1. TRST 60010: Theory of Translation and Interpreting Week 10- Translation criticism, editing and proofreading Institute for Applied Linguistics (Translation) Modern and Classical Language Studies Kent State University- Fall 2007 Erik Angelone

2. Translation as a result  first focal point this semester = translation as a process  second focal point this semester = translation as a product  focus this week = translation as a result = to be assessed  major question = How do we judge translation quality? Take a few minutes to write down a response. translation quality assurance (Mossop 2001)  “the full set of procedures applied before, during and after the translation production process, by all members of a translating organization, to ensure that quality objectives important to clients are being met.”  How is the notion of procedures in the context of translation quality assurance different from the notion of translation procedures from earlier in the semester?  centered around translation criticism, editing and proofreading

3. Translation criticism  What distinguishes translation criticism from literary criticism, as we encountered when analyzing Poe in the Research and Writing course? What are some of the “norms” you observed in analyzing translation criticism for this week’s homework assignment? Share ideas in groups. See handout for topics to discuss. literary criticism  focus is on the literary or textual qualities of the translated text, judged on its own merits as a TL text.  advantage = translation can be examined in TC context  disadvantage = ST is disregarded; Why does this happen? translation criticism  involves evaluating the translation as a translation and in comparison with the source text = tend to be ST-oriented  criticism can be at the micro (linguistic) or macro (holistic) level  How was criticism distributed in the translation reviews you found?  What publications did you access to find translation reviews?

4. Translation criticism Some important things to consider when reading translation reviews: 1. Is the reviewer competent in the SL and the field? 2. What type of vocabulary and tone are used in the review?  “sweeping vocabulary” and radical censorial expressions should be avoided = “superbly translated”, “false”, awkwardly translated”, etc.  With this in mind, what kind of vocabulary and tone are appropriate? 3.Do reviewers focus mainly on the style, or also discuss “its intended audience, its economic value in the current book market, its relation to literary trends […], its place in the translator’s career” (Venuti 1995)? 4.Are evaluation criteria based on the TL alone (ie, idiomatic usage), or do they focus on principles that guided the creation of the translation (Maier 1996)  How can this fourth parameter be assessed?

5. Translation criticism: objectivity vs. subjectivity  Generally speaking, this degree of subjectivity should be kept to a minimum. Here is how this can be accomplished: 1. don’t regard the TT as a text ranking among other texts in the TL 2. avoid the premise that there is only one “correct translation” What parts of a translation can be classified as “correct” or “incorrect”? 3. distinguish between deemed “errors” and other translation phenomena  In what contexts may apparent errors be deliberate translation phenomena? Discuss in groups.  The ideal translation criticism will avoid subjectivity by focusing on defining the translator’s methods and analyzing the skopos (Maier 1998)  An analysis activity comparing two translation versions…

6. Translation criticism stages and textemes Three stages of translation criticism (Van den Broeck 1985) 1. Analysis of the ST  Identify all linguistic and extralinguistic elements that have functional relevance = textemes  phonic, lexical, and syntactic components, language varieties, figures of rhetoric, narrative and poetic structures, elements of text convention, etc. 2. Analysis of TT elements corresponding to these textemes  identify and classify shifts as obligatory or optional 3. Analysis of differences between ST/TT equivalence and “Adequate Translation”  summarize where “deviation” from SL/SC occurred and why  How does this third component relate to our discussions about assessing hegemonic influence from last week?

7. Criteria determining success of pragmatic translation 1. correctness  content is transferred accurately= the translation is free of linguistic errors and/or errors of usage, punctuation and format 2. adequacy  the communicative intent of the translation matches the original intent 3. acceptability  translation conforms to TC conventions for the given text type 4. prototypicality  matching the “ideal construct” existing in the translator’s mind with an “expectation structure” in the TT reader’s mind  In groups, spend a few minutes discussing how these criteria manifest themselves in the text handout. Which components have to do with correctedness? Which components have to do with adequacy? Which components have to do with acceptability? Which components have to do with prototypicality?

8. Translation editing translation editing  comparing the ST and TT, evaluating the translation against certain criteria, and assuring correctness, adequacy, and acceptability  can be in the form of self-editing or external editing Types of editing 1. stylistic editing  tailoring “vocabulary and sentence structure to the readership, and to create a readable text by making sentences more concise, removing ambiguities, and so on” (Mossop 2001) Examples of where changes might be needed? 2. structural editing  “reorganising the text to achieve a better order of presentation of the material” (Mossop 2001) Examples of where changes might be needed?

9. Translation editing 3. content editing  suggesting additions or subtractions  What types of translation procedures are relevant here? Examples of each? translation proofreading  correction of all inconsistencies and errors in references, grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling, as well as attention to clarity and logical development  does not require comparison with the ST  Briefly return to the translation reviews you analyzed for today’s class and determine whether or not they represent successful translation criticism. Discuss in groups.

10. Questions or comments? Homework for week 11:  take quiz 9 = posted on Vista by tomorrow evening  prepare 2-3 questions to ask Dr. Shreve about his “Language Industry” talk next week  continue working on second written assignment  any readings/handouts for next Tuesday will be posted by Saturday