noch mit den Interessen des eigenen Berufsstandes: Fachübersetzer,
die hier nicht umdenken, leisten einen ungewollten Beitrag zur För-
derung vollautomatischer Obersetzungssysteme. Der Übersetzer als
bikulturell ausgebildeter Fachtext-Experte hingegen hat gerade
LARS O. BERGLUND, Stuttgart
The Ethics of Ineffective Translation
Translation of promotional textsfor advanced industriell products is a delicate matter because ofthe economic significance of such texfs. After
reading a fair number ofsuch translations, the author hos concluded that many exporters are not aware ofthe Image they project abroad. He hos
attempted to analyze the client-translator relationship and suggests that more sophisticated editorial routines would be good ethics for the
translator and good businessfor his dient.
Most ethical problems that industrial translators come up against
stem from inadequacies in the source text. What does the translator
do when he discovers factual errors, inept reasoning, false conclu-
sions or unreadable style? Should he correct mistakes, straighten out
the logic, try to produce a more accessible text than the one he is
working from? In brief, is it part of his Job to edit the text äs he goes
along, on his own accord or after consultation with his client? Or
should he strive towards a faithful reproduction, warts and all, ofthe
text he was given to translate? After all, no one can blame him for
being true to the text, but if he tries to improve it he can be be
accused of violating the source text or assuming an authority he
wasn't given. And even the most diplomatic attempt to point out to
the client that he cannot write properly will cause irritation or even a
suspicion that the translator doesn't know his Job. So what should he
do?
These questions, which so often bedevii the lives of conscientious
translators, will not be addressed here. I brought them up to make
quite clear what I am not talking about.
For there is another kind of ethical issue, less tiresome but more
interesting. It concerns Originals that are perfectly adequate, clearly
understandable, even well written. What does the translator do
when he feels that a too-faithful translation would probably fall flat
when presented to an audience abroad? This is a serious problem
with texts intended to promote a client's products overseas, espe-
cially when the client does not understand the difficulties involved
and only wants a fair translation. But what, in this case, is a "fair
translation"?
There are situations where the only fair translation is a complete
rewrite. But after reading a few hundred promotional publications in
English, put out by West German exporters, it is easy to get the
impression that many translators working in this country take a differ-
ent view. In this article we shall take a look at the ethics of advertis-
ing translation with special reference to promotional literature trans-
lated from German into English. Our departure point, then, must be
what I see äs shortcomings in many of these publications.
Very roughly, these shortcomings can be sorted into two main
types. Type l is language gone wild:
The drying is effected lucratively by waste gas of any heat generators and even by direct
heating it is still paying.!
Our quality inspectors are not only called alike, but they are also able to fulfül their tasks.
Fill the detergent Container up with the endowed bottle of detergent.
They are able to produce daily products with big surfaces.
Taking off the dirt will be sucted by the machine.
Equipment decomposable to meet difficult transporting problems.
A very eniarged test certificate is produced.
The XX Technique is idcally suited for Installation in switching rooms of all nature.
In addition for all our friends in the BRD our sales-agencies äs printed aside will be of your
assistance. In case you received this printed matter from one of our agents, you will find his
address in the upper part of this side.
This sort of thing, distressingly common, is not going to be the main
subject of these observations. It does not concern us much, since it
cannot have been produced by people professionally engaged in
writing or translation. Some manager thought he could save some
money by asking a secretary or engineer to sit down with a diction-
ary. This is unfair treatment of employees whose talents are in an
entirely different field, and it reflects the low esteem in which the
technical translator's Job is often held.2
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durch die ständig zunehmende internationale Verflechtung und
durch die neuen Kommunikationstechnologien eine bessere Zukunft
als je zuvor.
Since writing like this can pass whatever editorial checks these
managers perform and then turn up in quite pretentious publica-
tions, we cannot assume that the exporters are aware of the impres-
sion they make on their intended audience. They are oblivious of the
stark contrast when this kind of English is dressed up äs flashy and
expensive promotion. They don't realize that the prospective cus-
tomer who gets beyond the first few sentences of the introduction is
not likely to read on because he is interested in the subject, but
simply because he sees the publication äs a source of grim entertain-
ment. The irony in this is put in a picturesque perspective when you
consider the cost of adequate translation of a thousand-or-so words
.äs a proportion of the production costs of an eight-page colour
brochure.
But äs far äs Professional translators are concerned, Type l is of
interest only äs an indication of a potential market. Each in his own
shop may decide how this market might be reached, but whatever
moral problems this involves will not be discussed here.
No, the shortcomings of interest to us are more subtle. They con-
stitute another kind of deficient writing, which I shall call Type 2. In
one sense this is adequate English, since you cannot always put your
finger on a mistaken word or grammatical flaw. It is definitely not
nonsense of the kind just quoted. And yet, every other sentence has
a peculiar flavour that reveals that the text was not produced in a
country where the leading language is English:
Consultation and discussipn with you, our customer, is for us and our agents the basis of a
good cooperation. Intensive internal training is indispensable for this objective. The train-
ing of your personnel is included with every System supplied.
We want our machines to keep up with the development of the latest technology.
The wish is often expressed for the intentional removal of all harmonic currents.
By means of the knurled nuts you can now achieve the fine adjustment of the drill.
Whereas until now product testing has been the concern pf research, development and
testing Institutes, pf materials testing authorities and classification bodies, now rational
costing considerations and the scope of products requiring testing — perhaps marketing
strategy and security aspects too - necessitate the transfer of test facilities to within one's
own Company.
The last sample has undoubtedly been correctly translated. In a
formal sense it is acceptable English, and anybody with the grit to
hang on all the way will understand what the original writer wanted
to say. So the translator didn't do a bad Job - or did he?
The trouble is that no British or American Company is likely to
promote test equipment in this way. They might have written:
Product testing has traditionaüy been carried out by research, development and testing
Institutes, materials testing authorities and classification bodies. But today, cost considera-
tions and the very variely of products to be tested force manufacturers to set up test
facilities of their own, especiaüy since marketing strategies and security aspects also seem to
make this a good idea.
Or they might have written something quite different, but that's not
the point here. The point is that the first kind of translation, even if
literally correct, is inadequate since it puts the German manufac-
turer at a disadvantage against his overseas competition. The ethical
issue arises from the fact that he may not be aware of his disadvan-
tage. This will be discussed later. One more example:
The eariy readiness to develop technologies of their own, and the wülfulness to find new
methods of resolving problems in a way suitable for plastic matcrials, are the background
for the high degree of technological advancement achieved äs of to-date.
This sentence is confusing at first glance, but a reader who knows
German can often reconstruct the original text behind a Type-2
translation word by word. He will then get the message and can
recast it into a version of his own:
The pioneering efforts in proccsses specific to plastics and the constant striving to break
new ground in plastics technology arc the basis of the currcnt degree of sophistication.
A rewrite? Maybe so, but also a fair translation in the sense that we
havc substituted an English style convention for a German one.
There may be situations where the customer deserves a rewrite,
since he would undoubtedly ask for a rewrite if he only knew where a
word-by-word translation would take him. But I am rushing into
things. It is impossible to discuss the ethics of ineffective translation
without making clear what I mean by ineffective translation. So let's
take a closer look. Here are a few key characteristics of Type 2.
1. Awkward sentence structure
Convoluted reasoning leading up to a main arguraent towards the
end of the sentence is alien to modern English. But it remains Stan-
dard practice in German", and German writers even seem to enjoy
structuring their thoughts in intricate sentence patterns. These can
often be transferred to correct English with only minor adjustments,
but at the cost of a turgid, ineffective style.
2. Long sentences
Modern English factual prose tends to have shorter sentences than
German. In the United States, journalists and technical writers are
taught to apply the rule "one idea — one sentence" wherever pos-
sible. So they are inclined to break up a line of reasoning into several
sentences, one for e'ach logical element. And their readers are used
to this kind of presentation. But German writers often seem to strive
in the other direction. Many of them are probably happiest when
they can present a complete, closed-off argument in a single sen-
tence.
These tachogenerators do not have any carbon brushes and are thus operational almost
without maintenance and are free of malfunctions.
At least to an American reader, this kind of sentence fells vaguely
"foreign". This is because a U.S.-trained writer would probably have
said it like this:
These tachogenerators have no carbon brushes. So they need almost no maintenance and
do not break down.
Long sentences can also result from bloated translation: words that
take up space without bringing the argument forward:
The avaüability of know-how acquired in the course of years with regard to material
adjustments, construction of parts and tool design are offered äs a Service by XX AG.
Apart from the fact that the verb should have been in the Singular,
there is nothing wrong with this sentence. But it is quite improbable
äs a piece of English original writing. XX AG would have been more
effectively promoted if the translator had been less conscientious
and used half the space to say that the Company had years of experi-
ence to make available to the customer.
Another type of bloated sentence is the one in which, true to
German practice, the verb that expresses the action has been con-
verted to a noun. An extraneous verb must then be brought in to
prop up this noun, and we get:
In the event of failure of one Computer, an automatic changeover to the second Computer is
effected.
This is only a disguised way of saying:
If one Computer falls, the second one automatically takes over.
Bloated sentences are tiring for the reader. To find out what is going
on, he must absorb more syllables than necessary and mentally
reconvert the monster nouns back into action verbs.
3. Scarcity of idiomatic expressions
Idioms are the most valuable tool available to a translator who wants
to give his texts a genuine character. It may also be the point were
we slip up most often. Only an alert and fully relaxed translator will
notice that he does not have to translate literally to the righimost
bottom position, since the going everyday expression is all the way to
the right. And the one who wrote we are doing everything possible to
make sure that this Situation continues lost a great opportunity when ·
he didn't notice that he could have written we are doing all we can to
stay that way.
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A complete lack of idioms is a sure giveaway that a text is a transla-
tion rather than an original piece of writing. This is specially true of
English, since the character of the language relies so heavily on
idioms, rather than a strict and complicated grammatical structure.
4. Vague terminology
This is a Standard trick of the trade. The translator is not certain if,
for instance, Laufwagen could be called carriage or runner in some
particular branch of technology. So he shops around for a neutral,
harmless cover-all: travelling device, and nobody can prove him
wrong. Omnibus expressions like device and facility are far more
common in Type-2 translations than in original technical writing.
Since no translator can be fully familiär with the terminological
niceties of all fields of engineering, this is an escape hatch we all have
to use when promised delivery dates are ciosing in and no specialists
can be reached on the phone. So it is difficult to moralize aboüt it. If
the customer is in a riish the odd ambiguity might serve him better
than a late delivefy. Still, he is going to look undeservedly unprofes-
sional overseas if the translation of his terminologically precise text
is riddled with mushy generalities.
5. Polysyllabilism
One of the properties that make English such a versatile language is
the opportunity of choice between a brief Anglo-Saxon verb - stört,
go, dig up, pull out, kill off - and a mpre pretentious Latin one
saying the same thing ~ commence, proceed, excavate, extract, exter-
minate. When a text should have some sort of impact with the least
possible effort on the reader's part, äs all promotional writing, it is
unwise to force him to wade through a löt of unwieldy Latin syl-
lables. The Anglo-Saxon words offer directness and ecpnomy of
style. It is a waste of resources not to use them..
In technical descriptions we cannot do without long words, since
much technical terminology is polysyilabic. So there is ä special
reason to use the relief offered by the Anglo-Saxpn words whenever
there is an opportunity: stop, stir, shift rather than discontinue, agi-
tate, alternate.
Polysyllabilism is not a disease specific to Type-2 translation. In
fact it seems endemic in texts produced by civil servants and
engineers, and everybpdy who lectures on factual English writing
will invariably spend some time preaching against it.3
This is not to suggest that the longer alternatives are useless and
must be avoided at all costs. A civil servant who headlined a piece of
official writing Ordinance on Killing Off Vermin could quite pfop^
erly be upbraided for bringing in a touch of informality in a context
where it didn't belong. The choice between Latin and Anglo-Saxon
is essentially a choice of level, and this brings us back to the main
theme. Type-2 translations include advertising texts written äs if they
were official proclamations.
These five points do not add up to a complete- catalogue of the
shortcomings of Type^Z translation. But it is not my purpose to
provide such a catalogue. I just had to give a few pointers to make
clear what we are talking about, and readers might find it interesting
to fill out the list with suggestions of their own.
As far äs the translator's client is concerned, a Type-2 translation
can be very difficult to identify, since its inadequacies are so subtle.
He may send the text for "checking" and get it back with a clean bill
of health, if the checker focussed bis/her attention on substance
iräther than idipm. So Type 2 slips through. It even slipped into a
textbook by Wolfram Wilss used in translation schools.4 We have the
source test:
Welche Karosseriefarbe gewählt wird, ist heute nicht mehr nur vom persönlichen Ge-
schmack abhängig. . . . Rechtzeitiges Erkennen des eigenen. Wagens durch andere
Verkehrsteilnehmer ist bei den heutigen Verkehrsverhältnissen ein wichtiger Sicherheits-
faktor.
And the English translation, apparently accepted by Wilss, was like
this:
The choice of colour of one's car is these days no longer decided upon by personal taste
alone.. . .That one's own car is ünmediately recognizabie by others is an important safety
factor, äs far äs today's traffic conditions are concerned; $
This is a clear case of Type 2. In the first sentence, the translator has
not taken leave of the source language sentence structure. And the
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second sentence suffers from the fact that English does not happily
accept a taaf-clause äs the subject of a sentence. This might be taken
care of like this:
Today« personal taste is not the only factor that dctcrmincs the choice of car colour
The fact that your car is immediately recognized by other road users is an important safcty
factor in present-day traffic conditions.
But if the translator wants to be more readable, there is no ethical
rule that prevents him from doing a complete rewrite:
. . . In modern traffic, it is essential to safety that other road users can see your car before it
is too late.
Niceties like these can be ignored in manuals and extensive technical
reports. But they are highly significant in promotional texts, since
the translator is indirectly manipulating his client's earnings.5
Style conventions
At this point, the reader may object that all the points mentioned äs
characteristic of Type 2 are style criteria, and style is always debat-
able. True, but every language has specific, extragrammatical style
conventions, which can be objectively described. In practice, these
conventions show up äs habits of expression among writers who use
the language effectively. We are now ready for a general definition
of the kind of translation I have labelled Type 2:
It is a translation where the Statements in the source language
have been transferred to the target language in a way that may be
formally acceptable, but with insufficient attention to the fact that
for the particular kind of writing concerned - here promotional writ-
ing for technical products - other style conventions normally apply in
the target language.
This definition makes clear why Type 2 is ineffective translation.
The text may be factually correct and grammatically flawless. It
brings the message across, but with poorer readability than the
source text, since it has a structure that the reader is not used to. He
is rubbed the wrong way; unless professionally active in documenta-
tion he may not realize how, but he has an uneasy feeling that the
text is somehow "off", and this will influence his opinion of what the
text describes. So the translation has less irapact and less persuasive
power than the source text.
Proper attention to style conventions does not reduce translation
to an excercise of objective formulas. Writing is still a highly per-
sonal affair, and especially promotional writing remains susceptible
to endless discussions on what is efficient advertising, and what is
not. But some style conventions can be laid down äs rules, since a
text in which they are violated will inescapably be less efficient,
whatever its purpose and intended audience. This has been amply
demonstrated by readability studies,6 and if it were not the case,
efforts to train technical writers and copywriters would be meaning-
less. Every language has objectively valid readability criteria.
Theethics
The ethical issue arises from the fact that the client is not given quite
what he thinks he is given. An ideal translation should have what
theorists like to call "dynamic equivalence", i.e. it should affect an
overseas reader in about the same way that the source text affects a
reader in the country of origin.7 No translator will ever get all the
way, and the degree of success cannot be determined. But Clients
who are not trained editors probably «think that "dynamic
equivalence" is exactly what they are getting from a translator.
We must pay attention to four points:
1) The intended purpose of the translation.
2) The Situation and expectations of the client ordering the transla-
tion.
3) The relatiönship between client and translator growing out of
these expectations.
4) The Situation and obligations of the translator.
1. Purpose
The client wants to seil his products abroad. He has produced a text
that he believes to be an effective promotion tool at home. The
translation is supposed to be an equally effective promotion tool in
the overseas market.
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2. Client's Situation and expectations
The client expects the translation to serve him abroad with about the
efficiency that he ascribes to the source text at home. But in most
cases he is not able to assess how far these expectations are fulfilled.
His knowledge of the target language is insufficient, and he is not
familiär with its style conventions. He may not even be aware that
style conventions and presentational techniques can differ in differ-
ent countries. Indeed, many clients - even export managers - seem
to have an inadequate understanding of what translation really invol-
ves. They tend to see it äs a kind of word Substitution, expect word-
to-word correspondence, believe that there is only one proper way
to translate a text and that the translator's competence is reflected in
his ability to find that single way. When told that in theory there can
be an infinite number of formally correct translations of any given
text, they appear incredulous and confused.
In an attempt to explain, the translator might then make the com-
monplace observation, known already to Cicero, that no word-by-
word translation can convey both substance and style of a source
text, whereas a translation that comes close to this goal cannot be
literal. This brings the hapless client close to despair, and he quietly
decides to look for a less troublesome translator next time. This is
atrocious public relations. The translator had better consider the
client's Situation before going into a huddle with him.
3. Client-translator relatiönship
A client who is unfamiliar with the target language and its style
conventions is at the mercy of his translator's competence and hon-
esty. The relatiönship is similar to any other relatiönship between a
layman client and a supplier of a specialist service; the client can do
no more than look for a supplier who inspires confidence and then
rely on him. But he may be in a worse position than when he pat-
ronizes, say, a dentist, a watchmaker or a car mechanic. People tend
to have a poorer understanding of the translation process than of
dentistry, clock repair and car engines. But they don't realize this,
since translation appears more easily understandable: simple word
Substitution, and all'words are listed in dictionaries! After all, every-
body uses language, but a root-canal filling is an extremely esoteric
affair.
Besides, if a dentist or car mechanic does a bad Job, the results will
soon be painfully evident. But without adequate command of the
target language, the client of a translator has no immediate criteria
by which he can evaluate the quality of the product. His custoraers
are not likely to point out that his promotion literature is poorly
written. Nor, oddly enough, will overseas agents always do so, since
some exporters can keep bringing out awkwardly written brochures
year after year. So if the client loses faith in his translator, his only
recourse is checking by another specialist he feels he can trust, and
so on ad infinitum.
4. Translator's Situation and obligations
We have reached the most subjective part of these observations.
What has been said so far was intended äs a basis necessary for any
meaningful discussion of this branch of translation ethics, but this
does not mean that these final remarks are a logical conclusion. They
represent a personal view.
Seen very strictly, the translator is in a hopeless Situation. He is
supposed to provide a product that is theoretically impossible, there
are no objective criteria for assessment of his degree of success in
striving toward the impossible, and his client is inadequately equip-
ped to understand the nature of the problem.
But things are better than they seem. Constant striving toward a
goal that is theoretically impossible is nothing unique; it is a work-
able ethical precept in many human pursuits. A theoretically impos-
sible end goal does not rule out a high degree of success in practice.
And the fact that available assessment criteria are fluid, to say the
least, is also bearable. This is a Situation the translator shares with
workers in many fields, for instance advertising copywriters. The
success criterion of advertising is simple: if the product sells, the
writer and his client can be satisfied. But they can rarcly be sure that
it was some specific text that did the trick. A line once quoted by the
American advertising tycoon David Ogilvy comes to mind: "I know
that half my advertising budget is wasted, but unfortunately I don't
know which half."
So the uncertainty whether a piece of writing is effective for its
intended purpose applies already.to the source text. But äs far äs the
translator is concerned, the source text is justified by the fact that it
was given out for translation. This means that his client believes in it,
and it is not the translator's Job to sit in judgement over his client's
belief s. He can safely assume that the source text is effective in the
source language. If he has doubts about it they can remain private;
he is under no Obligation to convey them to his client. If he disagrees
so eraphatically that he considers it impossible to use the source text
äs the basis for what he believes to be an effective text in the target
language, he had better decline the assignment.
However, if he accepts the assignment, any doubts that he may
have about the efficiency of the source text in the home market will
not absolve him from the Obligation to produce what he believes to
be an effective text for use abroad. His opinion of the source text is
ethically irrelevant; his client has already vouched for that one. But
when he presents his own product he should have äs much faith in it
äs the client has in the source text. If he finds that he cannot have
such faith without rewriting, so be it. "Fair translation" is nothirig
less.
He can of course be mistaken. But that is a reflection of his profi-
ciency and intuition,avs an advertising writer, not his ethics.
Limits of rewriting
So the translator is at total liberty to niess about with a source text in
any way he sees fit, perhaps without even Consulting his client? As
long äs he believes he is right, there are no restrictions on what he
can properly do? Of course there are. We have to delineate the
authority he was j ust given.
It is a question of text perspective. There is a point where re-
writing ceases and blends into text organization. And text organiza-
tion is a part of presentational technique, which does not belong to
the translator's mandate. The borderline is largely intuitive, but a
general rule-of-thumb can be laid down and has been found work-
able for promotional texts:
For füll freedom to do a "fair translation", the translator must
have authority over the text micro perspective, i.e. each individual
sentence and its immediate context: the sentence before it and the
one after it.8 If he strays far beyond these limits he risks encroaching
on the macro perspective of text organization, which is in' part
extralinguistic and must remain under the authority of whoever
makes decisions on the source text. If the translator feels that such
organizational changes would enable him to produce a more efficient
translation, he should bring this to his client's attention. After all,
the client should be able to recognize his text when it has been
translated.
My examples of Type-2 translation and suggestions on how they
might be revised seem to indicate that äs far äs G-»E translation of
promotional technical texts is concerned, the demands on the trans-
lator can be summarized in two points:
1) Each sentence in the target language should be without struc-
tural characteristics that give it away äs a translation, and should
conform with style conventions accepted äs "efficient writing" in the
target country.
2) The level of formälity in the source text should often be brought
down a peg or two.
These two points go together in that 2) is often a natural conse-
quence of 1). It is indisputable that in many kinds of writing, the
accepted German idiom is on a higher level of formality than that
normally used in both Britain and the United States.9 It is part of the
translator's Job to find the accepted level in the target language,
considering the purpose of the text and the intended readership.
This can usualiy be done within the micro perspective I have sug-
gested, but there may be exceptions.
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Tradesecrets
Now, the client might not want his translator to take all this trouble.
He asked for a "straight" translation, so shouldn't we make him
happy with a text where he can trace the flow of every sentence and
pinpoint every nominalized verb? After all, it is generaliy accepted
that the one who pays the piper has a reasonable right to call the
tune.
Indeed, but what if he has no ear for music and asks for, say,
Pomp and Circumstance to be played at hisfwife's funeral? Surely it
behooves the Organist to talk him out of it? And if this is not pos-
sible, maybe intentionally forget to bring the score sheets? A few
paragraphs back I mentioned that an attempt to instruct clients in
the exigences of translation can be a risky business. The conclusion is
that the client does not have to know mofe than he deserves to know
and is equipped to understand. With a few deft questions, the trans-
lator can feel out his client the way good doctors feel out patients to
be able to decide how much they should be told about their own
complaints. This can be quite easy to do, and in many cases the need
does not arise, since the persori dealing with the translator is often a
secretary or administrative assistant who knows little about the
source text and its purpose, and is not particularly interested in the
translator's problems.
So unless the client expresses a genuine interest in the translator's
work and makes clear that it is within his intellectual grasp, the
difficulty of achieving "dynamic equivalence" can remain a trade
secret. This serves the interests of both parties, so there can be no
objection on ethical grounds.
So far in this article, l have tried tp demonstrate
* that there can be a discrepancy between what a client can reaspn^
ably expect from ä translator and what he is in fact given;
* that the client may not be aware of this, since he accepts and prints
the product;
* that especially äs far äs promotional texts are concerned, this gives
rise to ethical problems in that the client's promotipn will be less
effective than he thinks it is;
* that the translator/client relationship is difficult to organize on a
mutually satisfactory basis, since the client's understanding of the
translator's work is often inadequate;
* but that there are means by which the translator can get around
this problem without violating client/supplier ethics.
Causesoftype2
This closes the basic discussion. But if we were to leave the sübject at
this point, the net result would be unsatisfactory, since the problem
has a dimension not yet touched on. In conclusion, we must consider
why Type-2 translations at all occur.
The translator's qualifications and competence can be left alone.
The people who provide English technical translations in this coun-
try are a motley crowd. Foreign correspondence clerks can be asked
to take on promotional translations during slack hours. Others have
English äs their first language and are therefore considered well
qualified regardless of other experience and educational attain-
ments, if any. Still others can be extensively educated in a variety of
ways but have little experience äs writers. All of this is np doubt part
of the problem, but this is of secondary importance here. For What-
ever the education, experience and writing talents of a translator, his
or her working conditions will have a crucial influence on the quality
of the work prövided. In this context we must pay attention tö a
variety of factors that compromise the customer's chances of getting
fully idiomatic translations.
1. Psychological aspect
For idiomatic translation, the expressive resources of the target lan-
guage must be mobilized sentence by sentence. The translator must
absorb the substance of each soürce sentence, mentally detach him-/
herseif from the source language and then transform this substance
into an equivalent target sentence. A translator who approaches his
task in this way will often decide that the best way to translate a
certain German sentence is to turn it "upside down", or even inside
Lebende Sprachen Hr. 1/87
out. This takes more time, and is more tiring, than a transliterative
rendering with a few adjustments äs required by the syntax of the
target language, which is the sort of thing that easily ends up in a
Type-2 sentence structure.
2. Economic aspect
Non-salaried translators are paid on piecework basis. This encour-
ages them to work äs fast äs possible, and with the least possible
effort. They have no economic incentive to recast sentences in the
way just described.
3. Pricing aspect
In this country, translators and translation agencies Charge their cus-
tomers by printout line. This is hardly an inducement toward terse,
economical writing. At least in theory, it can have an opposite effect
on the translator's decisions: bloated sentences, polysyllabilism and
general verbosity.10
4. Time aspect
This is by far the most important factor. Since promotional texts
require a higher degree of translator independence and special alten-
tion to writing style, they require more effort and take more time to
translate than straight technical descriptions. The extra money that
can occasionally be charged is nowhere near adequate compensation
for the additional time needed for conscientious work. At Standard
rates, advertising translation is invariably bad business compared to
most other assignments, and the competitive Situation makes it
difficult to introduce significant price differentiation. A translator in
this Situation cannot easily be condemned for trying to cut his losses
by cutting corners.
Besides, the client doesn't always allow him the time he needs. In
the production of advertising material, translators tend to be
brought in at the end of the production cycle, when initial deadlines
have come and gone. Hence the desperate urgency well-known in all
translation Offices and the tendency to put speed before quality. A
supplier who is ready and able to meet such demands will have the
edge on his competition. The ability to offer the market what the
market demands cannot, äs such, be unethical. But it is difficult to
avoid the suspicion that many Type-2 promotion texts would have
been avoided if the customer had been aware that undue time
pressure necessitates compromises on Professional Standards.
The market is in fact asking for a bilingual pefson whose familiär-
ity with various technical fields is wider than that of most specialized
engineers, who has a scholar's flair for source criticism and textual
detail, and who is sometimes prepared to produce smooth advertis-
ing copy under heavier time pressure than that normally applied on
an American news reporter.11 The ethical issue of Type 2 can be
reduced to a single precept: that of making clear to customers that
such improbable people are not available in numbers large enough
to meet the dernand for promotional technical texts. It should then
be possible to work o.ut procedural adjustments intended to elimi-
nate the risk of a Type-2 product.
These adjustments could vary, depending on needs and resources.
In some cases, better time planning with Integration of the translator
in the production routines might do the trick. In others, writer-
translator-editor teamwork might be advisable. However it is done,
the cost of translation will increase.12
But that should be the least of the client's problems. To help him
understand the significance of Types l and 2, he can be referred to
the "German* instruction sheets delivered with certain types of
Japanese equipment ("Macht ein - Macht aus").13 And then it might
be pointed out that the löwly translator who is given final responsi-
bility for the text in a brochure for worldwide distribution may have
indirect economic influence greater than that ever enjoyed by
engineers, scholars and news reporters. Whatever cost-trimming
devices an export manager may have available, translation does not
off er a fruitful field. It usually accounts for a very modest share of
total promotion costs, so the potential savings are not impressive.
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They are heavily outweighed by the importance of effective promo-
tion texts.
But unfortunately, you cannot ensure effective international
promotion simply by being prepared to spend more money on trans-
lation. Once an export manager has been brought to the point where
he realizes that inadequately written texts can mean a significant
competitive disadvantage, it will be necessary to find the root cause
of the shortcomings in his specific case and make such procedural
adjustments äs seem called for. This is no mean task, considering the
difficulties of quality control in this field, and the lack of objective
criteria. But the client has a least been brought part of the way when
he realizes that cost and delivery speed are not the only, and not
even the most important, factors to be considered when assessing the
quality and reliability of a translation Service.
The difficulty is enhanced by the fact that some translators work
via agencies that do not even permit direct customer-supplier con-
tact. Translators working behind such artificial barriers must also
face another set of ethical questions, which are not part of the pre-
sent subject. And their end customers might just äs well Start their
attack on the problem with an attempt to make sure that it isn't in
fact rooted in the structure of the translation industry.
Notes
1 All quotes are authentic.
2 People who are not documentation Professionals probably see this kind of writing, in a
pretentious commercial publication, äs a manifestation of provinciality. But it also
reflects a downgrading pf professionalism in documentation and the use of language. It is
possible to discern an international pattern: "English" like this also occurs in publica-
tions from Austria, Denmark and Sweden, but maybe not äs frequently äs in West
German ones. I have never come across it in promotional literature produced in Switzer-
land and Finland. This may be a coincidence; the sampling has not been extensive or
systematic, and statistically valid conclusions are not possible.
3 The Standard authorities are, in the United States: WILLIAM STRUNK Jr. and E. B.
WHTTE: The Elements of Style, and in Britain: Sir ERNEST GOWERS, The Complete Plain
Words. Both books bave survived many editions and remain in print. A more recent
British work, entertainingly argued and especially aimed at engineering writers:
CHRJSTOPHERTURK and JOHN KIRKMAN, Effective Writing, London 1982.
4 WOLFRAM WILSS, Übersetzungswissenschaft, Stuttgart 1977, p. 51.
5 U.S. multinationale with a businesslike approach to documentation make a distinction
between pre-sale and after-sale literature. Since pre-sale literature should attract new
customers, it must go through more elaborate editing routines. But after-sale literature,
i.e. Installation instructions and manuals of all kinds, has what's called a "captive audi-
encc" and is not subjected to äs stringent readability checks. For companies in text-
intensive industries, such äs Computer Software» this makes economic sense. Objections
to such practices are more persuasive if based on aesthetics, rather than ethics.
6 TURK & KIRKMAN, op.cit., have several references.
7 It should be noted that this discussion does not take up "culturaT text adaptation, i.e.
adjustments called for by assumed differences in mentality and outlook, advertising
psychology and overall world view. Such decisions are far more subjective than those
discussed here. The problem is often neglected, but there are striking exceptions, such äs
the Scandinavian electronics Company that found it worthwhile to produce ihree ver-
sions of their French promotion: one for France, one for Switzerland and one for
Canada. The Belgiens, presumably, had to muddle through with the version intended
for France.
8 Readers with a flair for sophistry may now object that under this principle, the translator
can move Step by Step and finally claim complete authority over the text. Closer con-
sideration will reveal that this will not happen in practice, since this is not the purposeof
the principle, and the translator has nothing to gain by doing so.
9 On her first visit to this country, a Student of German from Binghamton, N.Y., reacted
to the FAZ with amused astonishment: "Gee, do these people believe a newspaper
won't be respected unless it's written like a 19th-Century scientific treatise?" Although
not quite to the point, her reaction was understandable. The essayist tradition of conti-
nental European journalism demands more from the reader than the clipped, deper-
sonalized style of American newswriting.
10 In Britain and Scandinavia, translation prices are normally calculated by source-text
volume, usually per 100 words of source text. This System scems fairer to the customer
and permits more exact spedfication of advance offers.
11 The comparison is based on first-hand experience.
12 On two occasions I came across promotional writing so impressive that I had to call up
and ask how the texts had been produced. Both were put out by fairly small south
German companies. In one case a British advertising agcncy had been called in to
produce the publication from scratch. In the othcr case an existing English text had been
given äs source material to a writcr/translator, who had been offered the run of the
housc. Both procedures were undoubtedly quite expensive.
13 Good instruction material is available in the tragicomic samplcs given by the magazinc
lest under the Standing headlinc "Alles klar11.
11