Representation across languages: biographical sociology meets translation and interpretation studies

Biographical approaches are increasingly being used with people who speak and write a range of languages. Even when an account is originally spoken, the final version usually ends up written in the language used by the majority of the population. Researchers have shown that adopting a language that is not the one an account was given in may change how someone is perceived. Yet little has been written by sociologists using biographical approaches about the implications of moving accounts across languages. Researchers within translation and interpretation studies are increasingly tackling issues of representation across languages and developing concepts that can usefully be applied in biographical research. They question the assumption that accounts can be unproblematically transferred across languages and argue for strategies and concepts that “foreignise” texts and challenge the baseline of the target, usually for these writers, English language. However, these concepts bring issues of their own. In this article I examine these developments and give an example from my own cross language research that show that these concepts can begin to open up debates about meaning and representation.

ULUL ALBAB DALAM AL-QUR’AN (TAFSIR TEMATIK)

Ulul albab in the Qur´an discusses people who use their minds to think and make remembrance of natural phenomena and the power of Allah swt. There are sixteen times the derivation of ulul albab verses in the Qur'an, therefore this study uses thematic interpretation studies. This study formulates how to understand the characteristics of ulul albab in the Qur´an?. This research method uses thematic analysis with a philosophical and exgesic approach. This research is a literature review conducted by collecting data and analyzing data according to primary and secondary sources. The results of this study conclude that the concept of ulul albab in the Qur'an is someone who has broad insight and has sharpness in analyzing a problem, and ulul albab is referred to as someone who has the advantage of always getting closer to Allah by remembering (z\ikr) and think (tafakkur).Keywords: Ulul Albab, Thematic Exegesis, The Holy al-Qur´an, Z|ikr, Tafakku>r. Abstrak: Ulul albab dalam Al-Qur´an membahas tentang orang-orang yang menggunakan akal untuk berpikir dan berzikir terhadap fenomena alam dan kekuasaan Allah swt. Terdapat enam belas kali derivasi ayat-ayat ulul albab dalam Al-Qur´an oleh sebabnya penelitian ini menggunakan kajian tafsir tematik. Penelitian ini merumuskan bagaimana memahami karakteristik ulul albab dalam al-Qur´an?. Metode penelitian ini menggunakan analisis tematik dengan pendekatan filosofis dan eksegesis Penelitian ini bersifat kajian pustaka yang dilakukan dengan cara mengumpulkan data dan menelaah data sesuai dengan sumber primer dan sekunder. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa konsep ulul albab dalam Al-Qur´an menggambarkan seseorang yang memiliki wawasan yang luas dan mempunyai ketajaman dalam menganalisis suatu permasalahan, serta selalu mendekatkan diri kepada Allah dengan cara mengingat (z\ikr) dan memikirkan (tafakkur). Kata Kunci: Ulul Albab, Tafsir Tematik, al-Qur´an, Zikir, Tafakkur.

SCIENTIFIC INTEGRATION OF ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOLS

This study aims to find out how the concept of integrating religious knowledge with general science is at the Nurul Huda Yaspin Islamic Boarding School and how to apply the integration of religious knowledge and general science at the Nurul Huda Yaspin Islamic Boarding School. This type of research is case study research or field research, where researchers go directly to the field to obtain data and information on the research carried out. Meanwhile, this research approach uses a descriptive approach. The results of the study show that the concept of integrating religious knowledge and general science at Nurul Huda is inseparable from the basic values (qiyam HAM) that are embedded in every step and educational activity carried out in it. Nurul Huda Yaspin cults himself as a boarding school of etiquette, etiquette is an acronym for Takwa, Tafaqquh, Khidmah and rahmatan lil alamin. Nurul Huda's three basic values serve to underlie, integrate and direct his orientation. The application of the curriculum at Nurul Huda does not distinguish between religious knowledge and general science. In terms of concepts, religious knowledge and general science are both taught in recitations at Nurul Huda, such as Sufism, logic or mantiq lectures, philosophy, interpretation studies, falaq science and so on, all organized in curriculum units according to each study program. which is in Nurul Huda.

Towards Effective Interpreter-Mediated Biblical Sermons in English and Kiswahili in the Tanzanian Charismatic and Pentecostal Churches: Any Challenge or Complexity Faced by the Church Interpreter?

Interpretation is considered to be one of the most challenging professions in the world. This is due to its involvement of several abilities beyond language competence. Church interpretation is done predominantly by the untrained volunteering interpreters who in return, face a number of challenges. This paper examined the stakeholders’ perceptions towards the interpretation challenges facing the church interpreters by drawing examples from Charismatic and Pentecostal churches in the Tanzanian context. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam, one of the largest commercial cities located in the Eastern Coastal regions of Tanzania in Africa. Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions. It was found out that church interpreters encountered numerous challenges due to a lack of linguistic competence, experience, and professional training. Some of these challenges include; lack of enough biblical knowledge, difficulties in pronunciation, the use of difficult vocabulary, and poor preparations. It is recommended that church sermon interpreters should be provided with professional training in Translation and Interpretation Studies.

Communication en langues étrangères avec les visiteurs d’un lieu de mémoire : un sujet périphérique des études de traduction

After some general remarks on a contemporary basic map of Translation Studies, we present the results of a research on a peripherical topic in the field Interpretation Studies: interpreting in a museum setting. The museum concerned is the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a former nazi concentration and extermination camp situated in Poland, a World Heritage Site, and a symbol of the Holocaust. The research is based on surveys conducted in 2017 and 2018 by Marta Paleczna among the camp’s visitors, guides, and interpreters. We discuss the interpreters’ main problems, which include translating camprelated and other specific terms, collaboration with a guide, the increasing number of visitors and time constraint, and their solutions, which include compressing the explanations given by a guide during the visit, taking over the role of a guide by the interpreter, and lengthening the explanation time by taking advantage of the trip to the museum and back.

Deep-learning-based precipitation observation quality control

We present a novel approach for the automated quality control (QC) of precipitation for a sparse station observation network within the complex terrain of British Columbia, Canada. Our QC approach uses Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to classify bad observation values, incorporating a multi-classifier ensemble to achieve better QC performance. We train CNNs using human QC’d labels from 2016 to 2017 with gridded precipitation and elevation analyses as inputs. Based on the classification evaluation metrics, our QC approach shows reliable and robust performance across different geographical environments (e.g., coastal and inland mountains), with 0.927 Area Under Curve (AUC) and type I/type II error lower than 15%. Based on the saliency-map-based interpretation studies, we explain the success of CNN-based QC by showing that it can capture the precipitation patterns around, and upstream of the station locations. This automated QC approach is an option for eliminating bad observations for various applications, including the pre-processing of training datasets for machine learning. It can be used in conjunction with human QC to improve upon what could be accomplished with either method alone.

PROGRESIVE QUR’ANIC STUDIES IN INDONESIAN STATE ISLAMIC HIGHER EDUCATION (2014-2019): IMPLEMENTATION AND DEVELOPMENT

This article describes the state of progressive Qur'anic interpretation studies over the past five years at three State Islamic Higher Education, UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, UIN Imam Bonjol Padang and UIN Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau. The article is based on the argument that the study of the progressive interpretation of the Qur'an which is reflected in the issues of social justice, women and gender equality, pluralism, and deradicalization has strong relevance to contemporary issues that are widely discussed by scholars. In addition, it is also the responsibility of Islamic higher education to provide Qur'anic solutions to the contemporary problems. The study focused on three questions, namely: the frequency of progressive interpretation studies, the concentration of progressive interpretation issues, and the development and orientation of progressive interpretation studies. The method used in this study is a literature review of the scientific publications of lecturers in the study of the Koran and the final papers of students majoring in Al-Qur'an and Tafsir. The results showed that the study frequency of progressive Qur'anic interpretation in the three universities in the period 2014 – 2019 was still low, recorded at 18.52%. However, the frequency of progressive Qur'anic studies in the 2014-2019 period showed an increase of 1.3%. The issues discussed have covered the four issues mentioned above, although some of them have not received enough attention. The orientation of the study is still concentrated on the interpretation of the meaning of the Koran, it has not yet led to a methodological study in building a paradigm and approach to contemporary interpretation. Keywords: progressive exegesis; frequency; issues; development and orientation of the study

The issue of the information technology and technical terminology translatability from English into Russian: the typology and the nominative density levels

The 21st century is characterized by its rapid scientific and technological advancement. Digital and technical inventions have resulted in computer globalization which caused the necessity of adequate translation of different kinds of English-language technical documentation, manuals, software products, etc. The article deals with the recent tendencies in translation and interpretation studies showing increasing interest to the ways English scientific and technical texts are rendered into Russian. The article considers the peculiarities of translating the scientific and technical vocabulary in the information technologies sphere and provides a typology of the English terms. Non-equivalent vocabulary is considered to be the most serious communication challenge. The authors identify the basic typical features of the computer discourse vocabulary, analyze the correlation between its nominal density and translatability level. The findings indicate that the ratio between the nominal density and translatability level of linguistic concepts is inversely proportional. The academic originality of the study involves the classification of technical and computer terms, as well as comparing nominal density and translatability levels. The article focuses on the most applicable English-language computer terms translation techniques, such as calquing, substantiation, generalization, semantic development, descriptive translation, antonymic translation, replacement and transformation of parts of a sentence. Pointing out that both linguistic and extralinguistic factors affect the translation solution choice, the authors believe that the correct approach to the translation process guarantees a successful intercultural communication.