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Worksheet ______________Procedimientos de Traduccin

A.- Name the translation procedure used:
English
version
Translation
Another
Version
Procedure
1 Silence of the
Lambs
El Silencio de Los
Inocentes
2 The Flinstones Los Picapiedras
3 Finding Nemo Buscando a Nemo
4 The Notebook Diario de una Pasin
5 Saving Private
Ryan
Rescatando al Soldado
Ryan
Star Wars La !uerra de Las
!ala"ias
# Aware $nestesia
% Meet The Fockers La &amilia de mi
Esposo
' The Sond of
Msic
La No(ia Re)elde
1* Scarface +ara +ortada
B Task: Getting Used to the Terms
Here are eight sentences, together with a possible translation. Which of the above techniques has been used in each
case? The parts of the sentences you should look at are underlined - naturally, translating a whole sentence may well
involve more than one of the above techniques. hint! there is one e"ample of each technique.
#. $i profesor es un cabr%n. - My teacher is a bastard.
&. His lack of e"perience is obvious. - Su falta de experiencia es evidente.
'. (eguidamente, aflo)aremos el tornillo ... - Next, loosen screw A...
*. The documents are sent to all departments. - Los documentos se envan a todos los departamentos.
+. ,-h, )efe, has llegado tarde,, di)% $arta. - ,Hey boss, youre late,! said Marta, in a deliberately over"familiar way.
.. /(ome 0ike it Hot/ - #on faldas y a lo loco
1. 2rueben nuestra deliciosa paella. - $ry our delicious paella.
3. 4our hard disk will be formatted. " Se dar% formato al disco duro.
What techniques can you spot in the parts of the sentences in bold?
C. Final Task: In Practice
5irst, go back to your translations from the preliminary task.
Which of the above techniques did you use in each case?
What would you improve now, having read the list of techniques above?
6ow give e"amples of some strategies you would use with the following te"ts 7we are looking for a discussion of
techniques here, not a translation8.
Text 1: English to Spanish
s we embark on the second electrical century, a ,triple power shock, of technological, economic and environmental
trends could potentially push the energy system further towards a more small-scale decentrali9ed model. (ome see
parallels with recent revolutions in the telecommunications industry, which has been transformed by new technology and
deregulation, and in the computer industry, which has been completely realigned by the rapid shift from mainframes to
personal computers. :n any event, these new ,micropower, technologies represent a dramatic departure from the status
quo. 7(. ;unn, $icropower! The 6e"t -lectrical -ra, Worldwatch :nstitute, Washington ;.<., &===.8
T>2:<! Two kinds of macro-strategies
2lease translate the following into (panish!
$he first word in this very sentence has three letters.
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We have looked at a handful of strategies that translators can use. ?ut can they help us in cases like this? :n fact, now
that we know we can do several possible things, how can we know which one of those things we should do in a specific
situation?
The simple answer to these questions is that you should select the translation strategy to fit the function your TT is to
have. ?ut it takes a lot of thought to get from the function to the actual strategies. nd the decision-making paths are
usually more intuitive than clear. 6evertheless, it may help to consider the following categori9ation of translation
functions, which comes from <hristiane 6ord 7#@@18!
Translations can be either documental or instrumentional in function. They are documental when they help the reader
understand the (T, which remains important and essential to the act of communication. >n the other hand, translations
are instrumental when they are focused only on creating a new te"t, the TT, which does not need the (T in order for the
act of communication to be successful.
This categori9ation makes sense in many cases. 5or e"ample, in 2reliminary # you might have put!
TT#! 0a primera palabra de esta misma frase tiene tres letras.
?ut this would not make much sense, since the first word of the (panish sentence has two letters 7la8, not three 7the8. :n
some way, TT# is not properly functional. >r better, it is only functional as a trivial lie.
What should we have put? TT&! 0a primera palabra de esta misma frase tiene dos letras.
6ow, this makes sense. nd it makes sense only in terms of the TTA it does not need the (T, and does not need to refer
to it. This we would call an archetypical instrumental translation.
What else could we have done? Why not the following?
TT'! 0a primera palabra de la frase en inglBs tiene tres letres.
Here the problem is solved by referring back to the (T, which thus becomes an essential part of the communication. We
have lost the fact of self-referentiality, but we have gained a certain degree of honesty. We would call this an
archetypical documental translation.
;ocumental translations are obviously called for in situations such as interlinear glosses, or where a legal te"t is to be
signed and the only valid version is the (T, or where the referent is something that the reader should know at first hand.
$any (T terms would then be retained in the translationA the e"amples and place-names would be left in the original
language as much as possible. We would e"pect to use a lot of borrowings, calques, and literalist techniques. The
translation might even sound strange, foreign, incorporating some of the synta" of the (T, to remind the reader that the
foreign te"t is a part of the communication. This would then be the kind of foreigni9ing 7verfremdende8 translation that
(chleiermacher saw as ,taking the reader to the author, as much as possible,.
:nstrumental translations would then be the rest. :nstead of e"plaining the source te"t and its conte"t, we would make
the TT fully functional in its own terms, with reference to its own conte"t. Here we would e"pect to find a lot of
modulation, reformulation and adaptation. The translation would tend to sound like any other target-language te"t in the
genre concerned. :ndeed, the reader is invited to forget that they are reading a translation. (chleiermacher called this
,domesticating, 7actually verdeutschende8 translation, designed to ,take the author to the reader, as much as possible,.
This ,as much as possible, is important. :n practice, most translation )obs require mi"es of documental and instrumental
functions, and thus varying balances of actual translation strategies.
Exercise 1
Translate the following te"t into -nglish for inclusion in a te"tbook on historical theories of metaphors. 4ou are not being
paid very much for this )ob, and you have the whole book to do. (tate whether your translation is documental or
instrumental.
Los si&nos son traspuestos cuando los ob'etos mismos (ue nosotros desi&namos mediante sus t)rminos
propios son usados para desi&nar otro ob'eto. *or e'emplo, decimos buey y entendemos, mediante estas dos
slabas, el animal (ue se suele llamar con este nombre.
7(aint ugustine, De Doctrina christiana, ::, C, #+A trans. (tefano rduini &===!138
Exercise
+n an ,n&lish"lan&ua&e -estern, the cavalry captain as.s the captured +ndian, !/o you spea. ,n&lish0!. What
will he say in the (panish-language version of the film? Will the TT be documental or instrumental?
Exercise !
+n the film 1utch #assidy and the Sundance 2id, the two ban."robbin& heroes leave the 3nited States and &o to
1olivia, to rob more ban.s. $he first thin& they do there is learn Spanish. What will they do in the (panish version
of the film? Will the TT be documental or instrumental?