Discourse analysis for translation and translator training: status, needs, methods

Editorial

Translation and intercultural communication: similarities and differences

Despite increasing attention in the last decade, both Intercultural Communication Studies (ICS) and Translation Studies (TS) seem to have reached a stage where some of the key concepts and assumptions are being challenged. This paper looks at similarities and differences in the use of shared concepts, especially the concept of intercultural communicative competence. It begins with a brief sketch of the development of the discipline of Translation Studies and goes on to present some assumptions which TS shares with ICS. However, the two disciplines operate with a different concept of communication and intercultural communicative competence: ICS is researching natural communication for independent acting, whereas TS is concerned with a specific kind of professionally enabled communication. The paper then presents a definition of a translationspecific cultural competence (based on Witte 2000) and illustrates the development of translation competence in the context of translator training at universities.

Translation and the EU - conditions and consequences

Translation plays an important role in the EU institutions. The description and explanation of the conditions of translation work and of the products of this work pose challenges to Translation Studies. For example, it needs to be tested whether traditional concepts do apply to the translation activity and its products, or whether modified or new concepts need to be introduced. Some of these concepts are reconsidered in view of the new contexts. Cross-references are made to the individual contributions in this issue which provide specific information.

Translation and interpreting as activities and as objects of research

Despite differences, translation and interpreting have much in common. This volume focuses on aspects of conducting research into these two modes. It reviews recent developments and explores kinship, differences and prospects for partnership between Translation Research and Interpreting Research.

Non sexist-translation and/in social change: gender issues in translation

Following centuries of feminist struggle, centuries which have born witness to the close relationship between linguistic discrimination and social reality, there is a growing tendency in modern society to acknowledge the vital role played by language in overcoming gender discrimination. Political institutions are currently compensating by instituting the use of non-sexist language through legislative guidelines, and this makes an important contribution to social reform for equality between the sexes. Seeing that translation is so important for the creation of the collective identities on which modern global society depends, it is clear that non-sexist translation is crucial if there is to be non-sexist language. In this article I examine the potential of non-sexist translation in the struggle for gender equality from a both a theoretical and a practical viewpoint, and I end with a critical evaluation of non-sexist translation methods.

Translation and norms

Translation norms are understood as internalized behavioural constraints which embody the values shared by a community. In the two main contributions it is argued that all decisions in the translation process are primarily governed by norms. The explanatory power of a norm-based theory of translation is then critically reflected upon in the debates and the responses.

The role of discourse analysis for translation and translator training

It has been widely recognised that an in-depth textual analysis of a source text is relevant for translation. This book discusses the role of discourse analysis for translation and translator training. One particular model of discourse analysis is presented in detail, and its application in the context of translator training is critically examined.

Translation and quality

This volume deals with the translation quality assessment from the perspective of a functionalist approach to translation. This approach is illustrated by examples from real translation assignments, and it is argued that quality in translation is something to be negotiated between the client and the translator. Consequences of such understanding for translator training are critically reflected upon.

It's in his eyes? The negotiation and interpretation of masculinity using the Dolce et Gabbana's 2005 Print advertising campaign

The concept of 'masculinity' has over more years received increased attention within consumer research discourse suggesting the potential of a 'crisis of masculinity', symptomatic of a growing feminisation, or 'queering' of visual imagery and consumption (e.g. Patterson & Elliott, 2002). Although this corpus of research has served to enrich the broader gender identity debate, it is, arguably, still relatively underdeveloped and therefore warrants further insight and elaboration. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to explore how masculinity is represented and interpreted by men using the Dolce et Gabbana men's 2005 print advertising campaign. The rationale for using this particular campaign is that it is one of the most homoerotic, provocative, and well publicised campaigns to cross over from the 'gay' media to more mainstream UK men's magazines. Masculinity, and what it means to be 'masculine', manifests itself within particular ideological, moral, cultural and hegemonic discourses. Masculinity is not a homogenous term which can be simply reduced, and ascribed, to those born as 'male' rather than 'female'.

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae as a biotechnological tool for ageing research:studies on translation and metabolism

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important model organism for the study of cell biology. The similarity between yeast and human genes and the conservation of fundamental pathways means it can be used to investigate characteristics of healthy and diseased cells throughout the lifespan. Yeast is an equally important biotechnological tool that has long been the organism of choice for the production of alcoholic beverages, bread and a large variety of industrial products. For example, yeast is used to manufacture biofuels, lubricants, detergents, industrial enzymes, food additives and pharmaceuticals such as anti-parasitics, anti-cancer compounds, hormones (including insulin), vaccines and nutraceuticals. Its function as a cell factory is possible because of the speed with which it can be grown to high cell yields, the knowledge that it is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and the ease with which metabolism and cellular pathways, such as translation can be manipulated. In this thesis, these two pathways are explored in the context of their biotechnological application to ageing research: (i) understanding translational processes during the high-yielding production of membrane protein drug targets and (ii) the manipulation of yeast metabolism to study the molecule, L-carnosine, which has been proposed to have anti-ageing properties. In the first of these themes, the yeast strains, spt3?, srb5?, gcn5? and yTHCBMS1, were examined since they have been previously demonstrated to dramatically increase the yields of a target membrane protein (the aquaporin, Fps1) compared to wild-type cells. The mechanisms underlying this discovery were therefore investigated. All high yielding strains were shown to have an altered translational state (mostly characterised by an initiation block) and constitutive phosphorylation of the translational initiation factor, eIF2a. The relevance of the initiation block was further supported by the finding that other strains, with known initiation blocks, are also high yielding for Fps1. A correlation in all strains between increased Fps1 yields and increased production of the transcriptional activator protein, Gcn4, suggested that yields are subject to translational control. Analysis of the 5´ untranslated region (UTR) of FPS1 revealed two upstream open reading frames (uORFs). Mutagenesis data suggest that high yielding strains may circumvent these control elements through either a leaky scanning or a re-initiation mechanism. In the second theme, the dipeptide L-carnosine (ß-alanyl-L-histidine) was investigated: it has previously been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells but delay senescence in cultured human fibroblasts and extend the lifespan of male fruit flies. To understand these apparently contradictory properties, the effects of L-carnosine on yeast were studied. S. cerevisiae can respire aerobically when grown on a non-fermentable carbon source as a substrate but has a respiro-fermentative metabolism when grown on a fermentable carbon source; these metabolisms mimic normal cell and cancerous cell metabolisms, respectively. When yeast were grown on fermentable carbon sources, in the presence of L-carnosine, a reduction in cell growth and viability was observed, which was not apparent for cells grown on a non-fermentable carbon source. The metabolism-dependent mechanism was confirmed in the respiratory yeast species Pichia pastoris. Further analysis of S. cerevisiae yeast strains with deletions in their nutrient-sensing pathway, which result in an increase in respiratory metabolism, confirmed the metabolism-dependent effects of L-carnosine.

Translation and peace:Arabic, English and Hebrew versions of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives

The present thesis examines Palestinian-Israeli peace initiatives as politically negotiated texts and their different Arabic, English and Hebrew language versions. Its aim is to make a contribution to a deeper understanding of the role of translation and recontextualization of politically negotiated texts in situations of ongoing contemporary conflict. In modern Translation Studies, although research exists on the translation of political texts following functional (e.g. Schäffner 2002) or systemic-linguistic (e.g. Calzada-Pérez 2001) approaches or applying narrative theory (Baker 2006), peace initiatives and politically negotiated texts are still a largely under-researched genre of political texts. The thesis – which takes 31 Arabic, English and Hebrew language versions of 5 different Palestinian-Israeli peace initiatives as its corpus – operates within the framework of product-oriented Descriptive Translation Studies (Lambert and Van Gorp 1985) and Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough 1992). For all of the peace initiatives analysed, there exist several language versions which were made available in different contexts by different institutions and for different readerships and purposes. The thesis pursues a top-down approach. It begins with presenting the socio-cultural and political contexts of the production of the original versions of the respective peace initiatives (the source texts) and their different language versions (target texts), focusing on their underlying functions and principles of audience design. It then moves to examine how the textual profiles of the language versions of peace initiatives reflect aspects of ideology, political affiliation and power relations at both the macro- and micro-structural levels. The final step is to account for these aspects in terms of socio-political and institutional conditions of the production of the translations. The overall textual analysis demonstrates that when translated, peace initiatives can be interpreted differently by different institutions in their attempt to promote their respective political interests and narratives. Also, it is very frequently that translations produced in one specific institutional context are recontextualised for use in another one. Such recontextualisation goes hand in hand with further textual amendments. To summarize, the thesis demonstrates how these translations – as products – are (re)framed and (re)contextualized in different institutional settings in order to serve different purposes. These texts, thus, play different roles in situations of ongoing contemporary conflict depending on the institutional context in which they are presented and the purposes they set to serve. These main findings make an original contribution to the discipline of Translation Studies in respect of emphasizing the need to study translations in their socio-political, historical and institutional contexts.