Becoming a Translator Second Edition
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Becoming a Translator Second Edition "Absolutely up-to-date and state of the art in the practical as well as theoretical aspect of translation, this new edition of Becoming a Translator retains the strength of the first edition while offering new sections on current issues. Bright, lively and witty, the book is filled with entertaining and thoughtful examples; I would recommend it to teachers offering courses to beginning and advanced students, and to any translator who wishes to know where the field is today." Malcolm Hayward, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA "A very useful book ... I would recommend it to students who aim at a career in translation as a valuable introduction to the profession and an initiation into the social and transactional skills which it requires." Mike Routledge, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK Fusing theory with advice and information about the practicalities of translating, Becoming a Translator is the essential resource for novice and practising translators. The book explains how the market works, helps translators learn how to translate faster and more accurately, as well as providing invaluable advice and tips about how to deal with potential problems such as stress. The second edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering: • a "useful contacts" section • new exercises and examples • new e-mail exchanges to show how translators have dealt with a range of real problems • updated further reading sections • extensive up-to-date information about new translation technologies. Offering suggestions for discussion, activities, and hints for the teaching of translation, the second edition of Becoming a Translator remains invaluable for students on and teachers of courses in translation, as well as for professional translators and scholars of translation and language. Douglas Robinson is Professor of English at the University of Mississippi, USA. His publications include Performative Linguistics (Routledge, 2003), The Translator's Turn, and Western Translation Theory from Herodotus to Nietzsche. Becoming a Translator An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation Second Edition Douglas Robinson |3 Routledge jjj^ Taylor Si Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1997 by Routledge Reprinted 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Second edition first published 2003 bv Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Reprinted 2006, 2007 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor ^Francis Group, an injorma business © 1997, 2003 Doug Robinson Typeset in Perpetua and Futura by Keystroke, Jacaranda Lodge, Wolverhampton Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 978-0^1-15-30032-2 (hbk) ISBN 978-0^-15-30033-9 (pbk) Contents List of figures xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 1 External knowledge: the user's view 5 Internal and external knowledge 6 Reliability 7 Textual reliability 7 The translator's reliability 11 Timeliness 13 Cost 17 Trade-offs 17 Discussion 19 Exercises 20 Suggestions for further reading 20 2 Internal knowledge: the translator's view 21 Who are translators? 22 Professional pride 24 Reliability 24 Involvement in the profession 25 Ethics 25 Income 28 Speed 28 Translation memory software 31 Project management 32 vi Contents Raising the status of the profession 33 Enjoyment 33 Discussion 40 Exercises 44 Suggestions for further reading 45 3 The translator as learner 47 The translator's intelligence 49 The translator's memory 50 Representational and procedural memory 51 Intellectual and emotional memory 52 Context, relevance, multiple encoding 53 The translator's learning styles 55 Context 51 Field-dependent/independent 57 Flexible/structured environment 60 Independence /dependence /interdependence 61 Relationship-/content-driven 62 Input 63 Visual 63 Auditory 64 Kinesthetic 66 Processing 68 Contextual-global 68 Sequential-detailed/linear 69 Conceptual (abstract) 70 Concrete (objects and feelings) 70 Response 71 Externally /internally referenced 71 Matching/mismatching 73 Impulsive-experimental/analytical-reflective 74 Discussion 75 Exercises 76 Suggestions for further reading 81 4 The process of translation 83 The shuttle: experience and habit 84 Charles Sanders Peirce on instinct, experience, and habit 86 Abduction, induction, deduction 87 Karl Weick on enactment, selection, and retention 88 The process of translation 90 Discussion 95 Exercises 95 SuggestionsJorfurther reading 95 5 Experience What experience? 98 Intuitive leaps (abduction) 100 Pattern-building (induction) 105 Rules and theories (deduction) 106 Discussion 109 Exercises 109 Suggestions Jor further reading 110 6 People The meaning of a word 112 Experiencing people 113 First impressions (abduction) 115 Deeper acquaintance (induction) 116 Psychology (deduction) 122 Discussion 124 Exercises 124 Suggestions for further reading 126 7 Working people A new look at terminology 128 Faking it (abduction) 128 Working (induction) 131 Terminology studies (deduction) 135 Discussion 138 Activities 138 Exercises 138 Suggestions for further reading 140 viii Contents 8 Languages 141 Translation and linguistics 142 What could that be? (abduction) 143 Doing things with words (induction) 146 The translator and speech-act theory (deduction) 148 Discussion 152 Exercises 152 Suggestions for further reading 158 9 Social networks 159 The translator as social being 160 Pretending (abduction) 161 Pretending to be a translator 161 Pretending to be a source-language reader and target-language writer 164 Pretending to belong to a language-use community 165 Learning to be a translator (induction) 168 Teaching and theorizing translation as a social activity (deduction) 170 Discussion 1 76 Exercises 177 Suggestions for further reading 183 10 Cultures 185 Cultural knowledge 186 Self-projection into the foreign (abduction) 189 Immersion in cultures (induction) 192 Intercultural awareness (deduction) 194 Discussion 200 Exercises 200 Suggestions for further reading 205 11 When habit fails 207 The importance of analysis 208 The reticular activation system: alarm bells 210 Checking the rules (deduction) 213 Checking synonyms, alternatives (induction) 219 Picking the rendition that feels right (abduction) 220 Contents ix Discussion 221 Exercise 221 Suggestions JorJurther reading 222 Appendix: Translation-related resources 223 Appendix Jor teachers 241 Works cited 287 Index 297 Figures 1 Learning styles 58—9 2 Peirce's instinct/experience/habit triad in translation 87 3 Peirce's instinct/experience/habit and abduction/induction/ deduction triads in translation 89 4 The wheel of experience 92 5 The translator's experience of terminology 137 6 The "basic situation for translatorial activity" 180 7 The systematic assessment of flow in daily experience 212 8 Channels of learning 249 Acknowledgements This book has taken shape in interaction with teachers and students of translation in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and England. Eileen Sullivan's invitation to tour central Mexico in the fall of 1994 first got me started on the series of interactive hands-on experiences that eventually turned into these chapters; and while many of the participants in my seminars in Guadalajara, Mexico D.F., Tlaxcala, Xalapa, and Veracruz were enthusiastic, I owe even more to the skeptics, who forced me to recognize such things as the importance of the "slow" or analytical side of the shuttle movement explored here. Thanks especially to Richard Finks Whitaker, Teresa Moreno, Lourdes Arencibo, Adriana Menasse, and Pat Reidy in Mexico; Marshall Morris, Angel Arzan, Yvette Torres, and Sara Irizarry in Puerto Rico; John Milton, Rosemary Arrojo, John Schmidt, Regina Alfarano, Maria Paula Frota, and Peter Lenny in Brazil; Peter Bush, Mona Baker, and Terry Hale in England. Several people read early drafts of the book in part or in whole, and made helpful comments: Anthony Pym, Beverly Adab, and Maria O'Neill. Bill Kaul's pictorial and other comments were as usual least helpful and most enjoyable. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my friends and fellow translators on Lantra-L, the translators' on-line discussion group, who have graciously consented to being quoted repeatedly in these pages. A lonely translator could not ask for more dedicated help, support, advice, and argument! Special thanks go to all the teachers and other learners who have used this book in various contexts around the world, and then shared their experiences with me. In updating and revising the book I have not been able to make all the changes they suggested, but every suggestion initiated a thought process that contributed in some significant way to the final form the revision took. Christy Kirkpatrick at Routledge solicited extensive responses from teachers who have used the book; thanks to her, and to them, for that valuable assistance. Some of my old friends on Lantra-L pitched in once again, offering