Cultural and functional equivalence

TRANSLATION PROCEDURES

BY NEWMARK

Cultural equivalence

- Complete inequivalence- Cultural words (traditional); cultural aspects * We've seen it in Adaptation - Elements, traditions, food, names, places - Absolute equivalence (X) - This has more to do when working for big companies who can work with different targets - Total replacement of the cultural elements - The translator can give their proposal, but that decision can be accepted or not OR The company asks the translator to change completely the cultural elements

Cultural equivalence

We've mentioned before that cultural aspects shouldn't be changed with the transference procedure

- In Asia, for example, in China, Korea and Japan, they have expertise in the preparation of a drink known as Boba Tea. Cultural subtitution: En México, por ejemplo, en Puebla, CDMX y Veracruz, tienen experiencia para preparar una bebida que se llama 'atole'.

Transference vs. cultural equivalence

- We don't preserve the fidelity.- If we are working with a product that takes place in an environment with cultural background, we must keep the cultural references at all costs. - Because that's part of their culture; hence, it musn't be omitted. * We are taking this from a purist point of view What happens with products that are translated for international audiences? *We've only talk about translation in Mexico. What about other countries, cultures and people around the world?

Cultural equivalence

- Imagine the translation of a movie from its original source to... a lot of languages and cultures around the world. It's an overwhelming task. Proposal of cultural adaptation: Change cultural elements from one place that the target audience won't understand, since it's not part of their own culture. This is mostly seen in translation of audiovisual media, because they don't want to explain the cultural elements from other countries unknown to the audience or that they might consider offensive, which leads to censorship. (9/11) Usually literature is mostly unchanged, but it might happen.

Cultural equivalence

- Disney, Universal Studios, Paramount: a massive source of mediaAdvantage: all the titles are done in English Advantage: easier to adapt culturally Independent companies, Ghibli, anime industry: they aren't adapted culturally, with the exception of anime targeted to children and teenagers, especially if they'll be distributed globally

Cultural equivalence

Affection and greetings:

Cultural equivalence

Gestures:

Cultural equivalence

Posters:

Cultural equivalence

Problems and advantages

Problems:- Cultural adaptation losses fidelity if the cultural elements are main part of the product- Changes vary from minor to extreme - Censorship might affect the product - Since we replace cultural equivalences with ouw own, we must pay attention in the way we adapt - These changes are done in order to appeal to the audience, but we have to sacrifice many elements - There's people who prefer to watch the original source (piracy, fandubs, fansubs)

Problems and advantages

Advantages:- People will understand their own cultural references- We don't have to give explanations, in comparison to transference, because we are replacing - If done correctly, the product won't be affected - Since it appeals to the audience, they will enjoy even more that product - We can keep cultural elements from a culture and adapt others

Functional equivalence

- The translator not only has to find an equivalence, but also the most common or used- This can be applied to any translation - Depends on the topic, academic branch, context In translation, we can have many options, but we must choose the best one, according to the text we are translating. We need to analyze the text and all its elements in order to choose the correct option.

Functional equivalence

- The translator not only has to find an equivalence, but also the most common or used- This can be applied to any translation - Depends on the topic, academic branch, context In translation, we can have many options, but we must choose the best one, according to the text we are translating. We need to analyze the text and all its elements in order to choose the correct option.

Functional equivalence

- Children's story- Author: ------- - Type of media: Book - Genre: Fantasy - Purpose: Entertaining - Type of text: Narrative, literary - Place: USA - Target audience: Children from 3 to 5 years old - Register: informal * Childish language

Functional equivalence

Once upon a time, there were two kids, one girl and one boy, who lived in a magical forest. They had the company of rabbits, mice, a puppy and a little chubby bear. - Hace tiempo, habían dos niños, una niña y un niño, que vivían en un bosque mágico. Tenían la compañía de conejos, ratones, un perrito y un pequeño oso gordito. - Había una vez dos pequeñines, una niña y un niño, que vivían en un bosque encantado. Vivían acompañados de conejitos, ratoncitos, un cachorrito y un osito regordete.

Functional equivalence

- Invincible- Author: Robert Kirkman - Type of media: Comics, cartoon series - Genre: Fiction, fantasy - Purpose: Entertaining - Type of text: Narrative - Place: USA - Target audience: Adults - Register: informal, strong language, use of drugs and alcohol, sexual themes

Functional equivalence

Invincible was fighting against Omniman. Omniman is way too strong, beating the shit outta him. - Invencible estaba peleando contra Omniman. Omniman es muy fuerte y le estaba dando una paliza. - Invencible se enfrentaba a Omniman. Pero Ominam es tan fuerte que lo estaba haciendo mierda.

Functional equivalence

Legal document:

Functional equivalence

Letters: Dear Tom / Dir Sir or Madam / Greeting / Salutations / To Whom it Must Concern Estimado - Formal Querido - Informal / Love letters Saludos - Formal / Business A quien corresponda - Business Sr. Fulanito - Neutral

Problems and solutions

Problems:- If we don't have the context or if we don't analyze the text, we'll use words that are not common to use and give a neutral, but unused term- The text will feel flat in the case of media - If we use neutral terms in specialized translations (medical, technical, pharmaceutical, legal), they'll be written incorrectly and won't adjust to the topic - Headache (Dolor de cabeza) - Preferred term: Cefalea

Problems and solutions

Solutions:- Do your research: find out the context and analyze the text; use words that are common in our everyday use / don't rely too much in dictionaries, especially those that have very little meanings and explanations- In the case of media, make it feel natural (Naturalization) - Use especialized dictionaries, read articles, papers, we you can find terms used in differente branches (medical, technical, pharmaceutical, legal)

Descriptive equivalence

- The translator has to find an equivalence that, as the name implies, describe in a very concise way what we want to express- This can be applied to any translation - Depends on the topic, academic branch, context In translation, we often find words that are untranslatable, but we can fin opther words to express the same idea. This requires full research of the term, because there are cases where the translation is not fully available in a dictionary.

Descriptive equivalence

For the record: If you say that what you are going to say next is for the record, you mean that you are saying it publicly and officially and you want it to be written down and remembered. Para el récord X Para que conste lo que quiero decir / Para que lo sepan las nuevas generaciones / Quedará grabado en los libros de historia

Descriptive equivalence

In someone's absence: If something happens in someone's absence, they are not present when it happens. In Abbie's absence, we'll start with the meeting. En la ausencia de Abbie X Ya que Abbie no se encuentra presente / Ya que Abbie no asistió / Ya que Abbie no llegó, comenzaremos con la junta

Descriptive equivalence

This can also apply to cultural aspects: We greet by shaking hands / We greet by kissing each other's cheeks Sake / Soju is quite strong: Transference with explanation: Sake / Sojo, una bebida alcohólica hecha a base de arroz, es muy fuerte