes, and concept structure; and Methodology of terminological practices: knowledge, analysis, typology and assessing terminological resources and tools. (Gallardo, 2003: 74)

The competences that students should acquire by the end of their degree programme in the Terminology module were agreed upon as: – – – – – –

identification and resolution of terminological problems in translation; creation, management and edition of terminological resources; search, use and assessment of documentary resources; use of text and terminology databases; use of IT tools; and use of mechanisms to acquire specialised knowledge. (Gallardo, 2003: 74)

In this reassessment of the module’s content, the focus clearly shifted to exceeding merely theoretical questions of terminology to practical applications for Translation and Interpreting students.

4.3 Terminology in the TI degree at UGR The Terminology module continued to be part of the TI degree curriculum until the programme was terminated in 2013. The module included the following content:

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Introduction to Terminology Theory and practice of Terminology Terminology applied to Translating and Interpreting Representation and management tools for terminographical knowledge Terminology Project

Students would be expected to understand the following by the end of the module: – The need for good terminographical management in translating and interpreting. – Terminographical concepts. – Methodology of terminographical analysis related to the process of translating and interpreting. These understandings would enable students to: – Resolve, independently and efficiently, the terminographical problems which arise in their tasks. – Manage terminographical resources identifying their advantages and disadvantages according to the translation and interpreting brief (context, deadline, type of translation or interpreting task, etc.). In general, the module was criticised for being taught as an academic field focusing on standardisation, as if this aspect was the main problem for translators and interpreters (Mayoral, 2011). The module’s detractors felt instead that, in order to comply with the programme’s objectives and learning outcomes, students should be made aware of available resources about how to manage all of their translation tasks as well as how to and apply them. Beginning in the academic year 2010–11, the new undergraduate degree (grado) adapted to the Bologna Plan has included Terminology in the curriculum, under the umbrella of the Instrumental Modules. The revised programme, approved by the Department of Translating and Interpreting at UGR and published on the faculty web page, is as follows: Terminology information sheet in the degree: description of contents – Documentary research techniques, – Documentary research and translating and interpreting, – Documentary research techniques applied to translating and interpreting, – Terminology sources and management, – Methodological approaches to Terminology. (University of Granada, 2015)

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The module’s objectives are outlined as: (1) Awareness of the interrelation between Terminology and Translating and Interpreting, (2) Awareness of the appropriateness of classical Terminology theories to the new trends in Translating and Interpreting, (3) Awareness of the types of terminographical management which may be applied to translating and interpreting briefs in normative or descriptive contexts, (4) Awareness of specialised discourse types, types of specialised meaning units, mechanisms for creating specialised meaning units and their applications in the translation process for specific language combinations, (5) Awareness of the identification strategies for field areas and subfields in a translation or interpreting brief, (6) Awareness of the multidimensionality of conceptual systems and the corresponding denominative variation reflected in translation and interpreting briefs, (7) Awareness of the advantages/disadvantages of the traditional definitions and new models for the translator and interpreter, (8) Awareness of the types of traditional and online documentary resources and their usefulness for different translation and interpreting contexts. (9) Knowledge of the strategies of analysis to extract bilingual lexical patterns, (10) Knowledge of MultiTerm as a lexical tool for the translator and interpreter, (11) Knowledge of the phases and strategies necessary to elaborate an ad hoc bilingual glossary for the translator and interpreter. (University of Granada, 2015, emphasis added)

Evidently, content and objectives have been formulated with greater precision and attention to the needs of translators and interpreters. Evaluation of the module’s overall content and design notwithstanding, the majority of the elements reflected in the programmes of both the old and new degree curricula seem to relate directly to the students’ working languages (as highlighted in the underlined elements). Despite this curricular evolution, Terminology is still taught based on factors related to the place where this discipline originated (Vienna) and the context of where it is taught at any given time (in this case, Spain), as the lecturers of the UGR Terminology module all have Indo-European language

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combinations (Spanish–German, Spanish–French and Spanish–English). Because none of them speak Arabic, it is practically impossible for them to include the Spanish–Arabic combination in their classes or in the terminology project students are required to produce. Furthermore, particularly in light of the problems mentioned in Section 2, for the Spanish–Arabic combination we must highlight the following: (1) If students are taught aspects such as word formation and etymology, these must be relevant to their working languages; this aspect is of particular importance in the case of the Spanish–Arabic combination as they are languages from different families. (2) If the idea is to make students aware of pragmatics and linguistic variation, which are crucial in intercultural mediation, these aspects cannot be excluded in the case of a language such as Arabic, which is characterised by its marked diglossia, its large geographical expanse, and its borrowing of terms (in almost all fields of knowledge) from many other languages. (3) If students are introduced to reliable available resources for solving terminological problems they face when translating, these resources must be closely related to their particular language combination. (4) The fact that Multiterm is specifically mentioned as a lexicographical tool for translators and interpreters is an additional reason for adapting the Terminology module to the needs of Arabic B language students, given that this programme, and other CAT and terminology tools, support Arabic poorly as they were initially developed for Indo-European languages. If the Arabic B language students work with two IndoEuropean languages in the Terminology module, they will not be faced with the problems that arise when working with Arabic. For instance, the fact that definite articles are connected to nouns in Arabic, and that many plural forms are irregular and are obtained by modifying the singular stem, considerably reduces the effectiveness of this tool. Students must be aware of these technical difficulties and know how to cope with them. (5) Finally, if terminological resources do not exist or are scarce, which is the norm rather than the exception for the Spanish–Arabic language combination, it would be advisable to make the students aware of this scarcity and to teach them more viable strategies for the terminological problems in this particular language combination. Bearing this analysis in mind, we present our study with testimonies that highlight, in logistical terms, the difficulties that the organisation of the curriculum entails, in order to adapt it to the necessary context for Arabic B language Translation and Interpreting students.

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5. Adequacy of the Content and Approach of the Terminology Module for the Needs of Arabic B Language Students In order to collect data about the content and approach of the Terminology module in the Faculty of Translating and Interpreting of the University of Granada, we decided to approach the three parties directly affected by this module: the Terminology lecturers, the students completing the module with Arabic as their B language, and the Specialised Translation module lecturers who rely on the module for support in their classes (Hernández Sampieri et al., 1997). We designed a questionnaire in Word for the four terminology lecturers. After the questionnaire was designed, reviewed by experts, and piloted (Ilhami, 2016), it was used in structured interviews in March 2012. The working languages of the participants are Spanish–English, Spanish– French and Spanish–German. None of them speak or work with Arabic. For both the students with Arabic as their B language and the Specialised Translation module lecturers (Arabic–Spanish and Spanish–Arabic), we used the data available in our study of these students’ and Specialised Translation staff’s perceptions of the training received for Arabic B language in the TI degree (Ilhami, 2016). We then extracted the information for this chapter about the content and approach used in the Terminology module. The questionnaire for both groups of subjects used a structured planning analysis method (SWOT matrix) to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and hazards involved in the TI curriculum from the points of view of both groups. The student questionnaire was sent by email, between February and May 2012, to the 48 subjects who had completed their TI degree with Arabic B language at the UGR or who were in the final semester of the fourth and final year of their degree and therefore about to complete it. We received completed questionnaires from 21 of the 48 subjects, of which 15 indicated that the terminology training, taught in two parts (Theory and Terminology Project) in the third year of their degree, had been a weak area in their training. A total of 10 lecturers had taught the Specialised Translation modules for Arabic B language; of these, 8 agreed to participate in our study. The questionnaire was given to them in June 2012, in the form of structured interviews. The results of the three studies which follow throw some light on the degree of adequacy and the training needs of the Terminology module for future translators and interpreters with the Spanish–Arabic language combination.

5.1 Questionnaire results 5.1.1 Terminology module lecturers’ perceptions All 4 subjects agreed that at least part of their module should be linked to the students’ B languages:

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[T]he language combination determines the greater or lesser importance of many factors such as the coining of terms, the type of borrowings, the pragmatic adequacy of specialised units for the communicative situation, etc. However, to date, it seems that for logistical and administrative reasons this is not viable in the curriculum. (Terminology Lecturer 1) It is vital that the module’s content be linked to the future translator’s language combination. I believe that all the lecturers who teach the Terminology module have no doubts about this. For example, in the practical part of the module (the Terminology Project), the question of the language combination is a determining factor: if the students’ combination is Spanish–French they can use texts written in both languages. The students with Arabic B language have every right to have a Terminology lecturer who speaks the language so that they can create glossaries in their language combination. … If we could apply the Department resolution stating that the Terminology groups could be divided by language combinations, but this has not been possible for administrative reasons. (Terminology Lecturer 2) The module’s content has to be taught using concrete examples. It is much better if these examples correspond to the students’ language combinations. (Terminology Lecturer 3) The students must acquire a minimum of theory in order to understand the concepts of Terminology. I suppose they may need some form of adaptation in the case of Arabic and Chinese … This module would be much more effective if it were linked to their language combinations. (Terminology Lecturer 4) Assigning the students to Terminology module groups on the basis of their B language requires greater flexibility. Unfortunately, such flexibility is impeded by administrative restrictions and the fact that the module is a core subject (compulsory for all students of the TI degree in Spain) and, therefore, common to all language combinations. We imagine that the university could try to solve this problem, but it has not done so to date. As we can see from the Terminology module lecturers’ comments, the success of the module is conditioned by factors which are mainly administrative or due to the design of the curriculum; they have nothing to do with pedagogical criteria. The subjects indicated that they all use examples from different languages in the Terminology module to explain concepts or to perform exercises in various languages (Spanish, English, French and German), but none of them use Arabic. None of the subjects indicated familiarity with mechanisms for creating terminology in any other than Western European languages, and certainly not with the specific mechanisms required for Arabic. In fact, to obtain such familiarity they would need to speak Arabic, but to date none of the Terminology module lecturers have

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done so. All of the subjects, however, are prepared to allow students to present their Terminology Project (a module requirement) in their B language, providing that they can resort to a colleague specialised in that language to help in its assessment. To date, however, no Arabic B students have chosen to present their project in Arabic. In addition, no lecturers have consulted a specialised colleague about projects in Arabic and the Department has not considered such a case, probably due to the fact that lecturers are already heavily overloaded with teaching.

5.1.2 Students’ perceptions The Terminology module lecturers’ opinions coincide somewhat with the students’ perceptions. Of the 21 students who completed the questionnaire, 15 highlighted the theoretical part of the Terminology module and the Terminology Project as weak points in their training; only 1 reported the Terminology module to have been satisfactory. A range of opinions were given about the theoretical part of the module and whether it should be adapted to the needs of each language combination. The core and compulsory modules are not adapted to Arabic B language students and this is unfair: we need lecturers with Arabic for the modules of Research Skills, Linguistics, IT skills, Terminology and Translation Theory … (Student 1) Terminology should be a module adapted for each language and not so general. (Student 18) Perhaps Terminology could have a common theoretical part for all B languages (like now), but the Terminology Project could be done on topics of greater use for each B language and with joint supervision of a Terminology lecturer and an Arabic lecturer specialised in the topic. (Student 21) [Weak point] Arabic is excluded in the Terminology module, particularly in the practical part (Project). (Student 19) Both parts of the Terminology module seemed relevant to me, but perhaps not applicable to Arabic, or perhaps because of the way in which it is taught, we don’t know how to fit Arabic into the theories we are taught. (Student 5) The agreement on the Terminology Project, however, is unanimous. All 15 student subjects who highlighted Terminology as a weak point in their training also felt that this required assignment should take their language combination into account. We even perceived discontent at having missed an important opportunity to improve their knowledge of Arabic, which they would have had if the module could be adapted to their language combination.

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Why do we have to do our Terminology Project in English? Why can’t we take advantage of the chance to do it in Arabic? It is literally impossible if the Terminology lecturer has no idea of Arabic. (Student 1) They also expressed frustration at having to work on their project in a language that is of no interest to them. My B language is Arabic and my C languages are English and French. Despite this, I was placed in a Terminology module group for German B language students and the lecturer made us work with texts in German, which I do not speak. (Student 2) The students are clearly aware that not adapting the Terminology module to their training needs is a weak point in their training, and insist that Terminology should be linked to their language combinations.

5.1.3 Specialised Translation Lecturers’ Perceptions The students’ perceptions are reflected in the Spanish–Arabic translation lecturers’ perceptions. The data from our study on training, provided by the lecturers who are directly affected by this situation – that is, the lecturers of specialised Arabic–Spanish translation (10) – also highlights the Terminology module as a weak point in the students’ training (Ilhami, 2016). Although two of the Spanish–Arabic lecturers in the present study stated that they had never thought about this question, possibly due to a fragmented view of the training and (to a certain extent) lack of coordination among the modules in the curriculum (Ilhami, 2016), six of them did state that the Terminology module should be adapted to the requirements of Arabic. One Arabic–Spanish Specialised Translation lecturer stated: Some modules, such as Research Skills, Terminology and IT Skills, for example, do not meet the needs of Arabic B language students. (Specialised Translation Lecturer 1) Others more explicitly described the problems caused by the lack of adaptation to Arabic. One assessed the impact of the Terminology module on their translation modules as follows: In my view, the Terminology module, as it is currently taught, poses two problems. On the one hand, students show me glossaries from other modules and they want to use them for all cases without taking into account pragmatic aspects, nor the discourse nor linguistic variation; and on the other, it seems to me that students are under the impression that all of these aspects are alien to Arabic. In other words, [their perception is that] Terminology and Arabic have nothing to do with each other.

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It seems that they are not aware that Arabic also works with ‘Terms’. Besides, their ignorance of the rules for lexical coinage in Arabic means that some of them use derived forms which are complete inventions and that do not follow the established rules. (Specialised Translation Lecturer 2) This lecturer also highlighted the repercussions of the current situation. I believe that if the Terminology module were adapted to the needs of this language combination so that the students could acquire even basic notions about lexical creation, phonological, and lexical Arabicisation in Arabic, it would be of enormous help in our translation module and not only in the specialised translation modules! (Specialised Translation Lecturer 2) Another lecturer’s testimony highlights the lack of motivation on the part of the students when they are undertaking the Terminology module as, on the one hand, some of them do not have sufficient grounding in Spanish in order to understand the concepts in the module and, on the other, they feel that they are wasting their time on something which has nothing to do with their real needs. In the Legal Translation module the students have a very vague idea of the concepts taught in the Terminology module. When I ask them how it is possible that they do not clearly understand basic concepts of Terminology, their answers lead me to believe that they had not taken the Terminology module seriously because it was alien to them and that it was never going to be of any use to them. What is the point of an Arabic B language student doing a Terminology Project about ice-skating? (Specialised Translation Lecturer 3) This same lecturer also stated that the time that many students dedicate to questions of Indo-European languages would be better spent dealing with questions about their B language. [R]ather than making me waste time, I think that we could have saved a lot of class time if they had done their Terminology Project on fields closer to Arabic. To be precise, for example, on the fields seen in the Advanced Legal Translation modules instead of on ice-skating. I have always had the impression that the feeling of wasting time stems from the Terminology module rather than from my own module. (Specialised Translation Lecturer 3) The testimonies of all three groups of subjects clearly emphasise the fact that students with Arabic as their B language receive no training in

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fundamental aspects of Terminology which are vital for Arabic, about the problems Arabic poses in this field, or its particular idiosyncrasies. The students have requested that Arabic be included in the module, as they consider that they are wasting an opportunity to learn more about their B language, to become familiar with the mechanisms for coining new Arabic terms, to learn about the scarce tools available, and how to find alternatives when the resources do not provide answers. All of these problems would be resolved by a Terminology module adapted to their needs in Arabic.

6. Conclusions We began by contextualising the field of terminology in the Arab World and its importance for the communication of knowledge in specialised fields. We also highlighted the relatively scarce attention the study of terminology has received in higher education in parts of the Arab World and the inherent difficulties the area poses in Arabic (diglossia, linguistic variation, influence of colonial languages), especially if translation occurs from Indo-European languages. We have explained how Terminology was introduced into the Translation and Interpreting degrees in Spain and how the Terminology module evolved at UGR to take into account the practical needs of future translators and interpreters. Our analysis of the programme clearly highlights its Indo-European-centred approach and the fact that the mechanisms required by Arabic are ignored in the training of future Arabic translators and interpreters. From the testimonies of our three groups of subjects, it is clear that the training received in the Terminology module is incomplete for the students of Arabic as a B language at the University of Granada. Therefore, we believe that the Terminology module groups should be divided, at least by linguistic families, and must have lecturers who can cover all the B languages offered by the Translating and Interpreting Faculty at the University of Granada. Terminology lecturers are available for the other B languages (English, French and German), but not for Arabic, which is thus marginalised. Supplying lecturers in Arabic would solve several of the problems mentioned by our subjects, as training future translators and interpreters of Arabic B language in the fundamentals of terminology would help them to more efficiently resolve the recurring problems caused by linguistic variation and the lack of terminology and terminographic resources, and thereby would enhance their training. In addition to these proposed changes, teaching the Terminology module in such a way as to meet the real training needs of Arabic B language translation and interpreting students would have a positive impact on the modules of Specialised Translation and would alleviate the enormous pressure currently experienced by lecturers; besides dealing with translation and/or

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interpreting they are forced to include content on research skills, specialised fields, and terminology in general due to the deficiencies of the Terminology module (Ilhami, 2016). The adaptation of the Terminology module to Arabic B language students would also provide them with the possibility of working professionally in this field and thus helping to improve the current situation for translators and interpreters.

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Sieny, M.E. (1985) Scientific terminology in the Arab World: Production, co-ordination, and dissemination. Meta: Translators’ Journal 30 (2), 155–160. Shuman, A.H. (2014) Expanded Thesaurus Maknaz. See http://www.maknaz.org (accessed 22 February 2014). University of Granada (2015) Grado en Traducción e Interpretación. See http://grados.ugr. es/traduccion/pages/infoacademica/guiasdocente/curso1415/teminologia (accessed 28 September 2015). ¯ lami alYaboudi, Kh. (2004) Al-Must alahiyyatu wa Wa¯qui‘u al-‘Amali al-Mustalahi fi al-‘A ˙ ‫اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬ ˙ ‫[ )اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ وواﻗﻊ‬Terminology and Reality ˙ ˙ of Terminological ‘Arabi) (‫اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﻲ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬ Work in the Arab World]. Fez: Dar ma¯ Ba‘da al-Hada¯tah. ¯ bina¯’i al-Ma‘a¯jimi al-Lisa¯niyyati ˙ i wa ¯ liyya¯tu tawlı¯di al-Must alaih Yaboudi, Kh. (2006) A ˙ ‫)آﻟﯿﺎت ﺗﻮﻟﯿﺪ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺢ وﺑﻨﺎء اﻟﻤﻌﺎﺟﻢ اﻟﻠﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ اﻟﺜﻨﺎﺋﯿﺔ‬. at-Tuna¯iyyati wa Muta‘addidati al-Lug˙a¯t (‫وﻣﺘﻌﺪدة˙اﻟﻠﻐﺎت‬ ¯¯ [Mechanisms of Term Creation and Construction of Bilingual and Multilingual Dictionaries]. Fez: Dar ma¯ Ba‘da al-Hada¯tah. ¯ Yaboudi, Kh. (2008) Tadrı˙¯su al-must alahiyyati bayna al-ja¯mia‘ati wal ma‘a¯hidi al-‘ilmyyati ˙ ˙ ‫)ﺗﺪرﯾﺲ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺎت واﻟﻤﻌﺎھﺪ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬ al-‘arabiyyati wa al-g˙arbiyyah (‫واﻟﻐﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬ [Terminology teaching at Arabic and Western universities and institutes]. Presentation given at the Forum of Terminology, 27–29 November, Soussa, Tunisia. Yaboudi, Kh. (2009) Mata¯ sanudarrisu al-mus t alahiyyata al ‘arabiyyata fi al-ja¯mi‘a¯ti ˙˙ ˙‫ﺳﻨﺪرس‬ al-‘arabiyah (‫اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﯿﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺎت اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬ ‫[ )ﻣﺘﻰ‬When will we teach ِّ Arabic terminology at Arabic universities?]. See http://www.atida.org/index. php?option=com_content&view=article&id=201:2013-03-30-09-19-26&catid=30: -2009&Itemid=6 (accessed 25 March 2014). Zargan, M.A. (1998) Al-juhu¯du al-Lug˙awiyyatu fı¯ al-Mustalahi al-‘Ilmı¯ al-Hadı¯th: Dira¯sah ˙ ˙ ˙Efforts in Modern Scientific (‫ دراﺳﺔ‬.‫[ )اﻟﺠﮭﻮد اﻟﻠﻐﻮﯾﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺢ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ اﻟﺤﺪﯾﺚ‬Linguistic Terminology]. Damascus: The Arab Writers Union Publications.

6

Towards a Functional Approach to Arabic–English Legal Translation: The Role of Comparable/Parallel Texts Mohammed Mediouni

1. Introduction Translation training has undergone considerable and profound changes, fortunately for the better, as the result of fruitful attempts to come to grips with the widening gap between in vitro pedagogical objectives and in vivo translation market needs. In this regard, endeavours have been made to teach translation in academic settings that simulate real professional conditions. This goal has been achieved through the adoption of a more comprehensive functional approach which places the text, whatever its nature, in a communicative setting, anchored in its turn within the cultural system to which it belongs. This chapter addresses the need for a more communicative and functional approach to Arabic–English legal translation. It draws its theoretical motivation from the prominence and dominance of the functional approach to translation, and its practical motivation from my seven-year experience in teaching specialised Arabic–English legal translation. More precisely, it seeks to put forward a three-phase functional and communicative method for teaching Arabic–English legal translation. At the same time, it explores and highlights the key role of parallel and comparable texts in legal translation teaching and/or learning. The chapter comprises three main parts. In the first, which introduces the theoretical foundation on which this specialised translation method is firmly grounded, I describe and discuss the major concepts and principles that underpin the functional approach to translation and translation teaching and/or learning. Given that a functional approach to translation is first 115

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and foremost textually oriented, I draw upon some concepts from text linguistics and discourse analysis such as text, text typology, general/specialised translation, legal translation, the function(s) of a text, the intratextual and extratextual parameters of texts, and parallel and comparable texts. In the second part, I describe and introduce my teaching method, which consists of three phases: a pre-translation phase, which gives an overview of the text to be translated and analyses parallel or comparable texts; a translation phase, in which students translate the source language (SL) text individually and collectively by referring, if necessary, to the information collected from parallel texts; and a final post-translation phase in which students are invited to revise the translation, step back, and reflect upon the translation process as a whole. I illustrate this teaching method through an in-class translation of a bilateral agreement. In the third and last part of this chapter, I try to demonstrate the relevance of comparable/parallel texts by reporting and commenting on the findings of an experiment carried out at King Fahd School of Translation (KFST) in Tangier, Morocco. The analysis of the data collected from and about this experiment enable me to highlight further the communicative-functional approach to Arabic–English legal translation founded upon key comparable and parallel texts.

2. Legal Translation Between Subject Field and Function Generally speaking, translation is conceived as a process of transfer of meaning or message from a source language (SL) into another, the target language (TL). However, this definition is simplistic since it gives a false image of the central parameter (i.e. meaning) as being objective, unidimensional, and monolithic. On the contrary, meaning is multidimensional and embedded in the text where it occurs. Therefore, translation is indeed an act of transfer, but from ‘the source language text to the target language text’ according to Hatim and Mason (1997: 1). Text is perceived here as the result of a process and not a mere product – ‘a communicative occurrence’ as De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981: 10) suggested, or ‘a unit of language in use’ as Halliday and Hasan (1976: 1) stated. In other words, the text which represents the material focus of translation cannot be conceived outside its communicative situation, which involves the sender and his/her intentions and the receiver and his/her background knowledge and expectations. The translation act is thus textually based: text (that is, the speech to be translated as well as the translation itself) represents the points of departure and arrival of the translation act; consequently, textual standards, norms, and conventions become the yardstick against which translation quality is assessed. More specifically, translation involves the reception of a source language text and the production of an equivalent text in another language. It is worth

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adding here that this apparent secondariness of translation is rudimentary and transitory, insofar as it is limited to the first phase of the translation process. While it is true that translators should have due and constant regard for the source text (ST) and its ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions, at the same time they must also strive to produce a target text (TT) that stands as a text in its own right by fulfilling its intended function in the target culture and producing the same effect on the target readership. Such functionally matching output is attainable only by professional translators who have acquired and developed a translation competence which is bifaceted – ‘linguistic and communicative’, according to Bell (1991: 41). To render a text free from lexical or grammatical errors is one thing; to produce one which perfectly abides by the format and stylistic norms and conventions of the target language culture is quite another. As we know, language varies both according to its users (dialects) and its use (register), and so texts manifest differently from one communication situation to another. To account for this variation, various textual taxonomies have been proposed. For example, some texts are said to be based on our apperception and expression of the external world, and thus are characterised as ‘narrative, expository, procedural or hortatory texts’ by Longacre (1976, cited in Biber, 1989: 4). Other typologies are based on the function performed by the text in correlation with the intention of the original author/speaker and the effect produced on the reader/listener. In this respect, we can cite for example triadic taxonomies: informative, expressive, and operative texts as described by Katharina Reiss (1971, cited in Fawcett, 1997); or expository, argumentative and instructive texts as described by Hatim and Mason (1990). In the present chapter, I focus solely on legal texts, which represent a category on their own that cuts across different types in the sense that they can be identified by virtue of either their legal subject field or their functions. Important questions involve what differentiates a legal text from a non-legal text; what the distinctive features of a legal text are; and how should we translate one. In many translation training programmes, including the one run by KFST, legal translation represents a type of specialised translation, in contrast to generalist translation. Simply put, legal translation is the translation of legal texts (i.e. texts belonging to the specialised legal subject field or subfield and used for legal purposes) as opposed to the translation of texts with and for general purposes. This object-based or subject field-based categorisation of specialised texts and specialised translation is very common. Here it is sufficient to cite Brian Mossop (2003), who defines a specialised text as ‘one that calls for conceptual and terminological knowledge that a typical translator does not possess’ (2003: 57). A specialised text about acid rain, for example, will mention gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, as well as liquids such nitric acid or sulphuric acid. A specialised text about the code of civil procedure will make reference to court,

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judge, justice, rights and obligations, cases, civil cases, disputes, petitions, parties, plaintiff, defendant, and so on. In other words, in terms of the knowledge base of specialised texts, a technical vocabulary designating the concepts that represent and organise the attendant subject field will naturally predominate. Phonological, grammatical, or syntactic choices are of less interest in specialisation but more so in socially motivated variation, as is the case with social class or regional dialects. Legal translation is also considered a specialised activity by virtue of the nature of the texts it deals with. As Deborah Cao asserts: Legal translation falls under the specialist category of technical translation. It is a type of the translational activity involving special language use, that is, language for special purpose (LSP) in the context of law or language for legal purpose. (2007: 8) This focus on the subject field to which the text belongs has encouraged many translation theorists and researchers to advocate literality and faithfulness in legal translation. Although Hatim (1994: 1), for instance, recognises the instructive function of legal texts, he recommends literal translation as the adequate strategy. While it is true that legal texts are content- or knowledge-based, their aim is not simply to inform: they have a legal function to perform. One of the authors who has cast doubt on the precept of literality in legal translation is Sarcevic (2000), for whom legal translation is not a simple process of transcoding but rather ‘an act of communication in the mechanism of law’ (8). Therefore, a freer and more flexible method should be adopted. The aim of the legal translator is not to render the legal content at all costs, but rather to produce a target text that fulfils the same legal function and produces the same ‘legal effect’ (Sarcevic, 2000: 71). We must then ask what this legal function is that legal texts are bound to fulfil, and whether legal texts are used to instruct, convince, or expound. According to Cao, legal texts have two main functions to perform. They can be for normative purpose as in the case of bilingual and multilingual statutes and other laws and documents that establish legal facts or create rights and obligations. These are mostly prescriptive. Legal texts can also be for informative purpose as in some legal scholarly works and commentaries, legal advice, correspondence between lawyers, between lawyers and clients and documents used in court proceedings. (2007: 10) It is worth noting here that at KFST, specialised translation courses are centred upon normative legal texts (i.e. those which establish rights and obligations, determine liabilities and entitlements, and set forth rules of conduct). They can take the form of contracts, agreements, treaties, or similar

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documents. These represent the bread and butter of most Arab-language translators. Still, the category of legal normative texts remains vague and difficult to define as it may encompass other more specific subcategories. In this respect, in his functional analysis of legal official documents, Roberto Mayoral Asensio (2003) adopts a down-to-earth approach and lists a number of specific functions (subfunctions) that most official legal documents fulfil: • •

•

Performative function, normally expressed through certain performative verbs such as “I certify that” or expressions such as “You are guilty” or “You are fined $100” when pronounced by a judge in a court. Referential function, which covers different types of information. These include bibliographic details that identify the document, including but not limited to the names of the parties involved or who have an interest in the instrument, the date and venue of its execution, the name of the issuing body or organism, etc. Directive function, which is manifested through instructions or warnings, especially in the case of forms or models that require completion. These include powers of attorney, wills, etc. In such cases, users are guided by parenthetical instructions that specify the manner of filling in the fields, and their content.

It is evident that not every legal document will feature all and/or only these functions, but they are the most typical for private legal documents. We thus meet with a class of official documents (deeds and instruments) with an immediate or short-term use. These are ‘utilitarian and pragmatic texts’, according to Delisle et al. (1999); that is, texts whose translations should be ‘instrumental’ (Nord, 1997) and whose translations in turn fulfil, in their own right, the corresponding legal and administrative functions. Mayoral Asensio specifies some of these translation functions as follows: Documents may be translated for different purposes. They may be intended for the government of a country or community speaking a foreign language, often in order to certify allegations in a legal or administrative process and usually as evidence in a court case. They may be translated so that a legal situation originating in a foreign language country can be recognized, or in order to apply for the recognition or validation of merits acquired in a foreign country. Legal texts can also be translated in order to apply the source norm to foreign citizens, which is a basic principle of Private International law. (2003: 3) Given that legal source texts and corresponding translations are by nature imbued with their purpose, an appropriate approach to teaching legal translation cannot but follow suit. The aim of a specialised legal translation course, first and foremost, is to enable students to produce target language

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texts that fulfil the same legal function and render the same legal effect as the source text. Nevertheless, although this precept-like pedagogical objective is generic and applies to all types of texts, the instructor should pay due attention to directionality. The general aim seems to be more achievable if the translation is into one’s mother tongue, since the translator is normally more or less at ease with the different stylistic and textual conventions and norms prevailing therein. But for translation from the mother tongue into a foreign language, this pedagogical goal becomes difficult to attain. We must then ask how the legal translator’s task can be made easier, considering that the resulting translation should fulfil its assigned function and produce its intended legal effect. Generally, parallel and comparable texts turn out to be of great assistance in this regard.

3. Legal Translation and Parallel/Comparable Texts As the meanings of their individual words imply, the two compounds ‘parallel texts’ and ‘comparable texts’ refer to texts that share some common features. It may be language that links them and makes them similar and comparable, or other intra- or extratextual features. In corpus linguistics, which is ‘the branch of linguistics that studies language on the basis of corpora’ according to Kenny (2001: 59), a general distinction is made between ‘parallel corpora’, which Kenny (2001) defines as ‘a body of texts in one language along with their translations into another’ (62) and ‘comparable corpora,’ which Zanettin (1998) defines as ‘consisting of two sets of texts, one originally written in language A and one of similar texts translated into language A from a variety of different languages’ (1). In other words, the difference between these categories lies in the nature of the relationship that binds the texts of language A with those of language B. As to whether this bind lies in the translation of text from one language to another or in the similarity between the two texts, Kenny (2001) notes that although comparable texts are not related to each other through translation, they are comparable ‘by virtue of their having been created in similar circumstances, to fulfil similar roles’ (2001: 59). Corpora, whether parallel or comparable, are of great importance in translation studies in general and applied translation studies in particular. Ralph Kruger identifies the types of corpora that can be used in translation teaching and describes their utility as follows: • •

Monolingual corpora, comprising texts initially written in the target language. These represent an important translation aid as they familiarise students with the idiomatic uses of the language. Comparable bilingual corpora, comprising representative sets of source and target language texts. These allow for drawing comparisons and highlighting the same parameters.

Towards a Func t ional Approach to Arabic–English Legal Transl at ion

•

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Bilingual translation corpora, comprising source texts and their translations. These serve to unveil and exemplify the translation strategies and procedures adopted by their professional translators. (2012: 510–511)

As demonstrated by Kruger (2002), corpora categories clearly have acquired new features in the field of translation teaching, which add to their complexity. To avoid confusion and attain the purposes of the present chapter, herein I use ‘corpora’ to refer only to legal corpora; ‘comparable texts’ to designate the original target language material that I normally select to offer students insights into the genre and typology of the text to be translated; and ‘parallel texts’ to denote the translation-related material that can be used for the preceding purpose, as well as for inquiring into the translation strategies and techniques adopted. Normally I resort to the latter category only when dealing with document collections published by the UN (conventions, resolutions and others) and the European Union (laws and statutes). In the field of specialised legal translation, comparable and/or parallel texts can be used for numerous pedagogical purposes; for example, they may assist in finding the most appropriate terminological and phraseological equivalents. Given the hybridity found among Arabic-speaking legal systems, some of the concepts designated in Arabic legal texts may have foreign equivalents but others may not. Moroccan law is a case in point, as it draws upon Islamic law (sharia), custom, and foreign influences such as the French civil code. For example, if I have to translate a judgment from Arabic into English, comparable texts in English can provide me with the terms and phrases needed. Naturally, lexicographic reference works (be they general or specialised, monolingual or bilingual) may offer renderings such as those given in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1 Terms found in terminographic/lexicographic reference works SL

TL

‫اﻟﺤﻜﻢ‬ ‫اﻻﺳﺘﺌﻨﺎف‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺪﻋﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺪﻋﻰ ﻋﻠﯿﮫ‬ ‫اﻟﺪﻋﻮى‬ ‫اﻟﻘﻀﯿﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻘﺎل اﻟﺪﻋﻮى‬ ‫اﻟﻨﯿﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻨﻔﻘﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻨﯿﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬

judgment appeal plaintiff, claimant, claimer, petitioner respondent, defendant case, action, litigation case, action, litigation case petition public prosecution alimony public prosecution

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Table 6.2 Terms supplied by comparable texts Terms extracted from English comparable texts

Equivalents found in the Arabic source text ‫اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻷﺻﻠﻲ‬ ‫ﺟﻠﺴﺔ ﻋﻠﻨﯿﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﻌﺎرﺿﺔ‬ ‫ﺣﻜﻢ ﻏﯿﺎﺑﻲ‬ ‫ﺣﻜﻢ ﺣﻀﻮري‬ ‫ﺣﻜﻢ اﺳﺘﻌﺠﺎﻟﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﻄﺮف اﻟﻤﺘﺨﻠﻒ‬ ‫اﻟﻨﯿﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬ ‫دﻋﻮى ﻣﺪﻧﯿﺔ‬

initial/originating claim/application open hearing (≠ closed hearing) counter-claims judgment by default contradictory judgment summary judgment defaulted party public prosecution civil case

More often than not, however, dictionaries prove to be of no avail. To overcome this problem, I often provide my students at KFST (postgraduate students in their first and second semesters of the translation master programme, English stream) with authentic comparable texts. These texts enable them to identify equivalent terms that can be applied to the Arabic source text. In one of the sessions devoted to the translation of the Moroccan Code of Civil Procedure, students used an English comparable text to extract the equivalents given in Table 6.2. Obviously, literal translation cannot but lead to inadequate translations. For example: ‫ اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻷﺻﻠﻲ‬refers to the originating claim and not the original claim; ‫ اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﻌﺎرﺿﺔ‬denotes counter-claims and not accidental claims. Such fine points clearly affirm the key role of comparable texts when equivalent target-language terms must be located – a role that becomes even more important when one must deal with phraseology (e.g. idioms, formulae and collocations) which cannot be rendered literally. Some examples are given in Table 6.3. For all of the above reasons, among the materials and tools that Arabic translation trainers can use, parallel and comparable texts supply the backbone for specialised translation classes and workshops. A thorough grounding in such texts, with the in-depth insight they afford into the textual and Table 6.3 Phraseology found only in comparable texts English phraseology extracted from comparable/parallel texts adjourn/defer + the case repeal/quash/abate + the case hear/try + the case

Arabic equivalents found in the Arabic (Moroccan) legal text to be translated ‫ اﻟﺪﻋﻮى‬+ ‫ﺗﺄﺟﯿﻞ‬ ‫ اﻟﺪﻋﻮى‬+ ‫إﻟﻐﺎء‬ ‫ اﻟﺪﻋﻮى‬+ ‫ ﻓﻲ‬+ ‫اﻟﻨﻈﺮ‬

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stylistic conventions peculiar to the legal genre in question, is crucial if translation trainees are to produce a target text that conveys essentially the same conceptual content and produces essentially the same legal effect as the source text. It is only when a translation abides by the textual norms and conventions of the target language – not simply at the terminological and phraseological levels, as demonstrated above, but also at the structural, textual, and interpersonal levels – that a similar effect is produced and the same legal function is performed. For example, a Moroccan expatriate would be hard-pressed to prove his marital status as ‘married’ in Great Britain if the translation of his Moroccan marriage contract is not deemed to be a ‘marriage contract’ by a pertinent UK official. At this point another key feature of legal texts, their extreme conventionalism, must be discussed. Not only the language but also the style and even the macrostructure of texts are formulaic – that is, conventionally fixed and unamenable to alteration. In this respect, Cao (2007) states that ‘private legal documents often follow established patterns and rules in a particular jurisdiction’ (2007: 85). Accordingly, such knowledge can be gained only through parallel and comparable texts. In the example of Islamic marriage contracts, as above, certain salutations or exhortations can either be translated literally or simply omitted; for example, ‫[ ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ‬In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious/Merciful, the Most clement/ eneficent/tolerant] and ‫[ اﻟﺤﻤﺪ ﻪﻠﻟ وﺣﺪه‬Praise be to Allah]. For other terms and fixed phrases employed by convention, recourse to comparable texts remains both essential and unavoidable. Table 6.4 below shows examples of fixed phrases commonly found in Moroccan marriage contracts, while Table 6.5 illustrates some fixed expressions and collocations used in International Law documents. The more formulaic the text, the more crucial and necessary it becomes to use comparable and parallel texts. For example, to teach how to translate an auditors’ report from Arabic into English, comparable target-language texts can provide the trainer with most of what he or she needs. It is no exaggeration to say that comparable texts will satisfy as much as 80–90% of the task. This functionality is demonstrated by a simple comparison of the following two texts: an auditors’ report in Arabic, which needs to be translated into English, and an auditors’ report in English.

Table 6.4 Fixed phrases from Moroccan marriage contracts English Adoul (notaries public of islamic law) appointed to testify/receive and record testimonies Fit for marriage and free from any impediment thereto With her permission, consent and proxy

Arabic ‫اﻟﻌﺪﻻن اﻟﻤﻨﺘﺼﺒﺎن ﻟﻺﺷﮭﺎد‬ ‫اﻟﺤﻞ ﻟﻠﻨﻜﺎح اﻟﺨﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻮاﻧﻌﮫ‬ ‫ﺑﺈذﻧﮭﺎ و رﺿﺎھﺎ وﺗﻮﻛﯿﻠﮭﺎ إﯾﺎه ﻋﻠﻰ ذﻟﻚ‬

‫‪New Insight s into Arabic Transl at ion and Inter pret ing‬‬

‫‪124‬‬

‫‪Table 6.5 Fixed phrases in international law and agreements‬‬ ‫‪Arabic‬‬

‫‪English‬‬

‫اﻟﻤﻌﺎﻧﻲ اﻟﻤﺒﯿﻨﺔ‪/‬اﻟﻤﺤﺪدة أدﻧﺎه‬

‫‪The meanings hereunder assigned‬‬

‫اﻟﺘﺼﺮف ﺑﮭﺬه اﻟﺼﻔﺔ‬

‫‪Acting in this capacity‬‬

‫ﺑﺎﻻﺗﻔﺎق اﻟﻤﺘﺒﺎدل‬

‫‪By mutual consent‬‬

‫ﻣﻊ إﯾﻼء اﻟﻤ ﺮاﻋﺎة اﻟﻮاﺟﺒﺔ‬

‫‪With due regard for‬‬

‫ﻷﻏ ﺮاض ھﺬه اﻻﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬

‫‪For the purpose of the present convention‬‬

‫ﯾﺘﻢ ﻋﺮض ‪ .....‬ﻟﺘﻮﻗﯿﻊ‬

‫‪Shall be open for signature‬‬

‫ﯾﺨﻀﻊ ﻟﻠﺘﺼﺪﯾﻖ‬

‫‪Is subject to ratification‬‬

‫ﺗﻮدع ﻟﺪى‬ ‫ﯾﻈﻞ ﻣﻌﺮوﺿﺎ ﻻﻧﻀﻤﺎم‬

‫‪Shall be deposited with‬‬ ‫‪Shall remain open for accession by‬‬

‫ﯾﺪﺧﻞ ﺣﯿﺰ اﻟﺘﻨﻔﯿﺬ‪/‬ﯾﺴﺮي‬

‫‪Shall enter into force‬‬

‫ﺻﻮر ﻣﻌﺘﻤﺪة ﻋﻨﮫ‬

‫‪Certified copies thereof‬‬

‫ﯾﺒﻌﺚ ﺑﻨﺴﺦ ﻣﻦ‬

‫‪Shall transmit copies of‬‬

‫دون اﻟﻤﺴﺎس ﺑﺄﯾﺔ اﻟﺘ ﺰاﻣﺎت‬

‫‪Without prejudice to any obligations‬‬

‫‪SOURCE TEXT‬‬ ‫ﺗﻘﺮﯾﺮ ﻓﺤﺺ اﻟﻘﻮاﺋﻢ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﺴﺎدة اﻟﻤﺴﺎھﻤﯿﻦ‬ ‫ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ‪........................‬‬ ‫)ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﻣﺴﺎھﻤﺔ ﺳﻌﻮدﯾﺔ(‬ ‫اﻟﺮﯾﺎض – اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﯾﺔ‬ ‫ﻧﻄﺎق اﻟﻔﺤﺺ‬ ‫ﻟﻘﺪ ﻓﺤﺼﻨﺎ ﻗﺎﺋﻤﺔ اﻟﻤﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﻲ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺮﻓﻘﺔ ﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ ‪ ..............‬ﻛﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ ‪ 30‬ﯾﻮﻧﯿﻮ ‪ 2009‬و ﻗﺎﺋﻤﺔ اﻟﺪﺧﻞ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ ﻟﻔﺘﺮﺗﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﺜﻼﺛﺔ و اﻟﺴﺘﺔ أﺷﮭﺮ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﮭﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ ‪ 30‬ﯾﻮﻧﯿﻮ ‪ 2009‬و ﻗﺎﺋﻤﺔ اﻟﺘﺪﻓﻘﺎت اﻟﻨﻘﺪﯾﺔ ﻟﻔﺘﺮة اﻟﺴﺘﺔ أﺷﮭﺮ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﮭﯿﺔ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﺘﺎرﯾﺦ‪ .‬أن ھﺬه‬ ‫اﻟﻘﻮاﺋﻢ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ ھﻲ ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ إدارة اﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ أﻋﺪﺗﮭﺎ و ﻗﺪﻣﺘﮭﺎ ﻟﻨﺎ ﻣﻊ ﻛﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت و اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ طﻠﺒﻨﺎھﺎ‪.‬‬ ‫ﻛﺎن ﻓﺤﺼﻨﺎ ﻓﺤﺼﺎ ﻣﺤﺪودا وﻓﻘﺎ ﻟﻤﻌﯿﺎر ﻓﺤﺺ اﻟﺘﻘﺎرﯾﺮ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ اﻟﺼﺎدر ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﮭﯿﺌﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﯾﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺤﺎﺳﺒﯿﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﯿﯿﻦ‪.‬‬ ‫و ﯾﺘﻜﻮن اﻟﻔﺤﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺪود ﺑﺼﻔﺔ أﺳﺎﺳﯿﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺗﻄﺒﯿﻖ إﺟﺮاءات ﺗﺤﻠﯿﻠﯿﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ و اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎر ﻣﻦ اﻷﺷﺨﺎص‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻷﻣﻮر اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ و اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺳﺒﯿﺔ‪ .‬ﯾﻌﺪ ھﺬا اﻟﻔﺤﺺ أﻗﻞ ﻧﻄﺎﻗﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻤﻠﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺮاﺟﻌﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺘﻢ وﻓﻘﺎ ﻟﻤﻌﺎﯾﺮ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺮاﺟﻌﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺎرف ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ‪ ،‬و اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﮭﺪف أﺳﺎﺳﺎ إﻟﻰ إﺑﺪاء اﻟﺮأي ﺣﻮل اﻟﻘﻮاﺋﻢ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ ﻛﻜﻞ‪ ،‬ﻟﺬا ﻓﺈﻧﻨﺎ ﻻ ﻧﺒﺪي ﻣﺜﻞ ھﺬا‬ ‫اﻟﺮأي‪.‬‬ ‫ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ اﻟﻔﺤﺺ‬ ‫ﺑﻨﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻔﺤﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺪود اﻟﺬي ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺑﮫ‪ ،‬ﻟﻢ ﯾﺘﺒﯿﻦ ﻟﻨﺎ وﺟﻮد أﯾﺔ ﺗﻌﺪﯾﻼت ﺟﻮھﺮﯾﺔ ﯾﺘﻌﯿﻦ إدﺧﺎﻟﮭﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻘﻮاﺋﻢ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻷوﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺮﻓﻘﺔ ﻣﻊ ﻣﻌﺎﯾﯿﺮ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺳﺒﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺎرف ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ‪.‬‬

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COMPARABLE TEXT ……………………………LLP Chartered Accountants Management Consultants Auditors’ Report To the Board of Governors of ………………………………………….. We have audited the statement of financial position of ……………………. as at March 31, 2006, and the statements of revenue and expenses, changes in net assets and cash flows for the year then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the University’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. In our opinion, these financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of ………………..as at March 31, 2006 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles. Victoria, Canada ................................................................. May 12, 2006 Chartered Accountants If we align the source Arabic text segments with their corresponding comparable target-language text segments (Table 6.6), over and again we notice matching counterparts for the same fixed and immutable expressions, and even for entire sentences. They exist in Arabic, have functional equivalents in English as well as in other languages, and are used whenever and wherever an auditors’ report is drawn up. It is highly desirable to memorise such segments or have them available as models, in hard copy or on a computer. Table 6.6 below aligns and demonstrates this kind of context-independent correspondence.

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Table 6.6 Comparable fixed phrases in auditors’ reports (English and Arabic) English

Arabic

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of ....... as of December 31, ....., and the related statements of income, retained earnings, and cash flow for the year then ended.

‫ راﺟﻌﻨﺎ ﺑﯿﺎن اﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮدات‬/ ‫ دﻗﻘﻨﺎ‬/ ‫ﻟﻘﻘﺪ ﻓﺤﺼﻨﺎ‬ / ‫ اﻟﻌﻤﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬/ ‫ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬/ ‫ اﻟﻤﻮازﻧﺔ‬/ ‫ اﻟﻤﯿﺰاﻧﯿﺔ‬/‫واﻟﻤﻄﻠﻮﺑﺎت‬ (‫ و اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت )اﻟﻤﺠﻤﻌﺔ‬...... ‫ ﻛﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ‬..... ‫اﻟﻤﺮﻓﻘﺔ ﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ‬ ‫ﻟﻠﺪﺧﻞ واﻟﺘﺪﻓﻘﺎت اﻟﻨﻘﺪﯾﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﮭﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ ذﻟﻚ‬ .‫اﻟﺘﺎرﯾﺦ‬

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

‫إن إﻋﺪاد ھﺬه اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ )اﻟﻤﺠﻤﻌﺔ( ھﻲ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ إدارة اﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ و ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺘﻨﺎ ھﻲ إﺑﺪاء اﻟﺮأي‬ ‫ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ھﺬه اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﺳﺘﻨﺎدا إﻟﻰ أﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﺘﺪﻗﯿﻖ اﻟﺘﻲ‬ .‫ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺑﮭﺎ‬

We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement.

‫ ﻟﻘﺪ ﺟﺮت ﻣﺮاﺟﻌﺘﻨﺎ وﻓﻘﺎ ﻟﻤﻌﺎﯾﯿﺮ‬/ ‫ﻟﻘﺪ ﺗﻢ ﺗﺪﻗﯿﻘﻨﺎ‬ ،‫ وﻓﻘﺎ ﻟﻤﻌﺎﯾﯿﺮ اﻟﻔﺤﺺ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺎرف ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ‬/ ‫اﻟﺘﺪﻗﯿﻖ اﻟﺪوﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫و اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺘﻄﻠﺐ أن ﻧﻘﻮم ﺑﺘﺨﻄﯿﻂ و ﺗﻨﻔﯿﺬ أﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﺘﺪﻗﯿﻖ‬ ‫ ﻟﻠﺘﻮﺻﻞ‬/‫ ﻟﻠﺘﻮﺻﻞ إﻟﻰ ﺗﺄﻛﯿﺪات ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻟﺔ‬/ ‫ﻟﻠﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ‫ ﺑﺄن اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬/ ‫إﻟﻰ درﺟﺔ ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻟﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻘﻨﺎﻋﺔ‬ ‫ أﻣﻮر ﺟﻮھﺮﯾﺔ ﻏﯿﺮ‬/‫ﺧﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻣﻦ أي ﺗﺼﺮﯾﺤﺎت ﻛﺎذﺑﺔ‬ .‫ﺻﺤﯿﺤﺔ‬

An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.

‫و ﺗﺸﺘﻤﻞ إﺟﺮاءات اﻟﺘﺪﻗﯿﻖ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﻋﻞ اﻟﻘﯿﺎم ﺑﻤﺮاﺟﻌﺔ‬ ‫اﺧﺘﯿﺎرﯾﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺴﺘﻨﺪات اﻟﻤﺆدﯾﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺒﺎﻟﻎ واﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬ .‫اﻟﻮاردة ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬

An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

‫و ﯾﺸﺘﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺪﻗﯿﻖ أﯾﻀﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻘﯿﯿﻢ ﻟﻠﻤﺒﺎدئ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺳﺒﯿﺔ‬ ‫ اﻟﺘﺨﻤﯿﻨﺎت اﻟﮭﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﺪة ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ‬/ ‫اﻟﻤﻄﺒﻘﺔ و اﻟﺘﻘﺪﯾﺮات‬ ‫ ﺗﻘﯿﯿﻢ ﻷﺳﻠﻮب‬/ ‫اﻹدارة و ﻛﺬﻟﻚ ﺗﻘﯿﯿﻢ اﻟﻌﺮض اﻟﻌﺎم‬ .‫ﻋﺮض اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﺑﺼﻔﺔ ﻋﺎﻣﺔ‬

We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

‫ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﻘﺎدﻧﺎ أن ﻣﺎ ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺑﮫ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺮاﺟﻌﺔ ﯾﺸﻜﻞ أﺳﺎﺳﺎ‬ ‫ ﺑﺎﻋﺘﻘﺎدﻧﺎ أن‬/ ‫ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻻ ﻧﺴﺘﻨﺪ إﻟﯿﮫ ﻓﻲ إﺑﺪاء رأﯾﻨﺎ‬ ‫اﻹﺟﺮاءات اﻟﺘﻲ ﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﺑﮭﺎ ﺗﻮﻓﺮ أﺳﺎﺳﺎ ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻻ ﯾﻤﻜﻨﻨﺎ ﻣﻦ‬ .‫إﺑﺪاء رأﯾﻨﺎ ﺣﻮل اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ‬

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of ..... Company as of December 31, ......, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

‫و ﻓﻲ رأﯾﻨﺎ ﻓﺈن اﻟﺒﯿﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﻟﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺎر إﻟﯿﮭﺎ أﻋﻼه‬. ‫ ﺑﺼﻮرة ﻋﺎدﻟﺔ وﻣﻦ ﻛﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻨﻮاﺣﻲ‬/ ‫ﺗﻈﮭﺮ ﺑﻌﺪاﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﻛﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ‬..... ‫ اﻟﻤﺎدﯾﺔ اﻟﻤﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﻤﺎﻟﻲ ﻟﺸﺮﻛﺔ‬/ ‫اﻟﺠﻮھﺮﯾﺔ‬ ‫ و ﻛﺬا ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ أﻋﻤﺎﻟﮭﺎ و ﺗﺪﻓﻘﺎﺗﮭﺎ اﻟﻨﻘﺪﯾﺔ‬...... ‫ دﯾﺴﻤﺒﺮ‬31 ‫ﻟﻠﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﮭﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻠﻚ اﻟﻔﺘﺮة وﻓﻘﺎ ﻟﻤﺒﺎدئ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺳﺒﺔ‬ .‫اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺎرف ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ‬

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4. Teaching Legal Arabic–English Translation Through Comparable/Parallel Texts In this section, I emphasise the prominent role of comparable and parallel texts within the general framework of a three-phase teaching method. In this process- and product–based method, students are guided step-by-step towards the production of a functionally equivalent legal text. They are encouraged to analyse, compare, and criticise in all phases and throughout the different tasks. This method is illustrated through the translation of a bilateral agreement from Arabic into English.

4.1 Pre-translation phase During this preparatory phase, I introduce students to the legal document to be translated – normally by illuminating its overall communicative, pragmatic, and legal contexts through a PowerPoint presentation for which data has been collected from different lexicographic and para–lexicographic sources (notably dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and specialised documents). In this presentation, I define the document, identify its genre and typology, display its micro- and macrostructures, underline some of its frequently used terminology and phraseology, and exemplify some of its stylistic features. The approach is noticeably textual in the sense that I first identify the intra– and extratextual features of the text through a series of ‘WH-questions’ (what, who, why, in which, in what). This kind of analysis helps prepare students to tackle the translation process by equipping them with necessary information about textual conventions. After this introductory overview, I distribute one or two comparable target–language texts as tokens and exemplars of the genre or type of text to be translated. These texts function as Text A or ‘sensitizers’ (Hatim, 1994: xiii). Naturally, along with such comparable texts, I distribute a list of instructions so as to maximise textual insight. For example, students are asked to read the comparable text(s) carefully; to identify the nature, genre, and typology of the legal instrument; determine its macro- and microstructures; extract the relevant terminology and phraseology used; and comment on the prominent stylistic features. Such analysis is normally undertaken in light of the background information that has already been presented via PowerPoint. I expect that the students’ findings will corroborate these principles and precepts. In other words, in this pre–translation phase the first task feeds into the second one for better preparation for the translation phase.

4.2 Translation phase I ensure that the text to be translated and the comparable text naturally belong to the same genre and typology; for example, if the text to be

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translated is a birth certificate, the comparable text is also a birth certificate. The only difference is that the comparable text is in the target language to be translated into and the source text is in the language to be translated from. Because the students have already acquired the necessary information during the pre-translation phase, they can embark upon the translation task with more self-confidence and ease. Instead of having to proceed bottom-up by focusing immediately on the individual segments and identifying the translation problems, they now have the capacity to begin by placing the text in its sociocultural context and thus to make reasonable predictions about its macroand microstructures. Through this top-down approach, they are able to read the text and apply to it the genre-type frames, schemas and text-typology, and genre conventions and norms. Through analogical and deductive processes, they can draw comparisons with the comparable text (which has been analysed previously) and predict what the target text should be like in terms of form and content. To accomplish the actual task of translation, I may provide an additional glossary; the translation itself may be performed individually or collectively. The end product is normally a group (class) translation.

4.3 Post-translation phase As in any text-production process, this last phase involves revising and editing. The translation output is revised in order to identify any possible inaccuracies, errors, or inappropriate stylistic choices; last, the text is corrected through editing. However, because in this teaching method students are also asked to step back and reflect on the entire translation process, this final phase emphasises the crucial role of comparable and parallel texts (here, in legal translation from Arabic into English). Students are asked to identify exactly, on all levels, what they have gained through consulting parallel texts and what they have put into practice in their translations. It is worth noting that instead of selecting and distributing the parallel or comparable text myself, I may even ask them to find their own relevant parallel texts that could be of use in their translation tasks. For this purpose, I assist by identifying the genre/type of text to be translated, as well as its communicative function and subject field, and by listing some useful internet resources. In such cases, students are required to reveal and illustrate how they have gone about their searches.

5. Case Study: Translation of a Bilateral Agreement from Arabic into English In this section, I illustrate the translation method described in Section 3 with the example of a bilateral agreement entered into between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Senegal (Appendix 2). The students are

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supplied with the Arabic and French versions of the text published in the Moroccan Official Gazette and briefed that the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs an English version that should be equally authoritative. The teaching goes through a tri-phase process as described above.

5.1 Pre-translation phase In this first phase, the instrument to be translated is introduced and contextualised by means of a PowerPoint presentation, as shown below.

By answering the series of WH-questions, students place the text – the legal instrument –in its communicative situation. The description is both intra- and extratextual: as a first step, all the extratextual features and clues that may assist in analysing and translating the text are pinpointed and discussed. Their responses to the what-question yield the subject field and document scope. In both cases, the gravitational centre remains the communicative function, as shown below.

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The analytical definition of the term ‘international law’ assigns more prominence to the purpose feature (i.e. ‘regulating the mutual behaviour of states’). As a matter of consequence, and by extension, all sources of law – including agreements, conventions, covenants, and protocols – fulfil the same function, as they regulate and prescribe a course of action for communities and peoples. Because such documents are vested with this force of law, more importance is attached to their participants (i.e. those who are affected by the rules and directives contained in the documents) and to the conditions under which they are produced and received than is attached to any other type of legal document. Answering the ‘who’ question specifically is therefore crucial.

Here, the participants are of two types. The first type includes the signatory state parties to the instrument, which are named in the document as ‘contracting states’ (Morocco and Senegal), as well as the class or category of people/citizens who will be under the scope of the agreement (investors, taxpayers, et al.). As it happens, for this particular bilateral agreement, all workers, civil servants, officials, and stakeholders in the field of social and community work are involved in one way or another. In fact, the instrument establishes their rights and obligations, as well as the liability and/or responsibility of the governments of the two states, as well as their respective competent departments and services. The second type of participants are not explicitly mentioned. This type includes the drafters of the instrument, who are specialised in the legal and legislative field, and anyone amongst the greater public who may have an interest but does not belong to the classes/categories specified in the previous paragraph. One might wonder why the greater public is mentioned, as the mention seems to function only as an exclusion. This is done because the document fulfils a secondary function, which is to inform; the agreement’s primary and essential function is clearly imperative.

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The instrument in question already exists in Arabic and French; by necessity and requirement, the English version must be equally authoritative. In other words, the translation will be vested with the same legal import and therefore should both fulfil the same communicative function and produce the same legal effect. For the second category of recipient, however (i.e. the general public), the text becomes solely informative. Thus, and as a matter of consequence, its translation can be only documentary for nonparticipants. Once all relevant extratextual parameters are highlighted and light is shed on the way they impact the process and strategy for translating the instrument, it is time to tackle the intratextual parameters. Here, the goal is to show how the external or paratextual features interact with the intratextual ones in a legal document (i.e. how the structure and language of the text are motivated by its dominant communicative function). At this stage, the previously selected parallel/comparable texts can be distributed to the students. For the present instrument, it is possible to use both parallel and comparable texts. As a comparable text, I chose the Agreement Between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Russian Federation on Economic Co-operation (Appendix 1). As the parallel texts, I chose the Arabic and English versions of the UN Resolution on the Agreement between the United Nations and the World Tourism Organisation (appendices 5 and 6). In addition, I ask students to follow the following instructions: 1. 2. 3.

Read the text and identify its macro-structure. Identify all the intratextual and stylistic features. Extract the significant usable terminology and phraseology.

Commencing with macrostructure, legal documents are typically arranged into separate chunks and segments that are distinguished through typographic means (boldface type, italics). More specifically, they feature more or less the following macrostructure:

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Students have no difficulty in identifying macrostructure, given that the typical presentation clearly sets off the different segments: Title: AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE …. Preamble: The Government of …. Have agreed as follows: … Articles: 1, 2, 3, ….15. The title, in bold type and capital letters, specifies the state parties to the agreement (the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Russian Federation) and the scope of the agreement (economic cooperation). The preamble is the leading segment of the instrument. It lists all the legal, social, and economic factors/requirements for the enactment of the agreement. It is followed by a series of numbered articles that set forth the rights and obligations of the parties concerned. These two sections, the preamble and the articles, constitute the body of the instrument and the heart of the agreement. It goes without saying that each of these textual components has its own set of terms, fixed phraseology, formulae, and typical syntactic structures. Thus, the microstructure of the text must be tackled through another series of questions: Which words? Which sentences? To what effect? Concerning the first question, the language used in the text includes three types.

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‘Terminology’ means a set of terms that designate very specific concepts belonging either to the legal field in general or to the subject field that constitutes the particular scope of the legal documents. When they peruse the comparable text, students must extract terms and identify not only those peculiar to the legal field in general, but also those belonging to the scope of the agreement (in this case, economy and trade) as shown in Table 6.7 below. Table 6.7 Terminology (1) extracted from the parallel text LAW

ECONOMY

agreement parties provisions Helsinki Final Act Paris Charter for a New Europe Helsinki Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Bonn Conference on Economic Co-operation in Europe European Energy Charter Joint Declaration of the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

economic relations bilateral economic cooperation world economic system maintenance systems medium and long-term credits international financial institutions freedom of transit of goods

From the parallel text, students must extract the important terminology and phraseology that can be of use in the translation task. This task is crucial when Arabic is involved. Unlike their counterparts in other languages, for which various and rich terminological data bases and glossaries exist in different fields (see Ilhami & Way, this volume), Arabic translators are afforded scant legal terminology resources and must rely more on paralexicographic means (e.g. parallel texts). Applying this termextraction exercise to the chosen parallel texts yields the following examples (Table 6.8): Table 6.8 Terminology (2) extracted from the parallel text ENGLISH

ARABIC

international convention State parties charter resolution General Assembly legal provisions

‫اﻻﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ اﻟﺪوﻟﯿﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﺪول اﻷطﺮاف‬ ‫ﻣﯿﺜﺎق‬ ‫ﻗﺮار‬ ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻌﯿﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬ ‫اﻷﺣﻜﺎم اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﯿﺔ‬

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Beyond word level, students are encouraged to identify legal phraseology, including the fixed expressions, collocations, and formulae with which the comparable text abounds. For example, the following were extracted: • • • • • •

to develop + (bilateral economic) cooperation to further + the improvement to widen + economic cooperation bilateral + cooperation economic + cooperation in accordance with + the principles and provisions

Literal translation remains feasible for the above-listed expressions and collocations, but that is not always the case since phraseology, including collocations, is language-specific. Accordingly, students are invited to pinpoint some fixed expressions in the parallel text and compare them with their target language equivalents. For example, ‘In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement’, which occurs at the end of the instrument, has a perfect functional (although not completely literal) Arabic equivalent: ‫ اﻟﻤﻔﻮﺿﻮن ﺣﺴﺐ اﻷﺻﻮل ﻣﻦ طﺮف ﺣﻜﻮﻣﺎﺗﮭﻢ ﺑﺘﻮﻗﯿﻊ ھﺬه اﻻﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬،‫وإﺛﺒﺎﺗﺎ ﻟﻤﺎ ﺗﻘﺪم ﻗﺎم اﻟﻤﻮﻗﻌﻮن أدﻧﺎه‬

By ‘functional equivalent’ I mean an equivalent which has nothing to do, on the formal level, with the source language item (i.e. is not a word-forword translation) but which perfectly fulfils the same function in a similar context. For example, the French expressions ‘en panne’ and ‘défense d’entrer’ have as their functional English equivalents ‘out of order’ and ‘keep out’, respectively. Beyond the phrase level, the legal document at hand possesses some salient syntactic features of which students should be aware:

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The most striking one is the length and complexity of sentences. The series of participial clauses exhibited in the preamble represents a challenging syntactic feature for translators, given that formal equivalence between the two languages is of no use in such a case. considering ….; being convinced ………….; expressing …..; desiring to …; confirming ….; For example, there is no need to automatically translate an English present participle such as ‘desiring to’ or ‘being convinced’ with the respective Arabic nouns of agent ‘‫ راﻏﺒﻮن‬and ‫’ﻣﺘﯿﻘﻨﻮن‬. Instead, after aligning the preamble sections of the two versions of the parallel texts, students are able to discover that if in Arabic the appositive clauses start with the causative particle ‘‫’إذ‬ followed by the imperfective form of the verbs, in English we may use the present or past participle form of the verbs as shown in Table 6.9 below: Table 6.9 Macro and micro-structures of preambles English parallel text

Arabic parallel text

The State Parties to this convention: Having in mind the … Deeply concerned about… Recalling … Recalling also … Noting … Recalling further … Noting also … Noting further … Being convinced … Considering … Noting … Have agreed as follows:

‫إن اﻟﺪول اﻷطﺮاف ﻓﻲ ھﺬه اﻻﺗﻔﺎﻗﯿﺔ‬ … ‫إذ ﺗﻀﻊ ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﺒﺎرھﺎ‬ … ‫و إذ ﯾﺴﺎورھﺎ ﻗﻠﻖ ﺑﺎﻟﻎ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﺸﯿﺮ إﻟﻰ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﺸﯿﺮ أﯾﻀﺎ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﻼﺣﻆ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﺸﯿﺮ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﻼﺣﻆ أﯾﻀﺎ‬ … ‫و إذ ﺗﻼﺣﻆ ﻛﺬﻟﻚ‬ … ‫و اﻗﺘﻨﺎﻋﺎ ﻣﻨﮭﺎ‬ ... ‫و إذ ﺗﺮى‬ ... ‫و إذ ﺗﻼﺣﻆ‬ : ‫ﻓﻘﺪ اﺗﻔﻘﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﻲ‬

Those who lack cognisance of such structural and functional matches can easily be ensnared by literality. For example, imagine rendering the segment ‘‫ ’إذ ﺗﻀﻊ ﻓﻲ اﻋﺘﺒﺎرھﺎ‬as ‘they put under their consideration’ instead of the functionally matching formulation ‘having in mind that’ or similarly ‘.....‫ ’ و إذ ﺗﺸﯿﺮ إﻟﻰ‬as ‘they note/indicate that’ instead of ‘noting that’. The difference between the first and the second formulations is not simply a matter of lexis (opting for alternative words) and or grammar (‘shifting from finite to non-finite structures’), but of translation strategy. The first are literal translations, whereas the second are functional translations which abide by the textual conventions of the text and genre at hand.

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Another aspect to deal with is neither semantic nor syntactic but rather pragmatic. It has to do with the legal interpersonal function of the agreement involving senders and receivers in an asymmetrical power relationship. As mentioned above, legal texts have an operative and more precisely imperative function, as they target the behaviour of the receivers. As such, they teem with imperative-function markers which vary from one language to another. The focus here should first be on modals and some performative verbs.

Modals such as ‘must’, ‘may’, ‘can’, and ‘should’ are to be treated with due regard to the illocutionary force in which they play a contributory role. As such, their target language equivalents should be carefully selected: ‘‫’ﯾﺠﺐ‬, ‘‫’ﯾﺠﻮز‬, ‘‫ ’ﯾﻤﻜﻦ‬and ‘‫’ﯾﺘﻌﯿﻦ‬. The construction known as the ‘empty legal shall’ is normally rendered by the imperfective form of the verb. Returning now to the selected parallel texts, we notice the frequent use of this legal ‘shall’. as in: • •

The Parties shall aim to develop favourable conditions (Article 1) Each Party, at the request of the other Party, shall provide interested nationals and legal persons of the other country with … (Article 2) Performative verbs are also used:

• •

Each Party affirms the importance of the principle of the freedom of transit of goods transported through the territory …… (Article 5) Each Party confirms that it shall provide legal protection for investment by nationals and legal persons of the other country… (Article 8)

It is clear, then, that parallel and comparable texts represent a valuable and reliable source of information about the texts to be translated. They familiarise students with the common stylistic features of the text and

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simultaneously offer them terms and phrases that help to render not only the same legal conceptual content of the instrument but also its fixed expressions, collocations and formulae. Having thus acquired all these elements of information, students can now embark upon the translation task per se as they are better equipped to produce a target text capable of fulfilling the same imperative and prohibitive legal functions.

5.2 Translation phase In this phase, students are given the text to be translated. Normally, it should be an authentic text accompanied by instructions simulating a real translation brief. The aim is to place the translation act in its communicative situation. In this case, the instructions are formulated as follows: You are an employee of the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and you are asked to translate the following agreement into English: ‫ﺑﺮوﺗﻮﻛﻮل اﺗﻔﺎق ﺑﯿﻦ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﺔ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻤﻐﺮﺑﯿﺔ و ﺣﻜﻮﻣﺔ ﺟﻤﮭﻮرﯾﺔ اﻟﺴﻨﻐﺎل‬. The Arabic and French versions of this agreement already exist and are accessible on the website of the Official Gazette. Your superiors insist on having an equally authentic English translation. The first segment of the document in question reads as follows:

At first glance, the students can easily recognise the textual genre to which the instrument belongs. The structural organisation of the document into a title, a preamble, and a series of articles leaves no room for doubt. Thus they know to embark upon a top-down reading process during which they retrieve and use all the textual and paratextual elements they have

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gathered during the first phase, notably through analysis of parallel and comparable texts. Consequently, it is possible for them to recognise the macrostructure of the text. The short preamble is followed by a series of eight articles, of which the last two are concluding articles referring to issues such as entry into force, adoption, and cancellation. On the lexical and terminological levels, students are easily able to understand the text as its scope falls within an accessible area of knowledge (cooperation in the social field) that facilitates finding target language equivalents. For terms such as ‘‫ ’ﺗﻮأﻣﺔ اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﺎت‘ ’إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺄھﯿﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﺎﻗﯿﻦ‘ ’ﺑﺮوﺗﻮﻛﻮل اﻻﺗﻔﺎق‬and ‘‫ ’ﺗﻜﻮﯾﻦ اﻷطﺮ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ‬an additional search is conducted either through terminological databanks such as UNTERM or some specialised texts (e.g., statutes) in order to confirm the existence and use of the selected equivalents. Once these terminological challenges have been met, the translation process becomes straightforward. As students take part individually and collectively, they strive to produce a target–language bilateral agreement which abides by the textual norms and conventions of the target culture and legal system. As an example, the Preamble and Article One are translated as follows: Protocol Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Senegal The government of the Kingdom of Morocco and the government of the Republic of Senegal (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’): — —

—

Desiring to foster their bonds of friendship and cooperation, Aspiring to lay the foundation for a friendly and fruitful cooperation in the field of social affairs in their mutual interests; and Convinced of the vital role of social work in the economic development;

Have agreed as follows: Article 1 The Parties undertake to continuously develop their cooperation in the field of social affairs. …..

As can be seen from the extract above, under my supervision students manage to translate the preamble and a series of articles of the instrument abiding by the target language norms and conventions. It is worth highlighting the presence of a series of participial clauses, the enacting phrase at the end of the preamble, and the use of the legal imperative ‘shall’ in

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other articles, as can be seen in the following segment extracted from Article 3: •

(3 ‫• ﯾﺘﺨﺬ اﻟﻄﺮﻓﺎن اﻹﺟ ﺮاءات اﻟﻼزﻣﺔ ﻟﺘﻨﺴﯿﻖ أﻋﻤﺎﻟﮭﻤﺎ…)اﻟﻤﺎدة‬ The Parties shall take the necessary measures in order to coordinate their work. (Article 3)

5.3 Post-translation phase Generally, in this phase students proceed with the revision and assessment of the final translation version, but within the framework of our communicative teaching method. It offers time for students to reflect on the translation process, with the aim of highlighting the importance of the communicative functional approach to translation – within whose framework parallel/comparable texts play a crucial role.

6. Testing the Relevance of Parallel/Comparable Texts In this final section, I report and comment on the results of an experiment conducted at King Fahd School of Translation. A group of 15 postgraduate students from the first semester of the translation master programme (English stream) were asked to translate twice the same segment of the Moroccan Code of Civil Procedure (Appendix 3). In the first version, they had to translate the segment without using any parallel or comparable texts, but in the second version they were allowed to complete the translation after thoroughly reading a comparable target–language text (Appendix 4). The experiment lasted for 1 hour (30 minutes for each translation) in examination-like conditions under my supervision. I deliberately conducted this experiment at the very beginning of the 2013–2014 academic year, more precisely in the second semester, because students at this stage are still novices; their minds are tabulae rasae in terms of translation theory. Thus if the second versions of translation turn out to be better than the first, the improvement would most probably be due to the knowledge acquired from the comparable text. In other words, the aim of this experiment was not to test the students’ translation competence but rather to verify and draw their attention to the utility and importance of comparable/parallel texts in Arabic–English legal translation. For the evaluation as such, I employed the error analysis/deduction system commonly used at KFST and other translation universities and centres around the world (e.g. the University of Montreal). The approach, which I modified slightly in order to meet the needs of the present study, consists of deducting marks for each error identified. Errors, as attested

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Table 6.10 Translation errors, by source text and target text Errors related to ST

Errors related to TT

Opposite Wrong Non- Addi- OmisSense Sense Sense tion sion

Spell- Vocab- Struc- Gram- Cohesion/ ing ulary ture mar Coherence

Table 6.11 Source-text-oriented errors in Translation 1 Type of error

Total number

Wrong sense Non-sense Addition (overtranslation) Omission (undertranslation)

15 2 4 1

by the abundant literature available in applied translation studies (Martinez & Hurtado, 2001: 281), can be related to the source text or to the target text. The first category concerns errors such as opposite sense, wrong sense, non-sense, addition (overtranslation) and omission (undertranslation). The second concerns errors of spelling, grammar, vocabulary, unacceptable syntactic structures, and noncohesive or noncoherent segments. These are summarised in Table 6.10. Errors related to the ST occurred in the first version of translations, but were fewer in number (Table 6.11). The focus of the present study was on the second category of errors (related to the TT). Considered from their functional perspective, comparable/ parallel texts can help translators only with the target-language reformulation phase and not with the source- language comprehension phase, as the comparable/parallel texts function as tokens that feature salient textual and stylistic conventions only of the legal genre to which they belong. Consequently, the evaluation below is functionally oriented; in it, I identify all errors which directly impact the legal nature and function of the text (terminology, phraseology, marked syntactic structures, modality, and performativity). A legal text cannot fulfil its normative and imperative functions in the absence of such legal function markers. The analysis of the two translations begins with a statistical account of the errors made (by type and by translation attempt), and by investigating their significance from a functionalist perspective.

6.1 Analysis of Translation I Errors related to the target text are greater in number and diversity (Table 6.12).

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Table 6.12 TT-oriented errors in Translation 1 Type of error

Total number

Spelling Vocabulary (terminology, phraseology) Syntax Grammar Cohesion/Coherence Total

9 121 17 13 12 172

Spelling errors are less significant in the present study, as they are not text-related but rather language-related. (Naturally, the more linguistically competent the candidate is, the more linguistically appropriate his or her translation is.) Most of the spelling errors were found in combination with some grammatical errors, notably concordance, and they were found in the translations of two students who turned out to be the weakest in the group. Vocabulary errors, which constitute the largest category, mostly resulted from the choice of inadequate terms and phrases (Table 6.13). The high frequency of these types of errors was due to the fact that the translation trainees lacked adequate knowledge of the legal field. Laws, like any specialised material, represent knowledge-based texts in that they deal with a specific legal subject field or subfield. This representation is reflected in the text by the excessive use of terms univocally designating concepts peculiar to this field. Thus the translation trainees who were not acquainted with the subject in question faced extreme difficulties in finding the adequate target–language equivalent terms. This terminological problem was more noticeable with low-performing students, who sometimes gave very surprising if not unintentionally amusing translations. For example, the Arabic term ‘‫’اﻟﺒﺎب‬, which refers here to ‘Title’ or ‘Chapter’ (an official subdivision or segment of a legal document) is translated as ‘gate’ twice and ‘door’ once. This lack of conceptual and terminological knowledge in specialised translation is not overly serious if detected in the first semester, and if it can be remedied by conducting an appropriate terminological search and using adequate parallel texts. Table 6.13 Vocabulary errors by subtype in Translation 1 Error subtype

Scores

Inappropriate vocabulary Inappropriate terminology Inappropriate phraseology Total

9 82 20 121

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Syntactic errors were quite significant in the present study as their score reflected the ability or inability of the trainee to render the marked and complex sentences of legalese. By ‘syntax’ I refer to surface structures on different scales: clause-complex, clause, or group. Complex structures, with their extended pre- and post-modification of nouns or verbs or the expansion and enhancement of clauses, can be quite challenging to render. The present structural analysis is also complemented by the assessment of cohesion and coherence errors as they overlap and feed into each other. The unsuccessful choice of a conjunction or even a preposition may lead to an awkward structure which is neither cohesive nor coherent. For example: •

First Instance Courts shall consider initially and definitively with disputes that do not go beyond MAD 300 once the amount is superior, then it is viable to have recourse to the appellate courts. (students’ translation) ‫ و اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ ﻣﻊ ﺣﻔﻆ ﺣﻖ اﻻﺳﺘﺌﻨﺎف‬،‫• ﺗﺨﺘﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻈﺮ اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ و اﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ إﻟﻰ ﻏﺎﯾﺔ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ آﻻف درھﻢ‬ (Source Text) ‫ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﯿﻊ اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺘﺠﺎوز ھﺬا اﻟﻤﺒﻠﻎ‬ Apart from the unsuccessful vocabulary choices, the inappropriate use of the preposition ‘with’ and the conjunction ‘then’ gives a sentence which is neither cohesive nor coherent and is syntactically awkward.

6.2 Analysis of Translation 2 As was expected, the number of TT–oriented errors in the second translation was lower, noticeably so for vocabulary and syntax. More specifically, 81 of the 121 vocabulary errors identified in Translation 1 were corrected in the second translations. Some of the most noticeable terminological and phraseological corrections are shown in Tables 6.14 and 6.15. Table 6.14 Terminology errors in Translation 1 corrected in Translation 2 First translation

Second translation

Source text

The second gate

Second chapter

‫اﻟﺒﺎب اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ‬

The first branch

Chapter 1

‫اﻟﻔﺮع اﻷول‬

Typical speciality

Subject-matter jurisdiction

‫اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻨﻮﻋﻲ‬

Primary court

First instance court

‫اﻟﻤﺤﻜﻤﺔ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ‬

Individual problems

Individual disputes

‫اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت اﻟﻔﺮدﯾﺔ‬

Qualitative competence

Jurisdiction of subject matter

Elementary court

Court of first instance

‫اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻨﻮﻋﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺤﻜﻤﺔ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ‬

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The improvements did not concern only terminology, but also phraseology, as some SL collocations and fixed expressions were more adequately rendered (see Table 6.15 below): Table 6.15 Phraseology errors in Translation 1 corrected in Translation 2 First translation

Second translation

Primary courts are specialised to deal with

Courts of first instance are competent to consider cases (to be competent to//to consider a case) Courts of First instance have jurisdiction To review at first and last instance the civil cases Individual disputes which arise out of work contracts

To look firstly and finally the civil cases Individual problems which has a relation to work contract

Source text ‫ﺗﺨﺘﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ‬

‫ﺗﻨﻈﺮ اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ و اﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ‬ ‫اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت اﻟﻔﺮدﯾﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﻌﻘﻮد‬ ‫اﻟﺸﻐﻞ‬

It is clear that recourse to comparable/parallel texts does not gurarantee the elimination of all vocabulary (terminology/phraseology) errors, but it certainly contributes to their reduction. Some of the terminological errors, such as ‘heads of communes’ or ‘judges of districts’, were not corrected simply because the comparable text used did not contain the appropriate equivalents. Improvement was also noticeable on the structural level, as can be seen in Table 6.16. Table 6.16 Structural errors in Translation 1 corrected in Translation 2 First translation

Second translation

Primary courts are specialised to deal with all the civic cases, the cases which are domestic, commercial, administrative, and social cases, primarily and finally or primarily with the reservation of the right to appeal, with consideration of the particular specialities that are given to the heads of the districts and the heads of the provinces

By the consideration of the special jurisdictions that are given to the governors of the municipalities and the governors of the communes, the First Instance Courts are competent to consider all the civil cases and the cases that are domestic and commercial and administrative and social cases, first instantly or appealingly or first instantly with reservation of the right to appeal. Courts of first instance have jurisdiction over social issues: a) Individual disputes that have to do with the employment contracts and professional training.

Courts of first instance are to review social issues as: Individual conflicts concerning the employment contracts or the professional training also the individual disagreement that has to do with the employment and professional training

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The above improvements, including the addition of the legal ‘shall’ (by seven students) clearly indicate that the second translations are functionally more appropriate. Such a functional match was attainable only after exposure to and analysis of the comparable text. Knowledge gained from the comparable text is not confined to the vocabulary (terminology/ phraseology) items, but includes the text as whole with all its distinctive features as a legal text: macrostructure, presentation, lengthy sentences, and marked structures.

7. Conclusion Most of the documents encountered in the Moroccan professional translation sphere are official, legal, or administrative; as such, their translations should retain the same legal value, fulfil the same operative function, and produce the same legal effect. Accordingly, the translator must be knowledgeable regarding the textual norms and conventions of the target language/ culture, so as to produce idiomatic texts vested with the full force of law. This requirement brings into play the roles of parallel and comparable texts for translation into a foreign language. The necessary textual knowledge can be acquired only through parallel and comparable corpora. During the posttranslation reflection phase of the educational method described above, focus is most often placed on the relevance of terminological search techniques, including recourse to parallel and comparable texts. In a professional translation world undersupplied with Arabic–language terminology databanks, specialised dictionaries, glossaries, and even monolingual compilations of collocations and phraseology, parallel/comparable texts remain the sole means that enable legal translators to produce functionally matching target texts.

References Bell, R. (1991) Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London/New York: Longman. Biber, D. (1989) A typology of English texts. Linguistics 27, 3–43. Cao, D. (2007) Translating Law. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. De Beaugrande, R. and Dressler, W. (1981) Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman. Delisle, J., Lee-Jahnke, H. and Cormier, M. (1999) Translation Terminology. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Halliday, M.A.K. amd Hasan, R. (1976) Cohesion in English. London and New York: Longman. Hatim, B. (1994) English-Arabic/Arabic-English Translation: A Practical Text Linguistic Guide. Tangier: King Fahd School of Translation. Hatim, B. and Mason, I. (1997) The Translator as Communicator. London and New York: Routledge. Kenny, D. (2001) Lexis and Creativity in Translation: A Corpus-based Study. Manchester: St. Jerome.

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Kruger, A. (2002) Corpus-based translation research: Its development and implications for general, literary and Bible translation. See http://www.ajol.info/index.php/actat/ article/ (accessed 20 October 2013). Krüger, R. (2012) Working with corpora in the translation classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (SSLLT) 2 (4), 505–525. Mayoral Asensio, R. (2003) Translating Official Documents. Manchester: St Jerome Publishing. Martinez, M.N. and Hurtado, A.A. (2001) Assessment in Translation Studies: Research needs. META 46 (2), 272–287. Mossop, B. (2003) School, practicum and professional development workshop: Toward a rational sequence of topics. In G. Mareschal, L. Brunette, Z. Guével and E. Valentine (eds) La Formation à la Traduction Professionnelle (pp. 47–61). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. Nord, C. (1997) A functional typology of translations. In A. Trosborg (ed.) Text Typology and Translation (pp. 43–64). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Šarcevic, S. (2000) Legal translation and translation theory: A receiver-oriented approach. University of Rijeka. See http://www.tradulex.org/Actes2000/sarcevic.pdf (accessed 15 August 2013). Zanettin, F. (1998) Bilingual corpora and the training of translators. META 43 (4). See http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/1998/v43/n4/àà463ar.pdf (accessed 09 September 2013).

Appendix 1 http://www.rusemb.org.uk/relarh/ (Accessed 10 September 2013; emphasis in the original.) AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Russian Federation (named below jointly as ‘the Parties’ and separately as ‘the Party’): Considering economic relations as an important and necessary element in the strengthening of bilateral relations; Being convinced that the development of bilateral economic co-operation will further the improvement of the prosperity of the peoples of each country; Expressing confidence that the widening of economic co-operation between the Parties and the peoples of each country including direct contacts between Russian organisations, companies and citizens and British organisations, companies and citizens (hereinafter referred to as “nationals and legal persons”) will be an important step on the path

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towards the integration of the Russian Federation in the world economic system; Desiring to establish a basis for economic co-operation between the two countries; Confirming their wish to develop economic co-operation in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Helsinki Final Act (August 1975), the Paris Charter for a New Europe (November 1990), the Helsinki Document of 1992 and with the other documents of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and in accordance with the Document of the Bonn Conference on Economic Co-operation in Europe (March-April 1990), with the European Energy Charter (December 1991) and with the Joint Declaration of the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland “Partnership in the 1990s”; Have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 The Parties shall aim to develop favourable conditions for the long term improvement of economic co-operation and investment in the two countries, including by means of encouraging: (a) the use of all available methods of financing for the support of mutual co-operation in business, investment and joint enterprises; (b) the establishment of preconditions for investment in their countries which will be attractive to investors from the other country; (c) the creation and maintenance of systems to protect intellectual property in accordance with the standards generally prevailing in Europe; (d) measures to assist the development of economic and business links, such as fairs, exhibitions, seminars and the exchange of visits of businessmen. ARTICLE 2 Each Party, at the request of the other Party, shall provide interested nationals and legal persons of the other country with market information in its possession insofar as such information is of non-confidential character and its provision is consistent with the national law of the Party providing such information. ARTICLE 3 The Parties acknowledge the significance of financing, including the provision of medium and long term credits, for steady and effective economic co-operation. The Parties shall, within the framework of national rules and international arrangements, make efforts to provide export credits on suitably favourable terms.

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ARTICLE 4 The Parties confirm their readiness to co-operate within the framework of international financial institutions. ARTICLE 5 Each Party affirms the importance of the principle of the freedom of transit of goods transported through the territory of its country and originating from the territory of the other country, in accordance with the laws and provisions pertaining in its country. ARTICLE 6 The Parties recognise the importance for economic co-operation of the development of infrastructure, including transport and communications both national and international. They shall encourage companies and organisations to participate in projects to improve the infrastructure, including co-operation in securing funding from international organisations for that purpose. ARTICLE 7 The Parties shall continue to co-operate and encourage co-operation through training and other forms of technical assistance with the aim of expanding the knowledge, skills and experience of managers and specialists in all fields of industry and agriculture, financial management and financial services. ARTICLE 8 Each Party confirms that it shall provide legal protection for investment by nationals and legal persons of the other country in accordance with the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments dated 6 April 1989 and with any other Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement subsequently concluded by the Parties. ARTICLE 9 The Parties recognise the importance of co-operation in the fields of Science and Technology and agree to promote such co-operation on a mutually beneficial basis. Such co-operation shall include but shall not be limited to the exchange of appropriate information, scientists and specialists. ARTICLE 10 The Parties have established a United Kingdom/Russian Inter-governmental Steering Committee on Trade and Investment to increase mutually beneficial business co-operation, to help create a favourable climate and legal basis for economic co-operation, to eliminate barriers to investment, to assist specific projects for economic co-operation and to explore different ways of financing projects.

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ARTICLE 11 Nationals and legal persons of either country shall receive national treatment with respect to access to and procedure of all courts and administrative bodies in the territory of the other country as plaintiffs, defendants or otherwise in connection with commercial deals. ARTICLE 12 Each Party agrees to conduct, at the request of the other Party, immediate consultations concerning problems linked with the implementation of the present Agreement, which in the opinion of the requesting Party might cause damage to its economy, financial position, national industry or agriculture. In choosing measures for resolving the above-mentioned problems the Parties shall give preference to those measures which have the least negative influence on the achievement of the purposes of the present Agreement. ARTICLE 13 Any changes or additions to this Agreement shall be agreed in writing between the Parties. ARTICLE 14 The Parties declare that this Agreement shall not detract from or otherwise displace the Parties’ respective rights and obligations under any existing bilateral and multilateral agreements to which either is a party, including any arising from their membership of international organisations, and that this Agreement shall be construed subject to any such agreements and is not intended to affect the interests of any other State or groups of States. ARTICLE 15 The present Agreement shall enter into force on the date of signature. It shall remain in force until the expiry of a six month period after written communication from one of the Parties concerning its intention to terminate the Agreement. In witness thereof the undersigned, duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement. Done at London this Ninth day of November 1992 in two originals in the English and Russian languages, both texts being equally authoritative. For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: M. HESELTINE For the Government of the Russian Federation: A. SHOKHIN

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Appendix 2 Extract from Agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Senegal (Official Gazette, Kingdom of Morocco, Issue No. 4736, 21 October 1999).

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‫‪Appendix 3‬‬ ‫‪Extract from the Moroccan Code of Civil Procedure (Official Gazette,‬‬ ‫)‪Kingdom of Morocco, Issue No. 3230, 30 September 1974‬‬ ‫اﻟﺒﺎب اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ‬ ‫اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻨﻮﻋﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﻔﺮع اﻷول‬ ‫اﺧﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ ‪18‬‬ ‫ﺗﺨﺘﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ – ﻣﻊ ﻣﺮاﻋﺎة اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎﺻﺎت اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ اﻟﻤﺨﻮﻟﺔ إﻟﻰ ﺣﻜﺎم اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﺎت و ﺣﻜﺎم اﻟﻤﻘﺎطﻌﺎت –‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻈـﺮﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﯿﻊ اﻟﻘﻀﺎﯾﺎ وﻗﻀﺎﯾﺎ اﻷﺳﺮة واﻟﺘﺠﺎرﯾﺔ واﻹدارﯾﺔ واﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ واﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ أو اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ ﻣﻊ ﺣﻔﻆ ﺣﻖ‬ ‫اﻻﺳﺘﺌﻨﺎف‪.‬‬ ‫ﺗﺨﺘﺺ أﯾﻀﺎ ﺑﻘﻄﻊ اﻟﻨﻈﺮ ﻋﻦ ﺟﻤﯿﻊ اﻟﻤﻘﺘﻀﯿﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺎﻟﻔﺔ و ﻟﻮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺎﻟﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﯾﺴﻨﺪ ﻓﯿﮭﺎ ﻗﺎﻧﻮن ﺧﺎص ﺳﺎﺑﻖ اﻟﻨﻈﺮ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ ﺑﻌﺾ أﻧﻮاع اﻟﻘﻀﺎﯾﺎ إﻟﻰ ﻣﺤﻜﻤﺔ أﺧﺮى‪.‬‬ ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ ‪19‬‬ ‫ﺗﺨﺘﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻈﺮ اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ و اﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ إﻟﻰ ﻏﺎﯾﺔ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ آﻻف درھﻢ‪ ،‬و اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ ﻣﻊ ﺣﻔﻆ ﺣﻖ اﻻﺳﺘﺌﻨﺎف‬ ‫ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﯿﻊ اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺘﺠﺎوز ھﺬا اﻟﻤﺒﻠﻎ‪.‬‬ ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ ‪20‬‬ ‫ﺗﺨﺘﺺ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﻀﺎﯾﺎ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻈﺮ ﻓﻲ‪:‬‬ ‫أ( اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت اﻟﻔﺮدﯾﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﻌﻘﻮد اﻟﺸﻐﻞ أو اﻟﺘﺪرﯾﺐ اﻟﻤﮭﻨﻲ و اﻟﺨﻼﻓﺎت اﻟﻔﺮدﯾﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﻟﮭﺎ ﻋﻼﻗﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﺸﻐﻞ أو اﻟﺘﺪرﯾﺐ اﻟﻤﮭﻨﻲ؛‬ ‫ب( اﻟﺘﻌﻮﯾﺾ ﻋﻦ اﻷﺿﺮار اﻟﻨﺎﺗﺠﺔ ﻋﻦ ﺣﻮادث اﻟﺸﻐﻞ و اﻷﻣﺮاض اﻟﻤﮭﻨﯿﺔ طﺒﻘﺎ ﻟﻠﺘﺸﺮﯾﻊ اﻟﺠﺎري ﺑﮫ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ؛‬ ‫ج( اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﻗﺪ ﺗﺘﺮﺗﺐ ﻋﻦ ﺗﻄﺒﯿﻖ اﻟﻤﻘﺘﻀﯿﺎت اﻟﺘﺸﺮﯾﻌﯿﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻈﯿﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻀﻤﺎن اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻲ‪.‬‬ ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ ‪21‬‬

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‫ﺗﺒﺖ اﻟﻤﺤﻜﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﻀﺎﯾﺎ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ اﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺣﺪود اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻤﺨﻮل إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺤﺎﻛـﻢ اﻻﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿـﺔ و‬ .‫ و اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ إذا ﺗﺠﺎوز اﻟﻄﻠﺐ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﻤﺒﻠﻎ أوﻛﺎن ﻏﯿﺮ ﻣﺤﺪد‬19 ‫اﻟﻤﺤـﺪد ﺑﻤﻘﺘﻀـﻰ اﻟﻔﺼﻞ‬ ‫ﻏﯿﺮ أﻧﮫ ﯾﺒﺖ اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﯿﺎ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻓﻲ ﻗﻀﺎﯾﺎ ﺣﻮادث اﻟﺸﻐﻞ و اﻷﻣﺮاض اﻟﻤﮭﻨﯿﺔ و ﻛﺬا ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻌﺎﺷﺎت اﻟﻤﻤﻨﻮﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻧﻄﺎق‬ ‫اﻟﻀﻤـﺎن اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻲ ﺑﺎﺳﺘـﺜـﻨﺎء اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت اﻟﻨﺎﺷـﺌـﺔ ﻋﻦ ﺗﻄﺒـﯿﻖ اﻟﻐﺮاﻣﺎت اﻟﺘﮭﺪﯾﺪﯾﺔ اﻟﻤﻘﺮرة ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘـﺸﺮﯾﻊ اﻟﺨﺎص‬ .‫ﺑﺎﻟﺘﻌﻮﯾﺾ ﻋـﻦ ﺣﻮادث اﻟﺸﻐـﻞ و اﻷﻣﺮاض اﻟﻤﮭﻨﯿﺔ ﻓﺈن اﻷﺣﻜﺎم ﺗﺼﺪر ﺑﺼﻔﺔ اﻧﺘﮭﺎﺋﯿﺔ و ﻟﻮ ﻛﺎن ﻣﺒﻠﻎ اﻟﻄﻠﺐ ﻏﯿﺮ ﻣﺤﺪد‬ 22 ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ‬ .‫ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﻤﻘﺎﺑﻠﺔ‬15 ‫ﺗﻄﺒﻖ ﻣﻘﺘﻀﯿﺎت اﻟﻔﺼﻞ‬ 23 ‫اﻟﻔﺼﻞ‬ ‫ ﺗﺤﺖ طﺎﺋﻠﺔ ﻋﺪم‬20 ‫ﯾﺠﺐ ﺗﻘﺪﯾﻢ طﻠﺐ واﺣﺪ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻨﺰاﻋﺎت و اﻟﺨﻼﻓﺎت اﻟﻤﻨﺼﻮص ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻔﻘﺮة اﻷوﻟﻰ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺼﻞ‬ ‫اﻟﻘﺒﻮل ﻣﺎ ﻋﺪا إذا ﺛﺒﺖ اﻟﻄﺎﻟﺐ أن أﺳﺒﺎب اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﺠﺪﯾﺪة ﻟﻢ ﺗﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺪاﯾﺔ ﻟﺼﺎﻟﺤﮫ و ﻟﻢ ﯾﻌﺮﻓﮭﺎ إﻻ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺗﻘﺪﯾﻢ اﻟﻄﻠـﺐ‬ ‫ و ﯾﺠﺐ ﻓﻲ ھﺬه اﻟﺤﺎﻟﺔ إﺿﺎﻓﺘﮭﺎ إﻟﻰ‬،‫ ﻏﯿـﺮ أﻧﮫ ﺗﻘﺒﻞ اﻟﻄﻠﺒﺎت اﻟﺠﺪﯾﺪة اﻟﻤﻘﺪﻣﺔ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺤﻜﻢ ﻧﮭﺎﺋﯿﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻷﺻﻠﻲ‬،‫اﻷوﻟﻲ‬ .‫اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻷول ﻗﺼﺪ اﻟﺒﺖ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﯿﻊ ﺑﺤﻜﻢ واﺣﺪ‬

Appendix 4 Extract from Azerbaijan’s Code of Civil Procedure http://www.refworld.org/ docid/4417f5c84.html (Accessed 23 August 2013) THE CIVIL PROCEDURAL CODE OF THE AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC CHAPTER 3. Jurisdiction Article 24. Jurisdiction of court in respect of disputes 24.1 Courts of the Azerbaijan Republic shall guarantee and protect violated and disputed rights and freedoms, except in the event their protection is to be carried out in an out of court order pursuant to this Code and other laws. 24.2 Relevance of dispute to general court or economic court shall be established, in accordance with this Code, further to composition of the parties participating in case, subject matter of dispute or nature of legal relationships. Article 25. Jurisdiction of general court in respect of disputes 25.1 Disputes arising out of, or related to, civil, family, labour, residential, land relationships, relationships on use of natural resources and protection of environment, tax, administrative and other types of relationships, where at least one party to such dispute is physical person and does not have status of entrepreneur, or where person has status of entrepreneur and the dispute has not been caused by his entrepreneurial activities, shall be within the jurisdiction of general courts. CHAPTER 4. Court jurisdiction Article 33. Notion of court jurisdiction Distribution of jurisdiction of courts for purposes of review of cases at courts of first instance shall be regulated by this Chapter.

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Article 34. Jurisdiction of district (city) courts in respect of civil cases Cases falling within jurisdiction of courts shall be considered by district (city) courts of first instance, local economic courts, economical court on disputes arising out of international agreements. Article 35. Submission of claim at place of location of respondent 35.1 Except as otherwise specified by law, claim shall be submitted to court at place of legal registration of respondent. 35.2 Claim against legal entity shall be submitted at place of address of legal entity. Claim against legal entity arising out of activity of its subsidiary shall be submitted at place of address of such subsidiary. 35.3 Counter claim shall, irrespective of its jurisdiction, be submitted to court reviewing initial claim. CHAPTER 5. Persons participating in case and other participants of the proceeding Article 46. Composition of persons participating in the case Persons participating in cases shall be parties, third parties, applicants, interested persons, social organisations, state authorities and other institutions entitled to appeal to court for protection of breached or violated rights. Article 47. Rights and obligations of persons participating in case 47.1 Persons participating in case shall exercise their procedural rights in good faith. 47.2 Persons participating in case shall have the right to familiarise themselves with materials of the case, to take extracts and to make copies therefrom and thereof, to file objections, to submit evidence and to participate in the hearing thereof, to ask questions of other persons participating in case, witnesses, experts and specialists, to file petition, including petition for request of supplementary evidence, to give oral and written explanations to the court, to submit proves on any matters arising in course of the court proceeding, to object to motions and objections of other persons participating in case, to appeal against decisions of the court and to use other procedural rights specified by civil procedural legislation. Article 61. Other participants in case In addition to persons participating in case, witnesses, experts, specialists, interpreters, representatives and advocates shall have the right to participate in the case.

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Article 62. Witness 62.1 Any person in possession of information conducing to fair settlement of a dispute by court may be interrogated as a witness. 62.2 Witness shall be obliged to appear before court and to inform court of all the known to him information and circumstances on the case. Article 63. Expert 63.1 Expert shall be a person with special knowledge, appointed by court for the purpose of issue of an opinion required under the provisions of this Code. 63.2 Person appointed to carry out examination shall upon call appear before court and provide an impartial opinion on requested matters. Expert shall have the right to refuse to provide an opinion if he has not got knowledge, required for carrying out of his responsibilities. Article 65. Interpreter 65.1 Interpreter shall be a person appointed by court in cases specified by this Code and having knowledge of languages at a level sufficient for making interpretations. CHAPTER 6. Representation in court Article 69. Conducting of case through representative 69.1 Any physical person or legal entity shall have the right to bring a claim before the court acting in person or through a duly appointed representative. Where necessary, court shall have the right to request a person to appear in court in person for the purpose of submission of explanations. 69.2 Legal entities shall be represented in courts through their bodies specified in law, normative-legal acts or establishment documents, or through their respective representatives authorised to act so. Article 70. Persons who may act as representatives in court Except for persons referred to in Article 71 of this Code, any person with action capacity, having duly legalised authority to appear before court, shall have the right to act as a representative in court. Article 71. Persons who may not act as representatives in court 71.1 Persons without full action capacity, or persons under custodianship or guardianship, shall not be entitled to participate in court as representatives. 71.2 Judges, investigators, prosecutors, deputies of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan and Ali Majlis of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic shall not be entitled to participate in court as representatives, except for cases of their participation as authorised persons of respective bodies or as legal representatives.

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CHAPTER 11. Dispatch of official court documentation, writs and summons Article 134. Official documents 134.1 Court shall officially submit the following documents to persons participating in case: 134.1.1 claim petition; 134.1.2 counter claim petition; 134.1.3 copies of documents prepared by parties with respect to acknowledgement of, or refusal from, claims; 134.2 Where necessary, court shall also have right to present other documents relevant to the case. Article 135. Official submission of document 135.1 Official submission of document shall mean presentation of documents dispatched by the court. 135.3 Official submission of a document during night-time, as well as on Saturdays and Sundays shall be effected only upon consent of the court. Article 136. Procedure for submission of acts of court and court documentation 136.1 Acts of court and documents referred to in Article 134 of this Code shall be submitted by post, through registered mail. Where necessary, court shall have the right to instruct a court employee, or in the event of economic disputes, respectively, claimant or respondent, to effect official submission of documents. 136.2 Communication enterprises obliged to present acts of court and court documentation, or persons instructed to effect presentation of acts of court and court documentation shall do so during the day following a day of receipt of acts of court and court documentation. Article 140. Court writs and summons 140.1 Court shall notify persons participating in case of time and place of a court session. 140.2 Court writs and summons shall be delivered by post. 140.3 Persons participating in case shall be notified of time and place of a court session, as well as of performance of individual procedural actions by writs.

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Article 141. Contents of writ or summons 141.1 Writ or summons shall constitute an official court document and shall be prepared in accordance with the approved form. 141.2 The following information shall be contained in the text of a writ or summons: 141.2.1 name and full address of the court (telephone, fax, postal code, etc.); 141.2.2 indication of time (date and time [in hours and minutes]) and place of appearance before the court; 141.2.3 information on person to be notified or called to the court (last name, first name and patronymic); 141.2.4 address of person to be notified or called to the court (place of residence, or place of location of a legal entity); 141.2.9 reference to liability for failure of a called or notified person to appear before the court and responsibility to notify the court on reasons of such failure. Article 142. Submission of writ 142.1 Writs shall be delivered by post or through persons commissioned by the judge. Time of presentation of writ to the recipient shall be shown on the part of the writ to be returned to the court. 142.2 Judge, upon consent of a person participating in case, shall have the right to give such person writ for delivery to other person to be notified or called in relation to the case. 142.3 Authorities responsible for delivery of writs, or person instructed to deliver a writ, shall perform such actions during the day following a day of receipt of such writ. Article 144. Obligation to appear before court 144.1 Person receiving a writ shall appear before court at time specified in the writ. 144.2 Recipient shall inform the court on inability to appear before the court. 144.3 Failure of an individual to appear before the court in person or through representative due to invalid reasons shall testify silent consent with respect to claims made and shall not prevent the case from being considered.

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SECTION II PROCEEDING IN COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE Subsection 1. Claim proceeding CHAPTER 12. Filing of petition Article 149. Form and contents of claim petition 149.1 Claim petition shall be filed in a written form. Claim petition shall be signed by a claimant or by a duly authorised representative. 149.2 The following information shall be contained in the text of claim petition: 149.2.1 name of court to which claim is brought; 149.2.2 names and addresses of the parties; 149.2.3 claim of a claimant or an applicant, grounds constituting basis for such claims, norms of law constituting grounds for claims relying upon provisions of laws and other normative legal acts, where a claim is filed against several respondents reference to a claim against each of such respondents; 149.2.4 where provided by contract or with respect to certain categories of cases by law, reference to compliance with the out-of-court (pretension) procedure for the settlement of dispute; 149.2.5 list of documents attached to the petition. 149.3 Claimant shall have the right to bring several interrelated claims by one claim petition. 149.4 Petition shall also refer to other information required for fair settlement of the case, as well as to motions of the claimant. Article 150. Documents attached to claim petition 150.0 The following documents shall be attached to claim petition: 150.0.1 copies of petition in number corresponding to the number of respondents and third parties; 150.0.2 evidence of payment of state duty; 150.0.3 power of attorney or other document certifying authorities of representative. CHAPTER 14. Preparation of case for hearing in court Article 165. Duty to prepare case for hearing by court Judge shall, with consideration of the principle of contentiousness, perform all actions necessary for preparation of case for hearing by court, its consideration on its merits and passing a resolution.

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Article 166. Ruling on preparation of case for hearing in court 166.1 Judge shall render ruling on preparation of case for hearing in court. 166.2 Ruling shall refer to actions to be performed in connection with preparation of the case for hearing, setting a court session, as well as place and time of the session. Article 171. Setting case for hearing by court Where a case is deemed by the judge as sufficiently prepared for hearing, judge shall notify persons participating in case of time and place of case hearing and shall issue a ruling on assignment of case for hearing by court.

Appendix 5 Extract from 58/232 Agreement between the United Nations and the World Tourism Organisation (English version), by the General Assembly. Copyright 2004, United Nations. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.

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Appendix 6 Extract from 58/232 Agreement between the United Nations and the World Tourism Organisation (Arabic version), by the General Assembly. Copyright 2004, United Nations. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.

7

Translating Colour Metaphors: A Cognitive Perspective Sami Chatti

A colour metaphor mirrors the colourful world!

1. Introduction Traditionally restricted to literary poetics, metaphors have crossed the ornamental metalinguistic level to engage into commonly grounded everyday speech. Research in the field of cognitive linguistics suggests that metaphors are central in language and thought (e.g. Coulson, 2000, 2006; Coulson & Oakley, 2006; Fauconnier & Turner, 1998, 2008; Johnson, 1993; Kövecses, 2002, 2006; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999; Lakoff, 1987; Lakoff & Turner, 1989; Sweetser, 1990; Turner, 1991). Studies on the cognitive processes involved in metaphor comprehension come to the basic assumption that metaphors establish correspondences between concepts from disparate domains of knowledge. Typically, the projection of elements from one conceptual domain onto another involves not merely the objects and properties characteristic of the source domain but also the relations, events, and scenarios that characterise the domain (Grady, 2007). This crossdomain mapping governs the manner in which metaphors function and are processed in natural languages. Colour metaphors shape, to a large extent, the way we communicate about and reason with such an abstract concept as emotions. Exploring colour metaphors raises, however, the question of the cultural invariance of colour symbolism: parallel to the establishment of cross-domain mappings of colour significances within one source culture, there is a need to equate these same mappings with their correspondences in the target culture. Identifying crosscultural equivalences is then essential for colour-word interpreting, in order to account for the effect of cultural contextualisation in shaping the conceptualisation of metaphorical expressions and for determining a strategy for translating colour metaphors between English and Arabic. 161

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2. The Continuum: Language, Culture and Translation Language and culture are two sides of the same coin. ‘To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life’ (Wittgenstein, 1953: 8). This intricate connection between language and culture attests to the symbolic function of language as a means of elucidating the sociocultural knowledge shared within a linguistic community. Embedded in a specific cultural frame, language reflects the collective experience of the speech community. Culture, derived from the community’s common norms and constraints, provides the interpretive frames for making sense of this experience, whilst translation offers a means of communicating it cross-linguistically and cross-culturally.

2.1 Towards a cultural view of translation Conceived as a communicative act, translation has gained importance in the present global context. Theories of translation have developed from the purely linguistic approach of the 1960s, through the textual focus of the late 1970s, to the culturally based orientation of the second decade of the second millennium, which views translation as a process of communication between cultures.

2.1.1 Culture as webs of significance Although ubiquitous, the concept of culture is hardly transparent. Since its first anthropological definition by Edward Tylor (1903: 1), it has embraced multiple significances and acquired numerous dimensions. The polysemy of the term reveals a definitional fuzziness related to the complexity of the phenomenon and the broader implications of espousing a certain conception of culture rather than another. Given such conceptual intricacy, it is necessary to understand culture in its broad and comprehensive sense. A proper approach would be the conception of culture as ‘webs of significance’ (Geertz, 1993: 5) that need to be interpreted in search of meaning. Consequently, culture cannot refer to a particular closed horizon, but must rather indicate a ‘multiplicity of horizons into which we move and that move with us’ (Gadamer, 2004: 303). It is therefore misleading to conceive of cultures as separate, closed, and homogeneous, since by doing so we ignore how encountering different cultures shapes our understanding and enriches our experience. This dynamicity of culture entails a contextualised conception of language as a system of communication that is intimately entrenched within a particular speech community. Words obtain their meaning from their context of use, which in turn is largely shaped by the shared generic knowledge within a linguistic community as coded in conventions, norms, and beliefs. Accordingly, interpretation of meaning cannot be conceived without reference to an intricate sociocultural system: every word is deeply rooted in users’ tacit knowledge of the world, and each text is co-constructed through the interpretive act.

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This interpretation is nevertheless not boundless, but often constrained by the speech community’s shared cultural considerations and norms.

2.1.2 Translation and cultural interpretation Language and culture being inextricably interwoven, the cross-linguistic transfer of an expression is precisely an attempt to integrate elements of one culture into another. Translation, in this respect, can be viewed as a linguistically mediated voyage between cultures that hinges on bilingual and bicultural competencies. Awareness of the linguistic and cultural dimension of every text is therefore essential for the accuracy and quality of any translation task. Indeed, ‘cross-language translation is possible only to the extent that cross-cultural translation is possible’ (Givón, 2009 [1989]: 325). As such, intercultural communication entails establishing a language–culture– translation continuum that governs cross-linguistically both the construction and interpretation of meaning. Accordingly, we can conceive of translation as a continuum process of cultural blending that takes meaning transfer as its local departure point. Awareness of the norms and standards entrenched in the source text thus shapes, to a large extent, the understanding of the target text. Likewise, knowledge of the conventions and constraints embedded in the target culture implies an active ‘formatting’ or ‘recontextualisation’ of the source text in order to ensure a perfect cross-cultural overlap. Therefore, I perceive translation not as a plain linguistic transfer, but rather as a conscientious metempsychosic process wherein the author’s intentions encounter the reader’s expectations via the translator’s interpretations, and all are based on cultural considerations. This definition of translation is particularly valuated with regard to the translation of metaphors, proverbs, and idioms.

2.1.3 Cultural filtering Languages evolve to suit the needs of their speakers. Different ideas and words stem from distinct uses and needs. The Arabic and Inuit languages, for instance, are known for their rich vocabularies concerning, respectively, sand and snow. In fact, Arabic contains more than 100 descriptors for the camel (Al-Tha‘a¯libı¯, 1885), whilst Sami has nearly 1000 for the reindeer ˙ Such lexical idiosyncrasies suggest a usage-based conception (Magga, 1984). of language that in turn entails a cultural description of translation and thereby enhances the metaphor of translators as messengers or mediators and affords increased scope to the portrayal of their role. Translators not only emerge as linguistic interpreters, but also as endorsers of the cultural mediator role. Hatim and Mason (1990: 128) maintain that ‘the notion of mediation is a useful way of looking at translators’ decisions regarding the transfer of intertextual reference’, whereas Bassnett (2011), Gentzler (1993) and Newmark (1995) all hold the view that the goal of translation is to mediate between cultures.

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Clearly, this mediation serves as a filter: that is, a selective, decisionbased tool which guides the reader on the path to the target text. Katan endorses a similar view when he claims that an essential difference between a traditional translator and a mediator is the mediator’s ability to understand and create frames. The mediator will be able to understand the frames of interpretation in the source culture and will be able to produce a text which would create a similar set of interpretation frames to be accessed in the target reader’s mind. (1999: 125) Conceived as ‘a means of capturing cognitive and socio-cultural differences in expectation, norms and discourse conventions between source and target linguistic–cultural communities’ (House, 2006: 349), a cultural filter operates as an interpretive framing device which helps the translator account for the target reader’s communicative conventions and constraints. This function is particularly authentic when it comes to translating culturally loaded expressions such as metaphors, idioms, and proverbs, where a literal translation rarely provides an accurate target text. The English proverb ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’, for instance, cannot be correctly rendered into Arabic without referring to culturally specific knowledge of the swallow’s migration routes. Tracing these routes shows that cliff swallows travel from South America to the United States in summer, whereas house swallows travel from Europe to North Africa in spring. The translator should explicitly account for this knowledge and adapt the text to yield the most culturally appropriate translation, in order to ensure a better readability of the target text, for example: (1) One swallow doesn’t make a summer (1’) ‫*ﺧﻄﺎف واﺣﺪ ﻻ ﯾﺼﻨﻊ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬ *One swallow doesn’t make a summer (1”) ‫ﺧﻄﺎف واﺣﺪ ﻻ ﯾﺼﻨﻊ اﻟﺮﺑﯿﻊ‬ One swallow doesn’t make a spring Such an adaptation strategy works as a compensatory technique for losses due to lack of cultural isomorphism between the source and target text. House (1997) categorises this type of translation as ‘covert translation’, which aims to produce a text that ‘enjoys the status of an original source text in the target culture’ (1997: 347). Figurativeness and symbolism of the source text should be faithfully rendered in the target text, with due attention to the target culture’s textual conventions and aesthetics. Colour metaphors particularly embody a conventionally established symbolic meaning which belongs to the community’s cultural heritage. A crosscultural analysis of colour symbolism is essential for conveying the exact meaning of colour metaphors crosslinguistically.

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2.1.4 Colour symbolism Like road signs, clock faces, and traffic lights, colour words are meaningful symbols. As such, they play a critical role in constructing encyclopaedic knowledge, shaping experience, and modelling the environment. Colours indisputably paint the world, but they do so in a culturally bound and linguistically standardised way. Colours in different languages and cultures may convey different connotative interpretations. Even when cultures come into contact, colour meaning does not necessarily overlap. Indeed, the same colour may convey different meanings in different cultures, depending on the prevalent beliefs, norms, and constraints in each culture. The present study focuses on the symbolism of six basic colours: black, white, yellow, red, green and blue, as these seem to be universally taken as basic colours, and considers them mainly from Arabic (Muslim) and Western (Christian) cultural perspectives. A comparative analysis of colour meanings in Arabic and English was expected to reveal the connotative disparities between these two languages, thus asserting the role of cultural contextualisation in translation. In addition, the significance of these six colours in Arabic is attributable to their occurrence in the Quran. This fact ascertains the place of Islam in shaping the Arabic symbolic system and confirms the intimate embodiment of culture in language. Black. Under the two cultural umbrellas mainly being considered here, there seems to be a direct correspondence between blackness and imagery of darkness. In Western culture, black is the colour of mourning and death. Additionally, in the Christian bible (and its Jewish antecedent) black stands for evil, pain, and misfortune (He, 2009). In Elizabethan times, it was associated with dirty, sinister and wicked qualities (Jordan, 1997). Considering this connotation of black and its attribution, a person who is referred to as a ‘black sheep’ is a disgrace to the family; a black-hearted person is a cruel, mean and vicious individual; and a black hole refers to an obscure and blurred state of mind. Similarly, Arab cultures connote black negatively. In the Quran, both the heart and face of evil people are black. Throughout Arab literature, the adjective ‘black’ collocates with death, misery and evil: a black death is a painful death, black magic is wicked sorcery, and a black bird is a sign of misfortune and certain death. Traditionally, the expression ‘the two blacks’ refers to a snake and a scorpion, two poisonous creatures feared in the Arabian Desert. White. In opposition to black and its negative, shadowy associations, white is uniformly positive, clear and luminous. In East Asia, white symbolises mourning and death (Sable & Akcay, 2010), but it is equated with goodness in most other regions. The primary symbolism of white abounds in natural forms such as clouds, cotton, and some crystals, whose purity is idiomatically extended in language. Thus, a white flag is a plea for peace; a white-hearted person is a forgiving and virtuous individual; a white record is a clean and impeccable one; a white hand is generous and kind; and a white lie is told when the truth would cause needless distress.

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This positive connotation of whiteness seems to prevail in Arab cultures as well. Throughout the Arab World, white stands for purity, virtue and truth. A white dove portrays peace; a bride’s dress is usually white, to symbolize purity and chastity. During the wedding ceremony in Tunisia, a bride places seven ‘white’ objects beneath her seat (sugar, salt, water, milk, yogurt, mirror and silver coins) to bring her happiness and good fortune. The idiomatic abstraction of this symbolism appears in expressions such as ‘white hair’, which refers to wisdom, and the greeting ‘Have a white day’, which in Egypt is used synonymously with ‘Have a nice day’ to express the people’s positive perception of whiteness. Red. Although most basic colours seem to portray a clearly standardised, unique symbolism, some may portray a twofold and contradictory imagery; that is, of qualities good and bad, noble or base. Red, for instance, conveys a wide spectrum of seemingly conflicting meanings that cover danger, romance, carnality, guilt, and warfare. Besides the basic association of a red rose with love and passion, and a red carpet with power and prestige, a red night may allude to hedonism; a criminal can be caught red-handed; a red flag is a warning; and a red light can denote the presence of traffic hazards or adult entertainment, depending on context. With danger come emotions and their physical manifestations. Mounting blood pressure naturally turns the face red, and through metaphorisation, redness connotes anger or embarrassment. Derived originally from bullfighting, where the animals are said to be enraged when a red cape is waved at them, the English idiom ‘seeing red’ as well as the French expression ‘rouge de colère’ [red with anger] or the Arabic phrase ‘‫[ ’ﻋﯿﻦ ﺣﻤﺮاء‬red eye] all – crossculturally – reiterate this cross-domain mapping of redness onto anger. Another symbolism of the colour red is derived from a religious context, where the redness of a blazing fire portrays the imagery of eternal damnmation (hell). In Islam as in Christianity, unrepentant sinners are doomed to burn in hell after death as punishment for the evil deeds they committed in life. By analogy, red has become the colour of misfortune and evil both in Western and Arabic cultures. East Asian cultures, however, reject this gloomy depiction of redness in favor of assigning it a pure and joyful meaning. In China, for instance, happiness, prosperity, and good luck are all represented by red. During wedding celebrations, Chinese brides wear red to indicate their chastity and morality. Likewise, children’s clothing must contain some red items as a talisman against sickness (Yu, 2003). Green. ‘Hope rules a land forever green’, says Wordsworth (1828). Indeed, green is the colour of Mother Nature – the colour of young plants and early spring. In abstract terms, green refers to fertility, vitality, and safety in both Western and Arab cultures. A green land is a fruitful one; a green mistress is young and vigorous; and a green light is a universal go-ahead sign. The virtuous connotation of green appears in religious imagery as well. The Quran

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paints Paradise in green, where believers wear fine green silk1; Prophet Muhammad is also quoted as saying that water, greenery and a beautiful face are the three universal sources of pleasure2. In Sufi lore, green corresponds to the highest stage of the mystical path. Unlike Arabic sources, in which green is predominantly connoted positively, English and Western culture relate it to negative feelings of jealousy and envy. The idiomatic expression ‘green with envy’ and the corresponding association of colour and emotion have been well established since Shakespearean times, as the ‘green-eyed monster’ in Othello (Act 3, Scene 3) clearly shows (Phillip, 2006). Nor has this metaphor lost currency over the centuries, as the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms affirms: ‘He was green with envy when he saw their expensive new car’ (Siefring, 2004: 147). The completeness of the association is such that the Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms (Spooner, 2007) gives ‘green’ as an equivalent term for ‘envious’ or ‘jealous’. Yellow. Cross-culturally, this colour invokes complex associations. Besides denoting the warmth of sunlight or the richness of gold, yellow is the colour of the autumn and the desert. Indeed, some leaves turn yellow in autumn before they wither and fall. This property is analogically mapped onto natural languages through several metaphorical uses that connote weakness and decay. In English, yellow is the colour of cowardice and fear. In the same vein, the expression ‘a yellow smile’ indicates a false or sickly one and the phrase ‘yellow press’ conveys sensationalism, cynicism, and distrust. As such, unhealthiness, infidelity, and weakness are often coloured yellow in Western culture. Similarly, yellow is likely to be negatively viewed in Arabic cultures. The َ ‫ﺼﻔ ًَّﺮا ﺛ ُ ﱠﻢ ﯾَﺠْ ﻌَﻠُﮫُ ُﺣ‬ Quranic quotation ‘‫ﻄﺎ ًﻣﺎ‬ ْ ‫‘[ ’ﺛﻢ ﯾ ِﮭﯿ ُﺞ ﻓَﺘ ََﺮاهُ ُﻣ‬and afterward they (crops) wither and you see them turn yellow; then He makes them dry and broken pieces’] (Surah Az-Zumar, Verse 21; Al-Hilali & Khan, 1996: 623) links yellowness to a state of decay. Also, the idiomatic Arabic expression ‘‫[ ’وﺟﮫ ﻣﺼﻔﺮ‬yellow face] conveys a feeling of anxiety and fear due to the cultural association of yellowness with sickness and weakness. Indeed, the colloquial expression ‘‫اﻟﺴﺮاﯾﺎ‬ ‫[ ’اﻟﺼﻔﺮاء‬yellow building] refers to a psychiatric hospital in Egypt and jaundiced people are described as ‘yellow-skinned’. In the Tunisian context, the medical term ‘‫[ ’ﺑﻮﺻﻔﯿﺮ‬yellowness] refers to viral hepatitis, which turns the rosy glow of the cheek and the healthy white colour of eyeballs to yellowy pale. Another extended meaning appears in the common use of the colour metaphor ‘‫أﻓﻌﻰ‬ ‫[ ’ﺻﻔﺮاء‬yellow snake] to describe a vicious and malicious woman. Blue. As with the other basic colours, blue is intimately linked to the elements of nature. Mainly due to its natural association with the sky, the colour blue has come to embody the divine and the sublime. Blue belongs to the qualitatively ‘cooler’ end of the spectrum, and thus it has been symbolically associated with truth, which is widely believed to be the result of calm reflection rather than heated debate. In Christian imagery, the Virgin Mary is often clad

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in a blue robe, for the same reason that she is often represented as standing by the Well of Truth; in ancient Egypt, judges wore a breastplate of blue to show that they would revere truth in their judgments and not stoop to bribery (Conroy, 1998 [1921]). In everyday language, the phrase ‘true-blue’ signifies steadfastness and determination. Extending this symbolism reveals a widespread positive portrayal of the colour blue throughout Western culture. This intimate equating of blueness with truthfulness is, nonetheless, far from being universally standardised. In Arab cultures, for instance, the colour blue holds the most extended and abstract negative meanings. The expression ‘‫[ ’ﺟﺴﺪ أزرق‬blue body], for example, indicates a cold, dead body; the phrase ‘‫[ ’ﻋﯿﻦ زرﻗﺎء‬blue eye] symbolises envy and jealousy. Likewise, the Quranic ُ ْ‫ﻮر َوﻧَﺤ‬ verse ‘‫ﺸ ُﺮ ْاﻟ ُﻤﺠْ ِﺮﻣِ ﯿﻦَ ﯾَ ْﻮ َﻣﺌِ ٍﺬ ُز ْرﻗًﺎ‬ ‫[ ﯾَ ْﻮ َم ﯾُﻨﻔَ ُﺦ ﻓِﻲ اﻟ ﱡ‬The Day when the Trumpet will ِ ‫ﺼ‬ be blown … : that Day, We shall gather the mujrimu¯n (criminals, polytheists, sinners, disbelievers in the Oneness of Alla¯h) blue or blind-eyed with thirst] (Surah Ta-Ha, Verse 102; Al-Hilali & Khan, 1996: 423) clearly associates blueness with fearfulness and evil instead of safety and divinity. Translators should be aware of possible cultural mismatches in colour symbolism when they are dealing with figurative use of colours in texts. Awareness of the necessity to filter colour metaphors is essential for an accurate translation. In short, translated texts should accurately convey the lack of universal standardisation of colour meanings.

3. Conceptual Blending of Colour Metaphors Metaphor is an inherent feature of language and thought which offers a means ‘to ground our conceptual systems experientially and to reason in a constrained but creative fashion’ (Johnson, 1992: 351). Conceived as a matter of cross-domain mapping, metaphor equates knowledge about one source domain with knowledge about another target domain in a way that fundamentally determines or influences its conceptualisation (Riemer, 2005). Exploring colour metaphors entails an overall understanding of the conceptual blending of colours with emotions, in order to help unveil the emotional charge conveyed by colour words. However, even though many emotions are grounded in universal perceptual experiences, there is a significant cultural framing of these experiences that leads to variations in the source domain across different cultures.

3.1 Conceptual blending theory Blending is a basic and pervasive mental operation that binds and integrates the basic elements of thought into complex ideas (Fauconnier, 1997). Viewed as a general model of meaning construction, conceptual blending theory involves a small set of processes which operate on encyclopaedic knowledge

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to respond to specific needs. Discussed at length in Fauconnier and Turner (1998, 2002) and Coulson (2000), blending refers to the process whereby selected elements of two or more mental spaces are incorporated into a third space, the blend, which may have properties not derivable from either of the input spaces (Taylor, 2002). This mental integration of selected information offers a finer account of the functioning of metaphors. For instance, our understanding of the metaphor ‘Grammar is the glue of language’ incorporates elements from input spaces that pertain to the function of, respectively, grammatical rules and bonding agents. The resulting blend gives a visualisation of how the disparate constituents of language can be methodically and appropriately bound together to create reliable structures. Similarly, colour metaphors display a mapping of elements from the source and target domains onto a novel blended space. The metaphoric expression ‘Algeria has overcome the aftermath of the black decade’ utilises colour symbolism to refer to the violent events that occurred in Algeria in the 1990s. Given the intricacy of the target domain, its proper conceptualisation demands some all-encompassing approach. To this end, colour metaphors offer an elegant and effective way to ground human emotions experientially and to reason symbolically. The phrase ‘the black decade’ selectively projects from both the source and target domains onto a novel frame in the blend: in fact, emotions are colourless and colours are emotionfree. However, the interaction between both inputs inside the blend frame conventionally links blackness with grief and woe. This metonymic grounding of the emotional effect onto perceptual experience governs the comprehension of colour metaphors in different cultures. Mapping between the domains of colours and emotions provides an understanding of emotive effects in terms of colour symbols. Since it is metonymically mediated, this mapping appears in the most basic of metaphors, such as ‘anger is red’, as reflected in conventional expressions such as ‘seeing red’ or ‘turning red’ (Kövecses, 1986; Lakoff, 1987). This mapping is not arbitrary but rather has a sound physiological basis (e.g. facial redness resulting from increased blood pressure that is, in turn, caused by a heightened emotional state). Creating the blend entails, therefore, a direct mapping of these metonymic correspondences onto the blended space, wherein a new set of interpretative responses – intellectual, emotional, or even physiological – is constructed. Numerous studies have established that humans experience emotions directly in our bodies. Models of emotional processing assume that somatosensation and embodiment play critical roles in emotional processing (Nummenmaa et al., 2013). This link between emotions and bodily states is reflected in the way we speak of emotions: a bride or groom may, figuratively, get cold feet or severely disappointed lovers may be heartbroken; situations can, literally, make us jump for joy, sob with frustration, cry with relief, or send a shiver down (our) spine.

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Similarly, most of the connotative meanings assigned to colours seem to be experientially grounded to reality. Unravelling the subjective perceptual experience associated with human emotions underscores the role of physiological reaction metonymies in the metaphorical system of emotions and endorses folk beliefs about colour meaning. Emotions seem, indeed, to be metaphorically understood and physiological reactions to be metonymically related to emotions.

3.2 Translating colour metaphors Because colour metaphorisation is firmly entrenched in speech and culture, people tend to foster the mental mapping of colours with emotions. ‘Feeling blue’, ‘turning green with envy’, or ‘reddening with anger’ are just some examples of how we portray emotional experience in terms of bodily states and colour associations. However, the universality of somato-sensation and embodiment as mechanisms of emotional processing does not entail any form of colour meaning standardisation. Filtering colour symbolism crossculturally helps account for the differences between cultures in the interpretation of colour metaphors. Using the symbolic function of colours as a species of conventionally established monocultural ‘dictionary’, colour metaphors render colours into emotions. Given the lack of a strict cross-cultural overlap in colour meanings, translators should strive to accurately decodef source-language colour words prior to encoding them in the target language with their equivalent cultural significances (Figure 7.1). This dual-coding process governs the translation of colour metaphors. Every colour is conventionally associated with a particular symbol, which in turn conveys a specific feeling. Communicating about this feeling

Colour

Symbol

Filter

Emotion

Figure 7.1 Dual-coding of colour metaphors

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– crosslinguistically – requires a filtering of the source culture’s symbolism to yield the appropriate colour metaphor in the target culture. Awareness of this filtering process is essential if one is to account for cultural differences and linguistic relativity within a translating perspective. For example, the translation of the Iliad by Mohamed Adwan (2006) from English into Arabic reveals some serious cultural discrepancies due to the absence of standardisation in colour symbolism. Fear, for instance, is erroneously painted in green instead of yellow (Example 1), while death is mistakenly associated with redness instead of blackness (Example 2). (1) Men were taken by green fear ‫واﺳﺘﻮﻟﻰ ﻋﻠﯿﮭﻢ اﻟﺨﻮف اﻷﺧﻀﺮ‬ (2) The red death took hold of his eyes ‫وأطﺒﻖ اﻟﻤﻮت اﻷﺣﻤﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﯿﻨﯿﮫ‬ Translating colour metaphors without consideration to culture-specific connotations may lead to similar inaccuracies. If translated literally from Arabic into English, many Tunisian proverbs may acquire an opposite meaning due to cultural differences in colour connotation between the two languages. ‫ﻧﮭﺎر أزرق‬ (3) What a blue day! ‫( ﺟﺒﺔ زرﻗﺔ وﻻ طﻠﻘﺔ‬4) I would rather wear a blue dress than go through a divorce. Conceptual blending theory offers a comprehensive framework to account for such cultural discrepancies in colour meaning, which may impede the cross-cultural processing of metaphors. Traditionally, the comprehension of colour metaphors involves a selective mapping from the source input (colour) and the target input (emotion) to yield the blend. From a translating perspective, two additional inputs should be added to the conceptual frame, in order to account for both the symbolic system in the source culture and the cultural filter in the target culture. Selective mapping from these different inputs yields the blend, which equates the particular emotion with the exact colour (Figure 7.2). Translating colour metaphors entails a dynamic cross-domain mapping that serves as the basis for a subsequent cross-cultural one. This double mapping mechanism, which operates selectively, structures source domain knowledge within the target culture in terms of target domain knowledge as if it equally applies to the source culture, and vice-versa. Thus, for instance, in order to render the English colour metaphor ‘She was green with envy’ not only into Tunisian Arabic but also into the cultural context of that language, the translator configures a domain mapping from the target-culture colour onto the source-culture emotion (here, envy) to yield an emergent structure

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New Insight s into Arabic Transl at ion and Inter pret ing

Generic Space

Colour (Input 1)

Emotion (Input 2)

Symbolic System (Input 3)

Cultural Filter (Input 4)

Blending Space Colour/Emotion

Figure 7.2 Cross-cultural conceptual blending of colour metaphors

that equates envy with yellowness, as is appropriate in the target culture. Thus, ‘She was green with envy’ becomes ‘She was yellow with envy’ [‘‫( ]’ﻟﻘﺪ اﺻﻔﺮت ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﯿﺮة‬Figure 7.3). Likewise, effectively translating the Arabic metaphoric expression ‫ﻧﮭﺎر أزرق‬ [a blue day] into English requires an understanding of the feeling of horror associated with the colour blue in the source culture in terms of comparable knowledge of the colour meaning in the target culture. Therefore, the colour black, as a source domain in the target culture, serves as a basis for the translator to construct his or her knowledge of the feeling of dismay in the source culture. Substituting ‘black’ for ‘blue’ ensures a more appropriate (if not exactly equivalent) translation of this colour metaphor into English: ‘It’s a black day’ (Figure 7.4). Translating colour metaphors involves an understanding of the functioning of conceptual blending. Designed to espouse the basic functioning of thought and language, conceptual blending can be a powerful explanatory tool in accounting for the processing and translation of colour metaphors. The essence of the operation is to construct a partial match between different linguistic and cultural inputs, and to project selectively from those inputs into a novel ‘blended’ mental space, which then dynamically develops an emergent structure that fits the target culture’s norms and constraints. As such, blending theory can not only identify the source and target domains,

Transl at ing Colour Met aphors : A Cognit ive Perspec t ive

Generic Space

Colour green

Emotion envy

Symbolic system green = bad

Cultural filter green = good vs. yellow = bad

Blending space yellow / envy

Figure 7.3 Translating the English colour metaphor ‘green with envy’ into Arabic

Generic Space

Colour blue

Emotion horror

Symbolic System blue = bad

Cultural filter blue = good black = bad

Blending Space black / horror

Figure 7.4 Translating the Arabic colour metaphor ‘a blue day’ into English

173

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but also describe the overall structure of the resulting conceptualisation, which draws in complex ways from both. Endowed with figurative meaning, colour words can structure human thought perhaps even more subtly and thoroughly than the objective lexicon. Commonly, visual display allows an embodiment of experience that a verbal act cannot. Within a translating perspective between English and Arabic, the connotative values of colours in the source language/culture should be clearly identified and carefully equated with the corresponding connotative values in the target language/culture in order to ensure an accurate translation of colour metaphors that take cultural differences into account.

4. Conclusion Colour metaphorisation is widely used in languages and is often commonly grounded in different cultures. The results can be so overwhelming as to foster both the poetic and pragmatic equation of colours with feelings and emotions. Exploiting this conceptual blend entails an overall understanding of colour symbolism in order to display the effect inherent in linguistic metaphor. Translating colour metaphors involves rendering cultural references through proper perception of cultural aspects. Conceived as a reflection of cultural heritage, colour metaphor may be considered as shared language systems that differ among peoples; certainly, cultural differences produce different figurative associations of colour beyond the literal meanings of colour words themselves. Because of their different cultural histories and contexts, English and Arabic may vary in the connotations they accord to colours. The integration of symbolism and cultural filtering as culture-bound elements, operating over source and target domains to yield a blending space, offers a comprehensive strategy for translating colour metaphors.

Notes (1) ‘Upon them [Paradise inhabitants] will be green garments of fine and thick silk’ (Surah Al-Insan, Verse 21; Al-Hilali & Khan, 1996: 808); ‘Reclining on green cushions and rich beautiful mattresses’ (Surah Al-Rahman, Verse 76; Al-Hilali & Khan, 1996: 735). (2) ‘Three things are sources of pleasure: Water, greenery and beautiful faces’ (Hadith 358), (Al-Sikhawi, 1985: 131).

References Adwan, M. (2006) Al-Ilya¯dah (‫[ )اﻹﻟﯿﺎذة‬The Iliad]. Abu Dhabi: Kalima. Al-Hilali, T.M. and Khan,˙M.M. (1996) Translation of the Meanings of The Noble Qur’an in the English Language. Madinah: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an.

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Al-Sikhawi, S.M. (1985) Al-Maqa¯sidu al-Hasanah fi Baya¯ni Kathı¯rin mina al-Aha¯dı¯thi alMushtaharat ala¯ al-Alsinah (‫)اﻟﻤﻘﺎﺻﺪ اﻟﺤﺴﻨﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺑﯿﺎن ﻛﺜﯿﺮ ﻣﻦ اﻷﺣﺎدﯾﺚ اﻟﻤﺸﺘﮭﺮة ﻋﻠﻰ اﻷﻟﺴﻨﺔ‬. Beirut: Dar Al-kitab Al-Arabi. Al-T ha‘a¯libı¯, M. (1885) Fiqhu al-Lug´ah (‫[ )ﻓﻘﮫ اﻟﻠﻐﺔ‬The Grammar of Language]. Beirut: Aba ˙Press. Bassnett, S. (2011) Reflections on Translation. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Conroy, E. (1998) The Symbolism of Color. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing (original work published 1921). Coulson, S. (2000) Blending basics. Cognitive Linguistics 11 (3–4), 175–196. Coulson, S. (2006) Metaphor and conceptual blending. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics (pp. 32–39). 2nd edn. Oxford: Elsevier. Coulson, S. and Oakley, T. (2006) Purple persuasion: Conceptual blending and deliberative rhetoric. In J. Luchenbroers (ed.) Cognitive Linguistics: Investigations Across Languages, Fields, and Philosophical Boundaries (pp. 47–65). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Fauconnier, G. (1997) Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (1998) Conceptual integration networks. Cognitive Science 22, 133–87. Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (2002) The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books. Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (2008) Rethinking Metaphor. In R. Gibbs (ed.) Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (pp. 53–66). New York: Cambridge University Press. Gadamer, H. (2004) Truth and Method. London and New York: Continuum. Gentzler, E. (1993) Contemporary Translation Theories. New York: Routledge. Geertz, C. (1993) The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Fontana Press. Givòn, T. (2009) Mind, Code, and Context. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum (original work published 1989). Grady, J. (2007) Metaphor. In D. Geeraerts and H. Cuyckens (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 188–213). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hatim, B. and Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the Translator. London: Longman. He, G. (2009) English and Chinese cultural connotation of color words in comparison. Asian Social Science 5 (7), 160–163. House, J. (1997) Translation Quality Assessment: A Model Revisited. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. House, J. (2006) Text and context in translation. Journal of Pragmatics 38, 338–358. Johnson, M. (1992) Philosophical implications of cognitive semantics. Cognitive Linguistics 3–4, 345–366. Johnson, M. (1993) Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jordan, Z. (1997) Situated Embodiment: Studies in the Emergence of Spatial Meaning. Stockholm: Gotab Press. Katan, D. (1999) Translating Cultures. An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing. Kövecses, Z. (1986) Metaphors of Anger, Pride, and Love: A Lexical Approach to the Study of Concepts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Kövecses, Z. (2002) Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kovecses, Z. (2006) Universality and Variation in the Use of Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lakoff, G. (1987) Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980) Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1999) Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books. Lakoff, G. and Turner, M. (1989) More than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Magga, T. (1984) Duration of the quantity of bi-syllabics in the dialect of North Lappish. Philologica 4, 138. Newmark, P. (1995) The translation of metaphor. In W. Paprotté and R. Dirven (eds) The Ubiquity of Metaphor: Metaphor in Language and Thought (pp. 295–326). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Nummenmaa, L., Enrico, G., Hari, H. and Hietanen, J. (2013) Bodily Maps of Emotions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. See http://www.pnas.org/content/ early/2013/12/26/1321664111.full.pdf (accessed 14 June 2014). Phillip, G. (2006) Connotative Meaning in English and Italian Color-Word Metaphor. See http://metaphoric.de/10/Philip.pdf (accessed 28 April 2014). Riemer, N. (2005) The Semantics of Polysemy: Reading Meaning in English and Warlpiri. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Sable, P. & Akcay, O. (2010) Color: Cross-cultural marketing perspectives as to what governs our response to it. Proceedings of ASBBS 17 (1), 950–954. Siefring, J. (2004) The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Spooner, A. (ed.) (2007) Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sweetser, E. (1990) From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantic Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Taylor, J.R. (2002) Cognitive Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Turner, M. (1991) Reading Minds: The Study of English in the Age of Cognitive Science. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Tylor, E. (1903) Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Art, and Custom. London: Murray. Wittgenstein, L. (1953) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Yu, N. (2003) Chinese metaphors of thinking. Cognitive Linguistics 14, 141–165.

Concluding Remarks: The Turn of Translating (into) Arabic Said Faiq

The 1980s ushered in an important shift in mainstream translation studies, including interpreting – a shift from (un)translatability to cultural, political, and economic ramifications of translation; and away from concerns with translated texts (matter vs. manner) to treating translations/interpretings as social, cultural, and political acts occurring within and attached to global and local relations of power and dominance. But despite these shifts and turns in translation studies, the discourses of translation and interpreting have remained largely Western-oriented. Naturally there are exceptions but, as in grammars, they do not affect the rule. Nonetheless there have been challenges, albeit not very vocal, to the so-called positivist, mostly Western, take on what translation/interpreting is and what it entails (cf. Tymoczko, 2007). Translation into/out of Arabic is one area that surely requires attention. Despite the ‘really, very’ important geopolitics of the Arab World and all that is associated with it, interest in Arabic translation remains minimal and limited in mainstream translation studies. Faiq (2004), published by the publisher of this volume, Multilingual Matters, was perhaps the first volume dedicated to the intercultural problematics of translation from Arabic. The present volume adds to the debate and the still-limited number of publications on Arabic translation – an extraordinarily vital area in the scheme of global communication and intercultural encounters. Translation (and interpreting, for that matter), as Lefevere (1992) appropriately argues, is process, product, and reception. As such, both translation and interpreting should be seen as friendly and comprehensive theories married to good practice. The chapters in this volume provide theoretical approaches with toolkits to tackle the practical issues of translation and interpreting. Because they bring language and culture together, translation and interpreting are vital sites for the identification and negotiation of cultural identity as well as the dynamics of intercultural encounters through interlingual interface (Faiq, 2010). This volume, as one of the very few contemporary publications on translation and interpreting (into) Arabic, is located within this context of 177

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complementarity rather than opposition. The theme cutting through the chapters concerns what Arabic translation and interpreting, as cases of a human experience, can add to the field of Translation and Interpreting Studies. Each chapter, in its own fashion, explores the state and status of Arabic translation and interpreting in the context of global intercultural encounters as well as associated issues of power and agency. Together, the chapters in this little volume (a setting that is in itself of value, as little volumes have on the main turned out to be enduring and intellectually exciting) interrogate the interface between the four major elements at the heart of translation and interpreting: information, communication, culture, and language. Information leads to building a body of knowledge, which in turn provides some or full power over subject matter (herein, academic disciplines, teaching of translation and interpreting, and other areas) as well as over communities represented by this information. Central to this volume is the relationship between language and culture, on which Kiely and Rea-Dickens write: The notion of language and culture represents the communities and institutions which house and frame both language learning and language use. … [This notion] provides opportunities for engagement with issues of language use, language form, language learning, language pedagogy and language assessment which inform on the construction of identity and on the social and cultural contexts where identity is profiled. (2006: 1) As such, academic exploration of translation and interpreting and the associated didactics cannot be effectively enacted outside their socioeconomic contexts, as well as the framing of translation and interpreting and the methodologies used for framing within specific contexts and agendas. From the role of translation as a cultural tool for the representation of Arab cultures and Arabness to other cultures, to the linguistic and cultural ramifications of translating colour metaphors, to the teaching of terminology for an Arabic translation and interpreting programme at a Spanish university, to the examination of the relationship between the ‘in vitro pedagogical objectives and in vivo translation market needs’ in teaching legal translation at an Arab institution, the themes presented in these chapters provide ample food for thought on translation and interpreting. But the most salient and interesting contribution this little volume makes is in its coverage of the area of interpreting, particularly community interpreting. Perhaps escalating numbers of resident minority populations and visitors emphasize the need to provide proper linguistic services to people who do not speak the majority language of a country, and who may need assistance in a plethora of areas such as travel, law, religious observance, healthcare, and education. In the US, for example, Davidson (2000) recounts one study of 83 public and private hospitals that showed 11% of all patients required the services of interpreters.

Concluding Remark s : The Tur n of Transl at ing (into) Arabic

179

The effective processing of linguistic and cultural ingredients is central to the achievement of successful community interpreting among all participants. Community interpreting also involves the interpretive process, institutional constraints, power relationships, and a professional code of ethics. In the West, the need for interpreting (into) Arabic has increased exponentially because of the explosion of the number of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly since the start of the so-called Arab Spring in December 2010. Tackling community interpreting as an important aspect of intercultural mediation is timely endeavor, given that community interpreting in the Arab World is still in its infancy and that the profession as a whole is still evolving worldwide. In this volume, the chapters that deal with community interpreting address thorny issues of language and culture along with the role of the interpreter as an intercultural mediator. In these chapters, community interpreting (into) Arabic – from serving the needs of Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia to the needs of Arabs in diaspora and refugee camps around the world – issues such as the positioning of interpreters, understanding of proceedings, determining appropriateness and accuracy, and training of interpreters are addressed. Along the way, the authors contribute to a growing body of literature on community interpreting. But the most urgent needs of community interpreting (into) Arabic are recognition and policymaking, appropriate training, and professional accreditation and quality assurance (Taibi, this volume). Unfortunately, in all of these areas, community interpreting in the Arab World remains in an ad hoc realm, haphazardly administrated. In terms of training and effective selection, Jaradat (2010) concludes that even sturdy Arabic satellite TV channels end up with interpreters who often lack basic skills for interpreting into their own first language (mother tongue). For the Arab World, the chapters in this volume place the ‘holy or not so’ triad of education, Arabicization, and translation/interpreting (Figure 1) at the forefront of the debate – a debate that is at the heart of national identity and language planning policies. The existence of Arabic as an important cultural symbol among other (mostly European) languages, particularly English and French, and what to do with Arabicization (i.e. all education through Arabic), as well as the role of translation and interpreting in the Arabicization process, have all contributed to educational policies that have not yielded tangible good results in any Arab countries. This failure is illustrated by the view of Andreas Schleicher, Director of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The United Arab Emirates is identified by PISA (Programme for International Students Assessment) as one of the most rapidly improving education systems in the world. However its students still perform well below the levels expected in advanced economies. (2015: 3)

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Educaon

Translaon/ Interpreng

Arabicizaon

Figure 1 The Arabic translation/interpretation triad

Translators and interpreters are intercultural mediators who require training (education) that should be couched in a vision akin to what Davies describes. If our vision for the world of the twenty-first century emphasizes a reduction of war, strife and violence, increased positive relationships among all peoples, justice and fairness for all, and increased protection of the natural environment, the gaps between the haves and have-nots must be reduced. Educators ignore this reality at their own peril. (1999: 7) This volume provides avenues for exploration of the state and status of translating (into) Arabic. The alarming numbers of current refugees from the Arab World, particularly Syria and Iraq, demand an urgent focus on community interpreting. This volume focuses on both the ethics and discourse of translation and interpreting as intercultural mediation processes. From education to the basic requirements for a terminology course for a translation and interpreting programme, to the general view of what Arab culture is – all form a complex network that requires multidisciplinary and intellectually inclusive theoretical scrutiny. By examining data and examples that are firmly grounded in the realities of the Arab World (local) from the prism of mainstream (Western) theories and models (global), this volume is truly glocal. The market may not need yet another volume on translation and interpreting, but it surely needs this volume. By examining issues that emanate from the practices of translating and interpreting (into) Arabic, the authors herein provide different and valuable angles on cultures as they represent, regulate, produce, and consume translations and interpretings as cultural goods. As such, these outside-orbit voices on translation and interpreting should be heard, promoted and diffused.

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References Davidson, B. (2000) The interpreter as institutional gatekeeper: The social-linguistic role of Interpreters in Spanish-English medical discourse. Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 (3), 379–405. Davies, D. (1999) Introduction. In Education in the Arab World (pp. 1–19). Abu Dhabi, UAE: ECSSR. Faiq, S. (2010) The master discourse of translation. The Journal of Translation Studies 10 (4), 235–54. Faiq, S. (2004) (ed.) Cultural Encounters in Arabic Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Jaradat, S. (2010) Culture in simultaneous interpreting of political discourse: Obama’s speech in Cairo. Masters Thesis, American University of Sharjah. Kiely, R. and Rea-Dickins, P. (2006) Introduction. In R. Kiely, P. Rea-Dickins, H. Woodfield and G. Clibbon (eds) Language, Culture and Identity in Applied Linguistics (pp. 1–6). London: Equinox (in collaboration with British Association for Applied Linguistics, BAAL). Lefevere, A. (1992) Translating Literature. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Schleicher, A. (2015) Foreword. Better Skills Better Jobs Better Lives: A Strategic Approach to Education in the United Arab Emirates. Paris: OECD. Tymoczko, M. (2007) Enlarging Translation, Empowering Translators. Manchester: St Jerome.

Index

Abril Marti, A. 31, 32 Accreditation 23, 25, 27, 30, 67, 179 Ad hoc measures 24, 38, 179 Al-Obaidi, S. J. 30 Algeria (See also Black Decade) 27, 28, 81, 169 Allan, K. and Burridge, K. 80 Amazigh (See Berber) Angelelli, C. 24 Arab World 1–4, 8, 12–16, 20, 23–25, 27, 29, 33–35, 38–39, 73, 74, 82, 85, 92–94, 111, 166, 177, 179–180 Arabic 1–6, 12–20, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 50, 51, 55–66 Arabicisation 5, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 110 Australia 3, 4, 22, 23, 24, 25, 38, 39, 52, 62, 63

Community Translation 3, 4, 22, 24–32, 34, 38 Community Relations Commission (Australia) 24–25 Conceptual blending 168–169, 171–172 Corpora 120 Bilingual translation corpora 121 Comparable corpora 120 Comparable bilingual corpora 120 Parallel corpora 120 Corsellis, A. 31, 32, 33, 78, Court interpreters/interpreting 24, 26, 27, 28, 36, 37, 38, 70, 81, 83, Courts 24, 26, 27, 28, 36, 37, 38, 70, 81, 83, 117, 118, 119, 142, 143, Culguage 11, 12, 19, 20, 71 Cultural filtering 163–164, 170–171 Cultural interpretation 163 Curriculum 22–39, 91–112

B-language 92, 99–100, 105–111 Barsky, R.F. 22, 69 Bassnett, S. 10, 17, 71, 163 Bassnett, S. and Trivedi, H. 11 Bell, R. 117 Berber 25–27, 31, 74–75 Berd (cold, STD) 74–75 Biber, D. 117 Black (colour) 165, 169, 171–173 ‘Black Decade’ (Algeria) 169 Borrowing 94, 96, 97, 107 Brislin, R.W. 71

De Beaugrande R. and Dressler, W. 116 Delisle, J. et al 119 Derivation 96, 98 Diglossia 82, 92, 93, 96, 105, 111 Dueñas González, R. 77, 83 Empowerment 24, 49 Endogroup interpreter 5, 83–85 Ennaji, M. 26 Ethics 2, 9, 13, 19, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 179, 180 Ethnocentrism 77 Euphemism 70, 74–75, 81–83, 87, 88 Exogroup interpreter 5, 85–87

Cambridge, J. 25, 26, 78, 85, 87 Canada 22, 24, 38, 40, 95 Cao, D. 118, 123 Cognitive linguistics 161 Colour symbolism 161, 164–174 Community Interpreting 3, 4, 5, 22, 23, 24–38

Faiq, S. 9, 11–12, 19, 177 Fatani, A. H. 27, 50 Fauconnier, G. 168 Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. 161, 169

182

Inde x

Function 115–119 Directive function 119 Functional approach 115 Informative function 118 Normative function 118 Performative function 119 Referential function 119 Gadamer, H. 162 Geertz, C. 162 Gender 9, 11, 73, 75–76, 80, 83, 85–86, 88 Gentile, A. et al 24, 32 Gentzler, E. 163 Givón, T. 163 Globalization 7, 12, 19 Greece 25, 40 Green (colour) 166–167, 170–174 Guadec, D. 22, 48 Gulf States 3, 15, 23, 27, 31 Hajj 3, 4, 28–29, 37–43, 47–67 Hale, S. 22, 31–32, 69, 77–78 Halliday, M.A.K and Hasan, R. 116 Hatim, B. 1, 118, 127 Hatim, B. and Mason, I. 34, 71, 116, 117, 163 Healthcare 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 36, 37, 47, 48, 51, 56, 58, 59, 66, 74, 75, 76, 77, 82, 87, 88, 178 House, J. 164 Human rights 1, 3, 26, 27, 29 Iliad 171 Iñiquez Rueda, L. 72, 79 Innovation 24, 34, 35–39, 66 Intercultural communication, 10–11, 19–20, 32, 70–71, 75–88, 177 Iraq 28, 180 Ištiqāq 96, 97, 98 Italy 25, 41 Johnson, M. 161, 168, Katan, D. 164 Kenny, D. 120 King Saud University 35–38, 95 Kruger, R. 120, 121 Kurdish 25, 26 Learning outcomes 31, 33–35, 103 Lefevere, A. 7, 10, 18, 177 Legal text 5, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 123, 132, 136

183

Lesch, H. 24, 49, 61 Lexical creation 5, 96–98, 102, 110 Literacy 1, 26 Mahmoud, A. 27 Majāz 96–98 (See also Metaphor) Malay 27, 29, 31 Manhart et al 74–75 Martínez, M. N. and Hurtado, A. A. 140 Mason, I. 69 Mason, I. and Stewart, M. 78, 82 Master discourse 8, 13–15, 17–18, 19–20 Mayoral Asensio, R. 103, 119 Mayoral Asensio, R. et al 101 Mecca 3, 4, 28, 43, 47, 48, 54, 73 Mediation 4, 7, 71, 100, 105, 164, 179, 180 Medina 28, 47, 48, 54 Metaphor 5, 6, 53, 74, 86, 88, 96, 97, 161, 163, 164, 166–174 Migrants 3, 4, 22, 23, 25, 27–31, 36, 38 Minority 3, 22–27, 29, 30, 38 Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure 3, 26 Morphology 96–98 Mossop, B. 117 Multilingualism 22, 24, 25, 28, 38, 48, 49 NAATI 25 Nah.t 96 Neologisms 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101 Newmark, P. 163 Nida, E. A. and Taber, C.R. 71, 72 Nord, C. 119 Othello 167 Ozolins, U. 24 Pashto 27, 29, 31 Phelan, M. and Parkman, S. 75 Pilgrimage (See Hajj) Pöchhacker, F. 22, 24 Police interpreting 36, 37 Policymaking 3, 23, 38, 93–94, 179 Pöllabauer, S. 75 Power relationship 7, 13, 77, 178, 179 Practicum 36–37 Public services 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 56, 57, 67, 69–88 Puebla Fortier, J. 29

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Qadi, A. 25, 50 Quality 3, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47–67, 116, 163, 179 Quran 4, 53, 54, 165, 167, 168 Raddawi, R. 25, 27 Red (colour) 166 Refugees 22, 23, 75, 179, 180 Religion 5, 74, 79, Remote interpreting 36–37 Representation 7, 9, 12–14, 19 Role-play 32, 35 Sadler, R. D. 34 Said, E. 1, 11–12, 14, 17, 19 Salama-Carr, M. 7, 8 Sarcevic, S. 118 Saudi Arabia 3, 23, 27–29, 31, 35, 37, 47–67, 179 Sex 4, 5, 70, 72–88 Shakespeare 167 Sharqi, S. 30 Situated learning 35, 37 Social needs 3, 23–30, 36, 37, Somato-sensation 169, 170 South Asian workers 23, 27–28 Spain 4, 5, 25, 43, 83, 92, 99, 100, 101, 107, 111 Spolsky, B. 26 Stratiy, A. 73 Sweden 22, 24, 38 Syria 14, 26, 43, 180

Taboo 4, 5, 69–88 Ta’arīb (See Arabicisation) Taibi, M. 2, 3, 4, 5, 23, 29, 48, 49, 50, 179 Teaching 2, 4, 3, 5, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29–39, 50, 66, 67, 91–112, 115–144, 178, 179, 180 Tebble, H. 77 Terminology 5, 32, 37, 91–112, 127, 131, 133, 140, 142–143 Text type 33, 49, 51, 117, 127 Torruella Valverde, J. 79, 81, 86 Training (See teaching) Tryuk, M. 79 Turkish 29, 31, 36 Tylor, E. 162 United Kingdom 16, 22, 131, 132 University of Granada 91–112 Urdu 27, 29, 31, 36, 57 Venuti, L. 9, 11–12, 16 Virgin Mary 167, 168 Wadensjö, C. 22, 69 Web of significance 162 White (colour) 166–167 Wittgenstein, L. 162 Yaboudi, Kh. 93–95, 98, 99 Yellow (colour) 167, 171–173 Zanettin, F. 120