Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto

Línguas e Literaturas Modernas

INTRODUCTION TO
TRANSLATION STUDIES
FALL SEMESTER 2007
Wed. 13:30-15:30 – Room 211
Thur. 08:30-10:30 – Room 211
Power Point 3
Teacher:
Elena Zagar Galvão
egalvao@netvisao.pt
egalvao@letras.up.pt

Webpage: web.letras.up.pt/egalvao
 TASK: before we start . . .
 In pairs, go to a search engine and
find definitions of the term
translation.

 Choose the one that suits you best

(or produce one yourselves on the
basis of the different you’ve found).
 Students’ findings
 Translation is an activity comprising
the interpretation of the meaning of
a text and the production of a new,
equivalent text in another language
– called the target text, or the
translation. Wikipedia
 The act or process of translating,
especially from one language into
another. (Wikipedia)
 The process of facilitating written
communication from one language to
another.
englishrussiantranslation.com
 Translation is retelling, as exactly as
possible, the meaning of the original
message in a way that is natural in
the language into which the
translation is being made. Bible
Translation, book by Katherine
Barnwell, 1986, p.8
 A translation should give a complete
transcript of the ideas and
sentiments in the original passage,
maintain the character of the style,
and have the ease and flow of the
original text. Alexander Fraser Tytler,
1790.
 Translation is a written
communication in a second language
having the same meaning as the
written communication in a first
language. Wordnet.princet.on.edu
 Dictionary of Translation Studies
(Shuttleworth and Cowie 1997:181)

Translation. An incredibly broad notion

which can be understood in many different
ways. For example, one may talk of a
translation as a process or a product, and
identify such subtypes as literary
translation, technical translation, subtitling
and machine translation; moreover, while
more typically it just refers to the transfer
of written texts, the term sometimes also
includes interpreting.
 What is Translation? (1)
a) a process by which a spoken or written
utterance takes place in one language
which is intended or presumed to convey
the same meaning as a previously
existing utterance in another language
(Rabin 1958)
b) the transfer of thoughts and ideas from
one language (source) to another
(target), whether the languages are in
written or oral form . . . or whether one
or both languages are based on signs
(Brislin 1976ª)
 What is Translation (2)
c) a situation-related and function-oriented
complex series of acts for the production
of a target text, intended for addressees
in another culture/language, on the basis
of a given source text (Salevsky 1993)
d) Any utterance which is presented or
regarded as a ‘translation’ within a
culture, on no matter what grounds
(Toury 1995).

(quoted in Pöchhacker, Franz. Introducing Interpreting Studies,

2004: 11-12)
 The basic conceptual ingredients
contained in the various definitions
of Translation are:
 an activity consisting (mainly) in
 the production of texts which are
 presumed to have a similar meaning
and/or effect
 as previously existing texts
 in another language and culture

(Pöchhacker, Franz. Introducing Interpreting Studies, 2004: 12)

 The illusion of a
fixed object of study

There cannot be an objective

definition fixing, once and for all, the
‘true meaning’ or ‘essence’ of what
we perceive or believe something (in
this case translation) to be like.

(Pöchhacker, Franz. Introducing Interpreting Studies, 2004:

13)
Translation: key concepts

TRANSLATION

WRITTEN ORAL

Interpreting /
Interpretation
TRANSLATION

Process (translating)

Product (translation)

General subject field

TRANSLATION

The process of transferring a written text

from SL to TL, conducted by a translator,
or translators, in a specific socio-cultural context

The written product, or TT, which results from

that process and which functions
in the socio-cultural context of the TL
.

Cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and ideological

phenomena which are an integral part of Translation
as process and product.
Roman Jakobson, “On Linguistic
Aspects of Translation”, 1959

TRANSLATION
INTERLINGUAL
INTRALINGUAL
INTERSEMIOTIC
 EXAMPLES (1)
Interlingual
You Are Irreplaceable: Change the Way You Look at
Your Life (Paperback) by Augusto Cury

Intralingual
CHANGE website (learning disabilities)
http://www.changepeople.co.uk/default.aspx?page=9539
Harry Potter for Americans
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help.html#british
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/british/sb-b.html
Examples (2): Intersemiotic
Examples (3): Intersemiotic
TASK
In pairs, make
a list of
examples of
the 3 different
types of
translation
identified by
Roman
Jakobson.
 Some acronyms
 SL
 TL
 ST
 TT
 TS

We’ll add to this list as we go along.

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

 Useful sites:
 International Federation of Translators (FIT):
http://www.fit-ift.org/
 European Society for Translation Studies (EST):
http://www.est-translationstudies.org/ (very good
resources section)
 American Translation Association (ATA)
http://www.atanet.org/
 Institute for Translators and Interpreters (ITI)
http://www.iti.org.uk/indexMain.html
 The Nairobi Recommendation (1976), The
Translator’s Charter (1994 Ed.)
http://www.jrdias.com/PDF/Translation-Nairobi-
Charter.pdf
 Useful sites (contd):
 European Standard (Translation services, 2004)
 http://www.jrdias.com/PDF/prEN-15038.pdf
 Helping translators do better business
http://www.translatortips.com/
 John Benjamins publishing company
http://www.benjamins.nl/
 St. Jerome Pubishing
http://www.stjerome.co.uk/
 Rodopi (publishing comp)
http://www.rodopi.nl/
 Routledge publishing company
http://www.routledge.com/
 Useful sites (contd):
 Multilingual matters
http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
 The Translator Interpreter Hall of Fame
http://www.tihof.org/tihof.htm

And many more, which you should

add to your list as you find them
while navigating on the net
 HOMEWORK
READ: (for next Wed)
Introducing Translation Studies (ITS),
Chapter 1
Jakobson’s On Linguistic Aspects of
Translation (get photocopy in AS)
Becoming a Translator (BAT) Ch. 1