Trabajo Prctico Final

Ao 2014
Manfredi Agustina

Curso de Introduccin a la Traduccin

Aguirre Bengoa Juliana, Colautti Ana Julia,

Essay on Translation and Ethics

Our first decision in translating this text was to bring the author Jeremy Munday
to the target readers, that is to say, we decided to domesticate this paper. At the same
time, we chose literal and communicative translation as our preferred methods.
One of the techniques we used to achieve domestication was to avoid perfect
tenses, as we did with Jeremy Munday has harnessed... (line 32, page 97) by
translating it into Jeremy Munday tom provecho.... In this case, past simple tense
seemed a more natural option than past perfect tense for the expected receivers of this
text, as they are native River Plate speakers.
Another strategy employed was to make use of the shift or transposition
procedure particularly in page 97 line 15 A decisive shift of emphasis in translation
studies may be discerned from this, as we thought that following the original
sentences order would sound unfamiliar to our readers. That is the reason why we
decided to resort to the passive SE construction: A partir de esto, se puede percibir
un cambio de nfasis decisivo en los estudios de traduccin.
We also applied this procedure to a sentence in page 95 line 8. From
Researchers found in the notion of translation norms a useful analytical tool we chose
to write Investigadores encontraron que el concepto de normas de traduccin era una
herramienta analtica til, by changing the structure of the sentence and by verbalizing
it.
There were some omissions we had to make due to the fact that certain words
would result redundant in the translated text, as in the case of responsibility and
accountability (line 14, page 97). In the process of translating we found out that both
words refer to the same notion in Spanish, and so we decided to apply the procedure
known as reduction. Another instance in which we adopted this resource, was in page
95 line 2 where we considered that the concept pasos already implied taking certain
direction, hence, we chose not to translate in this direction.
One of the challenges we faced in terms of reading comprehension was to
decide whether the preposition with in page 95 line 1 (The new approaches shared a
concern with ethics...) meant that the new approaches (functionalism and
descriptivism) shared this worry with ethics or if ethics was what they were preoccupied
about. After devoting some time to analyzing it, we came to the conclusion that the
former option was the most suitable one.

Trabajo Prctico Final

Ao 2014
Manfredi Agustina

Curso de Introduccin a la Traduccin

Aguirre Bengoa Juliana, Colautti Ana Julia,

Following this issue, we came across a tricky expression in page 96 line 32:
...translation to language facilitation as such. It took us a lot of time to come up with
the correct equivalent as we struggled to find what the correct interpretation was.
Fortunately, we could figure out a way of understanding it, so we decided that the best
translation would be: facilitacin de entendimiento entre lenguas. We added the
concept of understanding (entendimiento) as we thought it would help the reader follow
the idea that it carried.
Another difficulty we faced was to translate the word told (page 96, line 7) into
an equivalent in Spanish that maintained the register of the paper. Our first guess was
to translate it into decir, but we realized that the register was not being kept. That is
why we ended up choosing the term indicar that would suit the text best.
It is a well-known fact that passive voice does not sound as natural in Spanish
as it does in English. Due to this, in page 96 line 35, where we found a passive
construction we were determined to translate it as an active voice construction.
Following, we exemplify the changes made: Decisions like these mean weighing
benefits for all participants and are motivated by the translators individual and
corporate self interest was the original sentence. The resultant one is Es el inters
individual y colectivo del traductor el que motiva decisiones como estas, que significan
equilibrar los beneficios para los involucrados. In addition to this, we also found
another complication: the adjective corporate could be interpreted ambiguously. On
the one hand, it could mean profit to the translator and on the other, it could mean
mutual benefit for all the participants involved in the transaction. Putting these two
meanings into context, we decided that the latter option was the correct one.
Regarding the topic developed in this paper, we came to the conclusion that
being a good professional not only implies outstanding linguistic skills and knowledge
but also requires a commitment to the ethical values respecting the clients rights. The
translators goal does not involve only earning money but also providing a bridge
between cultures and their corresponding languages. We agree with the author when
he says that translators, as professionals, must give advice to their clients with respect
to what is more cost-effective for them in a long term, even though he may be in loss of
economic benefits. Because, as the author of the text states, the ethical choices
translators make extend to language facilitation: being him the most skilled at
interlingual exchanges, he should advice his client of the best decisions concerning
language.

Trabajo Prctico Final

Ao 2014
Manfredi Agustina

Curso de Introduccin a la Traduccin

Aguirre Bengoa Juliana, Colautti Ana Julia,

As a matter of fact, we also believe that translators, as re-enunciators of a

certain message, leave their own print in the resulting text they produce. We do not see
this consequence of translation as a disadvantage; we believe that these marks
contribute to a better understanding of the translated text. Nevertheless, given the fact
that each and every translator leaves his or her signature in the resultant version in the
target language, it is highly important the commitment and the professionalism with
which he or she approaches the text. Apart from avoiding the majority of
misunderstandings, as Andrew Chesterman demanded, the translator must create a
truthful resemblance between original and translation. After all, he or she is the
responsible one for making that source text available, readable and understandable for
all of those who cannot understand the source language, and thus rely on the
translators skills.