CC BY
7Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 7 (2013 6) 1002-1006
УДК 06.053.56
The Toolkit a Translator Should Carry to Produce an Acceptable Piece of Translation
Sahar Farrahi Avval*
Iran
Received 15.01.2012, received in revised form 18.06.2012, accepted 30.04.2013
Why translation? Do we need translation at all in our life? In this article, we are setting out to shed light on the issue of translation as an important means of communication in our life, to consider the characteristics of an acceptable translation and we attempt to propose some tools a translator should have at hand to produce an acceptable piece of translation according to the readers' needs and to prevent his/ her translation from leakage! In addition, we emphasize on this issue that there is no good or bad translation, instead, we emphasize on the acceptability or unacceptability of translation; materials are translated based on some reasons according to the readers' needs or translators' point of view and other factors that is why a certain text can have different translated versions not good or bad ones.
Keywords: translation, acceptable translation, tools, readers' needs, translators' point of view.
1. Introduction: why translation?
With a quick look at periodicals, journals, newspapers and conferences, one may ask oneself why all of these propagandas or articles on translation studies? Is translation that important? In a response to those people asking such questions we should claim that translation is more important that what they may think.
The world is changing very fast every day. New technologies step in silently and quickly. You open your eyes and see yourself surrounded by lots of them and sooner or later you will be obliged to use them. If you do not adapt yourself with them at the right time, you will be definitely buried under them. The best way to overcome such a problem is to update oneself with the
new trends. You should have a key at the palm of your hand. And translation is the key but is it art, craft or science? It makes no difference. Translation has become and operates as a tool for communication; without it, new technologies cannot be introduced and applicable for people with different languages in other countries meanwhile people of different cultures need to be familiar with other cultures for a better communication to reach their communicative goals To understand others makes you feel you have your own connection with them; it means that you are not alone in this changing day to day world. This is with translation that you can be in contact with others; translation, like a bridge, connect you with the world and takes away
© Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
* Corresponding author E-mail address: s_farrahi_a1980@yahoo.com
the distance between you and people of other countries. That is why we say that translation is important in our life; it has always been.
2. Good, bad, acceptable or unacceptable translation?
We do not treat translation as good or bad because there is no good or bad translation at all. Translation is a matter of taste; it means that based on different targets, translation of a text can be different. Translation can be acceptable to a high or low degree. We should look at translation as a continuum which at one end of it there is acceptable translation and at the other there is unacceptable translation. The translator moves and carries his/ her translation with him/ her towards one of these two ends. Bearing in mind that coming closer to one end equals to getting farther from the other.
Translated materials are as vital as water but if this water is not directed properly in the pipes and tabs, it will make some problems. The translated materials, also, should be directed properly to communicate with their receivers. Now the time is ripe to say what are the characteristics of an acceptable translation.
3. Characteristics of an acceptable translation
When one opens the tap, he expects to see clean and colorless water which smells nothing flowing out fluently. Acceptable translation should also be natural and fluent and it should not smell anything. But what do we mean by naturalness and fluency in translation and what do we mean when we say the translation should smell nothing?
A natural translation is read easily and the reader does not feel that he/ she is reading a piece of translation. It should look and sound as a text written in the target language. It should not sound as a translation. Some scholars in the
field believe that a natural translation should be reader oriented and it should be written based on target text norms. The translated text should communicate with the target text readers as it does with the source text readers.
As the first step, if the translator likes to present an acceptable piece of translation, he/ she should know the kind of text he is going to translate. He should know if he/ she is interested in translating literary, scientific, psychological, political and... texts.
As the second step, he/ she should decide on the type of translation. Is he/ she going to translate communicatively, semantically, literally or.
After taking those steps, it is the time for the translator to get ready and carry his/ her toolkit if any leakage is going to happen. The translator should have enough knowledge and mastery of different strategies or tools needed for translating the texts.
4. Tools needed for an acceptable translation
When your water tap or other water supplies leak, you, surly, call a plumber or you may get ready to do it yourself. But what do you need to do so? Washer, sealing tape, valve, wrench, screwdriver or something else? You may wonder what the use of the above mentioned tools is in translation. At first glance, they are not comparable but with a closer look at them, you will find some similarities between the toolkit a plumber carries to do his job and the tools a translator should have in his hand to do the job of translation.
When the translator is not able to transfer the message from the source text into the target text, this shows that somewhere in his/ her translation leaks! This leakage is the result of some deficiency occurred in the process of translation which should be fixed as soon as possible.
Before presenting a translated book, story, article or any other translated materials, the
translator should prepare some tools to do the job, because, rarely, after the presentation of translation, apologies are accepted while water leakage can be fixed sooner or later and many times!
After deciding on the type of the text to be translated and determining the kind of translation, you, as a translator prepare yourself for translation, here, we aim to introduce briefly some tools that you should posses to produce an acceptable piece of translation or to prevent your future translation from leakage. We make you sure that you do not have to carry a heavy toolkit containing screwdrivers, valves, sealing tapes or any other water supplies; you can have these tools in your head or at the palm of your hand; they are lighter than what you think but gives your translation so much weight!
4.1. Receivers' characteristics
For whom are you translating the text? How old are your receivers? Are they male or female? kids or adults? Are the readers of high level of education or under graduate ones? These are the questions which their answers should be in front of the eyes of the translator before carrying out the translation or the translated material cannot be applicable for the right receivers. These characteristics are the most important ones affecting the translation target and makes the translator act differently when they change. There have been so many books which have been translated differently based on their readers' age, gender or level of education.
4.2. Specialized translation
One point which should be highlighted in the field of translation is that if a translator wants to be a successful one in his career, he/ she should be specialized in one or a few fields of study. It means that he/ she should not translate whatever that is referred to him/her. In how many fields of
studies people can acquire mastery? Likewise, in how many fields of study a translator have enough knowledge? Here, having sufficient knowledge in one subject is as important as having competency in translating it. How can a translator translate texts in a certain field that he/ she has no knowledge of? If he/ she does so, his/ her translation, surly, will be of low quality which cannot communicate with its readers.
4.3. Suitable bilingual
and monolingual dictionaries
Sometimes and updated bilingual/ monolingual dictionary is so valuable for translation that you cannot imagine. Based on the type of the text you are supposed to translate i. e. literary, psychological, computer science, scientific etc. you should prepare the specialized dictionaries. Another important factor which is of great importance in making use of bilingual dictionaries is that looking up for an equivalence is not enough but checking the equivalent with a monolingual dictionary is needed also. For example, in translating a text from Persian into English, after finding one or more equivalences in English for a word or phrase in Persian, the translator is required to check the English equivalences with an English to English dictionary to see if the equivalence matches in most small characteristics or linguistic elements with the meaning hidden in the Persian context.
4.4. Translation strategies
Strategies are plans that people use to achieve goals. A translation strategy is a potentially conscious procedure for the solution of a problem which an individual is faced with when translating a text segment from one language into another (Lorscher, 1991). In other words, translation strategies are procedures which the participants employ in order to solve the translation problems they realize (Lorscher, 1991). Accordingly,
translation strategies have their starting-point in the realization of a problem by a participant, and their termination in a (possibly preliminary) solution to the problem or in the participant's realization of the insolubility of the problem at the given point in time (Lorscher, 1991).
4.5. Communication strategies
Speakers of foreign languages encounter unfamiliar words and phrases in their speech production which inhibit their language production and comprehension. The same situation can happen for translators and interpreters because translationand interpretation is producing a spoken or written material in another language for communication with other people. But what the above mentioned groups do in such a situation? Some scholars have proposed communication strategies the employment of which can save the communication process from disconnection.
Different taxonomies have been proposed by scholars in the field of language teaching and learning. A good translator is advised to have knowledge in using these strategies whenever needed in his/ her translation process. So whenever deficiency in grammar and vocabulary happens which leads to deficiency in translation production, the use of communication strategies is of great help for the translator. These strategies act like sealing tape as it does in plumbing.
4.6. Grammar rules and writing skills
Grammar and writing skills are like frames that holds the translated material and shapes it and they are frames in which the translation should fit, so the translator should have competency in understanding both the source text and target text grammar rules and writing skills and should be aware of the differences between the writing system of the two languages. The translated material which is first in the head of the translator
should be actualized and get shape in target text grammar.
4.7. Reviewing
Rarely first drafts of translation are worth presenting to readers. A skillful translator works on the first drafts before presenting the translated material to the market. Some details and deficiency could be revealed while rehearsing the first draft. Some revisions and modifications could be needed after reading the first draft, so the translators should not be hasty to deliver their translation soon. Final drafts cannot be flawless because there is no perfect translation at all.
4.8. Consultation with specialists
After preparation of the final draft, the translators are advised to show their translation to two different specialists for consultant and consideration. First, they should show the translation to a specialist who is specialized in target text grammar rules and writing system. He can read the text to see if revisions are needed to make the translation sound as a text in the target language. Second, the translator should consult with a person who is specialized in the field of study form which the source text is taken. The specialist can help the translator to get the message across properly.
After carrying out these two last jobs, we assure you that your translation is ready to be published.
5. Conclusion
In this article we tried to highlight the inevitable and important role of translation in today world communication and attempted to outline some basic tools a translator needs to employ during translation process to produce an acceptable piece of translation that communicates with its readers. We also emphasized, in contrast to some wrong beliefs, that translation can be
acceptable or unacceptable not good or bad. pieces of translation are those whose translators Finally, we can assure that the most acceptable are the writers of the original texts.
References
1. Lorscher, W. (1991). Translation performance, Translation Process, and Translation Strategies: A Psycholinguistic Investigation. Tubingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Инструменты, которые переводчик
должен использовать
для создания приемлемого перевода
С.Ф. Аввал
Иран
Почему перевод? Нужен ли он нам вообще? Данная статья проливает свет на проблему перевода как важного средства общения в нашей жизни, выявляет составляющие приемлемого перевода и представляет некоторые методы, к которым необходимо прибегать для создания качественного перевода, соответствующего требованиям читателей, и предотвращения потери информации! Кроме того, мы подчёркиваем, что не бывает хороших или плохих переводов, мы акцентируем наше внимание на приемлемости или неприемлемости перевода. Тот или иной текст переводится с учетом требований читателей, точки зрения переводчика и других факторов. По этой причине у текста может быть несколько разных вариантов перевода, которые нельзя считать хорошими или плохими.
Ключевые слова: перевод, приемлемый перевод, методы, требования читателей, точка зрения переводчика.
