Translation Brief - Essay Example

Translation Brief Translation Brief Introduction Translation is essentially expressing in a target language an idea or message that has been communicated in a different source language while preserving both stylistic and semantic equivalences. It entails the reproduction of a message in a language comprehensible by the receptor in a way that is as close to the natural equivalent as possible of the original language, principally in terms of meaning and, secondarily, style (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 14). For many centuries prior to the 1940s, translation theory was simply concerned with exceptional artwork. That is period when the science of translation made the initial move towards establishing itself as a unique discipline that involved radical shifts in classification and approach. Ideally, translation abandoned the word versus sense approach that had previously dominated the translation theory. In the modern world, translation may comprehensively be categorised into intra-lingual, inter-lingual and inter-semiotic translation. A translation brief, which may be defined as an instruction set that goes hand-in-hand with a translation request, generally gives a description of how the final translated product will be used (Palumbo 2009, p. 42). For the translators, information on the context in which the product is to be availed to the receptor will be obtained from translation briefs. Translation studies, therefore, are part of an academic inter-discipline that is concerned with the systematic examination of hypothesis, explanation and relevance of translating, deducing and localisation of information. Translation studies teach that translation briefs should be prepared before translations are commissioned, which is a way of encouraging analytic thoughts. Translation theories may range from culture to ethics, but they bear significance and the purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of translation brief in relation to translation theories and also show that they impact decisions in translation. Translation briefs help translators to produce better qualities of translations because they elucidate misconceptions that may occur when texts are analyzed at the word level. They also describe the way segments of the source text are intended to be used. The significance of this notion arises from the fact that even the best trained translators may face challenges if they do not understand the circumstances under which the source text is used hence fail to recreate the intended message. Therefore, the translation brief enables the requestor, and by extension the writers of original material be aware of the key language, vocabulary or content graphics and also convention issues requiring to be replaced. From this, the significance of translation briefs is that they provide instructions on how to prioritise the way content will be recomposed and restructured, and more importantly, providing a platform to resolve language and cultural differences. They allow requestors to be part of making decisions on how the differences will be addressed and also take effective roles in the direction and management of translation projects. It is through translation briefs that requestors are able to carry out analytic evaluations of the suitability of the original language for the intended target audience. The underlying significance of a translation brief is that is a matter-of-fact tool that aids the task of improving translations (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 12). The most practical way to discuss the significance of a translation brief would be in the context of its contents. The most important contents include the intended functions of the text; the expected audiences of the target text; the prospective place and time of which the target text will be delivered; the medium through which the target text is expected to be transmitted; and the motive behind the reception or production of the text to be translated (Nord 2007, p. 60). Translation briefs are significant mainly because it cannot be assumed that any source text explicitly or implicitly includes all the necessary instructions on how it needs to be translated (Pym 2008, p. 2). This is further compounded by the fact that the intention of the target or resultant text can be deduced from the situation of the translation or, viewed from another perspective, the previous routine or experience of the translator. From this understanding, it follows, therefore, that every unique task of translation needs to be accompanied by a translation brief that will explicitly define and describe the conditions under which the resultant text must execute its specific function. It is from the translation brief that translators will be able to determine the communicative situation, which entails the communicators as well as their communicative objectives (Palumbo 2009, p. 44). Translation briefs will also enable them to determine both non verbal and verbal attributes of the text. This significance can also be viewed from the angle of the steps involved in designing a functional translation brief (Pym 2008, p. 11). Gathering information on the function, general objective and end purpose of the source text will usually be entailed in the first step. Hence, another significance that can be drawn from this is that translators will be able to cater for situational factors which may include time and place differences, the purpose and motive of the communication. The second step may be concerned with the evaluation of the source text’s quality, which will serve the purpose of reassuring that it qualifies for translation. Here, the significance of the translation brief is founded on the ability to differentiate the source text and target text with respect to culture-bound acquaintance. Another step in the preparation of a translation brief will involve the comparison of applicable features of the source as well as target context. Through this, the translators may deduce the susceptibility or experience of their respective audiences (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 28). In that sense, the translation brief will enable the translator to summarise special and specific requirements of both the target text and audience. When considering a practical translation project, it can be noted that the translation brief does not only relate to the target text but also the presumed audiences (Nord 2007, p. 71). This can be explained via an example that will consider the production of translated material intended to be useful to patients of limited proficiency in English. In such a scenario, it is required of the developer of the translation brief to have an exhaustive comprehension of the environment in which the target text will be used (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 32). Further, they are also required to understand the culture of the industry that is engrained in the manner in which health information is transmitted. In this sense, the translators will not only be required to put into consideration the grammar rules, but also idioms and writing conventions of ways of expression as is applicable to every unique language. This is all done while the intended meaning in the source text is recreated through the design of the translation script. Apparently, the availability of healthcare materials in languages comprehensible to patients is not only a legal requirement, but also a critical step towards ensuring the safety and quality of healthcare given to patients (Pym 2008, p. 9). Therefore, besides the skills of the translator, the quality of the translation is also determined by requestor and the eventual translation brief that is developed. Ideally, what this means is that the requestor is also expected to take part in improving the translation by also learning to develop translation briefs hence, another significant purpose of translation briefs. It enables the requestor to pass information regarding the source text and the specific context and communicative purpose in which it is intended to be used. The translation brief will also communicate the purpose of the intended translation and its targeted accomplishments (Pym 2008, p. 7). Another significance of translation briefs in relation to translation theories may be realised when they are viewed as tools that specify the assumptions set in the source text and check the feasibility of the entire translation project (Nord 2007, p. 69). It is common knowledge that different languages have unique sets of demonstrative, auditory and visual communication symbols that express underlying beliefs, values and cultural practices. Looking at this notion from the perspective of authorship, authorship is universally assumed to represent originality. In that sense, translation is merely derivative and not unique or self-expressive. This means it is simply an imitation of other texts. In fact, one of the motivating factors towards the development of intellectual property regulations was the belief that translating original material will provoke the fear of contamination, authenticity and distortion. However, it can generally be accepted that translation briefs formulated by the authors of the original texts as to what they are expected to achieve and the intended audience, time and place is the surest way to avert such fears (Pym 2008, p.52). The translation briefs will provide the translators with information about the targeted audiences, which will, most importantly, include their culture and language. Since the original author is already assumed to have had such knowledge prior to writing the material, their translation briefs will convey the purpose of the source text as well as the intended use of the translation. The translators will then take into account aspects such as the expressions that pertain to specific languages and aim to retain the intended content of the source text or material. With the aid of translation briefs from the original authors, translators will be able to come up with native-quality translations that seem like they were produced originally in the language of the targeted audience (Pym 2008, p.100). With reference once again to the healthcare sector, it cannot be denied that the demand for and need of health information is growing exponentially. As consumers continue to be active participants in their health care, translation briefs act as the facilitators of the decisions made by translators, ultimately improving the products of translation and the quality of communication (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 82). The healthcare sector, unlike their business counterparts that use translations simply as a means to get into new markets, is guided by strict legal directives to translate every essential healthcare material. Information, whether written or otherwise, in a certain language, is a valuable tool of communication when it comes to the reinforcement or teaching of messages passed as part of care visits or stays in hospitals. This is in terms of clarifying the options and benefits available or even just promoting general education in healthcare. However, such information only serves its purpose when the patients are able to not only read or hear it, but also usefully understand it. Here, the key significance of translation briefs is that they inform the objective of creating the corresponding target language structures of the existing information. Further, the translation briefs will create a balance between communication and compliance, reducing the risk and possibility of losing the intended meaning of communication as is the case with most literal translations. The objective of translation briefs in such scenarios is to enable the translators communicate the replica of the content of the source text, or, if not possible, the most practical natural equivalent. It is acknowledged that it may not be possible to create verbatim replica of the source text, hence the requestors of translations are charged with the responsibility of formulating translation briefs that will aid understanding by the target audience (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 89). The significance of translation briefs can also be viewed in terms of translator training. Traditionally, teaching translation focused on the elements of the source language and the way they are transferred into the elements of the target language. This was word by word, phrase by phrase and sentence by sentence. Presently, conventional methods of training translators pay more attention to the obtaining of pragmatic, semantic, syntactical and lexical equivalence. Basically, this is a functional approach that has led to the formulating of draft translations which, essentially, are translation briefs. It is the translation briefs that are later polished stylistically until they are considered acceptable in terms of the communicative circumstances they are meant for. This approach is especially effective when it comes to translating into minor languages, where the translation brief is significant because it guides translators on the required translation without necessarily dictating how they should do their job (Nord 2007, p. 88). The significance of translation briefs is also especially noted in translations that involve minor languages mainly because the levels of standardising terminologies in the languages is poor. Hence, the translation brief must necessarily contain particular instructions on how specific issues of terminologies will be addressed, again, without dictating how the job should be done. In fact, that will save the translator and the commissioner time. The terminology issues, which include choice, documentation and management, will be prioritised in the translation brief. Since translation is actually a decisional process, the translators are taught to make choices by drawing project plans that foresee relationships between the source text and the translation (Pym 2008, p.76). These project plans are the translation briefs that actually portray project translations as processes of solving problems and prepare the translators to solve them as effectively as possible. It may appear to be a rather obvious concept that the significance of translation is to replace each word from one language with a comparable from another. However, it is also an obvious misconception because the real purpose of translation is a process that entails the assessment of the original material’s communicative purpose (Pym 2008, p.91). It also entails whether the resultant translated version is able to achieve the originally intended purpose by the original language. All these purposes of translation are defined in a translation brief. In considering the targeted audience, a translation brief will inform the translator whether there are differences between audiences of the original language and audiences of the target language to be addressed. These differences between the audiences are addressed by comparison of situation factors usually associated with source texts and ways in which they could possibly impact on the new and original audiences. Therefore, translation briefs will enable translators to review the source texts for the way differences between the different audiences may influence decisions regarding translations. Translation briefs also help translators to analyse source texts and their characteristics, such as syntactic, organisational and structural, and the way they can help the original audience understand the contents (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 103). Then, the same principles may be applied, although in a tailored manner, to suit the translated text and how it will help the new audiences understand the contents. This can be looked at from another angle: are the types of text and characteristics of the source document compatible with the way the new audiences anticipate to receive the content? Hence, the translation brief will guide the translator to enable the new audiences to relate the product of the translation to their knowledge and experiences of the world. To be effective, this must be done without paying attention to the degree of linguistic competency. Hence, the translation brief also serves the purpose of making comprehension successful by enabling the translator to match the new audiences’ perception to that envisioned by the original author of the material (Moira & Maier 2011, p. 102). It is not always immediately evident what the communicative intentions and the context in which materials are to be used are simple from reviewing the materials. For this purpose, the type of information that a translation brief contains remain critical to making decisions on translations. From a translation brief, it can be determined whether material actually needs to be translated at all or develop it from scratch (Nord 2007, p. 87). Therefore, the translator will know from the translation brief whether or not translation will be feasible and also whether it will be possible to preserve the purpose of the material after translation. Translation briefs will also bring into view whether the given material’s purpose requires to be defined afresh. Translators around the world work under difficult requirements of remaining faithful to the original material. However, it is also evident that many translation errors result from the very attempt to remain faithful to the original material. Translation briefs will draw the picture of what the translators must remain faithful to and what they may use their cultural understanding to customise as per the new audiences (Pym 2008, p.60). Therefore, the need and value of translation briefs grows through time as requestors acknowledge and appreciate the way culture and language are embedded in material and develop competencies source material analysis. When translations are commissioned and requestors work with translators in understanding linguistic tradeoffs, it is the translation brief that will hold their project, as well as themselves, together. When considering translation, the purpose is just as important as the message the material carries (Nord 2007, p. 90). Viewed from a business perspective, for example, one may have sales brochures that need to be translated and used in an international trade fair. The requestor of the translation will need to provide certain information to the translator to enable them reproduce the message in a way that is not only comprehensible by the target audience, but also acceptable and meets cultural and regulatory requirements. For the translator to interpret what the requestor needs and relay the same message to a different audience and different language, the translation brief will play an invaluable role (Pym 2008, p.61). It is only through the translation brief that the translator will be able to make decisions that will influence the way the translated product will be fluent not only in terms of grammar but also culture. By first understanding the requirements are elucidated by the translation brief, the translator will be able to make decisions on the kind of advice to seek, be it legal or cultural, about the targeted audience. Conclusion It may therefore be concluded that translation briefs are indeed significant and impact on decisions made during translating. It not only involves converting information from one language into another. It is a process that needs the translated product to be understood by the intended target as well as be useful to them. In the information age, the way material is translated will determine whether the product is useful to the target or not. Through translation briefs, translators will be able to make the necessary and appropriate decisions that will eventually determine the usefulness of their products. It also through the translation briefs that they will be able to meet cultural and legal requirements. References Moira, I & Maier, C 2011, Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies, Routledge, London. Nord, C 2007, Translating as a purposeful activity: functionalist approaches explained, St Jerome, Manchester. Palumbo, G 2009, Key terms in translation studies, Continuum, London. Pym, A 2008, Exploring translation theories, Routledge, New York. Read More