The Translation of the Advertisement - Essay Example

? Translation in advertisements The world today is composed of different people who speak differentlanguages and who have embraced different cultures. Different people that speak different languages have also embraced different living standards and different customs all in all. Thus, that which is applicable or acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another. It is here that the query of advertisements comes in. Most advertisements have been generalized in nature, with most of them being given in just one single language and not considering the meaning when translated. Though advertisements do not take into consideration this matter, it indeed affects their effectiveness because; it determines how useful the advertisement will be, in terms of the number of people who understood it and the number of people who found it useful. Taking for example an advertisement given in Arabic; it is only persons who understand Arabic that will understand the advertisement. And thus, the market that it will create will be limited to Arabs only. Thus, with advertisers always targeting a wide market area, they will try to translate the advertisements into as many different languages as possible. The translation of the advertisement will always distort the intended message, with different cultures getting a different meaning of it all depending on the language that they use. Some advertisements may even become ambiguous when translated due to losing all their meaning. Sofer (2006, p. 100) states that in translation of advertisements one has to go beyond straight translation of text because he or she will be targeting a completely different audience, therefore, has to take into consideration issues such as political, cultural, and even religious issues. Other scholars also argue that translation is not just putting words in different languages but also involves finding the manner in which to put the words. This is because; what is morally upright in one language may become completely immoral when translated into another language. Hence, there are different subjects in regard of translation of advertisements which should be taken into account when placing out advertisements to the public. Culture The term culture has been defined differently by different scholars though all of the definitions revolve around beliefs, moral values, customs and practices, language factor, religion and ethnicity. Different cultures also can also be identified by the difference in the foods eaten. Some foods are also prohibited or even considered to be unclean by some cultural communities. Therefore, advertisements have to take such issues into consideration before going public. Taking for example and advertisement for pork would be fine according to the English men. But once translated to Arabic, it would be against their cultural and religious values since according to their culture, pork is unclean and not worthy to be eaten. Advertisements would thus, consider it wise to use general words which once translated would be acceptable to both English and Arabic cultures if they want to build a market in both areas. Taking another example of an advertisement about fast foods; we see that while French-fries and burgers will be considered to be fast-foods by English men, in the Arabic world a kind of food called ‘falafel’ is their fast-food. Thus, with such an ad might just not make any sense in the Arabic market if it still uses fries as fast-foods. The moral values of a culture should also be considered when placing advertisements; an issue that has been taken for granted by many advertisers. Some words like homosexuality may be general and normal when used in English advertisements. When such are however translated to other languages, they may lose meaning and imply something immoral. This mainly occurs due to non-equivalence which implies that the target language does not have a direct equivalent for a word in the source text (Baker, 1992, p. 20). Taking for instance, in Arabic, a translation of homosexuality would be ‘shithuth jinsi’ which literally means ‘sexual perversion’ (Baker, 1992, 24). Essentially, using such a word in an advertisement would not be approved in the Arabic culture. Yet, this of course was not the meaning intended by the source advertisement. Thus, advertisements should consider using words which are ethical irrespective whether in the source language or whether translated to another language. Other scholars discussing about the effect of translations to advertisements indicate that translation is not all about the language but can also be viewed from the aspect of the non-verbal meaning that an individual obtains from a translation (Steiner & Yallop, 2001, p. 285). The effect that an advertisement would have to the receiving market through the non-verbal message that is has communicated is very important and should be considered when placing ads. This brings us to the idea of images in an advertisement. Taking the example of advertisements with women models; in Arabic, women should be fully clothed and thus advertisements containing images of women with some parts of their bodies not clothed would be translated as unethical and immoral. Though, such advertisements may not have a bad implication in the English culture, advertisers should however have in mind that their translation to other languages may not be right (Baker, 2008, p. 10). Therefore, it would be better to use advertisements which when translated, do not give bad implications. Communication effect The importance of translation in advertisements can also be argued from the point of view of communication. Indeed, there are grave differences in the communication of different cultures in the world, thus bringing the idea of high and low context cultural communication. In high context communication, speakers tend to utilize relative indirect style of communication. In low context communication however, speakers often use more or less direct communication style. Consequently, this brings the overlap of individualism-collectivism. These refer to pertinent dimensions of cultural differences which can be employed in explaining commonalities and differences between cultural communications. Individualistic dimension is whereby the goals of the individuals matter more than those of the group. On the other hand, in collectivistic dimensions, the interests of the groups override those of individuals (Hall & Hall, 1990, p.10). Scholars further provide that individualistic groups have the tendency of giving considerations to the context as well as situations, as a way of accounting for events. Therefore, collectivistic societies often insist on individual-based information to interpret the communication of other parties. Individualistic societies on the other hand, insist on using information that does not only rate precise, but is also clear. Examples of individualistic cultures include the English Communities, the United States of America, Australia, Italy and New Zealand. The Arabic community on the other hand, is taken to fall under the collectivistic societies (Hall & Hall, 1990, p. 6). Study shows that in Arab nations, individuals care for each other and can even risk their lives for each other. Collectivist societies are also described as being more concerned with minimizing the chances of hurting other parties. Members who are not corresponding to the group may be considered out of the group since the societies have very strict laws and regulations concerning their cultures. They also value conformity and traditions. And it is for this reason that they prefer high context communication. This mode of communication is favorable to them because it is ambiguous and only dependent on the context. The societies also prefer direct communication without long and unnecessary procedures. They also have a tendency of withholding information, which is a feature that originates from their cultural laws and customs. It is these factors that advertisements have been closing eyes to when they should actually be taken into consideration since they will affect the translation of an advertisement from one society to another. Take for example an advertisement in English language; it will tend to consider the advertiser more than the whole community. Thus, it will be more individualistic than collectivistic. The Arabic culture however, will not be pleased with the advertisement since it leans more to the collectivistic culture. Once translated, the advertisement is also more likely to remain individualistic than to gain a collectivistic nature. Hence, the effect on the intended market might just be poor. The advertisement might also break the moral values and traditions of the Arab community, which would be a very serious violation in their community. Therefore, with different cultures using different ways of communication, the mode of communication used by an advertisement will be of great importance in determining the effect of the advertisement to the targeted market. The final translation may just be totally different from that of the source thus probably giving a different meaning in the end. Politically The world has become a diverse place and different cultures have embraced different political values, standards and rules. Different languages have a different way of conducting politics and thus they will also differ when translated from one language to another. Therefore, an advertisement that touches on politics may have grave impacts if while targeting a specific market it ends up being directly translated by into other languages. Take for example an advertisement used to encourage purchase of a riffle by a normal citizen. The English language used may be clear that only purchase of the riffle for personal security has been encouraged. But once translated to another language like the Arabic, the advertisement might just appear to encourage war or political clashes. Therefore, an advertisement should take heed to ensure that it maintains equality and more so political equity. Effect from differences in religion Most intercultural research studies have often focused on understanding cultural differences in order to minimize cultural conflicts while promoting peace. The same should however be encouraged in advertisements in the business field too. The religion of today is diverse, dynamic and complicated, with different communities having their own views and beliefs. Taking for example, the Arabs are mainly in the Muslim religion while the English communities will mainly be composed of Christians. English advertisements mentioning the name Jesus will therefore have to change and use words like Mohammed if they are to also target the Arab Market. This will indeed be of importance in order to ensure that the advertisement respects both religions and that it makes sense to both communities. Non-verbal translations may also affect the image of the advertiser if not taken into consideration or if taken for granted. Taking for example, images of a cross in an advertisement; this may only make sense to Christians. But to the Arab communities it will be a vague and misplaced advertisement, targeting the wrong market. The translation of the advertisement on the other hand, will not have an equivalent direct word to represent it in the Arabic language. The advertisement might hence just lose meaning completely. The Arab community could take such as advertisement as mockery to their religion. In addition, advertisements that seem to be going against the religious views of some communities will tend to be inappropriate and hence it is of great importance for the advertiser to see to it that the advertisement does not provoke any religion when translated to other languages. Advertisements that tend to promote products which are prohibited by a certain religion will also be translated as being inappropriate by the other religion (Baker, 2008, p. 6). In conclusion, advertisers should indeed take heed of the language that they use in their advertisements and how it will come out once translated. Taking for instance, the Arabic language is usually written flowing from the right to the left, unlike the English language which flows from the left to the right. Direct translation therefore might just lead to some ambiguous words being obtained (Baker, 2008, p. 7). The other factor which might lead to ambiguity is the problem of the target language lacking a super ordinate. This is whereby the targeted language has specific words but no general words (Baker, 1992, p.22). This problem could be entangled together with the problem of non-equivalence where there are no similar words in the target language matching those of the source language. Taking for instance; an ad about food given in English as ‘Chillie Chicken Available’, will be translated in Arab as ‘Available Chile Chicken’. Thus, out of the translation, the advertisement will have become ambiguous and will also have lost its meaning. Due to lack of a direct equivalent, it will hence tend to mean a chicken from Chile is available in the restaurant. Evidently, this is a totally different meaning from the one that was previously is intended. Therefore, advertisements should take into consideration the different languages of the targeted market so as to ensure that each targeted audience receives the right and correct message. References Baker, M. 1992, IN OTHER WORDS: COURSEBK CL/ BAKER. New York: Routledge. Baker, M. 2008, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. Hall, E. T., & Hall, M. R. 1990, Understanding Cultural Differences. U.S.A: Intercultural Press. Sofer, M. 2006, The Translator's Handbook. (6th ed.). U.S.A: Schreiber Pub. Steiner, E., & Yallop, C. 2001, Exploring Translation and Multilingual Text Production: Beyond Content. 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