Here we are for another blog post. Welcome once
again! In the previous article, we ran through Two Steps of the Translation: Terminological
Uniformity and Terminological Investigation. Let me synthesize the two main
ideas in the text. On one hand, the terminological uniformity renders the
project consistent, and a consistent project has quality. On the other hand,
the terminological investigation makes the terminological search for the
translation of the most adequate term feasible. Then, after all, we will have
the original and the translated texts. By way of illustration, in countries
where certain products or services are traded, the original text that was
written in English or French is targeted to the matching audience to boost the
selling of those products or services. However, they are also traded outside
the Anglophone and Francophone countries. There are other worldwide markets in
which those products or services are offered. In our example, the translated
text will circulate to meet the needs of the Brazilian Portuguese-speaking
audience. The example is appropriate as my language pairs are
English>Brazilian Portuguese and French>Brazilian Portuguese. Based on
that, the notion of reading public or audience to which the text will be
targeted gains distinction. With this notion on our horizon, the professional
of the word will be able to guide his abilities so that the translated text can
meet the audience’s demands. Thus, it will be necessary to consider at least
two aspects to make this purpose successful: On one hand, the original text; on
the other hand, the translated text targeted to the audience; and, between the
two, always promoting the understanding, comprehension, and the communication
to strengthen of commercial and cultural bonds, comes to the scene the
professional of the word’s image. If we consider that the words are the raw
material that makes the translation activity viable, then turning them into a
well-done work implies recognizing that words must receive from us careful
treatment. In today’s post, I would like to talk about the careful treatment
given to the words during the translation.
As much as stimulating the question What is
a word? seems to be, and regardless of the possibility of answers, the
words are present in our lives in different circumstances. The question can
make sense for certain countries and their cultures, mainly in Western
countries. However, in other places of the world, and for other languages, this
question may not make any sense at all. On the other hand, there is a certain
inclination to believe that words have an intrinsic meaning, but the idea of
word that is present in Western languages does not imply necessarily an
intrinsic meaning to the words. For example, the same word can be used in
different contexts, and then as the usage transitions from one context to
another, the meaning of the sentence might be changed. Let me illustrate this
with two examples. I will use two sentences in Portuguese. I will use the verb
“pintar” (to paint). Apeles pintou um quadro no qual representava a
figura de um cavalo (Apeles painted a picture in which he represented
an image of a horse). In this context “pintar” is used to indicate that Apeles
painted a picture in which he represented an image of a horse. By the way, if
you allow me a digression, I remember an anecdote about this painter. Once,
Apeles was painting a picture and he was trying to reproduce an image of the
foam in the mouth of the horse unsuccessfully. After many unsuccessful
attempts, and feeling frustrated and extremely annoyed, the painter took the
sponge where he cleaned the brushes and threw it towards the canvas. To his
surprise, the sponge hit the horse right in the mouth, and most unimaginably,
the effect of the foam that he so much desired and had been searching for was
finally reproduced. After that, Apeles felt tranquil. Getting back to the
reasoning. Let me use the verb “pintar” in the second example. Ela
pintou o sete enquanto estava tramando planos mirabolantes (Everybody
was talking about it while it had been hatching the astounding plans). In this
context, “pintar” is used as an idiomatic expression: “pintar o sete” indicates
that everybody was talking about senselessness while it had been hatching the
astounding plans.
Considering the emergence of new semantic
possibilities from word usage in different contexts might be beneficial for
translation activity. In my professional experience, I had the opportunity to
work with financial, governmental, journalistic, medical, marketing, technical,
and other texts. Besides this approach, when it comes to translating a text, it
is always advisable for the professional of the word to carefully read the
source text so that he can write an appropriate translation. But, not only this.
Reading implies scrutinizing the words. Both in the source and target text. If
you allow me the opportunity, I would rather share a professional experience
that I had when I translated some material for a client of mine some time ago.
The client was a translation agency from the USA. They offered their services
to a company with a Brazilian branch. The material had a considerable number of
words, that is, a certain working time was dedicated to this project to get it
finished. The field of specialization of this material was insurance. From
English into Brazilian Portuguese. During the translation process, nearly to
the end of the document, there was a list with the phone numbers of each
company’s branch. I noticed that the Brazilian branch’s International Dialing
Code (+55) had been improperly used by another country’s branch. Thus, when the
misunderstanding was found, a message was sent to the project manager flagging
it. Then, I suggested the number could be wrong as the Brazilian International
Dialing Code is +55. I said that I would wait for the right information so that
the translation could be finished. After a while, the project manager replied
to the message indicating the number had been corrected. After that, the client
expressed their gratitude for the identification of the mistake in the original
text. This avoided a communication issue for the company later. Finally, the
translation was delivered with not only the right phone number but also with
the respective International Dialing Code (+55) corrected in the source text.
Even though the source text is well written, these
small mistakes can happen. When it occurs, be ready to get in touch with the
project manager to show the comments you consider appropriate. After all, the
professional of the word is offering linguistic solutions for his clients, and
when it comes to linguistic solutions, besides delivering the working result,
he is also thinking about delivering quality. However, delivering this to the
client implies recognizing the value of the translation work. Therefore, it
needs to be fairly paid. The translator is a professional who cultivates
studying habits in daily life. In my case, the translation activity occupies
part of my life, but I am interested in other things. I graduated in humanities
and in part of my free time I keep the readings up to date. I feel good when I
maintain conviviality with the words. I find in each one of them a formidable
ingredient to feed my thoughts. However, I also like to go for a walk and have
a coffee in the bakery too.
I have a friendly client from Nantes, in France. We
had already the opportunity to exchange some words about the importance of
cultivating studying habits. This is notably important when we have a book in
our hands. After the COVID-19 pandemic, I concluded that those who read are
never alone. We can verify this when we visit a bookstore or a library, but
this evidence got stronger when I picked one of our books from our modest
library during the period of social distancing. On a certain occasion, in the
French class (online through the Internet), I said to my teacher that I would
like to read Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The following day,
I bought the book at an online bookstore. After some days, I said to my client
from Nantes that I had started reading the book. I also said that in the French
class. I finished the first tome some time ago and I am out to start shortly
the reading of the second. The thrust of my readings ended up in other authors
– it is common to have curiosity guided by philosophical concerns. I refer to
the 2017 Brazilian translation from Penguin Classics Companhia das
Letras. Having started the reading of Victor Hugo in those times was
touching. I read other authors in those times too. Books feed our existence. I
had not had the opportunity to work in the literary field, who knows someday? –
my energy is targeted to the other translation fields currently.
Reading diversified works amplifies the reader’s
horizon. And the translator, first and foremost, is also a reader. In my point
of view, the professional of the word has a lot to gain when leaves behind the
dogmatic view on the translation, that is, the outcome of the work can be
continuously improved – even though machine translation is very much in vogue –
from the moment in which we understand that we are human beings and the
translation is made by human beings. By the way, those who improve machine translation
are… human beings! Thus, in the translator’s horizon, there will always be the
possibility to reformulate a sentence, adopt a better term, or even accept
feedback from a client about a delivered job. The professional of the word
works motivated by the idea according to which he will always offer a
high-quality product. On the other hand, when the translator works for
translation agencies, there are other peers involved throughout the process,
and they must have their importance recognized from the moment in which each
person contributes to the different steps of the translation differently. Then,
the final client will receive an outstanding product. Considering this is
considering the importance of the reader who will buy or contract the service
through the text that does justice to the quality of what is offered. In this
sense, when I say that translation activity has its value, and that it needs to
be recognized and fairly paid, I am also considering not only the professional
of the word but also the translation agencies. Even though the translation
activity is a solitary activity, the delivery of our outcome is inserted in a
team context. The translation activity, thus, is not made only by two hands. By
the way, is there any sense in talking about solitary work when we are
translating?
When a product or a service is offered to the
Brazilian consumer, the promotional texts that will receive linguistic
treatment should be targeted to this audience. In this sense, marketing texts
perform this role. However, the translation can be seen for its diversity in
terms of fields of specialization. There are other fields in which a text can
receive this treatment besides marketing itself. I made some comments about it
in other posts on our blog. For the IT field and other technical fields, it is common
their electronic products to be offered with their instruction manuals. During
the translation of this material, it is also common for the professional of the
word to receive from project managers the reference material, among which is
the style guide. This document has a key importance during the translation
activity. In the style guide, there are details about the technical parameters
that must be considered by the translator during the translation. For example,
the style guide indicates the tone that must be used (formal, casual, friendly,
or technical), the do not translation list, the character limit, the rules to
deal with acronyms and abbreviations, localization details (names, addresses,
phone number, numbers, date, time, and currency formats), and others stylistic
guidelines.
When we talk about style, besides all the careful
treatment given to the words, it is also advisable for the translator to have
solid references that can support coherently his work. After all, when it comes
to style, we are also talking about the qualities present in the translated
text. In this sense, besides knowing how to employ the proper word usage, the
translator must consider the esthetic qualities in the text. Therefore, I must
mention one of the many generous teachings from David Hume (1711 – 1776), le
bon David. In his essay, Of Simplicity and Refinement in
Writing, the philosopher claims:
As the former species of writing is
the more engaging and beautiful, one may safely give the preference to the
extreme of simplicity above that of refinement.[1]
Hume understands that a well-written text can
conquer the reader’s attention, and there will be beauty in the text when words
are used with simplicity. According to the Scottish philosopher, everything
that comes from simplicity can rouse in the reader the most pleasant
impressions. All these impressions will become perceptible according to the
proper word and terminology usage, the flux of ideas expressed through the
text, the articulation of sentences, the sequence of paragraphs, etc. However,
simplicity has nothing to do with the absence in terms of richness of details or even
nuances of complexity. The ideas, for example, can be expressed through simple
terminology, but not less rich in details. I can visit Paris, and then, in
other circumstances, I can write a message to a friend in which I describe all
the richness of details from that city. It will be possible to talk about
memorable places, Parisian cafés, the quality of the food, the atmosphere, the
monuments, the illustrious characters, etc. In this sense, when all these
literary qualities are expressed through a simple report, the idea of the
extreme of simplicity emerges. The extreme of simplicity, according to Hume,
has to do with the extreme degree of quality that words can express. Thus, the
gradation varies from the less simple to the extreme of simplicity. Thus, if we
have on the horizon the diversity of words in the native language, in other
words, the raw material that makes the translation activity feasible, it would
be up to the professional of the word to know how to articulate what I call the
gradation of simplicity to get the stylistically expected outcome. A simple
text is engaging and beautiful, and a text with the extreme of simplicity is
engaging and beautiful in the extreme gradation.
Thus, I think the careful treatment given to the
words during the translation demands from the translator certain linguistic
abilities. Firstly, when we are translating, we encounter some difficulties in
finding the most appropriate terminological solution for a term. Here is the
beginning of the adventure mentioned in the Relationship Between a Translator and His Peers. At this point, the thought triggers
its cognitive apparatus to search for the best translation solution. Secondly,
if we consider that words have no intrinsic meaning, the professional of the
word can properly use the words so that is possible to build the meaning in the
sentences in the target text. Finally, as the text is written, the gradations
of simplicity grant style to the translated text. Therefore, with all these
resources in hand, the approaching of the source text will be done according to
the careful translation treatment deserved by words, and in the target text, we
will have an exceptional outcome. Count on me if you need my linguistic
services.
Thank you very much for your attention, and I hope
you enjoyed the reading. See you in the next post!
References:
[1] Hume, D. “Of
Simplicity and Refinement in Writing”. In: Essays, moral, political,
and literary. Edited and with a Foreword, Notes, and Glossary by
Eugene F. Muller. Revised Edition. Liberty Fund, Indianapolis.
About the painting:
Vincent van Gogh
(1853-1890)
The
Sower
Around 1888
Kröller-Müller Museum, The Netherlands
Brazilian Portuguese Translations, Brazilian Portuguese Translator #brazilianportuguesetranslations #brazilianportuguesetranslator
