Are Translators Really Subservient? Empirical Evidence from Lexical Transfer and Language Prestige in Curaçao
Are Translators Really Subservient? Empirical Evidence from Lexical Transfer and Language Prestige in Curaçao
Author(s): Courtney G. Parkins-FerrónSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Translation Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: agency; language prestige; lexical transfer; Papiamentu translation; sociology of translation
Summary/Abstract: This paper examines whether translator subservience is generalisable among translators. Taking professional Curaçaoan Papiamentu translators as a case study built on a much larger work, the research looks at issues of subservience from the perspective of agency in the English-to-Papiamentu lexical transfer process and at the influence of language prestige. The results show instances in which the translators reported more lexical transfers than did the non-translators. The results also reveal an overlooked translator agency in the process rather than translator subservience, in view of the fact that in this process they are on the “frontline”, pre-empting whatever decisions the official language planners make.
Journal: Research in Language (RiL)
- Issue Year: 18/2020
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 245-264
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English