THE TRANSLATOR’S ROLE IN THE 21st CENTURY THEORETICAL ISSUES

THE TRANSLATOR’S ROLE IN THE 21st CENTURY THEORETICAL ISSUES

The translator as an intercultural facilitator

The translator as a highly specialized professional

Translation tasks of a professional translator

Interpretation work of a translator

The translator’s role in a global culture

The translator as communication facilitator

Translation, as a young and recent discipline, has undergone considerable development, but our question relates to identifying what is the translator.

The translator is the one who can facilitate intercultural communication. Its role is not only to interpret words but also non verbal expressions, intentions and perceptions of a party before the other.

Therefore, the translator is a person who must have, apart from solid language knowledge, a high degree of cultural sensitivity that will allow him or her to adapt the meaning of words in the two cultures.

In our role as translator, we'll faced cultural and educational differences, different designations. But one shouldn’t think of a translator as a walking dictionary or a mirror. He must be seen as an inter-cultural mediator.

The interpreter can be considered a socio-cultural mediator possessing certain skills necessary in preparation for knowledge of languages (or dialects) and cultures. These skills are as follows:

• Have thorough knowledge of both languages
• Guarantee a certain neutrality and distance
• Notice if there is a certain lack of knowledge or a cultural difference between the two parties
• Have a pleasant voice
• Adapt the text according to the situation and listeners
• Be spontaneous

Other advantages of the interpreter are: control and management of emotions, memory quality, concentration capacity, experience.

The translation process comprises certain stages and elements in order to assure a higher quality and efficiency result:

• Initial analysis of the text
• Research of the source text from a terminology point of view and of the specialized field
• First version of translation
• Correcting the first version of the translation
• Stylistic revision and terminology of the translation
• Elaboration of the final version
• Correction of the final translation

Translations can be divided into several groups:

• The authorized translation- Is a written document, signed by a translator authorized by the Ministry of Justice, in which the translator attests that the translation of the document complies with the original.

• Notarized translation - Is used for documents of official or international use and consists in guaranteeing the legality of the document by a State body or institution empowered to do so.

• Apostille – Is a certificate or declaration, affixed to the translated document, by stamping or by attachment on a separate sheet.

As a professional translator-interpreter, we also need to talk about interpreting work. Interpretation is the oral rendering activity. Depending on the circumstances, the interpretation may be simultaneous or consecutive. There are three methods of simultaneous interpretation:

• Whispering – The interpreter whispers in the client's ear what is just being discussed
• Simultaneous headphone interpretation - The interpreter translates the speech that he hears through the headphones
• A paper-based interpretation – the interpreter reads the text written in the source language of the target language, without having known before this text.

Although the whole process of interpretation takes place within a short period of time, it is very demanding for the interpreter because it involves achieving as much as possible simultaneously the following steps:

• Full understanding of the original speech
• Transposing it into the target language
• Verbal presentation of the product.

Finally, the work of a translator-interpreter can be considered a special form of communication involving listening. This activity is based on the principle of personal development, carried out by those attracted by this profession, after certain theories and methods specific to the field.

How can we synthesize the role of translations into a global culture, as the current one wants? Beyond being able to know us through translations and translators, the translator should enjoy the possibility of respect another members of the different cultures of the world, for what they are and for what we could become. Keeping us open and sympathetic to the cultural-spiritual level of other traditions, Romanians should not lose sight of the essential coordinates of our becoming, our cultural-spiritual dimension which has given and can continue to give life to our lives

The translations have represented, over time, intercultural bridges of great importance to the whole world.The translation is at the crossroads of the study interests of linguistics, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and more recently traductology and it is becoming an outstanding science at the intellectual, theoretical, practical and cultural levels.The study of translation as an integrator phenomenon is relentlessly enriched by new research, progress and investigation.