LINGUIST List 22.2389 Tue Jun 07 2011 Review: Translation: Tonkin & Esposito Frank (2010) Editor for this issue: Anja Wanner <anjalinguistlist.org> This LINGUIST List issue is a review of a book published by one of our supporting publishers, commissioned by our book review editorial staff. We welcome discussion of this book review on the list, and particularly invite the author(s) or editor(s) of this book to join in. If you are interested in reviewing a book for LINGUIST, look for the most recent posting with the subject "Reviews: AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW", and follow the instructions at the top of the message. You can also contact the book review staff directly. Directory         1.     Ioan-Lucian Popa , The Translator as Mediator of Cultures Message 1: The Translator as Mediator of Cultures Date: 07-Jun-2011 From: Ioan-Lucian Popa <ioan.lucian.popagmail.com> Subject: The Translator as Mediator of Cultures E-mail this message to a friend Discuss this message Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/21/21-3203.html EDITORS: Tonkin, Humphrey and Esposito Frank, Maria TITLE: The Translator as Mediator of Cultures SERIES TITLE: Studies in World Language Problems 3 PUBLISHER: John Benjamins YEAR: 2010 Ioan-Lucian Popa, Faculty of Letters, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania SUMMARY This volume, edited by Humphrey Tonkin (who is also a major contributor to it) and Maria Esposito Frank, is a collection of essays based on a conference held at the University of Hartford in 2006, entitled ''The Translator as Mediator,'' where professional translators, anthropologists, linguists, and literature academics discussed translation in general and also the way in which the influences the literatures of various cultures and identities exert upon one another, all within a globalized world. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1. Translation and reconciliation, Part 2. Translation and negotiation, Part 3. Translation and the interpretation of texts. In the preface, the editors place the developments in the field of translation theories and practices within the larger framework of globalization and equate their impact with that of the Renaissance culture. The current expansion of translation studies is one of the outcomes of developments not only in cultural studies or literary theory, but also in policy studies and political theory. The editors point out to the roles that translators assume: ''mediators of cultures, enablers, but also gatekeepers'' (p. viii). The conference that generated the book under scrutiny discussed in an interdisciplinary context issues ''concerning post-colonial and 'post-missionary' language attitudes and policies, border identity, transcreation, betweenness, technological mediations and futuristic renditions, international crime and law, and literary translation'' (p. viii). Then, the editors outline the structure of the book. The first of the three parts approaches practical aspects of the profession. The second part is dedicated to the theory of translation, especially the role of the translator as negotiator. The third section puts emphasis on the interpretation and exchange of texts. In the introductory article, ''Introduction. Between temples and templates: History's claims on the translator,'' Probal Dasgupta heralds ''a period of history that gives translators a dizzying degree of theoretical importance'' (p. 13). Part 1 comprises four chapters. Chapter 1, ''Translation as reconciliation: A conversation about politics, translation, and multilingualism in South Africa,'' is a fascinating exchange of ideas about the current linguistic situation in South Africa. It is also the written record of a conversation among Antjie Krog, Rosalind Morris, and Humphrey Tonkin at the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, USA, on April 29, 2009. During apartheid, there were only two official languages: English and Afrikaans. Nowadays, there are eleven official languages: Afrikaans is witnessing a decline; the languages of the Black population (IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga) aspire to an elevated position, while English has become the de facto official language of the country. In such circumstances, the role of translation is of extreme importance, as it ensures the visibility of all the cultures and peoples of South Africa, and translation, therefore, not only mediates among the languages of the realm and increasingly becomes one form of reconciliation, but also engenders reciprocal cultural enrichment. Chapter 2, ''Interpreting at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY): Linguistic and cultural challenges,'' by Nancy Schweda Nicholson focuses first on the specificity of court interpreting and then on the differences between Common Law found in countries where "English is the language of the law" (Gibbons 2003: 5) and Civil Law, in the rest of the world. A historical section outlines the creation of the ICTY and the way it functions. Special attention is given to the Conference and Language Services Section, whose task is to furnish interpreting and translation services. The working languages are listed and the modes of interpreting are identified (simultaneous interpreting, relay interpreting, consecutive interpreting) and described. One peculiarity of the interpreters' work is highlighted: because of the singular task of the ICTY, interpreters show very high stress levels. With a view to helping the interpreters and their employers cope with the complexity of their tasks, training courses are organized and they ensure a very high level of professionalism in the search of justice. Chapter 3, ''Translating and interpreting sign language: Mediating the DEAF-WORLD,'' by Timothy Reagan opens new perspectives by approaching a set of activities that have been given little attention comparatively. The term DEAF-WORLD refers to the cultural phenomenon of deafness and often has synonyms such as "deaf culture" or "deaf community". The capitalization is employed to distinguish between the audiological condition of deafness and the cultural condition of Deafness. The chapter is very informative as it familiarizes the reader with the complexity of sign languages and their lack of general codification. More than any other activities, sign language translation and interpreting are heavily dependent on variables such as awareness of cultural differences and linguistic knowledge. Chapter 4, ''Translators in a global community,'' by Jonathan Pool, addresses the issue of improving the way in which the global community interacts linguistically. The solution offered by the author is that of achieving a "panlingual transparency via aspectual phased translation" (p. 72). The proposed model is a four-phase translation process that will ensure communication in the global community, helping, at the same time, in the preservation of the linguistic diversity of today's world. Thus, the process presupposes an initial phase of intralingual cultural translation from the literary source language into a ''global representation'' of it. Then, an interlingual translation from the global representation of the source language into the global representation of the target language, and then, again, an intralingual final phase, from the global representation of the target language into its literary form. The example provided by the author (p. 76) involves a text in the Bantu language Yao to be published on the Web "for global consumption" that also includes speakers of Muong (a language spoken by a minority in Vietnam). Thus, a speaker of Yao translates from standard literary Yao into 'global' Yao (a written variety of Yao that has the supplementary characteristic of complying with a 'global semantic-pragmatic standard'). An automatic program translates from global Yao into a "global standard representation, an intelingua" (p. 77). In phase three, another automatic program translates from the interlingua into global Muong and, finally, a speaker of Muong translates into literary Muong. The author considers that turning to account the panlingual transparency model presupposes a combination of language learning, human and automatic translation with the ultimate aim of making all the languages media for communication and, at the same time, perpetuating the existence of all languages. Jonathan Pool also identifies the obstacles that will hamper the implementation of panlingual transparency and tries to discover ways to circumvent them and iterates the idea of a ''negotiated interlingual semantic standard'' (p. 83). Part 2 of the book, ''Translation and negotiation,'' begins with chapter 5, ''The treason of translation? Bilingualism, linguistic borders and identity,'' by John Edwards, in which the author identifies ''a potential tension between the necessity of translation and its invasive qualities'' (89). and attempts to clarify some of its points. Starting from George Steiner's opinion that "there is in every act of translation [...] a touch of treason. Hoarded dreams, patents of life are being taken across the frontier", Edwards believes that the so-called ''treason'', supposedly inherent to the process translation, is not in itself a reason for complaints; it is inadequacies occurring during the process that are blamable for distortions of the message as they build ''inadequate or unsatisfactory linguistic bridges'' (p. 96). The ''tensions'' that may occur during the act of translation are brought about by the attempts to render poetry and philosophical texts in another language, to convey vernacular and ephemeral source language into a target idiom, to preserve the original tone, or by the degree of freedom a translator is allowed to benefit from in his/her endeavour. In Chapter 6, ''The poetics of experience: Toward a pragmatic understanding of experience, practice, and translation,'' the author, Vincent Colapietro, investigates the complexities of translation, challenging simplistic approaches to the act of translation that view it as a process of encoding, decoding and re-encoding, and reaches the conclusion that text translation from a source language into target languages is ''a continuation of the translation of experience into text, art, work'' (p. 122). Part 3, ''Translation and the interpretation of texts,'' begins with chapter 7, ''Translation and the rediscovery of the multinational Central European,'' by Thomas Cooper. The author starts from the assumption that, since the fall of communist regimes in Central Europe, the study of the cultures of the region has been under the sign of the national paradigm. This approach has been aimed at obliterating the ''myth of a monolithic Eastern Bloc'' (p. 127). Belief in such a myth results in a failure to grasp the reality that Central European cultures have national features and features that go beyond linguistic borders. Translation is one of the ways in which the cultures of the region interact and influence one another and the chapter provides a number of very powerful and appropriate examples of such instances. Cooper asserts that, consequently, translation should no longer be considered ''as a bridge between cultures'' (p. 127), since in the Central European context, translation is ''more a form of expression through which a shared multinational culture is sustained'' (p. 127). The literatures of the region are re-assessed as being not so much national as transnational (Esterházy [1990: 273] even speaks of the "betweenness" that is the characteristic of Central European literatures) and this statement is supported by examples provided by the Thomas Cooper. One of the most obvious illustrations is that of "works of literature from Transylvania and Banat [that] frequently subvert national paradigms, in part by incorporating influences from the literatures of other national groups" (p. 131). Translation, thus, sees its status reinforced as a mode of cultural mediation and as a device that highlights the intricate interrelations among the cultures of the region. Chapter 8, ''Transcriação / Transcreation: The Brazilian concrete poets and translation,'' by K. David Jackson presents the endeavours of two Brazilian concrete poets (Haroldo de Campos and Augusto de Campos) to translate works of some of the founders of contemporary poetics as well as some classical poetry. De Campo coined the term transcriação / transcreation in order to singularize their new brand of creative translation. Their approach to translation was aimed at attaining phonetic, syntactic, and morphological equivalence and their activity as translators had a multilaterally beneficial effect upon Brazilian literature transforming it, at least for a while, ''into a center of action in world languages and letters'' (p. 155) and, at the same time, contributed in an original way to the debate on translation. Chapter 9, ''Expression and translation of philosophy: Giorgio Colli, a master of time,'' by Marie-José Tramuta, is an homage to Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari for their translation into Italian and their critical edition of F. Nietzsche's works, which was award ed the Wheatland Prize for Translation (the prestigious prize is presented each year by the American Wheatland Foundation). Giorgio Colli (1917-1979) and Mazzino Montinari (1928-1986) are the authors of the Italian translation of Nietzsche's works. Their critical edition became the scholarly standard, and was published in Italian, in French, in German and in Dutch. The chapter contains information about this edition, which was also considered one of the most important scholarly achievements of the previous century. Chapter 10, ''The semantics of invention: Translation into Esperanto,'' by Humphrey Tonkin, approaches the challenges that a translator might face when translating into a planned language. Tonkin starts with considerations upon his own experience with translating Winnie-the-Pooh into Esperanto. On the one hand, it seems simpler to translate into Esperanto, as there is no literary tradition in this language; on the other, the translator, when faced with the task of translating literary works with a very high density of meaning has to find solutions that may have a detrimental effect on the unique impact of the original. Added difficulties are those inherent to various literary genres, especially poetry and drama, or historical distance, or in a relatively limited number of cases, the translation of names. As an intellectual exercise, Esperanto has an undeniable quality, that of being a disambiguating language, i.e. a language that establishes a single semantic or grammatical interpretation of a linguistic unit. The author highlights the fact that any process of translation is, in some respects, a form of language making (linguistic/semantic invention) and this is indeed valid as regards Esperanto, which is ''was not so much a new language as a restatement of the old in a new context. One could call it a translation of the European semantic base'' (p. 178). EVALUATION The book contains a variety of articles on the subject of the translator's/interpreter's implicit and explicit role of mediator between/among/of cultures. The contributions are all of good quality due to the fact that all the authors are among the authoritative voices in translation theory and practice, and range from thorough research papers to well-informed and extremely useful descriptions of individual experiences; for instance, to quote a few examples of the latter, Nancy Schweda Nicholson relates her own experience as trainer during the training course organized by the Association of Defense Counsel and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 2003, during which the trainees were advised on how to work with interpreters; then, Humphrey Tonkin shares his experience as a translator into Esperanto. The internal coherence of the book is accomplished through a focus on the translator's general role as mediator and on the intricacies of the task. Most of the chapters are reworked versions of papers that were presented at the conference held at the University of Hartford in 2006, entitled ''The Translator as Mediator". The book under scrutiny is a valuable contribution to translation studies; through the diversity of the approached issues, it contributes to the elevation of the status of the domain. Its specific contribution to the field is that it attempts and succeeds in presenting the multi-faceted role of the translator as mediator between/among cultures. Important specific contributions are made as to the reconciliatory role of translation in specific linguistic environments (the case in point is South Africa). Another valuable contribution is the presentation of the linguistic and cultural challenges inherent to interpreting in international courts of law (the specific case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia). The attempt to shed more light on translating and interpreting sign language(s) is also commendable as is the admirable "rediscovery of the multinational Central European" from the perspective of the semiotic process of translation. All the articles are built on solid foundations provided by previous research and each of them contributes to the advancement of the domain. Besides the intrinsic value of each of the chapters, a noteworthy strong point is that the volume does not limit itself to issues concerning the major languages of the world, but that it also adresses, among others, Central European languages and African languages. Overall, the book gives a very comprehensive and multifaceted treatment of the topic under scrutiny. BIBLIOGRAPHY Esterházy, Péter. 1990. "On Hungarian Contemporary Literature". Cross Currents: A Yearbook of Central European Culture 9.405-406. Gibbons, John. 2003. Forensic Linguistics: An Introduction to Language in the Justice System. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Steiner, George. 1992. After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tonkin, Humphrey, ed. 1972. Winnie-la-Pu: An Esperanto Version of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, trans. Ivy Kellerman Reed and Ralph A. Levin. New York: Dutton. ABOUT THE REVIEWER Ioan-Lucian Popa, PhD, is associate professor at Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania. His main research interests are translation theory and practice, bilingual lexicography, and English linguistics. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 07-Jun-2011       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.