Zafer Tuhaitah
University of Leeds,UK

Women, Cars and Ideologies: The Socio-dynamics of Cross-Linguistic Representations of the Saudi Human Rights Discourse

Human rights discourse is an underresearched topic in translation studies, especially in the Arab World. Since the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, human rights discourse has gained great momentum (Ishay, 2013). One of the most controversial human rights issues in Saudi Arabia is the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia. This paper focuses on the case of Loujain Al-Hathloul, a Saudi female activist who was jailed for driving her car (Dearden, 2015). This case has been confronted with several internal ideological conflicts, where human rights discourse was demonized by a large section of the Saudi community. Various international political actors have exploited the same case for different ideological reasons.

The main tool to witness and construct such ideological conflicts has been the media. This paper analyses how ideology influences the representation of human rights discourse in the news between Arabic and English languages in this context. The corpus used in this study contains news reports both in Arabic and English on the case of Loujain Al-Hathloul obtained from two ideologically conflicting news agencies, namely: Al Arabiya (from Saudi Arabia); and Al-Alam (from Iran). The selected methodological framework used in this study is a modified version of Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (1989, 1992, 1995). The study covers the question of ideological influence by analyzing different levels of analysis such as the translation shifts and editing that occur at the lexical and grammatical levels; the visual semiotics; the historical, social and political contexts; and the discursive strategies applied to report the same story in different news agencies.

This paper sets to extend our knowledge of the current issues in news translation in the Arab World. It also attempts to go some way towards enhancing our understanding of the influence of ideology on the media discourse and the way it is used as a political tool.

References:

Dearden, L. (2015). Saudi Arabian woman jailed for defying driving ban to run in elections after ban overturned. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabian-woman-loujain-al-hathloul-jailed-for-defying-driving-ban-to-run-in-elections-after-ban-a6768256.html
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and Power. London: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman.
Ishay, M. (2013). The spring of Arab nations? Paths toward democratic transition. Philosophy.

Hanem El-Farahaty
University of Leeds,UK

Translating Political Satire of the Egyptian Revolution into English

Whereas studies of Arabic political satire are scarce there has been a phenomenal growth in this activity in recent times. Political satire has tackled many social and political issues in the Arab World. The Arab Spring of 2011 gripped the entire Middle East with Egypt witnessing the emergence of a unique interface between political cartoons and comics and Egyptian cinema and theatre that even extended to singing. This connection is something that makes them extremely interesting to follow and read. On the other hand, the connection is culture-bound, making them unusually challenging to translate. This challenge stems from reference to scenes in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic films, plays and songs that are loaded with social, religious and other culture-bound elements that require in depth knowledge and an ability to make a connection between these references and the element of political satire in question. Hence biculturalism, to borrow Nida’s (2001:82) term will be more important than bilingualism.

This presentation discusses the challenges of translating Arabic political satire of the Egyptian revolution into English over the course of the past five years. This period covers three stages in Egyptian politics from the ousting of Mubarak, to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and their eventual overthrow culminating in the subsequent election of Abdul Fattah el-Sisi as Egypt’s new president. The paper adopts a multimodal approach (Kress, 2009) to analyse the intertextuality between the different elements of the image, how each element contributes to meaning conveyed and how none of them could be ignored or underestimated in the process of translation.

Asmaa Alduhaim
University of Birmingham

Cross-Cultural Political Discourse Translation: A Comparative Study of Different Translations of the Arab Spring Presidential Speeches

In the contemporary globalized world, where translation plays a key role in creating a transcultural understanding, many events are broadcast through various media in different languages. During the past few years, political conflicts and clashes have increased in the Middle East, and a wave of demonstrations forced presidents to react and address the nation in several speeches. This research is focused on Mummar Algaddafi’s speech, which was delivered on February 22nd, 2011, and Hosni Mubarak’s speech dated February 10th, 2011. In the first part of the research, I will conduct a comparative study of the source texts (STs), including a textual/contextual analysis drawing on Fairclough’s (Fairclough, 1995) critical discourse analysis, and Kress’s multimodal semiotic analysis (Kress, 2010). The second part is concerned with a detailed analysis of three different genres of translations of each speech, by applying a combined model of CDA and Kress’s approach to analyze both the linguistic and extra-linguistic features. In addition to Baker’s narrative approach (Baker, 2006), which aims to reveal how selective apportion feature is employed by most news agencies to reshape their translation into a new narrative that suits their ideology. The research intends to shed light on the way in which the change in genre between the ST and TT is reflected in the purpose of the text; for example considering changes that occur to a political, motivating, maybe even threatening speech when it turns into a neutral article, a piece of news or a commentary in an online blog. Thus, by changing the mode of delivery the translation process may inadvertently change the meaning, genre and the ideological/discursive context. The research will also highlight the importance of multimodality in the translation process, which reveals the importance of rendering the image, body language and the setting of the speech to the TT audience.

Bibliography:

Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A course book on translation. London: Routledge.
Baker, M. (ed.) (1998). The Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies. London: Routledge.
Baker, M. (2006). Translation and conflict: A narrative account. Routledge.
Bazzi, S. (2009) Arab News and Conflict: A Multi-Disciplinary Discourse Study. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Chilton, P. & Schaffner. C. (1997). Discourse and Politics, In Discourse as Social Interaction. London: Sage Publications.
Chilton, P. & Schaffner. C. (eds). (1999). Politics as Text and Talk: Analytic Approaches to Political Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Fairclough, N. (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis: The critical study of language. London, UK: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (2001) Language and Power. London, UK: Longman.
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality. A social semiotic approach to contemporary
Communication London: Routledge Falmer.

Adila Benaouda
Algiers 2 University (Algeria)

Translating political cartoon in time of Arab wars/conflicts

Translators play a major role in providing non-Arabs with information, whether through interpreting and translating content or otherwise. They act as intermediaries between the source of information and its recipients.

Media translation, in general, is divided into audio visual and written-text translation; the latter includes the translation of articles, press headlines and political caricature. In this paper we will focus on the translation of political caricature. The evaluation of this type of translation during wars and conflicts in the Arab World indicates that there is an imbalance between the content transferred from and into Arabic. The shortage of translations in the Arab world contributes to the formation of a “communication gap" between the Arab world and the "Other"

The Western public has no access to the Arab news since few of them can read Arabic. Also only a small portion of the Arabic press is indeed translated into foreign languages, and when translated it is mostly done by outsiders whose interests differ from those of the parent institution itself.  Consequently, the Western public tends to form their judgments and perceptions on the Arab World based on the images broadcast on Western television channels, or through the analyses they are exposed to in the Western press whether these are accurate or misleading.

Moreover, Arabs have failed to inform the Western public about the reality and attitude of the Arab people, as well as to render an objective representation addressing this audience as a way to redress these incorrect judgments and perceptions, except for the content issued by some media organizations, journalists and researchers.

Through the examples that we will present in this paper, we will notice that most of the cartoons transferred feed into anti-America and anti-west sentiments. The analysis will show that cartoons do not necessarily need an accompanying text in order to perceive their meanings except in some cases that require captions to avoid ambiguity.  However, it has been noted that many additions were conducted by translators who generate translated titles for cartoons not accompanied by a caption.  In other cases, translators resorted to composing a text serving as a caption to accompany cartoons.

Benoit Leger
Concordia University in Montreal, Canada

“My interpreter”: Journalists and the Invisibility of Fixers

This paper will analyze two visions of the role of the fixer—the amateur or professional interpreter working alongside foreign journalists, mostly in conflict zones. Canadian journalist Graeme Smith and British reporter Robert Fisk have covered the Middle East during military operations and wars, especially in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, relying to various extents on the ability of local fixers to convey information in their articles published in Western newspapers. The ways in which these two journalists describe the role, function, and even appearance of their fixers differ broadly: one journalist insisting on the presence of his fixer, described as a collaborator and almost as a mother figure, the other one barely mentioning the need for language mediation, even in situations where he obviously do not master the langue. The confrontation of these two description of contacts between languages will shed light on how the importance of interpretation in conflict zones is perceived, on the fiction of communication without language borders and, more broadly, on the recognition of the role of fixers within the realm of journalism.

Lamya Khelil
University of Boumerdes, Algeria

The Role of Translators in Transmitting "Semiotics" to Arabic in the Modern Era

The study of "signs" or "semiotics" was an interesting and intriguing field to the ancient Arab scholars; so much so that they outrivaled the West in some aspects, such as those related to semantics. Ancient Arab scholars left behind a significant legacy in this area, particularly represented by their knowledge of the literature on semantics. One of the features of the semiotics of that era is that it permeated the different levels of Arabic such as morphology, grammar, semantics, interpreting and the Qur'an. Among the prominent scholars in this field was Al-Jāhiz who researched non-linguistic signs, though he favored linguistic signs, Al Jurjani, who preceded de Saussure in considering the linguistic sign arbitrary, and Avicenna, who was concerned with the components of semantics including "reference", "acoustic sign" and "meaning".

Currently, these parameters have completely changed, thanks to the Arab translators who helped transmitting most of the developments in this field from the West, especially the European School, led by de Saussure and Grimas, and the American School, led by Morris and Boris.

Our study falls within the scope of the continuity of research in the field of translation, and in particular the role of translators in transmitting the elements of Western semiotics renaissance into the Arabic language. The main objective of this research is to unveil the pioneering role played by Arab translators in transmitting semiotics from the West.  To achieve the objective of our study, we will address the following questions:

• How did translators play an active role in transmitting modern Western semiotics into Arabic?
• Who are the translators who initiated the current translation activity?
• What are the prospects and challenges of translating the content of semiotics into Arabic?  

In order for us to answer these questions, we have employed a number of methodological approaches. In this context our study is considered a historical narrative par excellence, taking us back to the early translated content into Arabic in the field of semiotics. Our study also illustrates the realities and challenges of the translation of this complex field into Arabic.

Muhammad Gamal
Audiovisual Translation consultant, Sydney-Australia

Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World v.06 (The Literature Review)

Audiovisual Translation Studies, as an academic discipline sui generis in Arabic, is on the rise, albeit slowly. There is, however, an emerging body of literature that examines various aspects of audiovisual translation. The paper reports on reviewing this literature with the aim of identifying the theoretical underpinnings that not only govern the research methodology but also situate Audiovisual Translation Studies as a discipline sui generis in Arabic. The literature reviewed for this study is made up of doctoral thesis (7), master thesis (16), journal articles (7), encyclopedia entries (1) as well as peer reviews (11).

The paper follows a pattern adopted by the author in which he takes a global view of audiovisual translation studies in the Arab world and produces an industry-­‐focused study that aims to link policy to practice. This ‘annual’ research adopts a theme that focuses on a particular issue within the overall examination of the professional context of audiovisual translation in the Arab world. Previous versions of this ongoing research examined AVT as an emerging field (2007), the AVT situation in Egypt (2008), Monitoring the progress of AVT in Arabic (2013), Mapping the field (2014) and the 20th Anniversary of AVT (2015).

AVT v.07 looks at Audiovisual Translation Pedagogy in Arab academia (2017). The significance of this research lies in its precedence and relevance. AVT v.06 “The Review of the Literature” reveals that twenty years after the emergence of audiovisual translation as an academic discipline in the west, most Arab efforts to localize AVT studies continue to face major hurdles at the policy, pedagogy and practice levels.

Chinni Kumar Nandi
University of Hyderabad, India

The Issues and Challenges of Translating Non Verbal Communication on Screen

Non Verbal Communication indicate different channels of communication which differs from country to country. The postures, gestures, clothing, adapters (tapping, scratching, touching etc.), symbolic movements (Saying, bye, thumbs up, Hello, raised fist) etc. Any literary text can be translated into any language. Any dialogue, speech or sound on screen had been translated into different languages through modes of dubbing and subtitling. The Actors/ characters nonverbal expressions on screen were never given importance. The audio video translation of nonverbal communication is a serious challenge which needs to be addressed. While translating films, there is a necessity to address the nonverbal communication to understand the language and culture transfer of the particular film.  The present paper inquiries and investigates, how a non-verbal communication, can be translated on screen?  Is there was any history of translation of non-verbal communication? Is it possible to translate the non-verbal communication on screen? What is the significance of non-verbal communication translation on screen? Is it necessary to translate the non-verbal communication on screen? What are the issues and challenges of translation of non-verbal communication?

David Orrego-Carmona
Aston University (UK) & University of the Free State (South Africa)

Translation Studies (and the translation profession) as Enlarged by non-professional Translation

Non-professional subtitling brings end users into the picture as active users, prosumers. In this scenario, the audience itself is in charge of producing translations, instead of having an external agent translating for them (Cronin 2012). The democratization of technology has brought with it an enlargement of translation as a social activity: people from all around the world have become engaged with non-professional translation activities and translation in itself has become more social. Non-professional translations range from pure entertainment to social commitment and activism, and aim at increasing social inclusiveness. By challenging the status quo of an already underestimated profession, non-professional translation faces challenges and resistance, mainly from the professional practitioners and particularly from the West. However, the activity of non-professional translators can help us understand the new roles that translation plays in the 21st century.

This paper reviews a series of studies that explore the production and reception of non-professional subtitles to comprehensively discuss the implications of non-professional translation for Translation Studies. Using different approaches and methodologies, the studies have shown that non-professional subtitling communities have production processes similar to those of professional subtitlers (Orrego-Carmona 2016) and that these communities develop hierarchical structures, regardless of the goal of maintaining horizontal organization systems (Pym et al. 2016). Findings also indicated that, in terms of reception, non-professional subtitles can be as good as professional subtitles (Orrego-Carmona 2015) and that the increased access to them might be changing the audiences’ consumption habits (Orrego-Carmona 2014).

This overview of empirical research on non-professional subtitling sets the tone for a timely debate regarding the translation profession. What is the role of non-professional translators in the global informal economy and in developmental contexts? What are the implications that empowered technologized audiences have on translation? What about translator training institutions facing the reality of alternative training setups for translators? The consequences of these issues for translation have to be analyzed under different frameworks since they will undoubtedly vary given the different conditions in Western and non-Western countries. Non-professional translation activities have the potential to highlight the different faces that translation can take around the world.

Publication bibliography:

Cronin, Michael (2012): Translation in the digital age. London, New York: Routledge.
Orrego-Carmona, David (2014): Subtitling, video consumption and viewers: The impact of the young audience. In Translation Spaces 3, pp. 51–70. DOI: 10.1075/ts.3.03orr.
Orrego-Carmona, David (2015): The reception of (non)professional subtitling. Unpublished PhD thesis. Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona.
Orrego-Carmona, David (2016): Internal structures and workflows in collaborative subtitling. In Rachele Antonini, Chiara Bucaria (Eds.): Non-professional Interpreting and Translation in the Media: Peter Lang, pp. 211–230.
Pym, Anthony; Orrego-Carmona, David; Torres-Simón, Esther (2016): Status and technology in the professionalization of translators. Market disorder and the return of hierarchy. In JoSTrans, The Journal of Specialised Translation (25), pp. 33–53. Available online at http://www.jostrans.org/issue25/art_pym.php.

Jean Nitzke
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Germany

Problem solving in translation from scratch and post-editing

The need for translations has been growing in recent years despite financial crises. To cope with the need, international companies and organisations have started to implement machine translation (MT) into their translation workflows. However, MT output does often not meet the quality expectations, especially when the text needs to be published or distributed. Hence, translators are needed to improve the MT output. This process is called post-editing. Translation processes often include problem-solving activity. When the translation of the source is not obvious to the translator on first sight, or in other words when there is a barrier between the source item and the target item, the translation process can be considered problematic. Using MT output for translation tasks should provide advantages in efficiency and reduce problem-solving effort. However, if the quality of the MT output is not acceptable, new problematic translation units may arise.  In a series of experiments, 24 translators (twelve professionals and twelve semi-professionals) produced translations from scratch, post-edited and monolingually post-edited MT output. The translation and editing sessions were recorded with an eye-tracker (Tobii TX300) and a keylogging program (Translog II). Altogether, the translators had to handle six texts (two texts per task). For the post-editing tasks, the texts were pre-translated using Google Translate.  Keylogging and eye-tracking data were analysed for different problem indicators as well as problem-solving strategies in the translation and the post-editing tasks. The analyses show for example that the MT output solved some lexical problems the participants had in translation from scratch, but increases syntactical problems which arise in translation from scratch. This talk will present specific problems of English-German MT output, which, however, can be transferred to other language combinations, as well. Finally, this talk will draw a comprehensive picture on challenges and advantages of post-editing MT output.

Julian Zapata
University of Ottawa, Canada

Preparing Translators and Interpreters for a New Translator-Computer and Translator-Information Interaction Era: Lessons from Interactive Translation Dictation

Technologies have been a part of the translation and interpretation landscape for a number of decades, and have inexorably modified the way these professions are perceived, taught and practiced. Translation and interpretation researchers, trainers and professionals are aware of the need not only to efficiently integrate new technologies to education programs, but also to improve existing tools and to create new ones to cope up with the evolution of computers and the changing needs and preferences of humans in terms of creating, storing, accessing and using information. My presentation will explore interactive translation dictation (ITD) from a pedagogical perspective. ITD is an emerging translation technique that involves interaction with multimodal interfaces (MIs) equipped with voice recognition (VR) technology throughout the entire translation process. Examples of commercially available MIs include smartphones, tablets and touchscreen computers, which are primarily voice-and-touch-enabled. ITD has a demonstrated potential to become one of the most efficient, cost-effective and ergonomic modi operandi in the near future for translation and interpretation professionals, but significant technical and pedagogical challenges still need to be addressed. In this presentation, I will first describe the evolution of VR technology and the extent to which it has been explored and used in translation practice and teaching in recent years. Secondly, some of the current challenges and limitations of this technology will be described while lending support to the idea of integrating sight translation, translation dictation and VR courses to translator and interpreter training programs as a partial solution to the challenges (Gouadec 2007; Mees et al. 2013; Zapata & Quirion, in press). To wrap up my talk, I will present and discuss, from a pedagogical perspective, some results of a recent empirical study on ITD carried out within the framework of my doctorate in translation studies, and will outline avenues for future research.

Samuel Läubli
University of Zürich- Switzerland

Beyond post-editing: The future of computer-aided translation

As research on machine translation progresses rapidly, computer-aided translation protocols such as post-editing are becoming a reality rather than a choice for professional translators. However, the fact that current protocols often impose ill-formed machine output on professionals led to a paradox situation: translators disfavour them despite increased productivity (Green et al., 2013).  In this talk, I will argue for a paradigm shift in computer-aided translation. Translators should be enabled to request machine translations of individual words or phrases as they see fit rather than being presented with entirely pre-translated segments by default. Motivations are drawn from practical experience implementing post-editing workflows in the automotive and software localisation industries, as well as recent findings in translation process research (Läubli and Germann, 2016). I will present prototype implementations including empirical evaluation of the aforementioned protocols for mixed-initiative translation, pointing out the importance of an optimal interplay between what translators see (user interfaces) and what machines produce in the background (translation algorithms). I hope to elicit feedback and critical comments to adapt and refine the presented approach going forward, particularly from non-Western language professionals who have too often been neglected in designing computer-aided translation workflows and technology so far.

References:

Green, Spence, Jeffrey Heer, and Christopher D. Manning. The efficacy of human post-editing for language translation. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 439–448. ACM, 2013.
Läubli, Samuel, and Ulrich Germann. 2016. Läubli, Samuel, and Ulrich Germann. Statistical modelling and automatic tagging of human translation processes. In New Directions in Empirical Translation Process Research, pages 155–181. Springer International Publishing, 2016.

Volga Yılmaz Gümüş
Anadolu University, Turkey

The Representation of the Translator in the 21st-Century Turkish Literature

Recent years have seen an increasing academic interest in translation as a profession, probably as a result of the increasing interest in the profession with the growing need for translation – the market factor on one hand, and the influence of sociological approaches in Translation Studies that focus on the “human” factor in translation act – the research factor on the other hand. However, translation as a profession has also been a topic of interest in character construction in the literature for long years. Based on contemporary Turkish novels, this study explores the role, identity and status of fictional translators in Turkish novels published in the 21st century, and seeks an answer to the question how translators are represented in the 21st-century novel? Data is collected from five Turkish novels, where a translator is the primary character or one of secondary characters. It is important that the events in the novel also takes place in the 21st century, so that we can have some insight into contemporary representation and perception of translators in the literature. We then use the forms of capital defined by Bourdieu to interpreter the status of translators in Turkey, based on data collected from the contemporary Turkish novel. The results of this study will help us get understanding of perceived social, cultural and psychological condition of translators.

Mutsuko Tsuboi
Juntendo University, Japan

Inventing the Japanese as a nation: Role of translation and translators in the modernization of Japan in the late 19th century

This study focuses on the term minzoku, which was created as a translation of “nation” in the Meiji Era (1868–1912), to explore the process of generating a new concept through translation. It elucidates its influence on shaping nihon-jin, which refers to Japanese people, as a nation. Through an analysis of the usages of minzoku in texts, including newspapers, magazines, and other literatures, by intellectuals who were involved in translation in the late 19th century, this study examines the aspects of conceptualizing minzoku and its expansion throughout Japan in socio-cultural and historical contexts. Finally, the author revisits the role of translation and translators in Japan’s modernization.

The Meiji Era and Japan’s road to modernization began with the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. This period led to Japan’s transformation from a feudal society into a modern nation-state. Growing aware of the threat of Western domination in East Asia, the political leaders and scholars found it crucial to learn about the West, and translating Western literature became a project of national importance. However, they confronted complex tasks of translating completely unfamiliar notions rooted in Western history and society into the context of deeply Confucian-influenced traditions of Japan. To represent Western notions, many new terms were coined as kanji (Chinese characters) compounds, one of which was minzoku. The analysis shows that the process of creation and conceptualization of minzoku was highly influenced by the emergence of the German Empire under the Prussian king, uniting Germany as a nation-state. The acquisition of the new concept played a significant role in identifying Japanese people, nihon-jin, as a nation and prepared the ideological foundation of strengthening the imperial regime and the subsequent Japan’s imperialistic expansion.

Abdullah Bin Sirjan
King Fahd School of Translation, Morocco

Taha Abdul Rahman: a Theorist of Philosophical Translation

Philosophy is considered one the most important areas of inquiry that examine humankind, its existence and its relations with its surroundings, and with other humans, while translation is the most expressive form of communication and acculturation among people and nations since ancient times. Combining the two under the name of “philosophical translation” is of paramount epistemological significance and procedural effectiveness in order to escape the "ontological predicament" and to renew the channels of communication and networking with a view to opening new horizons for human coexistence away from violence and extremism in all form.

From this perspective, this study came in the form of an approach to the theory of philosophical translation for the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abdul Rahman, who established philosophical translation as a fundamental element for his project based on the right to cultural and intellectual difference. We will outline how Taha Abdul Rahman perceives philosophical translation, and aspects of novelty and excellence in his approach where translation reached an astounding levels of true creativity and acculturation.

Addressing the issue of translation within the paradigm of Taha is characterized by the duality of its method because it is based on constructive criticism and re-institution. It also deals with two main fronts: reviewing philosophy and criticizing modernity. For these considerations, we decided to divide this research paper into three main sections, preceded by an introduction outlining the characteristics of Taha Abdul Rahman’s philosophical model, as can be seen below:

Introduction:

This introductory section exposes the intellectual paradigm of Taha Abdul Rahman's, by focusing on its dimensions of divergence and creativity. This would confirm that philosophical translation is considered as the cornerstone and kernel element of this model, which purports to build a human space inclusive for everyone, whose language hinges on difference, communication and creativity.

Section 1: Philosophical Translation as a manifestation of the right to difference:
In this section we will try to approach the translation act, in terms of being a manifestation of the right to intellectual difference and acculturation and in the context of reviewing philosophy and criticizing modernity.

Section 2: Philosophical translation as a moral obligation targeting innovation and creativity:
In this section we will highlight the characteristics of creativity, originality and excellence in the paradigm of Taha Abdul Rahman.

Section 3: Types of philosophical translations:
We will expose the types of philosophical translation developed by Taha Abdel-Rahman, showing the aspects of correlation involving such types.

Anna Ponomareva
CenTraS, UCL, UK

The Creative Impulse of Two Scheherazades

In the last fifty years at least three scholarly works have been published in which the issue of an intersemiotic translation has been discussed. They are by Jakobson (1959), Douglas Hofstadter (1997) and Anthony Pym (2010). The aim of my presentation is to develop this issue and provide further evidence of the importance of this type of translation in spreading the cultural information of the other in order to create a better understanding among peoples. The focus of my paper is on the analysis of multi-modal intersemiotic translations of The Thousand and One Nights such as Rimskiy-Korsakov’s symphonic suite (1888) and one of Diaghilev’s ballet Russes (1910) both called Scheherazade. It will be shown how these two artistic projects have influenced the perception of the Orient in the West at the turn of the 20th century and might be responsible for the growth of general public interests in the culture of the East at that time.  Rimskiy-Korsakov’s and Diaghilev’s projects can be classifies as the ones in which an exotic foreignization has been used. However, it will be emphasised that a century ago this type of foreignization was necessary in order to attract the attention of people living in the West and inviting them to look at the Orient differently by studying its literature and culture. This presentation is a continuation of my research on drawing parallels between music and literature and looking at a number of texts which might be classified as their transmutations in music (Ponomareva 2007, 2012). 

Marlie van Rooyen
University of the Free State, South Africa

Community Media in South Africa: Translation as tool for Development

Community media plays a crucial role as tool in development processes, especially in the global South. In South Africa, community media has a specific development mandate regarding social, human and economic development priorities (Mkonza, 2004: 117). For community radio in specific to serve as a vehicle for development, radio programming and news should be relevant to the needs of the specific community concerned – also in terms of broadcast language. Reporting news in South African community radio occurs in highly multilingual settings with some radio stations broadcasting in up to seven languages to serve the community. The effect of such multilingualism implies some form of translational activity, although journalists do not necessarily recognise the importance or even presence of translation in the news production process. This implies a need for investigation into the complexity of the process, going beyond the linguistic nature of news translation (cf. Van Doorslaer, 2010; Bassnett, 2005).   Due to the role and the situation of the translation practices in these settings, it is necessary for a project of this nature to rely on a conceptual framework that allows the identification of the emergence of translation. The aim is to go beyond investigations into the translation as product to investigate issues of the social, which in this case would include both human and nonhuman actors involved in the daily news translation production practices in community radio. Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory (2005) is applied as methodological tool to investigate these in situ translation practices. Drawing on examples from radio stations in the Free State province, this paper aims to describe and explain the news translation production process; the situational translation practices and activities; and the actors (whether human or non-human) involved in the news production process.

References:

Bassnett, S. 2005. Bringing the news back home: Strategies of acculturation and foreignisation. Language and Intercultural Communication 5(2):120–130.
Latour, B. 2005. Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press.  Mkonza, K. 2004. Community media and the MDDA. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies 25(1):115–118.
Van Doorslaer, L. 2010. The double extension of translation in the journalistic field. Across Languages and Cultures 11(2):175–188.

Muman Saleh
University of Birmingham, UK

The Role of Interpreters in Influencing Narratives of the Libyan Conflict

The need for interpreters as the mediators who overcome language barriers in war zones has increased significantly over years. This is because even local conflicts between monolingual sides within a specific territory are given a global nature in the political scene. During the Libyan uprising in 2011, the Libyan interpreters of the pro-rebels side sought to appeal the international intervention by trying to influence narratives of the conflict during their involvement as language mediators. The focus of this study is on narratives interpreted by Libyan interpreters only within the pro-rebels side, with an analysis restricted to the period from February 17th, 2011 to March 19th, 2011. This study aims to explore the influential role the Libyan interpreters had played in shaping narratives of the Libyan conflict. It intends to illustrate how interpreters’ intervention helped to change the reality and shaped the narratives of the conflict as they wished for.   The research method used in this study is a survey of a multi-method approach represented in distributing a questionnaire and conducting interviews with Libyan interpreters who had operated there. The theoretical framework for this study is based on emerging both features of narrativity from Somers & Gibson (1993: 59) as well as interpreters influence in shaping narratives of the war (Baker 2010: 213-217). The data are analysed using Baker's model of framing narratives in translation. The findings of the study show that interpreters play a major role in conflict zones by their ability to change the narrative through the interpreting process by their own version of it.

Bibliography:

Baker, M. (2006). Translation and conflict: A narrative account, Routledge.
________ (2007). Reframing conflict in translation. Social Semiotics, 17(2), 151-169.
________ (2010). Interpreters and translators in the war zone: Narrated and narrators. The Translator, 16(2), 197-222.
Harding, S. A. (2012). “How do I apply narrative theory?”: Socio-narrative theory in translation studies. Target, 24(2), 286-309.
Somers, M. R. & GIBSON, G. D. (1993). Reclaiming the epistemological other: narrative and the social constitution of identity.

Muhammad Vasil
University of Hyderabad, India

Driving to interpret; a case study of Arab interpreters in Kerala

This paper tries to look into how the taxi drivers in Cochin a city located in central part of Kerala, India write a different history of interpretation as being the Arabic interpreters for the Arab tourists who visit Kerala. These drivers cum interpreters work in collaboration with different tour agencies mostly accommodating Arab tourists, speak different Arabic dialects very fluently. Though there are thousands of gulf returned people in Kerala these Gulf returned drivers capitalise what they gained meanwhile their stay in a foreign country in more productive way and to contribute in the growing economy of Kerala.  The questions which this paper address is that how this taxi drivers subvert the idea of elite notion of interpretation and make it a more popular art and profession. similarly how this profession can accommodate more gulf returned people in a creative arena.  This study will also look into the contribution of these interpreters in a post-colonial economy.  Wherein how Muslim community sustained themselves and built a strong economic capital aftermath of gulf migration when they were largely side-lined by the state missionaries. In which the Arabic learned scholars and translators had played a crucial role in making strong cultural and strong economic link between people in gulf and Kerala Muslims. This paper also tries to look into how the gulf migration is challenging the notion of nation through building a relation beyond boundaries, wherein the language and religion is vital.

KAYO MATSUSHITA
International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan

Corpus-based Research Utilizing Interpreter mediated Press Conferences in Japan

One of the biggest obstacles in Interpreting Studies has been the lack of analyzable authentic data that contains details of interpreting performances which cannot be obtainable by controlled experiments alone. In order to overcome such obstacles, attempts have been made to make use of recordings in real-life situations to build parallel corpora with original speeches as source texts and outputs by the interpreters as target texts. However, such attempts have traditionally been made in Europe where abundant data from international organizations have been made available (e.g. European Parliament Interpreting Corpus or EPIC).   The uniqueness of the current study lies in the fact that it utilizes 300 hours’ worth of English and Japanese speech data obtained from interpreter-mediated press conferences held at the Japan National Press Club over the past five-plus years. A four-year, seven-member project is ongoing funded by the Japanese Government to create a parallel corpus between English and Japanese, the first of its kind in size and the authenticity of the data collected. The dataset includes both simultaneous and consecutive interpreting performances by highly-trained professionals between English and Japanese.   Not only does the corpus combine video footages, audio recordings and transcribed texts, but it also includes waveforms of English and Japanese renderings along with matching texts word by word, utilizing ELAN, a tool for creating complex annotations of video and audio resources. The data created by ELAN is transformed into a text-based corpus using YAWAT browser which allows for any kind of corpus-based analysis at the textual level. It is hoped that the creation of such a comprehensive, authentic and dynamic corpus will enable empirical testing of various hypothesis still waiting to be corroborated and confirmed scientifically in Interpreting Studies and beyond, and to expand the horizon of research in this field to non-European language pairs.

Julie Boéri,
University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France

Analysing change within citizen spaces: the case of Babels

Translation constitutes a critical link for the construction of civic engagement within transnational social movements, be it in the construction of collective identity, of collective action or of a common space.

This presentation will focus on the organizational and communicational platforms (both digital and non-digital) deployed by three social initiatives that are interconnected within a large social movement where translation has always played a crucial role: (a) the alterglobalization movement, born in the 90s so as to oppose corporate-led globalization, (b) the World Social Forum, an international, periodic and itinerant gathering of social movements founded in Porto Alegre (Brazil) in 2001 and (c) Babels, the international network of volunteer translators and interpreters, born in 2002, so as to inscribe language diversity at the heart of social change called for by both the Social Forum and the alterglobalization movement. These three initiatives are linked together by a common challenge, that of facilitating communication among social actors who attempt to construct alternatives to mainstream society, beyond language, cultural, thematic, organizational and technological barriers. The three initiatives are underpinned by three dialectics: deliberation / struggle, participation / representation and process / event. These have been identified after a literature review on Social Forums, traced in the discourses and practices within the Babels network, through an ethnographic study which I have conducted over the last 10 years. Structured around these three dialectics, my presentation will report on the results of this study and will put forward a methodology which draws on narratives and on the Foucauldian concept of dispositif (apparatus), for exploring change within citizen spaces. 

Henry Jones,
University of Manchester, UK

Wikipedia and Its Not-so-collaborative Volunteer Translation Networks

Much of the current discussion of translation and citizen media tends to focus on what brings individuals together to volunteer their time and effort when collaborating on citizen-led projects. Scholars such as Baker (2013) and Pérez-González (2010), for instance, have drawn attention to the shared sense of narrative affinity that binds engaged translator collectives and the specific political or aesthetic goals that these groups aim to achieve through their mediation activity.

The case of collaborative translation in the context of the user-generated encyclopedia Wikipedia however offers an alternative perspective on this co-production process. While Wikipedians are for the most part united in their belief that knowledge is free and committed in their desire to create an openly accessible knowledge resource, there is rarely absolute consensus on what knowledge should and should not be included, and how this task might best be approached. When collecting and collating the information required to produce their target-language texts, translator-contributors argue, often bitterly, over the ways in which the challenges posed by the linguistic and cultural heterogeneity of human knowledge should be tackled. Wikipedia can thus clearly be seen as a translation site in which individuals compete at least as much as they collaborate, in which they push against each other just as much as they pull together. This presentation will demonstrate how the complex negotiations that occur within this environment are most productively explained and explored by combining a socio-narrative based approach to the study of translation (Baker 2006) with the spatial mode of analysis encouraged by Michel Foucault’s (1984/1986) concept of ‘heterotopia’. In doing so, I will attempt to provide insights into a process of citizen-led translation which is fraught with dispute and discord, a ‘not-so-collaborative’ form of intercultural mediation involving translator-advocates of many different and opposing points of view.

References:

Baker, Mona (2006) Translation and Conflict: A narrative account, London & New York: Routledge.
Baker, Mona (2013) ‘Translation as an Alternative Space for Political Action’, Social Movement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest, 12(1): 23-47.
Foucault, Michel (1984/1986) ‘Of Other Spaces’, Translated by Jay Miskowiec from the original French text: ‘Des Espaces Autres’, Diacritics, 16(1): 22-27.
Pérez-González, Luis (2010) ‘‘Ad-hocracies’ of Translation Activism in the Blogosphere. A Genealogical Case Study’, in Mona Baker, Maeve Olohan and María Calzada Pérez (eds), Text and Context, Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, 259-287.

Stefania Taviano,
University of Messina, Italy

Translation and Art Activism: The Case of Arab Hip Hop

A popular global style of music that has captured the attention of audiences throughout the world, Hip Hop takes different forms according to the musical and cultural traditions of the countries where it is (re)interpreted. In recent years Hip Hop has drawn the attention of scholars from a variety of disciplines, particularly music as well as cultural studies. However, the importance of translation as an intrinsic element of Hip Hop has so far gone largely unnoticed.

Translation, broadly understood as a complex and diffuse phenomenon, contributes to Hip Hop’s ability to traverse geographical, political and social borders and to give voice to people of all cultures. This presentation will attempt to demonstrate the central role that translation plays in constructing the identity of diasporic Arab Hip Hoppas, such as the British Palestinian Shadia Mansour and the Iraqi-Canadian Narcicyst, both as artists and as activists who belong to a global community committed to shared values of peace and solidarity. Drawing on the notion of prefiguration, selected songs and videos will be examined to identify Hip Hop strategies aimed at subverting literal and metaphorical borders and bringing about a change in the here and now rather than in an ideal future. Analysing the impact of translational practices and the prefigurative role of Hip Hop from such a perspective can contribute to shedding new light on art activism as one way of challenging mainstream politics and hegemonic cultural representations.

Theodoros Vyzas
TEI of Epirus, Greece

Community translation in Greece: Communities without translation

Nowadays, migration flows due to economic reasons, natural disasters or conflicts grow bigger and bigger. Thousands of migrants and refugees from Asian and African countries arrive in Southern European countries every month. This leads to the coexistence of numerous language and culture communities inside host societies. A typical example is Greece because of its central geographical location in southeast Europe. Community interpreting and translation are supposed to bridge communication gaps between allophones and public services and although researchers have focused considerably on interpreting in recent years because of its urgent and direct nature, community translation has aroused little interest despite its specialized character. Taking into account the influence of sociological and sociolinguistic theories on translation studies - Wallerstein's, Bourdieu's and Gumperz's among others - we will proceed to the investigation of the status of community translation in Greece, taking into consideration the particularities of the context in the country, which does not really consider itself as multicultural. More precisely: Greece has never recognized any - with only one exception - linguistic minorities and any massive contact of Greek people with allophones inside the country occurred only in 1991. The European directives already transposed have not had the desired effect on the inclusion of community translation in communicating with foreigners, while the high demand for non-European languages causes additional problems in finding translators. Finally, the professional status of the community translator has never been a priority in Greece. We conclude that the Greek state has to accelerate the implementation of community translation as a means of ensuring equal access of foreigners to public services, action which, by raising language and cultural awareness, thus upgrading the professional status of translators, will lead to more justice in society.

Sue-Ann Harding
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar

Tell me the story is and do not leave out anything": Translating victims' statements in South Africa

A complainant’s first encounter with a police officer is a complex language event in which language, translation, narrative, power, law and criminal justice are all deeply interconnected. Written constructions of sworn statements by police officers in the course of these pre-statement sessions form the basis of any further legal action and are thus a critical aspect of the law. In discharging this function, police officers simultaneously act as both intra-lingual translators, that is, translating the original oral interview into a written summary narrative, and inter-lingual translators, translating isiXhosa (in this case) into English, an official language of the criminal justice system. It is these written statements that assume official status and are consequently (if the case makes it to court) used to lead the evidence during court proceedings. By transcribing these (usually discarded) police recordings of the complainants’ original o ral narratives, our research enables, for the first time, a close textual comparative analysis between the original oral isiXhosa and the written English statement. Drawing on social narrative theory, this paper interrogates these translations and translation practices, which appear to only entrench the power differentials at play between vulnerable, marginalised individuals and those who work in the criminal justice system. We argue that raising awareness of the manipulations inherent in these practices can form the basis for developing police training that promotes and enables, even in what are typically difficult and highly stressful encounters, a culture of institutional social responsibility, ethical translation, and the provision of social and criminal justice.

Olcay Şener
Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey

Healthcare Interpreting in Turkey

Community interpreting is a developing branch as a profession around the world due to the increasing need for interpreters in social services. Turkey can be also counted among the countries where community interpreting is developing, as Turkey is a destination for tourism including health tourism. Therefore, many private hospitals recruit interpreters who enable communication between healthcare providers and patients.

On the other hand, there is little academic research conducted relating to healthcare/medical interpreting as a sub-branch of community interpreting in Turkey, even though it is commonly practised. Due to the unique nature of this specific type of interpreting where communication is key to providing accurate and quality care and treatment, the role of the healthcare interpreter in relation to ethics remains to be explored and discussed. Lack of an explicit job description and code of ethics/conduct in Turkey causes challenges in practice for healthcare providers and interpreters as well as patients which implies a risk for quality of service.

This presentation focuses on a case study in which the role of interpreter is explored in relation to the issue of ethics in healthcare interpreting. Observations and interviews conducted with 15 interpreters working in private hospitals in Turkey will constitute the discussion of this study, which is part of a broader study on healthcare interpreting in Turkey.

The role of interpreter in the above-mentioned settings will be analyzed on two levels: during interpretation and beyond interpretation on micro and macro levels. The choices of the interpreter on the micro level during interpretation will be discussed in relation to role and ethics on the macro level beyond interpretation. Our interviews with healthcare interpreters suggest that medical terminology is one of the main problems during interpretation and unfamiliarity with medical terminology may lead to misunderstandings and errors in interpretation.  However, the role of the interpreter as an “international patient consultant” is a broader issue that deserves discussion as revealed by our observations and interviews. The interpreter plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between healthcare providers and patients during and beyond interpretation. Data obtained from healthcare interpreters will contribute to a rich description and a deeper understanding of this complex role in healthcare settings in Turkey.

References:

Angelelli, C. V. Medical Interpreting and Cross-Cultural Communication. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004
Corsellis, A. Public Service Interpreting: The First Steps. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
Hale, Sandra Beatriz. Community Interpreting. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Gentile, A., U. Ozolins and M. Vasilakakos. Liaison Interpreting: A Handbook. Australia: Melbourne University Press, 1996.
Pöchhacker, F. and M. Shlesinger (Ed.), Healthcare Interpreting. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007.
Pöchhacker, F. “'Getting Organized': The Evolution of Community Interpreting” in Interpreting 4(1), 125–140. 1999.
Pöchhacker, F. Introducing Interpreting Studies. London: Routledge, 2004. 
Pöchhacker, F. “The Community Interpreter’s Task: Self-Perception and Provider Views” in The Critical Link 2: Interpreters in the Community, edited by R. Roberts, S. E. Carr, D. Abraham, A. Dufour, 49-67. Amsterdam Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2000

Bashir Mahjoub Raji,
University of Granada, Spain

A Practical Approach to Learning Interpreting from English, French and Spanish into Arabic

Many historians in the field of translation consider Interpreting practice as one of the oldest professions (Baigorri 2000; Herbert 1978; Hermann 1956[1]), since its origins date back to the emergence of humans and the formation of communities of individuals who do not communicate in the same language (Haensch 1965: 3) Interpreting has evolved over time in both form and practice to keep up with the evolution of the needs of its users. Interpreting currently enjoys a strong presence at the local and international levels due to its use in the fields of politics, economics, culture, and during televised coverage for multi-lingual interviews.

In spite of its importance and frequent use, interpreting and the way it is conducted have hardly been the topic of extensive research and study in the Arab world. The Published works in this field according to Mr. Abdullah Al Amid (2009) are limited to three books. These books[2] look into the basic principles of interpreting in general and do not account learning this discipline in particular.

Interpreting is considered a linguistic and cognitive activity in which the interpreter is responsible for the linguistic and cultural mediation process through the use of a set of linguistic, stylistic and cultural terminological devices that relate to the language and culture of the target language (Valero Garcés 2015). Interpreting depends on four major almost-concurrent factors: (1) listening to the speaker's message, (2) deconstructing it, (3) building the structure of the equivalent translated sentence in the mind of the interpreter, (4) and delivering it in the target language in an appropriate fashion. Accordingly, we propose in this study to employ a theoretical and applied teaching approach which addresses in the first phase of the training each of these skills separately through preliminary exercises targeted specifically at the learning and mastery of the above skills. However, these skills have to be blended gradually and in a well-graded manner in terms of the degree of difficulty as the units of the syllabus unfold, to ultimately reach an advanced stage in which the learner is able to exercise interpreting in a manner that ensures the basic principles of quality performance. We divided this syllabus into nine units arranged into three levels proficiency: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Each unit includes a video footage, a text and live presentations in English, French and Spanish that cover a number of topics generally translated by professional freelance interpreters and local and international institutions, in addition to theoretical information and practical exercises for each level.

References:

Valero Garcés, Carmen (2015) Forms of Mediation Between Cultures: Community Translation and Interpreting. Beirut: Arab Science Publishers Inc.
Bisafi, Rasheeda (2003).  Muqarabat fi Ta’limiat Al Tarjama Al Fawria (Approaches to the teachings of Simultaneous Interpreting) Dar Al Gharb, Wahran, publishers.
Khowjali, Hisham (2004)  Al tarjama Al Fawria (Simultaneous Interpreting) . Dar Taibah for Publishing and Distribution, Riyadh.
Al Dirweesh, Ali Mohammed (2003)  Daleel Al Turjuman Fi Mabadi Al Tarjama Al Fawria (Translators Guide to the Principles of Simultaneous Interpreting).Melborn: Rightscope.
Al Aameed, Abdullah (2016) . Dirasat Al Tarjama (Translation studies), Arabic translation and Intercultural Dialogue Association (Ateeda) in: goo.gl/5VZagS. Accessed on September 21, 2016.
BAIGORRI JALÓN, J. (2000). La interpretación de conferencias: El nacimiento de una profesión: De París a Nuremberg. Granada: Comares.
BAIGORRI JALÓN, J. (2004). Interpreters at the UN: A History. Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.
HAENSCH, G. (1965). Técnica y picardía del intérprete diplomático. Munich: Max Hueber Verlag.
HERBERT, J. (1978).  “How Conference Interpreting Grew”. Language Interpreting and Communication 6, 5-10.
PÖCHHACKER, F. (2004). Introducing Interpreting Studies. New York: Routledge.

Jamal Mohamed Gaber Abdalla
UAE University, UAE

Role of Translators and Contextual Factors in the Development of Translation Studies in Arabic

Despite the fact that Arabic was the language of one of the greatest translation movements in history during which Greek scientific and philosophical works were translated into Arabic, Translation Studies in Arabic has only recently started to take shape as a discipline, almost two decades after its maturity as a full-fledged discipline in other languages such as English and French. This study explores the role of translators and some contextual factors behind the recent development of the discipline in Arabic, its current situation, the challenges facing its progress and future prospects. The study is based on a survey of translation-related literature, events and developments. The study findings show that, in addition to international and regional political, economic and sociocultural factors, translators are playing a significant role in developing the discipline in Arabic, as many key Translation Studies works have been translated from other languages into Arabic creating a knowledge base for Arab scholars, students, writers and practitioners. The study also shows that a number of challenges face progress in the discipline in Arabic including terminology translation and standardization.

References:

ALECSO. 1996. al-Khitta al-Qawmiyya li-al-Tarjama. Tunis: ALECSO.
Arab Thought Foundation. 2007. Diraasaat wa Abhaath al-Multaqaa al-Dawlii al-Thaanii li-al-Tarjama. Beirut: Arab Thought Foundation.
Baker, Mona. ed. 1998/2009. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Gutas, Dimitri. 1998. Greek Thought, Arabic Culture. Madison Avenue and New York: Routledge.
Farghal. M. and Mannaa'. A. 2013. al-Tarjama bayna Tajalliyaat al-Lugha wa Faa'iliyyat al-Thaqaafa. London: al-Sayyaab Publishing.
al-Hakiim, As'ad. 1994. 'Ilm al-Tarjama al-Tatbiiqii. Damascus: Daar Tlaas.
al-'Imaam, Mujaab and Muhammad Abdul'aziiz. 2014. al-Tarjama wa 'Ishkaalaat al-Muthaaqafa. Doha: Muntadaa al-'Alaaqaat al-'Arabiyya al-Dawliyya.
Khasaara, Mamduuh. 1994. al-Ta‘riib wa al-Tanmiya al-Lughawiyya. Damascus: al-'Ahliyya.
al-Jumaylii, Rashiid. 1980. Harakat al-Tarjama wa al-Naql fii al-Mashriq al-'Islaamii. Benghazi: Manshuuraat Jami'at Garyuunis.
al-Sayyaadii, M. 1993. al-Ta'riib wa Tansiiquhu fii al-Watani al-'Arabii. Beirut: Markaz Dirasaat al-Wahda al-'Arabiyya.
Stetkevych, Jaroslav. 1970. The Modern Arabic Literary Language: Lexical and Stylistic Developments. Washington D. C.: Georgetown University Press.
Al-Tayaari, Muhammad. 1980. al-Ta‘riib fii al-Watan al-‘Arabii. Beirut: Markaz Dirasaat al-Wahda al-‘Arabiyya.
Zaytuunii, L. 1994. Harakat al-Tarjama fii 'Asr al-Nahda. Beirut: Daar al-Nahaar.

Evanthia Saridaki
State School of Tourism in Thessaloniki, Greece

The translator as social and ideological mediator: integrating the Social Dimension of the Translator in translator training programmes  

Although translators are often primarily seen as language professionals, their knowledge and skills extend far beyond their linguistic competence. As social beings, they are engaged in a highly social activity, controlled by the communicative needs of real people in real social context. The purpose of the paper is to offer a framework of reflection on the social dimension of the translator and the integration of the sociological aspect of translation in translator training courses. First of all, we will briefly discuss some issues related to the concept “social dimension of the translator” such as: translators as members of the translation community and other social networks, translators as “active shapers of the source text” and translators as participants in the political, cultural and intellectual life of their society. Furthermore, the implications of the social role of the translator for the theorizing and teaching of translation will be analyzed. For this purpose, we will refer to the professional competences as defined by the EMT (European Master’s in Translation), this is a quality label for translator training courses at master’s level, which is given to programmes that meet commonly accepted quality standards for translator training, in order to examine whether the acquisition of social competence constitutes one of the objectives of the programmes-members of the EMT network. Finally, there will be some suggestions of integrating the social dimension of the translator in translation theory courses. Some methodological approaches will be briefly presented such as:  Mossop’s translation theory course model, Collina’s theoretical approach and Robinson’s proposals, as didactic tools that will help future translators to understand social processes better and play a responsible and ethical role in them.

Di Wu
The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Developing translation competence: teachers' and students' cognitions and practices

Current research on translation education is theory or experience oriented. Although some publications on translator training can be found, most of them are “anecdotal in nature” (Kelly & Martin, 2009, p. 299). These studies can only be accounted as the sharing of individual, institutional, or national experiences, which are not supported by empirical evidences. Other than that, the research focuses are always on impersonal aspects such as the content or the activities in the translation classroom, while the human factors, especially translation teachers are ignored.  This study tries to understand the cognitions about translation competence and translation teaching strategies that translation teachers and students have, and also it investigates teachers’ actual teaching practices in the classroom. It adopts a mix-methods approach. A preliminary quantitative study was conducted by using a teacher questionnaire and a student questionnaire to understand 100 teachers’ and 300 students’ cognitions and practices. Followed by that was a qualitative study, in which 6 translation teachers’ teaching practices were observed. After that, these teachers and 12 of their students (2 from each teacher’s observed classroom) were interviewed.   In this presentation, the author will first report the congruence and disparity between teachers’ cognitions and students’ cognitions/teachers’ cognitions and practices/teachers’ and students’ preferred teaching strategies based on statistical analysis (including t-test, MANOVA, etc.). He will then discuss the reasons for the congruence and disparity between teachers and students based on qualitative data. In the last part, he will provide some implications for translator training, translation teachers’ self-development, and translation institutions’ policy-making.

Awadalkareem Alhassan
Dhofar University, Oman

A corpora-based approach for training EFL student translators and interpreters: moving beyond bilingual dictionaries and intuition

Corpora have recently been increasingly used in the field of translation and translator and interpreter education. Monolingual, parallel and comparable corpora can offer invaluable insights and knowledge into the best ways, strategies and practices of dealing with translation and interpreting problems. Moreover, using parallel corpora, in particular, can potentially help student translators and interpreters produce more accurate and meaningful translation into the second language. This is because parallel corpora can provide authentic examples of translation of different genres translated by expert/professional translators. The presentation will propose a corpus-based approach drawing on monolingual, parallel and comparable corpora to enable translation teachers to enhance student translators' skills and strategies in order to effectively achieve translation tasks and successfully function in their future translation and interpreting profession. The proposed approach will focus on the tasks of translation from Arabic into English since difficulties are likely encountered when translating into the target language than the other way round. The presentation reflects on the experiences of some student translators in a Sudanese university enrolled on a translation course as part of their requirements for a BA degree in English. The proposed approach has two main objectives. Firstly, it intends to provide both teacher and student translators and interpreters with additional resources that move beyond the (intuition) and “traditional” (bilingual) dictionaries as the sole tools for translation, predominately used in this particular context. Secondly, it is hoped that the approach will draw the attention of Applied Linguistics/TESOL teachers and researchers, in the Arab world, to corpora as a promising area for research and pedagogy in translation and translator and interpreter training and education. The potential implementation challenges of the proposed approach will be discussed and suggestions for overcoming these challenges will also be offered. Finally, some pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research will be discussed.