Retrospection in interpreting and translation: explaining the process?

Retrospection is one of the few research methods equally suitable for studying the processes involved in both translation and interpreting. At the first workshop on research methods in process-oriented research (Graz 2009), we presented the results of a pilot study of retrospection as a research method, published as Englund Dimitrova & Tiselius (2009). The study involved data from two groups (15 years of professional experience vs. no professional experience), each with 3+3 subjects (interpreter subjects vs. translator subjects, all with Swedish as their L1). The source text was a 10-minute plenary speech in English from the European Parliament, interpreted simultaneously into Swedish. For the translation data, the translator subjects translated the original European Parliament transcript of the speech, 1,093 words, using Translog. After the task, subjects did immediate retrospection. The first analysis of the data indicated that a challenge when using retrospection is that subjects tend to report having forgotten about some of their processes. In this paper we report an analysis of the process data in relation to the retrospective protocols. Our focus is on reported problems and the occurrences of problem indicators in the process. It was found that most reported problems are confirmed by the presence of problem indicators in the process. However, the majority of problem indicators found in the process do not correspond to any reported problem. Hence, the subjects’ problem reports can only explain a limited number of the potential problems in the process. The need for further research into retrospection as a research method in Translation Studies is pointed out.La retrospección es uno de los pocos métodos de investigación igualmente adecuados para estudiar los procesos de traducción y de interpretación. En el primer taller sobre métodos de investigación de procesos (Graz 2009), se presentaron los resultados de un estudio piloto sobre la retrospección como método de investigación, publicado como Englund Dimitrova & Tiselius ( 2009) . El estudio incluía datos de dos grupos (15 años de experiencia profesional frente a inexperiencia profesional), cada uno con 3+3 sujetos (intérpretes y traductores, todos con sueco como L1). El texto original era un discurso de 10 minutos en inglés del Parlamento Europeo, interpretado simultáneamente al sueco. Para la traducción, los sujetos traductores usaron la transcripción original del discurso, de 1.093 palabras, usando Translog. Tras la tarea, los sujetos efectuaron retrospección inmediata. El primer análisis de los datos indicó que un reto al usar la retrospección es que los sujetos tienden a informar que han olvidado algunos de sus procesos. Este trabajo presenta un análisis de los datos del proceso en relación con los protocolos retrospectivos. Nuestra atención se ha centrado en contrastar los problemas declarados con las ocurrencias de indicadores de problemas en el proceso. Encontramos que la mayoría de los problemas declarados se confirman por la presencia de indicadores de problemas en el proceso. No obstante, la mayoría de los indicadores de problemas que se encontraron en el proceso no se corresponden con ningún problema declarado. Por lo tanto, los informes de problemas de los sujetos sólo pueden explicar un número limitado de los problemas potenciales del proceso. Ello apunta a la necesidad de seguir investigando la retrospección como método de investigación en los estudios de traducción

Changing Footings on 'Jacob's Ladder' : dealing with sensitive issues in dual-role mediation on a Swedish TV-show

This case study examines a Swedish TV interview with a Soviet pop singer in 1985 where the talk show host, who is both a trained interpreter and an experienced media journalist, acts as a dual-role mediator, interviewing and interpreting at the same time. The analysis is contextualized within the political and military relations between Sweden and the USSR in the 1980s. Theoretically, the study draws on ethics of interpreting, ethics of entertainment and the notions participation status or footing. A potential challenge for a dual-role mediator is that two different ethical stances are involved; here, ethics of entertainment (entertainment, comfort, culture value orientation) and ethics of interpreting (impartiality, neutrality, accuracy). These may clash, but the study claims that the different stances can also be used to the participants’ advantage. Here, the role of talk show host dominates over the role of interpreter, and interpreting ethics can be flouted and played with if it suits the purposes of the former. The study shows the complexity of dual-role mediation and emphasizes the need to take into account the perspectives of both of the involved roles in research on participants’ interaction and changes of footing

Emil i Lönneberga i nya ryska kläder : Intention, variation och reception

Artikeln behandlar dialekt i barnboksöversättning, på grundval av Emil i Lönneberga i översättning till ryska. Materialet är a) 20 olika översättningar till ryska (2 publicerade och 18 gjorda av ryska universitetsstudenter i svenska), b) studenternas kommentarer till sina översättningar, och c) en fokusgruppsdiskussion (6 ryska universitetsstudenter i svenska) av de olika lösningarna. Studien visar en bred variation i olika lösningstyper och konkreta lösningar. Den morfosyntaktiska lösningstypen framträder här som översättningsnorm [Toury 1995]. Den har störst frekvens i materialet, den förekommer i båda de publicerade versionerna och den tas emot mest positivt av läsarna. Övriga lösningstyper är mindre frekventa och har en mer idiosynkratisk karaktär. En jämförelse mellan översättningskommentarerna och diskussionen med läsarna visar att det inte alltid finns överensstämmelse mellan hur översättarens intention och läsarnas reception.The paper deals with dialect in translation of children’s literature, analyzing translations into Russian of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s book Emil in Lönneberga. Three types of data are analyzed: a) 20 different translations into Russian (2 published, 18 done by Russian university students of Swedish), b) students’ commentaries to their translations, and c) a focus group discussion (6 Russian university students of Swedish) of the different solutions. The data shows a wide variety of different types of solutions. The use of morphosyntactic means has in this study the character of a translation norm (Toury 1995): it is most frequently found, it is used in both published versions, and it is received most positively by the readers. Other types of solutions are less frequent and have a more idiosyncratic character. A comparison between the translation commentaries and the discussion with the readers shows that readers’ reception does not always correspond to the translator’s intention.

Changing Footings on 'Jacob's Ladder' : dealing with sensitive issues in dual-role mediation on a Swedish TV-show

This case study examines a Swedish TV interview with a Soviet pop singer in 1985 where the talk show host, who is both a trained interpreter and an experienced media journalist, acts as a dual-role mediator, interviewing and interpreting at the same time. The analysis is contextualized within the political and military relations between Sweden and the USSR in the 1980s. Theoretically, the study draws on ethics of interpreting, ethics of entertainment and the notions participation status or footing. A potential challenge for a dual-role mediator is that two different ethical stances are involved; here, ethics of entertainment (entertainment, comfort, culture value orientation) and ethics of interpreting (impartiality, neutrality, accuracy). These may clash, but the study claims that the different stances can also be used to the participants’ advantage. Here, the role of talk show host dominates over the role of interpreter, and interpreting ethics can be flouted and played with if it suits the purposes of the former. The study shows the complexity of dual-role mediation and emphasizes the need to take into account the perspectives of both of the involved roles in research on participants’ interaction and changes of footing