Unit 2: THE PROCESS OF

TRANSLATION
Core readings
 Bell, T. R. (1984). Translation and
Translating: Theory and Practice. London
and New York: Longman. (pp. 12-21)
 Larson, M.L. (1998). Meaning-based
Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language
Equivalence. University Press of America.
(pp. 3-12)
 Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of
Translation. Prentice Hall. (pp. 11-30)
2
Contents
Larson’s model (1984)
Bell’s model (1991)
Newmark’s model (1995)

3
Larson’s model (p.4)
Bell’s model (p.21)
Newmark’s translation process
Text analysis (before translating)
The process of translating
I. Text analysis
4 main steps:
Read the ST to understand its content and
the author’s point of view
=> General and close reading
Determine the ST’s intention
Choose an appropriate translation method
Identify possible/ potential problems
 I. Text analysis
Contributing factors:
1. Text intention
2. Text types
3. Readership
4. Stylistic scales
5. Setting of the text
6. Quality of the ST
7. Cultural aspects
 1. Text intention
Intention of the text: the author’s attitude
to the subject matter
Intention of the translator
◦ In general: identical with that of the author
◦ Exception: shortening and/ or over-translation
for particular target readership
2. Text types
◦ Narrative

◦ Description

◦ Discussion

◦ Dialogue
3. Readership
3 types:
◦ Expert
◦ Educated layman
◦ The uninformed
=> Distinctive in terms of level of
education, social class, age and gender
4. Stylistic scales

◦ Formality

◦ Generality and difficulty

◦ Emotional tone
4. Stylistic scales
Formality
◦ Officialese
◦ Official
◦ Formal
◦ Neutral
◦ Informal
◦ Colloquial
◦ Slang
◦ Taboo
4. Stylistic scales
Generality or difficulty
◦ Simple
◦ Popular
◦ Neutral
◦ Educated
◦ Technical
◦ Opaquely technical
4. Stylistic scales
Emotional tone
◦ Intense (hot)
◦ Warm
◦ Factual (cool)
◦ Understatement (cold)
=> Attitude of the author
◦ Negative
◦ Neutral
◦ Positive
5. Setting of the text
◦ Where would the target text be
published?
◦ Addition/ omission of titles/ subtitles/
subheadings, etc.?
◦ Is the TL readership identical with the
SL readership?
6. Quality of the ST

◦ Well or poorly written?

◦ What modification is needed?

7. Quality of the ST
◦ Neologisms
◦ Metaphors
◦ Cultural words
◦ Proper names
◦ Technical terms
◦ “Untranslatable words”
 II. Translating process
4 levels “more or less consciously in mind”
(p. 22-30)
◦ Textual level: literal translation
◦ Referential level: visualize the text
◦ Cohesive level: structure, smooth and emotional
tone of the text
◦ Natural level: the translation makes sense and it
reads naturally
 Keep in parallel the 4 levels
Discussion
Which approach do you prefer when you
translate?
Approach 1:
◦ Read through the ST
◦ Quickly produce the draft translation
◦ Spend much time revising the draft translation
to have the final version
Discussion (cont.)
Approach 2:
◦ Carefully read the ST
◦ Produce the draft translation, make reference
if necessary
◦ Revise the draft translation until you are
satisfied with it
Which approach do you actually follow?
 (a) Students are arranged by class
number and do not move from
classroom to classroom between classes.
They also stay together as a small group
for their entire elementary, junior-high,
or high-school levels in one location.

“do not” = ‘không thể’ OR ‘không phải’

The draft proposal suggests that Vietnam would be
able to build a university that is internationally
competitive within 10 years. This is exactly the sort
of over-optimistic and unachievable time target that
was announced when the National Universities in
Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City were first set up by
merging various local universities. This historical
lesson must be learnt and what is important now is
to articulate a time frame that is consistent with the
fact that no Vietnamese university is seriously
ranked within ASEAN, let alone East Asia.
 Satisfying the local demand for electricity from
wind is not the end of the story. Cheap
electricity produced from wind can be used to
electrolyse water, producing hydrogen, now
widely viewed as the fuel of the future. With
automobiles powered by fuel cell engines ex­
pected on the market within a few years and
with hydrogen as the fuel of choice for these
new engines, a huge new market is opening up.
 
 The cause of autism has also
been a matter of dispute.
Though Asperger regarded it
as a biological defect of
affective contact—innate,
inborn, analogous to a
physical or intellectual defect
—Kanner tended to view it as
a psychogenic disorder, a
reflection of bad parenting,
and most especially of a
chillingly remote, often
professional, "refrigerator
mother."
 Researchers have had a hard
time agreeing on the causes of
autism. On the one hand,
Asperger saw the condition as
representing a constitutional
defect in the child's ability to
make meaningful emotional
contact with the external
world. On the other hand,
Kanner regarded autism as a
consequence of harmful
childrearing practices. For
many years confusion about
this condition reigned.
 The study suggests that people who smoke
cigarettes are continually damaging their
cardiovascular system, which adapts in order to
compensate for the effects of smoking. It
further states that people who do not smoke do
not have the benefit of their system adapting to
the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects
of passive smoking are far greater on non-
smokers than on smokers.