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| From: Economy Politics |
“What, is he too stiff to bend a knee! Is he too proud to utter one suppliant word! Truly, I will conquer this silence; and if I cannot force a word from his mouth, I will, at least, extract a groan from his heart.”
- Montaigne, That Men By Various Ways Arrive at the Same End
Since antiquity, men have needed to communicate across cultures creating a need for interpreters and translators. In his essay Of Ancient Customs, Montainge said:
“I should willingly pardon our people for admitting no other pattern or rule of perfection than their own peculiar manners and customs, for ‘tis common vice, not of the vulgar only, but almost of all men, to walk in the beaten road their ancestors have trod before them.”
A question that arises in many translation jobs is, "how do I translate this?" There are many processes that can be used to translate any item based on the client's intended purpose and the target audience. One of the biggest debates in the industry today is when and how to maintain the source culture and language and when to adjust the target text to the specific target locale. This debate arises from a fear of eliminating the beauty and power of the original message or eliminating the understanding of the reader.
So what is more important, preserving the message or the culture?
As a medical interpreter, I have helped Spanish-speaking patients in several different medical situations ranging from ER visits to surgical procedures but what I did with every patient was help fill out a information sheet. Because the large majority of patients I helped had lived in the US for some time, they had become accustom to some English words and added a little Spanish flair. In their minds, the registration form (formulario) became "la forma" (the manner) and the application (solicitud) had become "la aplicación" (the rubbing on). At first, I adamantly stuck to using the "proper" Spanish words in my interpretation but after some time on the job and hours of explaining the "proper" way to speak Spanish to Mexicans, I decided to adjust my perfect interpretation to the end user. If I was to translate "registration form" as "forma" here at BYU, I might be excommunicated by my professor. Many theories on the process of translation based on audience and purpose have been published and are still debated today.
Great topic and interesting connection. Given that I don't know any other languages I would have never considered this issue within the work of translation. Your post is unique as it shows how civilization or one's culture has affected communication, instead of the other way around. The fact that many of the patients you have helped have prefered the "slang" translation rather than the proper translation mirrors the themes of social changes and humanism that we are focusing on right now during the Renaissance period.
ReplyDeleteLearning another language on my mission I learned that it takes learning not just memorizing words, but understanding a culture in order to effectively communicate. I think Ad Fontes applies in the understanding of others because the way people communicate in different languages comes from their history. Their past experiences have influenced why and how language is used.
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