Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4 : Building bridges [1 ed.] 9789027297808, 9789027216489

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Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4

Benjamins Translation Library The Benjamins Translation Library aims to stimulate research and training in translation and interpreting studies. The Library provides a forum for a variety of approaches (which may sometimes be conflicting) in a socio-cultural, historical, theoretical, applied and pedagogical context. The Library includes scholarly works, reference works, post-graduate text books and readers in the English language.

General editor Gideon Toury

Associate editor Miriam Shlesinger

Tel Aviv University

Bar Ilan University

Advisory board Marilyn Gaddis Rose

Rosa Rabadán

Binghamton University

University of León

Yves Gambier

Roda Roberts

Turku University

University of Ottawa

Daniel Gile

Juan C. Sager

Université Lumière Lyon 2 and ISIT Paris

UMIST Manchester

Ulrich Heid

Miriam Shlesinger

University of Stuttgart

Bar-Ilan University Israel

Eva Hung

Mary Snell-Hornby

Chinese University of Hong Kong

University of Vienna

W. John Hutchins

Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit

University of East Anglia

University of Joensuu

Zuzana Jettmarová

Lawrence Venuti

Charles University of Prague

Temple University

Werner Koller

Wolfram Wilss

Bergen University

University of Saarbrücken

Alet Kruger

Judith Woodsworth

UNISA

Mt. Saint Vincent University Halifax

José Lambert

Sue Ellen Wright

Catholic University of Leuven

Kent State University

Franz Pöchhacker University of Vienna

Volume 42 Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4: Building bridges Edited by Eva Hung

Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4 Building bridges Edited by

Eva Hung Chinese University of Hong Kong

John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam
/
Philadelphia

8

TM

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4 : Building bridges / edited by Eva Hung. p. cm. (Benjamins Translations Library, issn 0929–7316 ; v. 42) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. 1. Translating and interpreting--Study and teaching--Congresses. 1. Title: Teaching translation and interpreting four. II. Hung, Eva. III. Title. VI. Series. P306.5.L36 2002 418’.02’071--dc21 isbn 90 272 1648 7 (Eur.) / 1 58811 184 9 (US) (Hb; alk. paper)

2002021515

© 2002 – John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa

Table of contents

Editor’s foreword

vii

Acknowledgements

xi

Theory and teaching

1

Translation’s representations Theo Hermans

3

Translation: theories, practice, and teaching Chunshen Zhu

19

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching King-Kui Sin

31

Training and assessment

45

Induction into the translation profession through Internet mailing lists for translators Judy Wakabayashi

47

Task-based translator training, quality assessment, and the WWW Suzanne M. Zeng and Jung Ying Lu-Chen

59

Interpreting training programme — the beneWts of coordination, cooperation, and modern technology Ingrid Kurz

65

Training and educating the trainers — a key issue in translators’ training 73 Birgitta Englund Dimitrova Can short interpreter training be eVective? The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission experience Annelie Lotriet

83

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

99

Evaluation in interpretation: macrocriteria and microcriteria Alessandra Riccardi

115

vi

Table of contents

Literature and culture in translation studies

127

Teaching literary translation: integrating theory and practice in the classroom Judith Woodsworth

129

Translation and literary history: problems of integration Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen

139

A teaching methodology with examples of the kinds of cultural recognition needed for translators and interpreters in Hong Kong 145 Paul Levine Translation & interpreting: the changing professions

155

Community interpreting: a profession in search of its identity Roda P. Roberts

157

Interpreter training: responses to the requirements of television interpreting Yang Cheng-shu

177

Translation onscreen: the economic, multicultural, and pedagogical challenges of subtitling and dubbing Alain Piette

189

Making multilingualism work in South Africa: the establishment of translation and interpreting services for local government Mabel Erasmus

197

Translation in China and the call of the 21st century Lin Wusun

211

Works cited Index

221 235

Editor’s foreword

This volume contains selected papers from the Fourth Language International Conference on ‘Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Building Bridges’ which was held in Shanghai in December 1998. The Language International conference series, conceived as an Elsinore-based biannual event and started in 1991 in Denmark by Cay Dollerup, has now gathered truly international momentum. After the Wrst three conferences held in 1991, 1993 and 1995 respectively, the fourth conference took place in Shanghai, and the Wfth in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 2001. Shanghai is a city built on cultural cross-currents — the very forces which create and sustain translation activities. Founded in the mid-19th century as a result of East-West conXicts,1 the city beneWted from an inXux of economic and administrative resources as well as human talent and grew rapidly into a metropolis of world renown. By the early 20th century it was a place where the cultures and systems of East and West lived side by side, sometimes acrimoniously, but mostly in mutual accommodation. Shanghai was also the centre of China’s translation activities in the Wrst half of the 20th century — activities that contributed signiWcantly to the success of a revolution in 1911 and the emergence of a new culture in the 1920s. After an enforced isolation imposed by the People’s Republic of China for some thirty years, in the last two decades the city has again become the hub of international activities and an engine for change, with a corresponding increase in its translator population. Thus both in terms of Asian history and current development, it was a most Wtting choice as host city for our conference. The Shanghai conference of 1998 played host to 100 participants from twenty-two countries, representing all Wve continents. As expected, there was a much stronger Asian presence — both in terms of participants and in terms of languages — than in most other international T/I conferences. It also represented an attempt at using two working languages in the parallel sessions. While the use of Chinese had the advantage of drawing in more local participation, it also resulted in a slight sense segregation because Chinese presentations were not accessible to non-Chinese speakers. That large-scale academic conferences (even those on translation and interpreting) often cannot aVord the kind of professional interpreting necessary for truly bilingual or multilingual

viii Editor’s foreword

dialogue is indicative of the constraints faced by the Weld; at the same time this also shows the potential for future development. The papers in this volume are all related to issues of teaching and the development of the translation and interpreting professions. They are divided into four groups. The Wrst group of papers deals with the application of theory to and its inXuence on teaching and practice. Both Theo Hermans (U.K.) and K.K. Sin (Hong Kong) examine current discourses on translation. Hermans reviews the current perception and self-perception of translation, translators and translation theories, revealing the discourses about translation in other cultures as neither neutral nor value-free. As translation studies struggles to extend its theoretical discussions beyond the European tradition and its languages, Hermans’ investigation proves essential and timely. Sin challenges both the product-oriented and the more recent process-oriented approaches in translation studies, and advocates the use of a socio-cultural perspective in teaching. Chunsen Zhu (Hong Kong) addresses the perennial question ‘Is translation theory useful’ through a critique of existing modes of theorizing about translation in China, and illustrates the positive role of theory through concrete and clearly argued examples. The second group of papers concentrates on what happens in the classroom and contains a substantial number of case studies. The computer and the Internet, which have become an indispensable part of the translation profession, now feature more and more strongly in teaching. Judy Wakabayashi (Australia) explores the new perspectives brought to teaching by the use of Internet mailing lists. Sue Zeng and Jung Ying Lu-Chen (Hawaii) made the World Wide Web part of their task-based training model. Ingrid Kurz (Austria) reviews the interpreting programme in the University of Vienna, focusing on the importance of cooperation between diVerent language departments within a university, collaboration with prospective employers, and the use of new technology. Two papers in this section introduce us to training for speciWc purposes. Birgitta Englund Dimitrova (Sweden) points out that training is not just necessary for prospective T/I practitioners, but also for prospective T/I teachers. Her paper discusses a course tailored to the needs of the latter. Annelie Lotriet (South Africa) presents a unique case study of training interpreters within an extremely limited time frame for a speciWc job — the Peace and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa — and examines the conditions necessary for the success of such target-speciWc programmes.

Editor’s foreword

Quality assessment is one of the main concerns of teachers and professionals alike. Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly (Hungary) conducted a pilot study of markers of cohesion in a set of original and translated texts, and concluded that the repetition model may be a good quality indicator for assessing translation quality. Alessandra Riccardi (Italy) focuses on the diVerence between the usual assessment of a professional interpreter’s work vs. that of a student’s, and proposes a list of parameters for student assessment. The third group of papers are concerned with the role of literature and culture in the T/I classroom. Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen (Denmark) undertook a detailed study of children’s literature in Danish and English with his M.A. students in an attempt to give literary translation its rightful place in the history of a national literature. Judith Woodsworth (Canada), on the other hand, draws on her personal experience as literary translator to explore with her students the disjunctures between some recent translation theories and market pressures and demands. Paul Levine (Hong Kong) uses his experience of teaching Chinese undergraduates in Hong Kong as the basis to present possible ways of contextualizing cultural knowledge for T/I students. The fourth group of papers looks at various aspects of change and development in the T/I professions, which will of course have a direct impact on how translation and interpreting will be taught. Roda Roberts (Canada) examines the possibilities and limitations of community interpreting as a separate and distinctive profession. Yang Cheng-shu (Taiwan), drawing from her experience in managing various forms of TV interpreting in Hong Kong and Taiwan, maps out the landscape of this fast-developing niche which requires a combination of translation and interpreting skills as well as specialized training related to TV presentation. Alain Piette (France) relates his experience in and assessment of television and Wlm dubbing. Mabel Erasmus (South Africa) studies how the T/ I requirements of a conscientious government with limited resources and a liberal language policy can be fulWlled. Lastly, Lin Wusun (China) surveys the current translation and interpreting scene in China, and looks forward to the prospects of the Weld in the new century. Most contributors take note of the fact that professionals will be increasingly required to be multi-skilled and to fulWl various types of T/I jobs. It is therefore likely that the current segregation of various sub-disciplines within the T/I Weld is set for a major change, and that Xexibility and innovation will be keywords of the future. Eva Hung

ix

x

Editor’s foreword

Note 1. China’s defeat in the Opium War (1840–1842) led to the Treaty of Nanjing, which speciWed the opening up of Wve coastal trading ports, including Shanghai.

Acknowledgements

The Fourth Language International Conference was jointly organized by the Research Centre for Translation, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Institute of Social Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). The organizing committee consisted of Cay Dollerup (Copenhagen), He Yin (SISU), Eva Hung (CUHK), Jane Lai (HKBU), Pan Zhixing (SISU), David E. Pollard (CUHK), Tan Ziyao (SISU) and Xie Tianzhen (SISU). While I owe a debt of gratitude to all my Shanghai co-organizers, special thanks should go to Pan Zhixing, whose hard work and eYciency made the conference a real success both as an academic and a social event. I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Research Centre for Translation, Alison Wong, Alena Chow and Cecilia Ip, for their help in organizing the conference, P.S. Tam for his assistance in proof-reading, and Kaman Chan and Audrey Heijns for their assistance in compiling the index. I am also grateful to Isjtar Conen of John Benjamins for overseeing the production of this volume. E.H.

Theory and teaching

Translation’s representations Theo Hermans University College London

1. Yesterday, or this morning, you read the newspaper, listened to a news bulletin on the radio or watched one on television. If your attention was caught by one or more items from abroad, you will almost certainly, in one way or another, have come into contact with translation. The outside world, or at least the larger part of it, speaks a diVerent language. More than that, it speaks a variety of diVerent languages, and they are mutually incomprehensible. That is why we need translation, and why translation is such a useful thing. Information which would otherwise remain inaccessible to us due to a language barrier, is retrieved nevertheless and, through translation, made accessible, oVered to us in a form we can understand. Of course, we not only need and use translation on a daily basis, we have also come to expect, even to demand, certain things of it. The assumption we as consumers make, and feel entitled to make, is that the product we are being oVered constitutes a “proper” translation, one which transmits the original information in a reliable, trustworthy manner. We expect the original message to have remained essentially intact during the transmission, accurately conveyed despite the translingual recoding performed by the intermediary. This requires that the intermediary, too, should be worthy of our trust. The ways in which we normally think and speak about translation, and the conventional metaphors we employ to do so, reXect the two aspects of translation I have alluded to: on the one hand, the necessity and usefulness of translation as a means of retrieving and conveying information across linguistic and cultural boundaries, and, on the other, our expectation, our insistence even, that the translation product be reliable, that it provide a full and accurate representation of its source. Let us stay for a few moments with these standard perceptions of translation and the metaphors associated with them.

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Theo Hermans

The Wrst aspect, that of transmission and retrieval, points to the enabling function of translation. Translation renders communication possible despite language diVerences, it provides access by removing or overcoming those barriers, by leading us across the chasms that prevent understanding. Here we encounter the metaphors of translation as bridge-building, as opening doors, as ferrying or carrying across, as transference. In several Indo-European languages the terms for translation, with their metaphorical baggage, derive from the Latin “trans-latio” which itself translates the Greek “meta-phor”. We picture the translator as a relay station, as transformer and conduit at the same time. The second aspect, which bears on the required relation between a translation and its parent text, indicates how the enabling and the provision of access are to be achieved: by oVering a faithful copy of that which itself remains beyond reach, by presenting something which resembles its original in relevant ways. This aspect generates a range of images of translation as likeness, lookalike, replica, duplicate, portrait, reproduction, imitation, mimesis, reXection, mirror image or transparent pane of glass. The two sets of metaphors are connected. The trust that we, on this side of the language barrier, place in the translator as mediator and guide depends on the quality of the translation as likeness, as close resemblance, as a truthful portrait. A translation, we tend to say, may be a derivative product, a mere copy, a substitute, it may be secondary, second-hand and second-best, but because we trust the translator’s integrity, professionalism and good faith we assume that, for the purposes it is meant to serve, the replica is “as good as” the real thing and therefore, in terms of practical use value, “equivalent” with its original. The whole idea of equivalence rests on the integrity of the likeness which translation brings about. Achieving equivalence is what the translator’s role as honest broker consists in. Trust in the translator as honest broker is important here, especially in those cases where it may be cumbersome or impracticable to go out and check the quality of the translator’s handiwork. In our everyday routine, as we peruse the newspaper, listen to the radio or watch TV, we take the accuracy and transparency of translations on trust. The last thing we want is to see that trust betrayed. Now, if I may take it that everything I have said so far sounds unproblematic and unexceptional, then this is the moment at which I should like to turn around and declare my disagreement. In the following pages I will argue that the idea of translation as equivalence and transparency is not tenable at all, even though it has struck deep roots in our thinking and speaking about translation. The rather smooth, unruZed picture that I painted at the begin-

Translation’s representations

ning is one way of representing “translation”. It is very much part of the conventional perception and, more often than not, the self-perception of translation. But, to my mind, it papers over the cracks. In what follows I want to try and make these cracks larger, more visible, so that the complex and unsettling nature of translation can come into view. My reason for doing this lies in the recognition that translation derives its force from its very necessity. It is still our only answer to, and our only escape from, the prison-houses of our individual languages. It deserves critical scrutiny on that account. I will focus on three things: Wrstly, some paradoxical and problematic aspects of the way in which translations “represent” other texts, with an emphasis on the hybridity of translation; secondly, the question of what translation can represent for us, as students of translation; and thirdly, the problematics of our representations of translation, and especially other concepts and practices of translation.

2. Let me return for a moment to our usual and casual way of talking about translation. We say, for example: “Speaking through an interpreter, President Yeltsin declared so-and-so”. What does it mean: “speaking through an interpreter”? Right through? Or take a variant: many among us claim that we have read Dostoevsky, even if, like me, we don’t have Russian. Yet we say we have read Dostoevsky. And it is no doubt typical that even though we have actually read, say, a Chinese or English translation of Dostoevsky, most of us, including myself, cannot even remember the translator’s name. We talk as if we read right through translators, just a Yeltsin speaks “through” his interpreter. Now, to the extent that the translations we pick up successfully manage to produce, or to project, a sense of equivalence and of identity in use value, a sense of transparency and trustworthiness which allows us to accept them as full-scale re-enactments and hence as reliable substitutes for their source texts, statements like “I have read Dostoevsky” can be regarded as legitimate shorthand for saying “I have read a translation of Dostoevsky”, which then carries the implication “and this is practically as good as reading the original”. But the implication is valid only to the extent that we can bring ourselves to believe that the translation oVers an integral and accurate reproduction of the original, to the extent that the translation manages to be transparent with regard to the original and is therefore accepted as a trustworthy substitute. The statement “I

5

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Theo Hermans

have read Dostoevsky” is legitimate only insofar as the translation successfully creates an impression of equivalence and transparency. And that impression, we tend to believe, results from the translation as resemblance. A translation, we say, is at its most successful when it manages to make us forget that it is a translation. In this view a translation most coincides with its original when it approximates pure transparency and resemblance, when it possesses no substance of its own — so that we can imagine we read right through it and see the original, the whole original and nothing but the original, unhindered. Such a perception requires that the translator’s labour be negated or sublimated, that all traces of the translator’s manual intervention in the text be erased. The irony is that those traces, the words which the translator left behind, are all we have access to on this side of the language barrier. Yeltsin may well speak right “through” his disembodied interpreter, but all we can make sense of are the interpreter’s words. Nevertheless those are the words we claim not to hear. Instead, we say that Yeltsin declared so-and-so, that we have read Dostoevsky. Even though it is precisely this presumed authoritative originary voice that is absent, we casually declare it is the only one that presents itself to us. We are casual about this because we commonly construe translation as a form of delegated speech, a speaking by proxy. Translators do not speak for themselves, they speak another’s words. They throw their own voice. The performance implies not only a consonance of voices but also a hierarchical relationship between them, and a clear ethical, often also a legal, imperative, that of the translator’s discretion and non-interference. The imperative has been formulated as the “honest spokesperson” or the “true interpreter” norm (e.g. in Harris 1990). It calls on the translator simply and accurately to re-state the original, without addition, omission or distortion. The translator’s words appear as it were between inverted commas, and the quotation marks indicate that what we hear or read are not the translator’s own words. Although the translator speaks, it is not the translator who speaks. The words of the original speaker are supposedly relayed to us with minimal, hence negligible mediation, by a wholly immaterial, translucent mediator. The more closely we inspect this view of translation, the more obvious it becomes that we are entertaining an illusion. A translation can never double up with its source. It uses diVerent words. Languages and cultures are not symmetrical or isomorphic systems. Not only the language changes with translation; so does the context, the moment, the intent, the function, the entire communicative situation. Words reverberate and signal to one another diVerently in translations, and other words elsewhere in the receiving culture

Translation’s representations

beckon diVerently to the new arrivals. Moreover, since the translator’s manual intervention cannot simply be erased without trace, we shall have to come to terms with the way translation superimposes and intermingles the various voices that make up its “re-enunciation” (Folkart 1991). This intermingling suggests it is diVerence and hybridity that are inscribed in the operations of translation, not consonance or transparency or equivalence in any simple or formal sense. Agreeing to speak of translation in terms of equivalence means lending support to an act of make-believe, a socially and pragmatically necessary act of make-believe perhaps, but make-believe nevertheless. There are several ways of demonstrating this. The concept of “translation norms”, for example, points to perception being laden with value, and hence necessarily perspectival, not at all neutral or objective or transparent. The socalled “cultural turn” in translation studies, like postcolonial and genderoriented approaches, have all stressed the role of translation in the context of power, ideology and historically embedded interpretation. These points have been made many times before in the last twenty or so years. On this occasion I should like to take a diVerent route. I want to dwell for a moment on the question of the translator’s supposed non-interference, which requires him or her to remain invisible as a speaking subject. My point will be that the translator’s discursive presence, as a distinct voice and therefore a subject position, is always present in the text. But because of the way we have conventionally construed translation in terms of transparency and consonance, we prefer, we even require this voice to remain totally discreet. In practice many translations undoubtedly manage to keep the translator’s voice, as a separate speaking position, covered up. That is why I can say I have read Dostoevsky and ignore or forget the translator’s name. Sometimes, however, translations produce their own discursive incongruities, junctures at which their own performance runs into a buVer. The anomalies which then open up within the text reveal the paradox that, while we generally accept that translated texts are reoriented towards a diVerent type of reader in a diVerent linguistic and cultural environment, we expect the agent, and hence the voice, that eVected this reorientation to remain so discreet as to vanish altogether. In its simplest form this kind of incongruity occurs, for example, in dubbed Wlms, when the words which are broadcast in translation are not properly synchronized with the actor’s lip movements on the screen, so that we become aware of the discrepancy and realize that this is a translation, which explains why the voice we hear does not actually speak the words being mouthed on the screen. We perceive two voices at once. Printed books which

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present bilingual or interlinear versions of source texts jointly with their translations are equally revealing in this respect. Let me give a couple of text-based examples. They bear on what Jacques Derrida refers to as language “re-marking” itself, for example in a text which emphatically declares that it is in a particular language, as in “Oui, oui, vous m’entendez bien, ce sont des mots français”, the opening words of Derrida’s lecture “Ulysse gramophone” in 1984. In translation this causes problems. Indeed I cannot, without running into self-contradiction, state here in English words that the present sentence is in German. The English translation of Derrida’s sentence came out, self-consciously, as “Oui, oui, you are receiving me, these are French words”, Derrida 1992, 253, 256, in which the selfreferentiality of the demonstrative “these” has become problematic. Does it refer to “Oui, oui” or to the sentence as a whole? If the latter, the sentence contradicts itself. Derrida himself has exploited the gap between translation and self-referential statements which re-mark their own code on a number of occasions. In “Limited Inc abc...”, for instance, he is responding to an attack on his work by John Searle. Searle had read the English version of Derrida’s essay “Signature Event Context”, but Derrida replied to Searle’s attack in French, knowing however that his text would subsequently be translated into English, by Samuel Weber. In this English version, then, we read blatantly self-contradictory statements like “I am trying to respond in French” (Derrida 1977:173), where the very form of the statement reminds us that the “I” in the sentence is Jacques Derrida, but the words are in English and must therefore derive from the other named speaker, Samuel Weber. Elsewhere in the essay we read: “What a fake-out, leaving me Xat-footed in the camp of those insuYciently aware of the unconscious!” (1977:213). An unexceptional sentence. Two sentences further on, however, Derrida suddenly interrupts himself and observes: “I cannot imagine how Sam Weber is going to translate ‘fake-out’”, and he proceeds to cite the French term “contre-pied”, which he says he has always understood as a football term but which, in Littrés authoritative French dictionary, is deWned as either a hunting term or as meaning “the contrary of something”, a deWnition which we are subsequently presented with, but in English, down to a curiously mixed quotation from La Fontaine (“‘People have taken precisely the contre-pied of the will.’ La Fontaine”; ibid.) — when the Wrst, unmarked occurrence of “fake-out” in Weber’s translation suggests it did not present a translation problem at all. We as readers, though, cannot help being forcefully reminded that it was obviously

Translation’s representations

Weber and not Derrida who wrote “fake-out”, just as we can hardly remain unaware that someone, not Derrida, translated the entry culled from Littré. A crux like this should make it clear that in translated texts there is always another voice at work as well, a voice we are not normally meant to hear, which echoes and mimics the Wrst voice but never fully coincides with it. That other voice is there in the translated text itself, not merely in every word of it, but also as a discursive presence, as a subject position from which someone speaks to us. And it is important that this “other” presence can be demonstrated in the translation without reference to the source text. Hybridity of voice is a property of translated texts. Another example might be Roland Barthes’ autobiography, published as Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes and translated into English by Richard Howard as Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes. In translation the book is obviously in English, except for some pages at the beginning and end, which are bilingual. These pages present copies of Roland Barthes’ own handwriting, obviously in Barthes’ own French. One statement, for example, at the beginning of the book, says: “Tout ceci doit être considéré comme dit par un personnage de roman”, which Richard Howard translates as “It must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel.” In the English translation the two texts appear on the page as follows:

It must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel.

The simultaneous presence of French handwriting and printed English words destroys any illusion that there is a single voice, that of Roland Barthes, producing this statement in two languages. The English can translate the semantics of the French words, but not the added value of the handwriting. Handwriting, like a signature, marks the unique and inalienable identity of the person who writes in this hand, i.e. the individual and very French Roland Barthes. If the translator had substituted his own hand for that of Barthes, the result would have been puzzling to the reader, as the writing would have clashed with the appearance of Barthes’ handwriting as it is reproduced in some of the photographs elsewhere in the book showing, for example, some of Barthes’ early essays in manuscript. In deferring to the singularity of the original handwriting,

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however, the translation has to stage a dramatic intervention in order to carry out its task of rendering into the foreign tongue. Rather than discreetly standing in for the source text, it has to reproduce the handwritten French words and then, additionally, translate them. But the translation cannot do so without, literally, showing its hand. The printed English words remind the reader of the translator’s role as supplier of words, as speaker, as co-presence. As is well known, wordplay and word coinage exploit the properties of a particular language. Wordplay has been said to constitute the “signature” of a language, in that it refers metalinguistically to the entire system onto which it is grafted. In rendering wordplay, translators may be able to alter radically the semantics of entire passages with a view to establishing a suYcient context to allow new forms of wordplay couched in terms of the receptor language. Whether the drastic rewriting required for such an operation is permissible, will depend on prevailing concepts of translation and on such things as context and genre; diVerent norms apply in the theatre or in children’s books compared with canonical literature or philosophy. The alternative is for the translator to acknowledge the problem in an explicit intervention, drawing on the source language by means of footnotes or brackets, and in so doing breaking the text’s apparently seamless web by pushing to the fore the voice we were not supposed to hear. It is very hard to read modern philosophers like Heidegger or Derrida, for instance, without being struck by the proliferation of “untranslatable” German and French words between brackets. Of course, translators can intervene in their texts out of choice rather than despair. In the otherwise impeccable English version (published 1921) of the French-Canadian novel Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hemon, the translator William Hume Blake had one character advise another to “regard well”, while in another passage something is said to be “sacredly amusing”. Sherry Simon called these literalisms the translator’s “signature” (1997: 195–7). We can also read them as oblique but self-conscious comments in which the translator distances himself from prevailing conventions of translation, from an existing tradition of representing foreign texts. They are, after all, only marginally less ostentatious than the wicked delight with which Vladimir Nabokov Xaunts the literalism of his Eugene Onegin and scornfully quotes inadequate mainstream versions of Pushkin’s novel in one footnote after another (Pushkin 1975). And in all these cases we can ask: whose words are we in fact reading? Exactly who is speaking? And if it is true that we are dealing with more voices than one, where do we locate them in relation to each other?

Translation’s representations

3. However, rather than pursue the detail of this question, I should like to open up a larger, more ideological and historical dimension to the issue of “voice” in translation. It seems to me that what is at stake in cases like these is more than a matter of plural, unstable, de-centred voices. The question of voice is directly linked with the standard perception of translation as transparency and duplication, as not only consonant but coincident with its original. This view, as we saw, requires translators to become transparent as well, to spirit themselves away in the interests of the original’s integrity and status. Only the translator who operates with completely self-eVacing discretion and deference, it is said, can be trusted not to violate the original. The hierarchical power relation between translation and original, translator and author, is obvious enough. The loyal self-abnegation of the one guarantees the undisputed primacy of the other. Translators must speak, but they must not make their voice heard. Historically the hierarchical positioning of originals versus translations has been expressed in terms of a number of stereotyped oppositions. They are well known and include such oppositions as those between creative versus derivative work, primary versus secondary, unique versus repeatable, art versus craft, authority versus obedience, freedom versus constraint, speaking in one’s own name versus speaking for someone else. In each instance it is translation which is circumscribed, subordinated, contained, controlled. Now, in case we should imagine that these are after all natural and necessary hierarchies which reXect the immutable essence of translation, it will be useful to remember that our culture has often construed gender distinctions in terms of strikingly similar oppositions: creative versus reproductive, original versus derivative, active versus passive, dominant versus subservient. These gender distinctions too used to be presented as natural and immutable categories. The point here is not just that the historical discourse on translation is sexist in casting translation in the role of maidservant, of faithful and obedient wife, or of “belle inWdèle”. The sexist quality of much of the historical discourse on translation is beyond doubt and has been keenly documented in recent decades. My point concerns the obvious parallel between the construction of gender and the construction of translation. Both are cultural constructions. Both involve power diVerentials. Historically, that is, translation has been hedged in by means of hierarchies strongly reminiscent of those employed to maintain sexual power relations. It may be worth asking whose interests are

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being served by these hierarchies, and why it is that translation apparently needs to be so tightly controlled and regulated. Several answers have been proposed to these questions — feminist, postmodern, and postcolonial. Speaking from a feminist angle, Lori Chamberlain argued that “the reason translation is so overcoded, so overregulated, is that it threatens to erase the diVerence between production and reproduction which is essential to the establishment of power” (1992: 66–67) — where power, of course, has traditionally constituted a male preserve. Postmodernist theorists like Karin Littau and Rosemary Arrojo have described what they call a “translator function”, to be understood as the ideological Wgure designed to counteract the potentially unbounded proliferation of meanings generated by texts. By denying translators the right to speak in their own name, to add their voice to the chorus, we attempt to control the displacement and dispersal of meaning that comes with translation, and insist instead on the single, authoritative voice behind the text. Postcolonial critics have put the case in terms of translation as part of a “knowledge-controlling apparatus” (Robinson 1997b: 36) in the context of power diVerentials between cultures. We can see this aspect at work in those situations where translators who, due to their proWciency in languages, have exclusive access to certain kinds of information, need to be controlled even more tightly for that very reason. On a number of occasions the early European explorers in the Americas found to their cost that some of the native interpreters remained loyal to their own people and had their own agenda. After only six weeks in the Caribbean Columbus noted in his diary that his own men would need to learn the local languages because he could not trust the native interpreters. Japan closed itself oV from the rest of the world for two hundred years (ca. 1640–1850), allowing only the Dutch a tiny foothold on the artiWcial island of Deshima. All the interpreters were Japanese government oYcials, whose activities were closely controlled; at the same time the system eVectively prevented the Dutch from learning Japanese (Engels 1998). Translation, it appears, cannot be left to its own devices. Historically, it has not been left to translators either. On the contrary, across the world, we see translation being kept in a safe place, Wrmly locked in a hierarchical order. The metaphors and oppositions through which we traditionally deWne translation, the expectations and attitudes we bring to translated texts, the legal constraints under which translation is made to operate, all accord with this control function. Just as many cultures have kept women out of public discourse and safely in the home by locking them in gender constructions, so translation has been

Translation’s representations

tied up and tied down by casting it as transparency and equivalence. And so we can casually say we have read Dostoevsky or heard Yeltsin declare this or that. Just as we commonly accept that the most reliable translation is an “authorized” translation, the one formally approved and legally endorsed by the author. The term itself conWrms the singularity of intent, the coincidence of voice, the illusion of equivalence and the unmistakable relation of power and authority. The translator may have authored the translated text, but we want the author to authorize it.

4. I have been arguing that translation tends to be regulated and controlled in one way or another, even though it can never be wholly subdued and the practice of translation invariably results in plural voices, multiple dislocations and all manner of tensions within the translated text itself. This, then, paradoxically perhaps, is exactly where, for us, as students of translation, the cultural and historical signiWcance of our subject lies. The ways in which translation is both practised and theorized in individual cultures, provides us with a unique means to gain insight into those cultures. The particular way in which a cultural community construes translation also determines the way in which translation, as a cultural practice and product, refers to its source text, the kind of image of the original which the translation projects or holds up. In other words, the “anterior text” to which a translation refers is never simply the source text, even though that is the claim which translations commonly make. It is at best an image of it. Because the image is not only hybrid and plural but also interpretatively and ideologically slanted, we can say that translation projects or produces or, one step further, “invents” its source text (Niranjana 1992: 81). Translation is of interest as a cultural phenomenon precisely because of its particular hybridity, density and added value. If it were straightforward, mechanical and value-free, it would be as interesting as a photocopier. We can therefore learn a great deal about the community that engages in translation from such things as the selection of texts to be translated, the particular mode that is chosen to (re)present or re-enact a given source text, the manner in which translation generally is circumscribed and regulated at a particular historical moment, and the way in which individual translations are received. What we can learn from studying translation is the way in which a

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culture deWnes itself in relation to that which lies outside it. In reXecting about itself, a culture, or a section of it, tends to describe its own identity in terms of “self” and “other”, i.e. in relation to that which it perceives as diVerent from itself and which lies outside the boundary of its own sphere of operations. In this context translation oVers an obvious window on cultural self-description. All aspects of translation are relevant in this respect. Concepts of translatability, or for that matter of untranslatability, already involve assumptions about the nature of language, the relation between language and culture, and the commensurability of diVerent languages and cultures. The practice of translation comprises not only the selection and importation of cultural goods from the outside world, but at the same time, in the same breath as it were, their transformation into terms which the receiving culture recognizes, to some extent at least, as its own. And because the history of translation has left in its wake a large number of dual texts as well as countless re-translations and reworkings of existing translations, it provides us with a uniquely accessible series of cultural constructions of the “other”, and therefore with privileged, Wrst-hand evidence of the workings of self-deWnition. And it is important in this connection to remember that when translation occurs, it is necessarily a speciWc mode of translation. Translating is not an innate skill, it has to be learned and negotiated, both cognitively and normatively. Translating always takes place in the context of certain historical conceptions of what constitutes translation. In short, where a culture, for whatever reason, imports texts from beyond a language barrier, and does so by means of translation, we can look closely at what is selected for translation from the range of potentially available texts, and who makes the relevant decisions; who produces the translations, under what conditions, for whom, with what eVect or impact; what form the translations take, i.e. what choices have been made in relation to existing expectations and practices; who speaks about translation, in what terms and with what authority or legitimacy. It would be only a mild exaggeration to say that translation tells us more about those who translate and their clients than about the text that a given translation claims to represent.

5. If we agree, then, that translation is worth serious and sustained attention, both on account of the complexity of the phenomenon itself and in view of its cultural signiWcance, it is also worth assessing the precise weight and import of the

Translation’s representations

concepts that govern this practice, and exploring its modalities and parameters. This involves delving into the question of what exactly, in diVerent periods and contexts, is covered by the various terms and concepts, the images and metaphors used to conceptualize and locate translation. It means, more broadly, investigating not only the practice of translation but also the discourse about it, i.e. its representation by others, by all who speak about translation. Here again we run into complications and paradoxes. To appreciate their nature and seriousness, we can turn for a moment to the essay “Conventions and the Understanding of Speech Acts” (1970) by Quentin Skinner. In his essay Skinner, an intellectual historian, addresses the problem, not of translation, but of how to assess what, with a term borrowed from speech act theory, he calls the “illocutionary force” of statements made by others for others, i.e. statements made in a diVerent context, and not intended for us. The problem, Skinner points out, is relevant to historians and anthropologists, who as it were “overhear” those utterances. Dostoevsky wrote for his contemporaries, not for us at the end of the twentieth or the beginning of the twenty-Wrst century. What do we, today, need in order to make sense of the words Dostoevsky wrote for his readers over a hundred years ago? We can represent the problem as involving a person A (e.g. you or me) at a time and/or place t2 (e.g. today), who is trying to make sense of an utterance by a speaker S (e.g. Dostoevsky) speaking at t1 (e.g. in 1866, Crime and Punishment). As Skinner points out, the problem “is neither philosophically trivial in itself, nor in the practice of these disciplines [history, anthropology] can it be readily overcome” (1970: 136). Clearly, A has to know enough about the concepts and conventions available to S at t1 to enable him or her to grasp the semantics of S’s utterance and what force S’s enunciation of that utterance must have registered at the time. But, Skinner goes on, “...it also seems indispensable that A should be capable of performing some act of translation of the concepts and conventions employed by S at t1 into terms which are familiar at t2 to A himself, not to mention others to whom A at t2 may wish to communicate his understanding” (ibid.). In the case of someone working in the Weld of translation studies we can ask: what if the utterances in question are translations? Then we have to translate those translations. In other words, the problem which Skinner highlights in general terms becomes acute for us, as students of translation, whenever we wish to speak about “translation” as a transhistorical or transcultural phenomenon, i.e. when we attempt to grasp, and then to describe and communicate, what members of another culture, whether distant from us in time or

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place, do when they engage in what looks to us like translation, or what they mean by whatever terms they use to denote an activity or a product that appears to translate as our “translation”. If Skinner’s general characterization of the problem is correct, then it has at least two consequences of prime importance for translation studies. The Wrst is that when we study translation as it occurs in another culture, we have no option but to translate into our terms that culture’s practice and concept of “translation”. In describing translation we are also translating translation, i.e. we are ourselves performing the very operations we are attempting to describe. This is particularly troubling for descriptive and historical studies because those approaches have tried hard to mark the distance between the object-level (i.e. translations) and the meta-level (our descriptions). This distinction now turns out to be rather less neat than we may have wanted it to be. Instead of a neat division between object-level and meta-level there is an untidy entanglement and contamination of the two (Bakker 1995). The meta-level is compromised because it is practising that which it is simultaneously trying to describe at the object-level. The complicity is always there, and its epistemological implications are unnerving. The second consequence is a matter of taking this idea a step further. If our descriptions of translation are also forms of translating translation, then the logic of my argument in the preceding pages forces the conclusion that we necessarily translate according to our concept of translation, and into our concept of translation. And this surely means that our rendering, our translation of another culture’s concept of “translation”, will not constitute a neutral, value-free image. As we saw, translation is not transparent or pure, it carries its own voices and discursive resonances. To the extent, then, that our understanding of another culture’s concept and practice of translation amounts to a translation of that concept and practice, it is subject to the manipulation, pluralization and hybridization that come with translating. And since the nature and the particular slant of the representation is itself socially conditioned, it is signiWcant for what it tells us about the individuals and the communities performing the translative operation, i.e. about ourselves. The study of translation rebounds on our own categories and assumptions, our own modes of conceptualizing and translating translation.

Translation’s representations

6. There is no easy way out of these predicaments. But we can learn from them. We can also, it seems to me, learn from parallel cases, from disciplines which are just as deeply implicated in their object of study as translation studies but which are perhaps more aware of the theoretical and methodological implications of that condition. We could look, for example, to such Welds as ethnography and cultural anthropology (cf. Asad 1986, Sturge 1997). Back in 1973 the anthropologist Edmund Leach recognized that for his discipline “the essential problem is one of translation”, and he concluded that “social anthropologists are engaged in establishing a methodology for the translation of cultural language” (in Asad 1986, 247). However, anthropologists have found the establishment of this methodology to be a much more complex and formidable task than they Wrst thought. With the beneWt of hindsight we can appreciate why. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Jesuits were trying to convert the Chinese to Christianity. They needed to express Christian, Western, concepts like “God” and “heaven”, “soul” and “sin”, in Chinese. When in 1604 Matteo Ricci wrote his long treatise on The True Meaning of the Master of Heaven in Chinese, the only terms available to him were those which echoed Confucian and Buddhist usage. As a result, the Christian concepts he wanted to convey were tightly locked in what one theorist (Lefevere) has called a ‘universe of discourse’ wholly incommensurable with the Christian message (Gernet 1985: 48–9, 146–7). Needless to say, the Jesuits were greatly puzzled both by their lack of success and by consistent misunderstandings. As I understand it, the issue of what to call the Christian God in Chinese is still unresolved today. When, in the 1940s and ’50s, the Oxford ethnographer Edward EvansPritchard studied the beliefs of the Nuer in southern Sudan, he faced a similar problem, but the other way round. Evans-Pritchard emphasized the radical incompatibility of Nuer words and concepts with Western, Christian terms. His book Nuer Religion (1956) highlights the Westerner’s awesome problem, Wrst of understanding concepts which are alien, at best approachable through painstaking “contextual interpretation”, and then of rendering these concepts in a language like English, which requires terms inescapably tainted by the history and values of the Christian West. It was Evans-Pritchard who, in a lecture of 1951, described the central task of ethnography as “the translation of culture” (Needham 1978: 8).

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Evans-Pritchard’s account of Nuer beliefs formed, in turn, the subject of a book by Rodney Needham. In his Belief, Language, and Experience (1972) Needham reXected at length on the perplexing problems of this “translation of culture”. He pointed out, for example, that, if we want to compare diVerent Western interpretations of Nuer concepts, we need to assess what adjustments would be required of the various languages involved to make them accommodate the Nuer terms. But we lack a metalanguage to carry out such a comparison. It could only be constructed on the basis of the comparability of cultural concepts, but the concepts can only be compared on the basis of a suitable metalanguage. That lands us in a vicious circle (Needham 1972: 222). We cannot escape from perspectival observation, value-ridden interpretation and compromised translation. As far as I can see, even among professional ethnographers the question of how to comprehend, interpret and translate concepts belonging to distant cultural worlds, distant language-worlds, remains without a satisfactory answer. But ethnographers have at least become aware of the kind of issues that are involved, and they have begun to address them. Ethnography has become markedly more self-reXexive and self-critical as a result, aware of its own historicity and its institutional position, of its presuppositions and blind spots, of the pitfalls of representation by means of language and translation. In the study of translation, it seems to me, we ignore these issues and debates at our peril. Yet we face essentially the same problem as the ethnographers when we try to comprehend, interpret and translate what other cultures mean when they speak of “translation”, or whatever term they use that seems to correspond in some way or other to the modern English term “translation”. The care and the respect with which Evans-Pritchard mapped the religious vocabulary of the Nuer, and the seriousness and nuance of Needham’s intercultural exploration of the concept of belief do not, to my knowledge, have a counterpart in the Weld of translation studies. If nothing else, the anthropological example can help us to guard against a form of rashness that ignores its own ethnocentricity and naively, arrogantly, reductively, translates all translation into “our” translation, instead of patiently negotiating the other culture’s terrain while simultaneously trying to reconceptualize our own modes of representation through translation. The study of translation, as a cross-cultural discipline, might do well to remind itself more often that its own mode of operation is one of cross-cultural translation.

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching Chunshen Zhu City University of Hong Kong

[Hamlet] keeps playing with action, as an artist plays with a theory. – Oscar Wilde, De Profundis

Preamble Is the study of translation theory necessary for the practice or teaching of translation? Or more bluntly, Is translation theory useful? How many times have we translation researchers, practitioners or teachers felt this question heavy in the air, light on the tip of somebody’s tongue, or nagging at the back of our own mind? Back in 1987 in Beijing, a colleague of mine who was then going to Britain to do a doctoral degree in science, after being told that I was going to the same country to work on translation studies, asked: “Do we really need to study translation?” A few years later, during one of my home visits to Fujian, my father, who was my English tutor during the Cultural Revolution when youngsters in China had no school to go to, asked with concern whether there is anything “academic” I as a university translation teacher could write and publish. Upon hearing “translation theory”, he, with all his good intention, whispered under his breath, “Is there any theory for translation besides a good grasp of languages?” And in early 1996, at the post-FIT-Congress Research Seminar on Interpreting and Translating held at Deakin University, the opening question of this paper was raised, one I found that could not be answered with a simplistic Yes or No, or any oV-hand comments, as it entails two further questions that underlie the endeavour of translation studies as a whole: 1. What theory are we talking about? 2. How have we applied the theory we have in mind to the practice or teaching of translation, if we have ever tried to apply it, before raising the question about the usefulness of theory?

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Theory and Holmes’s taxonomy of translation studies To answer the Wrst question it has to be noted Wrst of all that “theory” is taken here in a broad sense, to include any well-grounded studies aimed at making more systematic our understanding of that intellectual activity called “translation”. In this way, insights provided by translation studies in general become relevant, and Holmes’s taxonomy of translation studies, endorsed and expanded on by Toury (1995: 11V) and noted by Chang (2000: 2), in particular, becomes illuminating. According to Holmes (1988: 71V), – Translation Studies can primarily be divided into two categories: (1) Pure Translation Studies, i.e., “research pursued for its own sake”; and (2) Applied Translation Studies that concerns itself with areas such as translation teaching and translation criticism. – Pure Translation Studies can be further divided into (1) Descriptive Translation Studies which can be product-, functional, and/or process-oriented; and (2) Theoretical Translation Studies that consists of General Translation Theory and Partial Translation Theories (which, in turn, includes medium-, area-, rank-, text-type-, time-, and problem-restricted theories). Therefore, before we can undertake any sensible investigation into the usefulness of translation theories, we have to be clear about which types of translation theories we are referring to. And the usefulness, or impact, of these theories, as Toury maintains, is cumulative and consequential, although to what extent such cumulation of descriptive Wndings can amount to a law-like predictive or prescriptive authority remains a question: the cumulative Wndings of descriptive studies should make it possible to formulate a series of coherent laws which would state the inherent relations between all the variables found to be relevant to translation. […] the formulation of these laws may be taken to constitute the ultimate goal of the discipline in its theoretical facet. [These laws are] designed […] to state the likelihood that a kind of behaviour, or surface realization, would occur under one set of speciWable conditions or another. […] the formulation of laws of this type requires the establishment of regularities of behaviour, along with a maximal control of the parameters of function, process and product. (1995: 16)

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching

A meta-theoretical dimension of translation studies With regard to the study of translation studies itself, Holmes has pointed out two further dimensions in each of the three branches of translation studies (i.e., descriptive, theoretical and applied translation studies): one is the history of translation studies, and the other, which is more pertinent to our current discussion, is what he calls “the methodological or meta-theoretical dimension” that concerns itself, among other things, “with problems of what methods and models can best be used in research in the various branches of the discipline (how translation theories, for instance, can be formed for greatest validity, or what analytic methods can best be used to achieve the most objective and meaningful descriptive results)” (1988: 79). With the component of the history of translation studies attaining increasing importance in translator training curriculum, at least at university level or beyond, the methodological dimension has so far escaped the attention of a lot of researchers and teachers, including some of those engaging in Chineserelated translation studies. As a result, in questioning the usefulness of translation theories, little attention has been paid to the underlying concern about the formulation of a valid theory and how to apply such a theory in understanding, explaining, or solving practical or pedagogical issues. This neglect of the methodological or meta-theoretical dimension of translation research has impeded the development of translation studies in general, as a “motley genealogy” of translation studies has been held responsible for “our current conceptual disarray” (Neubert and Shreve 1992: 33). As for Chinese-related translation studies in particular, “random thoughts” and notional remarks are still Wnding their way into print and frequently taken as well-argued theories. The state of aVairs has been noted by some critics as: – Most discussions have been conWned to judgmental analysis of technical issues, and their conclusions are more of remarks based on personal experience than of insights derived from research of theoretical signiWcance (Wang 1998: 1, my English paraphrase); – [Descriptive translation studies in China at its current stage of development] is in want of a rigorous system with convincing theoretical depth and coverage, as remarks based on individuals’ experience cannot constitute a self-sustainable theoretical system, especially when some scholars are still viewing theories as studies of technical transfers on the surface level of languages (Wang 1999: 8–9, my English summary).

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In addition to the situation reported above, there may be a dilemma faced by some researchers, who have made conscious eVorts to be objective and analytical in their theoretical investigations but have experienced certain diYculty in applying their Wndings to translational analysis in practice. As a result, they have to resort to traditional, and often inadequately-deWned, concepts to furnish some explanation. Hence their studies may betray a tension between the drive for theoretical modernization and the drag from a time-honoured intellectual tradition. The second part of Zhang’s study (1994) is a case in point. While the author has investigated, quite impressively, philosophical, scientiWc and artistic perspectives on translation studies, the tripartite model has failed to suggest an integrated framework for Chinese-related translation studies. For when it Wnally comes to discuss the artistic nature of translation, instead of adhering to the analytic inclination that is emerging in the previous chapters, it enlists a traditional set of notions such as shensi (“similarity in spirit”) and huajing (“transmutation”? ) which are inadequately-deWned and subjective in nature.1 The ramiWcations of the departure from an objective and analytic direction are frequently compounded by an ad hominem type of discourse, which sounds judgmental, emotional, even sensuous or proselytizing. For instance, sayings as follows are far from uncommon in the current Chinese literature on translation, and with due adaptations, would indeed Wt in with any rhetoric that periodically champions superiority of a particular language: – –

–

The Chinese language demonstrates not only a unique kind of mistiness and fuzziness, but also a philosophical profundity and formal Xexibility. Chinese is a language of poetry, of picturesqueness. The language itself, in its sound and shape, is like poetry and painting, and western languages are no match for it on this. Chinese is more artistic and fascinating than any other languages. To bring this advantage [or superiority] of the language into full play in producing best possible translations is the glorious yet arduous mission of our vast numbers of translators.

Our discussion so far should suYce to illustrate the necessity of a wholesome methodological dimension of translation studies as a common ground on which Partial Translation Theories can thrive. As Neubert and Shreve (1992: 33, 35) have observed:

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching

By fully developing [each of these] partial perspectives a holistic view might be constructed, but only if a common methodo-critical system is maintained. […] Our approach to translation insists that all of these approaches are valid if they have a basis in the textuality of translation and are empirical in method.

What is important for the practice and teaching of translation, then, is to understand the right type(s) of theory that will provide established explanatory power, i.e., theories that serve to build up a valid system of critical methodology in a modern sense. In such a system there should be no place for such “purported theories” as described below: –

–

–

“Armchair theories”, i.e., theories without properly evidenced empirical foundations and well documented linkage with the knowledge of translation studies at large. Students, in their practice of translation criticism, have to be put on guard against such self-styled theories; and probably that is why reasonable proWciency in bibliography is important even at an early stage of their studies. Assertive remarks from “authorities”, i.e., remarks whose validity is based on the importance of the person or institution who made them rather than on experience or research, and often in relation to the nature of the text for translation as perceived in a particular historico-cultural context, as in the case of the so-called sensitive or sacred texts. One need not be an unwary academic ingénue to be given to taking such sometimes easy-to-swallow but diYcult-to-follow edicts as “theories”. As such, a teacher should see to it that they do not appear in teaching materials without comments to put them in the right perspective. “Naïve empiricism” of the pedagogues and translators who sometimes “proceed simply from entirely subjective descriptions of ‘that has worked for them’ ” (Neubert and Shreve 1992: 33).

Translation of the opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A case study revisited To illustrate how a theory could be of help to the practice and teaching of translation, let us look into a controversy over the translating into Chinese of the opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, already a most studied sentence in English literature.

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The text for discussion: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Comments on its translating into Chinese: In translating it into Chinese, there has seemed to be an express tendency towards reversing the syntactic order of the source text, i.e., towards fronting the that-clause; all three published versions I have collected so far adopt the reversed order. The tendency has been forcefully defended by Sun Zhili to the eVect that: 1. The original’s pattern is one of “solemnity followed by jesting”; according to Chinese syntax, it can only be rendered into Chinese as one of “jesting followed by solemnity”: [Back-translation] A moneyed bachelor always wants to take a wife, this is a universally-acknowledged truth. 2. If we try, as suggested by some critic, to follow the original’s word order, we will turn out a translation that rings “radically un-Chinese”: [Back-translation] There is such a universally-acknowledged truth, that is, a moneyed bachelor always wants to take a wife. 3. Such a theory of equivalence has forced translation into the dead end of mechanical correspondence. Acting blindly to impose foreign theories on Chinese translation, regardless of our realities, is a harmful practice. (Sun 1997: 11, my English summary and back-translations) Points to be re-considered: Since without analytical argument, the above comments are just a matter of opinion, and we oVer the following points to be re-considered: 1. Is it that absolute that the sentence can only be translated into Chinese with a reversed word order? That is, in Chinese is there any evidenced direct link between communicative tone and syntactic form that predicts or dictates a jesting-solemnity sequence whenever the two elements appear in a sentence (although in this case whether there is an unmodiWed element of solemnity remains to be clariWed)? 2. Can we be that certain that the Chinese language has no syntactic means to marshal the information components into a sequence similar to the source-text’s, in order to serve a similar communicative purpose?

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching

3. Are we allowed to assume with such certainty that any translator who insists on following the source-text’s sequence will be simply forcing out a pattern for the sake of mechanically copying the source-text’s surface structure? or just “blindly” honouring a foreign [but which?] theory regardless of “our” [linguistic? cultural?] realities?

My experiment Unaware of the diVerent positions adopted by Sun (1997) and Chang (1996) on the matter, I oVered my experiment on the translating of the sentence (part of a research project “Accountability in translation Within and Beyond the Sentende as the Key Functional UT: Three case studies”, Zhu forthcoming in Meta, based on Zhu 1996a) as one of the three case studies to argue for sentences as the key functional unit of translation. My experiment was conducted within a combined framework of thematic structuring and speech act theory (cf. Zhu 1996b). Admittedly, neither theme-rheme nor speech act approach, taken separately, would now be considered new (or should we say, trendy) thinking in translation studies, but an application of the combined model in this case has yielded some interesting Wndings. That is, it has led to the realization that the source text has presented a syntactically right-branching and informationally open-ended structure which contains an illocutionary speech-act series of ASSERTION + ENUNCIATION, to perform the function of opening the story. The structure can be segmented as follows: It is (Preparatory Cohesive Device) a truth (Noun Head) / universally acknowledged (Post-modifier) {Sentential Theme, ASSERTION} /// that (Conjunctional Cohesive Device responding to the previous cohesive device) a single man (Noun Head) / in possession of a good fortune (Post-modifier) [Clausal Theme] // must (Modulation) be in want of a wife [Clausal Rheme] {Sentential Rheme, ENUNCIATION}.

As one may have noted, the openness of the right-branching structure at the sentence level has been further sustained by a similar one of head-modifier on the phrase level, given the fact that the two phrases could have adopted a closeended left-branching modiWer(s)-head construction, such as a universally acknowledged truth and a wealthy single man. In the cognitive domain of information processing, such a right-branching structure tends to be forward-pointing, thus more eVective in ushering the reader into the story than a, say, reversed backward-pointing structure. And my investigation shows that it is possible and indeed feasible to maintain such

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a thematic structure in a Chinese translation, which, as a similarly open-ended sequence, will be more eVective in initiating the story than an OBSERVATION + CONCLUSION sequence as implied in the reversed order:


  
 [Back-translation] There is such a truth acknowledged by the whole world: a single man possessing a good fortune must need a wife. The information structure of the version prompted by the theme-rheme and speech act consideration enables a right-branching pattern and forward-pointing process similar to that of the source text, with the phrases shifted to a clausal level: “there be” (Introductory Cohesive Device) “such” (Preparatory Cohesive Device) “a truth” (Clausal Theme) / “acknowledged by the whole world” (Clausal Rheme) {Sentential Theme, ASSERTION} /// : (Punctuational Cohesive Device responding to the previous cohesive devices) “a single man” (Clausal Theme) / “possessing a good fortune” (Clausal Rheme) [Clausal Theme] // “must” (Modulation) “need a wife” [Clausal Rheme] {Sentential Rheme, ENUNCIATION}.

JustiWcation from Chinese syntax and authentic language data: The sentence pattern we propose here, which is syntactically diVerent from the one derided by Sun (1997: 11) only at the phrasal level, is by no means foreign to the Chinese language. A look into Chinese syntactic repertoire will show that it belongs to a sentence type technically termed jianyushi. The right-branching formation it presents is similar to the existence-related there-be construction in English, in that it allows the focal information of a sentence to come at the end as new information. Such a pattern, in practice, has been widely used to begin a story, for instance, Congqian, you … “Once upon a time, there was…”. So, in the Wnal analysis, it is a theory-induced awareness of the communicative potential of information sequencing, instead of an unadvised insistence on syntactic identity, that has led us justiWably to an alternative way of translating this sentence into Chinese. The alternative translation remains not only in keeping with the narrative tradition of Chinese literature, but more importantly it seeks to activate a forward-pointing momentum for cognitive processing of phenomenological sequences, which is at least common to both English and Chinese textualization in this case. The following sentence, which in the English translation provided below appears as two separate sentences, is the opening of a reader’s comment in a

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching

major Chinese newspaper in Singapore. It provides a telling authentic example of how eVective such a pattern has been used in non-translated, non-literary texts, or day-to-day discourse, to introduce a sizeable rheme of new information as the beginning of a “story”:

(Singapore Lianhe Zaobao, 15 January 1998, p.24) [Translation] There is such a company, whose employees are from diVerent parts of the world: Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Mainland China; but of course most of the employees are local Singaporeans. In giving out the year-end bonuses to the employees, the employer’s attitude [towards the employees] has been far from consistent [Read: discriminative].

Implications for translation practice and teaching It seems of crucial importance at this juncture to stress that our challenge to a deep-seated perception of Chinese syntax in relation to translation has been prompted by an integrated insight generated from thematic and speech-act considerations, while an innocent pursuit of cross-language thematic identity, which has put the application of theme-rheme distinction in translation in great jeopardy (cf. Baker 1992: 171–72), has never been our goal or ideal. If an application of functional linguistic theory of theme-rheme structuring, enhanced by a discoursal concern of the illocutionary force of speech act, has led to the realization of the importance of information formulation over syntactic formation in text construction, it should then be construed as a useful guideline in analysing translation for pedagogical purposes and as a reliable stimulus to more eVective rendering in practice. This has proved to be the case, as further illustrated by the translating of the following passage: But I’ve come to enjoy the smell of formalin — a 5% solution is satisfactory for removing all the soft parts of a rat’s body. Yes, the smell is pleasing to my nose because I know the bones aren’t mine. (William Kotzwinkle: Doctor Rat, italics added)

The text is taken from the part of extended translation in an undergraduate Wnal-year project. For our Wrst discussion, the student translator came to me with the following version, in which the underlined sentences have adopted a diVerent information sequence to that of the source text:

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 !"#$%&'()*+,,-./0123
)4567 879:);?@ABCD!EFGH!)I13J! $%K*+ (Student’s translation, underline added) [Back-translation] But, I’ve come to enjoy the smell of formalin — to remove all the soft parts of a rat’s body, a 5% solution is enough. Yes, because I know these are not remains of mine, I like to smell the smell. Grammatically it appears to be Xawless. Yet after a preliminary discussion about the signiWcance of the source-text’s information sequence in shifting the focus in both cases from the smell of formalin to the body of a rat, and the possible eVect of such an arrangement on the reader, the student came up with another version, which, after some stylistic Wne-tuning (for instance, pleasing to my nose is stylistically quite diVerent from pleasing to me), runs as follows:

[Back-translation] But, I’ve come to enjoy the smell of formalin — a 5% solution is enough to remove all the soft parts of a rat’s body. Yes, this [is the] smell my nose likes to smell, because I know those are not my bones.

Some concluding remarks Can translation theory be useful? — Well, it depends on the way you deWne and apply the theory. But to conclude, some general observations seem in order: The viability of a well-grounded, adequately argued translation theory in the application domain lies in the analytic insight and explanatory power it provides for the practice of translation as a profession and the teaching of translation as an academic subject. By providing a framework with theoretical consistency for assessment and explanation, translation theory will neither be drifting and Xoating notions as speculation on practitioners’, “naïve empiricism” would, nor imposing a burden of “theoreticality”, to be held in contempt, disliked or feared by practitioners (cf. Newmark 1981: 100; and Reynolds 1992) as “a poor substitute for several years of intensive practice” (Lawendowski 1978). Nor will it be a kind of fashion for dressing up an opinion to make it look “scholarly”, as it were, while translation theorists, as Fawcett has rightly criticized, make proposals “and then pass on, leaving the ground largely unbroken” (1997: Foreword).

Translation: Theories, practice, and teaching

It follows that theoretical knowledge is more important as a component of professional competence for trainers than beginner trainees. For both trainers and practitioners, theoretical insights gained from study and research are to be viewed (1) as rigorous guidelines for more eYcient practice rather than as rigid rules; (2) as a frame of references for regular and consistent performance instead of a pool of quotations to be enlisted in an ad hoc way to justify or falsify a particular translational act. That is to say, let theories stand behind us as support and prompts, but do not plant them around us and fence in creativity, or set them in front of us to be followed or honoured at all cost. Healthy and adequate training in theory can thus be contributive to the cultivation of a metropolitanism in translation practice and criticism, by nurturing an attitude that will uplift ourselves out of any meum-versus-tuum mentality of linguistic or cultural territorialism (for want of a better term). We will then be more ready to recognize that the language of a community as a whole (i.e., a nation, or the population of the world that speaks the language) constitutes an open, metabolic system for recording and presenting knowledge and experience of the world, and the language of each individual’s within this communal system represents a sub-system that is equally if not more open and metabolic. In light of this, each linguistic performance by a language user is an instance of activation of an individual sub-system instead of the communal system as commonly assumed. In other words, each linguistic performance by an individual user is a situation-conditioned process of actualization of the linguistic resources retrievable and actually retrieved from the user’s individual sub-system on that particular occasion of use. As such, a translator by deWnition is an individual with two or more subsystems. And it is only natural that more often than not a translator is more proWcient in one sub-system than in the other. But it would be arbitrary if not chauvinistic or parochial to project such imbalance between the sub-systems in oneself as the state of aVairs between the relevant communal systems at large. The recognition of the relativity of individual sub-systems will urge both trainers and trainees to make conscious and constant eVorts to improve the performance of sub-systems by tapping into the communal systems, and in translating to remain open to the possibility of new renderings prompted by new theoretical insights as well as new inspirations. On the one hand, theories of a “pure”, non-banausic nature should command an appropriate position as intellectual spearhead for translation studies. On the other hand, theories of an “applied” nature should take it upon them-

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selves to serve the practice and teaching of translation more closely, as a wellstructured, well-grounded bridge between “theory” and “practice”. With the pure and applied theories working together, a comprehensive theoretical system can be expected, where one will Wnd not only descriptions of achievement but guidelines for improvement, not only what standards to adhere to but well-argued reasons for such adherence, and more importantly, well-explained methodologies to ensure the adherence. This is particularly signiWcant at present as translation practice and criticism have not truly moved out of the shadow of the literal- and free-translation dichotomy.

Notes 1. The closest corresponding idea I can Wnd in western translation theory to huajing is Matthew Arnold’s description of a good translation, after Coleridge’s description of “the union of the human soul with the divine essence”: […] that union of the translator with his original, which alone can produce a good translation, […] takes place when the mist which stands between them — the mist of alien modes of thinking, speaking, and feeling on the translator’s part — “defecates to a pure transparency”, and disappears. (Matthew Arnold in Robinson 1997c: 253) Indeed, my third-year students on the course of theoretical readings, once asked, have pointed unanimously at huajing as the Chinese way of speaking of this phenomenon of ‘defecation’. But anyway, the study of translation has developed far beyond the level of sophistication and delicacy achieved in Matthew Arnold’s time.

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching King-Kui Sin

City University of Hong Kong

A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside it, for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably. – Wittgenstein

1. Translators don’t just translate. They also talk about how they translate. Translation teachers and theorists even explain how they do it. This seems natural and innocent enough. But many have found it suspect. Firth asked bluntly, “Do we really know how we translate or what we translate?” (1957: 197). The question is, of course, a rhetorical one, for he went on to say, “Translators know they cross over but do not know by what sort of bridge. They often recross by a diVerent bridge to check up again. Sometimes they fall over the parapet into limbo.” Echoing Firth’s misgiving, Haas remarked: To translate is one thing; to say how we do it, is another. The practice is familiar enough, and there are familiar theories of it. But when we try to look more closely, theory tends to obscure rather than explain, and the familiar practice — an ancient practice, without which Western civilization is unthinkable — appears to be just baZing, its very possibility a mystery. To translate, Dr Johnson tells us, is ‘to change into another language, retaining the sense’; and it is easy to agree with him. But can we think that out? How do we eVect this exchange of languages? Is it like changing horses or carriages? And what, exactly, is it that we retain? Images are powerful instruments of interpretation. But this one, the image of something carried across from one vehicle to another, can it bear the weight we put upon it? (1968: 208)

What is being called into question here is not the practice itself, but the way in which translation is understood and characterized. Dr Johnson was a lexicographer, not a translator, and his deWnition, one may contend, should not be taken too seriously. Turning to translators or translation scholars for a less

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problematic understanding and characterization is not of much help either. Take for an example the following description from Rose (1991: 5–6): …when we translate, we are processing language arranged to provide information of some sort. Our translating processing, I suggest, has basically three steps: Wrst, we comprehend the source material in language 1; second, we transfer our comprehension to language 2; and third, we express our comprehension in generally comparable target-language material. What we do chieXy in translator training…is to inculcate good work-habits in steps 1 and 3: in step 1 we show how to research the source text systematically and thoroughly for maximum comprehension; and in step 3, we give advice on getting those concepts expressed as credibly, authoritatively, and appropriately as possible. Step 2, the actual transfer, we cannot, to date, do much about. Some of us surely do this entirely by instinct. Training can encourage and support this instinct by techniques of self-conditioning. But what can we say about the presumed synapse of step 2? If a bit of trivializing personiWcation may be allowed, we can visualize one trench-coated neuron, attaché case in hand, making a contact with another trench-coated neuron who furtively snatches the attaché case. Which is more amazing? That the double agents usually make contact? Or that they sometimes don’t? What is the instant transforming power/powder in the attaché case that makes the content go in as lapin and come out as rabbit?

So Rose’s answer to Firth’s question is negative: we don’t know how we translate; the actual transfer, the neurons making contact, may prove “in the end not to be ever completely explainable” (1991: 5); and the very possibility of translation, as Haas has feared, remains a mystery forever. There are many who share Rose’s view that translation is an instinct which can only be reinforced by “techniques of self-conditioning”, regarding translation training simply as the inculcation of good work-habits in comprehension and writing. For them, translation training can only take care of the two ends of the translation process; what happens in between is a black box.

2. There are of course translators who believe that neuroscience will one day unveil the mystery. Robinson regards his somatic approach to translation merely as a “passing attempt” at “the neurology of translation” which “can unlock the stubborn cellblock doors that have imprisoned translation studies in the past” (1991: xi). And Nida envisions that “neurophysicists can provide more insight about the nature of interlingual activity” known as translation (1997: 17). Until then, he adds, “In translating, … we are much like chemists

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

who performed experiments before they understood the relative atomic weights of diVerent substances or like genetic biologists before the discovery of the double helix of the DNA”. All present endeavours in translation studies, in their view, are but interim inquiries. Of these interim inquiries, one model which many translation theorists, scientiWcally minded or not, like to use to explain the nature of translation is the communication model taken from Shannon and Weaver (1949). The model has a number of variations (Nida & Taber 1969; Bassnett-McGuire 1980; Delisle 1988), mentioned in passing by Steiner in After Babel (1975: 47) and fully elaborated by Bell (1991: 17–20). Presumably this is also the model which many translation teachers like to use in the Wrst lesson of translation theory. For the sake of discussion, let us take a look at Bell’s version. He Wrst presented the model for monolingual communication. Code

Channel SENDER

Channel SIG [message] NAL

RECEIVER

Content

Figure 1. Monolingual communication

In the process of monolingual communication there are, according to Bell, nine steps: 1. the sender selects message and code 2. encodes message 3. selects channel 4. transmits signal containing message 5. receiver receives signal containing message 6. recognizes code 7. decodes signal 8. retrieves message and 9. comprehends message

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The model can explain a variety of communication situations. For instance, the radio operator of a sinking ship is instructed by the captain to send out signals for help. The following will take place: 1. the radio operator selects the message SOS and the Morse Code 2. he encodes it as “… --- … / … --- … ” 3. he taps out the message on the radio 4. he sends out the Morse signal through the radio 5. the operator of another ship receives the Morse signal 6. he recognizes that it is a Morse signal 7. he decodes the signal “… --- … / … --- … ” 8. he retrieves the message “SOS” 9. he understands that the ship sending the signal is asking for help In this example, each of the nine steps is clear; every component of the process, deWnite. We have a clear and distinct message, a deWnite code. Encoding and decoding are both operational; so is the retrieval of the message. Adapting this model for translating, he then presented the following one: Code 1

Channel SENDER

Channel SIG[message] NAL1

TRANSLATOR

Content 1 Code 2

SIG [message] NAL2

RECEIVER

Channel

Channel

Content 2

Figure 2. Translating

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

Here the nine steps of the translating process are: 1. translator receives signal 1 containing message 2. recognizes code 1 3. decodes signal 1 4. retrieves message 5. comprehends message 6. translator selects code 2 7. encodes message by means of code 2 8. selects channel 9. transmits signal 2 containing message What happens if a translator is to translate into German the English sentence “All translation theorists talk nonsense”? Let us see if each step can be carried out. 1. translator receives the sentence containing message (what message?) 2. he recognizes that it is an English sentence; code 1 is English 3. he decodes signal 1, i.e., the sentence (but how and into what?) 4. he retrieves the message (what message can that be other than “all translation theorists talk nonsense”?) 5. he comprehends the message (what else does he comprehend other than “all translation theorists talk nonsense”?) 6. he selects code 2, i.e., German 7. he encodes the message by means of code 2 (again, what is the message here other than “all translation theorists talk nonsense”? And what is the encoding like in this case?) 8. he selects channel, say, e-mail 9. he transmits signal 2, i.e., the German sentence “Alle Theoretiker der Ubersetzung reden Unsinn” containing the message content 2 (what else can that be other than “Alle Theoretiker der Ubersetzung reden Unsinn” ?) As can be seen, when applied to translating, the model immediately loses its clarity and explanatory power. The key components, message, encoding, decoding and retrieval, all become obscure and dubious. The model, while valid for the kinds of communication Shannon and Weaver had in mind, simply doesn’t work for translating. Again, this seems not a problem to Bell or, in fact, to all Code Model theorists. Bell hastens to point out here that decoding and encoding in the translating process require a psycholinguistic explanation (1991: 20), or neurolinguistic explanation as would be preferred by Nida, Robinson and Rose, which is in eVect as good as any explanation: neurons

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seeking synapses resulting in all that take place in the brain of which translating is only a tiny portion. To paraphrase what they actually say: when we translate, something happens in our brain; that thing is what facilitates the neuroactivity we call translation. And that is how we translate. Full stop.

3. Indeed, something must have gone awry here. In normal contexts where we talk about translation, we don’t think of translation as an occult process going on in the black box of our brain. It is only when we try to think out exactly what we mean by the words we use to talk about translation that we easily succumb to this mystiWed picture. That Augustine was puzzled by the mysteriousness of time is a classic example. He remarked in his Confessions: “What is time? If no one asks me, I know; but, if I want to explain it to some one who asks me, I don’t know any more” (quoted in Bourke 1964: 229; with minor change in wording). The idea of time as passage, i.e., as something that passes away, puzzled him. And that idea is suggested to us by a metaphor embedded in the language we talk about time. Talking about time is a common or garden experience. We use expressions such as “Time Xies”, “Time goes by”, “Time ticks away”, “As times wears on”, “With the passage of time”. Embedded in them is what LakoV and Johnson call “Time is a moving object” metaphor (1980: 42–43; see also LakoV and Turner 1989: 44–46). We don’t Wnd time mysterious in everyday life. It is only when we try to understand the nature of time through these expressions that we begin to Wnd it mysterious, for we are, as Wittgenstein observed, held captive by the metaphor hidden in our language (1953: Part I, 115). Hence Augustine’s puzzle.

4. Translation is by nature concerned with the communication of meanings (or ideas) by means of language. Reddy observed that deeply embedded in the linguistic (English) expressions about meaning, language and communication is the “conduit metaphor” which suggests to us the idea of communication as the sending or transfer of ideas and feelings through language (1979; 1993). The conduit metaphor has four major types (1993: 189–194):

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

1. Expressions which suggest that human language functions like a conduit enabling the transfer of ideas from one individual to another, i.e., language transfers meaning. “It’s hard to get that idea across in a hostile atmosphere.” “Marsha got those concepts from Rudolf.” “What comes through most obviously is anger.” “Next time you write, send better ideas.” 2. Expressions which suggest that, in speaking or writing, we place our ideas within the external signals, or else fail to do so in unsuccessful communication. “It’s very diYcult to put this concept into words.” “Never load a sentence with more thought than it can carry.” “Don’t force your meanings into the wrong words.” “I can’t seem to get these ideas into words.” “This notion does not seem to Wt into any words.” 3. Expressions which suggest that signals convey or contain ideas, or else fail to do this in unsuccessful communication. “The passage conveys a feeling of excitement.” “Your writing must transfer these ideas to those who need them.” “The speech has too much angry content.” “His words, pregnant with meaning, fell on receptive ears.” “The sentence is without meaning.” 4. Expressions which suggest that, in listening or reading, we Wnd meanings within the signals and take them into our heads, or else fail to do so in unsuccessful communication. “I have to struggle to get any meaning at all out of the sentences.” “Everybody must get the concepts in this article into his heads by tomorrow or else!” “The feeling arises from the second paragraph.” “You’ve bared the hidden meanings in the sentence.” “To unseal the meaning in Wittgenstein’s curious phrases is no easy task.” Reddy’s Wnding is indeed amazing: he estimated that at least 70% of the expressions of the English language about meaning, language and communication are “directly, visibly, and graphically based on the conduit metaphor” (1993: 177). And he observed that it would be extremely diYcult to speak idiomatic English without using conduit metaphors. LakoV and Johnson further analyzed the conduit metaphor into three

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component metaphors (1980: 10–13): Ideas or meanings are objects independent of speakers and contexts. Words, expressions, sentences and texts are containers. Communication is sending; it transfers ideas, thoughts and feelings.

There is yet another metaphor closely related to the conduit metaphor which has escaped (a metaphorical use of the verb!) the attention of Reddy and his company, namely, the mind as a box or container. The Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary explains the word “mind” in the following manner: Your mind is …where your thoughts are. People often use the word as if it is a box that thoughts come into or go out of. When something is ‘in your mind’, you are thinking about it; when something is ‘at the front of your mind’ or ‘uppermost in your mind’, you are thinking about it a lot. EG All this confusion in the minds of young people was bound to lead to violence…She let her mind wander… There were two thoughts uppermost in my mind — who would do such a thing and why?… Agate couldn’t get the woman’s reply out of his mind… My mind’s gone blank.

The mind is a box that thoughts come into or go out of, words are containers of meanings, meanings are objects that can be put into or retrieved from words, and in communication we transfer meanings through the conduit of language to other people, who receive them in their minds. And the idea of meanings (ideas, concepts, thoughts, or messages) as objects suggests that they can exist independently of language. Expressions such as “naked ideas”, “non-verbal thought”, “hard to be put into words”, “to grope for words”, “lightning-like thought”, “the thought comes to me in a Xash”, “sudden understanding”, all suggest this to us. The connection between the conduit metaphor and translation is by no means accidental. White reminded us: Whenever we speak of “translation” we use a metaphor, that of “carrying something over” from one place to another, for the word itself comes from the Latin trans (across) and latus (past participle of fero, ferre, fuli, latus: carry). It thus comes from the same Latin verb as “transfer” and has much the same meaning, suggesting that one might carry something over from one language to another as one carries something over from one side of the river to another, or from one tax year to another (as in “tax-loss carryover”). This idea of translation as transportation commits us implicitly to a certain view of meaning, namely, that it is like an object that can be picked up out of the place where it was found and dropped into another place; or, to put it another way, that the meaning of a sentence can be separated from its words — from its language, from its cultural context — and reproduced in another.…

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

The word “metaphor,” in its Greek root, is a direct parallel to “translate” — meta means “across” and phor means carry; indeed -phor and -fer (in “transfer”) are diVerent versions of the same word. Both are creations, neither mechanical: a translation is a metaphor (1990: 231–235).

Thus it is only natural that Shannon and Weaver’s model is regarded by many as the paradigm model for translation because it Wts perfectly into the conduit metaphor. The model allows us to have a non-verbal message, encode it in a selected code, send the coded message through the channel of language to other people, who receive the coded message in their minds, and decode it into the original non-verbal message, which eVects their comprehension. And translating consists in the recoding of the original non-verbal message in the target language. Of course, no one ever knows what a nonverbal message looks like, or how it gets connected to another code in his mind/brain. But since it is the very thing that causes the recoding, it must be there in the mind/brain. We can feel it inside our body, as Robinson would put it in his somatics of translation. What it looks like, what exactly is going on in the mind/brain may never be completely explainable, as Rose has opined, or may be revealed to us by neurologists one day, as Nida and Robinson would believe. One way or another, that’s how translation works, they think. The language we use to talk about translation also reinforces the conduit metaphor. We speak of the meaning of the source text being transferred to and retained in the target text, our comprehension of the source text being transferred to the target language, a message being Wrst abstracted or retrieved from the source text and then restructured in the target language, the source and the target texts express or share the same meaning, so on and so forth. We speak of translating meanings as opposed to translating words. We speak of translation as cultural transfer as opposed to linguistic transfer. And we speak of the translating process in the mind of the translator. The language presents us a seemingly clear, albeit deceptive, picture of translation: things (words, meanings or cultures) get transferred from one language to another through the mind of the translator. But when pressed for a clearer account, we just can’t think it out.

5. For all its merits, the recent shift from the product-oriented to the processoriented approach in translation studies and translator training is rooted in the

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conduit myth and its consequential misconceptions. The new approach now has a great number of followers because of its scientiWc appeal. To quote Bell again: Clearly, a theory of translation, to be comprehensive and useful, must attempt to describe and explain both the process and the product. Our present situation, however, is one in which translation theory has, for the most part, concentrated on the product to the exclusion of the process and has adopted a normative attitude to it by making inferences back to it through the description and evaluation of the product …. If we accept that we have a responsibility to attempt to describe and explain the process and that the process itself is, essentially, mental rather than physical, we are committed to undertaking the investigation within the discipline of psychology and, more speciWcally, within the framework of psychological studies of perception, information processing and memory; cognitive science. Equally, given that the process crucially involves language, we shall need to draw on the resources of linguistics and, more precisely, those branches of linguistics which are concerned with the psychological and social aspects of language use: psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. The Wrst of these examines the process in the mind of the translator, the second places the source language text … and target language text … in their cultural contexts (1991: 13).

To this list of disciplines many would, as we have seen above, deWnitely add neurolinguistics, neurophysics and neurology. There are indeed merits in studying the process of translation and in studying it scientiWcally. And knowledge of how our brain functions in translating is certainly interesting in itself. Results of psycholinguistic research have also helped interpreters to improve their motor skills (but not their linguistic skills). However, as thinking translators (as opposed to those who translate by instinct), what we are concerned with in translating is not how neurons make contacts, but how the source text should be translated and why it should be so translated; we are concerned with methodology and justiWcation. Automatic synapsing (in layman language, translating by instinct) can never answer questions about methodology and justiWcation. Rather, it is methodology and justiWcation, both conscious cognitive activities capable of explicit formulation and rational inquiry, that lay down the guiding principles for articulated (as opposed to instinctive) synapsing. “My neurons made these synapses” is no answer to our question “Why did you translate the text this way?” Yet that’s exactly the kind of answer many translators and translation theorists would hope to get from neuroscience. Likewise, the process-oriented approach to translator training as repre-

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

sented by the fashionable TAP method is totally misguided. The following passage from Kussmaul best illustrates the fallacy in this new pedagogy: A new process-oriented approach has been developed recently in order to gain more immediate access to that notorious black box, the translator’s mind. By adopting introspective methods from psychology, experiments have been carried out in which they were translating, and these monologues were tape recorded. These monologues are referred to as think-aloud protocols (TAPs). Such protocols have been analysed in order to classify translation strategies, with the pedagogical (diagnostic) aim of observing diYculties encountered by the students…. Although by using TAPs we are “closer” to the translator’s mind we still to some extent have to infer what goes on, as we shall see when analysing the protocols. There is no, and probably never will be, direct access to mental processes. But there is, I hope, an improvement by degree when analysing protocols instead of errors. (1995: 7; my italics)

No doubt, the traditional product-oriented approach to translation teaching, which Ladmiral labeled a “performance magistrale” (1977), leaves much to be desired. Its major Xaw, as I see it, consists in its confounding translation teaching with language teaching: it fails to separate translation problems from language problems. In this connection, the process-oriented approach is a big improvement in that it focuses on the problems students encountered in translating, on how they tackle those problems, and on how to design diagnostic measures. However, to Wnd out students’ problems, there is absolutely no point in gaining direct access to the black box of students’ minds, i.e., their non-verbal mental process. For one thing, the problems revealed by Kussmaul’s analysis of his students’ TAPs, such as interferences by false friends, over-reaction to false friends, faulty one-to-one correspondences, misuse of bilingual dictionaries, misuse of world knowledge and their own experiences, and incomplete paraphrasing (1997: 15–31), are hardly new to an experienced translator-cumteacher. They can in fact be ascertained by other methods, e.g., by asking students to give an oral or a written report on how they translated the text in question, or even by a diagnostic analysis of their translations followed by student debrieWng. Results from these non-TAP methods are by no means less close to the minds of students than those from the TAP method insofar as they are both concerned with that part of students’ mental process which is verbal. The fact that monologues are tape-recorded while the subjects are translating gives people a false impression that TAPs are closer to the subjects’ minds, or the false impression that TAP research has succeeded in “peeling away the outer

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shell” of “the translator’s black box” (Kiraly 1997: 151–2). As has been shown by the later Wittgenstein, the mental process accompanying human verbal activity is never a part of what we call “language” (1953). Similarly, the mental process accompanying translation, while revealing interesting facts about human neuro-activities, plays no role in translation as an interlingual activity carried out in socio-cultural contexts and guided by principles which can be articulated and justiWed in explicit terms. Thinking that we can only grasp the nature of this interlingual activity by looking inside the translator’s black box simply because it takes place in the translator’s brain is as absurd as thinking we can only understand the nature of logic by looking inside the logician’s black box simply because reasoning takes place in the logician’s brain. A more serious problem with the TAP method is that it tends to disrupt the natural, spontaneous translating process. As pointed out by Polanyi, there are two kinds of awareness inherent in task performance. For example, a pianist has a “focal awareness” of playing a piece of music but a “subsidiary awareness” of what his Wngers are doing. Subsidiary awareness and focal awareness are mutally exclusive. If a pianist shifts his attention from the piece he is playing to the observation of what he is doing with his Wngers while playing it, he gets confused and may have to stop. This happens generally if we switch our focal attention to particulars of which we had previously been aware only in their subsidiary role. The kind of clumsiness which is due to the fact that focal attention is directed to the subsidiary elements of an action is commonly known as self-consciousness. A serious and sometimes incurable form of it is ‘stage fright’, which seems to consist in the anxious riveting of one’s attention to the next word — or note or gesture — that one has to Wnd or remember. This destroys one’s sense of the context which alone can smoothly evoke the proper sequence of words, notes, or gestures. Stage fright is eliminated and Xuency recovered if we succeed in casting our mind forward and let it operate with a clear view to the comprehensive activity in which we are primarily interested (1958: 55–57).

Likewise, in translating, our focal attention is directed to the comprehensive activity of translating, not to the particulars of our thinking process, of which we only have a subsidiary awareness. Switching our focal awareness to our thinking process will disrupt the whole task and as a result distort our thinking process. While TAP researchers are not unaware of this problem, the studies of cognitive psychology on which they rely have left Polanyi’s view unchallenged. For example, the studies cited by Lörscher conWrmed that, in thinking aloud, subjects can only report what is in their focus of cognitive attention, i.e., the

Myths and misconceptions in translation teaching

processes of information, but not their mental processes, and that when they are asked to do more than thinking aloud, their translation performance is likely to be aVected (1991b: 73–75). To do justice to TAP researchers, one must admit that they have sensitized translation teachers to the need of switching from a teacher-centred approach to a student-centred approach, of paying attention to the problems students encounter and how they tackle them, and in Kiraly’s words, of helping students build a translator’s self concept and developing their ability to monitor translations (1997). Indeed, the importance of fostering in students a sharpened awareness of the thinking processes leading to their translations can never be over-estimated. But this can be achieved through a variety of methods and has nothing whatsoever to do with non-verbal mental processes going on in their individual black boxes. The thinking processes underlying translation can always be made explicit in language, examined and assessed. There is nothing they need to know about their black boxes in order to understand translation as practised in human society. The mere word “process” has misled a whole world of researchers into looking inside the brain for the nature of translation. Once we free ourselves from the Wrm grip of the conduit metaphor and the myth of the translator’s black box, we will be able to see that the nature of translation lies nowhere else than in the workings of our language. And students will beneWt far more from being helped to command a clearer view of our language in its socio-cultural context than from being prompted to simulate the mental processes in the brains of professional translators.

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Training and assessment

Induction into the translation profession Through internet mailing lists for translators Judy Wakabayashi University of Queensland

Introduction Formal training in translation remains a luxury for which many translators have neither the time nor money, and it is also often regarded with some scepticism by practising professionals. As they quite rightly point out, university courses are not the only means by which translators can learn their craft — on-the-job training is an obvious alternative, and this is where translators have traditionally acquired their skills. Valuable learning opportunities are also oVered by the newsletters, meetings and conferences sponsored by translators’ organizations. Recent years have witnessed the advent of a new avenue for acquiring at least some of the knowledge and skills required by professional translators — i.e., translators’ mailing lists (MLs) on the Internet. The popularity of these electronic MLs means they cannot be overlooked in any discussion of how translators are inducted into the profession. MLs are an increasingly powerful force in the skill-building and professional socialization of translators, and it is even conceivable that they might eventually contribute to greater convergence of translation norms around the world, or at least within particular language pairs. In this paper I will discuss the potential of translator MLs and brieXy examine HONYAKU, a high-volume open ML for translators working from and into the Japanese language. I will also consider some other computer-mediated communications (CMC) initiatives that can be used within formal training courses.

BeneWts The main beneWts of translator MLs are outlined below. Expertise: The life-blood of translator MLs is the expertise they oVer. In a “community of practice” experts and novices work together to co-create and

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negotiate meaning.1 In order for novice translators to grow through a form of apprenticeship learning they require experts around them to act as facilitators, guides, counsellors and information providers. Typically, there is a wide range of expertise available on MLs (e.g., qualiWed medical practitioners, lawyers, patent attorneys, Ph.D.s in a variety of disciplines, and translators working in every imaginable Weld). (In this connection, Sharp (1997) writes that “While outside certiWcation and reputation help, nothing succeeds more than demonstrated competence.”) Thus subscribers have access to a pool of hundreds of “teachers” from whose experience they can beneWt, and their professional circle is increased enormously. The expertise is also sometimes available in the form of searchable archives, which provide a record of past interchanges and represent the knowledge capital accumulated by the group. New learning opportunities: The fact that the “teachers” or peer mentors include native speakers of both the source and target languages provides an additional perspective often unavailable in the classroom. From a teacher’s viewpoint, the knowledge that students have access to experts in so many subject areas relieves the pressure of being proWcient in all of the specialized Welds covered during the course. Moreover, queries often lead to successive respondents reWning or correcting earlier answers and oVering other acceptable alternatives, thereby providing a smorgasbord of solutions — another bonus not generally available in the classroom, where the teacher tends to be the sole authoritative source. This helps novices’ deep learning by modelling the process of Wnding and selecting a solution. As Robinson comments, “you must be able to sort out conXicting ‘expert’ advice and pick the rendition that seems to Wt your context best” (1997a: 202). Model of professional behaviour and norms: In addition to answers to speciWc queries, ML participants also provide general advice and foster an attitude of professionalism toward translation and business relations. Participation in MLs helps novices model their speech and behaviour on that of professionals in a sort of “internship by osmosis”, thereby facilitating the transition into the profession. Novice translators are soon made aware of the need to invest in specialized dictionaries and reference works, of the importance of context and research, and of the need to learn how to handle clients and computers. Toury (1995) has discussed the norms acquired by translators during their professional socialization, and MLs can act as a signiWcant norm-authority. Norms are negotiated amongst the ML participants, albeit unconsciously, with powerful voices (powerful by virtue of their demonstrated competence or

Induction into the translation profession

merely by virtue of their outspokenness) promoting their norms — and verbally “sanctioning” people who disagree. This constitutes an initiation into the norms of the ML group, and also an induction into the culture of translation in the particular language pair involved. Although ML discussion tends to focus mainly on terminology, occasionally there is feedback in the form of direct comments on or criticism of actual translation extracts, and this also contributes to the formation of norms. Even without explicit feedback, it can be expected that translators gradually start taking potential or hypothetical responses into account, thereby developing an internal monitoring mechanism. Socio-psychological factors: Over time a virtual community of professional peers evolves from which not only participants in the various threads but also non-participants (lurkers) beneWt.2 Not only does this community have practical advantages in terms of solving translation problems and leading to work, but it also has considerable psychological beneWts.3 The sense of belonging to a professional community reduces the feelings of isolation that have often faced translators in the past, and regular participants whose competence has been demonstrated gain recognition and status. Personal and professional friendships are often formed over time, and translators who have met on-line sometimes go on to meet in person. Accessibility: MLs can be used from anywhere in the world as long as the translator has e-mail access. Thus they provide an avenue for professional development for people living in places where formal training is unavailable or who cannot attend courses because of Wnancial, work or family commitments. They also allow for diVerences in educational background, age, experience and preferred learning style. Combined with information on the World Wide Web (WWW), access to experts on MLs means far fewer trips to the library when conducting the research necessary for particular translation jobs.4 Speed and frequency: MLs are especially useful for Wnding answers to urgent problems, with responses often appearing within minutes. Time zone diVerences mean translators in one part of the world can answer queries while others sleep, and the frequency of postings far surpasses that of any other communication medium. Low cost: MLs require no membership or tuition fees, and the only expense is a computer account giving access to the Internet and the telephone charges for the time spent on-line (computers, modems and telephones are a necessary expense for working translators in any case). Collaborative learning through peer teaching and peer feedback also draws on a university’s least expensive resources — outside professionals and other students.

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Other beneWts of translator MLs include the increased visibility for translators as a professional group. The lists also provide a vital “reality check” and window to current practice and terminology for university teachers who are no longer full-time practitioners. Teachers can reciprocate by providing occasional on-line “classes” or a more informal sharing of knowledge in response to particular queries, and they can also play a role in educating the broader community of translators by occasionally referring to books on translation or more theoretical ideas with which practitioners might be less familiar. University teachers of translation tend to have a low proWle on translator MLs. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, undoubtedly even experienced translators could gain from greater input from translation teachers. This, of course, requires some tact.

Drawbacks There are also, however, some drawbacks. The quality of the answers can vary considerably, including wild guesses and totally incorrect answers on occasion (although this is largely compensated for by the range of input). The sheer volume of messages is a double-edged sword, providing an abundance of expertise but making it diYcult to keep up with the daily Xood of messages, so that quite a few people unsubscribe after a trial period. Robinson also points out the practical drawback, at least in the short term, that “the discussion of who uses what words and how can become more interesting than the actual translation that pays the bills” (1997: 154). As in any community, a hierarchy develops over time, and it is easy for less conWdent participants to feel intimidated by the self-appointed arbiters (not necessarily the most expert translators) of what is correct or acceptable. Although newcomers who explicitly introduce themselves are usually welcomed and there is generally a spirit of empathy, support and tolerance that allows novices to extend their competence, “Xaming” does occur.5 Berge and Collins write that: when social context cues are minimized nonreticent personalities can be encouraged to become overly zealous in their responses, or to become publicly inXammatory and aggressive on a personal level in ways that generally do not occur in other media. Second, it has been noted that some students prefer the social aspects of the classroom and are unsettled by the lack of face-to-face interaction in CMC, or the lack of a (sometimes) charismatic lecturer during presentation. (1995)

Induction into the translation profession

Even without Xaming, novices might feel awed by the more experienced or assertive translators on the list and reluctant to expose themselves to judgment. Although translator MLs provide invaluable help, they are highly unsystematic and the learning process cannot be controlled or designed. Learning is primarily incidental, ad hoc and largely subconscious. For instance, the area that MLs seem to be least likely (although not necessarily unable) to help with is the translation of actual passages, as opposed to terminology and professional matters, and feedback on completed translations is rarely provided above the sentence level. Discussion of theoretical issues also tends to be minimal, perhaps because of the exigencies of commercial work and because the professional experience of most participants means they have already worked out their own approach to translation and are less open to or interested in other ideas or approaches.

Bringing computer-mediated communications into the translation classroom Given that MLs are such a valuable resource, it is worth considering how they can best act in concert with formal translator training as a supplementary classroom resource — i.e., not just as a resource for full-time practitioners. Naturally, MLs for translators cannot replace face-to-face learning, but they do help bridge the gap between university training and the professional world. Although MLs cannot be regulated or structured, how students participate in these lists can be guided to some extent so as to ensure optimal learning beneWts. At the beginning of the course it might be necessary to instruct students in how to subscribe and post messages (including “netiquette”, e-mail conventions, acronyms and emoticons). Students should be encouraged to participate, preferably after “lurking” for some time to absorb the conventions and culture of the list and to learn the dangers of communicating by e-mail (which is particularly susceptible to misinterpretation, especially in the case of sarcasm or humour unless explicitly signalled as such by emoticons). Students can be advised to use MLs when completing homework translations, although only after exhausting other resources, since asking elementary questions might backWre on their reputation. They should also be encouraged to become discerning readers of the messages, carefully evaluating the quality of the input rather than accepting all answers at face value, and then conWrming the answers in other sources if possible.

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MLs can also be utilized directly in the translation classroom. Before or during one of the initial classes in the course the teacher can send a message to the list, introducing the students and asking subscribers to post a short message or advice for newcomers to the profession. This has the dual function of initiating students to the list by demonstrating how it operates and of garnering some useful tips. The use of computer-mediated communications in teaching translation is not limited to MLs, as bulletin boards, e-mail, e-tutorials and on-line course delivery via the World Wide Web can also be used for Xexible delivery of content, supplementing conventional classes or as an alternative to face-toface discussion. Bulletin Board: Teachers might consider setting up an electronic bulletin board (BB) for students in a particular course so that they can help each other in an environment that is similar to but less daunting than that of MLs. In a “CoVee Shop” BB that is not monitored by the lecturer students are free to discuss each other’s work-in-progress. BBs can also oVer a venue for “publishing” students’ Wnished translations for other students to view. These discussion groups assist in the formation of close student networks and help build reXection, as students can go back and modify the text on the screen. Unlike tutorials, it gives them a chance to think before they talk, is more egalitarian than a classroom (although some students still feel that having their comments made public is too threatening), and it helps them make their tacit knowledge explicit in writing. Chat groups: Chat groups oVer real-time interactive communication. The topic or “guest” can be announced in advance, and participants then post questions and comments. The advantages of internet relay chat (IRC) include the direct feedback, the ability to talk with a group of people or just one person, and the fact that it can be motivating for the students because they have a sense of real communication. The disadvantage is that the synchronous nature means students require good typing skills and the students and “teachers” must be on-line at the same time (Ebbelink 1998). Translators or teachers could also allow students or other translators to look “over their shoulders” as they actually input and work on a translation. E-mail: This provides improved access to translation teachers (for instance, it can be used to obtain anonymous feedback about teaching) and to the other students in the class. Students can submit translations by e-mail or Wle exchange, and the teacher annotates them on-screen, using square brackets

Induction into the translation profession

to indicate the teacher’s comments. The passages are then returned by e-mail, along with other students’ solutions, or all annotated versions can be placed on the class web page, with attributions. This can, however, be more time-consuming than handwritten feedback. Students can also be asked to e-mail their “muddy point” (i.e. the single point they had the most diYculty with) each week, and that problem can be addressed in the next class. Class Web Site: On-line delivery of course content through a class web site to which the lecturer uploads lecture notes and sample texts enables students to work through the curriculum or at least parts of it at their own pace. Given that few commercially available textbooks are entirely suitable for speciWc translation courses, the ability to tailor web sites to the needs of a particular group of students is a boon. When designing web sites for students, it is important to include practical examples and authentic translation tasks and to “scaVold” their learning by gradually taking away aids such as glossaries and parallel texts as they become more proWcient. The web site can be set up so that the students are given certain tasks incrementally. Ideally, students should also be able to respond to course material over the Internet. One way of equipping students with skills that will stand them in good stead in their professional life is to have them design a group web page — for instance, second-year students could build web sites about particular translation-related topics for Wrst-year students. Such activities are best integrated into the course design and the ongoing evaluation of students, rather than just being an add-on — e.g. class assignments could be directly related to the web site. It is important to evaluate whether the time involved in building web sites is commensurate with the beneWts. Nowadays there is a range of software for Web teaching available, such as Creator, Top Class, LogicWorks and WebCT (this includes assessment and teaching tools, not just web communication), and these make the task much easier. The web site could include categories such as Subject Outline, Assessment, Resources (e.g. sample texts in both languages from particular genres), Readings, Frequently Asked Questions, Activities, Useful WWW Sites for this Course, Site of the Week (have the students Wnd this themselves), E-mail Other Students, and hyperlinks to resources for translators. Another possibility is to have students compete to submit a Translation Question of the Week. Another advantage of providing on-line teaching is that it enables courses in less popular language pairs to be oVered via distance learning. As Brown comments, the WWW “is taking the distance out of distance education and has the potential to open up open learning” (1998a: 1).

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Pedagogical soundness Although I would urge translation teachers to embrace and exploit the opportunities oVered by technological change, there is no point in doing so unless there are clear beneWts in terms of learning, assessment, time or cost. New technologies are not necessarily better than old ones. As Brown warns, “it must be borne in mind that the WWW is a delivery mechanism, not an educational innovation in itself. … it requires careful attention to instructional design speciWcally for online learning before it will lead to improved educational outcomes.” (1998a: 1). We need to extend what we know about good learning practice in the classroom to this new dimension. It is well known that learning occurs best when it involves interaction, but this is often at risk today from increasing class sizes, with students receiving less individual feedback from the teacher and other students. However, MLs for example provide one solution by allowing a small sub-set of subscribers interested in a particular topic to interact as much as they wish until that thread is exhausted, thereby enabling participants to tailor their learning to their own needs and choose what and when to learn. Berge and Collins write that “The type of change enabled by computer-mediated communication (CMC) does not just involve adding new technology to old ways of organizing teaching and learning […] The paradigm shift is from a teaching environment to a learning environment.” (1995), while Holzl has deWned constructivism as “creating learning environments in which students construct their own learning, as opposed to a transmission model of learning where we transmit largely content which students are then expected to regurgitate.” (1998: 3). Conventional examples include problem-based learning, case studies and project-based learning, and well-designed computer-mediated communications can act as another example. ML subscribers encounter translators with various levels of competence, and this provides a wider and more stimulating forum for interaction than is possible in conventional classrooms. Moreover, people learn best when they have a goal, such as Wnding out the answer to a question of personal interest, and MLs oVer a venue for such goal-oriented, practice-centred learning. They facilitate learner-centred, self-directed and self-paced learning at a time convenient to the subscriber. Berge and Collins note that “we must teach students to become lifelong learners by helping them locate the resources to continue learning” (1995), and MLs certainly assist in this. They also oVer an authentic and usually contextualized setting — “authentic” meaning that the problems

Induction into the translation profession

encountered are not graded in terms of complexity, unlike the traditional bottom-up approach of the classroom. Although this might be daunting, it can also be motivating. MLs and other CMC also help students learn about as well as through the technology. Translation teachers need training in how to use these technologies eVectively for the beneWt of their students and without adding unduly to their own workload. As Parker points out, “Development of online teaching skills amongst teaching staV is vital to the success of any move into computer-based learning. These skills not only include communication and presentation online, but also an understanding and encouragement of self-paced and cooperative learning strategies and the ability to function as a facilitator of learning as well as a content provider.” (1998: 4). Teachers also need to be able to make informed choices as to which delivery platforms will best suit the learning objectives of their course.

The case of the HONYAKU mailing list The HONYAKU mailing list evolved from the Polyglot BBS started in Tokyo in the second half of the 1980s.6 In 1991 it was replaced by the forum JAT LANGUAGE, and then in 1993 the Japan Association of Translators sponsored the establishment of HONYAKU, which was subsequently taken over by its moderator in September 1998.7 HONYAKU is open to anyone, but its language-speciWc nature makes it more focused than the LANTRA-L list.8 HONYAKU is not necessarily representative of language-speciWc translators’ mailing lists, but it is an active one and the one on which my remarks here have been primarily based. There are 1,481 HONYAKU subscribers (as of 10 August 2001), so sometimes it can feel somewhat anonymous. Most of the postings (which typically average well over sixty a day) are in English and the majority of subscribers are native speakers of English, but the use of Japanese is encouraged and is common when citing terminology. Probably close to 20% of HONYAKU subscribers are regular participants in the discussions. Discussion on HONYAKU tends to be dominated by terminological enquiries, which reXects a common area of diYculty for translators but might give novices the misleading impression that translation is largely a matter of knowing specialized terminology. Other commonly canvassed topics include useful reference works, dictionaries and Internet sites; hardware and software

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questions;9 the importance of context (both when posting questions and in actual translation); business matters such as rates, how to estimate the size of jobs, relations with agencies and clients, and enquiries about the integrity of potential clients; job oVers and enquiries about how to Wnd work or how to have one’s translation of a book published; questions about English usage; the inevitable “Xames” and criticism of “newbies” to the list (but not necessarily the profession) who are lacking in “netiquette”, and both criticism and encouragement of novices who reveal their lack of translational expertise. Perhaps equally important are the resources generated by this particular ML — the FAQ provides information on “frequently asked questions”, while searchable archives constitute an increasingly valuable resource as time passes, and HONYAKU has spawned at least one oVshoot ML. People wishing to start up their own language-pair-speciWc mailing list would be well advised to ensure that the list moderator is the epitome of tact and diplomacy — skills which are often required when the discussion ranges oV-topic too much, or for handling Xames and unsolicited advertising. In the hands of a good administrator MLs like HONYAKU can become an invaluable — even addictive — resource that results in an unprecedented sharing of knowledge about the process and profession of translating.

Conclusion Mailing lists are indeed a powerful means of induction into the translation profession, but their strengths seem to lie more in providing assistance with the terminological, business and professional aspects, rather than with the actual act of translation itself or the acquisition of translation skills. Nevertheless, using MLS and other new technologies as an integral part of learning will “lead to a richer, more purposeful teaching and learning environment which promotes more learner autonomy and self-direction yet maintains traditional supports within a planned curriculum framework.” (Brown 1998b: 2). Although the pedagogical eVectiveness of these technologies has not yet been fully researched, we should not shy away from experimenting with them. The aim is to enhance both the learning and the teaching experience for those with a love of translation.

Induction into the translation profession

Notes 1. “A Community of Practice … is a special type of informal network that emerges from a desire to work more eVectively or to understand work more deeply among members of a particular specialty or work group.” (Sharp 1997) 2. Commenting on lurking, Kollock and Smith (1996: 110) point out, however, that though such free-riding is rational from the individual’s viewpoint, in the long run it is detrimental to the common good. The fact that there is no pressure to participate or respond can be both an advantage and a drawback. 3. There is a mailing list speciWcally devoted to job postings for translators: [email protected]. 4. Not just mailing lists for translators — for example, MLs on the topics of patents or medical English are valuable sources of help for students working on translations in these areas. These are searchable at the Liszt of Mailing Lists (http://www.liszt.com). 5. An informal canvassing at a gathering of translators in Australia in November 1998 as to their use of translator MLs produced the following reasons for no longer subscribing: – Too much time, aggressive personalities, feeling of inferiority. – Used to use it but found I don’t have enough time for it. Probably didn’t utilize it as much as I could have because some aggressive responses hindered me in posting questions. – Feelings of guilt about rarely being able to contribute answers and then wanting to ask questions. – Too much info. – Flooded with information and quit. I can try again during the holiday, but while working it’s too time-consuming. – I don’t think I can handle with too much information. – I just quit, because I couldn’t handle the volume of the mails. But still I found it quite useful. Just need to choose which to read. – Too much stuV. Clogs up my computer. – Takes too much time. Using e-mail Wlters, digest versions and the delete key are ways to avoid being swamped. 6. To subscribe to HONYAKU, go to http://www.crossroads.net/h1/index.html. 7. JAT also sponsors another mailing list, JAT-list, access to which is restricted to JAT members. This list is less active, and focuses more on professional matters and general chitchat, rather than on terminological problems and matters more closely related to the task of translation. 8. About 150 messages a day on topics ranging from terminology to business practices to chitchat. To join, click on [email protected] and send the message: SUB LANTRAL [Wrst_name last_name]. Archives are available at http: //segate.sunet.se/archives/lantral.html.

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9. A separate mailing list, Nihongo Computing (to subscribe, send e-mail to Majordomo @msdi.co.jp and in the body of the message put: subscribe nihongo-computing), has been established to provide a more focused venue for discussing hardware and software problems in dealing with the Japanese language.

Task-based translator training, quality assessment, and the WWW Suzanne M. Zeng and Jung Ying Lu-Chen University of Hawaii at Manoa

Introduction The traditional approach to the teaching of translation, especially the teaching of English-Chinese translation, segments the curriculum into discrete translation techniques for practice one at a time, such as ampliWcation, conversion, repetition, negation, division, adverbial clauses, etc. This “bottom-up” approach moves from teaching smaller linguistic units to larger ones. The learner’s task is to combine these broken-down skills to form his own translation process. Focus is spent on speciWc linguistic problems, giving less attention to the overall picture of the translation process. Learners may be able to grasp individual translation techniques, but producing a satisfactory target rendition of a larger source text becomes a challenge. Recent developments in foreign language learning and assessment have proposed alternative ways of language teaching and testing, which we believe shed light on the teaching and evaluation of translation. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) employs real-world or pedagogical tasks as the unit of analysis in syllabus design (Long & Crookes 1992, 1993). In the TBLT approach the teaching process is a simulation of real-world experiences. It is argued that students learn the best through social interactions which allow them to work toward a common goal, by sharing information and solving the same problems (Pica, Kanagy & Falodun 1993). Therefore, the TBLT approach employs many cooperative tasks in which students work together. The results of this kind of teaching has been clearly positive in motivating student learning. In performance-based assessment (PBA), the examinees perform tasks, which should be as authentic as possible, and the performance is rated by qualiWed judges based on a set of assessment criteria (Norris & Brown 1999). How does this apply to the teaching of translation? Based on the theories and practice of TBLT and PBA, we will present a top-down approach to the

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teaching of translation. This approach starts with the overall evaluation of a target text, moving from larger units to smaller units. The model proposed here is a task-based translation training pedagogical framework, as mentioned above, piloted in the 1998 Fall semester in an English-Chinese translation course at the University of Hawaii. Students had to take a pre-test, in which their sample writing was evaluated according to criteria for writing assessment, developed by several people in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature (EALL) and Center for Interpretation and Translation Studies (CITS) at the University of Hawaii. This served to Wlter out students who lacked the language ability that translation needs. The class consisted of eighteen students. Six were native English speakers who grew up in the US and learned Chinese in school. Three of them have lived and studied in China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong for a couple of months to a year. One of the six was ethnic Chinese whose parents were from Taiwan and spoke Mandarin at home. Two native Mandarin speakers came from Taiwan to the US at ages fourteen and fifteen. Six native Mandarin speakers were from China, of which two came to the US at ages ten and eleven, and four came after age twenty. Three students were native Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong, studying for their BA degree in the US. One student was from Japan and learned her Chinese and English as a foreign language in Japan and in the US. The class met three times a week for fifty minutes each, for a total sixteen weeks.

A Framework for task-based translator training A translation task analysis was done prior to the design of the syllabus to carefully delineate the common tasks translators need to perform in completing a translation (see Appendix 1). Both textual tasks and technical tasks were listed. Textual tasks are tasks related to comprehension, meaning, structure, and vocabulary of the source or target text. Technical tasks refer to the tasks needed in accomplishing the textual tasks, including research skills, computer skills, assessment skills and other related skills. The translation task analysis provided us a blueprint for designing our task-based translator training curriculum. The framework proposed here is divided into four stages (see Appendix 2).

Task-based translator training, quality assessment, and the WWW

Stage one (quality assessment) Stage one consists of a series of target text evaluation tasks. The focus is on learning the concept of quality assessment (QA) in translation. An authentic unsatisfactory target text, together with the Writing Assessment (WA) criteria, were given to students for evaluation purposes. Students are divided into groups and asked to give a grade to the sample text based on the WA scale, which focuses on grammaticality, use of expressions, smoothness, consistency and naturalness. Problems and possible solutions are also discussed. Through such an exercise, students begin to understand the importance of QA and what is included in QA. The source text of the sample target text is then given to students for comparison purposes. Focus this time is on comprehension, Wdelity, and accuracy. Students are divided into groups for this comparison exercise. The Translation Assessment (TA) criteria — developed by CITS — is given to students to use in this evaluation. Students are asked to rate the target text based on the TA scale. The criteria includes Wdelity, language appropriateness, structure, vocabulary, and mechanics.

Stage two (translation process) Stage two focuses on the translation process (see Appendix 2). During this stage, translation assignments are given in order to familiarize students with the necessary (but often deleted) steps that should be followed in order to obtain a high quality translation (Larson 1984). The goal is to have students internalize these steps when doing professional translation. An important part of this stage is the group discussion on problematic items and their possible solutions. A Problems and Solutions (PAS) form is given to students to use at this stage. After writing their Wrst drafts, students will again divide into groups for further discussion.

Stage three (web work) At this stage, students learn on-line web translation. They apply the skills learned in the previous stage to web translation. Besides learning specialized terminology, students discover the problems associated with web translation, such as Chinese fonts, coding, specialized terminology, on-line teamwork, consistency, style, etc.

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The software used at this stage is called WorldPoint Passport created by a company called WorldPoint (WP), which translates and handles web sites in multi-languages for large companies.1 Working in cooperation with WP in designing QA criteria for their translators, CITS is able to use WP passport software to give student authentic translation tasks which will eventually be published on the web. Knowing this, student motivation increases tremendously.

Stage four (Wnal assessment) During the Wnal stage of the task-based translator training, students are required to do a Wnal project, as well as take a post-test. At this stage, students should be able to integrate the skills and techniques learned throughout the course.

Conclusion As can be seen, this top-down approach serves to place more focus on quality assessment. An integral part of our task-based translator training includes authentic tasks using assessment forms, team work, and the web. Assessment forms (WA and TA criteria) help students remained focused on the translation task(s) at hand. While understanding the importance of coherency, consistency, Wdelity, etc., students learn to look at factors that aVect the quality of the target rendition. The PAS forms help guide student discussions. They learn to identify potential problems they might have ignored, Wnd resources to solve problems, and suggest solutions to these problems. In working in teams, students found the decision-making process to be easier rather than harder, especially when they worked with a student whose Wrst language diVered from their own Wrst language. Style, consistency and overall cohesion could be better assessed in teams. Furthermore, those with stronger computer skills could assist those who are weaker. As for doing assignments on the Web, students learned the essentials and problems of translations involving the web. Testing and evaluating the web translation software, WP Passport, gave students skills needed for the future web-translation market. Finally, this type of training had a positive aVect on students in that some discovered they were not suitable for the translation Weld, and others discov-

Task-based translator training, quality assessment, and the WWW

ered they wanted to pursue this profession. We have Weld-tested the criteria mentioned in this paper and piloted an online web-based translations course in 1999 with excellent results.2

Appendix 1. Translation task analysis results Textual tasks 1. Comprehension of the SL text (1) grasp main ideas (2) background information (3) know what needs to be researched

Technical tasks Research skills Dictionaries References Searching the WWW

2. Transfer of the SL text (1) key words (2) unfamiliar words (3) diYcult structures (4) sociopragmatic or cultural items

Dictionaries References Searching the WWW Linguistic and cultural knowledge Problem-solving skills

3. First draft of TL text (1) typing up the text (2) comparison (accuracy) (3) checking for spelling and grammar (4) sending through electronic channels

Chinese system and word processing Chinese font problems Spelling check Chinese e-mail Web course ware

4. Testing the TL text (1) peer assessment (2) consistency (3) readability (reading aloud) (3) comprehension (summary, Q&A) (4) naturalness

Marking of translations Commenting others’ work Marking conventions Filling out assessment forms (criteria) Stating types of problems Suggestions for solutions

5. Reworking the drafts (1) typing and revising the text (2) decision making (to change or not)

Cutting and pasting Spelling check

6. Final draft (1) advanced formatting (2) Wnal document editing

Sending the Wle in electronic form File type (text, word, wp, rtf, gif, jpg, etc) File format (PC or Mac) File attachment (Eudora, Netscape Mail, etc.)

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Appendix 2. A Framework for task-based translator training Stages Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Focus

Quality Assessment

Translation Process

Web Work (in teams) Final Assessment

Tasks

1. Take the pre-test 2. Evaluate an unsatisfactory translation (TT only) 3. Rephrase the TT 4. Compare TT with ST

1. Comprehend a ST 1. Learn Passport 2. Write up Wrst draft 2. Work with team 3. Discuss general 3. Translate online & speciWc problems 4. Discuss with team in small groups 5. Submit TT 4. Test TT (Larson 84) 6. Edit other’s TT 5. Discuss in class by 7. Evaluate Passport showing student TTs and team work 6. Revise TT 7. Submit Wnal TT (3 translation [Read articles and assignments in total) post reactions on Web]

[Read articles and post reactions on Web]

Stage 4

1. Choose the ST and TT for the Wnal project 2. Evaluate the TT 3. Write a paper 4. Upload to Web 6. Take the post-test120

(5 translation assignments in total) QA 1. WA Criteria Forms 2. ST and TT Comparison 3. TA Criteria

Time

2 weeks

1. PAS Form

1. WP-QA Translator’s checklist 2. WP-QA Editor’s checklist 3. WP-QA Proofer’s checklist

1. Translation Assessment Criteria

8 weeks

3 weeks

3 weeks

Notes 1. A description of Passport is as follows (http://www.worldpoint.com): WorldPoint Passport integrates high quality, rapid, in-country human translation with Web content management. WorldPoint Passport also has a powerful built-in, server-side scripting language that eliminates the necessity for CGI scripting. WorldPoint Passport users can serve Web pages dynamically and quickly from WorldPoint’s proprietary cached database architecture with unparalleled speed. WP uses QA checklist forms for the three roles involved in a translation, namely, the Translator’s checklist, Editor’s checklist, and Proofer’s checklist. 2. For a discussion of this, see the article written by Minako, Hagan, “The Making of Translators on the Web” (LISA 1999 Vol.VIII No. 4). For more information on the course used for this proposed model, see: http://nts.lll.hawaii.edu/chn421c. Those interested in our Web-based course may receive information from: http://nts.lll.hawaii.edu/it411.

Interpreting training programmes The beneWts of coordination, cooperation, and modern technology Ingrid Kurz University of Vienna

Introduction Establishing a state-of-the-art interpreting training programme implies that we must consistently try to further improve even the best of our existing programmes. To serve this purpose, a review was conducted of the courses oVered by university-level interpreting schools, the statements and papers delivered by distinguished interpreters/teachers at conferences and symposia dealing with interpreter training (e.g. Van Dam 1989, Weber 1989, Thiéry 1990, Pöchhacker 1992, Alexieva 1994), and the literature in this Weld (e.g. Seleskovitch & Lederer 1989, Viaggio 1992, Gile 1995, Kalina 1998). This reveals that certain criteria are regarded as indispensable for high-quality training programmes. There is general agreement that a professional graduate interpreting course must build on a strong academic education and linguistic proWciency with a skill-training approach. Furthermore, it is recognized that interpreting should be taught by professional interpreters, as someone who does not have the skills and aptitude to interpret cannot teach interpreting eVectively. Ongoing research into consecutive and simultaneous interpreting can also be expected to further enhance the quality of training programmes. So what remains to be done?

Room for improvement in training programmes The present paper sets out to show how even the best of schools can beneWt from better coordination and cooperation.

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I vividly remember the contribution of a young graduate from a prestigious school at the AIIC Symposium “Access to the Profession” held in Strasbourg in 1986. Showing up shortcomings in an otherwise excellent curriculum, she referred to a lack of coordination and suggested that ”(…) un peu plus de continuité et de coordination entre les diVérents professeurs ne ferait pas de mal!” (Hofer 1986: 14) It can, of course, be argued that — irrespective of the actual setup of an interpreting training programme — students will invariably be confronted with a wide range of subjects and that, furthermore, they must learn to become Xexible and switch from one subject to another rapidly. Nevertheless, I feel that critical feedback from trainees deserves to be taken seriously. Clearly, the type of training given to interpreting students should be suited to the realities of the job market. A university department or school that wants to ensure that its curriculum corresponds to the demands of an increasingly complex world cannot just sit back and watch such developments occur. Rather, it must do everything it can to match supply (by the university) and demand (by employers). It is a fact that highly technical subjects are becoming increasingly important in the work of conference interpreters because international cooperation, especially in scientiWc and economic areas, is continually expanding. This implies that interpreting training programmes must give due consideration to the diversity and multiplicity of international meetings and to their technical and terminological diYculties.1 We rightly expect students to research diYcult technical subjects. It is only fair, however, to give them an opportunity to apply the knowledge obtained from their time-consuming study of voluminous documentation in several of their classes, thus allowing them to experience progress and a sense of achievement. From our own experience as conference interpreters we know how much more diYcult it is to do a highly technical half-day meeting than a Wve-day conference where certain things keep repeating themselves. If this is true for seasoned interpreters, it applies all the more to students of interpreting. Admittedly, coordination and cooperation may not be an overriding issue for small interpreting schools with only a handful of students enrolled in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting classes. However, things are diVerent for big university departments like my own.

Interpreting training programmes

The Vienna model In the following, I will describe the approach implemented at the Department of Translation and Interpreting of the University of Vienna. The Department of Translation and Interpreting of the University of Vienna oVers Master’s programmes in translation and interpreting. Under the University Studies Act the degree course (minimum duration: eight semesters) is divided into two stages of four semesters each. Each stage of study is completed with a diploma examination. Students who have successfully passed their Wrst diploma examination can choose between the translation and interpreting programmes. The biggest foreign language sections are the English and French sections, each providing fourteen hours of interpreting classes per week (consecutive and simultaneous). The academic year consists of two semesters of fourteen weeks each, which means that each of these language sections oVers a total of almost 400 hours of interpreting training per year. Moreover, English-FrenchGerman is among the most popular language combinations chosen by our students. Thus, the need for coordination within and cooperation between language sections is obvious.

Coordination within language sections I teach six hours of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting per week. Every term, one or two weeks are devoted to one and the same topic in all my classes. This means that six to twelve hours of classroom work are dedicated to one subject. Students are informed of the topics in advance and are expected to research them. They must be prepared for the diVerent situations encountered in practice: 1. discussions or negotiations, when speakers speak “oV the cuV”, and 2. formal speeches, which may or may not be read from a prepared manuscript. Teaching materials are chosen accordingly. Our students have access to a well-endowed reference library where they can Wnd background information on the subjects they need to investigate. Relevant conference documents are made available to them. In addition, they are encouraged to make use of other sources including the Internet. They are expected to prepare glossaries in their working languages.

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Armed with this background, students will Wrst of all give oral presentations in the classroom which are interpreted by their colleagues. Mock conferences are organized regularly. Written texts, if available, can be used for sight translation, and, Wnally, audio- and/or videotapes from actual conferences are used. This type of approach has a very positive eVect on student motivation. No doubt, the intensive training requirements of a high-quality programme presuppose a high level of motivation. However, it is an axiom of human nature that in the absence of progress we tend to lose interest. Thus, even highly motivated students may Wnd it diYcult to maintain peak levels of motivation in the absence of clear short-term assignments. Therefore, the curriculum as a whole and the course contents in particular must be carefully sequenced. Students will be much more motivated to research a diYcult technical subject if the knowledge gained in the course of their research can be applied in several classes and if, furthermore, they feel that they are making progress. Let me illustrate this by giving you an example of the coordinated approach used in the English-German section. Example: Subject: AIDS Teaching materials: 1. Reference material in the library plus additional documentation 2. Articles from English and German newspapers and journals 3. Videotape of a one-hour TV programme 4. Proceedings of an international AIDS congress Assignments: 1. Terminology 2. Student presentations dealing with the subject – epidemiological aspects – spread of HIV infection – social aspects of the disease – recent scientiWc advances, etc. Classroom work: 1. Consecutive and simultaneous interpreting of students’ presentations 2. Simultaneous interpreting of a videotape of a one-hour panel discussion 3. Consecutive and simultaneous interpreting of highly technical papers from an international AIDS conference

Interpreting training programmes

This exercise was highly gratifying for students because they realized that the time and eVort invested in researching the topic was worthwhile and enabled them to progress from less diYcult to more diYcult material. (Many of the issues raised in the recorded panel discussion had been touched upon in the students’ own contributions so that, on the basis of this background knowledge, they were able to cope with the more diYcult situation as well — a feat which would probably have been impossible to achieve otherwise.)

Cooperation between language sections Basically, cooperation between diVerent language sections can take two forms: 1. Instructors in diVerent language sections agree in advance to devote a certain period of time to a particular topic. As a result, students with the relevant language combination will research the terminology in two foreign languages. Example: AIDS was one of the topics treated in both the English and French sections. Thus, students with the language combination English-French-German ended up with a small glossary in three languages. They agreed that the exercise was extremely worthwhile. 2. Instructors from two diVerent language sections get together and organize a three-language session (either a mock conference or a session using original conference tapes). Students are expected to research the subject and study the available documentation in advance. This type of systematic cooperation was initiated by the English and French sections but has since been expanded to include the Spanish and other language sections as well. Example: Audiotapes from Council of Europe meetings are used to simulate a three-language conference (English, French and German) in the classroom. A useful spinoV eVect of this type of exercise is that students with a diVerent language combination wishing to participate can use a fellow student’s relay. (This does not mean, of course, that we encourage the use of relay. However, it is a good way of testing the logical coherence and completeness of students’ interpretation.)

Cooperation with the U.N. OYce at Vienna — practice in “dummy” booths Advanced interpretation students at the University of Vienna also beneWt from a very special form of cooperation between the Department of Translation and

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Interpreting and the United Nations OYce at Vienna. Thanks to the openmindedness and generosity of the Chief Interpreter, they are occasionally allowed to work in a “dummy” booth during U.N. conferences at the Vienna International Centre.2 These practice sessions are invaluable in that trainees experience a full-day live conference instead of a two-hour class — with all its diYculties: missing documents, non-native speakers with heavy accents, speakers reading a paper at terriWc speed, etc. On these occasions they also have the opportunity to observe experienced conference interpreters at work and learn from them. They are instructed to record their performance and bring the tapes into class for evaluation and critique.

Video-assisted interpreting training For more than a decade, the use of video has been a regular feature of the interpreting training programme at the University of Vienna (Kurz 1989). One of the primary goals of the use of video in consecutive interpreting training obviously is to teach or to improve public speaking skills, which are an indispensable prerequisite for an interpreter. The audience’s impression is clearly inXuenced by both the verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the speaker. If the interpreter speaks haltingly or appears unsure, the credibility of his/her interpreting will be diminished. Of course, we can remind our students of the importance of the following: – they should have a clear, Wrm voice; – they should not be monotonous in their delivery; – they should not “orate” but should be natural and sincere, – they should be clear to the last word and should not let the endings of their words or sentences fall oV (Bowen & Bowen 1984). However, since a picture is worth a thousand words, there really is no substitute for showing students a tape of their own performance (cf. also SchwedaNicholson 1985, Heine 1990, Kellett 1995). The following procedure has been found to be useful: Speeches or reports given by students before the class are interpreted by another student. The performance of speakers and interpreters is videotaped. The tape is played back so that students can see themselves as the audience sees them, and can easily detect undesirable mannerisms. Were they frowning, grimacing or showing confused facial expressions when unsure? Did they look convincing? Was their

Interpreting training programmes

posture suYciently relaxed without being sloppy? Were they hiding behind their notes? Did they have eye contact with the audience? Did they sound natural? Was their voice too monotonous? Their performance is discussed in the classroom, and strengths and weaknesses are identiWed. Besides, students can replay the tapes individually. Awareness of the imperfections in their delivery and presentation helps them improve their overall performance in consecutive interpreting. I believe that the use of video for the teaching of public speaking skills should be introduced very early in the consecutive training process so that students can focus on areas requiring special attention from the start. Students tend to overcome the initial stage of embarrassmant very quickly and appreciate the exercise. Once they get used to being videotaped, they even begin to enjoy it, as they realize that it is an extremely valuable learning tool. In simultaneous interpreting training, videotapes help confront students with life-like situations, a must if we want to get away from a shelteredworkshop atmosphere. Even though there are well-tried conventional methods for simulating lifelike situations in the classroom, such as mock conferences or live speakers, it is felt that videotapes oVer several distinct beneWts: –

–

–

– –

While live speakers are not always available, it is fairly easy to build up a videotape “ library” consisting of tapes of lectures, speeches and panel discussions on a wide range of subjects. Like audiotapes, videotapes can be used to expose students not only to a large variety of disciplines but also to a wide range of speech styles and accents. Videotapes are far superior to audiotapes as they provide both linguistic and non-linguistic information. The signiWcance of non-verbal cues has long been recognized (Kurz 1997a) and is reXected in ISO Standards 2603 and 4043 (Permanent and Mobile Booths), which clearly specify that interpreters should have a view of the conference room and the speakers. A valuabe spin-oV eVect is that videotapes of TV broadcasts permit the presentation of highly topical subjects. As interpreting for the media and videoconferencing are gaining in importance (Mouzourakis 1996, Kurz 1997b), it is virtually imperative to introduce interpreting students to the new technologies.

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Conclusions Needless to say, coordination and cooperation mean an extra workload for those of us who teach. However, training a new generation of competent interpreters is a major responsibility that cannot be left to chance. The profession should be taught only by the best-qualiWed instructors. Students, in turn, should demonstrate clearly that they, too, possess the necessary aptitude and maturity to enable them to become outstanding professionals. It may take time to establish an ideal interpreting training programme. In view of the great strides that have been made in the teaching of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in recent years, however, I am convinced that closer cooperation among those involved in the training of conference interpreters as well as an exchange of experience, teaching methods and research Wndings will bring us a step closer to this goal.

Notes 1. The author’s interpreting assignments in autumn 1998 may serve as an illustration of the wide variety of subjects freelance conference interpreters are confronted with. Topics covered within a six-week period included: computer art, steel industry, man-made Wbres, management, trade unions, President Clinton’s testimony, architecture, banking, human rights, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, lotteries, electronic media, equal opportunities for women, electronic data interchange, civil protection, laboratory diagnostics, and drug prevention. 2. We are indebted to Sergio Viaggio, a proliWc writer and teacher himself who is also a frequent guest lecturer at our department, for enabling our students to acquire this handson experience.

Training and educating the trainers A key issue in translators’ training Birgitta Englund Dimitrova Stockholm University

Translator programmes in Sweden Organization of the programmes The Institute for Interpretation and Translation Studies at Stockholm University works in close collaboration with language departments, mainly in Stockholm, but also at other universities in Sweden, in organizing specialized programs of varying duration in professional translation, and in interpretation. Often, the language departments take on the task of carrying out the programmes on behalf of the Institute. When the Institute started its work in 1986, its courses and programmes were mostly dedicated to the training of interpreters, almost exclusively community interpreters, and the languages were typical “immigrants’” languages, such as Serbo-Croat, Arabic, or Kurdish. However, after Sweden’s entry in the European Union in 1995, programmes in Sweden have been adjusted predominantly to needs of the EU. The languages of the translator programmes are therefore the major, oYcial languages of the EU, which are also the so-called “school languages”, i.e. English, German, French, and Spanish. Both interpreter and translator training programmes in Sweden build upon the students’ previous knowledge of both the SL and the TL. Thus, training is not integrated with ordinary university language courses, but is organized as specialized programmes on a more advanced, although still undergraduate, level. A special entrance test ensures that the applicants for a certain programme have the necessary background: knowledge of the SL(s), of the TL, and some ability to translate.

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The teachers in the programmes Since the programmes are run in close collaboration with language departments, the majority of the teachers in the translator programmes are university language teachers. However, the Institute for Interpretation and Translation Studies has tried its best to ensure that the professional perspective is present, by engaging professional translators, both on a more regular basis as teachers and sporadically as guest lecturers. Students, however, sometimes complain about the lack of integration between the teaching of the diVerent teachers: the university teachers are sometimes too theoretical and do not always have the necessary knowledge about the future professional reality of their students; the professional translators, on the other hand, sometimes tend to be too practical, lacking that theoretical background which the students themselves have and consequently also expect from their teachers. Although the two diVerent teacher categories are not homogenous in terms of educational background and professional experience, some generalizations can be made about the “typical” backgrounds of the two groups, as presented in table 1: Table 1. Characteristics of educational and professional backgrounds of the two main teacher groups in translators’ programmes in Sweden. University Professional teachers translators Knowledge in theoretical linguistics Theoretical linguistic knowledge in SL and /or TL Pedagogical/didactic theoretical knowledge Knowledge of translation theory Experience from translation as a language teaching method Experience from translation as a language learning method Experience from translation as a communicative-professional activity Pedagogical experience

yes yes (yes) no yes yes no

no no/yes no no no yes yes

yes

no

The “typical” university teachers have a solid theoretical background in linguistics and in the language of their specialization, which is often the SL of the training programme; besides, they usually have substantial pedagogical experience from university level, and they may also have theoretical knowledge in pedagogy. Their experience in translation is often derived from their having taught courses called “Translation” or even “Grammar and Translation”, or having used translation exercises in other courses, for instance “ProWciency in

Training and educating the trainers

Writing”. Therefore, they often think that they know quite a lot about translation and how it should be taught. However, as is by now widely acknowledged, translation as a language teaching and learning method diVers considerably from the kind of translation work which a translators’ programme is supposed to prepare for (see, e.g., Klein-Braley and Smith 1985, Kussmaul 1995, Pym 1992). Thus, these teachers have no practical experience of the profession for which they are training the students and, in many cases, neither are they knowledgeable about the recent theoretical, developmental and educational work in translation theory, translation didactics, and empirical research. The professional translators, on the other hand, have considerable experience and competence in translating for communicative purposes. Very often, they have built up this competence to a large extent on their own, by practising the profession, by discussing professional matters with colleagues, clients, etc. Their education may include a language degree, in which case they have some theoretical linguistic knowledge. However, they can also be graduates from various other disciplines, such as law or engineering. The professional translators rarely have an education or experience in pedagogy. Thus, the two main categories of teachers have potentially very diVerent educational backgrounds as well as diVerent experience of and views on translation. This is one important reason for the above mentioned lack of integration of their diVerent perspectives in actual teaching.

Translator’s competence and translator trainer’s competence What does a translator do and what does he need to know? What, then, does a translator do in his professional activity, and what does he need to know to fulWl his role? It is generally agreed that the central tasks of a translator are to read and understand source texts (ST), to transfer them into the TL, and to produce a target text (TT). It is also generally agreed that this requires linguistic competence in the SL and the TL, in such areas as phonetics and phonology, grammar, semantics and lexis, stylistics, text linguistics and pragmatics, as well as cultural competence in the SL culture and the TL culture. Described in this way, both the tasks and the necessary competencies seem to Wt in quite well with the teaching proWle of most university language departments. However, discussions with professional translators, as well as recent literature on the training of translators, make it very clear that such a general

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description of the translator’s tasks does not reXect adequately all relevant activities, nor the competencies necessary for them. Thus, both reading and understanding the ST and producing the TT involve, e.g., the use of diVerent kinds of aids, such as dictionaries, term lists and term banks, databases, encyclopedia, specialized literature and parallel texts, consultations with specialists, etc. These activities should form part of the programme, both practically and grounded in a theoretical perspective, e.g. in lexicography (Kussmaul 1989, 1995, Pöhl 1989; cf. also Englund Dimitrova and Jonasson, 2002) and terminology (Sager 1992). If possible, students should also be given some competence in one or several areas of specialization, including relevant text patterns and terminology (cf. Kussmaul 1990, Snell-Hornby 1992, Van Den Broeck 1986, Winkler 1992). Producing the TT requires competence in revision (Mossop 1992), in the use of computers, including word processing, possibly DTP (Schopp 1996), computerized translators’ tools, MT, Internet etc. (Kingscott 1996). Finally, free-lance translators, at least, also engage in other tasks, such as advertising their own business, managing contacts with clients, and dealing with accounts. It should be clear that a translator needs to have theoretical and practical competence in many diVerent areas. As already noted above, some of them are part of the teaching and research tradition of university language departments. This perhaps gives rise to a tendency to overemphasize the purely linguistic and cultural aspects of the competence of the translator, and consequently to underestimate, or neglect other aspects, including such important areas as lexicography and the use of dictionaries, terminology, theory and practice of revision, and typography.

What does a translators’ trainer need to know? Peter Newmark has suggested (admittedly, to raise an argument) that “the success of any translation course must depend 65% on the personality of the teacher, 20% on the course design and 15% on the course materials” (Newmark 1988: 20). It must be assumed that Newmark includes “knowledge and experience” in his concept of personality; the quotation stresses the vital importance of the teacher in the programme. A comparison between table 1 showing the typical background proWles of university teachers versus professional translators, and the facts outlined above regarding translators’ tasks and necessary competencies should make it obvious that the diVerent teacher backgrounds complement each other, and are equally important for teachers

Training and educating the trainers

in a translator training course. Only a few of the teachers can aspire to be versatile in all those areas. A clear integration of the theoretical and professional perspectives is, however, desirable and necessary, and especially so in the parts of the programme which are explicitly dedicated to the development of translational proWciency. Such an integration is only possible if teachers have some knowledge of all the diVerent areas which translators potentially have to deal with as a practising professional. Teachers teaching translational proWciency and its constituent parts must therefore have a wide knowledge of the demands on the professional activities of a translator. They should be aware of the diVerent tasks that a translator can be faced with, and be prepared to analyse them both practically and theoretically. They should also be aware that student assignments must not be limited to producing a number of translated texts without further speciWcation, but should be broadened to include (depending upon the purpose of the programme), for instance, producing a résumé in the TL of a SL text, producing a TT with diVering degrees of typographic Wnish, revising somebody else’s TT, producing diVerent TT’s from one ST according to diVerent translation purposes, etc. The necessity of such diversity in assignments will only become clear to a teacher who has some grasp of the full professional perspective.

The Stockholm model for training and educating trainers This is the background of the course which has been designed “to train and educate the trainers”. Its goal is to give the participants, to quote from the course description, “some knowledge of theories and questions of relevance to translation, as well as some knowledge of current theories and models for the training of translators and the teaching of translation.” It had by 2000 been given three times at the Institute for Interpretation and Translation Studies in Stockholm and once at Gothenburg university. The two main target groups of the course are: 1. university teachers of languages with an interest in and/or prior experience in teaching in translator programmes; 2. professional translators, who are teaching or who want to teach in translator programmes. The course comprises ten Swedish university credits (one credit equals one week of full-time study) extending over twenty weeks. The total number of

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lectures and seminars led by a teacher has varied between forty-six and sixty teaching hours. The course consists of two parts, an introductory course in translation theory and a course in translation didactics.

Introductory course in translation theory The course in translation theory aims at acquainting the participants with diVerent theories of translation. Course participants are made aware of the fact that there is not at the present time one generally accepted theory, but rather several competing ones which have many features in common. They are also exposed to the terminological variety in this Weld at present, so that they in their teaching do not use such terms as “equivalence” or “translation unit” without Wrst deWning them. This part of the course involves reading highly theoretical literature, which is then discussed in class.1 The discussion focuses not so much on the purely theoretical aspects of the respective theories, as on their relation to translational practice and its teaching: which concept(s) of equivalence seem most appealing and convincing to participants? How do the diVerent concepts lend themselves to practical application, e.g. translating a certain text striving for a particular kind of equivalence, or analysing a given translation in those terms? The didactic perspective is vital — which concept(s) can most fruitfully be used in analysing translations, for instance students’ translations? The course in translation theory actually serves several purposes. For the professional translators in the course, the theoretical aspects of translation are often a revelation: here, they Wnd literature which tries to systematize and analyse their professional experience and reality. It is true that not all literature in the course is equally well received by the translators, but on the whole, they take a keen interest in it. As for the university teachers, the literature on translation theory gives a theoretical background, legitimizing translation as an academic pursuit. At the same time the literature oVers an introduction to signiWcant aspects of translation as a communicative, professional activity. The most important link between theories and professional work is actually provided by the professional translators in the course, during the discussions of the theoretical literature, when they provide ample examples and illustrations from their daily working experience. Their presence is therefore absolutely vital. Apart from a general body of theoretical literature read by all students, every student also reads some 100–200 pages of additional theoretical literature of his or her own individual choice. This literature is reviewed by the

Training and educating the trainers

student orally in class, enabling all students, as well as the teacher, to acquaint themselves with more theoretical material than is prescribed in the course. Themes that have been presented by students include, for instance, translation of drama texts, translation of children’s literature, Bible translation, computerized tools for translators, problems in translating from Arabic to Western languages, and many more. Every review is documented with a hand-out for the other participants, which gives both the main points of the reviewed work, as well as bibliographic details. In this way, the oral reviews will become a source of information for the other participants in their future work as well.

Course in didactics of translation The second part of the course is dedicated to the didactics of translation. Themes which are dealt with in the literature of the course and discussed in lectures and seminars include translation as a language teaching method and translation in a translator programme, knowledge of speciWc areas and language for speciWc purposes and their integration into a translators’ training course, principles for progression in translation exercises (cf. Arntz 1984, Gile 1994, Lykke Jakobsen 1994, Neubert 1984), revision of texts (cf. Mossop 1992), use of aids and term banks etc., translation into L2 (cf. McAlester 1992), the role of translation theory in translator programmes (cf. Bühler 1994, Chesterman 1994), how to assess translations (cf. Chesher 1991, Dollerup 1994, KupschLosereit 1985, Pym 1992), diVerent models for translator programmes (cf. Snell-Hornby 1992, Winkler 1992), etc. In the course, we discuss diVerent kinds of knowledge — declarative versus procedural, or put in other words theory versus practice, in translators’ programmes: which should and can be their respective proportion? We also discuss whether teaching should be product-oriented or process-oriented (cf. Gile 1994, Mauriello 1992), whether these orientations can be combined and how. Another important aspect which is constantly discussed is the collaboration between teachers in a translator programme. Participants agree that this is necessary, and that teachers who teach diVerent parts of a programme should adjust their schedules for the contents of lessons, the progression of materials, etc. to make the students feel a sense of integration, and to maximize the learning eVect. While this is easy to agree upon in theory, however, it is not always easy to carry out in practice. This is both because of the contents of the diVerent parts of the course and because not all university teachers are actually used to or keen on cooperating with one another.

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Although there are some works dedicated wholly to translator training (e.g. Gile 1995, Kussmaul 1995, Wilss 1996), these are not read in their entirety in the course. Instead, selected articles by these authors are read and discussed, as are articles by many others. One reason for this is that the aim of the course is not to advocate any one of these models over the others, but rather to orientate the participants with reference to existing literature. To combine theory and some aspects of teaching practice, the students form groups according to their speciWc interest, and do project work together outside class hours. The projects are dedicated to the planning of either a whole translators’ programme or one of the separate courses that form part of such a programme, for instance translation proWciency, language for speciWc purposes and terminology, or translation theory. Depending upon their speciWc topic, students have to analyse and address such issues as the length and duration of the course, the desirable number of teaching hours, the teaching material to be included, the principle(s) of progression, what literature is to be read, how is the material to be used during class hours, etc. This planning work is presented orally and in written form by each group in class and discussed. The purpose of the projects is to give the participants an opportunity to practise some of the ideas with which they have been acquainted during the course. Since so many of the participants are practising university teachers, they tend to use this opportunity to plan part of their future work, which, of course, Wts in very well with the general orientation/ purpose of the course.

A tentative evaluation The participants’ evaluation of the course and its contents has, so far, been very high. However, it must be remembered that this is the result of a positive selection, since participants enrolled in the course because they were interested in the topics which would be discussed. One of the problems which has emerged so far is, paradoxically, the general interest in translation and in translation theory at present in Sweden. This has led to a great interest in all courses that are designated “translation” in one way or another. For this reason, not all applicants to the course are actually interested in teaching translation — their aim can instead be to learn more about translation, about how to analyse their own work, etc. Thus, of the sixty-two students who had by 2000 attended the course, twenty-four are university teachers, fourteen are professional translators and/or interpreters, and twenty-four are

Training and educating the trainers

“ordinary” students with a solid background in several languages. Whereas the last group’s interest in the course is understandable and also laudable, it can create problems in class, especially in the discussions, since some students tend to focus more on general translational problems than on the pedagogic and didactic perspectives. A related problem is the fact that many of those teachers whom we would like to see as participants in our course, are too busy teaching, mostly teaching translation at that, to take the time to attend a course such as this. Although they feel that they could beneWt greatly from the course, they cannot Wnd the time for it. A more serious problem is the almost total lack of empirical studies on diVerent methods for teaching translation and on how translation is actually learnt (cf. however, Shlesinger 1992). While there is a wealth of such studies on the acquisition of language (for a Wrst introduction, see for instance Lightbown and Spada 1993), both informally and in formal settings such as classroom teaching, our knowledge on the acquisition of the competence that translators have is still rudimentary. In spite of recent studies on the process aspects of translation (e.g. Fraser 1996, Krings 1986, Lörscher 1991a), there is still little consensus as to which teaching methods are the most eVective. Similarly there is as yet no tangible measure for the diVerences between the translation ability which is a concomitant of knowing more than one language, and the competence that characterizes a professional translator, and other central aspects of the translator’s competence. Although there is some consensus as to what areas should mastered by a translator, we do not know how to bring about this mastering in the most eYcient way. Therefore, discussions on didactic matters in this course do not always result in very speciWc recommendations, but rather function as “eye-openers” to the fact that in teaching translation, the coin is not one- or even two-sided, but many-sided.

Some Wnal words As is clear from this description of the course, it aims at breadth rather than depth. Its purpose is to give an orientation about some theories that we consider important for the training of translators, and further to give an orientation about existing literature on translator training. It does not aim at providing deWnite answers. The main aim is to start the discussion, and I hope that the course has a consciousness raising eVect. Participants should get to know that there are diVerent views on such issues as what should be a part of the training, how much theory there should be, what kind of theories should be

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introduced and for what purpose, how translations should be assessed, and many other problems. My hope is that they will continue to think about these questions and try to Wnd answers which they themselves are happy with. A similar course for interpreter trainers was developed and run for the Wrst time during the academic year of 1999/2000.

Note 1. e.g., selected parts of Nida (1964), Toury (1995) and Chesterman (1989), which includes readings by Jakobson, Koller, Reiss, Vermeer, and others.

Can short interpreter training be eVective? The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission experience Annelie Lotriet University of the Free State

Interpreting in South Africa In many countries interpreting is a clearly deWned and well-established profession, but in South Africa the situation is somewhat diVerent. According to Du Plessis (1997) many issues such as the nature of the profession and its role in the new South Africa with the changed language policy still lack clear deWnition. Although the new language dispensation in the country has created many exciting challenges and opportunities in the Weld of interpreting, it has also led to the realization that many dilemmas still need to be faced. Up to 1994, South Africa had a policy of two oYcial languages, namely Afrikaans and English. This was despite the fact that the country has some twenty-Wve languages (Webb 1995). Interpreters were never used on an oYcial basis in, for example, Parliament, since everyone had to be able to communicate in the two oYcial languages. The courts were the only places where interpreters were used for the other indigenous languages. It should also be pointed out that up to 1998 these court interpreters received very little, if any, formal training (Lotriet 1997a). On the community level there has always been a great need for interpreters, especially in places such as hospitals and clinics. The situation in this regard has always been, and mostly still is, that any person who speaks two languages is used as an interpreter. In most instances nurses, porters, cleaners, etc. are asked to interpret. These are people who have never received any interpreter training. This situation changed dramatically with the political reforms in the country. The new Constitution of South Africa stipulates that there are to be eleven oYcial languages and that these languages need to be enhanced and developed

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and that no person may be discriminated against on the basis of language (Lotriet 1997b). Besides the immediate need for interpreters in the Parliament and at the diVerent provincial Legislatures, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which came into being in 1996 also increased the need for interpreters.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission The activities of the TRC are governed by the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act No. 34 of 1995. This act contains two important languagerelated provisions: – Section 11 (b) (Chapter 2) stipulates that victims shall be treated equally and without discrimination of any kind, including race, colour, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, language, religion, nationality, political or other opinion, cultural beliefs or practices, property, birth or family status, ethnic or social origin or disability. – Section 11 (f) (Chapter 2) stipulates that appropriate measures shall be taken to allow victims to communicate in the language of their choice. These stipulations in the act made it imperative for the TRC to establish an interpreting service. The decision was made to adopt simultaneous interpreting in order to save time. This decision in itself had speciWc implications, as there were only a handful of simultaneous interpreters in the country working in the Parliament and the Legislatures. Interpreting service had to be rendered at the following types of hearings conducted by the TRC: – Human Rights Violations (HRV) Hearings: hearings where the victims’ accounts of human rights violations were heard and documented. – Amnesty hearings: hearings where the Amnesty Committee hears and decides the applications for amnesty submitted by the perpetrators. – Section 29 hearings: in-camera hearings of an investigative nature. The Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) was contracted by the TRC to select, train and manage the interpreting service for the TRC at the diVerent hearings. This service would have to make provision for interpreters in all eleven oYcial languages and cater for a maximum of Wve simultaneous hearings at a time (Du Plessis and Wiegand 1997). The ULFE had a period of two months in which to recruit, select and train the interpreters.

Can short interpreter training be eVective

Recruitment and selection of the interpreters for the TRC Recruitment There were three recruitment, selection and training rounds; the Wrst recruitment round was conducted in April 1996, the second in August 1996 and the third in January 1998. The reason for this was an increase in the number of hearings and certain language combinations. In total more than 250 applications were received. A shortlist for each round was drawn up on the basis of the following criteria: – Candidates had to be in possession of a tertiary qualiWcation. This did not necessarily have to be a diploma or degree in a language-related Weld. Any tertiary qualiWcation was taken into consideration. – Age. Preference was given to candidates aged twenty-Wve and older. The rationale for this was that because it was anticipated that the work would be very demanding and the subject matter unsettling, it was felt that very young candidates might not been able to cope with it. – Language combinations. The candidates had to be able to speak English, as all interpreting would be done into English. This was in order to make the whole exercise practical and as cost-eVective as possible. It would have been impossible to cater for all the permutations of eleven oYcial languages.

Interviews A total of 102 candidates were shortlisted and interviews were conducted across the country. The interviews were based on the proWle characteristics of the type of person who would be able to cope with the speciWc interpreting demands. In this regard, the psycholinguistic proWle suggested by Brisau, Godijns and Meuleman (1994) was used, with particular emphasis on the psycho-aVective factors during interviews. These factors refer to the candidate’s self-concept, cognitive style, real-world knowledge, anxiety, attitude, stress resistance and metacognition. Since not all of these aspects could be tested in a single interview, a selection was made and the following aspects were included: – Language proWciency in English and another oYcial language – Personal interests – Reading activities (Books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) – General knowledge about the political situation in South Africa – Knowledge of topical issues

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Handling of controversial questions Voice quality Self-concept Attitude

It was assumed that the hearings and the working conditions would be diYcult and demanding. It also had to be taken into account that there would only be two weeks available for training. Through the interviews we therefore had to try to determine how many of these required attributes the candidates already possessed. There would not be enough time to enhance aspects such as language skills, general and speciWc knowledge, self-concept, stress resistance, etc. An important aspect of the interview was the way in which the candidates coped with diYcult questions. The questions or statements put to the candidates during the interviews were based on very contentious and controversial political issues. Another reason for asking the candidates to comment on these statements was to make provision for and try to test the candidates’ ability to be unbiased. People who were unwilling to work in physically and emotionally demanding situations were also not to be selected.

Selection tests Based on the interviews, forty-nine candidates were invited to the selection test during the three rounds at the ULFE’s interpreter training centre in Bloemfontein. The selection test consists of a written component and a practical oral component.

1. Written test The written component was based on the selection examination as described by Lambert and Meyer (1988). It was designed to test the candidate’s ability to analyse, summarize, formulate, paraphrase, and translate as well as the candidate’s general language proWciency and general knowledge. It was a three-hour test and consisted of the following: – Précis-writing (L1 to L1) – Paraphrasing (L2 to L2) – Translation (L2 to L1) – General knowledge (L2) The texts were of a general nature with the general knowledge section focusing on political aspects in South Africa.

Can short interpreter training be eVective

The candidates had to pass the written test to proceed to the practical oral test. All forty-nine candidates proceeded to the oral test.

2. Oral test The oral test consisted of a battery of tests performed in simultaneous interpreting booths. The following exercises were included based on tests described in Gerver, Longley, Long and Lambert (1989), Lambert and Meyer (1988) and Lambert (1991): – Shadowing (L1 and L2) – Cloze (L2) – Memory (L1 to L1; L1 to L2) – Sight translation: prepared (L2 to L1) – Sight translation: unprepared (L2 to L1) – Sight interpreting (L1 to L2) The texts selected for the shadowing, cloze and memory tests were based on general issues such as crime, housing, education, etc. The texts for the sight translation and the topic for sight interpreting focussed on the TRC in order to evaluate the candidate’s existing knowledge and vocabulary of the Weld. The results indicated that those candidates who did not pass the shadowing and cloze tests also did not perform well in the sight translation and sight interpreting tests. There were candidates who performed well in the memory tests but who could not cope with the added stress of speed in the shadowing and interpreting tests. Of the forty-nine candidates, twenty-seven passed the selection test and stayed on for the training course. During the Wrst round twelve interpreters were trained, the second round seven and the third round seven.

The training course The duration of the training course was two weeks or ten days. The following aspects informed the design of the training course: – Time limit. The candidates had two weeks for training before they go out and render a “professional” interpreting service. – They would have to work with mobile interpreting equipment at venues ranging from modern buildings in cities to dilapidated halls in remote rural areas.

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The Wrst two groups had to work at the Human Rights Violations hearings. They had to know the relevant vocabulary as well as the procedures. They also had to be able to cope with the emotional stress accompanying these hearings. All three groups had to interpret at the Amnesty hearings. As these hearings were largely conducted along the lines of a court case, the interpreters had to be able to follow the legal jargon and know the procedures. They also had to be able to interpret dialogue situations during, for example, cross examination, where the speakers often did not give one another the opportunity to complete their sentences. All the interpreters had to be able to work from and into L1 and L2. An important aspect that had to be included was relay interpreting, the reason being that all interpreting was done into and from English. Therefore, the language combinations were Afrikaans/English, Sesotho/English, isiXhosa/English, isiZulu/English, etc. If the speaker uses Zulu, for example, the Zulu/English interpreter would interpret into English and the Afrikaans/English interpreter would relay from the English into Afrikaans. The interpreters would also have to be able to do sight translation. This was a speciWc need at the Amnesty hearings where statements and other documentation were often read for the record. The interpreters also had to be able to cope with crude and vulgar language as well as graphic descriptions of horriWc acts. An added stress factor was that aside from the physical and emotional demands of the hearings, the interpreters also had to cope with extensive media coverage. The TRC hearings had received major media coverage right from the start. This ranged from the print media to national and international radio and television broadcasts. The interpreters’ production was usually used for radio and television programmes. During training they had to be prepared for the fact that instead of returning every day to the comfort of their families, they would have to be away from home for long periods.

Course content 1. Introduction to interpreting This included a brief overview of interpreting as a profession and interpreting in the South African context. The concepts of interpreting and translation were

Can short interpreter training be eVective

also explained and discussed. The following aspects were also brieXy explained in order to contextualize the training: – Interpreting modes (consecutive and simultaneous) – Interpreting types (Conference, Court, Liaison) – Interaction between the modes and types of interpreting – The proWle of an interpreter (Conference)

2. The simultaneous interpreting process The simultaneous interpreting process was explained by using Gile’s EVort Model (Gile 1995). The process was explained as underpinning of the skills to be practised. The following skills were included: – Listening – Speaking and talking simultaneously – Analysis – Comprehension – Memory – Abstracting – Décalage – Anticipation – Production 3. Sight translation This included both prepared and unprepared sight translation as well as sight interpreting. 4. Relay interpreting Aspects included were the importance of the pivot interpreter, the task and responsibilities of the pivot interpreter and relay diYculties. 5. Booth behaviour and technical skills All training was done in the simultaneous interpreting booths and the trainees worked in teams. This section included all the do’s and don’ts of booth behaviour. 6. Coping techniques in diYcult situations In this section, guidelines were given relating to problematic interpreting

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situations such as: – High speed (reading or speaking) – Incoherent speakers – High-density speech segments – Technical terminology – Poor sound quality, speaker’s unfamiliarity with equipment – Speakers interrupting one another – Poor production by pivot interpreter – Emotional outbursts or speakers collapsing – Crude and vulgar language – Speakers using unfamiliar dialects

7. Language skills Because of the limited time available, the language section of the course was integrated into the interpreting skills section. This meant that the trainees did not receive formal language tuition but that emphasis was placed on language (grammar, idiom, vocabulary, etc.) during the interpreting sessions. 8. Discourse analysis This section included a discussion on a framework of discourse analysis by using relevant examples. Aspects included were: – Ways of speaking – Speech community – Speech situation – Speech act 9. Terminology management A brief introduction was given of the following: – What is terminology? – Use of resources – Compilation of terms – Creation of terms. This was particularly relevant for the African languages because in many instances these languages do not have the necessary terminology. 10. Professional behaviour and code of conduct This included: – Standards and criteria of professional behaviour

Can short interpreter training be eVective

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The interpreter’s duties and responsibilities within the TRC environment ConWdentiality Work procedure

11. Supportive skills for the interpreter In this section certain stressors were discussed, the eVects of stress and a few guidelines were given to cope with the speciWc demands. The aim was to prepare the trainees for their expected work environment. They had to be able to cope with the emotional stress of the hearings, the stress of the act of interpreting as well as major logistical challenges. Although hearings are arranged in advance, it often happens that interpreters have to be ready to travel with less than 12 hours’ notice. 12. Introduction to the TRC A short introduction was given on the TRC, the diVerent committees, commissioners, procedures, the settings at the diVerent kinds of hearings, documentation and the role of the interpreter. Methodology The aim was twofold. On the one hand the trainees had to acquire adequate information to understand all the processes and skills to enable them to learn independently. On the other hand they had to be given as much opportunity as possible to experience and practise the diVerent skills. The training could therefore be divided into a theoretical and a practical section. The methodology applied for the theoretical aspects focused on short discussions, which were spread throughout the two weeks of training. The trainees received manuals containing study material. The contents of the manuals were explained and discussed by using examples and relating them as far as possible to actual experience. These sessions had to be kept brief as the bulk of the time had to be allocated for practical exercises. During the Wrst training course, more time was allocated to these discussions. In the following two courses most of the theoretical work was given as self-study assignments. The simultaneous interpreting skills were taught by applying the strategy proposed by Van Dam (1989). This entails the separation of the skills which are presented in isolation. The skills are explained and the trainee practises the speciWc skill. The diVerent skills are introduced one at a time. The trainee has to internalize and eventually integrate the speciWc skill.

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The Wrst week was used for practising the diVerent simultaneous interpreting skills in isolation. All training was done in interpreting booths and the trainees had to follow proper booth behaviour. The texts used for the separated skills training ranged from general topics taken from newspapers and magazines to speeches the trainees had to write on speciWc TRC topics. These texts were read by the trainers as well as the trainees, giving them the opportunity to listen to diVerent pronunciations. After each session in the booth the trainees’ eVorts were evaluated and discussed by the trainers and the trainees. Everyone had to give suggestions regarding improvement of the interpreting skills/ technique and terminology. Aspects such as terminology and language enhancement were integrated into the exercises and formed part of any feedback or evaluation given to trainees. The second week focused on “real” simultaneous interpreting. All the skills acquired in the Wrst week now had to be combined and coordinated in a single interpreting eVort. The texts used were mostly TRC-related. During the Wrst round of training, Wnding appropriate texts was problematic, as the TRC hearings had only just commenced. With the subsequent training courses a variety of documentation and cassette recordings of hearings were available. This prepared the trainees much better for the actual work environment. Relay interpreting was introduced from the second day of week two. The trainees had to be given maximum exposure to this as they would often have to interpret almost a whole hearing in relay fashion. It was also important that they master the equipment in order to switch between diVerent channels without interruption. Sight translation also started during week two. The trainees were given TRC statements and Amnesty applications to prepare for sight translation. Later in the week they proceeded on to sight interpreting without preparation. Throughout the two weeks of training the trainees were in the interpreting centre from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. They were also given assignments to do in the evenings. These assignments ranged from writing speeches and compiling terminology lists to analysing documentation by using diVerent strategies. An important aspect that was emphasized throughout the training was teamwork. Because of the short training period and the stressful working conditions, the trainees had to be encouraged and prepared to assist one another as far as possible.

Can short interpreter training be eVective

Evaluation At the end of the two weeks of training the trainees were evaluated. This was an important evaluation, as those who did not pass would not be employed. This aspect was stated to the trainees at the beginning of the training. The evaluation was done with the trainees working in teams in the interpreting booths. They had to interpret from TRC cassettes. DiVerent languages were used on these cassettes and the trainees had to switch, without warning, to the relevant pivot interpreter. The evaluation sessions ran for approximately one and a half hours, during which the trainees took twenty-minute turns. The following aspects were evaluated: Language skills – Vocabulary – Sentence construction – Idiom – Purity – Creativity Content – Deverbalization – Interpretation of sense – Accuracy Technique – Décalage – Voice control – Hesitation – Backtracking – Booth behaviour/technical skill A total of twenty-three of the trainees passed the respective training courses and were appointed as interpreters for the TRC.

Further training It is important to note that the two weeks training was not the end of any intervention in terms of training. As far as possible the interpreters worked with a more experienced interpreter for at least the Wrst week. During this time the more experienced interpreter had to evaluate and assist the new inter-

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preter. Any serious problems had to be reported to the trainers. The trainers also tried to evaluate the new interpreters within the Wrst month.

Evaluation of the eVectiveness of the short training courses The process of evaluating these courses started with the completion of the Wrst round of selection and training. This was the most diYcult training course of the three because the whole process of the TRC hearings was unfamiliar and very little documentation and training material were available. The experiences of the Wrst group of trained interpreters and the feedback that was given were incorporated into subsequent training courses which, as a result, became much more focused. Based on general feedback given by the users of the interpreting service at the TRC, it does seem that the training was eVective. One must, however, keep in mind that it was the Wrst time in the history of South Africa that people had the opportunity to make use of simultaneous interpreting. (In the past SI was only used at international conferences.) Therefore, people did not know what standard to use to evaluate the quality of the interpreting. It was only later, at the Amnesty hearings, that legal representatives started being more critical of the interpreting work, in some instances querying its accuracy. This is considered to be important feedback, and the ULFE conveys these matters to the interpreters as part of an ongoing training process.

Evaluation of the selection process In view of the fact that short training courses for interpreters in the South African context is an important mechanism to meet the demand for simultaneous interpreters, it is necessary to conduct a thorough evaluation of the training course for the TRC interpreters. Looking at the number of the candidates who passed the selection test, attended the training course and who are still working as interpreters for the TRC, it does seem that the selection process was eVective. However, during the diVerent selection rounds, we realized that the written test was not always an accurate indicator of the candidate’s ability to cope with a short training course. In some instances, those who did extremely well in the written test did not pass the oral test. There were also two or three cases where the candidates

Can short interpreter training be eVective

did not pass the written test but, because of the impression they made during the interviews, were allowed to take the oral test which they passed without any problems. In this regard, one could recommend that for short training courses for speciWc interpreting skills, the written test not be used as entry requirement for the oral test, but that the candidate’s total performance be taken into consideration. The oral section of the selection process was found to be very eVective. This needs to be done thoroughly as a short training course cannot cater for candidates who do not already have a “natural” aptitude for, in this instance, simultaneous interpreting. For these short courses to be eVective, the selection has to be very strict and highly speciWc. The oral selection process was conducted in such a way that the candidates were never sure what to expect next. This was done to determine the way they would handle an unfamiliar and unpredictable situation. Although the testing itself was stressful, it was felt these candidates had to be evaluated on how they handled the added stress. The oral selection test was not changed in any way from the Wrst to the third round of training as it was considered to be adequate.

Evaluation of the course content The course content changed somewhat from the Wrst training group to the third. As indicated above, a substantial amount of time was used in the Wrst training round for theoretical lectures/discussions. The rationale was that interpreting (speciWcally conference interpreting) was unfamiliar in South Africa, and it was necessary to explain the whole Weld and contextualize the whole process. However, this did not seem to be very eVective as the proWle of the trainees was such that they could study most of the material on their own. With the subsequent training programmes, the Wrst day was used for general introduction and the trainees were given manuals with the relevant information. The last training group only received a very brief introduction to interpreting and the TRC and started with interpreting skills on the second day of their training. The feedback received from the trainees indicated that the course content as a whole was worthwhile and gave them enough background to start interpreting.

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Evaluation of the methodology The trainees found the separation of the interpreting skills and the fact that they had to practise the skills in isolation boring and repetitive. However, this perception changed when they combined all the skills and things “clicked”. As trainers, our experience was that the gradual build-up and incorporation of the diVerent skills made it easier for the trainees to ease into proper simultaneous interpreting. The skill that posed the greatest diYculty to the trainees was listening, speciWcally listening for sense and not words. Initially most of them had diYculty with vocabulary, but this soon improved as the texts used were context speciWc. The trainees found the feedback at the end of each exercise most useful. Initially they felt uncomfortable with evaluating and being evaluated by their peers. These sessions, however, became extremely valuable training opportunities. This also led to the trainees having a greater metacognitive awareness of their own interpreting eVorts and, consequently, improved monitoring. An advantage of these particular short courses was the fact that they were aimed at a speciWc interpreting environment. Therefore, all the material used was speciWcally related to the TRC hearings, which made these courses more eVective. The fact that the trainees had to spend long hours in the interpreting booths during training also prepared them for the real situation. They had to be interpreting-Wt. The evaluation at the end of the course was considered to be eVective. Those who passed the evaluation coped well with their Wrst real interpreting experience. None of the interpreters who passed the course resigned or was asked to resign because of poor interpreting performance.

General evaluation If one takes into consideration that these interpreters have been able to deliver 28,412 hours or 3,551 days of interpreting (from April 1996 to October 1998), it does seem that the training was eVective (Du Plessis & Wiegand 1998). There are, however, certain problems that need to be highlighted: – At the diVerent hearings, it transpired that language skills were often a problem. This was mostly related to the fact that the interpreters often had to work into English which is L2 for all but two of them. The short training

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courses did not make adequate provision for enhancement of the trainees’ English skills. It is also doubtful whether such language enhancement can be done in a short course. This problem was also highlighted because the media mostly used the English feed for their broadcasts. Another major problem was the emotional pressure the interpreters experienced. Wiegand (1998) describes the extent to which many of the interpreters started showing symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome. Although these issues were addressed during training, no provision was made for the individual’s coping mechanisms or the lack thereof. Professional behaviour also presented a problem in a few cases. Although these aspects had been discussed during training, some interpreters were guilty of poor conduct, such as arriving late at a hearing, running up high hotel accounts, poor behaviour in the booth, etc. Although the short courses seemed to be adequate for the interpreting demands at the Human Rights Violations hearings (excluding the emotional aspects), they seemed less than suYcient for the Amnesty hearings. At these hearings, there is a great emphasis on accurate rendition (almost a word-for-word translation) of what a speaker says. Omitting a single word or using a term that is an equivalent but perhaps has a slightly diVerent meaning in another context, is often considered by the legal teams as an inaccurate interpretation. This situation is aggravated by the fact that the interpreter had to switch between two languages during the leading of evidence, and even more so and at a faster pace during cross-examination. The language register used at the Amnesty hearings is often much higher than that used at the Human Rights Violations hearings. The interpreters also have to cope with legalese and complicated court judgements and statements read for the record.

Conclusion The whole process has been a valuable learning experience. The demand for interpreters in South Africa seems to indicate that short training courses are the route to follow. From the TRC experience it does, however, seem that one has to approach short courses with the necessary circumspection and by keeping the following provisos in mind. Short courses can be eVective if the interpreting situation/context is clearly deWned and limited. Limited in the sense that from our experience, it seems quite

97

98

Annelie Lotriet

diYcult to train a simultaneous interpreter in two weeks to be able to interpret in any setting. The speciWc Weld/setting has to inform the course content and methodology. Added to this, the selection process is probably the most important factor determining the trainees’ eventual success. The candidate’s language skills should be evaluated thoroughly as this cannot be “Wxed” in two weeks. An important aspect that should be included in the whole training programme is follow-up contact and feedback. Although training is done in simulated situations with material relevant to the speciWc Weld, the real situation has its own demands and problems. These aspects need to be discussed, preferably in situ. To answer the question: Can short interpreter training courses be eVective? The answer is yes, if due regard is given to the provisos indicated above.

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly Eötvös Loránd University

Introduction In the process of translation, the global meaning of the source text is reproduced in the target language. In grasping the global meaning or macropropositional content (Kintsch & van Dijk 1978) of the discourse, among other factors, the translator relies on elements of the textual surface which establish connectivity between various parts of the text. One of these elements is lexical cohesion, which — in comparison to grammatical cohesion — is claimed to produce the greater part of cohesion (Halliday & Hasan 1976). A given lexical item alone does not produce cohesion, it has to enter into relations with other items to become cohesive. The meaning of a lexical item depends on the relations it makes with other items in a text. Snell-Hornby therefore claims that in analysing and interpreting a text the translator has to trace a “web of relationships” among lexical items as the importance of an item is determined by its relevance and function in the text (1988: 69). The analytical tool that may be able to capture the macropropositions in text by looking at overt markers of cohesion on the textual surface is Hoey’s repetition model (1991). Hoey perceives these lexical relations as various forms of lexical repetition, serving to show the relatedness of sentences, which produce elaborate patternings in texts. His model is designed to investigate the text-organizing function of lexical repetition in particular. It allows for the identiWcation of marginal and central sentences in a passage. Marginal sentences do not directly contribute to the main theme and therefore their omission does not disrupt the argument of the passage. Central sentences, on the other hand, directly contribute to the topical development of the text, unfolding the main theme. These may be claimed to form the macropropositional content of the discourse. Hoey goes on to claim that, with the elimination of

100 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

marginal sentences and the combination of central ones, readable summaries of the texts may be created, constituting the gist (Kintsch & van Dijk 1978) or the global meaning of the text. It has widely been argued that cohesion, and within it lexical repetition is a language- and text-speciWc (Baker, 1992; Hatim & Mason 1990) notion. In other words, languages and text types diVer in the quantity and quality of lexical repetition they tolerate — hence its relevance in the study of translation. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate that Hoey’s repetition model is capable of indicating the quality diVerence between translations. First, it will describe Hoey’s model, and then, based on the analysis of an original English text and its two Hungarian translations (professional and trainee’s), it will show how the analysis of the text-organizing function of repetition can be used to account for quality diVerences between translations.

The analytical tool: Hoey’s repetition model Hoey’s repetition model picks out the central sentences, that is, the sentences that form multiple connections with other sentences through repetition links. He claims that these sentences contain the macropropositions of the particular text. The analysis of repetition is based on two main categories: lexical repetition (simple and complex) and paraphrase (simple and complex). Since in the Table 1. Categories of repetition identiWed by Hoey (1991) TYPES OF REPETITION Lexical repetition

Paraphrase

simple (SR)

bear-bears

complex (CR)

drug-drugging

simple (SP)

produce-cause

complex (CP)

Non-lexical repetition

Examples provided by Hoey

substitution links

antonymy

hot-cold

link triangle other

writer-author-writing superordinates (e.g. biologists-scientists), co-reference (e.g. Augustus - the Emperor) personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and modifiers, Halliday and Hasan’s substitutes, etc.

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation 101

creation of summaries certain non-lexical elements (e.g. demonstratives, pronouns) also play an important role (by replacing lexical elements), Hoey also includes a third category, the one containing the so-called “substitution links”. Table 1 summarizes the categories of repetition identiWed by the model and provides examples for each type. The function of this analytical model is to Wnd out how repetition can fulWll some text-organizing role, therefore only those cases of linkage are considered which show an above-average degree of connection. Hoey suggests that “lexical items form links, and sentences sharing three or more links form bonds” (1991: 91). Bonding is a useful tool because it helps identify adjacent or non-adjacent related sentences in texts, and the nets they combine can reXect the organization of the text.

Texts submitted to analysis The data submitted to analysis consisted of three texts: an original English newspaper article of approximately 200 words and its two Hungarian translations, one made by a professional translator and the other written by a trainee translator. (For the texts see Appendices A, B, and C.)

Results of the analysis Sample analysis As the Wrst step of the analysis, the repetition links and bonds were identiWed in all three texts. The analysis of the English text is included below as illustration. Chart 1 itemizes the repetition links the title forms with the rest of the sentences in the English original text and Table 2 summarizes the quantity and quality of links and bonds the title forms. The sentences that participate in bonding have been underlined. –

Sample analysis of Text 1: Links and bonds of the title sentence (S0) with the rest of the text in the English original (0) INNOVATION’S (4 links) ADAM SMITH (2 links) Berkeley’s (1 link) Paul Romer (5 links) will revolutionize theories (5 links) of economic (5 links) growth (5 links)

102 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

(1) The twentieth century has given economists (CR) high-powered mathematics, but it hasn’t helped them resolve the most basic of questions: what makes economies (CR) grow (CR)? (2) One line of thought (SP), dating 200 years to Adam Smith (SR), is that new wealth stems from investment in farms and factories. (3) On the opposite side stand the heirs of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who think that growth (SR) depends on consumer spending. (4) But the hoary debate between those two views (SP) may Wnally be giving way. (5) The seminal idea (SP) of the 1990' stems not from Smith (SR) or Keynes but from 39-year-old Paul Romer (SR). (6) Insists Romer (SR): “Ideas (SP) are the things that drive economic (SR) growth (SR).” (7) Not that Romer (SR) teaches at the University of California, Berkeley (SR), has anything against investment. (8) But investing in more of what we already have, he says, won’t make us richer for long. (9) Real wealth creation comes from innovation (SR), be it minor improvements (SP) in soybean or major inventions (SP) like the computer chip. (10) The most important policies government can pursue don’t have to do with taxes or spending, but with speeding the pace of innovation (SR). (11) That may sound good to conservatives — so far. (12) But Romer (SR) is no blind advocate of letting the market rule. (13) “A pure laissez-faire system is not likely to be the very best system of innovation (SR)”, he says. (14) To the contrary, he contends, there is plenty government can do. (15) The land-grant colleges created by Congress in the 1800s to advance (CP) farming are a favorite example. (16) Promoting training is high on his list. (17) In some cases, Romer (SR) says, it’s important to strengthen patent protection; in others, it may be best for government to give ideas (SP) away. (18) The details of what government does, Romer (SR) adds, are more important than the broad lines. (19) That may not cheer politicians searching for sound bites. (20) But after decades of grand slogans, “Watch the details” may be just the economic (SR) advice we need.

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation 103

Chart 1. S0:

with S1:

with S2: with S3: with S4: with S5:

with S6:

with S7: with S8: with S9:

with S10: with S11: with S12: with S13: with S14: with S15: with S16: with S17: with S18: with S19: with S20:

Links and bonds of the title (Sentence 0) with the rest of the text in the English original INNOVATION’S ADAM SMITH Berkeley’s Paul Romer will revolutionize theories of economic growth economic – economists (CR) economic – economies (CR) growth – grow (CR) Adam Smith – Adam Smith (SR) line of thought – theories (SP) economic – economist (CR) growth – growth (SR) theories – views (SP) theories – idea (SP). Adam Smith – Smith (SR) Paul Romer – Paul Romer (SR) Romer – Romer (SR) theories – ideas (SP) economic – economic (SR) growth – growth (SR) Romer – Romer (SR) Berkeley – Berkeley (SP) – innovation – innovation (SR) innovation – invention (SP) growth – improvement (SP) innovation – innovation (SR) – Romer – Romer (SR) innovation – innovation (SR) – growth – to advance (CP) – Romer – Romer (SR) line of thought – theories (SP) Romer – Romer (SR) growth – growth (SR) – economic – economic (SR)

Table 2. Quantity and quality of repetition links and bonds in Text 1

Text 1

SR

CR

SP

CP

16

4

6

1

Total No. of links 27

Total No. of bonds 3

Abbreviations: SR: simple repetition; CR: complex repetition; SP: simple paraphrase; CP: complex paraphrase

104 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20

S0 (title) 2 S1 2 2 2 1 3 4 2 2

S2 S3 1 3 1 1 2 1

3 1

S4 1 1

1 1

S5 2 1

S6 1

S7 S8 1

1 1

S9 1 S10 S11

1 1

1

1

1

S12 1

1

1

1 1

1

2 1

1 1

S13 S14

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

2 1

1 1 1

S15 S16

1 1

1 4 1

1

2 3

S17 4 S18

1

S19

1

1

S20

Figure 1. The repetition matrix of Text 1 (original English text)

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20

S0 (title) 2 S1 2 S2 4 4 2 S3 1 1 1 S4 3 3 2 1 S5 3 1 2 2 S6 4 1 1 1 S7 1 2 S8 1 1 2 1 1 S9 1 1 S10 1 S11 1 1 1 1 S12 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 S13 1 1 S14 1 1 1 S15 1 1 1

1 1

1 1

1

1 1

2 3 1

1 1

1 1

1

1 1

2 2

2 2

S16 S17 3 S18 1

S19

S20

Figure 2. The repetition matrix of Text 2 (Professional Hungarian translation of Text 1)

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation 105

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 -S21

S0 (title) 1 S1 2 S2 1 1 S3 1 1 1 S4 5 2 2 1 S5 1

1 2 1

1 1

1

1

1

1 1

1

1

1

S6 (left out from the translation) S7 1 S8 S9 S10 S11 1 S12 1 1 S13 1 1 S14 1 1 1 S15 1 1 S16 1 2 1 2 1 S17 1 1 1 2 S18 1 S19 1 S20 -S21

Figure 3. The repetition matrix of Text 3 (Trainee’s Hungarian translation of Text 1)

The repetition matrices of the texts Based on the analysis of repetition links, the repetition matrices (Figures 1, 2, and 3) of the texts could be drawn to visualize the connections between the sentences. The sentences are indicated vertically and diagonally, the grey shading shows the bonds, and the horizontal solid black line marks paragraph boundary. As Figures 1, 2, and 3 show, the density of links and bonds is considerably lower in the trainee’s translation than in the original English text and the professional Hungarian translation. However, the title (S0) forms the greatest number of bonds in all three texts. The analysis also reXects that Sentence 5 (The seminal idea of the 1990' stems not from Smith or Keynes but from 39-yearold Paul Romer) communicates the key idea of the text: this sentence is picked out as a central sentence in every text, including the trainee’s translation. It is interesting to note that a great number of links appear at paragraph boundaries (at the beginning and end of paragraphs), because of the “topic opener” and “topic closer” functions of these sentences. What the Wgures also neatly visualize is that the majority of the bonds in Text 1 and Text 2 coincide, whereas

106 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

similar bonds are not created in Text 3 (the only exception being that between S0 and S5). Table 3 summarizes the bonded sentence pairs and the bonds; italics denote an overlap in the three texts. Table 3. Bonded sentences English

Professional Hungarian Translation

Sentence 0–Sentence 5 Sentence 0–Sentence 6 Sentence 0–Sentence 9 Sentence 2–Sentence 5 Sentence 10–Sentence 18 Sentence 14- Sentence 18 Sentence 17–Sentence 18

Sentence 0–Sentence 3 Sentence 0–Sentence 5 Sentence 0–Sentence 6 Sentence 0–Sentence 7 Sentence 1–Sentence 3 Sentence 2–Sentence 5 Sentence 6–Sentence 13 Sentence 6- Sentence 18 Sentence 17–Sentence 18

Trainee’s Hungarian Translation Sentence 0–Sentence 5

Figure 4 indicates the sentences and the bonds they form backward and forward in each text. This Wgure also clearly reXects the considerable overlap between the structure of Texts 1 and 2 and the lack of such a relationship between Texts 1 and 3. English original text

S0; S2 S0

S0

S10; S14; S17

S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20

Professional Hungarian Translation

S5; S6; S9 S5 S0; S1 S0; S2 S0 S0

S18

S6 S18

S18 S6; S17

S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18

Trainee’s Hungarian Translation

S3; S5; S6; S7 S3 S5

S0 S13; S18

S18

S19 S20

Figure 4. The sentences and their bonds backward and forward

S0 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20+S21

S5

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation 107

Amount of repetitions, links, and bonds Regarding the quantity of repetition links in the three texts, from Table 4 it may be seen that the original English text and its professional translation contain almost exactly the same amount of repetitions, whereas the trainee’s translation consists of a considerably lower number of repetition links (58, which constitutes merely half of the amount in the other two texts). In the number of bonds, however, an even more marked diVerence may be observed: the original English text and its professional translation contain approximately the same amount of bonds (7 and 9), but the trainee’s translation forms only one bond. Table 4. Amount and type of repetition links and bonds English original Professional Hungarian Trainee’s Hungarian

SR 56 55 35

CR 12 11 15

R 68 66 40

SP 20 33 16

CP 8 8 2

P 28 41 18

Links Bonds 196 7 107 9 158 1

Abbreviations: SR: simple repetition; CR: complex repetition; R: total number of repetitions; SP: simple paraphrase; CP: complex paraphrase; P: total number of paraphrases.

What the above Wndings indicate is that Hoey’s (1991) analytical tool may reXect the quality diVerence between the two translations: the professional translation portrays a similar lexical patterning to the original text, while the trainee’s translation loses this pattern. Regarding the types of repetition used in the texts, the results are interesting. The professional translation contains a similar amount of repetitions as the original English text, but it uses a considerably higher number of simple paraphrases (i.e. synonyms). The trainee’s translation, on the other hand, shows a remarkably lower number from each repetition type. Therefore, it may be suggested that Hungarian seems to wed the sentences even more closely with the help of lexical repetition, and in particular by using more synonyms. Looking at the particular lexical elements repeated in the texts, the analysis shows that in the trainee’s Hungarian translation the lower number of repetitions causes the loss of the repetition of lexical elements that are directly linked to the thematic structure of the text: i.e. in this text the thematically important lexical elements are repeated less frequently (e.g. economic, growth, wealth), whereas the amount of less important elements from the point of view of the message of the text (e.g. says, adds, contends) is almost exactly the same.

108 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

Rough summaries On the basis of bonded sentences (central sentences) rough summaries of the texts may be formed. It is important to note that the “mini-texts” need some reWnement to become fully coherent. Text 1: Summary of original English text (0) INNOVATION’S ADAM SMITH Berkeley’s Paul Romer will revolutionize theories of economic growth (2) One line of thought, dating 200 years to Adam Smith, is that new wealth stems from investment in farms and factories. (5) The seminal idea of the 1990’s stems not from Smith or Keynes but from 39-year-old Paul Romer. (6) Insists Romer: “Ideas are the things that drive economic growth.” (9) Real wealth creation comes from innovation, be it minor improvements in soybean or major inventions like the computer chip. (10) The most important policies government can pursue don’t have to do with taxes or spending, but with speeding the pace of innovation. (14) To the contrary, he contends, there is plenty government can do. (17) In some cases, Romer says, it’s important to strengthen patent protection; in others, it may be best for government to give ideas away. (18) The details of what government does, Romer adds, are more important than the broad lines. Text 2: Professional Hungarian translation of Text 1 (0) AZ INNOVÁCIÓ ADAM SMITH-E Paul Romer, berkeley-i egyetemi tanár forradalmian új elmélete a gazdasági növekedésrõl (1) Jóllehet a huszadik század új és hatékony matematikai eszközökkel ajándékozta meg a közgazdászokat, a legalapvet oÝbb kérdés megoldásához ez nem vitte oÝket közelebb: éspedig, hogy mi a gazdasági növekedés motorja? (2) Az egyik gondolatmenet szerint, mely 200 évre, Adam Smith-ig megy vissza, új gazgdagság csak új mezÝ ogazdasági és ipari beruházásokból keletkezik. (3) A másik oldalon John Maynard Keynes, a híres angol közgazdász, eszméinek örökösei állnak, akik szerint a gazdasági növekedés a kereslet növekedésének a függvénye. (5) Az 1990-es évek legtermékenyebb gondolata ugyanis se nem Smith-tÝ ol, se

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation 109

nem Keynes-tÝ ol származik, hanem a 39 éves Paul Romert oÝl. (6) Romer határozottan állítja, hogy “a gazdaságot a gondolatok viszik el oÝre.” Á (7) Nem mintha Romernek, aki a berkeley-i Kaliforniai Allami Egyetem tanára, bármi kifogása lenne a beruházások ellen. (13) “Nem valószínÝ u, hogy a vegytiszta laissez-faire rendszer ösztönzi a legjobban az innovációt”, mondja Romer. (17) Bizonyos esetekben az a helyes, mondja Romer, ha az állam megszigorítja a szabadalmi védelmet, más esetekben viszont az, ha éppenséggel ingyen osztogatja a tudást. (18) A kormányzati munkában a részletek számítanak, teszi még hozzá mindehhez Romer, és nem annyira az átfogó koncepciók. Text 3: Trainee’s Hungarian translation of Text 1: (0) AZ ÚJ ADAM SMITH, AZ INNOVÁCIÓ EMBERE Paul Romer, a Berkeley tanára forradalmasítja a gazdasági mÝ uködés elméletét (5) Az 1990-es évek rendkívüli ötelete nem Smith-tõl vagy Keynes-tÝ ol származik, hanem a 39 éves Paul Romert oÝl, a berkeleyi Californiai Egyetem tanárától. Despite the apparent coherence Xows, the summary made from the professional Hungarian translation contains almost the same propositional content (somewhat even more detailed) as the original English text; the trainee’s translation, however, fails to do so, as a result of the extremely low amount of bonding present in it. In the light of this Wnding, it may be assumed that in a good translation the analytical tool picks out the same (or very similar) macropropositions as in the original text. Weaker translations will, however, produce a diVerent propositional content, and thus communicate diVerent global meaning, when investigated with the help of this analytical tool.

Conclusions The results of this exploratory study show that Hoey’s repetition model (1991) may indicate the quality diVerence between translations. The professional translation contains a similar amount of repetition links and bonds, and uses similar types of repetition as the source text. It has been shown that the professional translation reXects a similar lexical patterning as the original text

110 Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

and that the analytical tool picks out the same (or similar) macropropositions in this text as in the original text. From the trainee’s translation, however, the tool produces a summary that reXects a diVerent global meaning (i.e. diVerent propositional content). Despite the interesting outcomes, it should be noted that this is merely a pilot study, based on a small database. The principal aim of this paper has been to motivate further investigations in the Weld. Only by testing the validity of the preliminary assumptions suggested by the current results on a larger set of data is it possible to draw reliable generalizations regarding the discriminating capacity of Hoey’s analytical model.

Appendix A: Original English text (Text 1) (0) INNOVATION’S ADAM SMITH Berkeley’s Paul Romer will revolutionize theories of economic growth (1) The twentieth century has given economists high-powered mathematics, but it hasn’t helped them resolve the most basic of questions: what makes economies grow? (2) One line of thought, dating 200 years to Adam Smith, is that new wealth stems from investment in farms and factories. (3) On the opposite side stand the heirs of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who think that growth depends on consumer spending. (4) But the hoary debate between those two views may Wnally be giving way. (5) The seminal idea of the 1990' stems not from Smith or Keynes but from 39-year-old Paul Romer. (6) Insists Romer: “Ideas are the things that drive economic growth.” (7) Not that Romer, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, has anything against investment. (8) But investing in more of what we already have, he says, won’t make us richer for long. (9) Real wealth creation comes from innovation, be it minor improvements in soybean or major inventions like the computer chip. (10) The most important policies government can pursue don’t have to do with taxes or spending, but with speeding the pace of innovation. (11) That may sound good to conservatives — so far. (12) But Romer is no blind advocate of letting the market rule. (13) “A pure laissez-faire system is not likely to be the very best system of innovation”, he says. (14) To the contrary, he contends, there is plenty government can do. (15) The land-grant colleges created by Congress in the 1800s to advance farming are a favorite example. (16) Promoting training is high on his list.

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation

(17) In some cases, Romer says, it’s important to strengthen patent protection; in others, it may be best for government to give ideas away. (18) The details of what government does, Romer adds, are more important than the broad lines. (19) That may not cheer politicians searching for sound bites. (20) But after decades of grand slogans, “Watch the details” may be just the economic advice we need.

Appendix B: Professional Hungarian translation of Text 1 (Text 2) (0) AZ INNOVÁCIÓ ADAM SMITH-E Paul Romer, berkeley-i egyetemi tanár forradalmian új elmélete a gazdasági növekedésrÝ ol (1) Jóllehet a huszadik század új és hatékony matematikai eszközökkel ajándékozta meg a közgazdászokat, a legalapvetÝ obb kérdés megoldásához ez nem vitte oÝket közelebb: éspedig, hogy mi a gazdasági növekedés motorja? (2) Az egyik gondolatmenet szerint, mely 200 évre, Adam Smith-ig megy vissza, új gazgdagság csak új mez oÝgazdasági és ipari beruházásokból keletkezik. (3) A másik oldalon John Maynard Keynes, a híres angol közgazdász, eszméinek örökösei állnak, akik szerint a gazdasági növekedés a kereslet növekedésének a függvénye. (4) A két nézet közötti oÝsrégi vita most alkalmasint elcsitulhat. (5) Az 1990-es évek legtermékenyebb gondolata ugyanis se nem Smith-tÝ ol, se nem Keynes-tÝ ol származik, hanem a 39 éves Paul RomertÝ ol. (6) Romer határozottan állítja, hogy “a gazdaságot a gondolatok viszik elÝ ore.” Á (7) Nem mintha Romernek, aki a berkeley-i Kaliforniai Allami Egyetem tanára, bármi kifogása lenne a beruházások ellen. (8) De azt mondja, hogy ha már létezÝ o dolgok gyarapításába fektetünk be, attól nem sokáig leszünk gazdagabbak. (9) Igazi gyarapodás csak innovációból származik, légyen az akár valami apró újítás a szójatermesztésben vagy olyan nagy jelentÝ oségÝ u találmány, mint a mikro-chip. (10) Az államnak nem az adóztatásra, de nem is a kiadásaira kell a f oÝ hangsúlyt fektetnie, hanem mindenekelÝ ott az innováció ütemének gyorsítására. (11) Ez akár még a konzervatív füleknek is tetszhet — idáig. (12) Csakhogy Romer korántsem elvakult híve a piac korlátlan uralmának. (13) “Nem valószínÝ u, hogy a vegytiszta laissez-faire rendszer ösztönzi a legjobban az innovációt”, mondja Romer. (14) Éppen ellenkezÝ oleg, állítja, a kormányok nagyon is sokat tehetnek. (15) Szívesen szokott példaképpen azokra a fÝ oiskolákra hivatkozni, melyeket kongresszusi határozat hozott létre a XIX. században, a mezÝ ogazdasági termelés fejlesztése végett. (16) A szakképzés támogatását egyébként is nagyon fontosnak tartja. (17) Bizonyos esetekben az a helyes, mondja Romer, ha az állam megszigorítja a szabadalmi védelmet, más esetekben viszont az, ha éppenséggel ingyen osztogatja a tudást.

111

112

Kinga Klaudy and Krisztina Károly

(18) A kormányzati munkában a részletek számítanak, teszi még hozzá mindehhez Romer, és nem annyira az átfogó koncepciók. (19) Persze, az már egyáltalában nem biztos, hogy ez a politikusoknak is tetszeni fog, akik szeretnek lehetõleg nagyot markolni. (20) Annyi nagyhangú szólam után azonban, lehet, hogy a gazdaságnak éppen erre a jótanácsra van szüksége: “Ügyeljünk a részeletekre”.

Appendix C: Trainee’s Hungarian translation of Text 1 (Text 3) (0) AZ ÚJ ADAM SMITH, AZ INNOVÁCIÓ EMBERE Paul Romer, a Berkeley tanára forradalmasítja a gazdasági mÝ uködés elméletét (1) A XX. század dinamikusan fejlÝ odÝ o matematikával ajándékozta meg a közgazdászokat, ám ez sem segített megoldani a legalapvetÝ obb kérdést: mi okozza a gazdasági növekedést? (2) Az egyik gondolatmenet szerint, amely 200 évvel, egészen Adam Smith-ig datálódik vissza, farmokba és gyárakba kell beruházni, mert az új vagyon onnan ered. (3) Ezzel a véleménnyel szemben áll a brit közgazdász, John Maynard Keynes öröksége, aki úgy vélte, a gazdasági növekedés a fogyasztói igények alakulásától függ. (4) A két álláspont közötti évszázados vita azonban lassan érvényét veszti. (5) Az 1990-es évek rendkívüli ötelete nem Smith-tÝ ol vagy Keynes-tÝ ol származik, hanem a 39 éves Paul RomertÝ ol, a berkeleyi Californiai Egyetem tanárától. (6) (7) Romernak semmi kifogása a beruházások ellen. (8) De ha többnyire abba ruházunk be, amink már megvan, mondja, nem sokáig leszünk gazdagok. (9) Az igazi vagyonteremtés az ésszer uÝsítésen alapszik; legyen az kisebb jelentÝ oség uÝ fejlesztés a szójabab-termelésben vagy új, átütÝ o jelentÝ oségÝ u találmány, mint például a computer chip. (10) A kormánynak elsÝ osorban nem az adókkal és a kötségvetéssel, hanem az innováció mértékénak növelésével kellene törÝ odnie. (11) Idáig jól is hangzik mindez a konzervatívok számára. (12) De Romer nem elvakult szószólója a piaci szabályzók elhanyagolásának. (13) “Nem valószinÝ u, hogy a `nem beavatkozás’ politikája a legjobb politikai az innovációt illetÝ oen”, vélekedik. (14) Épp ellenkezÝ oleg, állítja, a kormány nagyon sok mindent tehet. (15) Kiváló például szolgálnak az 1800-as években a szövetségi kormány által létesített és anyagilag támogatott fÝ oiskolák, amelyek a gazdálkodás fellendítését segítették elÝ o. (16) Romernál a képzés támogatása is elÝ okelÝ o helyen szerepel a listán. (17) Bizonyos esetekben a szabadalmak védelme a fontos, állítja, máskor az lehet a legelõnyÝ osebb a kormány számára, ha eladja az újításokat. (18) A kormány munkájában az apróbetÝ u a fontos nem pedig a vastagon szedett sorok. (19) Persze lehet, hogy ez nem vidítja fel a politikusokat, akik csak szólamok után kutatnak.

Lexical repetition in professional and trainees’ translation

(20) Ám meglehet, hogy a nagy szlogenek évtizedei után csupán egy gazdasági tanácsra van szükségünk. (21) Ez pedig a következÝ o: Ügyelj a részletekre!

113

Evaluation in interpretation Macrocriteria and microcriteria Alessandra Riccardi University of Trieste, Italy

Choices in translating and interpreting Throughout the history of translation there has been an everlasting dispute and a rigorous division between the supporters of literal translation on one side and supporters of free translation on the other. It is a common experience that the same text may be translated or interpreted in as many diVerent ways as the number of the translators or interpreters at work. The fact that the Bible was translated exactly in the same way by all its seventy-two translators has been seen as proof conWrming its Holy origin, the Word of God (Philo Judaeus in Robinson 1997c: 14). Every text consists of parts requiring a free translation while others require close adherence to the literal elements. Numbers, proper nouns, technical deWnitions or technical terms are only transcoded, while the way in which a concept is communicated may be diVerent. Applying the distinction used by Newmark (1977) this means that, to a great extent, technical texts must be translated or interpreted semantically and non-technical texts communicatively. Students beginning interpreting courses, as well as more advanced learners, are confronted with the problem of learning how to ascertain what in a given text is technical and must be maintained without lexical rearrangement in the target language and what has to undergo a deeper or even complete reformulation. Therefore, one of the most important interpreter’s skills lies in the capacity to make the right changes interpreting from a given source text (ST) into a target text (TT). Only a perfect command of both working languages and knowledge and insight into the subject matter make appriopriate choices possible. All the more so in simultaneous interpreting (SI) because there is no time to Wnd a solution for what is unknown at that very moment. Nowadays, any conference may be described as technical and during the

116 Alessandra Riccardi

same conference diVerent text types are presented whose distinguishing feature is given by the variation in importance of the speciWc connotative elements of the text and the degree to which they are mixed. DiVerences may be detected at a lexical level as in scientiWc and legal texts, or at the level of register that, according to the audience being addressed, may be colloquial, standard, oYcial or a combination thereof. DiVerent styles may be present, depending on the speaker typology and whether s/he is, for example, an academic who devotes much attention to word choice. Hence the same translation of a word in two diVerent texts may be correct in one case and wrong in another, depending on text typology, the communicative event and the speaker’s intentions.

Interpreting evaluation The evaluation of an interpreting performance is a very controversial issue. The same text could be interpreted in diVerent ways by diVerent interpreters, as may happen with a translation, but, actually, there is only one interlinguistic and intercultural interpretation of a given text, because an interpreting perfomance is linked to the temporal and spatial circumstances in which it takes place. Interpreting is something evanescent, which vanishes as soon as it is performed. What remains are the impressions received by the audience. Studies of quality in interpreting have thus concentrated either on the expectations and reactions of the audience (Kurz 1988, 1993; Meak 1990; Gile 1990; Kopczynski ¦ nková 1994) or on the opinions of the interpreters (Bühler 1986; Ce ¦ 1998). It is true that the main criterion for the evaluation of an interpreting performance is its impact on the listener. Nevertheless, in SI, the audience is only rarely able to notice diVerences between source and target texts, or even deviations or errors if they are not overt. What can be noticed is nonsense, diYculty in the delivery, incomplete sentences, lack of expertise in technical terminology or contradictory elements. If the output is Xuent, the delivery smooth and the technical words correct, nobody will criticize the interpreter’s performance. The interpreter is therefore left alone with her/his responsibility of delivering a correct text, equivalent to the ST and accurate in register and style. Peers, colleagues and booth-mates can judge how the interpreter is performing but rarely will s/he be accused of having misinterpreted, because criticism could spoil the atmosphere between colleagues, and also because it is

Evaluation in interpretation

not always easy to say what was not correct in an interpreting performance. The interpreter her/himself is the main critic; s/he will always know if the SI was good or if something went wrong. Often s/he can even be hyper-selfcritical, forgetting that the situationality, the background and technical knowledge of the audience often make up for what has not been interpreted. An evaluation of an interpreter’s performance means bearing in mind the peculiarities of the speciWc communicative event and conference environment, the audience, the ST, the speaker’s intention as well as the delivery speed, the intonation and prosody. But, at the same time, it also means considering the delivery of the interpreter as a global service oriented towards the satisfaction of the communicative goals of the participants in the event. Therefore, an interpreter elaborates a reference model of what could be called an “ideal” interpretation under given circumstances, which is bound to change whenever there is even only a partial modiWcation of the factors determining an intercultural and interlinguistic event. Compared to student interpreters, professionals integrate easily top-down (or knowledge bound) to bottom-up (or language bound) strategies and vice versa (Riccardi 1996). They need fewer verbal and non-verbal elements or a smaller combination of them to produce their output (Riccardi 1998) and achieve a better overview of the problem-solving activity of SI. The evaluation parameters of an interpreter’s performance are therefore inevitably macrocriteria, subsuming the microcriteria that aVect any interpreting performance and that students are learning to master. To perform a very complex task such as SI, made up of many diVerent components, students need to recognize and exercise the speciWc skills required. In the words of Fabbro & Gran “learning simultaneous interpreting, as is true for any other skill, is a gradual process. Thus we should always consider the actual level at which our students are working, rather than think in terms of the ideal level we wish them to attain” (1997: 24). Students are enhancing their foreign language command (as well as that of their mother tongue) while at the same time learning how to interpret consecutively and simultaneously. The result is that during interpreting exercises, their shortcomings in preparation are magniWed. Also observable are the diVerences among students, such as how and when they have learnt their languages (whether they are early or late bilinguals), their concentration and memory capacity, and the level of their technique. As a teacher, it is important to be able to clearly indicate what must be upgraded, what was wrong and why. During such a complex process as SI or CI there are many factors which may combine to impede an interpretation.

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The teacher’s task is to separate the diVerent factors inXuencing an interpreting performance and to recognize priorities in the student’s preparation. The macrocriteria described in the following section for professionals’ evaluation or quality assessment are taken from Viezzi (1996), while the microcriteria for students’ evaluation are the author’s proposal elaborated through a questionnaire distributed to the interpreting teachers of the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori (SSLMIT) in Trieste.

Quality macrocriteria In his book on quality aspects in interpreting, Maurizio Viezzi (1996) identiWes four major quality objectives — equivalence, accuracy, appropriateness and usability — essential to achieving the superordinate goal of an interpreting performance that ensures eVective communication between the speaker and the beneWciaries of the interpreted text (IT). The objectives of equivalence, accuracy, appropriateness and usability derive from Viezzi’s deWnition and understanding of conference interpretation as (1) a service, (2) an act of communication, (3) an act of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural activity (1996: 77). The quality requirements pertaining to the activity of an interpreter seen as text producer consist in the production of oral texts taking into full account the communicative intention of the speaker, the characteristics and needs of the target listener and, generally speaking, the restrictions imposed by the situation and by the text-typology. The main eVect when these criteria are not respected is not only the qualitative deterioration of the text, but above all, a breakdown in the communicative process.

Equivalence Following Halliday’s deWnition for translation, interpreting is in the words of Viezzi a guided creation of meaning (1996: 85–86) and therefore one of the objectives of this activity is the production of meaning equivalent to the meaning of the ST. The IT aims at preserving the communicative function of the original, establishing with the target culture the equivalent relation that the source text establishes with the source culture, and reproducing on the receiver the equivalent eVect that the source text achieved. Equivalence cannot be assessed without considering the communicative situation and the communicative, meaningbound relationship between ST and TT.

Evaluation in interpretation

Accuracy This macrocriterion refers to the accurate transmission and reformulation (Viezzi 1996: 88) of the informative content of the ST, taking into account variables such as the pragmatic dimension, the relevance of the information content for the audience, the condivision of knowledge between speaker and interpretation beneWciaries, as well as the communicative intention of the speaker.

Appropriateness This macrocriterion indicates the relationship between TT and receivers (1996: 94). Two kinds of relationship should be considered. Firstly, the relationship between TT and beneWciaries seen as members of a diVerent culture to the speaker’s culture, which imposes cultural adjustment of the TT to the target culture, secondly, the relationship between TT and addressees with particular reference to the language style and register used in a given communicative event. Appropriateness (Viezzi 1996: 100) requires modiWcations and adaptations of the TT necessary to overcome the cultural gap between speaker and audience. It also requires conformity to the rhetorical and stylistic features of the target culture and to the background and expectations of the addressees. The evaluation of an interpretation or of its quality must always consider not only the temporal constraint imposed by the situation, but the situation itself and the knowledge and culture of a given audience. Therefore, the accuracy and appropriateness of an interpretation are closely intertwined, even though the two do not always coincide since an accurate translation may not necessarily be appropriate. An interpretation will be appropriate the more it conforms to the stylistic and formal conventions of the addressees, targeting a particular type of language to a particular type of audience (Snelling 1989: 142).

Usability A usable TT is a clear, immediately comprehensible text, immediately usable by the target audience (Viezzi 1996: 104), inevitably bound to the ST and the situational context. The four quality macrocriteria described make it possible to evaluate the IT from diVerent perspectives. Equivalence and accuracy examine the relationship between ST and TT, whereas appropriateness and usability examine the relationship between TT and audience within a speciWc communicative event.

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The parameter of usability considers the TT as an autonomous text (Viezzi 1996: 79).

Student evaluation Interpreting involves procedural knowledge and many of the tasks performed are automatic. These include the ability to speak and listen at the same time, the simultaneous use of two languages as well as the reorganization of auditory and attentive functions during SI. Other tasks are, however, explicit: the monitoring of the interpreter’s own output, the evaluation of the speaker’s goals, and the self-judging of the IT (Fabbro & Gran 1997). During interpreting studies both implicit, automatic skills and explicit abilities must be acquired. The main teaching objective consists of transmitting to the students verbal and non-verbal instruments as well as the ability to produce a quality interpretation. What is needed is a reference model that helps to evaluate an interpreting performance in a given situation at a given time and within a given cultural thematic context. The model to refer to is an “ideal interpreting performance”. Such a deWnition is of course a broad generalization of the diVerent interpreting occurrences but is functional to the description of what “ideally” an interpreting student should strive to achieve. To better understand what is required and what is unacceptable in an interpreting performance, an evaluation sheet (or an assessment sheet in the words of Barbara Moser-Mercer 1997) was produced at the SSLMIT by the author with a list of the diVerent parameters monitored in the evaluation of CI and SI examinations. This of course diVers from the evaluation of real-life interpreting. Students are still learning and should develop linguistic and extralinguistic knowledge. The examination is an important step in their studies. It helps to monitor the level of preparation and goals achieved. It also gives an indication of areas in need of improvement and of the most frequent types of deviations. The evaluation sheet takes into account the importance ascribed by the interpreting teachers of the SSLMIT to diVerent linguistic and interpreting elements based on their answers to a questionnaire listing diVerent evaluation microcriteria (Riccardi 1999). According to the type of examination, each interpreting teacher indicated priorities in the questionnaire answers and made further suggestions. The diVerent categories are derived from interpreting studies on quality

Evaluation in interpretation

and interpreting errors (Bühler 1986; Altman 1994; Barik 1994; Kopczynski 1994; Kellett 1995; Russo & Rucci 1997) and from the author’s personal experience as intepreter and interpreting teacher. Two sheets for the evaluation of consecutive and simultaneous interpretation by students were completed. In addition to Wfteen categories common to both conference interpreting types, there are also two speciWc categories for CI and one for SI.

Description of the microcriteria The evaluation sheets are presented in the Appendix and a brief description of the criteria adopted is given below. According to the time when the assessment or the examination is made, greater importance may be assigned to some of the microcriteria. However, it was thought that altogether they could give a better overview of the IT at any stage of interpreting courses.

Phonological deviations A microcriterion that indicates deviations from standard pronunciation and phoneme exchange, i.e. segmental deviations. Prosody deviations This category includes wrong word and phrase accent, deviations of intonation at phrase and sentence level, i.e. suprasegmental deviations. Production deviations False starts, Wlling elements (ums, hems, ahs, etc.). Pauses More than 3 seconds and not present in the ST. These four microcriteria will be more or less perceivable and disturbing depending on their frequency. At the beginning of interpreting courses they can be overlooked while towards the end their weight and importance will increase. Lexical deviations This category includes errors in the interpreting of common and technical terms both at word and collocation level.

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Morphosyntactic deviations Occurrences within this microcriterion, such as wrong concordances, cause loss of text cohesion. Logical/semantic deviations This was viewed by all interpreting teachers as the most important parameter because it produces deviation from the meaning of ST, the contresens, with loss of text coherence. Omissions In interpreting it is very important to recognize the diVerent types of omissions that occur. In certain instances they can be useful (e.g. omission of redundant elements, concise reformulation without information loss) and contribute to text coherence. In other cases the result will be information loss because of insuYcient comprehension of the ST or of diYculties in reformulating or in the technique. Omissions should always be evaluated to see whether they help or hinder text coherence. Additions As for the previous category, it is important to ascertain whether an addition is useful to text coherence, whether it is consciously inserted or invented and, therefore, impedes text coherence. Reformulation The microcriterion of reformulation indicates the ability to move away from the ST to avoid calques or too close an adherence to the ST. It is an indicator of foreign language command, of Xexibility in TL and of meaning transfer skills. Register This microcriterion examines maintenance, modiWcation or alteration of register which may lead to the levelling or the exaggeration of the communicative intention of the speaker. Technique With this microcriterion teachers monitor the extent to which the interpreting technique has been assimilated both in CI and in SI (i.e. décalage, volume, divided attention in SI and note-taking in CI), and whether interpreting strategies are applied.

Evaluation in interpretation 123

Successful solutions This microcriterion includes all those instances indicating quality interpreting. Overall performance The impression of the interpreting performance as a whole is taken into account. It is made up of all other categories, the sum of which may, however, diVer from the average. The two additional microcriteria for CI are: Eye contact Through eye contact student interpreters reveal their communicative skills and their being at ease with the text and the situation. Hand control and/or gesticulation and/or posture Another microcriterion to evaluate the way in which the student delivers the consecutive IT and shows his awareness of the audience and of his own self during presentation. The additional microcriterion for SI is: Incomplete sentences It reveals diYculties in the production of the TT in addition to below-par technique.

Conclusion Quality assessment and evaluation in interpreting is a very problematic issue, especially when it comes to explaining precisely and methodically what is not up to required level and what needs improvement. The variables at play are numerous both for professionals and for student interpreters. While the professional’s performance is checked against the macrocriteria relating to the successful interlinguistic and intercultural transmission of the message within a given communicative event, the student’s performance is checked principally against the ST. Thus the choice of the ST is very important for assessing student performance. Running speech and the IT as such is a continuum that can be broken down and analysed in its constituents, yet the single constituents are closely interrelated and inXuence each other. The evaluation sheet proposed is but one of the

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possible lists of parameters that can be taken into consideration for an interpreting performance; it can be longer or shorter and in its present form is useful for interpreting examinations or continuous assessments. It brings together a set of microcriteria that enables the teacher and the student to have an overview of the IT. The microcriteria are included in the macrocriteria of equivalence, accuracy, appropriateness and usability. The equivalence of a TT with the ST, for example, is the result of the conscious or unconscious application of various microcriteria such as logical/semantic deviations, omissions, additions, reformulation and others in diVerent distribution; accuracy is based on the right choices at a lexical, morphosyntactic and prosodic level. Appropriateness is related to the microcriteria of register, logical/semantic deviations, production and prosody. A usable IT satisWes the microcriteria of phonological deviations, prosody, register, lexicon and so on. Every categorization is something arbitrary and can be criticized. Further research will contribute to determining the validity of the evaluation tool proposed.

Appendix Evaluation sheet for CI examination ! consecutive from L1 into L2 ! consecutive from L2 into L1 phonological deviations none ! some ! many ! prosody deviations none ! some ! many ! production deviations none ! some ! many ! pauses (> 3 sec.) none ! some ! many ! eye contact none ! occasional ! frequent ! hand control and/or gesticulation and/or posture none ! satisfactory ! lexical deviations (common) words none ! some ! collocations none ! some ! lexical deviations (technical) words none ! some !

good ! many ! many ! many !

Evaluation in interpretation 125

collocations morphosyntactic deviations none ! logical/semantic deviations none ! acceptable ! omissions none/some ! useful (coherence) ! additions none/some ! useful (coherence) ! reformulation calques register maintained ! technique good ! successful solutions none/some ! overall performance good !

none !

some !

many !

some !

many !

some ! serious !

many ! unacceptable !

few ! negligible !

many ! sense alteration !

few ! negligible ! good ! none !

many ! intrusive ! poor ! many !

satisfactory ! some !

modiWed !

altered !

satisfactory !

poor !

few !

many !

satisfactory !

poor !

Evaluation sheet for SI examination ! simultaneous from L1 into L2 ! simultaneous from L2 into L1 phonological deviations none ! prosody deviations none ! production deviations none ! pauses (> 3 sec.) none ! lexical deviations (common) words ! collocations lexical deviations (technical) words ! collocations ! morphosyntactic deviations none ! logical/semantic deviations none ! acceptable ! omissions none/some !

some !

many !

some !

many !

some !

many !

some !

many !

none ! none !

some ! some !

many ! many !

none ! none !

some ! some !

many ! many !

some !

many !

some ! serious !

many ! unacceptable !

few !

many !

126 Alessandra Riccardi

useful (coherence) ! incomplete sentences none/some ! additions none/some ! useful (coherence) ! reformulation calques register maintained ! technique good ! successful solutions none/some ! overall performance good !

negligible !

intrusive !

few !

many !

few ! negligible ! good ! none !

many ! intrusive ! poor ! many !

satisfactory ! some !

modiWed !

altered !

satisfactory !

poor !

few !

many !

satisfactory !

poor !

Literature and culture in translation studies

Teaching literary translation Integrating theory and practice in the classroom Judith Woodsworth

Mount Saint Vincent University

The Canadian context: overview of the profession in Canada Canada is an oYcially bilingual country. All government documents must be issued in both oYcial languages, English and French, and the work of Parliament and government agencies is conducted in both languages, as is much of the business of the country. This has created a large translation and interpreting industry. Translation is well organized as a profession and translators relatively well remunerated. Within the larger language industry, literary translation plays a relatively minor role. The translation of literature represents a small proportion of the large volume of translated texts and has remained somewhat undervalued. The Netherlands publishes eleven times more literary translations than Canada, Sweden six times more, and Finland and Portugal twice as much (Delisle 1997: 362). Translators of literature are paid at approximately half the rate of non-literary translators. In Canada they are rarely paid directly by publishing houses, as they are in other parts of the world. Instead, the Canada Council for the Arts has established a programme to fund the publication of translations. Once a publisher has accepted a manuscript, the Canada Council will evaluate it. If funded, the translator receives ten cents a word in the form of a grant. This compares with an average rate of twenty cents Canadian a word (about Canadian $60, or US$40, per page) which a commercial or technical translator is able to get. The ratio of funded translations to published books is about one in a hundred, and few publishers will publish a book in translation unless there is support from the Canada Council. That explains the low volume of translated works of literature in Canada, and the comparatively poor salaries of literary translators. In fact, they can rarely make a living doing only that. Most survive by doing other forms of translation, by writing, by teaching, or some combination of all three.

130 Judith Woodsworth

The translation profession is organized by province, since the regulation of labour in general falls under provincial jurisdiction. Hence there are nine translator associations — one for nearly each of the ten provinces and two territories. The largest ones are Québec’s Ordre des traducteurs et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTIAQ) and Ontario’s Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO). The provincial associations are grouped together under a national umbrella organization called the Canadian Council of Translators and Interpreters (CTIC), which is a member organization of the International Federation of Translators (FIT). In 1975, literary translators formed their own pan-Canadian association, the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada (LTAC), which was recently accredited as a member of FIT as well. The Literary Translators’ Association has around 100 members, compared with 6,000 professional translators who make their living from nonliterary activities.

Place of literary translation in a translation programme From this picture, one might conclude that literary translation has been marginalized and ask why it is taught at all. And yet, as professional translation programmes were established across Canada from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, literary translation was usually included as a component, in the form of one or two courses. In the programme I helped to develop at Concordia University in Montréal, which was a three-year Bachelor’s degree in translation, aimed at training professional translators, there were two courses in literary translation: an introductory one taken early in the programme and a more advanced one taken toward the end. Literary translation at the Wrst level was intended as a basic introduction to the stylistic diYculties of translating non-technical, noncommercial texts and, in a very general sense, as an initiation to the art of translation. The advanced course in literary translation exposed the student more fully to the challenges of translating actual literature.

Course objectives The speciWc course I will be referring to, entitled “Advanced Literary Translation from French to English”, was intended for students whose primary work-

Teaching literary translation

ing language was English and who had already taken the introductory level literary translation course. It was designed to make students aware of the history, theory and practice of literary translation. Through practical translation assignments, students became familiar with some of the diYculties involved in translating various genres of literature from French to English. An introduction to the complexities and pitfalls of the profession of literary translation was intended to bring students to the point where, given the appropriate degree of motivation and ability, they could contemplate embarking on a literary project themselves. There are further beneWts to taking such a course, and hence a secondary objective. Literary or quasi-literary style is widely used in many forms of writing. Hence it is important for all translators to learn to handle texts in which capturing the style is as important as Wnding the right word. Whether one ultimately practises the art of literary translation or not, a course in literary translation can provide an opportunity to examine the Wne points of stylistics, grammar, syntax and diction, and thereby hone one’s writing skills.

DeWning literary translation How is literary translation deWned? As we have seen, the market deWnes it in relation to other forms of translation, involving technical, scientiWc, administrative, commercial texts, for example. In this regard, literary translation is viewed in contrast to “pragmatic” translation, which is always undertaken for a purpose — that is, there is a client who needs to understand the content of a given text, or who wishes to disseminate the text to an audience unable to read the text in the original language. Another way to deWne literary translation in relation to other forms of translation is to use the “function” theory. While recognizing that texts may have more than one function, it can be helpful to divide them into the informative, persuasive and expressive categories, with literature falling into the last. From yet another perspective, literary texts can be considered distinct from technical texts by virtue of their general, as opposed to specialized, vocabulary or terminology. DeWnitions, however, are not as clear-cut as we are led to believe. In my classes I like to attempt deWnitions, and then show examples that elude deWnition. In many works of literature, there are passages that contain quite technical information, as illustrated by the following example from The Stone Diaries by Canadian writer Carol Shields:

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The stone itself, a dolomitic limestone, is more beautiful and easier to handle than that which my father knew growing up in Stonewall, Manitoba. Natural chemical alterations give it its unique lacy look. It comes in two colors, a light buV mixed with brown, and (my favourite) a pale gray with darker gray mottles. Some folks call it tapestry stone, and they prize, especially, its random fossils: gastropods, brachiopods, trilobites, corals and snails. (Shields 1993: 25)

On the other hand, we are increasingly seeing a form of creative or literary journalism, in which special stylistic eVects are layered over the information the writers wish to convey, like in this excerpt from an article on worm harvesting that appeared in the magazine Canadian Geographic: Out in the middle of wriggly Weld in the teeth of a late-spring gale, three Poles, seven Greeks and two Vietnamese are bent like saplings, their heads hooded, their feet booted, their hands as busy as croupiers, tearing money out of the ground. (Abel 1998: 28)

In fact, when examples such as these are shown without identifying their source, students were not able to tell at Wrst glance whether they were from literary or non-literary sources.

Theoretical foundations The course aimed to integrate theory and practice in the classroom. Although the students were required to study linguistics, translation theory and history of translation in other courses, it was useful to highlight the theoretical notions that pertained directly to the act of literary translation. To broaden the scope of what we covered in class, I selected a few key theoretical texts and made them available in the library for students to consult. A chapter from Translators through History on “Translators and the Emergence of National Literatures” (Delisle & Woodsworth 1995: 67–98) took them back to a time when translation and creation overlapped, when authors such as Chaucer were writers, compilers and translators. It showed how the translation of foreign works has served to promote the development of national literatures historically and, in more recent times, in certain post-colonial cultures. It was important, as well, to present some of the key points of the history of literary translation in Canada, relatively short compared to the history of translation in general in our country. An article on the translation of poetry in Canada (Woodsworth 1994) suggested how cultural politics have aVected the diVering ways in which English and French Canadian translators

Teaching literary translation

view their art and approach questions of faithfulness, and even the degree to which they engage in the translation of works of the other culture. Functionalist theories — from Bühler, who wrote about the function of language, to more recent Skopos theorists, who have written about the function of translations — are useful in deWning literary translation. It is also worthwhile to distinguish the diVerent literary genres and identify the speciWc problems associated with each. Novels or short stories are usually considered relatively straightforward to translate. And yet, terminology can often pose problems, as in the pseudo-scientiWc passage presented above. Dialogue is frequently a challenge in the novel, in which the narrative can be expressed in standard literary language while the dialogue takes various forms of nonstandard speech. Translating for the theatre presents its own challenges. Since the written text is meant to be spoken and to have an immediate impact on its audience, the language must be pronounceable and eVective. Poetry, of course, is the form that is the most diYcult to translate because it is furthest from the purely informational, with elements such as rhyme and rhythm, for which equivalents are often found at the expense of meaning of the words per se, although the formal aspects of poetry also carry “meaning” in their own way. A collection of essays written by English Canadian translators, entitled Culture in Transit (Simon 1995), was a valuable resource for students. The contributors address diVerent types of issues, relating to the translation of genre, as in Linda Gaboriau’s piece on the theatre (Gaboriau 1995). Others raise current issues of gender (Von Flotow 1995) and ethnicity (Homel 1995). All the readings were intended to make students think critically and analytically about the art, the profession, and ultimately the actual translation diYculties they encountered in their own work and the solutions and strategies they came up with.

Practice: my own experience During the last three years I taught the course, I was in the throes of translating a Québec novel. It was my Wrst experience translating a work of literature and I thought it would help my students if I wove my own impressions and reXections into the course. My experience, that of a novice like my students, illustrated a number of things: the diYculty of publishing a work of translated literature in Canada, the arbitrary way in which some books get translated and then published, while others do not, and some of the gaps between theory and reality.

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After several years as a translator of predominantly technical and commercial texts, and a teacher of translation in a professional programme, I decided to tackle the translation of a novel. I had a chance meeting with Québec writer Pierre Nepveu at a conference. Some of his poems had been translated into English, but neither one of his two novels had. He suggested that his Wrst novel, set in Vancouver, would appeal to an English audience. The next time I was in a book store I looked for it, but instead found his more recent novel, Des mondes peu habités. It was a gripping novel crafted with the sensitivity and lyricism of a poet: here was something I would enjoy translating. Once a Wrst draft was completed, I sent a sample to one publisher, who immediately expressed interest, but several months later changed his mind. Translated novels were a Wnancial risk, he explained. I began to approach a number of other publishers, but with no success. Rejection is never easy to accept, but in this case the rejection letters were at least interesting. I was able to draw on my experience and show students just how daunting the profession of literary translator can be. I sent either a sample or the entire manuscript to over twenty-Wve publishers, including a few outside Canada. Most of them replied, usually to say in a rather formulaic way that the work did not suit their “list” or “publishing needs”. A few were guardedly encouraging: “I like the lyricism of the excerpt, and its eloquence, but foresee marketing problems given the book’s painful sobriety …”. Some of the letters were downright discouraging or rude: “Experience indicates that most manuscripts are rejected because, in the opinion of one or more of the editors, they are not good enough on their own terms, that is, because the writer has failed to achieve what he set out to achieve …”. After a time, another publisher showed considerable interest. However, there were conditions: I was to go through the entire book and shorten all the French-style run-on sentences, and similarly cut the long French paragraphs up to make more paragraphs. “Make this a work in English”, he advised. “Isn’t translation a remake (in the Wlmic sense of the word)?” he asked, conWrming the theory that translation is always rewriting, but also contradicting the position of other inXuential theorists of translation (Antoine Berman and Lawrence Venuti, for example), who advocate preserving the “foreignness” of the original text. In the end, this particular publisher dropped the project for mysterious reasons. I had all but given up when I received an enthusiastic call from a small press, Nuage Editions. I undertook a new set of revisions, this time with the

Teaching literary translation

help of the author, who showed a rare respect for my work as a translator. The translation was published in December 1997 under the title Still Lives. It has been well received, although more as a novel in English than as a translation. A review that appeared in Canada’s largest daily newspaper, the Globe and Mail, calls the novel “eloquent” and “beautifully written” yet fails to observe that it is a translation. This is not at all unusual: in their on-going quest for recognition, Canadian translators have long called for reviews that take account of their contribution. But there is still a long way to go.

Practice: the students at work The primary focus, of course, was putting the students to work. Although tempting, logically, to provide the historical background and theoretical foundations before moving on to practice, students really needed to begin translating texts early in the course. Otherwise, they would grow impatient. They were given shorter excerpts toward the beginning to get them started and while we worked on these, I continued to lay the theoretical groundwork. In this course, all the translation was from French to English. (In Canada, professional translators generally work in only one direction, and that is usually toward their mother tongue.) For the Wrst assignments, I selected texts that were normally no more than one page in length (about 300–400 words). Assignments were drawn from the literatures of both Québec and France, an equal number of male and female authors, and diVerent literary genres. The texts were primarily excerpts from novels or short stories, but they illustrated diVerent styles and presented various challenges. There was always one poetry exercise and an excerpt from a play, and sometimes a piece of literary criticism. Students would turn their assignments in to me, I would correct them and hand them back at the following class. In class, I would comment on errors as well as the students’ solutions to diVerent diYculties or translation problems. I would assemble all my comments and hand out a written summary, rather than single out any individual student for correction or criticism. In this oneor two-page summary, I would highlight the diVerent problems, according to category: vocabulary/idiomatic expressions, grammar, style or register, and mechanics such as spelling, punctuation or quotation marks. In class I would read out the particularly good solutions to some of the translation problems, and attribute these to the individuals concerned, trying to Wnd a way to provide positive feedback to all students in turn.

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I would also provide students with a copy of the published version of the translation, when available, or in some case with more than one version, so that we could compare what the translators had written with what they had. It was always interesting to note that in some cases the students had done better than the published translator. One text I have used is a descriptive passage from the Canadian novel Bonheur d’occasion published in 1945 by one of our best known women writers, Gabrielle Roy. It was translated twice, as The Tin Flute, by Hannah Josephson in the United States in 1947, and as The Tin Flute once again, by Alan Brown in Canada in 1982. The second translation, in the excerpt we examined at least, preserves more of the details from the French original that illustrate the painful move from rural to urban society. This exercise, then, allowed students to tackle a translation assignment, and to compare their work with one another, as well as with two published versions of the same text. Students were given excerpts from such Québec novelists as Jacques Godbout, Anne Hébert, Jacques Ferron, Marie-Claire Blais and from the writers of France such as Victor Hugo, Albert Camus and Marguerite Duras. The diYculty with excerpts is that unless the student takes the time to read the entire novel, there is not enough of a context to do a good translation. We therefore worked with short stories as well. Students would have the entire piece in their possession and be expected to translate a speciWc one- or two-page section. For the poetry exercise, students particularly enjoyed one of the wellknown poems by Verlaine, such as “Chanson d’automne” (“Les sanglots longs des violons / Blessent mon coeur d’une langueur monotone…”). In this poem, content was not a problem. Everyone could easily understand and relate to the sentiments expressed. The challenge was to render these sentiments in English in a form that would be as musical and as moving as the original. Students were free to preserve the rhyme and rhythm, or not, and to come up with any possible creative solutions. With the students’ permission, I would show the diVerent versions to the class, as a demonstration that in the case of poetry, many versions are possible. Over the years, the favourite exercise in translating for the theatre was a passage taken from Michel Tremblay’s famous play Les Belles-Soeurs, which is written in Quebec dialect, or joual. An excerpt in which there was an abundance of colourful and blasphemous language would be selected. Students would work in groups to come up with equivalent language, and each group would designate someone to act out the scene. It was obviously fun to let loose and swear in the classroom the way Tremblay characters do on stage, but the exercise also lent itself to interesting technical discussions about the diYculty

Teaching literary translation 137

of translating dialect or non-standard language, and theoretical ones about the relationship between translation and questions of national identity. In this regard, it was useful to compare the Canadian translation of the play with the more recent Scots version, which was motivated by the same ideological considerations as the original Québec work (Woodsworth 1996). Beyond the actual translation of representative passages of Québec and French literature, a further exercise was given to the students. The inspiration for this exercise was drawn from a presentation at the Third Language International Conference, held in Elsinore in 1995 (Larkosh 1996). Christopher Larkosh’s student project, undertaken in multi-ethnic California, was readily transferable, or translatable, from the American to the Canadian context. My students were asked to interview someone close to them, preferably an older relative, about a memorable experience, and then turn it into a piece of writing. Ideally, the interviewee was to be someone who spoke a language other than English or French. The challenge was to express in English the experiences of someone from another culture. This was a form of “translation” that would make students sensitive to the mechanisms of intercultural transfer inherent in all forms of translation. In writing up the interviews, students were faced with a number of technical diYculties, such as conveying to a Canadian audience the meaning of certain foreign cultural phenomena. In some cases, the writers chose to use a foreign term in the text, with a deWnition or gloss. Others incorporated background information. Some used conversation to make their stories vibrant. The assignment gave students the opportunity to express ideas without relying directly on someone else’s words. Translators, and especially translators-intraining, have a tendency to follow the wording of the original text very closely. The results can be clumsy, inelegant and not very English-sounding. When translating, it is not easy to say something the way you would if you had written it directly in the target language. This was an exercise that could help students do just that, and improve their English writing skills at the same time. The stories were collected in a small volume entitled Crossing Borders: Exercises in Intercultural Communication and distributed to all members of the class. These lively texts provided glimpses into the lives of people from a wide range of countries such as Bulgaria, Ukraine, Austria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Japan. They reXected the diversity of Montréal’s population and the rich experiences that can be shared through writing and translation. As a replacement for the conventional Wnal examination, students were given a “take-home” exam. They were required to translate an entire short

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story, chosen from one of the local French-language magazines that published new short stories. In this way, they would be translating something that had not yet been published in English. Their objective was to produce a work that could be considered worthy of publication in a comparable English literary magazine. In addition to the translation, they were asked to write a short commentary describing the linguistic, stylistic or cultural translation problems they had encountered, drawing on the various theoretical readings to support their statements. As examiner, therefore, I evaluated not only their translation skills but also the critical ability they had gained. Furthermore, they had to plan to submit their story to a literary magazine for publication, after I had corrected it and they had made the required changes. Along with the assignment, they were to enclose a draft letter oVering their story to the editor of a magazine of their choice. In doing this, they demonstrated that they were able to put into practice some of the knowledge they had acquired about the profession. .

Conclusion This paper has served to illustrate the role of both theory and practice in the classroom, integrated with the help of an instructor who has negotiated between theory and practice in real life. A course of this type — constructed around substantial practice, against a backdrop of history and theory, and informed by the instructor’s involvement in the profession — is an example of the fruitful interaction between the academic discipline and the profession.

Translation and literary history Problems of integration Viggo Hjørnager Pedersen University of Copenhagen

Most courses concerned with a literary period in the history of a given language deal only very superWcially with translations, although literary translations form an integral part of any interesting period. It is as if teachers, following the lead of literary historians, believe that the national literatures they are studying developed in a vacuum with little if any contact with the literatures of other countries. This tendency has been exacerbated in my country in recent years — and hardly there alone — because many students nowadays are not really able to read more than one or at most two foreign languages. It is true that we have a traditional university discipline, comparative literature, whose purpose it is to compare diVerent literatures and study the links between them. But the results achieved here are only to a very limited extent passed on to the students of English, French, etc., and the teachers of the literature department in Copenhagen complain that it is diYcult to Wnd students capable of making the comparisons that presuppose a working knowledge of at least three to four foreign languages. Meanwhile, if you discuss, for instance, English Romanticism, you may perhaps come across stray references to the romantic movement on the European continent; but many students are left with the impression that Romanticism was invented by Wordsworth and Coleridge and developed by Byron, Keats and Shelley without intervention from any writers of other nationalities. This paper, therefore, will explore the advantages and diYculties of combining a study of literature and literary translation, illustrating with examples from a Copenhagen course in children’s literature, which tries to combine the English and the Danish traditions. The idea for this approach is derived from Susan Bassnett’s book Comparative Literature — A Critical Introduction (Bassnett 1993), which argues for an integration of the disciplines of comparative literature and translation studies.

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Her point is on the one hand that translations have been underexposed as elements in TL movements and periods, and on the other that research into this area is one of the ways in which translation studies might proWtably develop.

The course on children’s literature As mentioned, the idea behind this course given in the autumn of 1998 was to explore the interrelations between English and Danish 18th and 19th century children’s literature, starting with the new English children’s books by Newbery and others from the 1740’s and onwards, some of which were translated into Danish, and proceeding to a discussion of Hans Andersen in Danish, and in English translation, and of Lewis Carroll in English as well as in the Danish translations. There are three Danish translations of Carroll, and innumerable English translations of Andersen’s best known tales — I stopped counting when I passed 100 translations of “The Ugly Duckling”, but I’m convinced that the current Wgure is more like 1,000, and new versions are added every day, so there is indeed material enough to work with. The course highlights some of the diYculties inherent in realizing a project like the present, at least within the Danish university system. There was a double introduction to the term’s work: a discussion of “children’s literature” as a genre, and its place in relation to other literary genres, and a presentation of translation studies models and approaches that seemed relevant for the study of the texts we were going to read. Most, but not all, students had some previous knowledge of translation theory. About Wfteen students appeared at the beginning of term, all of them at MA level. After some weeks this number had been reduced to about ten — who did not necessarily all of them make an appearance in every class. It should be mentioned here that in Denmark, attendance at university courses is entirely optional. Students’ behaviour is regulated by examinations, not by courses, and as long as you take a suYcient number of exams at regular intervals, you are all right. On the other hand, you are obliged to pass a fair number of exams without falling too far behind the oYcial schedule, or your grant is in danger. As there is also a fair amount of MA courses oVered — about twenty-Wve for a student population of 300 to 400 — there is some shopping around for interesting courses and soft options. I am happy that my course initially seemed interesting to a reasonable number of students. But I am afraid that some of them soon found out that it was not a soft option.

Translation and literary history

English being a foreign language in Denmark, students have traditionally been made aware of linguistic matters, and of the diVerences between English and Danish grammar and vocabulary, and translation English-Danish and vice versa is a regular part of the BA programme. So, the idea of studying translations should not be too diYcult for them to cope with. But in the Wrst place some three or four students did not know Danish — we have exchange students from all over the world, particularly from other EU countries and from the USA — and in addition many of the Danes who were theoretically competent felt insecure with an approach which was not exclusively literary, but in part linguistic. The linguistic components of the English BA are signiWcantly less popular than the literary ones. At MA level, where students are free to choose the topics they prefer, very few choose linguistic ones. The solution I adopted was to paraphrase in my inaugural lecture all sources not in English and to suggest alternative literature for people not capable of reading Danish. For instance, part of the introduction to the course was given in a long survey article in Danish by myself and a former colleague (Hjørnager Pedersen & Shine 1979), but part of the same ground is covered in the opening chapters of Harvey Darton (1932 V.) and Hunt (1995). However, this approach meant that not all students would be able to write papers that included a contrastive component, and some did in fact opt for purely literary papers on English writers, drawing almost exclusively on English sources. The course included a discussion of folktales as an introduction to the study of Andersen. It is obvious that you cannot discuss folktales without mentioning Perreault and the brothers Grimm, who wrote in French and German respectively. The solution was to read some of the material in English translations, and to discuss other tales on the basis of our collective memories of the versions we read in our childhood. Here the international composition of the class did have an advantage, in that a French student could give a class paper on Perreault based on the original text. The varying linguistic competence of participants tended to lead to a focus on the general outlines of texts rather than discussion of details; but whenever details were necessary, we resorted to literal word-for-word translation into English. Andersen, one of the major components of the course, was read in English and then compared with the original by the majority of students who were able to do so. The others had to be content with our translation of the literal meaning of passages in the original which had been omitted or changed in the translations studied. However, as several translations of the same stories were used, everybody got an impression of the linguistic diYculties for the

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non-Danish reader who wants to Wnd out what Andersen really said and meant in a particular passage, and of the cultural constraints under which 19th century translators of Andersen into English were operating. A couple of examples: At the end of “The Ugly Duckling” the authorial voice comments that it does not matter to be raised in a duck-yard if only one is hatched from a swan’s egg. This sentence must have seemed questionable to many 19th century educators, for it is missing or modiWed in many translations, the general idea being that one is all right if one is a good or pious little duckling — which is not what Andersen meant. In “Little Claus and Big Claus”, the latter sets down the sack in which he has caught Little Claus, to go into a church and hear a psalm before drowning his enemy, and comments when he comes out that the sack is now lighter because he has been to church. The true reason, of course, is that the old cattle drover is now in it instead of Little Claus. But this example of grim Andersen humour is too much for some translators, and is dropped or changed. Even today, taboo is often at play in translations, so that translations drop references in the original to religious beliefs or practices, rather than risking giving oVence. As a last example, the soldier in “The Tinder-Box” has the princess brought to him at night, and then feels an irresistible urge to kiss her, “for he was a true soldier”. In Caroline Peachey’s translation this is changed so that he kneels down to kiss her hand, thus keeping a proper distance: A real princess was this! So beautiful, so enchantingly beautiful! The soldier could not help himself, he knelt down and kissed her hand. (Andersen: 361)

Papers As mentioned above, not all term papers were handed in at the end of term. Of the papers Wnished, only three or four contained a contrastive component, however, apart from general references to the non-English literature studied in class. There were some genuinely contrastive projects. To take the most ambitious of these Wrst, one student intends to write an MA thesis on the Danish translation of Winnie the Pooh, commenting not only on linguistic diYculties but also on the diVerent place and function of the two texts in the source and target culture. Almost equally ambitious was a term paper on Danish translations of puns and idioms in Alice in Wonderland. Such a paper presupposes a

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high level of competence in both languages and a good grasp of translation theory, and the student did quite well with it. A couple of projects dealt with the transformation of adult literature into literature for children, with or without the translation aspect. They all took my study of Danish and English children’s versions of Moby Dick (Hjørnager Pedersen: 1988) as their point of departure. One paper dealt with English and Danish adaptations of Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. Another considers an Italian version of Peter Pan, and here all Italian examples will be back-translated into English. In other projects the translation aspect was weaker, or entirely absent. One examined the 18th and 19th century moral tales for children in England and Denmark. The two traditions were compared, but there was little detailed study of translation, though a number of English stories of this type were in fact translated into Danish, such as the anonymous Adventures of a Silver Penny, published by Newbery’s Wrm, which was translated in 1799 as En SølvEnesteskillings Hændelser and in all probability also inspired Hans Andersen’s “Sølvskillingen” (1861). Another paper looked at books inspired directly or indirectly by Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The list of works studied here included Campe’s Robinson der Jüngere in German, since the student concerned was Swiss, but no great importance was attached to linguistic considerations. This applied even more to a paper on Andersen’s “Little Mermaid”, where the original Danish text will be compared with Walt Disney’s Wlm version — in Danish — which reminds us that the “translation” of books into Wlms attracts the attention of an increasing number of students of English. A couple of the best papers — the one on Ivanhoe and the one on Alice — highlighted a number of diYculties with using translation studies of this kind for examination purposes. Arguments about the nature and quality of speciWc translations should be supported by numerous examples. But both for reasons of space and in some cases time it is diYcult to Wt in a suYcient number of these in an examination paper. The paper on Ivanhoe was a written examination for which six hours were allotted. The student was allowed to bring notes and books, but the sheer writing out of the examples required obviously consumed much of the time available. These considerations did not apply to the paper on Alice, which like the majority of the papers from this course was a take-home essay, which the student worked on for a month or so. But still the problem of Wnding time to

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study a lot of primary material in more detail than is often the case with sources for other kinds of literary papers was there, and a full-scale “poly-systemic” analysis seems out of the question for term papers. One solution here might be to build up such an investigation on the basis of a number of student papers analysing speciWc problems within the larger context.

Conclusion Limited though my material is, I think it throws interesting light on the diYculties facing those who would body forth the ideas of the descriptive school and their followers in concrete papers and theses. If it is accepted that my students are hardly very diVerent from the average student population at modern universities, it would seem that for linguistic reasons alone it is extremely diYcult for many graduate students to include a detailed comparison of translated literature with the original texts in a study of a literary genre or period. Besides, the study of the translations of writers like Hans Christian Andersen is extremely complex because of the vast amount of relevant data, and so requires work on a scale beyond the time limit for most university programmes. On the other hand students often Wnd working with literary translations a very rewarding approach; and if you are satisWed with working in a group where not everybody understands all the texts, but where one student’s linguistic competence is allowed to supplement that of others, and where points are explained by back translation into a lingua franca like English, the group as a whole may learn quite a lot, both about literature and about translation. However, in my experience the price often is that less weight is attached to the linguistic and contrastive semantic component than to literary analysis, be it of original or translated texts.

A teaching methodology with examples of the kinds of cultural recognition needed for translators and interpreters in Hong Kong Paul Levine The Open University of Hong Kong

Introduction The basic assumption that many comparative culture courses oVered for translators and interpreters have, is either that target-language culture can be introduced as sets of concepts and ideas, or that culture is somehow fungible with other mundane concerns, such as table manners or how to conduct oneself socially. The pitfall behind the former approach is that conceptual teaching somehow “cements” the ideas for the adult Translation and Interpreting (T/I) practitioner; while behind the latter lurks the simplistic “English as a Second Language” approach to learning foreign “folkways” as a group of pre-arranged pattern-response drills. Another problem with the usual classroom methodology used in teaching comparative cultural studies to translators and interpreters is that it either relies on lists of important historical allusions for memorization, or introduces a complete course in Western civilization that has little or no direct reference to the process of translation as a learning tool. What is needed is something more sophisticated that helps adults deal with not just obvious culturally-loaded terms, but also with the problems of extended allusions that are ubiquitous, particularly for the T/I practitioner. This paper discusses a methodology that integrates these two approaches into a practical course format for Hong Kong students, as well as oVering examples that have been tested in the classroom.

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The problem of culture Many writers on the subject of culture view the importance of cultural background and knowledge for translators and interpreters along traditional, holistic lines. Nida, for example, describes cultures as the totality of beliefs and practices of a society (Nida 1993: 105). E.D. Hirsch, the American author of a best-selling Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, says of culture: …this common knowledge allows people to communicate, to work together, and to live together. It forms the basis for communities, and if it is shared by enough people, it is a distinguishing characteristic of a national culture. The form and content of this common knowledge consititute one of the elements that makes each national culture unique. … This … body of knowledge … identiWes the names, phrases, events and other items that are familiar to most [people of a nation] (Hirsch 1988: ix; italics added.)

The classical view of culture as expressed by Nida and, to a lesser extent, Hirsch, can be traced to 19th century anthropology, which has the defect of being too overwhelming for practical learning purposes. How is the translator or interpreter to grasp a “body of knowledge that underlies ‘everyday knowledge’ as expressed in language, in names, phrases, events, etc.” ? Is just memorization of names and phrases, of a vast amount of trivia enough? (See Ke Ping 1994: 724, for more deWnitions of culture). This question becomes especially crucial when it is linked to language competence. As Jin and Nida put it: Language competence, in the sense of being bilingual, is not enough, unless it is also matched by a person’s being bicultural. That is to say, one must have an intimate knowledge of the culture in question. One must be able to recognize subtle ironies and literary allusions. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias can be very helpful in dealing with lexical problems, but they rarely go far enough in providing the kind of information which is necessary to understand cultural diVerences. Unless, for example, one understands that in one language-culture humour is based on understatement, while in another it is usually a matter of overstatement, a translator is very likely to miss the point (1993: 27; italics added).1

The two quotes focus on the same point, but from diVerent points-of-entry. Hirsch and Nida both recognize that cultural knowledge is a body of preexisting knowledge that allows recognition of a body of commonly used names, etc. The problem of cultural knowledge becomes critical, especially in the training of translators and interpreters. T/I students cannot aVord to spend an enormous amount of time to gain the intimate knowledge (Jin and Nida) that they need because the amount of time they have to spend acquiring language

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skills as well as specialist-level professional techniques usually pre-empts cultural studies. For a three- or four-year undergraduate T/I programme, the total amount of time that the learner may put in is usually a maximum of three onesemester courses in this area. And yet, during their working life, translators and interpreters come across culturally-signiWcant material often enough to create a need for courses that teach this subject. The longer they are in the Weld, the more translators and interpreters see the need to cross the last barrier, beyond linguistic competence, namely the barrier put up by cultural diVerences. The ability to deal with the problems posed by culture is the hallmark of the accomplished translator or interpreter. While there are many techniques to deal with culturally-bound materials, the Wrst step is to build in the recognition into the T/I student. That is at least as important as acquiring techniques because the average beginner-class does not recognize that culturally-bound allusions or rhetorical twists in a text exist, especially with materials that are being translated from Western languages into, say, Chinese. The result is that the target text looks seamless, even natural to the target audience. But a natural-looking translation usually hides the defects caused by insuYcient recognition of the problem of a lack of basic recognition that there are problems! This is similar to what Peter Newmark’s remark about the insidious nature of “false friends” (1988: 73). For example, while the Chinese term “chu zu qi che” equals “taxi” in some vague semantic sense, does the force come over equally tersely in both words? Perhaps that is why the Hong Kong phonetic translation of the English word taxi (di shi) has been currently adopted in China, to the chagrin of its longer, more prolix alternative. Terseness reXects language change better than any artiWcial ‘translatese’. Thus, the T/I student must be familiar with not just a target-language culture, but also with the historical development of that culture. So how can the T/I student envision another culture in a way that helps him or her to begin studying it eVectively? What is cultural knowledge?

Cultural knowledge: what is it and how does it function? At bottom, translation deals with the communication process, but it is more than just communication as a linguistic phenomenon, rather it is communication across cultures. This can be illustrated with Dollerup’s simple process chart:

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sender (and sending culture) → message → recipient (and receptor culture) (Dollerup 1995: 46; material in brackets added)

Since the assumption that culture has an impact on the translation process also carries with it the corollary that this process is relativistic, i.e., that it doesn’t take place in a “pure linguistic vacuum”, but is a “production within an interactive structure” (Leppihalme 1997: 13 quoting Hewson and Martin 1991). Whether for money or for some other purpose (and that is not to rank purposes hierarchically), translation functions as a communication (and that brings a text into a new linguistic domain where it takes on a life of its own). This puts stress on the acqusition of what I call trans-cultural2 knowledge (i.e., bi-lingual/bicultural knowledge and knowledge of where cross-cultural diVerences lie and how to communicate them), as opposed to just simply bilingual/bicultural knowledge (see Nida 1995: 110, on the importance of bi-culturalism). Since cross-cultural issues fall broadly into the realm of applied translation studies (following Snell-Hornby 1991: 15), “both the translator and the translation theorist are concerned with a world between disciplines, languages and cultures (Snell-Hornby 1988: 35) and with texts in their larger context, situational and cultural. This requires a new approach, not the rigid categorization of the exact sciences, but one admitting blends and blurred edges (Leppihalme 1997: 2 quoting Snell-Hornby 1988: 36). Thus the importance of acquiring cross-cultural knowledge can be seen for the T/I practitioner as being able to function along the margins of, as well as be a mediator between, two cultures. In fact, the crucial operation for the translator is not just to be able to store up terminology, like a walking dictionary, but rather to be able to account for it in some way. What is important is a culturally loaded term’s function in the world, its history as well as its changes. The comparison of languages and their linked cultures helps the T/I practitioner solve problems, not just to become a passive observer of the trivia of two cultures. It is patently not enough to know that the following terms seem lexically similar: “teenager” in English (a term for a person between the ages of 13 and 19 inclusive, which can even contain negative connotations, as in the sentence: “He is just a teenager and doesn’t know anything.”) and the Chinese term “qingnian” which may have a diVerent semantic scope and connotation when compared with other Chinese language terms “nianqing ren” and “qingshaonian”. What is crucial here is for the T/I practitioner to be aware of where the two lexical items diverge so as to usefully account for divergence in the receptor language and culture.

A teaching methodology 149

Thus, at least two goals can be set down for cross-culture courses. First, the storing up (for recognition) of unfamiliar source-language culturally-loaded terms and knowledge of what historically (unconscious) shapes a term’s importance, its multifarious allusions and synchronic transformations. Second, where their translation or explanation in the receptor culture will diverge. In fact, the T/I practitioner has a daunting task — that gaining of some basic mastery over a wide range of materials and their extended uses. Possibly many readers of a source language text or listeners to a sourcelanguage dialogue have had the following experience: you are reading or listening in your receptor language when suddenly you come across a place in the discourse that you can’t understand. The linear unfolding of the discourse Xow is cut, and you somehow can’t make out what the message is supposed to be. Possibly, another topic or reference is introduced that superWcially has nothing to do with, and seems to be unrelated to, the topic or dialogue under discussion. To make matters worse, the relationship between the two items is not obvious from some classical or contemporary source, for example, “I gave her the whole nine yards (a World War II reference) , but a good man is hard to Wnd (a song lyric)”. Neither of these clauses is directly related and yet they are interlinked with each other. Not even the subject of each clause is the same! What is the connection? Here of course, a look at the context may help. And then of course there is the deus ex machina, from the dictum that one should always consult the native speaker. But the help a native speaker may be able to give depends upon his/her breadth of knowledge and provenance of the person whom one chooses to consult.

Course methodology: what to select to form a working cultural lexicon Ideally, the type of cultural knowledge that T/I practitioner must have at hand is similar to that of a bi-cultural/bi-lingual speaker. Of course, this is ideal and unfortunately diYcult for most practitioners to attain. Usually, the average practitioner is stronger in the receptor language than the source-language. So, what is necessary is to try to make up for the lack of source language cultural knowledge by introducing condensed terminological explanations to begin to remedy the deWciency. Naturally at an elementary level, memorization plays an important role. Lists of those words and phrases considered important in the source langauge culture are important for the T/I student as they provide a baseline from which

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to consider later problems. Of course, these lists should be not just lists of words and phrases, but should be translated and contain deWnitions, both in the source and receptor languages. This method has the advantage of providing an orientation for students, who are perhaps seeing these terms for the Wrst time. What may be considered “strange” by the T/I student is often not given the respect it should be, for a term’s apparent strangeness within a given receptor language/culture may obstruct a student from assessing its cultural value. Thus, some terms of a high cultural value should form the basic corpus of a course on cultural background for a T/I student. (For concrete examples see Appendix 1.) When the receptor language and source language share the same culture, the problem is less than if their cultures are far apart, such as in the case of Chinese and English. Though with the development of the Internet, the access to a unitary worldwide culture is becoming easier, still the numbers of culturebound items involved are quite great. What role, for instance, does the word ‘loonie’ play on the Internet, or indeed in any culture outside of Canada? In fact where does the name come from and what is its present importance? Everyone may have some insight as to what the concept of “bitmapping” has to do with computers, but is it the same all over the world? The understanding of the word ‘hip-hop’ now is quite diVerent from its meaning in the 1950’s, but the rapidity of its spread means that its base meaning is accessible from New York to Shanghai. Thus whatever the context and interpretation of this term, there exist enough contexts to solve allusive meanings: “I had them dancing the ‘hip-hop’ around me all evening.” An important caveat is that with the rapidity at which worldwide culture is being added to the inventory of locally culture-bound material, the problem of understanding can be very much harder, because the interaction between local, national and supra-national cultures is much more rapid and complex than at any previous time in history. From multiple source-language contexts the T/I student should be able to start to gain a working recognition as to the spectrum of contexts that a culturally-bound item, be it slang, literary allusion, idiom etc, can usually be found. However, this is by no means the end of the problem. In fact, because allusions are extended and played upon, humourously, satirically and ironically, the struggle to unlock their multifold levels is an ongoing one. (For examples of more diYcult contexts in which the full scope of the multidimensional qualities of allusions are illustrated, see Leppihalme 1997: 45–63).

A teaching methodology

In the classroom: teaching comparative culture and its recognition3 A sample syllabus for teaching beginning-level comparative cultural materials can be found in Appendix 2. The topics that appear were chosen along the lines of those suggested in Hirsch’s Cultural Literacy: What Every American Should Know. They reXect major groups of cultural allusions by associated Weld and are meant to be illustrative of the kinds of associations with which T/I students need to be familiar, but are not meant to be exhaustive. What happens in the classroom is set forward in the following sample methodology. Firstly, the students should have had suYcient time to look at a list of items (see Appendix 1) to get acquainted with them. Next, the teacher goes over the more diYcult extended meanings with the students so as to explain in some detail (either in the source language, or receptor language, or both as needed). This may include giving other examples and adding to the complexity of the contexts in which the students may encounter culturally-loaded items. At this stage, it is not wise to overload the students with extended allusions because often the students cannot distinguish between humourous, ironic, and serious uses of the word or phrase unless it is pointed out in another context at a later time. Once the students have assimilated the lists, an important aspect of the teaching process is the grouping of culturally related items together into speciWc categories, at least for beginners. This is useful because adult learners can better remember items as part of a conceptual category rather than as part of an isolated list. The next step is to bring the material to life by putting the items in selected contexts and getting the students to try and explain the meaning of the underlined items within the contexts so as to make sure the students have recognized and grasped the spectrum of meanings the items carry. Further and deeper extensions of this method goes beyond the contextualization of culturallyloaded material onto allusions, extended allusions and other more complex uses of the material. When the students are able to recognize the diVerences at diVerent levels, they can be considered accomplished enough to handle the usual range of materials encountered by a T/I practitioner. Anything beyond this would have to enlist the aid of more up-to-date and worldwide resources, such as the Internet and CD-ROM glossaries etc.

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Conclusion As one who has been responsible for teaching comparative culture to T/I students, both beginning and advanced (graduate-level), I have observed that it is the usual case that this Weld of education is neglected, due to the stress on giving students suYcient linguistic tools to pursue their careers. Usually students and practitioners are left to their own devices to pick up cultural background in a haphazard way. Nonetheless, the importance of developing a spectrum of approaches for serious cross-cultural education curriculum for translators and interpreters is becoming more and more apparent.4 As Leppihalme comments: Interest in intercultural translation problems arises from a recognition that culture-bound concepts, even where the two cultures involved are not too distant, can be more problematic for the translator than the semantic or syntactical diYculties of a text. … Quite often intralinguistic problems involve indirect or implicit messages or connotations, the question being how the meaning of the source text can be made accessible to receptor language receivers, if ‘just translating it’ turns out to be inadequate (Leppihalme 1997: 2–3; italics added).

Appendix 1 Sample list and deWnitions used in a comparative culture course for Hong Kong Chinese T/I Students at the university level. A. Literary idioms referring to various negative human conditions: Peter Pan complex Orwellian universe Reign of Terror brave new world Kafkaesque situation between a rock and a hard place between Scylla & Charybdis Sisyphean task cleaning out the Augean stables Hobson’s choice as popular as Typhoid Mary B. DeWnitions and illustrative sentences with contexts brave new world — origin from Shakespeare’s Tempest, but used in the early 20th-century British philosopher and author Aldous Huxley’s novel of the same name negatively to

A teaching methodology

depict total scientiWc control over the individual and loss of individual freedom. Illustrative contextual sentence: “During the development of artiWcal intelligence, many critics were afraid that humans would lose control of computers and Wnd themselves in a brave new world situation.” Kafkaesque situation — stems from the literary output by Franz Kafka, an early 20thcentury Czech author, but is not conWned to literary contexts. Illustrative contextual sentence: “The Wring of all of the experts on systems analysis left the management section in the Kafkaesque situation of having to be responsible for something that they knew nothing about, namely the architecture of oYce computer systems.” Orwellian universe — from the vision of the state in the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell (20th-century British author) to negatively describe totalitarian political control over individuals by the state. Illustrative contextual sentence: “Nightmares often come true in the new Orwellian universe that was developed under the reign of terror carried out by Lavrenti Beria, Stalin’s chief of the secret police.” Peter Pan complex — from the work by James Barrie, (19th-century British author); refers negatively to immature qualities in adults (Peter Pan never grew up) and rarer positively to youthful features. Illustrative contextual sentence : “His hanging out with people half his age is evidence of his Peter Pan complex.” catch-22 — from the 20th-century American novel by Joseph Heller; refers to an absurd arrangement that puts a person in an impossible position of having to satisfy two mutually contradictory demands. Illustrative contextual sentence: “I was asked to have experience before I could be hired, but without being hired, how could I get the experience? It’s catch-22.” in limbo — from the Italian 14th-century epic poem by Dante Aligheri; refers to being in an unclear or transitional status. Illustrative contextual sentence: “Are you in limbo again?” singing the blues — from the 19th-century American music by the same name, negatively associated with being in a helpless or losing situation. Illustrative contextual sentence: “He sang the blues to his friends in order to borrow $250.00 from them.”

Appendix 2 A sample course syllabus The following syllabus is arranged roughly by larger topic area: 1. Allusions from the classical Western world: Old and New Testament/Greece & Rome 2. Allusions from Religion: Christianity/Buddhism/Islam

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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Allusions from Classical Philosophy: East & West Allusions from Classical Economics/Finance/Banking Allusions from Modern Philosophy Allusions from Politics/Sociology Allusions from Science: Archimedes to Einstein and beyond: Chaos theory/Fractals/Big Bang Allusions from Art/Film Allusions from Political Revolutions: American/British/French/Russian/Marx/Lenin/ Stalin/Mao Allusions from the Internet and cyberspace Allusions from Modern Literature (East & West).

Notes 1. None of the major writers in the translation Weld has ever spelled out what the phrase intimate knowledge consists of. In this paper I try to oVer a more in-depth consideration of what this type of knowledge is, the methodologies that Xow out of it, and how to teach this knowledge in the classroom. 2. This is an invented term, in the sense that I am using it here. To my knowledge, no one has previously used it in this way. By trans-cultural knowledge, I mean the knowledge of cultural diVerences which one associates with cross-/bi-cultural knowledge as well as the more important knowledge of where those diVerences lie, whether in the source language or target language. This over-arching cultural knowledge is often confused with the term “cross-cultural sensitivity” which is a deWnite mistake, confusing the cognitive process with the knowledge encompassing both sides of the source-language/target-language equation, but yet also being outside of them. Thus, I would suggest a modiWcation of Dollerup’s Xow chart to include the operations (decision-making) that a T/I practitioner has to do before deciding what the translation of a given SL term should be. 3. This section is provided to describe a sample teaching methodology and resources, but diVerent comparative cultural settings require diVerent methodologies, another of which can be set up in the following way: classes can be arranged as a workshop with students responsible for memorizing and explaining terms before class. In class they then go and question their classmates. The teacher can then put examples of bilingual texts using the terms and extended allusions for the students to Wrst identify and then resolve as translated text. This approach helps students become accustomed to recognizing the terms/allusions used in diVering contexts and then translating them for diVering audiences. This method gives the students the satisfaction of making immediate progress and becoming sensitive to underlying textual meanings. 4. Ritva Leppihalme (1997: 1) mentions various authorities in the Weld of translation studies who have called for interdisciplinary approaches including psychology, ethnology, philosophy (Snell-Hornby 1988) literary studies, information theory, sociology, pragmatics and cultural studies (Ingo 1992), stylistics, literary history, linguistics, semiotics, and aesthetics (Bassnett-McGuire 1980).

Translation & interpreting The changing professions

Community interpreting A profession in search of its identity Roda P. Roberts University of Ottawa

Introduction Interpreting, which is commonly deWned as the oral transfer of a message from one language into another, is often subdivided into types on the basis of the setting in which the interpreting takes place. The three major subdivisions today are conference interpreting (which covers interpreting at meetings large and small), court interpreting (i.e. interpreting in the courtroom), and community interpreting. Of these three types, the least well-known and welldeveloped is community interpreting. This is paradoxical when one considers that it is also the oldest form of interpreting in the world. Indeed, “community interpreting”, taken in its most general sense of interpreting for members of the general community in community settings, has been practised in various forms since the Wrst contacts between linguistic groups. In Canada, for instance, community interpreting has been a recorded reality since 1534 (Delisle 1977: 5–6), when the French explorer Jacques Cartier kidnapped two Iroquois, took them to France to learn French and sent them back eight months later to act as interpreters in exchanges between the Iroquois and the French.1 But, even if community interpreting has been practised for a long time (longer, in fact, than conference or court interpreting), it has been the last of the three types to attract attention. While the professionalization of conference interpreting began in the 1950’s and that of court interpreting in the 1970’s, community interpreting has begun to aspire to professionalization only in the last decade. Therefore, it is still going through growing pains as it strives to deWne itself, to set standards, and to establish recognition as a profession. This paper will present the various challenges faced by community interpreting at its present stage of development.

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ClariWcation of the designation and deWnition of community interpreting The Wrst challenge community interpreting still faces is that of its name and deWnition. Based on diVerent ways of conceiving this type of interpreting, it is designated in diVerent ways: as “community interpreting”, “public service interpreting”, “cultural interpreting”, “dialogue interpreting” and “liaison interpreting”, among others. In other words, the activity itself, its scope and deWning features, as well as its name, need to be examined more thoroughly.

DiVerent designations and deWnitions Those who use the term “community interpreting” deWne it as follows: Community Interpreting enables people who are not Xuent speakers of the oYcial language(s) of the country to communicate with the providers of public services so as to facilitate full and equal access to legal, health, education, government, and social services. (Announcement of the First International Conference on Interpreting in Legal, Health, and Social Service Settings 1994)

This deWnition brings out three distinguishing features of this type of interpreting: a. the parties for whom the interpreting is performed: on the one hand, people (normally refugees and new immigrants) who do not speak Xuently the oYcial language(s) of the country; on the other hand, public service providers (such as welfare oYcers, doctors, lawyers, and school oYcials); b. the objective of the interpreting: to enable those who do not speak the oYcial language of a country to have full access to public services, just as do those who speak the oYcial language; and c. the settings in which such interpreting is practised: legal, health, education, government and social service settings. This deWnition, which was the result of much discussion on the part of the Organizing Committee of the First International Conference on Interpreting in Legal, Health, and Social Service Settings (1995), would apply equally to what is called “public service interpreting” in the United Kingdom. In fact, as Ann Corsellis indicates, interpreting in community settings was termed “community interpreting” in the UK from the early 1980’s to the Wrst half of the 1990’s.2 But,

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… to avoid diYculties in terminology, … we recently gave up the title “community” interpreter because it became confused with the European Community and [because of] a perception that we were dealing only with European languages, which is not the case. “Public service” is a generic term which, for us — although now perhaps misleading — covers the health, legal, and the local government services which include social services, housing, environmental health and education welfare (1997: 80).

While public service interpreting is deWned in exactly the same way as community interpreting, those who use the term “cultural interpreting” (primarily, interpreting services under the aegis of the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship) add an extra feature to those presented above: We deWne interpreting as including the communication of conceptual and cultural factors that are relevant to the given interaction as part of the lingual transmission. … This model of interpreting service was developed out of an awareness that communication is seriously impeded by insensitivity to the role of culture in the content and manner of communication, especially in formal interactions. (Giovannini 1992a)

Thus, in accordance with this deWnition of “cultural interpreting”, the interpreter is expected to explain cultural diVerences and misunderstandings and to make explicit what may be behind the responses or decisions of the person who does not speak the oYcial language, in order to ensure that the latter receives full and equal access to public services. If those who use the term “cultural interpreting” stress the cultural aspects separating the service provider and the non-oYcial-language speaker and therefore the cultural factors involved in such interpreting, those who designate this type of interpreting “dialogue interpreting” (primarily, the Nordic countries of Europe, especially Sweden) focus mainly on other aspects. According to Cecilia Wadensjö, When it comes to dialogue interpreting, this concept must be speciWed as: – interpreting in dialogue-like interaction (rather than interpreting of monological speech), – the interpreter is present in a face-to-face encounter (rather than delivering her contributions from a space of her own, e.g. from a secluded cabin), – the interpreter relays between two languages (i.e. not unidirectionally, only from one language to another, not just between sociolects or styles), and – the interpreting takes place in institutional settings … i.e. in encounters between laymen and representatives of an oYcial body (1992: 48).

Thus, the deWnition of dialogue interpreting focuses on the conditions and

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requirements of interpreting (dialogic speech, face-to-face encounters, bidirectionality of interpreting) as well as the settings (institutional) and the participants (laymen and representatives of an oYcial body). Finally, proponents of the term “liaison interpreting” (Hatim & Mason 1997, Gentile, Ozolins & Vasilakakos 1996) propose an even vaster deWnition of it. According to Gentile, Ozolins & Vasilakakos (1996: 1): We use the term “liaison interpreting” to refer to a growing area of interpreting throughout the world: in business settings, where executives from diVerent cultures and languages meet each other; in meetings between a society’s legal, medical, educational and welfare institutions and its immigrants who speak a diVerent language; in relations between a dominant society and indigenous peoples speaking diVerent languages; in a whole host of less formal situations in tourism, education and cultural contacts. Liaison interpreting is the style adopted in these varied settings — a style where the interpreter is physically present in an interview or meeting, and usually uses the consecutive mode of interpreting.

This deWnition brings out two points that need consideration. First, liaison interpreting includes interpreting in business and tourism settings — which community interpreting (or public service interpreting, or cultural interpreting or even dialogue interpreting) does not. Second, liaison interpreting refers not particularly to settings but to the style adopted in a certain number of settings which are not conference settings. The fact that liaison interpreting represents a diVerence in style is made clear in Hatim & Mason’s approach to it: they consider it as one of the three basic forms of interpreting, the other two being consecutive and simultaneous (Hatim & Mason 1997: 36). In other words, liaison interpreting, which they describe as “a form of oral interpreting in which two speakers who do not know each other’s language communicate through an interpreter, normally in spontaneous conversational settings” is opposed, from the point of view primarily of technique, to consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. From all that has been indicated above, it is clear that community interpreting has problems both of designation and of deWnition. At this point, I will propose a name and a deWnition for this type of interpreting, which will be used in the rest of this paper. Since the need to identify a new type of interpreting arose from the need to distinguish it from conference interpreting and court interpreting, and since the latter are designated by the setting in which they are performed, it makes sense to name this new type of interpreting also by the setting in which it is

Community interpreting

practised. Although the settings for the latter can vary from the lawyer’s oYce to a doctor’s oYce or a hospital or a government oYce or a school, they are all service-oriented settings in the community. Hence, the designations “community interpreting” and “public service interpreting” are more appropriate than the others proposed. However, given the misunderstanding that surrounds the former (cf. Corsellis cited above) and the possibility of confusion that can be caused by the latter (for, in certain countries such as Canada, the Public Service refers speciWcally to the government), the term “community-based interpreting”, which is now being heard occasionally and which is unambiguous, may win greater consensus. That is the term that I will adopt here. The deWnition of community interpreting provided above can be applied, with little or no reformulation, to community-based interpreting: Community-based interpreting is a type of interpreting that enables people who are not Xuent speakers of the oYcial language(s) of the country to communicate with the providers of public services so as to facilitate full and equal access to legal, health, education, government, and social services.

Characteristics particular to community-based interpreting I will now identify those characteristics other than setting that distinguish community-based interpreting from conference interpreting and court interpreting: a. Objective of community-based interpreting: to enable those who do not speak the oYcial language of a country to have full and equal access to public services. This contrasts with the objective of conference interpreting, which is to allow exchange of information and ideas between those who do not speak the same language, and with that of court interpreting, which is to allow the non-oYcial-language-speaking defendant to understand what is happening at his own trial and to testify (or have other non-oYciallanguage speakers testify) at his trial and be understood by the court. b. Parties for whom community-based interpreting is performed: non-oYcial-language speakers (often refugees and new immigrants) on the one hand, and public-service providers (such as welfare oYcers, doctors, lawyers, and school oYcials) on the other. There is generally a diVerence in status and power between the parties for whom community-based interpreting is performed. This is not the case with parties requiring conference interpreting, i.e. those attending a conference or meeting, who enjoy simi-

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lar status and power. And, while the parties requiring court interpreting (the defendant and the court) do diVer in status and power, the court constitutes a vast and amorphous entity that can include the judge, the jury, various attorneys and court oYcials, as opposed to a speciWc service provider that is a party in community-based interpreting. c. Number of parties for whom community-based interpreting is performed: normally two, i.e. the non-oYcial-language speaker and the service provider. Hence, the community-based interpreter has direct contact with each of the parties involved and plays a pivotal role in keeping the lines of communication open between them by serving not only as linguistic mediator but also as an active, third participant in the communication event by “resolving overlap, oVering turns, and taking turns” (Roy 1990: 85). On the other hand, conference interpreting is performed for a group of persons who do not understand the conference language, whereas court interpreting is practised on the one hand for one individual, the defendant, and on the other for everyone in the court who does not understand the language of the defendant or of a witness. Given the greater number of people involved in these interactions, the conference interpreter and the court interpreter are thus less directly involved with the parties concerned and serve primarily as linguistic mediators. d. Mode of discourse interpreted by community-based interpreters: mainly dialogues, consisting of questions and answers. Conference interpreters interpret monologues more frequently than dialogues, while court interpreters work with both dialogues and monologues. e. Mode of interpreting used by community-based interpreters: mainly “short” consecutive. Conference interpreters use simultaneous and “long” consecutive, while court interpreters use simultaneous in addition to “short” consecutive. f. Directionality of interpreting in community-based interpreting: both from the foreign language into the oYcial language and vice versa. Conference interpreters, on the other hand, work primarily in one language direction, and court interpreters work in one direction (foreign language to the oYcial language) in simultaneous, although they interpret in both directions in consecutive. The characteristics typical of community-based interpreting described above have led not only to the identiWcation of a new type of interpreting, but also to the search for special standards and training for this type of interpreting.

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Search for standards of community-based interpreting The challenge of establishing standards for community-based interpreting is particularly important and urgent, since in most parts of the world, the only “standard” for community-based interpreters seems to be the ability to speak two languages. This is, in large part, due to the fact that community-based interpreting has grown out of a forced realization of the need for linguistic mediation, without careful consideration of what such provision entails. Thus, for example, the emergency admission to a hospital of a non-oYcial-language speaker makes it evident to the medical staV that diagnosis and treatment are impossible without interpreting, but in many cases their answer to the problem is to turn to a relative, or a medical staV member, or even the hospital janitor who has some knowledge, however slight, of both the patient’s language and the oYcial language.

Heterogeneity among community-based interpreters In fact, community-based interpreting is practised by very diVerent types of individuals, who, because of their diVerent backgrounds, provide varying standards of interpreting. They are grouped below in categories, the members of which share some common characteristics. a. The Wrst category (both chronologically and numerically) consists of volunteer interpreters, who consider themselves bilingual and who oVer their services to a given institution (e.g. a hospital) or to an agency that coordinates volunteer interpreting for many institutions. The only common point that members of this category have is that they all want to help those in need. But volunteers vary considerably in their educational background, language skills and interpreting ability, as well as in their willingness to take training and improve their performance. Thus, the quality of service that this group can provide is extremely uneven. b. The second category consists of staV from the various public service institutions, who are co-opted by their employers to do interpreting on an ad hoc basis, in addition to their normal work. This category can be subdivided as follows: b.1 Non-professional staV (e.g. secretaries, janitors); b.2 Professional staV (e.g. doctors, nurses, social workers). While the professional staV is likely to have more knowledge of the content and terminology of the dialogue being interpreted and possibly better

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language skills than non-professional staV, the quality of interpreting service provided by members of both subgroups is likely to be uneven, although for diVerent reasons. Professional staV do not have the time to take interpreting training, while non-professional staV need more training than is generally available to them to become good interpreters. c. The third category consists of professionals in Welds other than interpreting who choose to work as community interpreters, generally on a freelance basis. This group often includes new immigrants with a high level of education, who earn their living by community interpreting while they attempt to have their professional credentials recognized in their country of adoption. While members of this category are normally motivated to take training and may have an educational background suitable for interpreting, their knowledge of the oYcial language as well as of the “system” in their new country may not be suYcient for quality interpretation. d. The fourth category, which is the most limited numerically, consists of “professional” interpreters, i.e. those who make their living out of interpreting. While a small number of them are hired as regular employees by large institutions such as hospitals, most in this category work on a freelance basis, not only in community settings, but also in the courtroom and at meetings. These “professional” interpreters, while not all well qualiWed in terms of degrees, are more likely to know and respect a code of ethics, to take advantage of training opportunities, and to perform at least at a minimally acceptable level at all times.

Variety of standards But what standards can one reasonably expect of such a diverse group of community-based interpreters? That has been, and still is, a hotly debated question for several reasons. First, the word “standards” is interpreted diVerently by diVerent community-based interpreting groups: as ethical standards (i.e. code of ethics) by some, as performance standards (i.e. quality of performance expected) by others, and as a combination of the two by still others. Second, there is no consensus on whether all community-based interpreters in a given country can be expected to adhere to the same standards or whether each community and even each subcategory of community-based interpreting (e.g. medical interpreting vs. social service interpreting) needs its own standards. The net result is that there are quite a number of diVerent standards Xoating around, the preparation of which has taken much time and eVort.

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With the goal of illustrating the standards developed for community-based interpreting, I will compare those prepared for health care interpreting by the Health Care Interpreter Partnership Project of Vancouver, BC, in 1996, and those produced in 1995 for all subtypes of community-based interpreting by the Institute of Linguists in the United Kingdom. The latter, which is termed the Code of Conduct for the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (and will hereafter be referred to as the PSI standards), has the authority of a code, with disciplinary procedures spelled out, whereas the former, called Standards for Health Care Interpreting (hereafter referred to as the HCI standards), has no legal force, since “no governing body presently exists to uphold these standards” (Interpretation Standards 1996 and Translation Guidelines 1998. 1998. S. 2: 1). At Wrst sight, there are apparent diVerences between the two sets of standards, at least in terms of presentation. The PSI standards, which are accompanied by a less “oYcial” Guide to Good Practice, include separate sections on competence, (interpreting) procedure, ethical and professional issues, and disciplinary procedures. Presented below is the section on ethical and professional issues: 4. ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES Interpreters will 4.1 respect conWdentiality at all times and not seek to take advantage of any information disclosed during their work; 4.2 act in an impartial and professional manner; 4.3 not discriminate between parties, either directly or indirectly, on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic origin, age, nationality, religion, gender or disability; 4.4 disclose any information, including any criminal record, which may make them unsuitable in any particular case; 4.5 disclose immediately if the interviewee or immediate family is known or related; 4.6 disclose any business, Wnancial, family or other interest which they might have in the matter being handled; 4.7 not accept any form of reward, whether in cash or otherwise, for interpreting work other than payment by the employer. (Code of Conduct. 1995)

The HCI standards are divided into two distinct parts: standards of performance and standards for delivery of service, with the former being more directly applicable to the interpreter and the latter to interpreter service groups or agencies. The standards of performance, which are of more interest to us here, are presented by required qualities (conWdentiality, respect for individuals, accuracy, proWciency, objectivity/impartiality, clear role boundaries,

166 Roda P. Roberts

cultural sensitivity and standardized interpreting format), each explained by a value statement on the one hand, and demonstrated performance requirements on the other. Presented below, as an example, is the section on objectivity/impartiality (Interpretation Standards 1996 and Translation Guidelines 1998. 1998. S. 2: 3). OBJECTIVITY/IMPARTIALITY VALUE STATEMENT Objectivity is essential to prevent distortion of the message.

DEMONSTRATED PERFORMANCE a) The Health Care Interpreter shows no preference or bias towards either party involved in the interpretation. b) The Health Care Interpreter declines to interpret when there is a conXict, or perception of conXict of interest, or a factor or belief that may inXuence objectivity. c) The Health Care Interpreter discloses to the Health Care Professional any prior acquaintance with the patient. d) The Health Care Interpreter maintains composure. e) The Health Care Interpreter does not accept gratuities, favours, or bribes from any party involved in the interpretation.

Despite the diVerence in presentation and the fact that the HCI standards are formulated for medical interpreters while the PSI standards apply to all community-based interpreters, the content is remarkably similar. In fact, there is only one reference in the former that applies speciWcally to Health Care Interpreters (the requirement of understanding medical terminology).3 And although the terms Health Care Interpreter and Health Care Professional are used throughout the HCI standards, they could easily be replaced by Community-based Interpreter and Service Professional and apply equally to all subtypes of community-based interpreting. Given the similarity between the standards examined (as well as other standards not mentioned here), one is entitled to wonder why diVerent groups involved in community-based interpreting are constantly reinventing the wheel and why they cannot adopt and, if absolutely necessary, adapt the standards already in existence. One answer to this question is that, until very recently, there was little if any communication between people working in this Weld. Indeed, the Wrst international conference on community-based interpreting was held as late as 1995 and it has really only been since then that

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exchange of information on a national and international basis has begun. In fact, given the general interest in standards in community-based interpreting, a web forum has now been established at the following address: http://www. delphi.com/criticallink/. This should, in principle, avoid unnecessary duplication in the future. The time and eVort thus saved could be put to good use in making the existing standards more precise. The vagueness in the standards is particularly evident when competence and proWciency are discussed. For example, the standard for language competence/proWciency is presented as follows in the PSI and the HCI standards: (Interpreters are expected to) 2.1 have a written and spoken command of both languages, including any specialist terminology, current idioms and dialects; … 2.3 maintain and develop their written and spoken command of English and the other language (Code of Conduct. 1995). a) The Health Care Interpreter passes the required language proWciency assessments at the appropriate level in English and the language of specialty. b) Health Care Interpretation conveys an understanding of medical terminology. (Interpretation Standards 1996 and Translation Guidelines 1998. 1998. S.2: 3).

What level of linguistic command is required? This is not stipulated in either of the standards, any more than the level of cultural knowledge required or the precise degree of familiarity with terminology. In other words, standards have been developed on the basis of expected competencies that still require clear deWnition. The challenge, then, for community-based interpreting groups is to resist the temptation to produce yet another set of vague standards and start formulating more clear-cut criteria in light of measurable competencies.

Standards and assessment Related to the challenge of establishing clearly deWned standards is that of ensuring that these standards are met. This involves (a) a body that oversees the application of the standards; and (b) a means of assessing the standard of community-based interpreters. In certain countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, there does exist an organization that has the authority to set and maintain standards: the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) in Australia, the Institute of Linguists in the UK. Elsewhere, where standards for community-based interpreting have been established, this has often been done by a more or less oYcial consortium of groups involved in such interpreting: a

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consortium of provincially-funded interpreter services in Ontario; a consortium of health care bodies in Vancouver, etc. The authority that a standard-establishing group has to impose and assess the standards depends on how oYcial its status is. Thus, the Vancouver-based Health Care Interpreter Partnership clearly recognizes that it does not have the power to impose or evaluate the standards it has established. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Linguists requires interpreters who want to be included in the National Register of Public Service Interpreters to have appropriate qualiWcations. The most common way to judge qualiWcations is by means of a test. And, indeed, a limited number of formal tests for community-based interpreters have been developed in diVerent parts of the world. These tests are normally skill-based assessments, including at least consecutive interpreting and sight translation. One such test is the CILISAT (Cultural Interpreter Language and Interpretation Skills Assessment Tool), established by the Cultural Interpretation Services of Ottawa-Carleton with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship. It is now administered throughout the province of Ontario to those who wish to become community-based interpreters. This test (for details see Roberts 1995) can be used both to screen the aptitude of candidates for community-based interpreter training and to accredit practising communitybased interpreters. The test, initially set up for two languages (Spanish and Arabic), has now been extended to many more languages. It consists of two parts, which reXect the two main tasks of the community-based interpreter: sight translation and consecutive interpreting. The texts for the test were chosen in terms of the settings in which community-based interpreters are called upon to work — for example, a dialogue in a hospital setting for consecutive, a birth certiWcate for sight translation. In a more recent article (Roberts 2000), I compared the CILISAT with another test — the Surrey Delta assessment tool — from several diVerent points of view: the purpose of each tool, local needs, resources, content of the assessment tools, test evaluation, and initial results from the use of the tools. The conclusions I have drawn from this analytical comparison are presented below: The preparation of an assessment tool is a long and arduous process. This is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons why there are so few such tools for community interpreting. But it is not necessary to have a large number of such tools because, as the comparative analysis of the CILISAT and the Surrey Delta test reveals, such tests have a number of features in common. In other words, existing

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tests such as these can be shared by several community interpreting services, possibly with some adjustments made in the evaluation criteria and the minimum scores to take local conditions into account. Thanks to CISOC and the Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society, community interpreting tests are now available in close to Wfteen language combinations. However, most community interpreting services in Canada claim to receive interpreting requests in more than Wfty languages. Instead of reinventing the wheel and creating completely new assessment tools, other community interpreting services should perhaps consider taking up the challenge of adding another thirty-Wve or forty language combinations to the existing tests which have already proved their worth over the last couple of years. (2001: 119)

In other words, as in the case of standards, more work needs to be done on expanding and improving existing tests than on creating completely new tests.

Training of community-based interpreters The standards of language and interpreting skills required by the tests are high, as indicated by the proportion of candidates who take formal communitybased interpreting tests and fail them. In many of the less common languages, interpreter services have no test-accredited interpreters available. While this constitutes a dilemma, the problem does not lie with the high standards, which are necessary since mistakes in interpreting in a medical or legal setting can have grave consequences. Rather, the problem lies in the training of community-based interpreters — or, more precisely, the lack of adequate training.

University or college training There is only a handful of training programmes that actually lead to a university or college degree or diploma in community-based interpreting. These are concentrated in a few countries. Australia still “leads the world in the provision of community interpreting and translation services and in the regulation and training of interpreters and translators for that provision.” (Blewett 1988). NAATI, the Australian accreditation authority, provides advice on the content of courses to tertiary institutions which are planning a programme in this Weld, and its approval of a programme leads to automatic NAATI accreditation of graduates (Bell 1997: 97). Interpreter training of three or four terms of study has also been oVered by some Swedish universities and, since 1986, by a special Institute for Interpretation and Translation aYliated to the University of

170 Roda P. Roberts

Stockholm (Wadensjö 1992: 52). In Canada, a two-year college programme has been set up in Ottawa (Algonquin College) and in Iqaluit (Nunavut Arctic College). But in many academic institutions, community-based interpreting has not yet attained the status of a discipline worth a degree and a long period of study. Those few oVerings that do exist at the post-secondary level are generally more limited in scope and are often considered as “continuing education”. They range from a single special course (e.g. medical interpreting oVered at the Monterey Institute of International Studies) to a series of three or four courses (at the University of Minnesota), and lead at best to a certiWcate.

Training by organizations hiring community-based interpreters Much, if not most, community interpreter training is provided by organizations which hire community interpreters. These organizations fall into two main categories: community interpreting services which coordinate and contract out interpreting within a community; and user institutions (such as hospitals) who require the services of community-based interpreters. The training provided by these organizations varies tremendously in length (from less than ten hours to over sixty hours) and in content (ranging from mere discussion of the role of the interpreter to exercises intended to improve language and interpreting skills). It is therefore diYcult to provide any overview of this type of training. But what can be observed, in light of recent developments in the training provided by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship’s Cultural Interpreter Services, is a growing awareness on the part of such organizations of the competencies required by interpreters, greater inclusion of skill-building exercises in training, and an attempt to increase the overall training time. But, since training provided by organizations hiring community-based interpreters is restricted to those they pre-select (sometimes by means of a test like the ones described above), many who would like to work in this Weld or who already do so unoYcially have no access to training that would prepare them for a selection test.

Distance education for community-based interpreters One of the more innovative approaches to community interpreter training has been taken by the Vancouver Community College, which, in collaboration with the Open Learning Agency, has developed a distance learning programme,

Community interpreting

Introduction to Interpreting (1998), which would certainly be a good starting point for those interested in becoming community-based interpreters. The programme is divided into four modules: Module 1: Orientation to Interpreting Unit 1: Introduction to Interpreting Unit 2: Code of Ethics Unit 3: Professional Development Module 2: Interpreting Skills Unit 1: Language Skills Unit 2: Research Skills Unit 3: Pre-interpreting Skills Module 3: Law for Interpreters Unit 1: Legal Procedures Unit 2: Legal Terminologies Unit 3: Code of Conduct for Court Interpreters Unit 4: Court Observation Module 4: Bilingual Interpreting Unit 1: Sight Translation Unit 2: Consecutive Interpreting Unit 3: Simultaneous Interpreting Each module and each unit in a given module have clearly deWned learning objectives. The course materials include written material (readings, exercises, answer keys) as well as tapes. Students have access to instructors via e-mail and telephone. In addition, the programme includes two video-conferences. This distance education programme, intended to take about six months to complete at the rate of eight to ten hours a week of study, conducted its pilot testing with a group of twenty-three students. Other groups (e.g. the University of Charleston) are also looking at the possibility of distance education for community-based interpreters. Given that many would-be interpreters are in small communities where no training is available and that most of them are not able to move to another community for training (for personal, professional or Wnancial reasons), distance education would seem to be at least a partial solution to the lack of training in this Weld. It could cover core training, which could be followed up by weekend workshops oVered by universities and on-the-job training by organizations that hire community-based interpreters.

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172 Roda P. Roberts

Community-based interpreting: a distinct profession? From what has been said above, it becomes clear that community-based interpreting has been very slow in its eVorts to professionalize. Those directly involved still have not reached a consensus either on the name of the activity or on the role of the practitioner. This point was brought out forcefully during the Wrst international conference on interpreting in the community held in 1995, when a lively debate took place on whether the community-based interpreter was a linguistic mediator or a cultural broker and advocate. During the same conference, many recommendations were made for the professionalization of community-based interpreting (Roberts 1997: 20–24). But, while some progress in this direction has been made, the second international conference held in 1998 revealed clearly that not enough has yet been done. In fact, Holly Mikkelson repeats in a recent article (1998: 20–21) many of the recommendations put forward by Roberts in 1995, for community-based interpreting still has a “cinderella image” when compared with conference and court interpreting. This state of aVairs gives us reason to pause and reconsider the major challenge to community-based interpreting posed by Adolfo Gentile as early as 1995 in the cryptic question: “Community Interpreting or Not?” (1997: 109). In essence, Gentile challenges the rubric “community interpreting”, arguing that the diVerences between community interpreting and other types of interpreting, especially conference interpreting, are not great enough to warrant their separation into distinct activities, and therefore, by extension, into diVerent professions. With this in mind, I explored in greater depth, in a recent paper entitled “What’s in a Name? Interpreting Is Interpreting” (presented at the 1998 American Translators Association Conference), the similarities and diVerences between conference interpreting, court interpreting and community interpreting. Analysis of the literature reveals that the basic interpreting function remains the same, whatever the setting: it involves communicating a message expressed by one person in a given language to another person (or other persons) in another language. The function of interpreting is therefore interlingual communication; and, since languages and language speakers are inevitably inXuenced by the culture in which they are “born” and operate, the function of interpreting also includes intercultural communication. But what about the characteristics particular to community-based interpreting presented on pages 161–162? Are there not, in fact, substantial

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diVerences in the performance of the basic interpreting function in diVerent settings? My analysis, which covered modes of interpreting, modes of discourse interpreted, types of discourse interpreted, evaluation criteria, and ethical principles show more similarity than diVerence between the various types of setting. For instance, the ethical principles found in a code of conduct for court interpreters include the following items: – ConWdentiality – Impartiality – Accuracy – Recognition of limits of expertise – Self-evaluation These very same elements can be found in the community interpreting standards discussed above. On the basis of my preliminary analysis, I arrived at the following conclusions: a. all “types” of interpreting require the same basic skills: listening, memory, note-taking, transposing into another language; b. all “types” of interpreting require the same ethical principles; c. all “types” of interpreting require high standards; d. at most, some adaptation of techniques and perhaps attitude may be required depending on the setting. Therefore, from a logical, a practical and a theoretical point of view, it does not seem to make sense to make distinctions between types of interpreting on the basis of settings, especially in a marketplace where interpreters must be able to interpret in diVerent settings to make a living.

Conclusion But arguments against consideration of community-based interpreting as a distinct profession and in favour of grouping all types of interpreting into one single profession do not take into account the fact that conference interpreting, court interpreting and community interpreting are at very diVerent stages of professionalization, which could lead practitioners of one to reject those of another. Mikkelson (1998: 16–19) cites four phases in the process of professionalization identiWed in 1992 by Joseph Tseng in a Master’s Thesis at Fu Jen

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Catholic University, Taiwan. According to Tseng, Phase I is marked by Werce competition among the practitioners of a given occupation, many of whom may be unqualiWed, with clients giving more priority to price considerations than quality of service. However, as competition increases, practitioners may view training as a means of obtaining a competitive edge, and education programmes are then set up to respond to their needs. With the graduation of a certain number of practitioners begins Phase II: this involves the consolidation of the profession, the development of some consensus about practitioners’ aspirations, and emphasis on quality service. Eventually this leads to Phase III, which is characterized by the emergence of professional associations, in which practitioners can work collectively to improve their working conditions, to formulate standards, to control admission to the profession, and to appeal to clients and the public for recognition of the profession. The fourth and last phase is marked not only by recognition by clients and the public of the professional nature of the work of the practitioners, but also by legislative recognition of the profession. Using Tseng’s four phases of professionalization as a point of comparison, one can say that both conference interpreting and court interpreting have certainly reached Phase III — and, in the case of some countries or regions, Phase IV, while community-based interpreting is still at Phase I or at best Phase II in most countries. This means that conference interpreters and court interpreters, out of fear of having their own status diminished, have little interest in integrating community-based interpreters into their ranks (i.e. associations). This also means that community-based interpreters, afraid of being looked down upon by conference and court interpreters and of losing their own identity, are trying to forge ahead on their own. Given this situation, there seems to be little chance at the moment of merging conference interpreters, court interpreters and community-based interpreters into a common professional association representing one single profession. But what is within the realm of the possible is far greater collaboration between these diVerent types of interpreters. Community-based interpreters in particular need to learn from the good and bad experiences of conference and court interpreters as they made their way through the various stages of professionalization. They should look for commonalities between themselves and their colleagues working in other settings and borrow whatever they can (in the way of standards, tests, training curricula), instead of starting anew. It is only by proceeding in this way that they will attain within a

Community interpreting

reasonable period of time the level of professionalization that is necessary for all interpreters. However, awareness of community interpreting, by whatever name it is called, has grown in the last Wve to ten years, and a number of “localized” groups have reXected on all of the points I have indicated above. The ultimate challenge is that of discovering exactly what is being done in and on community interpreting in diVerent countries and of reaching a consensus on the crucial issues of the scope and deWning characteristics of this type of interpreting, the minimal standards required for it, and the type of training best suited to it. It is only when such a consensus is reached that community interpreting will have found its own identity and will become a true profession.

Notes 1. For other examples of community interpreting in the Middle Ages, see Stelling-Michaud 1952: vii–viii. 2. In 1983, the Institute of Linguists’ Educational Trust set up the Community Interpreter Project to establish a code of ethics, training and qualifying examinations for community interpreters. 3. This is counterbalanced by a speciWc reference in the PSI standards to interpreters working in legal settings (requirement for the interpreter to indicate in a criminal trial if he has been involved in interpreting at the police station on the same case).

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Interpreter training Responses to the requirements of television interpreting Yang Cheng-shu Fu Jen Catholic University

DeWnitions and categories of television interpreting Television transmits information through images and sound, and when these messages are relayed to other countries, translation and interpreting become necessary. Interpreting has to be simultaneous if news is to be transmitted instantaneously and rapidly. While translation can achieve greater accuracy with regard to content, it tends to fall short in terms of eYciency, whereas interpreting, though not as accurate as translation, is more eYcient in terms of information productivity.1 The following categories and deWnitions can be drawn up in accordance with the particular requirements of television interpreting and the diVerent types of translation and interpreting formats used: 1. Interpreting for scheduled news programmes Formats: co-operative translation + oral delivery from written texts by interpreters (+ simultaneous interpreting). This involves translating in advance the greater part of the news programmes which go out at Wxed times each day. There will be some simultaneous interpreting during transmission if there is any last-minute news, but the rest of the news report will consist of the oral delivery of a script which matches the images shown on the screen. One example of this is the evening news on Chinese Television Network (CTN) in Hong Kong, which is relayed to Japan via satellite every night, and another is the evening news from China Central Television (CCTV), which is shown several times a week by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).2

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2. Interpreting for special features with in-depth reporting Formats: co-operative translation + oral delivery from text by interpreters. Translation of reports on speciWc news items is done ahead of time and then delivered orally at normal speed to accompany the images on screen. Examples of this are such programmes as 1997, Hong Kong, currently broadcast by CTN/ Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), and Beijing Inside Report. 3. Topic-led interpreting for live coverage of events Format: simultaneous interpreting Topical events are planned in advance, and broadcast live and in toto at the time arranged. The interpreter is able to prepare the material in advance and provides simultaneous interpreting as the transmission goes out. Examples include the Hong Kong hand-over ceremony in 1997, the inauguration of the US President, and the presentation of the annual Academy Awards. 4. Emergency news interpreting for unexpected events Format: simultaneous interpreting Simultaneous interpreting is used throughout the reporting of an unforeseen news item. The interpreter will have been unable to prepare for this properly and will need to be very adaptable. Such news usually concerns natural calamities or man-made disasters, for example the Gulf War, the Kobe earthquake, and the riots in Indonesia. From the above categories and descriptions it is possible to determine the professional skills required for television interpreting, which are — in descending order of frequency of use — translation, oral delivery from a text and simultaneous interpreting. By “co-operative translation” we mean that the oral delivery interpreters and the translators (who are not involved in the oral delivery) work together on translating the same programme before its broadcast. Some twenty to thirty minutes before the programme goes on air (taking a thirty-minute programme as standard) the translators and the oral delivery interpreters switch to working separately, the translators continuing with the translation and the interpreters beginning to rehearse the oral delivery. The average thirty-minute programme requires two translators and two interpreters. For a programme longer than thirty minutes, the interpreters work in rotation, while the translators continue

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with their translation, or are replaced by the interpreter who is not interpreting at the time. Why, if interpreters are able to do simultaneous interpreting, is it necessary to prepare a translation in advance and then deliver it orally? The reason is that the speed of delivery of oral news reporting is very rapid, and its style tends to combine elements of both the written and the spoken language. To give a concrete example, for the main news reports put out by the three broadcasting companies in Taiwan, the average speed of delivery is 360 Chinese characters per minute, while for CCTV the average is 336 characters per minute.3 This is not the speed of normal speech and interpreters cannot be expected to provide simultaneous interpreting at such a speed. Only if the interpreter translates the material Wrst and then delivers it orally is there the possibility of attaining such a speed while retaining Xuency and naturalness. The reason consecutive interpreting is not included under the heading of television interpreting is that this paper does not consider an interpreter who appears on television and provides interpreting as coming under the deWnition of television interpreting. This is because when an interpreter appears in a television programme as a participant (doing consecutive interpreting, for example), s/he is essentially a part of that programme. Only the production of a version in another language of a television programme that has already been made counts as interpreting/translation. According to this deWnition, only simultaneous interpreting falls under the rubric of television interpreting.

SpeciWc features of television interpreting What follows is a further analysis, based on actual observation, of speciWc practical applications of translation and interpreting skills in the professional arena, with regard to the work modes, objectives, and Xow management of television interpreting. 1. Work mode Whether the work mode of television interpreting is actually translation or interpreting is still very much under debate. In terms of the categories outlined in the previous section, almost all scheduled transmissions of television news programmes, with the exception of on-the-spot simultaneous interpreting, adopt the method of “co-operative translation + oral delivery by interpreters”.

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Some people have therefore queried whether this kind of work, which uses a written translation as a basis for “dubbing”, can actually be called interpreting. In fact, every one of the programmes cited in the previous section makes use of interpreters, rather than newscasters, for oral delivery from a text. There are two reasons for this. First, a newscaster does not understand the text in the original language and therefore does not know whether the information conveyed by the images and pictures on the screen match the script which is being read. Second, a newscaster cannot do any simultaneous interpreting which might be required in response to unforeseen news items. When, however, there is a live broadcast or some urgent news breaks, and the newsreader has no written text, but is speaking at normal speed, these are the very conditions under which the interpreter is qualiWed to do simultaneous interpreting. At such times, the translator(s) can translate dispatches from foreign news agencies and help the interpreter by providing translations of such items as legal references, quotations and or allusions, and any message content which is in the written style and for which there are accepted translations.4 One might say that television interpreting requires eVective division of labour in a team made up of both translators and interpreters, who complement one another and work in tandem to complete the task. 2. Objectives The target of most television interpreting is the news, and thus the interpreter needs to match the requirements and the pace of the news reporting. For example, the content of a news report must be accurately interpreted: the people (who), events (what/which), times (when), locations (where), things (what/which), reasons (why) and processes (how). In addition, the interpreter has to match the diVerent angles from which the news is reported (e.g. the angle of an anchor person, a reporter, a programme host, or the subject of an interview), faithfully reXecting the way each of them speaks, their standpoints and the special focus of their delivery. At the same time, the interpreter must respond instantly to the news pictures on the screen and communicate information which is relevant to the images or diagrams being shown. In other words, the interpreter must keep up with the changes of speaker and picture on the screen, and adjust his/her style of speech, vocabulary, speed etc. accordingly. It is also necessary for the interpreter to achieve the same Xuency, naturalness and clarity of articulation as a professional broadcaster.

Interpreter training

3. Flow management Flow management refers to the detailed advance planning and good time management between the news department and the translation/interpreting department. This also involves the resolution of any discrepancies between these departments so that the tasks in hand can be completed without disruption. Practically speaking, although we may wish to put out a news report and a version of it in another language with zero time lag between them, there is a built-in discrepancy. This is because the later an item in a news report is prepared (either because it has been much revised or because it has been covered at the last minute), the more likely it is to be an important one which will Wgure in the headlines, and there may be no time to inform the translation department beforehand. Thus the interpreter may ultimately perform less well on the important headline news, but better on less important items of news because s/he has been able to prepare them fully and produce versions which are closer to the original report. This means that for important news items, the quality of the information received by the audience watching the other language version may be unsatisfactory. When time is so short that there is absolutely no way the message can be processed, consideration must be given to whether or not television interpreting should be provided, or whether the problem can be tackled through eVective Xow management between the news department and the translation department. “EVective Xow management” means management of both time Xow and working procedures. Time management involves Wrst and foremost a thorough review of the minimum time required respectively by the news department and the translation department. On the basis of this knowledge, we can endeavour to extract the amount of time necessary for solving the problem. From my practical experience, working at CTN in Hong Kong from December 1996 to June 1997, it appeared that most news items lasted about one minute. The average speed of delivery of the newsreaders and videotapes was around 300 words per minute.5 Experienced translators at the network were able to translate a news item in twenty minutes. Since then, two new methods have been introduced, in order to make more eVective use of time. These are 1) having two people working together on the translation of each item, and 2) printing out the text of the news for the interpreter in the studio to carry out simultaneous interpreting with text. These methods have, it is true, halved the time needed, but if nobody realizes that a news items has been replaced or revised, there will still be gaping holes in the second-language version. To overcome

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this problem, the news editors have been asked to indicate any changes on the computer for the translator. However, it was also necessary for the translation department to deploy assistants to work on replacements and revisions. During the editing of the news, any possible traps for translators and possibilities of mismatches between oral delivery and the picture on screen should be eliminated. In the case of interviews, for example, questions and answers should be clearly diVerentiated on the script. In addition to this, the BASYS system used in almost all TV news departments includes virtually no punctuation marks, and this may sometimes present diYculties for sentence segmentation in Chinese. When this happens, a new sentence should start on a new line. Where specialized terminology is used, the source-language equivalent should be given, together with the pronunciation of the word. If, as occasionally happens, the text is handwritten, attention should be paid to page numbers so that there are no omissions, and the writing should be very clear. (Since most translators work into their mother tongue, they may Wnd it a strain to read handwritten texts in the source language.) In addition, in circumstances where there is genuinely a requirement for simultaneous interpreting, if the news department can provide the interpreter with adequate background material (such as is given to the newsreader), this will help improve his/her performance. Such material might include, for example, reports from foreign news agencies, relevant news Wles, and up-to-theminute TV news channels from overseas. This is particularly useful in terms of interpreting for special features, from ceremonies to news conferences. If the interpreter is informed in advance of such things as the reporting strategy of the newsreader and the timings and Xow of the transmission, and is provided with relevant materials, the accuracy and completeness of his/her performance is invariably enhanced. The above practical description clearly illustrates that if a television station undertakes to broadcast the news in two languages simultaneously, the costs will be considerable. First of all, operational styles and procedures of news editing must be compatible with translation needs. Secondly, it is essential to employ full-time interpreters who are capable of simultaneous interpreting as well as translating, so as to have the capacity to cope with urgent news as it breaks. Thirdly, there must be excellent coordination between the news department and the translation department.

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Interpreter training: Responding to the requirements of television interpreting Three key factors aVect an interpreter’s performance: these are language ability, general knowledge and skills. For television interpreting, the language ability requirements are that the interpreter must be able to relay in real time, and in another language, the speech styles of the newscasters, the reporters, the anchor person and interviewees, as well as their standpoints and the content of their speech. In the process, not only is the interpreter subject to strict time constraints, s/he must also match the information being relayed with what is on the screen. Whether the interpreter is giving an oral delivery of a text or interpreting, s/he is never free of the dual constraints of time and space. In addition, s/he has to speak Xuently and naturally and present the message clearly. The following is an attempt to analyse the characteristics of the language of television interpreting, as compared with other forms of interpreting.6 Components of interpreting

TV interpreting

Conference interpreting

Tourist interpreting

1.Type of Speech 2. Participants

Public speaking

Public presentation

Speakers, reporters, persons directly involved Same throughout/ frequent changes Uni-directional. Long message/ Q&A

Speakers, audience, persons directly involved Same throughout

One-to-one or small group conversation Speaker(s), listener(s)

3. Topic 4. Function

5. Attitude 6. Language(s) employed 7. Medium 8. Structure

Both subjective and objective standpoints Output in one language only Microphone (TV image) Narrative, commentary, Q & A

Uni-directional. long message transmission. Clear standpoint Output in two languages Microphone/headset Structured text/ speech

Frequent changes Two-way exchange of short messages No need for speciWc standpoint Output in two languages Largely oral Q&A

It can be seen from the above chart that the speech characteristics of television interpreting are:

184 Yang Cheng-shu

1. Large numbers of topics, variety of formats and structures, numerous participants and diVerent viewpoints. These include newsreaders addressing the public while working from a text, speeches made by people who appear in the news, personal interviews carried out by journalists and question-and-answer sessions in live interviews. 2. The function is the instantaneous transmission of an accurate presentation of the news. To meet the needs of truthful news presentation and balanced reporting, television interpreting includes both narrative and question-and-answer format; the diVerent functional types exist side by side. In order to eVect complete seven w/h (who, what, when, where, which, why and how) coverage of the information, the newsreader may also create a “head” of some 100 characters long at the start of each item of news. This is broadcast as a single unit and constitutes a form of info-transmission which is uni-directional and relatively long. 3. Television interpreting is uni-directional. Since television is not a two-way medium of communication, interpreting is usually only carried out into the language with which the audience is familiar. In the interest of Xuency and a wide vocabulary, training should be targeted at interpreting into the mother tongue, and not at the two-way interpreting (from/into Chinese) taught for conference interpreting.7 4. Television interpreting is aimed at a medium in which images and sound run in parallel. The interpreter has to match information to images, and thus the interpreting must be timed to conclude before the Wnal image is broadcast. When there is a good deal of cutting between topics, transition time should be built in to allow for the provision of supplementary information.8 To sum up these speciWc features, we can say that the requirements of television interpreting are: high density of linguistic message (as in the newsreader’s “heads”); clear and Xuent enunciation; the ability to match diVerent styles and viewpoints to content. In interpreter training, therefore, emphasis should be placed on the accurate matching of changes of image on screen, the diVerent methods of editing and ways of speaking, preparation for communicating changes of topic, speakers’ diVering points of view and diVerent linguistic

Interpreter training 185

styles. For oral transmission skills, more stress should be laid on presentation techniques which enable the interpreter to produce a version which is rapid, accurate, smooth and pleasant to listen to, thus conforming to the characteristics of television as a medium. When necessary, arrangements might be made for professional broadcasters to teach broadcasting techniques. Where written translation is concerned, training should concentrate on speed, since there are strict time constraints on television news. In addition, because a written translation should not be much longer than the original text, students should be trained to grasp the main points of information and relay the content of the message concisely and without redundancy. Moreover, since the translated text is used for oral delivery, the ideal translation will be semantically clear, free of homophones and appropriate for spoken presentation. For instance, Arabic numerals should be used, days of the week should be changed to dates, and weights and measures should be given in the units commonly used in the target language. As to general knowledge, to help them speed up the Xow of written translations and to strengthen their ability to handle urgent news, television interpreters need to be familiar with current events, be knowledgeable about the various countries of the world, and be conversant with international economics and Wnance. They must have a good grasp of the relevant specialized terminology, and even be able to predict what is going to happen in the news. Where teaching materials are concerned, greater emphasis should be placed on the compilation of news vocabulary and summaries of current news. The compilation of categorized bilingual glossaries should include country names, place names, organizations, political Wgures (with names and positions), important international news, names of corporations, economic and Wnancial terms etc. For oral and written translation skills, a basic foundation of written translation, oral delivery of texts and simultaneous interpreting (as described in the Wrst section) should be integrated with a knowledge of current events and the strengthening of simultaneous interpreting skills. Since the combination of oral and written translation is the normal mode of operation for television interpreting, the training of students who are expert at both written and oral translation will be a major trend in future interpreter education. Teaching materials should include a variety of video footage covering diVerent topics and featuring diVerent speech participants. These should include a large variety of points of view and occasions (e.g. interviews, speeches, seminars, press conferences and special features), and a variety of language

186 Yang Cheng-shu

structures (e.g. well-ordered narrative, inductive exposition, essay-like pieces, and question-and-answer format). In the Wnal analysis, the chief property of news is that it is “new”. It is therefore impossible for any training to cater for all the things that could happen. Only by encouraging forward thinking and creativity would we help interpreters develop the appropriate techniques for the objectives and characteristics of television interpreting. The goal is to extend the range and Xexibility of both oral and written translation.

Conclusion Seen in terms of the historical development of interpreting, television interpreting is a most unusual type of work because the interpreter has no opportunity to communicate directly with either the speakers or the listeners. While the speaker conveys information to the audience by means of images, s/he is virtually unaware that the interpreter is at work. The interpreter is put into the passive position of being a transmitter and decoder of televised visual and sound signals. The electrically-generated signals constitute a non-linguistic code, which is transmitted simultaneously with the interpreter’s delivery to an unspeciWed audience. With the arrival of a multi-media age, we can foresee that translation work using both humans and machines, with language and other non-linguistic codes running in parallel, will in future be carried out on the World Wide Web (e.g. on-line translation). Thus, the working languages of the translator will no longer be limited to natural languages; they will also have to include machine languages, and visual and audio codes. New developments in such media as television and network-computing means that in the future interpreting and translation work will see major changes in terms of objectives, message-content, transmission methods and speed, and the signiWcance of media codes. As a result of these changes, current interpreter and translator training programmes will have to bring in new concepts as well as teaching materials. Traditional interpreter training, which has been oriented towards conference interpreting, will have to undergo major transformations to ensure their eVectiveness in a new working environment. Translated by Caroline Mason

Interpreter training 187

Notes 1. According to statistics from the Japanese Language Centre of CTN in Hong Kong, translation of a news item of 300 Chinese characters takes at least 20 minutes, at a rate of 15 words a minute, while an interpreter can handle some 150–200 characters a minute. Interpreting is thus more than ten times as productive as translation. 2. NHK handles this by showing the 7:00 p.m. CTN news at 11:00 p.m., so that there is a four-hour time lag, whereas CTN has chosen to transmit the news in both Chinese and Japanese in real time, with no time lag. 3. Ho Yueh-hua (1997) examined three extracts, each ten seconds long, from the news reports put out by Taiwan Television (TTV), China Television (CTV) and Chinese Television System (CTS) in March 1996, to Wnd the average speed of delivery of the newscasters. CCTV carried out a survey in July 1995, using the same statistical methods. 4. The foreign press released in advance the text for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in England in September 1997, thus enabling interpreters to familiarize themselves with the passages from the Bible and the formal titles of members of the Royal Family which were mentioned during the service. This meant the interpreters could acquit themselves better when reporting the event live. 5. At the time, television interpreting was still very new at the TV station, and for four months assistants in the translation department kept detailed records of the time taken to translate each piece of news from the moment it was handed to the translator, in order to ensure even distribution of work. Figures given above are averages. 6. The table is based on the list of speech events provided by Minami, Hujio (1983) in his article ‘Danwa no Tanyi’ “Danwa no Kenkyu to Kyoyiku II”, Okura Shyo (Ministry of Finance) Insatsu Kyoku, Tokyo, Japan. 7. Editor’s note: Most Asian interpreters are expected to work both from and into their mother tongues. 8. For example, when the subject of an interview appears on the screen with subtitles in the original language which give his name and position, but which are of no use to the target language audience. At such times, the interpreter has to insert this information into his interpreting.

Translation onscreen The economic, multicultural, and pedagogical challenges of subtitling and dubbing Alain Piette Université de Mons-Hainaut, Université Catholique de Louvain

The economic factor has always prevailed in the Weld of subtitling and dubbing for the media. The prospective translator and his teacher must be aware of it. Subtitling and dubbing are just by-products of show business and producers usually demand from them that they be cheap and cost-eVective. One could expect the quality of the subtitling or the dubbing to be directly proportional to the degree of commercialism of the original, as the latter seems to have the potential for grossing out enough money to ensure that the subtitling or the dubbing be made in the best possible conditions. Yet the reverse is very often true: the most blatant commercial productions are usually accompanied by the worst translations onscreen. Conversely, the productions aimed at a more discriminating yet smaller audience, tend to be better translated. In its Wrst part, my paper analyses these two types of translations for the media as well as some of their regional, geographical, and cultural variations. In its second part, my paper examines the speciWc task of the translation teacher. Should the teacher take the economic imperatives of subtitling or dubbing for the media into account when setting up the objectives for his or her course or should he or she ignore them altogether? So my paper will be about the possibilities of integrating the teaching of translation for dubbing and subtitling into the curriculum of a translators’ school like the one in which I teach, where we have attempted to put some of the principles I am going to talk about into practice. My aim is to propose a module for the teaching of translation for the media. Prior to this, however, it seems necessary to me to clearly set the objectives of such a pedagogy, as well as point out the pitfalls of the profession. First, three words of caution. My working languages being French and

190 Alain Piette

English, I am aware of the fact that most of my examples are derived from English or American movies, which also happen to dominate the market. The second word of caution regards the technological aspect of that kind of teaching. A good knowledge of the technology used to subtitle or dub is absolutely necessary of course. As our schools in the west (or elsewhere for that matter) far too often resemble technological museums, it is illusory to think that they will be able to sustain the comparison with the studios equipped with the most up-to-date technologies. This is why I will restrict myself here solely to the pedagogical challenges raised by the teaching of dubbing and subtitling. Finally, for dubbing, (semi-) professional actors are needed, which makes its teaching even more diYcult at the level of our institutions of higher education. But I will return to the issues of equipment and dubbing in my proposal of an educational module.

The domination of cost consideration In a conference on dubbing and subtitling in Stockholm in June 1987, Jean Yvane declared: Quality is expensive: the meaning of an utterance cannot be separated from the concrete conditions of its production on the linguistic and technical levels, but also on the Wnancial level. […] Quality is expensive and the budget for dubbing and subtitling a Wlm must be adequate for results to be satisfactory. … Many results, disappointing or not, express through their qualities and shortcomings, not only the talent or the absence of talent of the translator, but also the presence or absence of Wnancial means to support the translation. Money does not give talent, but it contributes to it. (1987: 20)

Unfortunately, production companies do not have the purist attitude of education professionals. Economic proWtability comes Wrst and requires from all stages of post-production that they be as cost-eVective as possible. It starts as soon as the title of the work, which more often than not is not a translation of the original title but a brand new one which sounds “good” in the target language, as, say, the name of a bar of soap or that of a candy bar would. The teacher cannot possibly ignore this before setting the objectives for his course. The cost-eVective policy applied by all the major studios often causes what most of us purists detest in dubbing and subtitling: cultural errors in the translation and use of a sub-standard target language when the source language is perfectly standard, to mention only two such liabilities. They are

Translation onscreen

mostly due to the demands of lip synchronization or the short deadlines under which the translators for the media have to work. In the most extreme of circumstances, these barely get to discover more than once the Wlm or series that they have to work on/watch, if at all. Moreover, much too often, the work to be translated does not even come with a proper script. One of my favourite errors of this kind is in the subtitling of Elia Kazan’s Wlm A Streetcar Named Desire, after a Tennessee Williams play of the same title, for the second channel of French television. When she arrives in New Orleans to Wnd the house of her sister, Blanche Dubois asks a neighbour whether she knows where No. 632 is. In the film, the number appears on the wall above the neighbour’s shoulder. Yet, the subtitle reads “254!”! Laughter guaranteed. There are no proofreaders in subtitling for television! Even worse, we have all seen, I suppose, the hilarious parodies of Wlms where the dubbing was so poor that the entire synchronization played tricks on the actors. A good example of this is to be found in Singing in the Rain. And you have all been the witnesses of these gigantic crowd or battle scenes, teeming with walk-ons, for whom only a handful of dubbing actors could be found in studio on a small budget and who have to do all the voices in the scene, not to mention the crowd or battle noises. Finally, the actors hired for dubbing are usually far less talented than those they are dubbing and sometimes sound rather poor in comparison. Here again, there are exceptions. Recently a new development has appeared on the French dubbing and subtitling scene. Always looking for ways of reducing costs, producers in the French-speaking world are now more and more turning toward French-speaking countries where dubbing and subtitling is cheaper, as for example Belgium or Quebec. The result is that, especially on television, we now see the American TV series in French with a charming Brussels or Quebec accent, which is very perceptible, or with subtitles strewn with Quebecois or Brussels expressions. It is all these considerations that drove the famous French Wlmmaker Jacques Becker to conclude about dubbing and subtitling in 1945: “It is an act against nature, an assault on decency, … a monster.” (Becker 1945)

Increasing demand Where, then, can we situate the translator and his teacher in this debate? Today, in Europe, translating for the media is undeniably in. With the internationalization, indeed globalization, of culture via the media, demand for dub-

191

192 Alain Piette

bers and subtitlers is exploding. The emergence of international cable or satellite television (CNN, BBC World, Euronews, TV5, NBC, CBS, etc.) is only increasing this phenomenon. The advent of teletext has opened new horizons for the media translator. Television has also revealed new needs in dubbing and subtitling, whose respective precedence now depends both on cultural factors and on practical ones. Let’s take the practical ones Wrst. Dubbing is particularly useful for certain categories of the population: children who, below the age of eight to ten years, still have some diYculties reading subtitles; older people, near-sighted people, or people with a reading disability, will also prefer dubbing. Subtitling, on the other hand, is more useful for multilingual Wlm buVs who prefer to watch a Wlm in the original language, or for the hearing-impaired who will then depend on the subtitles for their comprehension of what they are watching. Cultural factors are then superimposed on the practical ones. For example, in Belgium, a bilingual country, the Dutch-speaking north prefers subtitles, whereas the French-speaking south is used to watching most of its Wlms in a dubbed version. This north-south division is more or less valid for Europe too: the countries in the north (with the notable exception of Germany) prefer subtitles whereas the countries of the south prefer dubbing. Let us not exclude here the culturo-practical factor that, in countries where a smaller language is spoken, subtitling is probably the only viable solution, as dubbing is more expensive and its cost would not be absorbed by a small market. This is also true incidentally for the even cheaper voice-over technique as it is still used in countries like Poland or Vietnam. For completeness’ sake, let us also mention the cultural bias of countries like Great Britain and the United States, where subtitling is absolutely detested as it is made synonymous with a boring intellectual Wlm. Finally, as Wlm directors and production companies seem more or less to have given up on these monstrous multinational productions starring numerous stars from diVerent nationalities and shot simultaneously in several languages (these were a little bit too kitsch), the translator for the media seems to have a bright future ahead of him, judging by sheer demand.

A matter of quality In 1987, during the Stockholm conference on subtitling and dubbing, Thomas Herbst of Augsburg University said: “Of course, errors are possible, especially

Translation onscreen 193

when the translation must be done very quickly. [It is almost always the case.] Of course, people who have a lot of time on their hands, like professors of applied linguistics, will Wnd these errors and stigmatize them. But the audience in its vast majority won’t.” (Herbst 1987: 20) In other words, Herbst pleads for a pragmatic approach of subtitling and dubbing: the errors don’t really matter as long as the global meaning of the message gets through, as most of the spectators don’t have the time or the cultural means to detect the inconsistencies of the translation. I can agree with that statement, but only partially, although even like that I am hard put to it. Some American soaps or television series do not deserve a much better treatment. It would be absurd in translation to try and make quality out of a support which is itself completely devoid of it. But for more ambitious productions, like motion pictures or documentaries, or any kind of document with a certain artistic or cultural design, I simply cannot agree. In 1988, the great Italian Wlm director Federico Fellini sued his production company because he thought that the French subtitles and the French dubbing of his Wlm Intervista were abominable and aVected the quality of his work. It is then not exaggerated to say that, in many cases, which are unfortunately too numerous, the translation is tantamount to a betrayal of the original work, which is as unacceptable as, say, the colourized version of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane or as a layer of green paint would be on the white loins of the Vénus de Milo at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. To take another example, perhaps more mundane, if you choose dubbing over subtitling of a Wlm like Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther, dubbing makes Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) lose his French accent into English, the same accent which makes him unwillingly transform the English language itself, a ploy which gives the Wlm most of its fun. Because of dubbing, then, the Wlm is no longer a subtle comedy based on the absurd manipulation of the English language, but a pratfall and custard pie farce whose eVects are far less subtle. I would then like to suggest that there are two kinds of translations for the media, and this is where this lengthy introduction tried to lead you. A quality one, for quality programmes whose budget leaves room enough for a decent translation. And a poor one, for audio-visual consumers’ products such as television, whose budget for translation tends to be limited.

194 Alain Piette

Teaching I shall leave the second kind of translations mentioned above for pragmatists. The translation teacher, however, may not be content with it in his course on translation for the media, although he should not hide the fact that some professionals of media translation have to be content with it. At the risk of sounding naïve, I aver that any pedagogue worthy of this name must Wrst and foremost be an idealist and aim at the highest quality in his job. One may not expect from a future translator for the media that he produce quality if he hasn’t been inculcated a certain appreciation of beauty and quality, and above all a profound respect for the cultures that he is called upon to translate in his mother tongue. A diVerent attitude would boil down to a new economic version of post-colonialism. So here is what I propose for the teaching of translation onscreen. First, it should obviously come chronologically after a full training of general translator, in order to make sure that the student masters the target and source languages as well as the cultures they are the expression of. In this respect, civilization courses (literature, history, geography, institutions, culture) seem to be a must. This, incidentally, is usually where the weakness of self-taught translators lies. Next, as in many cases the adaptor-translator is asked to rewrite in another language the entire dialogue or voice-over soundtrack of a document, a course in writing and screenwriting would be in order. Also, as subtitlers and dubbers are very often asked to compress the original text, a course in précis writing is also necessary. Let us note here the special situation of the Belgian subtitler for the cinema who, in the same reduced space as his colleagues from other countries, must Wt two diVerent translations, one in Dutch and one in French. On this basic module can be grafted other courses on related Welds: literary and theatrical translation, translation of children’s literature, research and glossaries in the audio-visual Weld, etc. As for the technological aspect of dubbing and subtitling, it can be learned during an apprenticeship with a professional subtitling company. The advantage is double. The prospective subtitler/dubber gets acquainted with the latest technologies in the Weld and not with the museum pieces of his alma mater (although these are useful to put him on the right path). He also learns about the working environment of the profession. From the point of view of the company, it can directly recruit the trainees it will have been able to observe in a working environment. This is the ideal. I am sorry to say that all the subtitling

Translation onscreen 195

Wrms in Brussels refused to take any trainee in 1997. We had to turn to the Belgian television. Finally, the training of dubbing actors can be obtained through synergies with acting schools or with Wlm schools, of which there is no shortage, at least in Belgium. As a conclusion, even though the translation teacher must not retreat into his ivory tower, his duty as a pedagogue is to resist the insistent calls of the merchants of the temple and to maintain cost what may his exigencies for the highest quality. When one is capable of producing good quality work one is also capable of producing poor quality work. I am not sure the reverse is also true.

Making multilingualism work in South Africa The establishment of translation and interpreting services for local government Mabel Erasmus University of the Free State

Contextualization For the Wrst time in the history of South Africa the Constitution of this developing country includes a Bill of Rights. What is particularly exciting for sociolinguists, language workers and others who are concerned with Linguistic Human Rights (LHR’s),1 is the fact that language rights are mentioned explicitly in several sections of the Constitution. The most prominent language clause is contained in Section 6, which provides for eleven oYcial South African languages. This is a stark contrast to the situation before 19962 when English and Afrikaans3 were the only languages with oYcial status. The enormous imbalance in power relations and privileges accorded to citizens in the previous dispensation, as well as other inequalities entrenched in South African society, is reXected in the fact that the previously disenfranchised Black population (mostly consisting of mother-tongue speakers of African languages) constitutes almost 75% of the population. The Wrst three subsections of the language clause contain the following provisions: Languages 6. (1) The oYcial languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. (2) Recognizing the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages.

198 Mabel Erasmus

(3) (a) The national government and provincial governments may use any particular oYcial languages for the purpose of government, taking into account usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of needs and preferences of the population as a whole or in the province concerned; but the national government and each provincial government must use at least two oYcial languages. (b) Municipalities must take into account the language usage and preferences of their residents. (4) The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must regulate and monitor their use of oYcial languages. Without detracting from the provisions of subsection (2), all oYcial languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably. Despite these and other admirable stipulations in the Constitution, it has by now become apparent that South Africa will not be gliding eVortlessly into a dispensation of blissful linguistic equity merely as a result of sweet-sounding phrases. According to various sociolinguists in South Africa, a process of Anglicization is currently being implemented by the state on the pretext of feasibility and Wnancial viability (cf. Beukes 1996: 3–4). As I have argued before (Erasmus 2000), even jurists do not agree as to whether references to multilingualism in the Constitution should be regarded as non-binding guidelines which may be arbitrarily ignored by politicians, or as enforceable rights to language equality. The recognition and development of all South Africa’s languages is in fact not merely a status quo to be maintained, but an objective towards which all citizens of the country should strive. Finding creative ways of circumventing the institutional resistance to the transformation of past bilingual practices is therefore of paramount importance (Erasmus 2000). The Local Government Translation and Interpreting Service (LOGTIS) project, aimed at establishing translation and interpreting services at the local government level, was launched in 1998 in an eVort to achieve at least some of these goals. The Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) at the University of the Free State undertook the project, which is currently (2001) in its third and Wnal subsidized phase. The main focus of this article is on the LOGTIS experience, in which members of the Unit, in co-operation with the municipality of Welkom,4 utilized “seed funding” allocated by a European donor government to initiate this language facilitation project.

Making multilingualism work in South Africa 199

References to the subsequent will serve the purpose of indicating the direction of further developments for the project.

South African language rights in the context of international law International law protecting the rights of linguistic, cultural and religious communities has gained stature since 1945 (cf. Strydom 1998). Under the auspices of the United Nations and the European Union, important guidelines have been adopted over the past two to three decades, establishing the legal and policy framework within which states must adopt legislative and other measures for the protection and promotion of what are generally referred to as minority rights5 (which include language rights). These developments in the arena of international law are relevant to South Africa for two main reasons: 1. In Section 39(1)(b) the Constitution obliges our courts to consider international law in interpreting and applying the provisions of the Bill of Rights (Chapter 2 of the SA Constitution). 2. South Africa is in the process of ratifying various international conventions, some of which deal with the protection of fundamental rights. The result is that international trends in the interpretation and application of guidelines protecting “minority” rights will eventually also have an impact on the ways in which certain provisions in the South African Constitution relating to fundamental rights are interpreted. One guideline that brings international provisions into the South African sphere is the Harare Declaration, adopted in March 1997 at an intergovernmental conference of ministers on language policies in Africa. This Declaration refers, inter alia, to “the richness of the linguistic diversity in Africa and its potential as a resource for all types of development”. It thus acknowledges that the recognition of linguistic human rights is a prerequisite for the development of communities. Through language, access to resources, such as political and economic power, is controlled. In most cases this form of control is exercised in such subtle, obscurely ideological ways that it seems to be enveloped by a conspiracy of silence — in all the languages involved! The writings of critical philosophers such as Michel Foucault have, however, made it impossible for us to declare that we did not know that power, knowledge and language are connected. It seems as if many of South Africans are inclined to cherish First World

200 Mabel Erasmus

dreams and expectations even though we are confronted almost daily with stark Third World realities. This creates ambivalence within and confusion among those who strive for the realization of democratic values — a world in which functional multilingualism could Xourish to the beneWt of all individuals and communities in South Africa. Can we turn our pipe dreams into workable projects and programmes? Some South Africans seem to dream of a future in which English will be the lingua franca for all South Africans, thus creating mutual understanding.

Can our colonial heritage save us from multilingual chaos? If the English language — inherited from our colonial past — had been a common denominator in South Africa, our communication problems would have been limited to issues relating to power, gender, class and cultural diVerences. However, proWciency in English for every South African citizen will remain a pipe dream for many years to come. The harsh realities of illiteracy and limited access to adequate resources and education will not be resolved overnight, if ever. A considerable part of our colonial heritage thus involves dominance by a language of wider communication (LWC), accessible only to a privileged minority and posing a very real psycholinguistic threat of alienation, aptly deWned by Mazrui and Mazrui as “separation of individuals from their existential conditions, from their individuality and culture” (1998: 57). The fact that linguistic and cultural diVerences are realities with which South Africans have to contend has made it obvious to some that only professional language practitioners will be able to assist in solving the communication problems resulting from language diVerences. These linguistically gifted people are the key to a functional multilingual dispensation in South Africa — translators, as well as the court, conference and community interpreters. Unlike the Weld of written translation between English and Afrikaans, the professions of court, conference and particularly community or liaison interpreters have not received due attention until quite recently. This is why the Flemish Community government in Belgium took the very apt and timely decision to fund the establishment of an interpreter training unit in South Africa, the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment, which oVers career-oriented and practical training courses for language practitioners; initiates and run multilingual language facilitation projects (such as LOGTIS); researches current language issues; and provide interpreting services for the Truth and Reconciliation

Making multilingualism work in South Africa 201

Commission (TRC) as well as other government institutions. Ever since the Wrst contact between diVerent ethnic groups occurred as a result of migrations, interpreters have probably formed an integral part of political, economic, social and cultural life in South Africa. Yet interpreting itself has received scant public attention until quite recently. South Africans were for the Wrst time made aware of the indispensability of simultaneous interpreting services in an obviously multilingual, still painfully post-apartheid South Africa by means of the service rendered at all hearings of the TRC. Because of the wide coverage given to these hearings on television and in actuality programmes, it was virtually impossible to ignore the Commission’s dependence on the simultaneous interpreting service as a prerequisite for eVective functioning. The awareness raised in this manner is now utilized to enlist support for the establishment of the language professions on a professional basis, especially in view of the protection of linguistic rights in constitutional and international law. The question now remains: Is multilingualism an aVordable, practicable, viable option in a Third World environment? Our personal and academic contact with interpreting and translation (I/T) training institutions have until now been mainly with developed or First World countries. It is therefore imperative for us to learn more about the situation regarding language facilitation in other parts of the world where similar problems are experienced. This article aims to share a South African experience of language facilitation at the local government level, in particular the training aspect.

The launch of LOGTIS in the GoldWelds region of the Free State Province Because issues such as aVordability and “reasonable” practicability6 are raised whenever the need for language facilitation services becomes obvious, it is imperative to look at this issue from the opposite perspective: What is the cost of enforced monolingualism in a multilingual, multicultural, multi-ethnic, in fact, multi-everything society? In an eVort to Wnd answers to this question, even if only on a small scale and with speciWc reference to the LOGTIS project, a language survey was performed within the Welkom Municipality, the focal point of the project for 1998. The report of the audit clearly indicated some of the hidden cost factors of monolingualism, among others the following: – Lower levels of productivity and feelings of inadequacy were reported by

202 Mabel Erasmus

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some of the employees not Xuent in English. Many residents display negative attitudes towards the municipality for not taking their language usage and preferences into account as required by Section 6(3)(b) of the Constitution. Such attitudes often resulted in nonpayment for municipal services such as water, electricity and sanitation. IneVective health care often resulted from a breakdown in communication between professional health care practitioners and patients from diVerent language and cultural groups. Defective communication between management and other employees within local government structures sometimes resulted in a lack of trust and co-operation among staV members. Even though English is the mother tongue of only 2% of the population in this area, it has acquired the status of preferred language for oYcials at the management level in the municipality, since they seem to assume that it is a “neutral”, “universal” or “commonly understood” “link” language. However, for many employees and residents, English will never be more than a second, third or even foreign language, allowing them minimal access to information on various topics and only limited participation in decisionmaking processes, even at the level of local government where their day-today existence is at stake (regarding health care, access to water, electricity, sanitation, land and employment).

How can these issues and problems be fully addressed in a cost-eVective manner? Part of the solution has been found in the establishment of I/T services within local government structures and institutions. Prominent politicians of the Free State province initiated the LOGTIS project in 1997 in order to promote multilingualism at the local government level by means of the establishment of comprehensive, multidimensional translation and interpreting services within municipalities. Generous funding by the Flemish government enabled the ULFE to launch LOGTIS in the GoldWelds during 1998, and subsequently also in other major towns of the province. The purpose of LOGTIS (Phase I) was, Wrst, to make language services available to local governments in the GoldWelds region. This region was decided upon since the Greater Bloemfontein region was already privileged to have the ULFE as well as the interpreting services of the Free State Legislature. The vision of the ULFE and the Flemish government was, after all, to empower all the people of the Free State through their multilingualism projects, not just those proWcient in English.

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LOGTIS Phases II (1999) and III (2000–2001) are aimed at expanding the multilingual services by duplicating the project in other regions of the Free State Province. The ultimate aim is to provide a network of these services for local government throughout the province. This network will, ideally, eventually be linked by the Internet and e-mail, in order for interpreters/translators to assist one another with terminology and other potential diYculties. The prime function of the LOGTIS translators/interpreters is to oVer the following language facilitation services to local governments in the Free State: 1. Council meetings, disciplinary hearings, information meetings with the public, negotiation meetings and conferences are just some of the multilingual settings in which LOGTIS interpreters facilitate mutual understanding and intelligibility, by means of the simultaneous interpreting service. 2. Liaison or community interpreting is oVered in smaller or one-to-one settings, for example in municipality clinics where professional providers of health care and social services often experience language problems in dealing with clients. 3. The translation service provides translations of documents such as Council notices, municipal regulations, letters to and from the public, as well as internal memos, regulations governing service beneWts and conditions of employment, curricula vitae, legal papers, and verbatim transcripts of disciplinary hearings. The four main mother tongues spoken in the Welkom municipal area are Sesotho (58%), Afrikaans (15%), isiXhosa (9%) and Setswana (7%). In order to simplify the language combinations for the purposes of translation and interpreting, English is almost always used as the link language, although this does not imply that it is accessible to all. To alleviate the Wnancial burden on the Welkom Municipality, the marketing of LOGTIS services in the private sector of the region was initially seen as an important objective in order to make LOGTIS an income-generating unit. We eventually realized, however, that this aspect should not be overemphasized, lest the focus on the empowerment of local residents became obscured in the process. The problem of Wnding ways to overcome the Wnancial constraints on local government thus remained unsolved. The reasons for the Wnancial dilemma experienced by newly formed larger municipalities can be traced back to the apartheid era where White cities and Black townships existed side by side but the residents lived in separate worlds (cf.

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Erasmus 2000 for an explication of these reasons). In the current democratic dispensation the amalgamated municipalities have to carry the almost impossible Wnancial burden of past inequities. In establishing the LOGTIS project in Welkom, it was imperative to convince the administrative and political stakeholders of the absolute necessity of observing the language rights of residents in accordance with the White Paper on Local Government (March 1998). In this White Paper the central concept of “developmental local government” is explained in terms of phrases such as the following: “promoting involvement of citizens and community groups”; “harnessing the creative energy of citizens”; and “encouraging the participation of marginalized groups”. Even though language rights are not mentioned per se, the assumption on which these ideals are based is that adequate communication should take place in this sphere of government. After a rather lengthy period of intense, sometimes nerve-racking lobbying and negotiation, the Executive Committee of Welkom Municipality decided to commit itself to the continuation of the LOGTIS service. Out of the six LOGTIS translators/interpreters initially placed in Welkom, a core group of three (one per language combination) was employed by the Welkom Municipality when their contracts with the University of the Free State (which has been paying their salaries from funds provided by the Flemish government) expired at the end of January 1999. The others were deployed within new LOGTIS projects in two more Free State cities. Some of them are also utilized on a freelance basis for simultaneous interpreting, which naturally requires two interpreters per language combination per booth during any interpreting session (e.g. monthly council meetings).

The overall outcome of LOGTIS for Welkom and the GoldWelds area The expansion and gradual institutionalization of multilingualism at the local government level is an important outcome of the LOGTIS project in the GoldWelds. The main languages of the region, namely Sesotho, Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa, are now being used, while prior to the launching of LOGTIS English was dominating all the other languages. This project can be regarded as a resounding success because it has brought the goal of functional multilingualism for the region closer to realization. The following successes have been recorded: – The LOGTIS team was trained during 1998 to provide interpreting and

Making multilingualism work in South Africa 205

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translation services. In this way, linguistically gifted people with tertiary education, almost all of whom were previously without work, were provided with employment. This team has contributed to the successful implementation of the following translating and interpreting services: (1) An ongoing translation service now exists in the Welkom municipality: indicator boards; administrative forms, the mayoral report, notices, regulations and other documentation of the local authority are being made available in Sesotho, Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa, where previously only one or two languages were used. (2) A consecutive interpreting service is now being rendered by trained interpreters at most of the disciplinary hearings and smaller meetings. Previously, untrained people were used for this purpose. (3) A simultaneous interpreting service in Sesotho, Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa is now being rendered at council meetings, certain disciplinary hearings and other larger meetings. (Only English was used in the past, with untrained people doing consecutive interpreting.) Welkom will in future have a complete mobile interpreting unit, as well as a very modern translation unit (comprising computer equipment and programmes), both of which can be used to promote multilingualism. Language attitudes within the range of the LOGTIS services are apparently changing for the better. A greater awareness of language issues and an increased sensitivity towards language rights are clearly noticeable.

The positive publicity accorded the multilingual eVorts of LOGTIS in Welkom has radically changed the image of this previously conservative mining city, to make it a dynamic multilingual city — in fact, a linguistic trailblazer for the rest of South Africa. The second phase of the project, implemented in the Sasolburg and Greater Kroonstad municipalities, has been completed successfully, although Kroonstad eventually opted out for the time being, citing Wnancial constraints as the main reason. Subsequent research activities included the compilation of an integrated language strategy (ILS), comprising a language policy and a plan for implementation, for each of these municipalities. These ILSs would eventually be implemented with the assistance of the LOGTIS teams. Raising awareness of the importance of a strategy for eYcient provision of interpreters and translation services was essential to the establishment of an inclusive, comprehensive programme such as this one. It was hoped that this would be achieved through the gradual implementation of the language management strategies.

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Proposals for adjustments to LOGTIS after its launch in the GoldWelds area As has been mentioned, the intention was always to expand LOGTIS throughout the Free State Province during Phases II and III. Valuable lessons have been learnt from the launching of LOGTIS in the GoldWelds. On these grounds the following phases of the project could be embarked upon with greater conWdence. We have indeed proWted from our experiences in the GoldWelds region, especially in regard to the following: –

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Training, especially for simultaneous interpreting, could not be realized in such a short period. To remedy this, LOGTIS translators/interpreters were enrolled as students at the ULFE for the recently introduced Advanced University Diploma in translation/interpreting during 1999. In addition, it had been proposed that experienced interpreters, technicians and managers should at Wrst render simultaneous interpreting services, and in time be assigned to the LOGTIS interpreters/translators, technicians and co-ordinators. A strategy for early inclusion of the remaining municipalities of the Free State into the LOGTIS planning had to be contemplated. The involvement of and active partnership with the provincial Department of Local Government and Housing also had to be nurtured and encouraged throughout the process. An early and comprehensive language audit in the particular municipalities would be necessary. On the basis of the needs established, a language policy and a strategic language plan would be created to meet the speciWc needs of each municipality so that a multilingual dispensation could be gradually implemented.

During February and March 1999 an impact study was performed to establish the current state of aVairs and future expectations of language facilitation services in the workplace of the Welkom Municipality (cf. Nyangintsimbi 1999). This study provided invaluable information on deWciencies existing at that stage which needed attention. One of the most salient points was that the majority of general workers, as opposed to management, were not yet aware of the existence of LOGTIS. “There was a general feeling of dissatisfaction with language empowerment as people still felt that they had to conform to the ‘acceptable languages’. The management was, however, more informed. All post levels were

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aware of their language rights [in theory — me]” (Nyangintsimbi 1999: 12). Since people at the grassroots level are ultimately the target group of language empowerment relating to local government, this marked lack of awareness indicated that some work still needed to be done. A noteworthy international conference on “Multilingual Cities and Towns in South Africa — Challenges and Prospects” was held in Pretoria in October 1999. A presentation on the language services that LOGTIS oVers at the local government level stimulated considerable interest in launching similar projects in other municipalities. After implementing and closely observing the development of the LOGTIS project in the Free State from 1999 to the end of 2001, we hope to be able to oVer a programme for the establishment of language units in municipalities throughout South Africa. In order to achieve this, all training institutions and other stakeholders in the country will have to co-operate and co-ordinate their eVorts to bring about the requisite changes. Stringent selection of candidates and the designing of training programmes which strive for excellence and professionalism are key aspects of the process.

Training translators/interpreters for LOGTIS — interaction between academic disciplines and the profession All current interpreters/translators for LOGTIS have become part of our mainstream training programme at the University of the Free State. They enrol for the ULFE’s Advanced University Diploma in Interpreting and Translation, with subsidies allocated to them from funding provided by the Flemish government. The Diploma course comprises components of professional translation and interpreter training, information technology skills, and a basic knowledge of language planning which should prepare them for their language facilitation tasks in local government. It is a one-year part-time course which combines distance learning with intensive practical training sessions, as well as in-service training and regular evaluations by experienced, accredited translators and interpreters. Most of the material used for training is taken from the local government sphere. Successful completion of the course allows students access to the M.A. in Translation or Interpreting. LOGTIS team members from the Wrst phase are currently undertaking invaluable research on issues related to language facilitation at this level of government. The experience with LOGTIS has shown that there are speciWc advantages to training language practitioners to become multi-skilled in their Weld: each of

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them is trained as a translator, a liaison/community interpreter, and a simultaneous interpreter in the Weld of local government, which is a rather wide area to cover in terms of specialized terminology. Specializing in all these Welds enhance their employment opportunities or, equally, enables them to freelance. Using the same people for diVerent spheres of interpreting activity also narrows the somewhat artiWcial, but indeed “yawning” gap (cf. Hertog & Reunbrouck 1999: 264) between conference interpreters and liaison interpreters. The signiWcant advantage of the ULFE’s strategic placement in a university structure is enhanced by the fruitful interaction between academic disciplines and language practitioners. Recognition for these undervalued, neglected professionals is more readily achieved by means of this link. The opposite eVect, however, can be caused by the public perception that universities only provide academic training, without equipping students/graduates with practical knowhow for the “real world out there”. Another shining example of how university training has beneWted community/liaison interpreters working within a health care environment has been the involvement of experts from many diVerent Welds of academic specialization in the development of such a training programme during 1997 (cf. Erasmus 1998: 39–40). Working alongside the experts in the Weld of interpreting, there were lecturers from medical law, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, anthropology, social work, linguistics and the various languages. Their academic knowledge was obviously essential, but at the same time each of them had gained a keener appreciation of the experience of working alongside interpreters in their Welds of specialization.

Concluding remarks The training of language practitioners leads to the creation of job opportunities for linguistically gifted individuals, especially among previously disadvantaged groups. Most of those able to speak several oYcial languages Xuently are mother-tongue speakers of African languages. White people, on the other hand, are linguistically disadvantaged in this sense — few have been exposed to other oYcial languages in such a way as to encourage them to become proWcient in these languages, even though they may be bilingual or have a working knowledge of a European language for use as a tourist or for trade or academic purposes. As a development project aimed at the linguistic empowerment of all South

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Africans at the level of local government, LOGTIS promotes participation in the decision-making processes which matter most. For those talented individuals who have the opportunity to take part in the programme, LOGTIS oVers capacity building through academic and in-service training. Experience gained in the Weld of language facilitation also empowers students by means of the development of entrepreneurial skills as freelance interpreters and translators. Adding a considerable component of technological information management to the training of such language practitioners may in future help to secure their positions in municipalities by giving them an additional area of capability. Technological know-how would also ensure that relevant information accessible via the Internet, once translated by the LOGTIS units, could be made available in the main languages of each region. Professionalization remains one of the urgent outstanding issues to be addressed. The South African Translators’ Institute oVers accreditation examinations for translation and simultaneous interpreting, which is a step in the right direction particularly for more experienced language practitioners. There is, however, a strong tendency within municipalities — constantly plagued by Wnancial constraints and crises — to cherish the hope that they can continue to utilize untrained multilingual staV members, often with severe limitations in terms of aptitude and linguistic abilities, to pose as able, professional language practitioners. In conclusion, the main thrust behind the use of development subsidies for a comprehensive, multifaceted project such as LOGTIS may be formulated thus: training is essential, but not suYcient in the case of a newly ‘discovered’ profession such as that of the language practitioner — in particular the profession of the interpreter. Lobbying for and actively creating posts for these obviously indispensable professional people should receive as much attention as the training itself.

Notes 1. Skutnabb-Kangas & Phillipson (1995) favour this term. 2. The year in which the new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) was adopted. The Constitution is available at: http://www.constitution.org.za. 3. A Germanic language originating from 17th century Dutch. 4. A city in the Free State Province, situated in the centre of the “GoldWelds” area, i.e. the

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gold-mining region of this province. The Free State is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. 5. The term “minority rights” does not necessarily refer to the number of people involved — in South Africa the rights of the majority of the population were grossly diminished and disregarded in the past. 6. It seems that “practicability” — in the Wnal analysis — also equates simply to aVordability.

Translation in China and the call of the 21st century Lin Wusun Translators Association of China

As concerned scholars, we are all deeply interested in the state of the translation profession in China. We are gratiWed when progress is achieved; we are unhappy when we Wnd the profession bogged down in the quagmire of knotty problems. And we would like to know where translation in China is heading as we are about to cross the threshold into the 21st century. So, where are we heading? Let us Wrst take a hard look at the major trends which have emerged during the two decades since China started its reform and opening to the outside world.1

Major trends in China An expanding market The market looks promising for translators/interpreters (hereafter T/Is), thanks to China’s rapid economic development. Demand far exceeds supply. An increasing number of international conferences, exhibitions, festivals and other events are being held in Beijing, Shanghai, other major Chinese cities, and even in outlying provinces and regions. The World Horticulture Expo in Kunming, Yunnan Province in the southwest, attended by one million foreign tourists, and the World Architects Congress and International Philatelists Conference were among the hundreds of international gatherings held in China during 1999. All this requires an enormous number of conference and tourist interpreters. A sign of the times is that, besides the big, traditional translation and publishing companies like the China International Publishing Group and the China Translation and Publishing Corporation in Beijing, a host of mediumsized and small companies have Xourished in all parts of the country. More

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recently, quite a few private companies or partnerships have been established, with some run by American or other Western expatriates. You can Wnd them on websites at the push of a button. And freelance T/Is are legion. So competition is Werce and rates vary, not always on the basis of service and quality. As in other parts of the world, conference interpreters are well paid, while their poor cousins, the translators, are underpaid. This has caused a great deal of complaints on the part of the translators, and the Translators Association of China (TAC) is hoping to organize a copyright committee to look into this matter.

Expansion in work types and scope The scope of T/I continues to expand. Demand in such Welds as business and international trade, law, media and sci-tech has increased tremendously. Giant projects like the construction of the Xiaolangdi Dam on the Yellow River and the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, in which quite a number of multinational companies are involved, require hundreds of translators to handle the contracts, feasibility reports, technical materials and blueprints generated. Sometimes, scores of interpreters are needed to help the foreign specialists. The Legal Commission of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament and legislative body, has its own translation service. It compiles and publishes in English an annual collection of laws and regulations adopted by the NPC. But some foreign companies doing business with China are in such a hurry to Wnd out about those laws and regulations which concern them that they hire their own translators to do the job. Media translation, speciWcally, the translation of documentaries, TV plays and movies, is now “big business” which far exceeds the workload of news and features translators. Most foreign Wlms shown in China are translated into Chinese instead of being shown in the original languages. Dubbing is more common and popular than subtitling. As Chinese movies are entering the international market, their translation and subtitling are also growing apace. Sci-tech translation, which is closely linked with information-retrieving and research, has become a trade in itself, as demonstrated by the appearance of an increasing number of translated articles in the hundreds of scientiWc and technical journals across the country. One can surmise the scale and dimension of the translation/interpretation work being done from the following Wgures: According to one authoritative estimate, there are half a million T/Is in China,2 among whom 50,000 are accredited translators.3

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I should add that a good number of the translators are those engaged in ethnic language translation within China. With Wfty-Wve minority ethnic groups, many of whom have their own languages, the translation from Han Chinese into the languages of those minority peoples, and vice versa, plays a very important role in the political, economic and cultural life of the entire nation. For example, the amount of legal translation is tremendous because every law adopted nationally has to be translated into all the major ethnic minority languages. Most of this work is done under the direction of the Ethnic Languages Translation Centre in Beijing. And the laws and regulations adopted at the autonomous region level have also to be translated into the languages used locally. If we add to that the translation of literary and scientiWc works as well as contracts and other commercial papers, we can then visualize the signiWcance of ethnic language translation. With the acceleration of the development of the minority areas, the need for this type of translation will increase rather than decrease.

Working into a foreign language Because of the lack of foreigners who have an adequate command of the Chinese language, Chinese T/Is have to be capable of translating and/or interpreting both from foreign languages into Chinese and the other way around. There is a large number of foreign language publications in China — newspapers, general and technical magazines and books — and foreign language programmes broadcast on China Radio International (which broadcasts in thirty-eight foreign languages daily) and China Central Television. Many regional stations have launched programmes in foreign languages, too. Much of this type of translation is done by Chinese translators. Of course, to ensure quality for this type of “non-mother tongue translation”, foreign editors are employed as “revisers”. Now, with China’s increased opening and rising international status, a growing number of foreign students have come to China to study the Chinese language and culture. Increasingly, these China scholars are engaged in translation from Chinese into their own mother tongue. It is therefore quite common now to have translation partnership and joint publishing so that we have the best of both worlds. It is jokingly said that some of the best works of literary translation are done by couples of mixed marriages!

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A reduction in languages Except perhaps in literary translation, there is a shrinkage in the number of languages used in translation. English continues to dominate the Weld, followed by French, Japanese, German, Russian, Spanish and Arabic, in the order of their popularity in China. With the exception of Japanese and Korean, which are growing in importance thanks to increased exchanges between China and its two eastern neighbours, only a few other Asian languages maintain their previous positions. Since most of the translation work concerns business and trade, languages of limited diVusion suVer. In the interest of the development of intra-Asian ties, it is hoped that China’s educational authorities will pay special attention to maintaining and developing the study of Asian languages and cultures. The same is true of European and non-European languages of limited diVusion.

The impact of international copyright China’s adhesion to the international copyright convention is a signiWcant development for the publishing world and, consequently, for translators too. Initially, this has a restraining eVect on the number of titles of foreign literature published in China. Moreover, market considerations have often resulted in the translation and publication of pop literature instead of pure literature. Unfortunately, the biography of Bill Gates seems to have a greater attraction for readers than, say the works of the American woman writer Toni Morrison. Many a translator has lamented over the fact that the “marketization” of the economy has had a negative eVect on both the selection of titles and the quality of literary works translated and published. However, it is gratifying to see that public censure of shoddy work and plagiarism has notably improved the situation, and the translation and publication of world literary classics and also of serious and sophisticated modern works are picking up momentum again. Translators are also learning to protect themselves when signing contracts with their publishers. In the long run, the protection of intellectual property rights is bound to bring greater beneWts to bona Wde translators in China.

New technologies The use of computers, translation and terminology software, Internet and e-mail is spreading. The information industry is opening up new vistas for

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translators in China, e.g. translating-editing is often required rather than simple straight translation. EVorts are being made to introduce machinetranslation despite the fact that Chinese is vastly diVerent from the Western languages in terms of philology. At a national sci-tech translation symposium in 1999, this issue was discussed in detail for the Wrst time in the country. Surely, modern science and technology will impact translators too. Technically speaking, “inter-continental translation” is within our reach. A piece of translation work can be done on another continent and then sent almost instantly to the customer via e-mail, crossing national boundaries. Compilation of terminology dictionaries is receiving more attention. This will greatly expand the scope of the market and improve the translators’ capabilities. The question is: Do we have the vision and boldness to make full use of information technology? Or will it pass us by because we are too slow to react to the breath-taking pace of its development and enjoy its full beneWts?

Improving standards While there exists a top layer of Wrst-class T/Is, the general quality level of Chinese translation/interpretation is not up to what is desired. For example, it’s a plus to tourism when we introduced English-language street signs and shop names, but when these well-intentioned eVorts to help are “sabotaged” by misspellings and outrageous grammatical mistakes, it becomes a deWnite minus. And the howlers in publications, brochures and product descriptions have become part of our daily experience, so bad that I should like to use the term “language pollution” to characterize them. Though Chinese is our mother tongue, yet the quality of the translation of many foreign literary works into Chinese still leave much to be desired, both because of poor understanding of the original and of sloppy use of the Chinese language. These failings have increasingly aroused the attention of TAC and professional translators at large. Discussions about the nature and solution of the problem have begun. Coordinated eVorts are being made to remedy the situation.

The way ahead Historically, the translation profession has played a vital role in the development of Chinese thought and civilization as a whole. Translation historians have listed the Tang Dynasty (7th to 10th century), late Ming and early Qing

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(17th century), the late 19th century and early 20th century, the 1950s and the period between late 1970s and 1980s as the Wve peak periods in the history of the translation profession in China.4 Each has had a tremendous impact on the development of Chinese thought and therefore the course of Chinese history. Today, as we are about to cross the threshold into the 21st Century, Chinese translators look forward to another Xourishing of their profession and hope to play a role comparable to, if not surpassing, that played by their predecessors. For this to happen, much needs to be done to improve Chinese translation practice, especially in the following Wve areas: 1. Reform of translation teaching. This is to ensure that more qualiWed T/Is are trained before they enter the market. As of now, with the exception of the Translation Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University and the translation department at Guangzhou Foreign Languages and Foreign Trade University, there are no translation departments in China’s higher educational institutions. There are translation and interpretation courses for undergraduate studies as well as translation M.A. degrees in the foreign languages departments of many universities, but that is not enough. We are pushing for the establishment of translation/interpretation schools, colleges and translation centres like those in other parts of the world.5 With the introduction of modern methods of teaching and a curriculum catering more to market needs, this will ensure a continuous supply of young T/Is whose mastery of languages and translation theory and techniques, specialized knowledge and up-to-date information science will prepare them for the challenging demands of the 21st century. 2. Introduction of a new system of accreditation. At present, there is a national accreditation system based on evaluation by special committees of the applicants’ educational qualiWcations and past performances. The titles accredited are linked with the recipients’ status and salary, but not with the scale of remuneration according to the quality of their translation work. With the introduction of the market economy, a new kind of certiWcation system for translation practitioners similar to those established in some developed countries is needed. It is hoped that, to better regulate the profession, a language and translation examination system following the pattern of the Institute of Linguists in the UK and/or the Australian NAATI system will be introduced. To start the ball rolling, TAC is pushing for the introduction of a system of certiWcation for professionals engaged in international conference interpreting.

Translation in China and the call of the 21st century 217

3. Closer ties between translators, trainers and clients. Our European colleagues are in the process of introducing and developing the POSI programme. We can beneWt by learning from their experiments. Already, during TAC’s national conference in Beijing last month, members of its translation theory and teaching committee discussed the possibility of writing a new translation textbook suited to the country’s fast-changing conditions and testing out its eYcacy on diVerent translation classes.6 4. Development of translation studies and translation criticism. China has had its own translation theories for centuries. Many translators and translation professors who have studied abroad during the last decade have introduced to China the latest translation theories from the West. Others have written works formulating various theories of their own. What is needed now is further reWnement and elaboration of such theories which, while drawing on the best from our own tradition and from abroad, are developed on the basis of our own language and translation practice, because this is the only way such theories can be applicable to China’s translation needs and be useful in guiding practitioners in diVerent Welds.7 It is only natural that the quality of translation varies with diVerent translators and that translators follow diVerent approaches and principles. What is important is that translation work is constantly evaluated so that the overall quality may improve with practice. Encouraging criticism — and countercriticism — is vital to creating a free and lively academic environment necessary for such improvement. Like China’s foreign trade, which used to be propelled by the export of labour- and resource-intensive commodities, and is now shifting to that of knowledge-intensive products, the time has come for our profession to shift gears, switching from quantity to quality translation. This is the way for us to upgrade our contribution to society, raise our social status and with it, our remuneration. 5. Development of terminology science. With the coming of the Information Age, languages — both source and target languages — change with a speed never witnessed before. New terminology and expressions appeared like “bamboo shoots after a spring shower”. In the West, terminology science has gained increased recognition. We in China should pay more attention to this important branch of translation studies. In Beijing, a number of translation enterprises are planning to work together to establish an ongoing study of the translation of new Chinese terms into English and vice versa.

218 Lin Wusun

Conclusion However, all this is just the beginning. We still have a long way to go if we are to answer the call of the 21st century. In all these endeavours, TAC should and will play a signiWcant role, both in calling the attention of the public and the government to the need for introducing these measures and in mobilizing their members and other colleagues to take an active part in the related projects. Likewise, society at large must be informed of the important role T/Is play in China’s overall development and the clients must be “educated” to provide the translators with the necessary information for their translation work. In both these tasks, we bear an unshirkable social responsibility. If we don’t speak up and push for the adoption of needed measures, no one else will voice for us our needs and demands, and our high hopes will forever remain empty dreams. Within China, academic exchanges in the Weld of translation and interpreting through national conferences and symposiums are on the rise. Altogether, a total of twenty-two such events were held during the last six years. Exchanges between translators on the mainland and their colleagues in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are also increasing. So are international and regional exchanges between Chinese T/Is and their peers abroad. A most convincing proof of this are many pan-Asian and international forums and symposiums held in Shanghai and Beijing in the last few years. Last but not least, TAC is now a more active member of the International Federation of Translators (FIT), facilitating exchanges of information and ideas about translation practice and translation teaching between translators in China and the rest of the world. A Virtual Asian Regional Centre (homepage) was set up in 2000, which links up the national translators associations of Asia through email, providing them with the latest information on translation teaching and practice in these countries and throughout the world. This growing exchange will help speed up the development of our profession, not to mention the promotion of translators’ status and the protection of translators’ rights. If my account of the trends and problems in China’s translation Weld is accurate, what do we see looming on the horizon with the advent of the 21st century? Well, the process of marketization will deWnitely continue, relentlessly if you will. Despite the present Asian Wnancial troubles and economic downturn, China will forge ahead. Economic and cultural exchanges will expand. Technology will develop, and the Xow of information and ideas will grow on a scale never thought possible in the last two decades. These developments will pro-

Translation in China and the call of the 21st century 219

vide a “bullish” environment for T/Is working in China. The Chinese government has proclaimed as its basic state policy the development of education and of science and technology as the motive force for China’s overall drive. I would like to argue that a necessary corollary of that policy is the development of updated translation teaching and the improvement of translation practice. So we can say with full conWdence that the 21st century will be one of unprecedented opportunities and challenges for the translation profession in China. Opportunities because there is a crying need for full-scale development, not only in quantity but even more importantly, in quality. Challenges because we have to make a real eVort to change our ways, to discard outdated methods of thinking and modes of behaviour, and to break new ground in organizational structure. And that’s a very diYcult and perhaps painful process in a country so steeped in traditions. To conclude, it is my conviction that with so many young translators and translation scholars coming to the fore, we will forge ahead, however diYcult the reform process will be. As a Chinese saying goes, “you zhi zhe, shi jing cheng” the English equivalent of which is “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Notes 1. Editor’s Note: The PRC adopted a new, open policy in 1979, after having shut itself oV from most of the world for nearly three decades. 2. See report by Ye Suifu, president of TAC, to the national council of the Translators Association of China, held in Beijing in November 1998. Zhao Qizheng, director of the State Information OYce, gave the much bigger Wgure of one million T/Is in his opening address to the same council. The diVerence, I believe, lies in their method of calculation. As many T/ Is are simultaneously professors, engineers, researchers, tour guides, etc., it depends on how wide one casts one’s net. 3. Figure supplied by the Ministry of Personnel, which is responsible for overseeing the granting of such accreditation. This is more reliable and not an estimation. 4. Compare address by Ye Suifu at the First Asian Translators Forum, Beijing, 1995. 5. Things seem to be moving faster in the realm of translation teaching. The Shanghai Foreign Studies University has decided to establish an M.A. degree for T/Is. Peking University is planning on the establishment of a translation centre. 6. A timetable for this textbook was decided by members of the committee while attending the Shanghai Conference. 7. The Wrst of such quarterly panels took place in February 1999.

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Index

A Adaptation 119, 143, 173 Arabic 73, 79, 168, 185, 214 Afrikaans 83, 88, 197, 200, 203–205 Alexieva, Bistra 65 Alice in Wonderland 142–143 Andersen, Hans Christian 140–144 Anglicization 198 Apprenticeship 48, 194 Archives 48, 56, 57 Arnold, Matthew 30 Arntz, Reiner 79 Arrojo, Rosemary 12 Assessment 14, 15, 18, 28, 43, 53, 54, 59– 64, 79, 82, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 150, 167–169 Assignments 53, 62, 64, 68, 72, 77, 91–92, 131, 135–138 Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) 130 Audience 70–71, 116–117, 119–120, 123, 131, 133–134, 137, 147, 154, 181, 183– 184, 186–187, 189, 193 Augustine, St. 36 B Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) 60, 130, 141 Bakker, Matthijs 16 Barthes, Roland 9 Bassnett (Bassnett-McGuire), Susan 33, 139, 154 Becker, Jacques 191 Behaviour 20, 48, 89, 90, 92, 93, 97, 140, 219 verbal 70 non-verbal 70 Belgium (Belgian) 191–192, 194–195, 200 Bell, Roger 33, 35, 40, 169 Berge, Zane 50, 54

Berman, Antoine 134 Beukes, Anne-Marie 198 Bicultural 146, 148–149 Bonds 101, 105–107 Bourke, Vernon 36 Bowen, David 70 Bowen, Magaret 70 Branching 25–26 Brown, Allison 53–54, 56, 59 Brown, Alan 136 Bulletin boards 52 Bühler, Hildgund 79, 116, 121, 133 C Campe, Joachim Heinrich 143 Canada 129–130, 132–136, 150, 157, 161, 169–170 Canada Council for the Arts 129 Canadian Council of Translators and Interpreters (CTIC) 130 Carroll, Lewis 140 Cartier, Jacques 157 Chamberlain, Lori 12 Chang, Nam-fung 25 Chesher, Terry 79 Chesterman, Andrew 79 Children’s literature 79, 139–140, 194 China 19, 21, 27, 60, 147, 211–219 China Central Television (CCTV) 177, 179, 187, 213 Chinese 5, 22–27, 30, 59–61, 63, 147, 150, 182, 184, 187, 212–213, 215–217 Chinese Television Network (CTN) 177– 178, 181, 187 Citizen Kane 193 Classroom work 67–68 Code of conduct 90, 165, 167, 171, 173 Cohesion 62, 122 lexical 99–100

236 Index

Columbus, Christopher 12 Coleridge, Samuel Butler 139 Collins, Mauri 50, 54 Community of practice 47, 57 Comparative literature 139 Competence (see also proWciency) 28, 48– 50, 54, 75–76, 81, 141, 143–144, 147, 165, 167 Computer 76, 79 -mediated communications (CMC) 47, 50–52, 54–55 Concordia University 130 Culture 6, 11–18, 39, 51, 75, 118–119, 132– 133, 137, 142, 145–152, 159–160, 172, 191, 194, 200, 213–214 target language 119, 145, 147 Cultural background 146, 150, 152 diVerence 146–147, 154, 159, 200 politics 132 value 150 Cultural Interpreter Language and Interpretation Skills Assessment Tool (CILISAT) 168 D Danish 139–143 Darton, Harvey 141 Defoe, Daniel 143 Delisle, Jean 33, 129, 132, 157 Denmark 140–143 Derrida, Jacques 8–10 Dialogue 88, 133, 149, 158–160, 162–163, 168, 194 Disney 143 Doctor Rat 27 Dollerup, Cay 79, 147, 148, 154 Du Plessis, Theo 84, 96 Dubbing 180, 189–195, 212 Dummy booths 69–70 Dutch 12, 192, 194, 209 E Economic factor 189, 201–202

Edwards, Blake 193 Elsinore 137 Engels, Yukino 12 English 17–18, 21, 23–24, 26, 35–37, 56– 57, 59–60, 67–69, 85, 96–97, 129–148, 150, 167, 190, 193, 200–205, 212, 214– 215, 217 as oYcial language 73, 83, 85, 129, 197 as second language 145, 201 translating from 8–10, 35, 59, 106, 141, 200, 217 translating into 8–10, 130–131, 140, 143, 200, 214, 217 interpreting from 67–69, 88, 205 interpreting into 67–69, 88, 96, 205 E-mail 35, 49, 51–53, 57–58, 63, 171, 214– 215, 218 Entrance test/exam 73 Englund Demitrove, Birgitta 76 Equivalence 4–7, 13, 24, 78, 118, 120, 124 Erasmus, Mabel 198, 204, 208 Ethnicity 133 Eugene Onegin 10 European Union (EU) 72–73, 141, 199 Evaluation 40, 53, 59–61, 70, 80, 92–94, 96, 115–124, 168, 169, 173, 207, 216 Evans-Pritchard, Edward 17, 181 Examination 67, 86, 88, 137, 140, 143, 175, 209, 216 “take-home” exam 137, 143 F Feedback 49, 51–52, 66, 92, 94–96, 98, 135 Fellini, Federico 193 Feminist 12 Film (see also movie) 7, 143, 154, 190–193, 212 Finland 129 Firth, John R. 31–32 Flaming 50–51, 56 Flemish Community government 200, 202, 207 Flotow von, Luise 133 Folkart, Barbara 7

Index 237

Foreignness 134 Foucault, Michel 199 Fraser, Janet 81 Free State Province 202, 204, 207 French 8–10, 67, 69, 73, 129–132, 134–139, 141, 154, 157, 189, 191–194, 214 Function expressive 131 informative 131 persuasive 131 theory 131 Functional linguistic theory 27 G Gaboriau, Linda 133 Gender 7, 11–12, 84, 133, 165, 200 Genres 10, 53, 131, 133, 140 German 8, 10, 35, 67–69, 73, 141, 143, 214 Gerver, David 87 Gile, Daniel 65, 79–80, 89, 116 Grimm brothers 141 H Haas, William 31, 32 Halliday, Michael 118 Harris, Brian 6 Health Care Interpreter Partnership Project 165 Herbst, Thomas 192, 193 Hertog, Erik 208 Hirsch, E.D. 146, 151 Hoey, Michael 99–101, 107, 109–110 Holmes, James 20–21 Holzl, Alan 54 Homel, David 133 HONYAKU 47, 55–58 Hospitals 83, 161, 163–164, 170 Howard, Richard 9 Huajing 22, 30 Hungarian 100–101, 104–109, 111–112 Hunt, P. 141 I Identity 5, 9, 26, 157, 174, 175

national 137 Induction 47, 49, 56 Ingo 154 Institute of Linguists 165, 167–168, 216 Interaction 54, 89, 138, 159, 162, 207–208 cultural 150 social 59 Interactive structure 148 Intercultural transfer 137 International Federation of Translators (FIT) 19, 130, 218 Internet 47, 49, 53, 55, 67, 76, 150–151, 154, 203, 209, 214 chat groups 52 relay chat (IRC) 52 Internship 48 Interpreting conference 89, 95, 157, 160–162, 172– 174, 183–184, 186, 216 consecutive (CI) 65–68, 70–72, 89, 117, 123, 160, 168, 171, 179, 205 community/ community-based 157– 175, 203 court 89, 157, 160–162, 172–174 cultural 158–159, 168 deWnitions of 158–161 for the media (see also television interpreting) 71, 186 liaison (see also community interpreting) 89, 158, 160, 203 process 89, 117 professionalization 157 settings 158–161 simultaneous (SI) 65, 67–68, 71–72, 84, 87, 89, 91–92, 115, 117, 123, 160, 171, 177–182, 185, 201, 203– 206, 209 standards 163–169 Interpretation Standards 1996 and Translation Guidelines 1998 165–167 Interview 85–86, 95, 137, 160, 180, 182, 184–185, 187 Intralinguistic problems 152 IsiXhosa 88, 197, 203–205

238 Index

J Japan 12, 27, 60, 137, 177, 187 Japan Association of Translators 55 Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)177, 187 Japanese 12, 47, 55, 58, 187, 214 Jin, Di 146 Johnson, Mark 36–37 Johnson, Samuel 31 Jonasson, Kirstin 76 Josephson, Hannah 136 Joual 136 Journalism 132 K Kazan, Elia 191 Ke, Ping 146 Kingscott, GeoVrey 76 Kintsch, Walter 99 Knowledge 12, 23, 28–29, 40–41, 47–48, 50, 52, 56, 66, 68–69, 73–77, 79, 81, 85– 87, 115, 117, 119, 120, 138–140, 146, 148–149, 163–164, 181, 183, 185, 190, 199, 207–208, 216–217 cultural 63, 146, 149, 154, 167 Knowledge capital 48 Krings, Hans 81 Kupsch-Losereit, Sigrid 79 Kurdish 73 Kurz, Ingrid 70–71, 116 Kussmaul, Paul 41, 75–76, 80 L Ladmiral, J. R. 41 LakoV, George 36–37 Lambert, Sylvie 86–87 Language(s) 3–6, 8–10, 12, 14, 17–19, 21– 22, 24, 26–27, 31–32, 36–42, 47–49, 53, 55–56, 58–62, 64, 67, 69, 73–77, 79–81, 83–86, 88, 90, 92–93, 96–100, 115, 117, 119–120, 131, 133, 136–139, 141, 143, 145–152, 154, 157, 159–164, 167–173, 179–187, 189–190, 192–194, 197–209, 212–217

acquisition 81 as communal system 29 as sub-system 29 competence 146, 167 immigrant 73, 160–161 industry 129 oYcial 73, 83–85, 129, 158–159, 161– 164, 197–198, 208 policy 83, 199, 205–206 rights 197, 199, 206–207 school 73 Larkosh, Christopher 137 Lawendowski, B.P. 28 Leach, Edmund 17 Learning 12, 47–49, 51, 55–56, 59, 61, 71, 74–75, 79, 97, 115, 117, 120, 145–146, 170–171, 207, 214, 217 collaborative 49 deep 48 learner-centred 54 online 52–54 Lefevere, Andre 17 Leppihalme, Ritva 148, 150, 152, 154 Lexical problems 146 Lexical repetition 99, 100, 107 Lingua franca 144, 200 Linguistic Human Rights 84, 197 Linguistics 7, 36, 40, 59, 63, 74–76, 132, 154, 193, 208 Lip synchronization 191 Literary genres 133, 135, 140, 144 Literary history 139, 154 Literary Translators’ Association of Canada (LTAC) 130 Literature 10, 22, 23, 26, 65, 75, 76, 78–81, 129–133, 135, 137, 139, 141–144, 154, 172, 194, 214 Littau, Karin 12 Little Mermaid, The 143 Local Government Translation & Interpreting Service (LOGTIS) 198, 200–207, 209 Long, J. 87 Longley, P.E. 87

Index 239

Lörscher, Wolfgang 81 M Mailing lists (ML) 47–52, 54–58 Maria Chapdelaine 10 Master’s degree (M.A.) 140–141, 207, 216, 219 Mauriello, Gafriella 79 Mazrui, Alamin M. 200 Mazrui, Ali A. 200 McAlester, Gerard 79 Media 50, 72, 88, 97, 186, 192 translation/interpreting for 71, 189, 191, 193–194, 212 Meta-theoretical/methodological dimension 21 Chinese-related 21–22 history of 21 Meyer, I. 86–87 Mock conferences 68–69, 71 Module 171, 189–190, 194 Monitoring mechanism 49 Mossop, Brian 76 Movie (see also Wlm) 190, 212 N Nabokov, Vladimir 10 Narrative 26, 133, 183–184, 186 National Accreditation Authority for Translators & Interpreters (NAATI) 167, 169, 216 National Register of Public Service Interpreters (PSI) 165 Needham, Rodney 17–18 Nepveu, Pierre 134 Netherlands, The 129 Nets 101 Nettiquette 51, 56 Neubert, 21–23 Newmark, Peter 28, 76, 115, 147 Nida, Eugene 32–33, 35, 39, 82, 146, 148 Nine yards 149 Nirajana, Tejaswini 12

Nuer 17–18 Norm(s) 6–7, 10, 47–49 acquisition 48 O Oral delivery 52, 70–71, 86, 116–117, 177– 180, 182–183, 185 Ordre des traducteurs et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTIAQ) 130 P Paraphrase 21, 36, 86, 100, 103, 107, 141 Parker, R. 55 Peachey, Caroline 142 Peer 116 feedback 49 mentors 48 teaching 48–49 Perreault, Charles 141 Pink Panther, The 193 Pöchhacker, Franz 65 Pöhl, Esther 76 Polanyi, M. 42 Portugal 129 Postcolonial 7, 12 Postmodern 12 Précis writing 86, 194 Pride and Prejudice 23 Professional 43, 47, 73–78, 80–81, 101, 111, 130, 135, 207–215 community 51 translation 61, 99–101, 104–109 Profesionalization 157, 172–175, 209 ProWciency (see also competence) 12, 23, 65, 74, 77, 80, 85–86, 165, 167, 200 Project(s) 13, 25, 27, 54, 62, 64, 80, 131, 134, 137, 140, 142–143, 165, 175, 198– 209, 212, 218 Public service 158–161, 163, 165, 168 Public speaking skills (see also oral delivery) 70–71 Pushkin 10 Pym, Anthony 79

240 Index

Q Quality assessment (QA) 59, 61–62, 64, 118, 123 Quebec 130, 133–137, 191 R Reddy, M. J. 36–38 Repetition model 99–100, 109 links 100–107 Reunbrouck, Dirk 208 Rewriting 10, 134 Ricci, Matteo 17 Riccardi, Alessandra 117, 121 Robinson, Douglas 32, 35, 39, 115 Romanticism 139 Rose, Marilyn Giddis 32, 35, 39 Roy, Gabrielle 136, 162 S Scott, Walter 143 Sesotho 88, 197, 203–205 Setswana 197, 203 Shannon, Claude E. 33, 35, 39 Shensi 22 Shields, Carol 131–132 Shine, N. 141 Simon, Sherry 10, 133 Skinner, Quentin 15–16 Skopos theory 133 Snell-Hornby, Mary 76, 79, 99, 148, 154 Socio-psychological factors 49 South Africa 83, 85–86, 94–95, 97, 197– 201, 205, 207, 209, 210 Spanish 69, 73, 168, 214 Spectrum of contexts 150 Speech act theory 15, 25 Speech non-standard 133 Standards for Health Care Interpreting (HCI) 165–167 Steiner, George 33 Streetcar Named Desire, A 191 Subtitling 189–194, 212

Sun, Zhili 24–26 Sweden 73–74, 80, 129, 159 Syntactic structure 25 T Taber, Charles 33 Teaching 19–20, 23, 27–29, 31, 41, 49, 52– 56, 71–72, 74–81, 120, 129, 145, 151– 152, 154, 189–190, 194, 216, 218–219 bottom-up 59 material 23, 67–68, 80, 185–186 top-down 59, 62 web (on-line) 53, 55 Technology 54–55, 65, 190, 215, 218, 219 Teletext 192 Television interpreting (see also interpreting for the media) 177–186 speech characteristics of 183 Xow management 179, 181 emergency news 178 topic-led 178 Terseness 147 Text(s) administrative 131 commercial 131, 134, 213 organization 101 technical 115, 131, 134 Thematic identity 27 There-be construction 26 Thiéry, Christopher 65 Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) 41–43 Training case studies 65–98 in universities (see also SSLMIT) 51, 60, 65, 136, 140–141, 169–170, 207– 208, 216, 219 professional programmes 134, 169 task-based 59–60, 62, 64 video-assisted 70 Translatability 14 Translation and creation 132 culture of 49 cooperative 177–179

Index 241

didactics 79–80 for the media 189, 192–193 free 30, 115 history 14, 115, 132, 216 literal 30, 115, 141 literary 129–133, 139, 144, 194, 213– 214, 219 norms 7, 47 perceptions of 3, 5, 11 pragmatic 131 process 32, 59, 61, 64, 81, 145, 147– 148 professional 51, 61, 73, 99–101, 104– 109, 111, 130, 207 strategies 41, 133 theory 19, 28, 30, 33, 40, 74–75, 78, 80, 132, 140, 143, 216, 217 trainee 99–101, 105–107, 109–110, 112 Translation Studies 7, 15–23, 25, 29, 32– 33, 39, 139–140, 143, 154, 217 applied 20–21, 148 descriptive 20–21 pure 20 theoretical 20–21 Translators free-lance 76, 209, 212 novice 48 professional 43, 47, 74–78, 80–81, 101, 130, 135, 215 trainee 101 Transparency 4–7, 11, 13, 30 Tremblay, Michel 136 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 83–85, 87–88, 91–97, 200–201 Turner, Mark 36

Unit of translation 60, 78, 205 key functional unit 25 United Kingdom, The 158, 165, 167–168 United Nations (UN) 70,199

U Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) 84, 86, 94, 198, 200, 202, 206–208

Z Zhang, Zeqian 22 Zhu, Chunshen 25

V Van Dam, Ine Mary 65, 91 Van Den Broeck, Raymond 76 Van Dijk, Teun 99 Venuti, Lawrence 134 Verlaine, Paul 136 Video conferencing 71 Viaggio, Sergio 65 Vienna model 67–71 Voice over 192, 194 W Weaver, Warren 33, 35, 39 Weber, Samuel 8, 65 Websites 53, 62, 212 Weigand, Chriss 84, 96–97 Welkom Municipality 201, 205–206 White, James Boyd 38 Williams, Tennesee 191 Winkler, Gustav 76 Winnie-the-Pooh 142 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 31, 36–37, 42 Woodsworth, Judith 132 Wordplay 10 World wide web (WWW) 49, 52–54, 59, 61, 63, 186 Writing 9, 32, 37, 52, 60, 75, 129, 131, 137, 194 Y Yvane, Jean 190

In the BENJAMINS TRANSLATION LIBRARY the following titles have been published thus far or are scheduled for publication: 1. SAGER, Juan C: Language Engineering and Translation: Consequences of automation, 1994. 2. SNELL-HORNBY, Mary, Franz POCHHACKER and Klaus KAINDL (eds): Translation Studies: An interdiscipline. Selected papers from the Translation Congress, Vienna, 9–12 September 1992. 1994. 3. LAMBERT, Sylvie and Barbara MOSER-MERCER (eds): Bridging the Gap: Empirical research on simultaneous interpretation. 1994. 4. TOURY, Gideon: Descriptive Translation Studies — and beyond. 1995. 5. DOLLERUP, Cay and Annette LINDEGAARD (eds): Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2: Insights, aims, visions. Selected papers from the Second Language International Conference, Elsinore, 4–6 June 1993. 1994. 6. EDWARDS, Alicia Betsy: The Practice of Court Interpreting. 1995. 7. BEAUGRANDE, Robert de, Abdulla SHUNNAQ and Mohamed Helmy HELIEL (eds): Language Discourse and Translation in the West and Middle East. Selected and revised papers from the conference on Language and Translation, Irbid, Jordan 1992. 1994. 8. GILE, Daniel: Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. 1995. 9. REY, Alain: Essays on Terminology. 1995. 10. KUSSMAUL, Paul: Training the Translator. 1995. 11. VINAY, Jean Paul and Jean DARBELNET: Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A methodology for Translation. 1995. 12. BERGENHOLTZ, Henning and Sven TARP: Manual of Specialised Lexicography: The preparation of specialised dictionaries. 1995. 13. DELISLE, Jean and Judith WOODSWORTH (eds): Translators through History. 1995. 14. MELBY, Alan with Terry WARNER: The Possibility of Language. A discussion of the nature of language, with implications for human and machine translation. 1995. 15. WILSS, Wolfram: Knowledge and Skills in Translator Behavior. 1996. 16. DOLLERUP, Cay and Vibeke APPEL: Teaching Translation and Interpreting 3. New Horizons. Papers from the Third Language International Conference, Elsinore, Denmark 9– 11 June 1995. 1996. 17. POYATOS, Fernando (ed.): Nonverbal Communication and Translation. New perspectives and challenges in literature, interpretation and the media. 1997. 18. SOMERS, Harold (ed.): Terminology, LSP and Translation. Studies in language engineering in honour of Juan C. Sager. 1996. 19. CARR, Silvana E., Roda P. ROBERTS, Aideen DUFOUR and Dini STEYN (eds): The Critical Link: Interpreters in the Community. Papers from the 1st international conference on interpreting in legal, health and social service settings, Geneva Park, Canada, 1–4 June 1995. 1997. 20. SNELL-HORNBY, Mary, Zuzana JETTMAROVÁ and Klaus KAINDL (eds): Translation as Intercultural Communication. Selected papers from the EST Congress – Prague 1995. 1997. 21. BUSH, Peter and Kirsten MALMKJÆR (eds): Rimbaud’s Rainbow. Literary translation in higher education. 1998. 22. CHESTERMAN, Andrew: Memes of Translation. The spread of ideas in translation theory. 1997.

23. GAMBIER, Yves, Daniel GILE and Christopher TAYLOR (eds): Conference Interpreting: Current Trends in Research. Proceedings of the International Conference on Interpreting: What do we know and how? 1997. 24. ORERO, Pilar and Juan C SAGER (eds): Translators on Translation. Giovanni Pontiero. 1997. 25. POLLARD, David E. (ed.): Translation and Creation. Readings of Western Literature in Early modern China, 1840–1918. 1998. 26. TROSBORG, Anna (ed.): Text Typology and Translation. 1997. 27. BEYLARD-OZEROFF, Ann, Jana KRÁLOVÁ and Barbara MOSER-MERCER (eds): Translator Strategies and Creativity. Selected Papers from the 9th International Conference on Translation and Interpreting, Prague, September 1995. In honor of Jirí Levi and Anton Popovic. 1998. 28. SETTON, Robin: Simultaneous Interpretation. A cognitive-pragmatic analysis. 1999. 29. WILSS, Wolfram: Translation and Interpreting in the 20th Century. Focus on German. 1999. 30. DOLLERUP, Cay: Tales and Translation. The Grimm Tales from Pan-Germanic narratives to shared international fairytales. 1999. 31. ROBERTS, Roda P., Silvana E. CARR, Diana ABRAHAM and Aideen DUFOUR (eds.): The Critical Link 2: Interpreters in the Community. Papers from the Second International Conference on Interpreting in legal, health and social service settings, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 19–23 May 1998. 2000. 32. BEEBY, Allison, Doris ENSINGER and Marisa PRESAS (eds.): Investigating Translation. Selected papers from the 4th International Congress on Translation, Barcelona, 1998. 2000. 33. GILE, Daniel, Helle V. DAM, Friedel DUBSLAFF, Bodil MARTINSEN and Anne Schjoldager (eds.): Getting Started in Interpreting Research. 2001. 34. GAMBIER, Yves and Henrik GOTTLIEB (eds.): (Multi) Media Translation. Concepts, practices, and research. 2001. 35. In preparation. 36. SCHMID, Monika S.: Translating the Elusive. Marked word order and subjectivity in English-German translation. 1999. 37. TIRKKONEN-CONDIT, Sonja and Riitta JÄÄSKELÄINEN (eds.): Tapping and Mapping the Processes of Translation and Interpreting. Outlooks on empirical research. 2000. 38. SCHÄFFNER, Christina and Beverly ADAB (eds.): Developing Translation Competence. 2000. 39. CHESTERMAN, Andrew, Natividad GALLARDO SAN SALVADOR and Yves GAMBIER (eds.): Translation in Context. Selected papers from the EST Congress, Granada 1998. 2000. 40. ENGLUND DIMITROVA, Birgitta and Kenneth HYLTENSTAM (eds.): Language Processing and Simultaneous Interpreting. Interdisciplinary perspectives. 2000. 41. NIDA, Eugene A.: Contexts in Translating. n.y.p. 42. HUNG, Eva (ed.): Teaching Translation and Interpreting 4. Building bridges. 2002 43. GARZONE, Giuliana and Maurizio VIEZZI (ed.): Interpreting in the 21st Century. Challenges and opportunities. n.y.p.