Audiovisuals and Public Speaking Skills Enhancement in Conference Interpreting

Author(s): Adriana Neagu / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2016

The following is an enquiry into the role of audiovisual aids in enhancing speaking competences among conference interpreting trainees. The enquiry is premised on the thesis that audiovisual material can play a relevant part in the shaping of the conference interpreter's profile. As part of their job description, conference interpreters are called upon to probe the highest confidence in, indeed the highest level of public speaking competence. Oral communicators par excellence, conference interpreters work in a multimodal environment that requires extensive audio-visual literacy. Going beyond user-related proficiency, audiovisual awareness forms an integral part of the process, having a direct bearing on the interpreter's receptive and productive behavior, involving as it does multimodal discourse analysis. In the paper I argue that, as well as video recordings, transcripts, speech pools, and other conventional resources on which they depend to build and maintain their skills, intepreters can benefit from a variety of alternative audiovisual resources, particularly as regards the enhancement of public speaking abilities. What we propose is rethinking the didactic paradigm of conference interpreting training with a view to including film, conferences live feeds, video games, and the new media.

Repères pour une traductologie des mentalités

Author(s): Narcis Zărnescu / Language(s): French Issue: Suppl./2016

The study proposes a discrete change of paradigm: a hypothesis on the traductology focused on the mentalities. Based on a sequential analysis of the multicultural history of sacred texts translation, the author proposes a new concept: indirect translation, within the target community. The study outlines the drama of the traductologist-hermeneutist in search of mentalities meanings who by his deconstruction - reconstruction inaugurates a space of utopia or of the resignation.

Schwierigkeiten und Herausforderungen bei der Gedichtübersetzung. Ein Ausgangsgedicht – zwei mögliche Übersetzungsvarianten

Author(s): Daniela-Elena Vladu / Language(s): German Issue: Suppl./2016

Poems as special literary texts operate under the particular aspect of generalization and artistic design, whereby the author transposes the reality to its subjective, very personal way as an artistic message. The literary translation is quite a free translation art. It is a field where linguistic and cultural information is necessary. The translator thus creates bridges between two cultures, two languages, two worlds. There are two possible translations into Romanian of the German poem Das Vagabundenlied by Jura Soyfer, mainly analyzed and commented on pragmatic-cultural level.

СЛОБОДНИ НЕУПРАВНИ ГОВОР У РОМАНУ ГОРДОСТ И ПРЕДРАСУДА И ЊЕГОВОМ ПРЕВОДУ НА СРПСКИ ЈЕЗИК

Author(s): Jelena M. Josijević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 52/2013

The paper analyzes the realizations of free indirect speech (FIS) in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and its Serbian translation. The first part of the paper focuses on formal indicators of FIS in the novel comparing it with the model described in literature. The second part analyzes Serbian translation of FIS. In certain number of examples, polyphony of the original utterance is lost in translation. A narrator’s voice is lost when original FIS becomes free direct speech. This transition happens due to the fact that the convention of consequtio temporarum exists in English, but does not exist in Serbian, but only in those utterances in which the convention is the only indicator of FIS. A character’s voice is lost when FIS becomes non-reporting narration. This transition happens when verb forms which undergone the sequence of tenses are not adequately translated

Traducerea: între ce se poate traduce și ce trebuie tradus

Author(s): Magda Jeanrenaud / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3/2016

Pornind de la o tulburătoare interpretare a lui Jacques Derrida, studiul de față își propune să investigheze și încearcă să explice blocajul ce intervine în versiunile englezești, franceze și românești (semnate de Antoine Berman, Alexis Nouss, Steven Rendall, Catrinel Pleșu etc.) ale celebrului text al lui Walter Benjamin, Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers, atunci cînd traducătorii transpun în cele trei limbi țintă cele două citate cuprinse în acesta: un citat din Mallarmé, lăsat netradus de Benjamin însuși, și un altul, din Pannwitz. Într-un fel sau altul, ambele citate au o formă discursivă ce lasă să se întrevadă o sintaxă ce se abate deliberat de la normă, ca și cum ar fi deja niște „traduceri”. Analiza mai pune în evidență și comportamentul (cumva o dominantă a psihologiei traducătorilor?) celor ce au transpus textul benjaminian, comportament marcat de obsesia lizibilității văzută ca o trăsătură congenitală a oricărei traduceri, chiar și atunci cînd textul original nu tinde spre aceasta. De unde și dilema, dureroasă, legată de spinoasa chestiune a intenționalității textului (nu doar de tradus)...

Translation: between what can be translated and what must be translated

Author(s): Magda Jeanrenaud / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2016

Starting from a disconcerting interpretation of Jacques Derrida, our analysis aims at investigating and also tries to explain the blockage which appears in the English, French and Romanian translations (signed by Maurice de Gandillac, Antoine Berman, Laurent Lamy, Alexis Nouss, Harry Zohn, Steven Rendall, Martine Broda, Catrinel Pleșu etc.) of a well-known text of Walter Benjamin, Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers, when translators transpose in their target languages the two quotations given by Benjamin: one of Mallarmé, left untranslated in the source text, and another, signed by Pannwitz. The fact is that both quotations have something in common: a discoursive form which results from an unusual syntax, as if they were already, in a certain sense, „translations”. As if the translators feared—a feature of the translator’s psychology?—not to render their text sufficiently accessible, even when the source text is not intended to be accessible. Hence the painful dilemma of the intentional fallacy (not only of the text to be translated).

Cîteva reflecții cu privire la starea traductologiei românești

Author(s): Magda Jeanrenaud / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2015

Mi-am propus să examinez temeiurile a două „verdicte” contradictorii privind starea traductologiei românești, unul dat în 1998, în Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, celălalt într-o lucrare mai recentă, privind „ideile și metaideile traductive românești”. Am încercat să arăt că actuala situație, pe care am prezentat-o pe larg, așezînd în paralel trei momente-cheie din evoluția gîndirii traductologice în spațiul românesc, îndreptățește următoarea ipoteză: specificul actual al teoriilor traductologice în spațiul românesc decurge din existența a două circuite, unul academic și internațional, care urmărește înscrierea cercetării românești în direcțiile conturate la nivel european, asimilîndu-le mai mult sau mai puțin, și altul, intern, în care pozițiile exprimate în cadrul celui dintîi pătrund indirect, prin intermediul limbilor „centrale” și se manifestă sub forma unor afinități selective și elective, între cele două interacțiunea făcîndu-se sporadic, și mai ales prin intermediul altor limbi, și nu printr-un proces de interiorizare legat de limba română, adică limba spațiului gazdă.

Some reflections on Romanian translation studies

Author(s): Magda Jeanrenaud / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

In this paper, I decided to examine two “verdicts” on the specificity (or the lack of specificity) of Romanian translation studies in order to define and explain the present situation in this field: one given in the Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, the other in a book on “Romanian translation ideas and meta-ideas”. I believe that the current situation justifies the following hypothesis: the current specific of translation theories in the Romanian space is entailed by the existence of two circuits. The first is academic and international, aiming at including the Romanian research in European directions, by assimilating them more or less. The second is a national circuit—where the positions expressed within the first circuit penetrate indirectly, through “central” languages—and it manifests itself as selective and elective affinities between the two; their interaction is sporadic and it occurs mainly through other languages, not through an interiorization process related to the language of the Romanian source space.

Between tradition and progress in translation of technical standards

Author(s): Anna Drogosz,Piotr Drogosz / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The paper analyzes modifications in Polish, British and Australian titles of theinternational technical standard ISO 1219. It is claimed that the modifications are language-independent and result from the process of adaptation of the standard to nationaltraditions and preferences.

INTERPRETATIVNA TEORIJA PREVOĐENJA – POREKLO I RAZVOJ

Author(s): Mariane Lederer / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 460/2009

Kada govorimo o interpretativnoj teoriji prevođenja, moramo pomenuti i njenog osnivača, Danicu Selesković. U svojoj mladosti, Danica je živela u nekoliko zemalja zaredom, te znala i govorila francuski, nemački, srpski i engleski, a da zapravo te jezike nikada nije učila u školi. Prelazeći lako s jednog jezika na drugi, služeći se lingvističkim znakovima kao sredstvom pomoću kojeg se može uhvatiti smisao, dolazila je pravo do značenja. To blisko poznavanje nekoliko jezika jeste prvi element na kojem je zasnovala svoju teoriju: u slučaju da prevodilac vlada jezicima, onda oni nisu predmet prevođenja.

„Jak działać przekładami?” O tłumaczeniu tekstów dla teatru w kontekście performatywnego zwrotu w humanistyce

Author(s): Ewa Bal / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

The article deals with issues related to translation of texts for theatre in the light of the performative and cultural turn in the modern Humanities. While Cultural Studies scholars have abandoned the categories of directness in text translation in favor of analyzing cultural differences and contexts, they have neglected issues connected with language performativity, especially with regard to the dual function of the dramatic text – as literature and as theatre. Following the steps taken by William Worthen, the paper shows the historic dimension of the concept of a theatre play as literature (poetry) and as performance and proves that we have to look at the language of translation from the performative angle (contrasting “performativity” with “performability” as understood by Susan Bennett), not only in a broad cultural and social context. What has to be taken into account are the circumstances of the practice of reading and understating a play, its form as well as the cognitive frames of both the performance creators and the spectators. The argumentation is illustrated by a comparative analysis of two modern Polish translations of Comedic Theatre by Carlo Goldoni, accomplished by Jolanta Dygul and by the author of the article herself.

Tłumacz na tropie, czyli o ruchu scenicznym w Phormio (wersy 981–989) Terencjusza

Author(s): Ewa Skwara / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

Translating drama requires not only knowledge of the elements constituting the play’s world and of the theatrical conventions of the author’s epoch, but it frequently entails also a reconstruction of the original performance. Such is usually the case with classical tragedies and comedies that – created as performances – initially had no textual form. In order to understand, interpret and translate such plays it is necessary to recreate the stage construction and setting, as well as the stage movement and proxemics. Taking as an example a passage from Terence’s Phormio, or the Scheming Parasite, the article presents results of such a reconstruction. The mere fact of understanding the manuscript (stage 1) does not guarantee the right interpretation that might result in a relevant translation. One has to consider also the opinions of editors and commentators (stage 2), psychological realism of the characters (stage 3), and the potential for a convincing staging of the text (stage 4). Only these four aspects considered jointly can ensure a proper translation of the analysed passage.

Didaskalia w Orestei Ajschylosa jako projekt inscenizacji tłumacza (na przykładzie Ofiarnic)

Author(s): Barbara Bibik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

Translators, as it is argued by translation scholars, often become the first directors of plays. This happens because taking into account the dramatic potential of the translated text results in the translator’s own projections about the possible staging that are inserted in the translated text. In ancient tragedies there were no written stage directions. But it does not mean that there were no stage instructions. Oliver Taplin, who sees the texts of ancient tragedies as a kind of theatre scripts, observes that the majority of information needed to perform any ancient tragedy is implicite included in the text itself. The fact that we do not have any written records of any performances that took place in 5th century BC makes it possible for the translator to imagine a prospective staging. Undoubtedly, the 5th century BC tragedies were the theatre productions influenced by the Athenian theatre of the day – its natural location, architecture, theatre equipment and stage design. So a translation that aims to be both literary and theatrically significant has to include the theatre dimension. Inserting stage directions into the translation is one of the means to do this (and we find them in almost all modern translations of ancient plays). In my paper I discuss three main Polish translations of Aeschylus’s Choeforoe (the second part of the only extant ancient trilogy titled Oresteia), taking into consideration the stage directions inserted by the translators. The versions by Zygmunt Węclewski (published in 1873), Jan Kasprowicz (in 1908) and Stefan Srebrny (in 1952) are examined in view of the question what kind of staging the translators suggested and why.

„Upiory dawnych czasów”. Kilka uwag o przekładach dramatów Ibsena na język polski

Author(s): Katarzyna Maćkała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

Although Ibsen’s plays are frequently staged in Polish theatres, the performances rarely become successful and Ibsen’s works are watched and read by very few. The fact that in post war Poland Ibsen was translated very rarely seems to be essential for finding the reason why his reception in Poland is so difficult. Ever since the first premiere of Ibsen’s play in Polish most of his works have been translated not from the original language – A Doll’s House was translated directly from Norwegian only in 2006 and Peer Gynt has never been translated from Norwegian. The problem of a small number of translations evokes another difficulty: the fewer texts we have, the quicker they become out-of-date and not playable. The dated language of the texts was a serious problem for Polish theatres already in the interwar time. After the war most of the newly published translations (1956 and 1958) were not from Norwegian, which is why until the late nineteen sixties Krogstad was Günther in Polish and Thorvald was called Robert. In the second part of the 20th century no more translations were produced, so theatres used the versions from the nineteen fifties while cutting the texts heavily to deal with archaic language. Surprisingly enough, after the first premiere based on the new translation of A Doll’s House in 2006, theatres returned to the old version. The most important questions to be asked in such situation are about the quality of the new texts and about the significance of translating in the process of theatre reception.

Tłumacz kontra płeć, czyli sceniczność w przekładzie – Cloud Nine Caryl Churchill

Author(s): Aleksandra Kamińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

The article focuses on the stageability of dramatic texts as a potential source of problems in translation. The problem is discussed using the example of Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine – a play based on changeability and performability of gender identities. In her play, Churchill uses cross-casting to inscribe the gender of potential actors on the text, which needs to be considered by the translator of the play. In the article, Sophia Totzeva’s concept of theatrical potential is used to identify potential shifts conditioned by the play’s stageability.

Życie to sen: Calderón w nowej odsłonie

Author(s): Marta Eloy Cichocka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

Life Is a Dream (2013) – a new translation into Polish of La vida es sueño by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, the theatrical masterpiece of the Spanish Golden Age – was commissioned by the Teatr Współczesny in Szczecin for director Wojciech Klemm. The translation and adaptation of Life Is a Dream by the Kraków-based scholar in Iberian studies and poet Marta Eloy Cichocka is the latest in a series of Polish translations of Calderón: the first to be undertaken in the 21st century, and the second to be penned by a woman. In the 19th century the text of La vida es sueño was tackled by Ryszard Berwiński, Edward Dembowski, Wiktoryn Doleżan, Leon Rudkiewicz, Józef Szujski and Adam Tomasz Chłędowski (who entitled his translation Władysław [sic!], królewic polski, czyli Życie snem (1826), i.e. Władysław [sic!], Prince of Poland, or, Life Is a Dream – giving up the Germanic name Segismundo which appears in the original work). A century later the play was translated by Barbara Zan, but Polish readers best know the stylised translation of Edward Boyé and its contemporary rendering by Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz. Pedro Calderón de la Barca called his play La vida es sueño, meaning simply Life Is a Dream. After lengthy discussions, it is this title which for the translator seemed most appropriate, the closest to the original and the most natural sounding. A new title may signal to the readers that they are dealing with Calderón in a new translation in which the polymetre of the original has been exchanged by a combination of blank verse and prose. Paradoxically, resigning from rhyme one gains access to many meanings which are lost in the process of translating verse, where the stiff corset of rhyme often yokes the translator into restricting the sense of the statement being made. Apart from the aforementioned issues, the article touches upon the problems of the functional fidelity of the translation of theatrical masterpieces, the loyalty of the translator in relation to the author and the director, as well as the oft-problematic decisions concerning adaptability in the context of the Polish reality surrounding theatrical renderings.

Adaptacja jako krwawe bagno. Tłumacząc spektakl 2008: Macbeth na angielski

Author(s): Thomas Anessi / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

The article presents the challenges of dramatic adaptation through a case study: the translation of English surtitles for a Polish production based on Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. The play in question, 2008: Macbeth, was a highly stylized, bigbudget adaptation written and directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna. It is set in the modern day and contains text and scenes added by Jarzyna to comment on contemporary politics and military culture. The Polish he uses and that found in Barańczak’s translation that served as the source text for 2008: Macbeth feel more contemporary than Elizabethan English; therefore, the material written by Jarzyna is much closer to Barańczak’s “original” text than to Shakespeare’s. An additional challenge in writing the surtitles was the canonical status of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the audiences’ familiarity with this text. A translation focused on conveying Jarzyna’s artistic messages could thus alienate viewers who approach 2008: Macbeth as a foreign-language reworking of Shakespeare, rather than an original work. Applying common theoretical concepts, such as adaptation/translation, source/target, and textual/performative, the article examines the process and strategies employed in producing the English supertitles for 2008: Macbeth and the play’s reception in the U.S. and U.K.

Poprawianie Hamleta – ćwiczenie warsztatowe

Author(s): Monika Woźniak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

The paper describes the results of an experiment in translation carried out during a course attended by a group of Polish and Italian students. The text chosen was a comic sketch A Little Rewrite by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. The goal was to compare the transfer of a typical gig into two different languages and cultural contexts. It emerged that, while all the students enjoyed the sketch and were amused by it, as soon as they started to translate the dialogue some significant differences arose, both language- and culture-related. In the transfer into Polish, the lack of a recognizable marketing jargon used in the original scene for humorous effect resulted in replacing it with a low register of everyday speech and Polish equivalents were found for a few not immediately comprehensible allusions to British reality. The one distinctive comic feature of the original text, the funny form of addressing Shakespeare as “Bill” was, however, lost in translation due to a different use of such form in Polish. In the Italian translation it was easier to replicate the comic effect of calling Shakespeare “Bill”, thanks to a similar way in which forms of address are used in that language. It appeared, instead, far more difficult, to find a satisfactory equivalent for a low oral register of the original dialogue. Because of the stylistic conventions of standard Italian and also a more rigid attitude towards the rules of translation itself, the final result of the transfer appeared far more polished and toned down linguistically that its Polish counterpart or even its English original.

Przekład jako praktyka humanistyczna

Author(s): Wiesław Juszczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

„Całkiem zgrabny epigramacik”. O dawnych polskich przekładach z perspektywy italianisty

Author(s): Olga Płaszczewska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2015

The main purpose of the essay is a critical review of recently published monograph on the presence of Italian literature in Poland Jadwiga Miszalska’s. Miszalska’s achievement is presented against the background of previous reflections on translations of older Italian literature in Poland. Her latest book collects and updates the bibliographies and considerations on “narrative prose”, “theatrical texts and dramas” and poetry. The quotations from original Italian texts and from their translations, acting as a kind of inner anthology, are an unquestionable advantage of the book, while meticulous summaries of literary works and the brevity of philological and historical comments constitute its main drawback.