The conventional understanding of the liaison interpreter views the professional as a language broker between two or more individuals not speaking the same language. The manner in which this language gap is bridged, according to the conventional understanding, is through copying verbatim what is said in one language (the source language) and pasting it (into the target language). The conventional understanding of the profession and its professionals neglects the multi-faceted nature of the profession along with the many challenges with which its professionals are faced. A liaison interpreter is a professional who forms a bridge between languages, people and culture. When viewed through this lens, new meaning and understanding are gained regarding the work of the liaison interpreter whilst, similarly, unveiling the complexity of the profession. As such, new questions may be raised pertaining to the role of the liaison interpreter in dialogue settings. This mini-dissertation seeks to shed new light on an age old profession whilst unveiling these hidden factors to highlight the benefits of factoring cultural training into interpreter training to better train student interpreters, and equip them with a unique set of skills to assist them in overcoming the unique set of challenges with which liaison interpreters often grapple. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Modern European Languages / Unrestricted

Japanese children’s literature translated directly into Finnish is a very novel phenomenon, which is why there is currently a vacuum of research in that area. This study aims to begin to fill that vacuum. The present study examines the Japanese children’s literature series Oshiri Tantei and its Finnish translation through one of the most central theories in the field offunctional translation, the skopos theory. Functionalism in translation studies is a broad term for theories which, true to its name, place emphasison the function of the translation in the target culture as a stand alone text rather than equivalence or linguistic equivalence with the original. Focus was placed on analyzing what kind of translation problems there are in the original text, and how the translator has solved these problems. It was then determined, based on these results, if it can be said that the translation conforms to the directives laid down by the skopos theory. The results seem to indicate that strict equivalence with the original text has not been apriority, as several changes both in the meaning and form were observed in the translation. While it cannot be said with complete certainty that this stems solely from conscious thoughts of functionalism by the translator, the translation seems to conform to the principles of the functional skopos theory.

This paper investigates the most effective ways of handling cultural differences in the Japanese-to-English game localization process. The thesis advocates for applying the Skopos theory of translation to game localization; analyzes how topics such as social issues, humor, fan translation, transcreation, and censorship have been handled in the past; and explores how international players react to developers' localization choices. It also includes interviews with three Japanese-to-English translators who have worked with major Japanese game companies to gain insight into how the industry operates today. Through the deconstruction of different aspects of Japanese-to-English localization, this analysis aims to help the game industry better fine-tune Japanese media to Western audiences while still sharing valuable aspects of Japanese culture. The thesis concludes that if Japanese game companies work to improve the localization process by considering more diverse international perspectives, hiring native speakers as translators, and approaching the English script as a creative endeavor in itself, they will be able to both broaden the minds of their global audiences and more effectively capitalize on the worldwide fervor for Japanese video games.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo realizar uma investigação das diferenças de orientações culturais entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos a partir da análise de um corpus de resenhas de viajantes e aplicar esses resultados em uma proposta de tradução funcionalista na área do turismo. Cultura, neste trabalho, é entendida como sistema compartilhado para a interpretação da realidade e organização da experiência (Katan, 2004: 26), noção relacionada às orientações culturais ou tendências que as culturas desenvolvem para determinados padrões de percepção da realidade. Adotamos o referencial teórico de três áreas: Estudos Interculturais para a eleição do modelo de orientações culturais que norteia a análise (Hall, 1977; Hofstede, 2001; Trompenaars e Hampden-Turner, 2012; Walker et al. 2003); Linguística de Corpus e sua perspectiva da linguagem como sistema probabilístico (Sinclair, 1991); Teoria Funcionalista da Tradução (Vermeer, 1989) e seu enfoque na função comunicativa do texto final como o fio condutor das estratégias tradutórias. O corpus de estudo é composto por resenhas de hotéis extraídas do site TripAdvisor, escritas em inglês por americanos e em português por brasileiros. Foram compiladas 15 mil resenhas, totalizando 2.160.333 palavras, divididas em dois subcorpora em cada idioma: resenhas de americanos sobre hotéis nos EUA e sobre hotéis no Brasil; resenhas de brasileiros sobre hotéis nos EUA e sobre hotéis no Brasil. Esse corpus foi explorado com o auxílio do software WordSmith Tools 7 (Scott, 2016). No total, foram apresentadas nove análises, com base nas palavras-chave das cinco categorias semânticas estabelecidas: VALOR/JULGAMENTO Brazilian (standards) e star; ATENDIMENTO staff e complain; ESTADIA experience e disappointing; ESTRUTURA FÍSICA room e lobby; COMODIDADES breakfast. A cultura americana foi caracterizada pelas orientações à comunicação low context, ao individualismo, ao pensamento indutivolinear e ao universalismo. Dentre outras características, observou-se uma alta expectativa de que a estrutura física e os serviços prestados pelo hotel sejam consistentes e compatíveis com o padrão da rede e categoria de estrelas. A cultura brasileira demonstrou tendência às orientações à comunicação high context, ao coletivismo, ao pensamento dedutivo-sistêmico e ao particularismo. Como consequência, as resenhas dos brasileiros demonstram ser mais pautadas em descrições gerais e impressões pessoais do que em critérios concretos e objetivos. Esses e outros achados embasaram a proposta de tradução funcionalista (português > inglês) de um site de hotel, demonstrando que o conhecimento sobre as orientações culturais, quando aplicado à tradução no âmbito do turismo, permite que se produza um texto final alinhado à sua função informativa e persuasiva. / The aim of this research is to carry out a cross-cultural corpus-based analysis of Brazilian and American travelers reviews, interpreting results within the theoretical frame of cultural orientations. We then apply the findings to a functionalist translation of a tourism text. Culture is defined as a \"shared system for interpreting reality and organizing experience\" (Katan, 2004: 26), which is closely related to the concept of cultural orientations or tendencies that cultures develop towards certain patterns of perception. This research draws on the principles of three major areas: Intercultural Studies for selecting the cultural orientations model that underpins the analysis (Hall, 1977; Hofstede, 2001; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2012; Walker et al., 2003); Corpus Linguistics and its perspective of language as a probabilistic system (Sinclair, 1991); and the Skopos Theory of Translation (Vermeer, 1989) that sees the communicative function of the target text as the guiding principle behind translation strategies. The study corpus is comprised of TripAdvisor hotel reviews written in English by American travelers and in Portuguese by Brazilian travelers. A total of 15,000 reviews and 2,160,333 words were compiled, divided into two subcorpora in each language: American reviews of hotels in the USA and hotels in Brazil; Brazilian reviews of hotels in the USA and hotels in Brazil. This corpus was explored with the aid of WordSmith Tools 7 (Scott, 2016). A total of nine analyses were presented, based on keywords from five semantic categories: VALUE/JUDGMENT - \'Brazilian (standards)\' and \'star\'; SERVICE - \'staff\' and \'complain\'; STAY - \'experience\' and \'disappointing\'; PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES - \'room\' and \'lobby\'; AMENITIES - \'breakfast\'. Americans displayed a low-context orientation to communication, linear-inductive orientation to thinking as well as individualism and universalistic orientations. As a consequence, Americans showed high expectation for consistency and compatibility among hotel physical attributes, services provided and hotel chain or star rating. Brazilians exhibited cultural orientations towards high-context communication, deductive-systemic thinking, particularism and collectivism. Among other characteristics, Brazilian reviews proved to be mostly based on general descriptions and personal impressions rather than concrete and objective criteria. These and other findings created the basis for our functionalist approach to a translation (Portuguese > English) of a hotel website, thus showing that an understanding of cultural orientations plays a role in tourism translation, helping ensure the target tourism text reaches its informative and persuasive functions.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo realizar uma investigação das diferenças de orientações culturais entre o Brasil e os Estados Unidos a partir da análise de um corpus de resenhas de viajantes e aplicar esses resultados em uma proposta de tradução funcionalista na área do turismo. Cultura, neste trabalho, é entendida como sistema compartilhado para a interpretação da realidade e organização da experiência (Katan, 2004: 26), noção relacionada às orientações culturais ou tendências que as culturas desenvolvem para determinados padrões de percepção da realidade. Adotamos o referencial teórico de três áreas: Estudos Interculturais para a eleição do modelo de orientações culturais que norteia a análise (Hall, 1977; Hofstede, 2001; Trompenaars e Hampden-Turner, 2012; Walker et al. 2003); Linguística de Corpus e sua perspectiva da linguagem como sistema probabilístico (Sinclair, 1991); Teoria Funcionalista da Tradução (Vermeer, 1989) e seu enfoque na função comunicativa do texto final como o fio condutor das estratégias tradutórias. O corpus de estudo é composto por resenhas de hotéis extraídas do site TripAdvisor, escritas em inglês por americanos e em português por brasileiros. Foram compiladas 15 mil resenhas, totalizando 2.160.333 palavras, divididas em dois subcorpora em cada idioma: resenhas de americanos sobre hotéis nos EUA e sobre hotéis no Brasil; resenhas de brasileiros sobre hotéis nos EUA e sobre hotéis no Brasil. Esse corpus foi explorado com o auxílio do software WordSmith Tools 7 (Scott, 2016). No total, foram apresentadas nove análises, com base nas palavras-chave das cinco categorias semânticas estabelecidas: VALOR/JULGAMENTO Brazilian (standards) e star; ATENDIMENTO staff e complain; ESTADIA experience e disappointing; ESTRUTURA FÍSICA room e lobby; COMODIDADES breakfast. A cultura americana foi caracterizada pelas orientações à comunicação low context, ao individualismo, ao pensamento indutivolinear e ao universalismo. Dentre outras características, observou-se uma alta expectativa de que a estrutura física e os serviços prestados pelo hotel sejam consistentes e compatíveis com o padrão da rede e categoria de estrelas. A cultura brasileira demonstrou tendência às orientações à comunicação high context, ao coletivismo, ao pensamento dedutivo-sistêmico e ao particularismo. Como consequência, as resenhas dos brasileiros demonstram ser mais pautadas em descrições gerais e impressões pessoais do que em critérios concretos e objetivos. Esses e outros achados embasaram a proposta de tradução funcionalista (português > inglês) de um site de hotel, demonstrando que o conhecimento sobre as orientações culturais, quando aplicado à tradução no âmbito do turismo, permite que se produza um texto final alinhado à sua função informativa e persuasiva. / The aim of this research is to carry out a cross-cultural corpus-based analysis of Brazilian and American travelers reviews, interpreting results within the theoretical frame of cultural orientations. We then apply the findings to a functionalist translation of a tourism text. Culture is defined as a \"shared system for interpreting reality and organizing experience\" (Katan, 2004: 26), which is closely related to the concept of cultural orientations or tendencies that cultures develop towards certain patterns of perception. This research draws on the principles of three major areas: Intercultural Studies for selecting the cultural orientations model that underpins the analysis (Hall, 1977; Hofstede, 2001; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2012; Walker et al., 2003); Corpus Linguistics and its perspective of language as a probabilistic system (Sinclair, 1991); and the Skopos Theory of Translation (Vermeer, 1989) that sees the communicative function of the target text as the guiding principle behind translation strategies. The study corpus is comprised of TripAdvisor hotel reviews written in English by American travelers and in Portuguese by Brazilian travelers. A total of 15,000 reviews and 2,160,333 words were compiled, divided into two subcorpora in each language: American reviews of hotels in the USA and hotels in Brazil; Brazilian reviews of hotels in the USA and hotels in Brazil. This corpus was explored with the aid of WordSmith Tools 7 (Scott, 2016). A total of nine analyses were presented, based on keywords from five semantic categories: VALUE/JUDGMENT - \'Brazilian (standards)\' and \'star\'; SERVICE - \'staff\' and \'complain\'; STAY - \'experience\' and \'disappointing\'; PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES - \'room\' and \'lobby\'; AMENITIES - \'breakfast\'. Americans displayed a low-context orientation to communication, linear-inductive orientation to thinking as well as individualism and universalistic orientations. As a consequence, Americans showed high expectation for consistency and compatibility among hotel physical attributes, services provided and hotel chain or star rating. Brazilians exhibited cultural orientations towards high-context communication, deductive-systemic thinking, particularism and collectivism. Among other characteristics, Brazilian reviews proved to be mostly based on general descriptions and personal impressions rather than concrete and objective criteria. These and other findings created the basis for our functionalist approach to a translation (Portuguese > English) of a hotel website, thus showing that an understanding of cultural orientations plays a role in tourism translation, helping ensure the target tourism text reaches its informative and persuasive functions.

Данная работа посвящена переводческому исследованию о переводе рекламных текстов с русского языка на китайский в свете теории скопоса. С развитием глобализации торговые обмены между странами всё более и более оживляются, многие компании и фирмы начали осуществлять транснациональные стратегии и активно расширять рынки за рубежом. На фоне информатизации люди стали обращать особое внимание на рекламирование, являющееся важным средством передачи информации о товарах и услугах. По указанной причине постепенно повышается статус перевода рекламных текстов, служащего посредничеством транснациональной торговли и межкультурной коммуникации. В последние годы китайско-российские экономические связи бурно развиваются, русская продукция в большом объёме продаётся на китайском рынке. В связи с этим исследование перевода рекламных текстов с русского на китайский язык имеет большое актуальное значение и необходимо на современном этапе развития межкультурных отношений. В 1970-е годы в Германии возникла новая теория перевода– функциональная теория перевода, основной частью которой является теория скопоса, ставит проблему перевода рекламных текстов под новый угол зрения. Основная идея теории такова: перевод – это особая форма деятельности человека, она имеет свою определенную цель, на основании которой можно принимать подходящие переводческие стратегии и методы в процессе перевода. Теория скопоса имеет своей целью перевод рекламы с оригинального языка, и этот перевод представляет собой целенаправленные тексты. Поэтому в данной работе теория скопоса может с успехом применяться для перевода рекламы. Теоретическая и практическая значимость данного исследования заключается в том, что, с одной стороны, была найдена новая теория для анализа переводных русских рекламных текстов, а с другой, результаты исследования могут способствовать дальнейшему укреплению и развитию торговых обменов и межкультурной коммуникации между Китаем и Россией. / This work is devoted to the study of translation of advertising texts from Russian to Chinese according to skpos theory. With the development of globalization, trade between countries is becoming more and more active, and many enterprises and business firms have started to implement transnational strategies and actively expand overseas markets. In the context of informationization, people began to pay special attention to advertising, which is an important means of transmitting information about goods and services. For this reason, the status of translation of advertising texts is gradually increasing, becoming an intermediary for transnational trade and cross-cultural communication. In recent years, Russian-Chinese economic relations have developed rapidly, and Russian products are sold in large quantities to the Chinese market. In this regard, the study of translation of Russian advertising texts into Chinese is very important and necessary at the current stage of development of intercultural relations. In the 1970s, a new translation theory appeared in Germany - functional translation theory, the main part of which is the theory of scope, addressing the problem of translation of advertising texts from a new perspective. The main idea of the theory is that translation is a special form of human activity, which has its own specific objectives, on the basis of which it is possible to use appropriate translation strategies and methods in the translation process. The purpose theory aims to translate ads from the original language, and this translation represents the target text. Therefore, in this work, the purpose theory can be successfully applied to translate advertisements. The theoretical and practical significance of this study is that, on the one hand, a new theory is found for the analysis of translated texts of Russian advertisements, and on the other hand, the results of the research can further strengthen and develop trade and cross-cultural communication. Russian-Chinese communication. trade and cross-cultural Russian-Chinese communication.

This thesis analyzes the Czech translations of Karel Havlíček's German family correspondence. The translations are from the turn of the 20th century, from the 1940s, and from the present day. In the introduction, the present-day situation concerning the publication of Havlíček's correspondence is outlined. After that, the thesis focuses on the skopos theory as the main theoretical base for the analysis. Then the thesis turns to the life of Karel Havlíček with a focus on his student years. In the analytical section, the individual translators and the origination of the translations are introduced. Selected translations are then analyzed. The primary objective of the thesis is the evaluation of translation strategies and methods used by the translators of Karel Havlíček's family correspondence with regard to translation conventions and social and historical changes.

A partir da teoria do escopo formulada por Katharina Reiß e Hans Vermeer em Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) e de uma expansão do modelo de análise textual de relevância tradutória apresentado por Christiane Nord em Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), a presente tese de doutorado apresenta um novo modelo teórico para a execução da TRADUÇÃO RETROSPECTIVA, definida como a tradução a posteriori de um TP (texto precursor) ainda inédito na cultura-alvo que mantenha uma relação de influência e/ou precedência cronológica com um TS (texto sucessor) já traduzido anteriormente para a cultura-alvo, de maneira que a tradução de TP cause a impressão de ser anterior e/ou de ter influenciado a tradução de TS. A tradução retrospectiva tem por objetivo simular, na culturaalvo, a relação existente entre o original de TP e o original de TS na cultura-fonte através de uma inversão das relações de influência literária segundo os moldes propostos por Jorge Luis Borges no ensaio “Kafka y sus precursores”. Uma vez exposto o modelo teórico, o trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso sobre o volume O grande deus Pã, totalmente concebido em função de uma tradução retrospectiva do TP The Great God Pan, de Arthur Machen, feita com uma visada sobre o TS “The Dunwich Horror”, de Howard Phillips Lovecraft, traduzido anteriormente por mim. / By building on the Skopos theory proposed by Katharina Reiß and Hans Vermeer in Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) and on an expansion of the model for text analysis in translation presented by Christiane Nord in Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), this doctoral dissertation introduces a new theoretical model for RETROSPECTIVE TRANSLATION, defined as an a posteriori translation of a PT (precursor text) still unpublished in the target culture which in turn maintains a relationship of influence and/or chronological precedence with an ST (successor text) previously translated in the target culture, so that the translation of PT may seem to have anticipated and/or influenced the translation of ST. The objective of a retrospective translation is to simulate, in the target culture, the existing relation between the original of PT and the original of ST in the source culture by promoting an inversion of traditional literary influence relations inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's essay “Kafka and his precursors”. Once the theoretical model is laid out, there follows a case study of the volume O grande deus Pã, entirely conceived around a retrospective translation of the PT The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen, done with a backward glance toward the ST “The Dunwich Horror”, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, previously translated by me.

A partir da teoria do escopo formulada por Katharina Reiß e Hans Vermeer em Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) e de uma expansão do modelo de análise textual de relevância tradutória apresentado por Christiane Nord em Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), a presente tese de doutorado apresenta um novo modelo teórico para a execução da TRADUÇÃO RETROSPECTIVA, definida como a tradução a posteriori de um TP (texto precursor) ainda inédito na cultura-alvo que mantenha uma relação de influência e/ou precedência cronológica com um TS (texto sucessor) já traduzido anteriormente para a cultura-alvo, de maneira que a tradução de TP cause a impressão de ser anterior e/ou de ter influenciado a tradução de TS. A tradução retrospectiva tem por objetivo simular, na culturaalvo, a relação existente entre o original de TP e o original de TS na cultura-fonte através de uma inversão das relações de influência literária segundo os moldes propostos por Jorge Luis Borges no ensaio “Kafka y sus precursores”. Uma vez exposto o modelo teórico, o trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso sobre o volume O grande deus Pã, totalmente concebido em função de uma tradução retrospectiva do TP The Great God Pan, de Arthur Machen, feita com uma visada sobre o TS “The Dunwich Horror”, de Howard Phillips Lovecraft, traduzido anteriormente por mim. / By building on the Skopos theory proposed by Katharina Reiß and Hans Vermeer in Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) and on an expansion of the model for text analysis in translation presented by Christiane Nord in Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), this doctoral dissertation introduces a new theoretical model for RETROSPECTIVE TRANSLATION, defined as an a posteriori translation of a PT (precursor text) still unpublished in the target culture which in turn maintains a relationship of influence and/or chronological precedence with an ST (successor text) previously translated in the target culture, so that the translation of PT may seem to have anticipated and/or influenced the translation of ST. The objective of a retrospective translation is to simulate, in the target culture, the existing relation between the original of PT and the original of ST in the source culture by promoting an inversion of traditional literary influence relations inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's essay “Kafka and his precursors”. Once the theoretical model is laid out, there follows a case study of the volume O grande deus Pã, entirely conceived around a retrospective translation of the PT The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen, done with a backward glance toward the ST “The Dunwich Horror”, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, previously translated by me.

A partir da teoria do escopo formulada por Katharina Reiß e Hans Vermeer em Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) e de uma expansão do modelo de análise textual de relevância tradutória apresentado por Christiane Nord em Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), a presente tese de doutorado apresenta um novo modelo teórico para a execução da TRADUÇÃO RETROSPECTIVA, definida como a tradução a posteriori de um TP (texto precursor) ainda inédito na cultura-alvo que mantenha uma relação de influência e/ou precedência cronológica com um TS (texto sucessor) já traduzido anteriormente para a cultura-alvo, de maneira que a tradução de TP cause a impressão de ser anterior e/ou de ter influenciado a tradução de TS. A tradução retrospectiva tem por objetivo simular, na culturaalvo, a relação existente entre o original de TP e o original de TS na cultura-fonte através de uma inversão das relações de influência literária segundo os moldes propostos por Jorge Luis Borges no ensaio “Kafka y sus precursores”. Uma vez exposto o modelo teórico, o trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso sobre o volume O grande deus Pã, totalmente concebido em função de uma tradução retrospectiva do TP The Great God Pan, de Arthur Machen, feita com uma visada sobre o TS “The Dunwich Horror”, de Howard Phillips Lovecraft, traduzido anteriormente por mim. / By building on the Skopos theory proposed by Katharina Reiß and Hans Vermeer in Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie (1984) and on an expansion of the model for text analysis in translation presented by Christiane Nord in Textanalyse und Übersetzen (1988), this doctoral dissertation introduces a new theoretical model for RETROSPECTIVE TRANSLATION, defined as an a posteriori translation of a PT (precursor text) still unpublished in the target culture which in turn maintains a relationship of influence and/or chronological precedence with an ST (successor text) previously translated in the target culture, so that the translation of PT may seem to have anticipated and/or influenced the translation of ST. The objective of a retrospective translation is to simulate, in the target culture, the existing relation between the original of PT and the original of ST in the source culture by promoting an inversion of traditional literary influence relations inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's essay “Kafka and his precursors”. Once the theoretical model is laid out, there follows a case study of the volume O grande deus Pã, entirely conceived around a retrospective translation of the PT The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen, done with a backward glance toward the ST “The Dunwich Horror”, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, previously translated by me.