The significance of translation for Culture

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.........................................................................................3

1. The Significance of Translation for Culture...................................... 4

2.The Role of Translation in Business ..................................................7

3. The Importance of Translation in Politics ….................................... 9

Conclusions..........................................................................................10

BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................11

Introduction

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. What is generally understood as translation involves the redering of a source language (SL) text into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that (1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and (2) the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely the TL structures will be seriously distorted [8].

Through the course of history, translation has been viewed differently. It has been perceived as a secondary activity, as a 'mechanical' rather than a 'creative' process, within the competence of anyone with basic grounding in a language other than their own; in short, as a low status occupation. It has never been granted the dignity of the original work. This natural underestimation of its value has had the bad practical effect on lowering the standard demanded [2]. Today, however, we can grasp the importance and difficulty of translation. Translation is no longer viewed as betrayal of an original, but rather we see it as bridge-building across the space between source and target and it plays a mediating role. As Antoine Berman put it, "the essence of translation is to be an opening, a dialogue, a crossbreeding, adecentering. Translation is a 'putting in touch with,' or it is nothing".

As the whole globe is coming together based on information sharing and communicative advances, it is only natural that there has been an unprecedented need for translation of ideas from one language to another. The effects of the dramatic changes in technology and in the organization of economics and societies at national and international level are wide-ranging and there are specific consequences of these changes for translation and translators. Most of the work done in translation is in the area of scientific, technical, commercial, legal and administrative or institutional translation [6].

Translation plays a vital role in the performance of international institutions and governments. We have had incidences in human history, where entire wars were initiated just because of misinterpretations and business relations severed due to failure of communications. Translation is no longer just the process of translating words, it has evolved into the transformation of meaning and intentions. It is more complex than replacing source language text with target language text and includes cultural and educational nuances that can shape the options and attitudes of recipients [4]. Translations are never produced in a cultural or political vacuum and cannot be isolated from the context in which the texts are embedded. Thus, translation is not merely a linguistic process, but rather a cross-cultural communication capable of social and political impact.

The significance of translation for Culture

There are a lot of scholars who argued in favour of inseparability of language and culture and therefore proved critical importance of translation as a universal mediator force in cross-cultural communication.

The very notion of culture is essential to understanding translation as a phenomenon. Newmark defines culture as "the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression" [10]. Bassnett underlines the importance of the double consideration when translating by stating that language is "a heart within the body of culture" [2].

According to a prominent translation scholar Andre Lefevere, “translation is not the transfer from language to language, but from culture to culture” [3].

Aniela Korzeniowska and Piotr Kuhiwczak prove that the translator has to be both 'bilingual and bicultural' [4].

Anna Bernacka considers the role of the translator as a mediator between cultures. Rather than merely supplanting one form of words for another, the translator has the capacity to enhance our understanding of development issues and indigenous cultures by mediating ideas across cultural and national boundaries. Translation involves cultural relations, concepts of gender, race, class, nation, and the way they influence cultural forms and practices, the ethics and politics of cultural representation, the relations between globalization and culture [4].

The role of the translator in mediating source ideas places him or her in a unique position in particular for understanding a range of development issues. Translation is an invaluable source of knowledge about unfamiliar languages, indigenous cultures and experiences, and is immensely useful for gaining an understanding different cultures [4].

A great deal of our knowledge about other cultures is mediated through various forms of translation, including written translations, sub-titling, dubbing, and various types of interpreting activities. Translation of various art forms like music, films and literature from a region is necessary for global understanding of a region and its life. The plight of Palestine refugees, the poverty in Brazilian streets, the colourful life in Spanish cities and the myths and legends of ancient India are spreading across the world, riding on the shoulder of good translation. Translated films and subtitled films generate more revenue for global film industry, while translated music and literature provides added royalties to the artists.

Calling attention to translations is a way of thinking again about how different cultures relate to each other, how outside forces have brought about changes in the relationships among these cultural systems, and what challenges are inherent in these changes.

There is a concept of cultural translation which is used in cultural studies to denote the process of transformation in a given culture. The concept uses linguistic translation as a tool or metaphor in analysing the nature of transformation and interchange in cultures.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that translation brings cultures nearer, in each translation, there will be a definite deformation between cultures.

There exist two main strategies of translation in terms of correlation between Source Culture and Target Culture: the first is known as “foreignization” (H.Коchur), and the other – as “domestication” (M. Lukash). Domestication – is adjusting the Source Culture into a Target Culture. Foreignization – is introducing the Source Culture into a Target Culture [9].

Being able to translate cultural references is extremely difficult. A successful translator should not only master his original language and target language but different culture behind language as well to avoid mistranslations caused by different concepts, idioms, modes of expressions, religious beliefs, taking words too literally and lacking cultural awareness. The translator should pay attention to every nuance and the whole context in general. 'We should remember that it is the 'inter' - the cutting edge of translation, the in-between space - that carries the burden of the meaning of culture' [5].

It is important to say that translation is not only capable of bringing about the new in culture, but plays an important role in preserving the old. Translation ensures the survival of the text. It becomes the after-life of a text, a new 'original' in another language. This positive view of translation serves to reinforce the importance of translating as an act both of inter-cultural and inter-temporal communication. Who, for example, would have any access to the forgotten women poets of Ancient Greece without translation, asks Josephine Balmer in the preface to her translations of classical women poets? [2]

Perhaps, one of the most powerful statements about re-evaluating the importance of translation has come from the American comparative literature scholar, Bella Brodzki. In a book that links translation with cultural memory studies, Can These Bones Live? (2007), Brodzki argues that translation is embedded in an extensive network of social and political relations. She goes on to say that translation underwrites all cultural transactions, 'from the most benign to the most venal' [2].