Comments on: Translation – in a Word

By: Merlin: Translation News, Services & Directory » Blog Archive » Poll Results

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:08 +0000

[...] another post, Translation – in a Word, we looked at various definitions of translation with readers being asked to look at two sets of [...]

By: Poll Results « transubstantiation

Poll Results « transubstantiation — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:56:09 +0000

[...] Translation – in a Word [...]

By: The serious and not so serious side of translation blogs | yndigo

The serious and not so serious side of translation blogs | yndigo — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:08:04 +0000

[...] I know and a testament to my stiffly commercial milieu. The blog transubstantiation has a thought-provoking post asking readers to choose one definition from a first list of four words, and one from a second, and [...]

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:09:04 +0000

Erica,
Thank you for the comment. If you chose “render” and “transfer”, what third definition can be ‘triangulated’ here? What do render and transfer have in common? What don’t they have in common?

By: Erica Mena

Erica Mena — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:45:15 +0000

Fascinating exercise – always good to step back and evaluate how we see our own work. I think, like Victor, that all the terms are relevant at different times in the process of translation. I chose “render” in the first list because my experience is most recently as a literary translator, so there is an artistic liberty (though I tend to aim for the literal) inherent in my experience that “render” hints at. In the second I chose “transfer” because my goal isn’t to “transform” the work but to preserve its significance – a transference of significance even if the form or meaning isn’t always directly “transposed” or “translocated.”

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:23:48 +0000

Touché.

By: Victor Dewsbery

Victor Dewsbery — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:35:46 +0000

I even hesitate with “A” defining term.
I accept descriptive terms (and all 8 terms in your word quartets describe aspects of translation).
But a “definition” is by definition definitive and restrictive.

Or to use your triangulation imagery:
If I start from your two word quartets and calculate the number of possible combinations (4×4 = 16), that gives me at least 16 starting points, even before I have started to define (ouch!) what a triangulation point is in this context.

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:26:57 +0000

Victor,
A defining term is not the same as ‘the’ defining term.
Good luck!

By: Victor Dewsbery

Victor Dewsbery — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:35:07 +0000

You write: “perhaps reach a defining term through ‘triangulation’”.
My gut reaction is: No way!
There is no single best practice for translation, no “theory to rule all theories”. In a sense, every translation is pragmatic.

Oh well, back to work.
I’m currently translating a couple of rather hefty inter-company contracts, and even in jobs like this it is important to translate with a human touch and not get too mechanical. Sure, some terms need to be consistent throughout (e.g. Client and Contractor), but other terms need to be translated differently in different contacts (e.g. the wonderful German word “Bestand”), the syntax often needs to be turned around, and there are certain stylistic elements that I need to adapt to my own liking.

By: transubstantiation

transubstantiation — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:24:44 +0000

Victor,
Many thanks for the speedy and great response. I like this image a lot, that of ‘translocation’. Very visually stimulating.

As for your question, no, I do not think there is any fixed ‘correct’ answer. The whole point of the exercise, as mentioned above, is to mull over what translation is for each of us (and all of us) and perhaps reach a defining term through ‘triangulation’. Does it make sense? I do not know but it has certainly helped me and my translation trainees.