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ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКАЯ, ПРИКЛАДНАЯ И СРАВНИТЕЛЬНО-СОПОСТАВИТЕЛЬНАЯ ЛИНГВИСТИКА / _THEORETICAL, APPLIED AND COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS_
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2023.38.17
JOURNALISTIC TRANSLATION IN NEWS DISCOURSE: PRESIDENT PUTIN'S SPEECH AT THE RUSSIAN ENERGY WEEK 2021 IN GERMAN-LANGUAGE PRINT MEDIA
Research article
Gusarov D.A.1, *, Savchenko E.P.2, Eroshin A.P.3
1ORCID : 0000-0001-6844-5792;
1 Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation,
Moscow, Russian Federation 2,3 Moscow Region State Pedagogical University, Moscow, Russian Federation
* Corresponding author (dmitriy_gusarov[at]mail.ra)
Abstract
Between 13th and 15th October 2021, President Putin held a conference known as the "Russian Energy Week 2021" to examine the impact of energy exportation. The news diffused through various media, aided by translation and narration aspects of journalism. The study primarily relies on qualitative research to identify foreign news articles to investigate journalistic translation. The aim is to assess how the original meaning of the source text (ST) is manipulated through translation in the media. The research examines the impact translation has on the original utterances and translated phrases. The research utilizes Critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology to facilitate contextual analyses from the text. The research verified the intertextual relation between ST and target text (TT) sentences; it found ST utterances the translational quotations from the newspaper articles are based on. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time the discursive strategy of the German-language print media during the journalistic translation of top Russian officials' speeches is investigated. The results confirm translation as a source mild to severe alterations with some words omitted whereas other implying different meanings as perceived from the original. Also, the results show that journalists use translation of original statements to construct their arguments. Moreover, the discursive strategy of the original speaker is subject to change, often significant.
Keywords: translation, print media, correspondences, ST and TT sentences, discursive strategy.
ЖУРНАЛИСТСКИЙ ПЕРЕВОД В НОВОСТНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ: РЕЧЬ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА ПУТИНА НА РОССИЙСКОЙ ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКОЙ НЕДЕЛЕ 2021 В НЕМЕЦКОЯЗЫЧНЫХ ПЕЧАТНЫХ СМИ
Научная статья
Гусаров Д.А.1, *, Савченко ЕЛ.2, Ерошин А.П.3
1ORCID : 0000-0001-6844-5792;
1 Московский государственный институт международных отношений (университет) Министерства иностранных дел
Российской Федерации, Москва, Российская Федерация 2> 3 Московский государственный областной педагогический университет, Москва, Российская Федерация
* Корреспондирующий автор (dmitriy_gusarov[at]mail.ru)
Аннотация
В своем выступлении на конференции «Российская энергетическая неделя 2021» (13-15 октября 2021) президент РФ Владимир Путин детально остановился на вопросах экспорта энергоносителей. Новости с полей конференции распространялись по всему миру через различные СМИ, при этом журналисты при создании новостных текстов использовали многообразные переводческие и нарративные приемы. С помощью качественных методов исследования в данной работе на примере новостных статей анализируется переводческая деятельность журналистов. Цель исследования заключается в том, чтобы оценить, в какой мере оригинальные значения исходного текста (ИТ) подвергаются изменению при переводе в СМИ. Для текстуального анализа используется метод критического дискурс-анализа (КДА). В исследовании выявляются интертекстуальные отношения между ИТ и переводным текстом (ПТ). Научная новизна заключается в том, что впервые исследована дискурсивная стратегия немецкоязычных печатных СМИ при журналистском переводе выступлений высших российских политиков. Полученные результаты подтверждают, что перевод в СМИ является источником самых разных изменений: от опущения отдельных слов до использования значений, отличных от оригинала. Кроме того, результаты показывают, что журналисты используют перевод оригинальных высказываний для выстраивания своей аргументации. При этом дискурсивная стратегия первоначального спикера подвергается изменениям, зачастую значительным.
Ключевые слова: перевод, печатные СМИ, соответствия, высказывания ИТ и ПТ, дискурсивная стратегия.
Introduction
The energy issue was a contentious one significantly impacting the Russian economy; thus, it was extensively discussed at the Russian Energy Week 2021. The event was organized between 13th to 15th October 2021 to examine various topics related to energy, including the gas industry, petrochemistry, electricity, coal industry, and oil industry. Due to the external pressure emanating from the push towards environmental sustainability, Putin saw the need to address issues revolving around increased energy efficiency and conservation. Other than the Russian and English media, the news regarding Energy week spread across all platforms, including social media and other local language media, due to the significance of the energy issue not only for
Russia but the entire globe. However, there is no information regarding how the German-language print media represented the Russian Energy Week 2021. Buozis and Creech [2, P. 1430] argue that journalists present news as narratives, so the audience should approach it from that perspective. Kriekan and Sanders [10, P. 1393] argue that "Views on the promises of narrative journalism stress its supposed positive influence on audience engagement and appreciation, an asset of increasing importance in light of the current crisis in journalism that is characterized by declining newspaper circulation and public distrust in the news media". Even though less is known on how the German-language media packaged the information to the general audience, reports state that Putin acknowledged the impeding adverse consequences attributed to the gas crisis. Therefore, the relevance of the study is determined by the fact that it is crucial to examine threads from the German media to understand the portrayal of the energy crisis outside the Russian and English media. Also, the relevance of research is defined by the existing gap in studying of potential impact of translation on the meaning of specific terms and the role of discursive strategy in manipulations.
The research task is to answer the following research questions: How is the meaning of ST changed through translation? How is the discursive strategy of social media actor manipulated in the IT? How is the discursive strategy of the social media actor presented in a new readership?
Research methods and principles
The research materials are two articles from German-Language newspapers that are constructed around the discursive event - the speech of the Russian President Putin on the Moscow Energy Week on the 13th of October 2021 (Russland macht es wie China // Die Welt. 14.10.2021; Ackeret M. Russland setzt sich ambitionierte Ziele // Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 21.10.2021). The original text source was the stenogram of the Russian president's speech, published on the Kremlin official website (http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/66916). For analyzing the articles, the research methods of CDA (Critical Discourse Analysis) are applied. According to Archives.history.ac. the UK [1], CDA refers to "a methodology that enables a vigorous assessment of what is meant when language is used to describe and explain." The methodology was integral to assessing the implication of the German-language newspapers' information on the discursive event. The approach acknowledges the role of language, communication, and texts from a social perspective, stating that it corresponds to the contextual application.
The main theoretical background of the study is the paper by Anabela Carvalho [3] where CDA is applauded as significant in analyzing journalistic discourse alongside its social context. The author also acknowledged the role CDA plays in blending contextual and textual dimensions of journalism as one framework. Therefore, this framework applied to the analysis of Russian Energy Week in the context of German-language newspapers. Also, the theoretical background is based on the papers by Roberto A. Valdeon [9], Christina Schäffner [8], Kyle Conway [4] and Alberto Orengo [7] devoted to translation in journalism.
Based on the CDA, the research conducted the analyses through several steps. First, it verified the intertextual relation between ST and TT sentences; it found ST utterances the translational quotations from the newspaper articles are based on. Then, it detected potential intertextual correspondents by ascertaining ST and TT items that can be concerned as expressing the same idea. For a description of changes the ST utterances undergo during translational quotation, the research adopted the system of lexical transfer operations suggested by Kinga Klaudy [6]. Finally, the research assumed about manipulations the discursive strategy of the social actor is subjected to by the journalist.
Results and Discussion
Article 1: Die Welt
On the 14th of October 2021, a day after the Russian Energy Week conference began, "Die Welt" published an article entitled "Russland macht es wie China" [Russia does it as China] (Die Welt, 2021, c. 2-3). The article consists of 126 words placed in the rubric Auf einen Blick [At a glance] in the column Aussenpolitik [Foreign Policy]. The name of the author is not mentioned. In the text of the article, there is a reformulated quote of Putin's utterance on Russian environmental policy. It states that Seine Regierung habe als „konkretes Ziel" festgelegt, die Neutralität bis „spätestens" 2060 zu erreichen, sagte Präsident Wladimir Putin zur Eröffnung eines Energieforums in der russischen Hauptstadt. On the contrary, the source text stated that Добавлю, что Россия на практике будет добиваться углеродной нейтральности своей экономики, и мы ставим здесь конкретный ориентир - не позднее 2060 года.
Comparison of ST from the speech of a social actor (in our case - President Putin) and TT from the media (in this case -newspaper Die Welt) allows us to indicate the following interlingual correspondents underlying the translational decision: не позднее 2060 года - bis "spätestens" 2060; добиваться углеродной нейтральности - die Neutralität erreichen; ставить конкретный ориентир - als "konkretes Ziel" festlegen. The most outstanding aspect is the incorporation of quotation marks within the statements. Even though both ТГ counterparts can be entirely considered as translational equivalents of ST expressions, only some lexical units are marked as passages of another's speech. Filmer [5, P. 180] states that quotation marks "might be construed as distancing strategy that questions the veracity of what is placed within them." Based on this argument, it can be assumed that the article questions whether the goal is ultimate enough to be achieved within the specified time frame.
Further, a translational omission manifests in the quoted text, demonstrating the influence of translating from the original Russian article to the German language. There is no correspondent for the lexical unit углеродный in the TT of the article, and the noun нейтральность is not specified. This attribute, however, appears in the kicker headline but is rendered as a chemical formula: C02-NEUTRALITÄT BIS ZUM JAHR 2060. Here we then have an intersemiotic translation: lexical unit углеродный is translated from the linguistic code into a chemical one (C02).
Furthermore, the main headline is based on the manipulated translation of Putin's expression не позднее 2060 года presented in the quoted text. The comparison of the rendering from the text of the article (bis "spätestens" 2060) with that from the kicker headline (bis zum Jahr 2060) demonstrates the omission of a critical lexical unit spätestens. In the original text,
Putin stated that "Добавлю, что Россия на практике будет добиваться углеродной нейтральности своей экономики, и мы ставим здесь конкретный ориентир - не позднее 2060 года." It can be assumed that with the expression не позднее 2060 года, Putin explicated that 2060 is a deadline for setting goals and that they can also be achieved earlier. As mentioned above, in the media text, the German counterpart of lexical unit не позднее, spätestens, is within quotation marks, which implicates the author's doubts about the seriousness of Putin's intentions. But at the same time, this linguistic unit is not rendered in the headline. This leads to a significant shift of emphasis compared to the ST: from the possible achievement of the goal ahead of schedule to a long-time frame necessary for it. The topic of a long-time structure initiated by reformulated translation of не позднее 2060 года is reinforced further in the article by comparing of environmental goals of Russia with those of the European Union and Germany.
Furthermore, there is a total transformation of linguistic meaning: the ST word ориентир is substituted by the word Ziel based on the relation of incompatibility between these two terms [6, P. 282]. The quotation in the example serves to manipulate the representation of actors. Thus, in his speech, Putin uses lexical unit мы to refer to the actor who sets the goal. In the TT of the article appears another actor this activity is attributed to: seine Regierung. Furthermore, according to the TT, it is his government who will seek carbon neutrality, although, according to the ST, Putin says in this case Россия. Thus, the shift in the representation of actors can be observed here: while Putin, using terms such as мы and Россия, demonstrates his solidarity with people and country, the article by introducing a new actor seine Regierung emphasizes a subordinate relationship representing Putin as superior.
The primary message underlying the article is the comparison of Russia with China regarding environmental politics. The first sentence after the headline states Wenn es um die Klimapolitik geht, dann befindet sich die Regierung in Moskau nun im Gleichklang mit Peking — was die Zielstellung angeht. Such claim might give a reader the impression that Russia follows China by replicating its ecological goals. This impression, however, contradicts the meaning of Putin's utterances the ТГ sentence is based on. Putin does not draw parallels between Russian and Chinese environmental politics. He talks, instead, about his expectations regarding Chinese plans on environmental protection. Therefore, the comparison of Russia and China is the journalist's discursive strategy since the social actor mentioned the year 2060 regarding both countries.
Article 2: Neue Züricher Zeitung International
On the 21st of October 2021, "Neue Zürcher Zeitung International" published an article by Markus Ackeret entitled "Russland setzt sich ambitionierte Ziele". The contribution is an opinion article of 970 words placed in the rubric Politik [Policy]. The deckhead of the article reads as follows: Nach jahrelanger Vernachlässigung der Klimapolitik springt auch Russland auf den grünen Zug auf - bis jetzt aber erst auf dem Papier. Interesting here is the metaphor auf den grünen Zug aufspringen comparing Russia with a latecomer who barely caught the train that had already moved off.
In the initial text of the article, there are various translational quotations. The first one states: In seiner Rede zur Nation, an dem Klimagipfel im April und jüngst an der Russischen Energiewoche hielt Putin so klar wie nie zuvor fest, dass Russland den Klimawandel ernst nehme und sich ambitionierte Ziele setzen wolle. This sentence presents a summary transqoutation resting upon several utterances from the discourse event. Thus, the phrase so klar wie nie zuvor festhalten signifies Putin's frequent reference to this topic in his speech, even at the beginning of the discussion. Meanwhile, the phrase den Klimawandel ernstnehmen could be considered as meaning generalization of such items from Putin's speech as в полной мере осознавать остроту вызовов, видеть и ощущать все угрозы и риски and понимать насколько пагубным.
Additionally, the phrase sich ambitionierte Ziele setzen constitutes indirect quotation of Putin's statement ...чтобы добиться амбициозных целей по снижению энергоёмкости ВВП. It is interesting to note that in the quote, this lexical item presents an indirect quotation marked by the usage of the conjunctive-I-form of the verb wollen. In the headline, however, there is no grammatical marker showing that this statement is extracted from Putin's speech.
Another translational quotation from the article's text: Er gab bekannt, was bis jetzt nur in noch nicht beschlossenen Papieren steht: Russland wolle bis 2060 C02-neutral sein. Here, an exchange of meanings can be observed: the object углеродной нейтральности своей экономики in ST is replaced by the state C02-neutral sein in TT. At the same time, there is meaning addition: the phrase was bis jetzt nur in noch nicht beschlossenen Papieren steht cannot be derived from Putin's speech because he does not address this subject. Thus, this meaning is injected by the journalist and actualized not only in the text of the article but also in the deck headline. Therefore, it could be assumed that the article doubts the credibility of Russian environment policy.
The next indirect quotation from Putin's speech states: Zudem wiederholte er die Forderung, bis 2050 weniger C02 auszustossen als die EU. The original ST utterance is За ближайшие десятилетия мы рассчитываем обеспечить накопленный объём чистой эмиссии парниковых газов даже ниже, чем в Евросоюзе. An exchanging meaning can be observed here: object накопленный объём чистой эмиссии парниковых газов in the ST is replaced by process C02 auszustossen. Besides, an important lexical unit чистый is omitted in the translational quotation. This omission leads to a pragmatical shift: the article creates an impression that Putin speaks about direct emission reduction when in fact, he means net emission in which the results of offsetting processes are considered. Since the latter is seen to be easier achievable than the former, it can be assumed that a meaningful lexical item is omitted to make readers believe that the social actor sets elusive goals. Further, narrowing of meaning can be observed: ST unit за ближайшие десятилетия with a broader meaning is replaced by TT unit with a narrower meaning 2050. In the discursive event under consideration, Putin does not specify any time frame for this goal. The difference in discursive strategies of the social actor and the media professional is obvious: while Putin provides himself sufficient policy space, the journalist imposes him a strong commitment; he did not give in the considered discursive events.
Moreover, a translational quotation can be found in the following sentence extracted from the article: Russland sieht sich in einer guten Ausgangslage, die globalen Forderungen und die selbstgesteckten Ziele zu erßllen. One of the significant phrases was sich in einer guten Ausgangslage sehen which intertextually correlates with the following ST elements: обладает уникальным практическим опытом; предложить действительно уникальные возможности; есть научные, ресурсные,
логистические возможности; такие проблемы сегодня невозможно представить. The examples show that the phrase sich in einer guten Ausgangslage sehen renders in summarizing form the dichotomy not to have (problems)/to have unique (experience, opportunities, capacities, advantages) Putin constructs in his speech when talking about Russia in international comparison.
Another translational quotation is evident in the ТГ sentence Es soll mehr Geld in die erneuerbaren Energien und neue Technologien fliessen. This phrase renders the ST item сформулировать налоговые преференции для тех предприятий и тех отраслей, которые будут заниматься сокращением выбросов, в том числе в рамках возобновляемых источников. However, the TT phrase creates the impression that Putin talks about government investment in renewable energy when in fact, he means tax incentives that should encourage companies to make such investments. Thus, the case of the total transformation of meaning can be observed here when two co-hyponyms of the same superordinate category (two areas of fiscal policy) are used one instead of another [6, P. 282].
The TT sentence Dazu gehören für Putin grüne Wasserstoff-Technologien, denen eine besondere Zukunft als Ersatz für die Erdgaslieferungen nach Westeuropa zugemessen wird, Ammoniak und die Atomkraft is in intertextual relation to the following utterance of the discursive event: ожидать усиление позиций аммиака и водорода; использовать в качестве сырья, топлива, энергоносителя. This correspondence reveals the contraction of meanings: two ST phrases are drawn together and rendered with only one TT phrase [6, P. 214]. However, the actual ST meaning is altered since Putin does not talk about a gas replacement but rather about increasing the share of consumption of recourses.
Another illustration of the translational quotation can be found in the next TT sentence: Die Rolle als Lieferant von Energieträgern, auch „saubereren"fossilen, will Russland auch unter den veränderten Rahmenbedingungen behalten. The sentence renders spokesman's passage Есть все предпосылки к тому, что по итогам года выйдем на рекордные объёмы поставок газа на глобальный рынок. Here, we can find a broadening of meaning: a more specified lexical unit газ is replaced with a generalized word Energieträger. Further, the phrases выйдем на рекордные объёмы поставок is rendered by incompatible co-hyponym die Rolle als Lieferant behalten from the superordinate category such as export strategy. But Russia, according to the spokesman, wants not just to hold its export positions on the global market but to expand its export - and this is what remains hidden from the reader as the result of this total transformation. Thus, the discursive strategy of the social actor is disrupted again.
Conclusion
The research adequately answers the specific questions by analyzing two German-language articles describing the "Russian Energy Week" that commenced on 13th October 2021 and ended on 15th October 2021. The research verified the intertextual relation between ST and TT sentences; it found ST utterances the translational quotations from the newspaper articles are based on. Then, it detected potential intertextual correspondents by ascertaining ST and TT items that can be concerned as expressing the same idea. For a description of changes the ST utterances undergo during translational quotation, the research adopted the system of linguistic transfer. Notably, the research confirmed that translation significantly changed the ST meaning, as demonstrated by various quotes within the articles. Additionally, the articles are integral to examining the changes in the discursive strategies the TT manipulates. As well, the new readership portrays how the discursive strategy presents the social actor. The research relates to the previous literature regarding news narration and translation in journalism, since the authors of the two articles omit crucial words in some circumstances. The authors do not find a suitable replacement for the words in the original, altering the intended meaning as President Putin presented it during the conference.
In conclusion, future studies should incorporate more German-language articles to intensify the comparisons in ascertaining how translation affects the conveyance of information to the intended audience.
Конфликт интересов
Не указан.
Рецензия
Все статьи проходят рецензирование. Но рецензент или автор статьи предпочли не публиковать рецензию к этой статье в открытом доступе. Рецензия может быть предоставлена компетентным органам по запросу.
Conflict of Interest
None declared.
Review
All articles are peer-reviewed. But the reviewer or the author of the article chose not to publish a review of this article in the public domain. The review can be provided to the competent authorities upon request.
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