scholarly journals Lost in Translation: Culture-bound Lexical Items in English Subtitles of the Rap Songs by Indian Rapper ‘Badshah’ in Bollywood Movies from 2016-2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritika Sinha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Original Message ◽  
Lost In Translation

Subtitling, a subfield of translation studies has witnessed a recent upsurge in India. The rise of subtitling services can be attributed to the fact that the number of viewers from outside the country is increasing phenomenally, thanks to the global streaming platforms. Subtitling is an art; it involves translation of the language of the video to another language with an objective to retain the temper of the original message for the target audience. The subtitler is faced with the daunting task of preserving the idiom of the source text (ST) and the target text (TT). Since, the meaning in both source and target language is profoundly affected by the cultural context, it is important to undertake the practice of translation while respecting and reflecting cultural ethos of each language. This research aims to investigate the English subtitles of selected famous rap sequences by Indian rapper ‘Badshah’ in Bollywood songs released from 2016 to 2021. With an aim to assess the quality of translation of the selected song sequences, an analysis is made of the sematic peculiarities that are lost in translation from Hindi/Punjabi to English. The loss can be mainly attributed to Hindi and Punjabi cultural references or culture-bound terms which do not have a suitable equivalent lexical item in English language.

Ambiguity, Ideology, and Doctrine Propagation in Qur'an Translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burçin K. Mustafa
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Lost In Translation

The inability of translators to convey all aspects of the source text is often cited as an inherent flaw of the translation process. For example, with regard to Qur'an translation, the inability of the translator to transfer the linguistic ambiguity inherent in some specific verses, or to find equivalent target-language words for Qur'anic terms, is often seen as a drawback of translation. This is routinely referred to as ‘translation loss’ and is framed in a negative light, on the basis that facets of the source text are lost in translation. However, this article will argue that this limitation of translation can actually provide an advantage for those propagating a particular doctrine. In this sense, ambiguous terms can be exploited to impose on the reader of the target text a singular interpretation derived from a specific doctrine. To demonstrate this notion a number of examples from various English-language Qur'an translations will be presented, such as a variety of translations of khātama'l-nabiyyīn (Q. 33:40) and istawā (Q. 2:29 and Q. 20:5). The discussion will then explore translations of two Qur'anic phrases which have significance to contemporary discourses on Islam, lā taghlū fī dīnikum in Q. 4:171, and wa'ḍribūhunna in Q. 4:34.

scholarly journals Social and Cultural Context of the Dramatic Text: Problems of Reproduction (based on the Ukrainian and Russian translations of Williams Tennesse’s play «The Glass Menagerie»)

2018 ◽  
pp. 85-97
Author(s):  
N. Pasenchuk
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Dramatic Text ◽  
Special Approach ◽  
Glass Menagerie ◽  
The Glass Menagerie

The article is devoted to the problem of translation of the drama. The article focuses on revealing peculiar linguistic and stylistic features of the drama. The research has been done on the case study of Russian and Ukrainian translation variants of the drama text by T.Williams «The Glass Menagerie». Basic methods of translation are investigated in the article. On the basis of comparative analysis the author investigates the problem of lexico-semantic transformations in translation of the drama. There has been proved that lexico-semantic transformations play an important role in the process of translation, providing the text with dynamics, enhancing expressivity, serving to enhance the image-expressive functions of a language. The units of different language levels, which help to verbalize cultural information of the source text, words with national and cultural semantic component have been considered. It was outlined that structural and functional peculiarities of each target language in regard to source English language and personality of translator have an impact on the reflection of the national and cultural colour of the source text. The task of the translator is to provide the reader with necessary explanations, since the transfer of the cultural and social specifics of the dramatic text requires a special approach from the translator in achieving the pragmatic adequacy of the translation. It is determined that the literal translation does not correspond to the adequacy of reproduction of the source text. The nationally marked means contribute to the emotional and expressive colour of the source text and emphasize the national colour. The adequate reproduction of stylistic means leads to the preservation of the original intention of the author. The dramatic text is a peculiar model of the socio-historical context of society. The main task of the translator is the reproduction of the national components of the model of another culture and preservation of national-historical context of the source text.

scholarly journals Slovak thinking on audiovisual translation and the issue of the second-hand translation of Russian documentary films

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Documentary Films ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Historical Explanation ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Audiovisual Translation ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Limited Diffusion

The paper, in its first part, outlines the Slovak research into audiovisual translation (AVT) from the 1950s up to the present, paying attention to the most important scholars as well as publications that helped to shape and establish the discipline within Slovak translation studies. It is based on the ongoing bibliographical research and the historical explanation mapping the development of AVT research in Slovakia by I. Tyšš – e.g. his publication Myslenie o audiovizuálnom preklade na Slovensku: 1952 – 2017 (Thinking on Audiovisual Translation in Slovakia: 1952 – 2017, 2018) – as well as on own findings covering the last two years. In more detail, the first part of the paper highlights that it was primarily thanks to a younger generation of translation studies scholars – especially E. Perez (née Janecová), L. Paulínyová (née Kozáková) and J. Želonka – that in 2012 the Slovak research into AVT finally became systematic. The second part of the paper is devoted to the phenomenon of the so-called second-hand translation of originally Russian audiovisual works that may be observed in Slovakia in recent years. The questionable nature of this phenomenon is stressed since the Russian language is not a language of limited diffusion and definitely not remote in relation to the Slovak cultural space. On the example of two documentary films – Под властью мусора (Held Captive by Rubbish, 2013) and Дух в движении (Spirit in Motion, 2015), the author discusses and analyses the problems that occur when translating originally Russian AV works into Slovak through the English language, i.e. the negative shifts resulting from mis-/overinterpretation of the source text, translation by omission, wrong order of dialogues, cultural specifics and incorrect transcription.

scholarly journals The Effect of Collocation on Meaning Representation of Adjectives such as Big and Large in Translation from Two Languages Used in the Article to English Language Texts

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Malahat Minaabad
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Meaning Representation ◽  
Contextual Meaning

Translation is the process to transfer written or spoken source language (SL) texts to equivalent written or spoken target language (TL) texts. Translation studies (TS) relies so heavily on a concept of meaning, that one may claim that there is no TS without any reference to meanings. People’s understanding of the meaning of sentences is far more reliable than their understanding of the meaning of words. Since what people know when they know the meaning of a word is important, but the skill of incorporating that word appropriately into meaningful linguistic contexts is more important. Our interest here lies in the shift of emphasis from referential or dictionary meaning to contextual meaning of adjectives such as big, and large in translation to English language texts or vice versa. Since big and large are synonyms, it is not surprising that they can be used to describe many of the same nouns. However, they are not perfect synonyms, and there are some differences in the distribution of these adjectives which make some problems for translators especially from those languages which these kinds of differences are not so obvious.    

scholarly journals Exploring Pharmacy Students’ Techniques in Translating Pharmaceutical Texts from English into Bahasa Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22
Author(s):  
Ahmad Kailani ◽  
Dina Rafidiyah
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Translation Methodology ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia

Translating an L1 (source text) into a target language would be a daunting task and time-consuming work for students who are non-native speakers. It might be more challenging when the L1 text is a discipline specific text. Many words and specific terms are difficult to translate, and often unintended meanings emerge during this translation process. Although there has been considerable research on the translation studies, there has been still little study on how translators cope with the challenges. To fill this void, this case study is aimed to describe techniques employed by students majoring pharmacy in translating direction for use texts from English into Bahasa Indonesia. Adopting Vinay’s and Darbelnet’s (1996) translation methodology, this research is aimed to describe the translation process that students already undertook in order to produce texts that appropriately work in a particular social context. There are four drug brochures taken as samples of analysis. These texts are students’ assignment for the topic of translation.  This is a group work and part of the whole assessment. The study provides detailed and specific examples of how students tackle the challenges of translating discipline specific texts into equivalent languages that are socio-culturally and linguistically acceptable. HIGHLIGHTS: Translating a text is not simply to transfer the meaning of source text into the target text, but it requires the translator to have sufficient discipline specific knowledge. The challenges and problems faced by translators would be different from one another since each discipline specific text requires different strategies.

scholarly journals Der Heros und die starken Frauen

2021 ◽  
pp. 237-258
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hagedorn
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Latin Translation ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Source Text ◽  
German Translation ◽  
Intersectional Analysis ◽  
Greek Source

ZusammenfassungThis paper takes a critical look at how the first German translation of Homer – Simon Schaidenreisser’s Odyssea from the sixteenth century – deals with the identity-forming categories of gender and divinity. The shifts in power structures within these categories, which occur in the transcultural target language-oriented translation, are examined in an intersectional analysis. For this purpose, the translation is contrasted with the Latin translation of the Odyssey by Raphael Volaterranus (1534), Schaidenreisser’s direct source, as well as with Homer’s Greek source text. The subjects of this analysis are the two powerful, antagonistic, female divinities of the Odyssey: Circe and Calypso. The paper illustrates how the depiction of the goddesses is reshaped in the Early Modern cultural context of the translation and how power structures shift within the narrative, resulting in a loss of power and intersectional complexity for the goddesses and a re-evaluation of the narrative’s hero, Ulysses.

scholarly journals Translating into Textual Genres

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel García Izquierdo ◽  
Vicent Montalt i Resurrecció
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

When we translate, we do so for specific communicative situations and purposes; that is, we write translations that will fulfil the needs and conventions of specific textual genres in the target language and culture. The aim of this article, which draws on data and experience from the GENTT project, is to explore the relationship between translation and genre theory in order to understand better how translators are involved in interlinguistic and intercultural communication.Genre theory is attractive to Translation Studies because it links the micro level of writing and text to the macro level of discourse and context, unites process with product and integrates the cognitive, social and profes¬sional approaches to translation. Thus, the notion of genre brings together critical elements in translation such as the reader ’s profile, expectations and preferences; the communicative situation and purpose; and the socio-cultural context. In order to understand better how translators are involved in interlinguistic and intercultural communication, we suggest a remodelling of translation in which the target genre plays a central role.

scholarly journals Hur skapas en rebelltjej på svenska?

Barnboken ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Mossberg
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Good Night ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Descriptive Translation Studies ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Informative Component

What’s a Rebel Girl in Swedish? On the Translation of Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo’s Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls Abstract: This article investigates the translation of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women, a children’s book written and published by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo in 2016. Within the framework of Gideon Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies and Katharina Reiss’ text typology, the study focuses on the Swedish translation Godnattsagor för rebelltjejer: 100 berättelser om fantastiska kvinnor from 2017, including comparisons with the Danish, French, and Norwegian translations, with a view to discover the differences between the text versions. Analysis shows that the Swedish translation is less source-text dependent than the other translations, downplaying the fairytalization of the stories and tending to strengthen the informative component of the text. Poetic language and metaphors are less apparent in the Swedish translation, while hedging, explicitation as well as specification of time, place and chronology contribute to making the text more factual. A further finding is that more adult language is used in the Swedish translation. The article ends by summarizing the main findings and discussing a few explanations for the adaptation of the Swedish translation with regard to its target language context.

scholarly journals Bridging Pragmatic Gap in Translation Process through Developing Pragmatic Awareness

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Vahid Rafieyan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Translation Quality ◽  
Pragmatic Awareness ◽  
Positive Effect

<p>In order for the translator to be able to translate the source text into the target language in a relevant way, the strata of the translated text through which relevance can be obtained (pragmatic, pragmatic-semantic, and semantic strata) should be equalized to that of the source text (Li &amp; Luo, 2004). The translator can achieve this by raising his/her awareness of the source and target language pragmatic perspectives. To investigate the actual effect of developing knowledge of pragmatic perspectives of the source language and the target language on the quality of translation of culture-bound texts, the current study was conducted on 64 Iranian undergraduate students of English translation. The study consisted of three phases: 1) administering a culture-bound text to be translated by all participants, 2) dividing participants into two groups: one merely receiving translation exercises while the other receiving metapragmatic discussions of the pragmatic perspectives of the source language along with translation exercises, and 3) assessing the translation quality of both groups immediately and two months following the treatment. The study revealed the significant positive effect of pragmatic instruction on improving the quality of translation of culture-bound texts and maintaining the obtained knowledge. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested incorporating the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic perspectives of the source language and their distinctions with the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic perspectives of the target language into translation classes as an integral part of translation classes.</p>

scholarly journals Creativity In The Use of Translation Microstrategies By Translation Students At The University of Bahrain

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Nuri Ageli
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
News Agency ◽  
Language Students ◽  
A Minor ◽  
University Of Bahrain ◽  
The University ◽  
Professional Translator

This study aims to examine University of Bahrain graduating translation students’ use of creative microstrategies in rendering into English a news text and compare it with the translation of a Bahrain News Agency professional translator. The study seeks to identify the students’ creative microstrategies based on the classification proposed by Anne Schjoldager’s‘ (2008) model of macrostrategies.  The participants were 15 English language students with a minor in translation who were expected to graduate in the semester during which the study was conducted. They were required to translate a news text from Arabic to English in order to reveal the creative microstrategies used  and then their performance was compared with that done by a professional translator employed by Bahrain News Agency (BNA)and published on its official website . The findings of the study have shown that translation students are inclined to focus more on the syntactic microstrategies rather than on the semantic and pragmatic ones when processing and rendering the source text into the target language. Unlike the professional translator, students' lack of negotiation with and deeper analysis of the text has deprived their performance to a certain extent from the  creativity required in translation and rendered it into a mechanical exercise.  

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