University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

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On the assumption that the translation strategies used to translate American fast-food advertisements into Arabic cause the Arabic translations to be culturally bound to their originals, the aim of the present study is to identify such translation strategies. The study was conducted with the aid of questionnaires as a primary research method to obtain data which are then complemented by means of textual analyses of the corpus. The findings reveal that the main translation strategies used to translate phrases in fast-food advertisements from English into Arabic are borrowing and transliteration. The overall finding is that inadequate translations of culture-specific concepts, phrases, logos and terms produce target texts which are bound to the source texts. This causes the translations to be rejected by the target culture. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Things Fall Apart is an unsentimental novel which appeared in 1958 as Chinua Achebe's first novel. It is regarded as a classic of world literature. It is deemed vital that such rich literature as the one of Achebe, be made accessible to readers in as many language communities as possible. It is through the vehicle of translation that a multitude of readers are endowed with the power to make some form of contact with much of the world's great writings. But translation of literature is a very complex process, which poses some difficult yet interesting problems that demand particular notice and specific attention. In translation of literature one is not just dealing with words written in a certain. time, space and sociopolitical situation, most importantly it is the cultural aspect of the text that should be taken into account. Therefore, translation of literature is not just the transfer of information between languages, but the transfer of one culture to another. Literary texts in isiXhosa and English, which are not only written in different languages but also represent different cultures, differ greatly in terms of linguistic, literary and cultural-social conventions. Challenges such as these make it difficult for a translator, in this case K.S. Bongela, to render the source language text flawlessly in the target language. This study thus investigates how Bongela coped with transmitting the cultural issues in Things Fall Apart into Lwadilik'udonga. It will highlight the various problems the translator encountered in search for equivalence and adequacy, and also analyse the strategies he has employed in this transference of cultural elements to the target text. As will be seen, it is possible to relate the translation of this text to the six general rules mentioned by Bassnett-MacGuire (1988: 116- 117) for the translator. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Things Fall Apart is 'n onsentimentele roman wat in 1958 as Chinua Achebe se eerste roman verskyn het. Dit word beskou as fn klassieke werk in die wêreld van letterkunde. Dit is ook belangrik dat letterkunde wat so ryk is soos dié van Achebe aan soveel verskillende taalgemeenskappe as moontlik bekend gestel word. Dit is as gevolg van vertaling dat fn verskeidenheid lesers die geleentheid het om kontak te maak met die wêreld se beste geskrewe werke. Letterkundige vertaling is fn baie komplekse proses waar uitdagende maar interessante probleme voorkom, en dit verg besondere en spesifieke aandag. Met die vertaling van letterkunde word daar nie net gebruik gemaak van woorde in fn sekere tyd, plek en sosio-politieke situasie nie, maar belangriker is die kulturele aspek van die teks waarmee rekening gehou moet word. Daarom is vertaling van letterkunde nie net fn oordra van informasie tussen tale nie, maar fn verplasing van een kultuur na fn ander. Letterkundige teks in isiXhosa en Engels is nie net in verskillende tale geskryf nie, maar verteenwoordig ook verskillende kulture wat baie verskil in terme van taalkunde, letterkunde en kultureel-sosiale gebruike. Sulke uitdagings maak dit baie moeilik vir die vertaler, in hierdie geval K.S. Bongela, om die brontaal foutloos in die teikentaal te vertaal. Die studie gaan oor hoe Bongela met die vertaling van Things Fall Apart na Lwadilik'udonga, die kuturele uitdagings gehanteer het. Die verskillende probleme waarmee fn vertaler met die soeke na gelykwaardigheid en geskiktheid in aanraking kom, asook die analise van strategieë wat gebruik word in die oorskakeling van die kulturele elemente in die teikenteks, word aan die lig gebring. In die studie sal daar aan die lig gebring word dat dit moontlik is om fn verband tussen die vertaling van die teks en die ses algemene reëls wat deur Bassnett-MacGuire (1988:116-117) aangegee word, te sien.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

"November, 1994" / Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, School of English & Linguistics, 1995. / Bibliography: leaves 199-212. / Introduction -- Bilingual editing of magazines -- Bilingual editing of magazines in Hong Kong -- Survey and interviews -- Grammatical bases for textual analysis -- Textual analysis -- Discussion and conclusion. / In cross-cultural or intercultural encounters of the modern age, mass communication has become a daily feature of our technological civilisation, and mass media have facilitated effective international information flow. Bilingual editing becomes an important medium of mass communication. The effectiveness of such communication rests upon the grammatical, lexical, sociolinguistic, socio-cultural, discourse and strategic competence of participants (editors, writers, translators and readers). It rests upon their ability to creatively use and to sensitively respond to language. In this dynamic process of communication, a bilingual editor not only plays the role of translator but also acts as a mediator; as Hatim and Mason (1990:223) suggest, s/he "has not only a bilingual ability but also a bi-cultural vision". -- In view of the diversity of usage of bilingual editing in the media, this research delves into the role of translation from English to Chinese in the bilingual editing of magazines in Hong Kong. This area is of interest for four reasons: first, since the press medium engages most translation practitioners, a study in this area may help future practitioners to have a better understanding of this science and art and its practice; second, text types are highly diverse, allowing room for discussion of translation devices; third, Hong Kong is a typical meeting place of the East and West and bilingual editing serves as a tool of information flow; fourth, the rising status of Chinese in Hong Kong approaching 1997 will enhance the role of bilingual editing. -- The study focuses on translation only from English and Chinese, or vice versa. In as much as there is very little academic attention to bilingual editing and its nature, processes and techniques, or to the role of translation in bilingual editing, it is believed that this research will help facilitate cross-cultural communication between Westerners and Chinese. -- The objective of this study is to derive new insights into the translation process with the support of contemporary approaches, and to descant on different lexical, grammatical and cultural features between English and Chinese; and most important, to elicit from the above features a set of parameters which may promote consistency and precision in the discussion of translating articles of the abovementioned press medium. -- Editors and theorists agree that an understanding of the source language text is essential. To review the basis for understanding the source language correctly, a text analysis of an English text and its Chinese translation will be performed. This analysis will take a functional approach which is based on Halliday's model of analysing the functional grammar of English. The first concern is with the analysis of clause complexes. The thinking behind this concern is influenced by Bell's approach to the clause. Such a functional approach is applied to the Chinese text. This does not' mean a complete application of Halliday's functional model to the Chinese language, but the functional approach will be used as a tool to reveal the relationship between the two languages as well as to analyse the source language. -- Case studies developed from the textual analysis of different types of magazines and from discussions with the translators or bilingual editors about their views of the translating process will be presented. Samples of articles illustrating the difficulties and challenges are also cited. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / viii, 212 [28] leaves ill

On the assumption that the translation strategies used to translate American fast-food advertisements into Arabic cause the Arabic translations to be culturally bound to their originals, the aim of the present study is to identify such translation strategies. The study was conducted with the aid of questionnaires as a primary research method to obtain data which are then complemented by means of textual analyses of the corpus. The findings reveal that the main translation strategies used to translate phrases in fast-food advertisements from English into Arabic are borrowing and transliteration. The overall finding is that inadequate translations of culture-specific concepts, phrases, logos and terms produce target texts which are bound to the source texts. This causes the translations to be rejected by the target culture. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

The number of overseas and immigrant students enrolled in post-secondary institutions has been increasing throughout North America, resulting in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. In response to this major social change, Canadian college and university educators seek ways to integrate students of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds and nurture mutual understanding. The challenge of educators, as well as both native English-speaking and English language learning students, is to understand how norms and values shaped by language and embedded in texts, classroom tasks, and interpersonal relationships are translated across cultures. This idea of translation offers a lens through which the intersections of languages and cultures may be richly explored. This study examines how different conceptions of translation operate in socioculturally diverse classroom spaces, while pointing to strategies for reducing barriers to productive and harmonious learning. The study first analyzes various conceptions of translation. It focuses on a hermeneutic concept of language as interpretation, helping us perceive an emerging new space where languages and cultures meet and interrelate. The study also analyzes sociocultural and political effects of translation, in particular, approaches derived from cultural studies and postcolonial studies. Using translations between Japanese and English as examples, the study examines how asymmetrical relations of power construct national identities. Then the focus shifts to post- secondary education. The study examines and interprets the conceptions of translation reflected in textbooks and literature in two curricula areas—college preparatory ELL courses, and first-year English literature courses—in order to clarify how these texts embody particular educational principles and values. As applied in this study, the hermeneutic conceptions of translation illuminate the educational potentialities of texts. Conceptions of translation derived from postcolonial and cultural studies demonstrate how texts can manipulate representation of power and historicity, and hinder opportunities to embrace differences and to create inclusive learning environments. Conceptions of translation with hermeneutic interest, on the other hand, suggest that texts can open up a border world—a third, in-between space—where newness can emerge. The study illustrates how this space, a borderless generative space and a locus to share and appreciate difference, can enrich the educational experience of students and teachers alike. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

This thesis aims to elucidate the translation process by devising a way of retrieving evidence of this process from its output. It further aims to assess the claims made by some scholars concerning the possible existence of Translation Universals. In order to isolate the interaction of texts and contexts, a corpus of American short stories was created, with their translations into Persian published after the 1979 Revolution. Three complementary methodologies gave a rounded picture: (1) Corpus-based Descriptive Translation Studies; (2) The pragmatic and rhetorically-based approach of Thinking Translation devised at St Andrews; and ‎(3) The analytical framework mostly established by Halliday in his Systemic Functional Grammar.‎ Approaching the process of translation in the specific order devised in this thesis provided four vantage points to analyse the data in a systematic way from linguistic, discourse, cultural and literary views before reaching what are at once the most personal and most characteristic aspects of a translator's work. The research begins with a literature review of the field and an account of linguistic constraints and of all Translation Universals hypothesised so far, followed by an extensive analysis of data in two consecutive chapters. With reference to the choices made in this corpus, it is discussed in the Conclusions chapter that most of the Translation Universals so far claimed are not in fact universal. It is the role of the translator which has emerged as the determining factor in producing a translated text, and thus as the key to resolving the issues explored in this thesis. It seems there are no constraints beyond the translator's reach, and there are no parameters which do not involve the translator, who introduces his or her own choices, or manipulates certain parameters. Only when they have done so, will the translation, as both process and product, be accomplished.