Autofiction as a fictional metaphorical self-translation:the case of Reinaldo Arenas' El color del verano

In the past thirty years, autofiction has been at the center of many literary studies (Alberca 2005/6, 2007; Colonna 1989, 2004; Gasparini 2004; Genette 1982), although only recently in Hispanic literary studies. Despite the many common characteristics with self-translation, no interdisciplinary perspective has ever been offered by academic researchers in Literary nor in Translation Studies. This article analyses how the Cuban author, Reinaldo Arenas, uses specific methods inherent to autofiction, such as nominal and personal identity exploitation, among others, to translate himself metaphorically into his novel El color del verano [The colour of summer]. Analysing this novel drawing on the theory of self-translation sheds light on the intrinsic and extraneous motives behind the writer’s decision to use this specific literary genre, as well as the benefits presented to the reader who gains access to the ‘interliminal space’ of the writer’s work as a whole.

Translation practices in political institutions: a comparison of national, supranational, and non-governmental organisations

This paper explores the settings and practices of translation at three types of political institutions, i.e. national, supranational, and non-governmental organisations. The three institutions are the translation service of the German Foreign Office, the translation department of the European Central Bank, and translation provision by the non-governmental organisation Amnesty International. The three case studies describe the specific translation practices in place at these institutions and illustrate some characteristic translation strategies. In this way, we reflect on how different translation practices can impact on translation agency and how these practices in turn are influenced by the type of institution and its organisational structure. The article also aims to explore to which extent the characteristics of collectivity, anonymity and standardisation, and of institutional translation as self-translation are applicable to the institutions under discussion.

Translation practices in political institutions:a comparison of national, supranational, and non-governmental organisations

This article explores the settings and practices of translation at three types of political institutions, i.e. national, supranational, and non-governmental organisations. The three institutions are the translation service of the German Foreign Office, the translation department of the European Central Bank, and translation provision by the non-governmental organisation Amnesty International. The three case studies describe the specific translation practices in place at these institutions and illustrate some characteristic translation strategies. In this way, we reflect on how different translation practices can impact on translation agency and how these practices in turn are influenced by the type of institution and its organisational structure. The article also aims to explore to which extent the characteristics of collectivity, anonymity and standardisation, and of institutional translation as self-translation are applicable to the institutions under discussion.

La traduction des motifs sonores dans les littératures africaines europhones comme réactivation du patrimoine poétique maternel

Plusieurs monographies récentes se sont intéressées à la traduction des littératures africaines europhones (Gyasi 2006, Bandia 2008, Batchelor 2009), faisant valoir le concept d’autotraduction (au sens métaphorique) et insistant sur le fait que ces écritures sont porteuses d’une oralité ou de marques linguistiques issues des langues parlées par les écrivains. Toutefois, la question de l’hybridité comme point de jonction entre littératures orales et écrites a encore rarement été examinée sous un angle poétique et c’est précisément dans cet esprit que cette recherche a été entreprise. Dans un premier temps, à partir des ouvrages originaux de six auteurs, trois d’expression littéraire anglaise (Farah, Hove et Armah) et trois d’expression littéraire française (Waberi, Adiaffi et Djebar), je montre en quoi ces écritures méritent d’être qualifiées de poétiques avant de mettre cette esthétique en relation avec le patrimoine littéraire de chacun des auteurs du corpus; ponctuellement, d’autres affiliations littéraires sont mises en évidence. Cette poétique est examinée dans sa dimension mélopoéique (Pound 1954), c’est-à-dire sous l’angle des structures audibles, appelées aussi figures de style jouant sur la forme phonétique des mots (Klein-Lataud 2001). Dans un second temps, j’examine comment cette poétique sonore a été recréée, tant de manière qualitative que quantitative, dans les traductions de Bardolph, de Richard et de J. et R. Mane (pour les auteurs d’expression anglaise) et de Garane, de Katiyo et de Blair (pour les auteurs d’expression française). Les enjeux associés à la réactivation des structures poétiques sonores sont mis en évidence dans le dernier chapitre qui propose un tour d’horizon des modalités de « consommation » de l’objet littéraire et qui s’achève sur les questions soulevées par la progression du livre audio. La méthodologie élaborée dans ce cadre s’inspire essentiellement de Berman (1995) et de Henry (2003). La conceptualisation de la poétique sonore, telle que mise en œuvre dans le contexte particulier de ces littératures, fait appel aux paradigmes de valence traductive (Folkart 2007) et de traduction métonymique (Tymoczko 1999). Par ailleurs, cette recherche s’appuie sur la récente thèse de doctorat de Fraser (2007) consacrée à la théorisation du sonore en traduction.

Uma investigação de aspectos de normalização na autotradução An Invincible Memory

This paper aims at observing the particular case of an author’s and self-translator’s style concerning normalisation features present in the self-translation. Our study has its theoretical starting point based on Baker’s proposal (1993, 1995, 1996, 2000) and Scott’s investigation in order to carry out an analysis of the use of linguistic choices involving evidence of normalization. The results point out that, while participating as a self-translator, Ubaldo Ribeiro reveals individual, distinctive and preferred stylistic options which present less lexical variation; in contrast, in the situation of participating as an author, Ubaldo Ribeiro shows stylistic choices of higher lexical diversity. Observed normalisation features reveal conscious or subconscious use of fluency strategies, making the target text easier to read. Due to his renowned sound command of the target language, the results may also suggest the challenges during the translated text re-creation process faced as a self-translator could have been greater than the challenges during the previous original text creation process faced as an author

La influencia de la estética oriental en la autotraducción: análisis de la novela bicultural The Good Earth de la autora P.S. Buck

[EN]This dissertation analyses the Eastern cultural influences present in the aesthetic of Buck’s best seller The Good Earth. The objective is to study the characteristics of Buck’s aesthetic as a product of a creative process of self-translation between Mandarin and English. The methodology of analysis has focused on the characters of the novel, the strategies used to refer to them, the characters’ idiolect and their social interaction (facework). Finally, these cultural aspects have been compared with one of the Spanish translations available of the novel. The results obtained show a novel highly influenced by the Eastern tradition, where the idiolect of the characters show an influence from both East and West possible thanks to the mechanism of self-translation.

Exilio y autotraducción en la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina : El caso de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina, de Alicia Partnoy (1986)

Algunos escritores exiliados a partir de la última dictadura militar argentina (1976-1983) tradujeron ellos mismos sus textos para publicarlos en el país de exilio. Un ejemplo es el de Alicia Partnoy, autora de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance & Survival in Argentina, quien habiendo escrito un testimonio en español sobre su paso por el campo de concentración La Escuelita, ubicado en Bahía Blanca, se dedicó a traducirlo al inglés para su publicación en Estados Unidos en 1986. Sus numerosas ediciones, primero en el extranjero y más tarde en Argentina, lo ubican entre una de las obras más importantes de la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina. Una forma de abordarlo reside en el análisis sobre el proceso y el resultado de la autotraducción, lo cual permite aportar elementos de reflexión acerca de la necesidad de los supervivientes exiliados de dar a conocer su experiencia en el exilio, algo que sobrepasa, incluso, las barreras lingüísticas

Exilio y autotraducción en la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina : El caso de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina, de Alicia Partnoy (1986)

Algunos escritores exiliados a partir de la última dictadura militar argentina (1976-1983) tradujeron ellos mismos sus textos para publicarlos en el país de exilio. Un ejemplo es el de Alicia Partnoy, autora de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance & Survival in Argentina, quien habiendo escrito un testimonio en español sobre su paso por el campo de concentración La Escuelita, ubicado en Bahía Blanca, se dedicó a traducirlo al inglés para su publicación en Estados Unidos en 1986. Sus numerosas ediciones, primero en el extranjero y más tarde en Argentina, lo ubican entre una de las obras más importantes de la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina. Una forma de abordarlo reside en el análisis sobre el proceso y el resultado de la autotraducción, lo cual permite aportar elementos de reflexión acerca de la necesidad de los supervivientes exiliados de dar a conocer su experiencia en el exilio, algo que sobrepasa, incluso, las barreras lingüísticas

Exilio y autotraducción en la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina : El caso de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina, de Alicia Partnoy (1986)

Algunos escritores exiliados a partir de la última dictadura militar argentina (1976-1983) tradujeron ellos mismos sus textos para publicarlos en el país de exilio. Un ejemplo es el de Alicia Partnoy, autora de The Little School. Tales of Disappearance & Survival in Argentina, quien habiendo escrito un testimonio en español sobre su paso por el campo de concentración La Escuelita, ubicado en Bahía Blanca, se dedicó a traducirlo al inglés para su publicación en Estados Unidos en 1986. Sus numerosas ediciones, primero en el extranjero y más tarde en Argentina, lo ubican entre una de las obras más importantes de la narrativa testimonial concentracionaria argentina. Una forma de abordarlo reside en el análisis sobre el proceso y el resultado de la autotraducción, lo cual permite aportar elementos de reflexión acerca de la necesidad de los supervivientes exiliados de dar a conocer su experiencia en el exilio, algo que sobrepasa, incluso, las barreras lingüísticas

"Consolatoria super obitu inclyti principis Hispaniarum Iohannis" de Alfonso Ortiz: introducción, edición crítica, traducción y comentario

The present work submitted as a PhD thesis has the aim of studying from a philological point of view, the Latin text Consolatoria super obitu inclyti principis Hispaniarum Iohannis, written by the Castilian canon Alfonso Ortiz, who lived in the late 15th century in the time of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel and Fernando), on the death of Prince John, first and only son of the sovereigns. The core of this work is the critical edition (the first complete edition ever made) on the comparison of two extant manuscripts (S and St), the second having the Spanish self-translation of the first. On the basis of this critical text we study the literary references as well as its structure and the literary genre to which it may be ascribed and, besides, we point out some features of the language used therein (Latin), the scope and characteristics of the self-translation and other style and rhetorical topics (e.g. the use of rhythmic clausulae at the end of sentences). Several appendices are added to complete and improve the text-study From that study it may be concluded that although the work follows a long time proven tradition based on medieval religious Ideas, the author, nonetheless, continuously shows within the text that he is willing to adapt that tradition into the new tunes of early Renaissance, not only by means of language and style features, but also through matter nuances that made it clear that life/death concepts were gradually shifting from the medieval times to the ideas of the new epoch. As the value of human life was rising, it needed a more attentive, profound and meticulous consolation through both conceptual and rhetorical arguments...

Assessment of proximal outcomes of self-management programs : translation and psychometric evaluation of a German version of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQtm)

Purpose This paper describes the translation, cultural adaption, and psychometric evaluation of a German version of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ™), a widely used generic instrument assessing a wide range of proximal outcomes of self-management programs.

Methods The translation was carried out according to international standards and included forward and backward translations. Comprehensibility and content validity were tested using cognitive interviews with 10 rehabilitation inpatients. Psychometric properties were examined in rehabilitation inpatients (n = 1,202) with a range of chronic conditions. Factorial validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis; concurrent validity was explored by correlations with comparator scales.

Results The items of the German heiQ™ were well understood by rehabilitation inpatients. The structure of the eight heiQ™ scales was replicated after minor adjustment. heiQ™ scales had higher correlations with comparator scales with similar constructs, particularly mental health concepts than with physical health. Moreover, all heiQ™ scales differentiated between individuals across different levels of depression.

Conclusion The German heiQ™ is comprehensible for German-speaking patients suffering from different types of chronic conditions; it assesses relevant outcomes of self-management programs in a reliable and valid manner. Further studies involving its practical application are warranted.

Self-Reported Capabilities Among Young Male Adults in Switzerland: Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of a German, French and Italian Version of a Closed Survey Instrument

There is a shortage of empirical applications of the capability approach that employ closed survey instruments to assess self-reported capabilities. However, for those few instruments that have been designed and administered through surveys until now, no psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and factor structure) were reported. The purpose of this study is the assessment of the psychometric properties of three new language versions (German, French, and Italian) of an established (English) set of eight self-reported capability items. The set of items is taken from a previously published British study by Anand and van Hees (J Soc Econ 35(2):268–284, 2006). Our sample consists of 17,152 young male adults aged 18–25 years from the three major language regions in Switzerland. The results indicate good reliability of the three language versions. The results from the exploratory factor analyses suggest a one-dimensional factor structure for seven domain specific items. Furthermore, the results from multiple regression analyses suggest that a global summary item on overall capabilities represents a measurement alternative to the set of seven domain specific capability items. Finally, the results confirm the applicability of the closed capability instrument in a large scale survey questionnaire and represent the first attempt to measure self-reported capabilities in Switzerland.