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Diane Howard CHICATA May 2009

TRANSLATION ETHICS

More Than You See in the Codes


What is translation?


ETHICS

• Qualifications• Confidentiality (consultation, use of

information)• Payment & references• Nonsolicitation • Continuing education• Conflict of interest• General moral behavior


ETHICS

• Subcontracting• Deadlines• Objectivity• Responsibilities to other translators

– Encouraging & assisting beginners– Refraining from unfair competition– Respect & support fellow professionals– Not working for substandard fees

• Disciplinary procedures


CODES

• Professional organizations

• Government organizations

• Some companies & agencies

• Scholars of Translation Studies


CODES

• ATA Code of Ethics– http://www.atanet.org/aboutus/

code_of_professional_conduct.php

• Institute of Linguists Code of Professional Conduct– http://www.iol.org.uk/Charter/CLS/

CodeofProfConductCouncil17Nov07.pdf

• ATIA Code of Ethics– http://www.atia.ab.ca/ethics.htm


CODES

• AUSIT Code of Ethics– http://server.dream-fusion.net/ausit2/

pics/ethics.pdf

• FIT The Translator’s Charter– http://www.fit-ift.org/en/charter.php


CODES

• United Nations Recommendation on the Legal Protection of Translators and Translations and the Practical Means To Improve the Status of Translators– http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-

URL_ID=13089&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html


What do codes say about linguistic competence?

• Generally into A language

• Educated native speaker mastery of TL (ATA)

• Advanced & idiomatic command of languages concerned (IoL)

• Sound knowledge of SL, mastery of TL (FIT)


Translation in the Codes

• Translators shall not alter, make additions to, or omit anything from their assigned work (AUSIT)

• Translate the original message faithfully, to satisfy the needs of the end user(s) (ATA)

• Render a faithful translation of the source text (meaning & register) (IoL)



• Provide translation of high quality both linguistically and stylistically

• Guarantee that translation is a faithful rendering of the original (UN)



• Refuse to give text an interpretation of which he/she does not approve

• Translation to be faithful and render exactly the idea and form of the original

• Faithful translation should not be confused with a literal translation, cultural adaptation may be needed

(FIT)


In Summary

• Faithful– Meaning, register, and form

• But not literal– Culturally appropriate– High quality linguistically/stylistically

• Satisfy needs of end users– But not to extent of reinterpreting– And no alterations, additions, or omissions


So what’s a translator to do?

• Skopos theory– Drop the idea of “fidelity”– Intended purpose of the target text

determines translation methods/strategies– Goal is functionally appropriate target text

– Gives the translator more freedom of action– Provides framework for educating clients


Choices on a Continuum

Literal Free

Semantic Dynamic

Documentary Instrumental

<————————————————>


HOWEVER

• Skopos theory depends on the translator receiving translation instructions with clear statement of purpose

• Assumes that translator is viewed as an independent expert

• May lead to ethically problematic situations


Subtitles for 2002 Documentary Jenin, Jenin

Original: “What can I say, by God, by God, our home is no longer a home.”

Translation: “What can I say? Not even Vietnam was as bad as this.”

Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account Mona Baker, 2006: 99-100


Rules for the Rest of the Time

• Always work to create trust• Bad translation is unethical translation• Keep your source language grammar to

yourself• Know the linguistic resources available

in your languages• Be aware of various translation

strategies


Create and Maintain Trust

• Cultivate a sense of loyalty to all parties– This includes readers

• Be aware that people are depending on you– Because they really are dependent

• Think of yourself as a professional– Remember, it always matters


Bad Translation is Unethical Translation

• “The nearest we get to non-text in actual life … is probably in the speech of young children and in bad translations.” (Halliday & Hasan)

• “But that’s what it says” is not a defense• Not justifiable as fidelity to source text• If a machine can do it, no one needs

you


Keep Your Source Grammar to Yourself

• Resist pull of source language

• Does the text need to sound like a translation?

• Analyze the source text for text type and register

• Maintain type and register unless instructed otherwise


Know the Linguistic Resources Available

• How text types are structured – Infinitive to imperative, degree of formality,

etc.

• Collocations – Restrictions on how words can be used

together (e.g., verb + preposition patterns)– Text flow, marked and unmarked text


Know the Linguistic Resources Available

• Cohesion elements – Usually fairly explicit in English– Implicit in topic-prominent languages– Gender, grammatical elements

• Tolerance for repetition

• Punctuation and sentence length

• Sentence structure


Understand Translation Strategies

• Literal translation– Why not, when it works

• Transposition (changing the word class)– Languages like different parts of speech

• Modulation (different phrases to convey the same idea)– La vache qui rit– The cow that laughs cheese??


Understand Translation Strategies

• Reformulation – Idioms, advertising slogans

• Compensation

Strategies from Fawcett, Translation and Language: Linguistic Theories Explained


Back to the Codes

• Ideal appears to be Nothing Added Nothing Subtracted (NANS) translation

• Easier said than done

• Make relevance a guiding principle

My cousin invited me to dinner.


NANS Plus

Nothing important to the task at hand added or subtracted

No unnecessary elements of the source language included


Linguistic Knowledge

Know working languages in a translation-appropriate way.

Ability to analyze source language for grammatical, syntactical, and contextual elements and transfer these appropriately


Further Reading

Baker, Mona. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. Routledge. 1992.

Chesterman, Andrew. Memes of Translation. Benjamins. 1997.

Chesterman, Andrew and Emma Wagner. Can Theory Help Translators? St. Jerome. 2002.

Fawcett, Peter. Translation and Language: Linguistic Theories Explained. St. Jerome. 1997.

Gouadec, Daniel. Translation as a Profession. Benjamins. 2007.

Nord, Christiane. Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained. St. Jerome. 1997

Pym, Anthony, ed. The Return to Ethics. Special issue of The Translator (Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001.)


Thank You

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