Raquel Sáenz Alcalá

Andrés Canga Alonso

Facultad de Letras y de la Educación

Grado en Estudios Ingleses

2015-2016

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TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO

Curso Académico

Cultural boundaries in translation: different aproaches tocultural words

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TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO

CULTURAL BOUNDARIES IN TRANSLATION: DIFFERENT APPROACHES

TO CULTURAL WORDS

Autor:

Raquel Sáenz Alcalá

Tutor:

Fdo.: Andrés Canga Alonso

Titulación:

Grado en Estudios Ingleses [601G]

Facultad de Letras y de la Educación

AÑO ACADÉMICO: 2015-2016.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Resumen

1. Introduction

1.1. Translation: definition and theories

1.2. Culture: definition and theories

2. Cultural Translation

2.1. The role of culture in translation

2.2. Is culture translatable?

2.3. Translation strategies and cultural translation

3. Methodology

3.1.Source text

3.2.Translated text

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3.3.Analysis of the strategies employed in the original translation

3.4.Second translation proposal

3.5.Justification of the strategies employed in the second translation

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

6. References

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Abstract:

Translation has been playing a very important role throughout centuries given that

it allows us to communicate. Indeed, it has been influenced by globalization, and

therefore, by culture. For this reason, the translatability of culture has been a widely

debated issue between scholars. Therefore, this paper will focus on the cultural

boundaries when translating cultural texts, by comparing two translation proposals and

analyzing the different strategies employed by two different translators. Furthermore,

when translating culture it is essential for the translator to have a wide knowledge of both,

the source language and the target language. By comparing both translations, we can

deduced that there are different ways to deal with culture; indeed, cultural terms can be

maintained, translated or explained. These decisions are made by the translator depending

on the purpose of their translation.

Key words: cultural translation, source language, target language.

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Resumen

Desde hace siglos, la traducción juega un papel muy importante en la sociedad ya

que favorece la comunicación entre individuos con lenguas maternas diferentes. De

hecho, la traducción ha sido influenciada por la globalización, y por lo tanto, por la

cultura. Por esta razón, la traducibilidad de la cultura ha sido un tema ampliamente

debatido entre los académicos. Por lo tanto, este trabajo centra su atención en las barreras

culturales a la hora de traducir textos culturales, comprando dos propuestas de traducción

y analizando las diferentes estrategias empleadas por dos traductores distintos. Además,

cuando se traduce un texto cultural es esencial para el traductor tener un conocimiento

tanto de la lengua fuente como de la lengua meta. A través de la comparación de las dos

traducciones, podemos deducir que hay diferentes formas de abordar la cultura; de hecho,

los términos culturales pueden ser mantenidos, traducidos o explicados. Estas decisiones

las toma el traductor dependiendo del fin de la traducción.

Palabras clave: traducción cultural, lengua fuente y lengua meta.

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1. Introduction

Translation plays an important role worldwide since it is an activity which extends

beyond the limits of language itself. Translation allows us to communicate, indeed

English is the second most spoken language in the world; therefore, all the information

expressed in English must be translated into other languages.

It is important to bear in mind that the world has changed. Translation is

influenced by cultural identity and globalization; and furthermore, it is in charge of

keeping our cultural identity in order to have a full understanding of it; and it also handles

with the learning of other cultures. Hence, cultures and their texts are going to be

accessible (Buesa Gómez 2010; Muñoz Calvo 2010).

This paper will focus on Cultural Translation; accordingly, it would be necessary

to investigate about the definitions and theories of the terms “cultural” and “translation”.

Once this distinction has been made, it would be explained what Cultural Translation

means as a whole. In relation to this, it is necessary to illustrate what sort of role performs

culture when translating; and, therefore, clarifying the question whether culture is

translatable or not. Again regarding the translatability of culture, it is worth mentioning

the possible strategies employed when translating culture. In order to be able to disclose

all this information about Cultural Translation, the author of this dissertation has tried to

gather as many authors and theories as possible since the beginning of this theory until

recent times.

Once the theoretical part has been already explained, it is the moment of its

implementation. Hence, my proposal is to provide you with a translation of a cultural text.

Firstly, there will be an analysis of the different strategies employed by the translator;

secondly, I will provide you with my own translation proposal, clarifying the election of

the strategies employed when translating cultural terms.

The next stage is to make a comparison of both translations arguing about the

different choices, and together with the reasons why I have taken those decisions.

Eventually, some conclusions are going to be provided gathering all the ideas

mentioned in advance.

1.1.Translation: definition and theories

The expansion of Christianity entailed the necessity of expanding the word of the

Lord to different civilizations. Thus, the Bible was translated into Latin, and then to the

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Romanic languages. During the Renaissance it is encountered a massive number of

translations. The main causes were the finding of classic works and the invention of the

printing press. Several alluring observations about translation are found conducted by

some remarkable figures such as: Juan Luis Vives, in Spain; Étienne Dolet, in France;

and, George Chapman, in England. It is also worth mentioning Alexander Fraser Tytler

and his essay Essay on the Principles of Translation (1791). Tytler gives a huge

importance to the fact of keeping the ideas and style of the original remained, the resulting

product must have the same strength and effect. Indeed, the very first studies based on

studies about General and Comparative Linguistics have been substituted by Linguistic

throughout the XX century (Hurtado Albir 2011)

As Nergaard (1995) and Fedorov and his Introducción a la Teoría de la

Traducción (1953), they are some of the first authors in analyzing translation

systematically. In order to make Translation a scientific object of study, it has to be

enclosed to Linguistics. These texts which are not related with literature, focus their

attention on language; indeed, they avoid elements such as context and textual situation.

The fundamental dispute in this theory is pursuit of equivalence.

Nida and Taber (1974) supported the contributions of the Anthropological Theory;

which provides them with the necessary extra linguistic data for the text comprehension

and translation. The translator must focus his attention not only in each element of the

text but also in the whole text.

Within the German scope it is worth mentioning the Skopos Theory carried out

by Hans Vermeer and Katharina Reiss. This theory advocates that the objective and the

function of the translation (and, thus, the potential of the reader) determine every

translation decision in the transference of a source text (source culture) to a target text

(target culture). This theory gives attention to extra textual and intratextual factors, it is

the function of the source text which determines the methods and strategies employed in

the translation. It is not only a matter of codes transferring, but also a communicative act

(Hurtado Albir: 2011)

Several has been the authors trying to gather all the studies carried out dealing

with translation theories. Nida (1976) proposed a classification, it is related with the focus

of attention in each period of time. The first one is Philological Theories concerned about

literary texts, they prevailed until the vespers of the Second World War. The next one is

Linguistic Theories are the result of the linguistic research, this theory focused its

attention on language itself. And the final one is Sociolinguistic Theories which consider

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language as part of the communicative process. Furthermore, Georges Steiner (1975)

postulated a highly despair classification in which he established four periods. The first

period goes from Cicero and Horace to the Höerling comments about Sofocles

translations. In this period, reflections emerge from the work of the translator. The second

period encompasses XIX and first part of XX century, it is in this period when a specific

methodology is created. The third period started in the 40s, with the appearance of the

automatic translation studies, the appearance of a Translation Theory was influenced by

the arrival of two disciplines: Structural Linguistics and Communicative Theory. The

fourth period arises when the Translation Theory is expanded, and it is in contact with

other disciplines. As it is observable, both theories have convergences and divergences.

For instance, Steiner’s first two periods are encompassed in Nida’s Philological Theories.

Although, both theories encounters a difficulty on establishing a diachronic point of view

(Sánchez Trigo 2001).

As abovementioned, translation, refers to the process of expressing in one

language what is expressed in another, and to the product of that process. The first case

is seen as a dynamic process; the second one is a static product (Sánchez Trigo 2001).

Currently, it is more relevant to know how to translate than a perfect understanding of the

language. Albeit, the ideal situation would be the perfection in both. Translation theory

has been working within the scope of linguistics. Nevertheless, and principally,

considering translation as an intercultural process, this theory started to work within the

scope of other disciplines. Furthermore, these current disciplines are related to language

in contact. Some of these disciplines are: General Linguistics, Computational Linguistics,

Sociolinguistics, Ethnology, Anthropology, Pragmatics and Comparative Literature. The

main objective of Translation Theory is the study of all translation phenomena, this theory

is not only concerned with the translation product but also with the intercultural

interference. As a scientific discipline must depict, explain and predict systematically and

coherently all the phenomena (Sánchez Trigo 2001).

Translation occurs due to the existence of different languages and cultures. It is

used for communicating; it is fundamental to go beyond the boundaries of linguistic and

cultural differences. Translation is employed for those who have a lack of knowledge of

the language and culture in which the text has been formulated. Usually, translators

translate for other people; translators are linguistic and cultural mediators who make texts

accessible. In fact, translators must be aware who the translation’s addressee is and the

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aim of the translation. The diverse purposes of the translation determined the translation

process of the translator (Hurtado Albir 2011).

Different translation competences can be found. Firstly, linguistic which involves

the comprehension capacity in the source language, and the expression in the target

language. Secondly, the translator who has the capability of getting the sense of the text

and transfer it to the target language, avoiding interferences. Then, methodology which

is the capacity of translating a text of some basic disciplines, such as economy and

computing. Finally, technical which is the capability of using despair translation tools

(Sánchez Trigo 2001).

In accordance with Jakobson (1959) the general scope of translation can be

divided into three parts. Firstly, <<rewording>> which basically consists on expressing

something with other words inside the same language. Within this process, verbal signs

are interpreted through other verbal signs in the same language. Secondly, <<translation

proper>> which corresponds to the interpretation of verbal signs of a specific language

through the verbal signs of other language. In this second type, it is not only important

the correspondence of signs but also the equivalence of the symbols, that is to say, the

meaning of the expression. Thirdly, <<transmutation>> which expresses the transference

of one message from one type of symbolic system to another.

As it is stated by Newmark (1988), there are other types of translations that differ

greatly from the ones previously analyzed. Information translation which convers from

brief abstracts to a whole reproduction of content. In second place, plain prose translation

whose language is familiar whereas interlinear translation shows the mechanic of the

original. Finally, academic translation which converts a standard text into a literary one.

Nevertheless, translation theory is not suggested for dealing with recurrent problems;

nonetheless, is has to be concerned with all kinds of translations. Eventually, another

difference made by Newmark is between communicative and semantic translation. On

the one hand, communicative translation is concerned with the second reader, and a

transfer of foreign elements is expected. On the other hand, semantic translation respects

the original culture. Summarizing, communicative translation interest lies in its own

context; while semantic translation preserves the essence of the original respecting the

culture (Newmark 1988).

The translator also plays an important role in the translation process since she/he

is the person who carries out the translation. Thus, they should possess a thorough

knowledge of the source language and the target language. The translator should be also

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familiarized with the topic and the content of the translation and should handle the

stylistic capacity of the target language.

The translator cannot be treated separately from the translation process; thus, the

translator is the central point of a translation and cannot be completely objective (Eugene

2012).

As it has been previously mentioned at the very beginning of this section,

translation theory has changed over the years; so, the same happened with the role of

translators. The first translators tried to be completely faithful to the original text by

translating word for word forgetting about the culture and grammar of the target text.

Thus, at the beginning the work of translators were not so important, because it was not

necessary for them to have a full understanding of the language and culture of the target

text. They were only concerned about keeping the same structure of the source text in the

target text. Over time, new theories were taken into consideration when translating; and

for this reason, new aspects such as culture started to play an important role. From this

moment on, translators acquired more responsibility in translations because they were not

only mere copyists of a text into other language, they started to interpret the source texts

to be able to transport that ideas into another language keeping the essence of the original

but without forgetting the cultural and grammatical norms of the target language.

Therefore, the role of translators have changed along with the history of translation

theory.

Once we have seen the different translation theories; and how different scholars

focus their attention on different aspects of the translation, the next section explores the

importance of culture and its possible influence on translations.

1.2. Culture: definitions and theories

Culture is the link between tradition and an ethnic group. Different cultures are

encountered all over the world, thus, culture homogeneity does not exist (Sowden 2007).

The term culture was increasingly used in the nineteenth century. Its very first

approach was more aesthetic than scientific, it refers to culture as the quality shared by a

group of people. The last but not least approach to culture developed in anthropology is

the work of Franz Boas and his students, influenced by writings of Johann von Herder in

the 18th century. Boas highlighted the singularities of the varieties of cultures of different

peoples or societies.

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Matsumoto (1966) states that culture is an individual and a social construct; thus, it

exists in each of us individually, and I exists as a social construct. What constitutes culture

are values, behaviors and beliefs, and these elements are observed in each individual. In

fact, if you embrace those elements you share the culture. Cultural norms are important

for each individual at different levels. Stereotypes have been created due to the

unrecognition of individual differences in the past.

Avruch (1998) points out that culture comes from experience, and, it is something

learned and transmitted by individuals. From this point of view, culture is seen much

homogeneously than in the concepts proposed by other authors. This concept of culture

is more extensive, not only taking into consideration tribes or ethnic groups, but also some

groups derived from professions; meaning that culture is socially and psychologically

distributed in a group.

Culture is not a genetic matter, it is inherited from the social environment. Culture is

necessary to be differentiate from one’s personality. Frequently, culture has been related

to heredity, due to the incapability of some philosophers of how to explain the similitudes

of cultural patters in social groups. The role of heredity has been exaggerated causing,

among others, the Holocaust. It was mainly about the racial and ethnic struggles baseless

on superiority of cultures (Spencer-Oatey 2012).

Culture also fosters the growth of intercultural communication. This fact is observable

in the intercultural processes, therefore, the relationships between identity, culture and

translation are becoming increasingly important. The translation act consists on

translating for others; making the translation comprehensible in other language, hence, in

other culture. For this reason, the translation process in linked to the evolution and

reformulation of different cultures. The translation is introduced in a new culture, while

the translator is influenced by the language and culture of the original text, and at the

same time, the translator has influenced in the original text for its recreation in the

receptive culture. Starting from the necessities of the translation for its proper working in

the target language and culture, the translator must choose the options taking into

consideration the original text (Pascua 2001).

Due to the amount of cultures and languages it makes it impossible for an individual

to face all the works written in different languages. It is necessary a translator who

translates either languages or cultures; translators must be intercultural communicators

and mediators. The access to language is a right, thus, it must be protected by international

laws. For this reason, as mentioned in section 1.1, a translator needs to master linguistic

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and cultural competences, because they have to interpret the intercultural meaning;

leading to a transfer of knowledge through cultures (Buesa Gómez 2010; Muñoz Calvo

2010).

This intercultural process can be seen from a double perspective. From the receptor’s

point of view, translations is seen as a cultural enrichment. While, from the point of view

of the benefactor it is seen as a lost. As the distance between language and culture

increases, more problems are likely to be encountered (Burke 2007; Chia Hsia 2007).

As discussed in this section, culture is a difficult term to define. Nevertheless, the

definitions here presented agree that culture is something which encompasses different

features of a social group, and which influences society. The problem is to limit its scope

and its influence in other fields.

The next part of this dissertation deals with this problem and how culture affects

translation, given that not in every definition previously mentioned, explains the influence

of culture in translation which is one of the core points of this paper.

2. Cultural translation

2.1. The role of culture in translation

Culture plays an undeniable role in translation; because a translation into another

language will always involve intercultural communication. According to this, the role of

the translator is to be a mediator between two cultures. Therefore, culture has not to be

understood as an individual intelligence, but also as the whole of features that modified

each society. Culture also encompasses political institutions, education, history, religion

and customs. Translation understood as an intercultural process implies that the translator

is the ‘first reader’ of the other culture, therefore, the translator is in charge of presenting

the other culture in a primary process (Ginter 2002).

The relationship between language and culture is undoubtable; thus, language cannot

be understood without a cultural context, and culture cannot exist and be spread without

language. Hence, language is the core issue of culture; both of them are necessary for

their existence (Elyildirim 2003).

Culture is a complex term given that it is the product of the interaction of human

minds, for this reason, its base has to be built taking into account different disciplines

such as: genetics, neuroscience, individual development, ecology and evolutionary

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biology, psychology and anthropology. In order to have a complete definitions of culture,

it is necessary a synthesis of all human science. (Plotkin 2001)

Culture interacts with other cultures, but discussions are necessary to recognized

cultural variety. Language is used to express cultural and individual issues. Accordingly,

culture influences the way that people perceive the world. Therefore, culture also

influences the way in which translations have to be made. Definitely, it is necessary to

know in which way culture is represented in the text and how language deals with it.

Taking this into consideration, a good translator needs to be aware of the culture of the

source and the target language. Moreover, the translator has to know about the different

styles and social norms of each language. Thus, the social context of a translation is a

very influential issue which can make a great change in the final product. In relation to

the intercultural translation, the translation aim is to be aware of the destination of the

translation when translating culturally-bound words (Akbari 2013).

As it has been exposed, the interaction of several cultures leads to the creation of a

‘hybrid text’ in the translation process. These type of texts that are found the target

culture, adopt some of the cultural characteristics of the source text. A ‘hybrid text’ is

known as the final product of the coexistence of two or more cultures. Hence, one of the

main problems that a translator can encounter is how to deal with cultural issues; of both

the target and the source language (Ginter 2002).

Another important point dealing with the boundaries of translating culture is the one

proposed by Valdeón (2015) who shows that language is not only a way of

communication but also part of our identity. According to Valdeón the Latin immigrant

in the USA is in a difficult situation as long as they claim to defend the maintenance of

their language against the English. All of this leads to a situation where these people who

claim the maintenance of their culture, have to solve this situation by using English in

certain situations (often in more formal situations) or by opting for the code-switching

which is the use of both languages. In fact, Translation Studies have remarked

Spanish/English code-switching as a literary feature for border writers. What these

authors do is to mix both cultures, almost creating their own culture with their own

language by mixing both languages and cultures.

Thence, it is clear that culture affects the translations and the receivers of the

translations. For this reason, it is of highly importance for translators to have this into

consideration when translating cultural texts; because they have to deal with the

boundaries of cultural terms, deciding whether they have to be maintained or not for the

15

understanding of the text by the target readers. Hence, one of the main problems

encountered by translators is whether culture is translatable or not. The next part of this

paper deals with this issue; culture exerts a huge influence on translations, the question is

whether culture is translatable or not if the aim of the translation is the understanding of

the text by the target readers.

2.2. Is culture translatable?

Bassnet and Lefevere (1992) decided to turn the focus to translation in 1990 to a more

cultural approach. This modern approach focus its attention on the influence of culture in

translation for the receptors of the language. This new approach in translation differs from

the previous ones focusing on the cultural contexts, history and norms (Zeng 2006).

Accordingly, a new perspective in translation is settled. It was the Polysystem theory

the one which focused its attention in the cultural context to carry out the translations.

Culture and Cultural Translation go together referring to the cultural elements of a

society. A nation not only has its own culture, but also its own language. In fact, language

is the instrument of culture, given that, people need to carry out an intercultural exchange.

Therefore, translation is seen as an intercultural exchange. For this reason, culture and

language cannot be separated; because, the translation process involves many cultural

aspects that have to be taken into consideration. These aspects cannot be dealt only by a

Linguistic perspective (Chen Yan 2014).

What is more, a way of carrying out this Cultural Translation process is by attending

the double process of contextualizing and reframing. The idea is to own the foreign to

domesticate it. This double process also has different points of view. On the one hand,

from the receptor’s point of view it is a profit which enriches the target culture. On the

other hand, from the donor’s point of view it is a loss, which leads to the confusion of the

original (Burke 2007; Po-Chia 2007).

The complexity of cultures make it impossible for an individual to deal with the scope

of all translations. Therefore, a bicultural translator is necessary to be a mediator between

the different languages and cultures (Muñoz-Calvo 2010).

Accordingly, culture and language cannot be seen separately because none of

them can exist without the other. So, due to this connection between culture and language,

cultural terms are going to be present in language; that is why, the next section discusses

different strategies to deal with culture in translation.

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2.3.Translation strategies and cultural translation

In previous parts of this paper, it has been shown the boundaries when translating

culture. What is more, culture has to be taken into consideration when translating cultural

texts, and its translatability is a much-debated topic. For this reason, this part of the paper

offers possible strategies when translating culture, and, of course, they can also be applied

in other kind of translations.

When talking about strategies dealing with cultural issues, two tendencies are

proposed by Venuti (1995). On the one hand, the tendency in one direction is towards the

conservation of the elements of the source language culture. There are different ways of

doing this: by maintaining the elements of the source language into the target language

without any changes; providing or not providing additional information to explain the

cultural terms; translating idiomatic expression literally; and, not making adjustments for

the differences of cultural elements. On the other hand, the tendency in the other direction

is towards making the source language culture understandable by the target language

readers, by replacing the cultural elements of the source language by cultural elements of

the target language. There are different procedures to make culture understandable to non-

native readers. First, the translator can add cultural equivalent or they can integrate

additional information to explain the cultural terms into the target text. As for idiomatic

expressions, translator can clarify the significance of intertextual elements or eliminate

the elements that cause problems of understanding to the target readers.

The first tendency explained above is known as “exoticizing”; which consists on

bringing the target text readers towards the source text culture by offering them the

essence of the original text in their own language. The second tendency is known as

“domesticating”; which consists on moving the text towards the target readers making the

text more accessible and familiar.

The strategies abovementioned might be used when translating different types of

texts, but there are other specific strategies used when dealing with cultural texts. Cultural

transplantation is a radical form of domestication in which culture-specific elements in

the source text are replaced in the target text by elements that are specific to the target

language culture. Cultural borrowing implies the transfer of a linguistic item from one

culture to another without translating it.

Translation strategies are methods applied in the translations when the translator

wants to transfer an element from the source text to the target text. To carry this out, it is

17

necessary the employment of different translation strategies. The followings are ones of

the most used translation strategies proposed by four different authors: Peter Newmark

(1988), Paul Vinay and J. Darbelnet (1973), and Jean Delisle (1999).

Word-for-word translation (close translation) which consists on transferring

grammar, word order and meaning from the Source Text Language. This type of

translation is not recommendable considering that languages have different structures;

therefore, a specific grammatical structure of a language cannot fit in other language.

Another strategy that has been widely used in translation is one-to-one translation

(close translation). This technique presupposes that each source language word has a

corresponding target language word, although their meanings in isolation might differ.

Each language has its own way of expressing things which is influenced by culture. This

strategy is important because each part of the expression have a correspondent word in

the other language, despite that in isolation these words do not have the same meaning.

In relation to the previous strategy, there is other type of close translation which

is: literal translation. It is the correspondences of all the elements of the translation: word-

for-word, group to group, collocation to collocation, clause to clause, and sentence to

sentence. This is similar to word-for-word translation, thus, the problem is the same.

When dealing with cultural terms in a translation, there are three main strategies

which help the translator to introduce the cultural terms in the target text. Through

translation (calque) is the literal translation of collocations, names and organizations.

Therefore, it is the transfer of a source language word or expression into the target

language literally. This technique is useful if the target readers know nothing about the

other language, thus, they need the translation of any word and term.

Transference (borrowing) means the transfer of the source language word to the

target language, due to the lack of existence of these words in the target language; this

strategy is useful when translation is not possible. Finally, Naturalistation (direct transfer)

is the adaptation of the source language word to the normal pronunciation and the

morphology of the target language. This strategy is very useful for the target readers

because the word is adapted to their language allowing them to understand the term.

An important point that a translator has to take into consideration, is the

grammatical differences between the grammars of both languages; and how the different

structures can change the point of view of the translation. There are two techniques which

handle with these issues. Firstly, transposition (Catford 1965) which is the change of

grammar from the source language to the target language. This is a very useful technique

18

when there is not a correspondence of grammatical structures in both languages. Then,

modulation which is the change of the point of view, and regularly of the category. There

are different types of modulation: positive for double negative, double negative for

positive; abstract for concrete; cause for effect; one part for another; reversal of terms;

and, active for passive.

Adaptation (Vinay and Darbelnet 1973) which consists on replacing the cultural

elements of the source language with a reality specific to the target language. Newmark

(1988) refers to this strategy, adaptation, as cultural equivalent.

Expansion which is the use of more words in the target text to explain an idea

given in the source text. This strategy is used to clarify some part of the translation for a

better understanding of the target readers, by means of an explanation. Whereas, omission

consists on suppressing elements in the target text which appear in the source text,

because they are not relevant.

Equivalence (Vinay and Darbelnet 1973) which is the substitution of a statement

in the source language for a statement in the target language which stands for the same

situation.

This section has focused its attention on the different strategies to approach

cultural words. The following section shows how these strategies are employed in

different translations.

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3. Methodology

This section focus its attention on the translation of a cultural text; the text elected is

presented below and was taken from a web page called The Spanish Blog which contains

several parallel texts (in English and Spanish) about the Spanish culture. As can be

noticed, the source text is written in Spanish and it includes references to cultural terms.

Not only is it a text about the Spanish culture, but also about a very specific culture which

is the Basque one. As the author of this dissertation is a native speaker of Spanish she has

been able to find highly specific cultural terms which are difficult to translate. The choice

of the directed of the translation i.e. Spanish-English is based on the deeper knowledge

the author has about its own culture, which will help her explain the cultural terms into

the target language (i.e. English).

3.1. Source text

This section introduces the source text taken from a web page called The Spanish

Blog (http://thespanishblog.com/2011/02/parallel-texts-bilbao-parte-4-gastronomia/)

which is fraught with parallel texts in Spanish and English. This site has a wide range of

text about the Spanish Culture. The text selected below is about the gastronomy of the

Basque Country, which informs about the most typical food and drink in this area. Bilbao tiene una gran variedad de restaurantes de alta calidad que ofrecen lo mejor de la gastronomía vasca. Sus restaurantes oscilan entre los adjudicados con estrellas Michelín y asadores menos sofisticados, sidrerías, tabernas, bares al aire libre o los bares txakolís. Los “pintxos” (tapas vascas) son pequeños aperitivos compuestos de varios ingredientes que están fácilmente disponibles en las barras de los bares y que son peligrosamente irresistibles. Van desde los platos más simples y más tradicionales a las obras maestras más sofisticadas e imaginativas. Todos los años se celebra en Bilbao un concurso de pintxos tradicionales en el que participan bares y restaurantes. Comer pintxos por lo general va de la mano del “poteo”, que consiste en beber txikitos (vasos pequeños de vino), sidra o zuritos (pequeños vasos de cerveza), mientras que se está de pie con los amigos y se va de bar en bar. En todo el Casco Viejo de Bilbao los bares ofrecen una gran variedad de excelentes pintxos. Los pintxos más tradicionales son los calamares a la romana (las rabas), mejillones con salsa de tomate caliente (los tigres), setas, bacalao, pimientos y tortillas.

3.2 Translated text

This section shows the translation of the text introduced in the previous section.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence of the possible translator of this text, so it is translated

20

by an anonymous translator. This site is composed of several parallel texts in Spanish and

English, but there is nothing that shows who is the translator of these texts.

Bilbao has an abundance of top quality restaurants offering the very best in Basque gastronomy. Its restaurants range between the Michelin-Star awarded restaurants and the less sophisticated steakhouses, cider houses, taverns, outdoor bars or “txakolis”. “Pintxos” (Basque Tapas) are small appetizers made up of various ingredients that are readily available on bar counters and dangerously difficult to resist. They range from the simplest and most traditional dishes to the most sophisticated and imaginative food masterpieces. A traditional pintxo contest in which local bars and restaurants take part is held in Bilbao every year. Eating pintxos usually goes hand in hand with “poteo” or bar hopping, which consists of drinking “txikitos” (small glasses of wine), cider or “zuritos” (small glasses of beer) while standing with friends and moving from bar to bar. All around Bilbao’s Casco Viejo (old town) are bars offering a wide variety of excellent pintxos. The most traditional pintxos are “rabas” (calamari), “tigres” (mussels in hot tomato sauce), mushrooms, cod, peppers and omelettes.

3.3.Analysis of the strategies employed in the original translation

In general terms, the translator has endeavored to maintain the cultural sense of

the text; by respecting, as far as possible, the cultural terms and the grammar of the source

text. Following Venuti’s tendencies this translator has chosen the “exoticizing” tendency,

because he tried to bring the target readers to the source culture.

From the very beginning of the text clear examples of literal translation can be

observed. Indeed, almost the whole target text is a literal translation of the source text,

given that the translator makes a correspondence between all the elements of the

translation. For this reason, it is better to focus the attention on the changes made by the

translator in the target text. The election of maintaining the same grammatical structure

by a literal translation comes from the very beginning of Translation Theory when Tytler

(1791) gave importance to the fact of keeping the ideas and style of the original remained.

At the very beginning of the text, a transposition example is encountered. In the

Spanish version of the text it says “que ofrecen”, while in the English version it says

“offering”. The translator has decided to make a change of grammar for a better

understanding of the text, considering that the literal translation of this element does not

fit perfectly in English. In Spanish the sentence is introduced by a relative clause (“que

ofrecen”), while in the English version this is changed by a gerund form (“offering”).

A little further, a modulation example is found. The Spanish text says: “Todos los

años se celebra en Bilbao un concurso de pintxos tradicionales en el que participan bares

y restaurantes. Although, the translator proposed the following translation: “A traditional

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pintxo contest in which local bars and restaurants take part is held in Bilbao.” This is a

fair example of modulation, because the translator has made a change in the point of view

of the sentence. While the Spanish version focus its attention on the place (Bilbao) in

which the context takes place, the English version focus its attention on the contest itself.

Probably, the translator considered more important the fact of the contest than the place,

given that, it has been mentioned previously in the text. What is more, for carrying this

modulation out the translator had to make other grammatical changes. When moving the

first part of the sentence in the Spanish version, to the final part of the sentence in the

English version; the translator has made a change of grammar. This change is called

transposition, which is a change of grammar from the source language to the target

language. In Spanish it says: “Todos los años se celebra en Bilbao […]”, while in English

this sentence is converted into a passive: “[…] is held on Bilbao”. Furthermore, the

translator also omits “todos los años” probably because it says that the contest is

traditional, therefore, it is celebrated yearly.

As it has been previously mentioned, this is a cultural text; for this reason, despair

cultural elements are encountered. It is the translator’s decision to maintain those

elements or to translate them. In this concrete case the author has decided to maintain all

the cultural elements, although some of them can be hardly understood by the target

readers. This translator has chosen the strategy of expansion to keep these cultural

elements in the text, but they can be understood by the target readers. Expansion, as stated

in section 2.3, is the use of more words in the target text to explain an idea given in the

source text. A couple of expansion examples are found; when talking about “poteo” the

translator has decided to add “or bar hopping” for his target readers to understand the

concept of “poteo”, because, this does not exist in their language and culture. The other

example is encountered a little further in the text when the translation decides to maintain

the concept con “Casco Viejo” and he adds between brackets “old town” to clarify in the

target language the concept. This strategy of “expansion” is a procedure of

“domesticating” tendency proposed by Venuti (1995) which consists on integrating into

the target text additional information to explain culture-specific references.

Eventually, it is very interesting to highlight how this particular translator is

concerned with culture; for this reason, s/he has decided to maintain, as much as possible,

every cultural term. Therefore, abounding cultural terms are encountered in the target text

which are borrowings from the source text. The followings are the borrowings found in

the target text: “txakolis”, “pintxos”, “tapas”, “poteo”, “txikitos”, “zuritos”, “Casco

22

Viejo”, “rabas” and “tigres”. Consequently, this translator seems to agree with Amparo

Hurtado Albir (2011) in the importance of going beyond the boundaries of linguistic and

cultural differences.

The following section presents my translation proposal of the same text. The aim of

the next point is to see how my translation proposal differs from this one as well as to

explore what strategies are better to deal with cultural terms.

3.4. Author’s translation proposal

Bilbao has a great variety of high quality restaurants which offer the best of the Basque gastronomy. Its restaurants range between those awarded with a Michelin Star and less sophisticated roasters, cider bars, taverns, outdoor bars and “txakolis” (bars where people mainly drink wine). “Pintxos” (Basque Tapas) are little appetizers composed by different ingredients which are easily available on bar counters and dangerously irresistible. Ranging from the simplest and most traditional dishes to the most sophisticated and imaginative ones. Every year Bilbao hosts a traditional “pintxo” contest in which bars and restaurants participate. Eating “pintxos” in general goes hand in hand with “poteo”, which consists on drinking “txikitos” (small glasses of wine), cider or “zuritos” (small glasses of beer), while standing with friends and moving from bar to bar. All around Bilbao’s Old Town, bars offer a huge variety of excellent “pintxos”. The most traditional “pintxos” are Roman squid (called “rabas”), mussels with tomato sauce (called “tigres”), mushrooms, cod, peppers and omelettes.

3.5.Justification of the strategies employed in the second translation

I have considered of great importance to maintain the cultural essence of the text.

Therefore, I have maintained every Spanish cultural word between quotation marks for

the readers to realize that these words are not in their language. Usually, these cultural

words are written in italics, but the first translator employed quotation marks, hence the

author of this dissertation decided to follow the same style to make it easier for the readers

to follow the translation comparison. What is more, expansion was used to include an

explanation of each cultural word between brackets with the purpose of a better

understanding for the target readers. Not only is this strategy more helpful for the full

understanding of the text, but it also keeps its essence.

As far as the language allows me, I have decided to maintain the same grammatical

structure by leaning on “literal translation”. There are several examples of literal

translation in the present proposal: “Bilbao has a great variety of high quality restaurants

23

which offer the best of the Basque gastronomy.”; “’Pintxos’ (Basque Tapas) are little

appetizers composed by different ingredients which are easily available on bar counters

and dangerously irresistible.”; “Every year is held in Bilbao a traditional “pintxo” contest

in which bars and restaurants participate.”; and, “Eating “pintxos” in general goes hand

in hand with “poteo”, which consists on drinking “txikitos” (small glasses of wine), cider

or “zuritos” (small glasses of beer), while standing with friends and moving from bar to

bar.” The author of this dissertation opted to use this strategy because the grammars of

both languages allowed her to. In fact, she tried to maintain as much as possible the

essence of the original text to bring the target readers to the source culture. Probably, this

strategy is not very recommendable for most of translations, because it is difficult to find

the exact structure in the target language without modifying it. Although, in this case the

structures fit perfectly, possibly because the structures are more or less simple.

This translation proposal also combines “exoticizing” and “domesticating tendencies

proposed by Venuti (1995). At the same time, the translator has intended keep the essence

of the source text by preserving its cultural elements (“exoticizing”) but at the same time

it aimed at the target readers so that they could understand the source culture. Hence, she

has made use of “domesticating” strategies to bring the target readers to the source culture

ensuring its understanding.

Following Skopos Theory (Vermeer and Reiss 1984), it is important to focus the

attention on extra textual and intratextual factors; it is the function of the source text which

determines the methods and strategies employed in the translation. It is not only a matter

of code transferring, but also a communicative act (Hurtado Albir: 2011). For this reason,

the author of this dissertation has taken into consideration the extra textual factors

(culture) and the intratextual factors (grammar) in the election of her translation

strategies. She has also considered important the maintenance of the essence of the

original text but some modifications were necessary for the target readers to understand

it. So, applying skopos theory to the present translation proposal the author has focused

her attention on the cultural elements and how they affect the understanding of the text.

What is more she has intended to respect cultural elements without forgetting the

importance of the target language for the target readers to understand the source culture.

Hence, taking into consideration both translation proposals and the analysis of the

strategies employed there. The following section is about the comparison of both

translations. Its aim is to show that there exists different strategies to deal with the

boundaries of culture in translation.

24

25

4. Discussion

What these translations show up is that they are fraught with cultural terms, and there

are different strategies to solve this intercultural exchange. It is important to remark that

these Spanish cultural words are not popular all around Spain. Indeed, these words belong

to a specific region of the north of Spain so it is more difficult for foreign readers to know

about these terms; in spite of the fact that they know something about the Spanish culture.

Taking this into consideration, it is likely that a great amount of people from Spain do not

know about the significance of these terms, for this reason, their explanation for foreign

readers is necessary. Therefore, it is not simply a Spanish cultural text that its cultural

terms can be deduced by common knowledge of the Spanish culture; hence, some

explanations are necessary.

Comparing the first and the second translation proposal, it is observable that there are

not huge differences between them. Taking into account that the first translation is made

by an anonymous translator, it is not possible to know if he or she was Spanish or English.

Noticeably, the aim of the first translator is to maintain as much as possible the essence

of the original text by respecting the grammar and the cultural terms as much as possible.

This translator also supports their translation in some translation strategies which help

them to clarify some cultural aspects in order to be understood by the target readers. So,

the anonymous translator maintains every cultural word and makes an explanation of the

term when necessary. According to the grammar, in general terms the translator respects

the original grammar although he changes some structures to make emphasis in some

aspects.

In relation to the second translation proposal, the same path has been chosen. The

essence of the source text has been respected. It is important the maintenance of the

cultural terms in order for the target reader to be immersed in the other culture. Although,

the knowledge of the other culture by the target readers is important, it is also fundamental

the understanding of these terms; for this reason, the application of some translation

strategies is fundamental. The choice to solving this problem is the “expansion” strategy

as long as allows us to know the cultural term and its significance between brackets. What

is more the anonymous translator has chosen the same option in some cases, although I

have decided to give more explanations about other cultural terms because I consider

important the understanding of these terms for the full understanding of the text.

According to the grammar, literal translation has been the preferred choice given that it

26

was possible to respect the original grammar without breaking the grammatical rules of

the target language.

Concluding, both translations respect the essence of the source text by focusing on

the importance of culture; although some translation strategies have been necessary to

deal with cultural terms (e.g. the employment of “expansion” to explain: pintxos, and

txikitos). Thanks to these strategies the target readers are able to understand the text and

to learn some cultural aspects of the source language. Indeed, the choice of the translation

strategies for solving the cultural boundaries has been the same: the expansion strategy.

This strategy permits the maintenance of the cultural text and the addiction of the

significance for its understanding.

27

5. Conclusion

Along this paper the aim has been to display the importance of translation and the

boundaries that translators encountered when translating culture; moreover, some

possible strategies and solutions have been offered. A core point along this paper has been

whether culture is translatable or not, and the different opinions about this issue.

Furthermore, to check the translatability of culture; a cultural text has been selected,

firstly, translated by an anonymous author and then a second translation proposal has been

provided. In this way, the comparison of both translations shows different ways to deal

with cultural translations. In fact, thanks to the discussion of both translations it has been

shown that culture plays an important role in language and in translation. It also has been

proved that there are different strategies to handle with culture and it is the translator’s

decision to choose the best option.

Eventually, it is relevant to highlight the importance of translation throughout

history and its evolution; as well as the importance of culture in translation considering

that it has been demonstrated that culture influences translations. This paper focus its

attention only in two translation proposals which is not enough to see in how many ways

culture influences translations. For future investigation it would be convenient to have a

wide variety of texts from both cultures to see if there exists the same cultural influence

and if the translation of all cultural texts can be treated in the same way. Furthermore,

translation practice would be a great tool in EFL classrooms, not only for the learning of

the language itself but also for the approach to culture. These practices can help students

to learn a language and to be aware of the similarities and differences between their own

culture and the target language one. Finally, thanks to the practical part of this paper the

importance of culture has been proved; and the existence of different strategies for facing

culture when translating a text.

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