Translation The Interpretive Model

This book, the English version of La traduction aujourd'hui (Hachette 1994), describes the interpretive theory of translation developed at the Paris Ecole Supérieure d'Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) over the last 35 years.

The theory identifies the mental and cognitive processes involved in both oral and written translation: understanding the text, deverbalizing its language, re-expressing sense. For the purposes of translation, languages are a means of transmitting sense, they are not to be translated as such. Although translation involves the use of correspondences, translators generally set up equivalence between text segments. The synecdochic nature of both languages and texts, a phenomenon discussed in the book, explains why translation is possible across language differences.

The many practical problems faced by translators, the difference between translation exercises used as a language teaching tool and professional translation, translating into a foreign language, and machine translation as compared to human translation are also discussed.

Introduction to English Translation

Foreword

Part I: The Theoretical Aspects of Translation

Chapter 1: Translation through Interpretation

1.1. The three levels of translation
1.2. Interpreting
1.3. The oral and the written
1.4. The oral origins of the interpretive explanation of translation
1.5. What is interpretation?
1.5.1. Deverbalization
1.5.2. Sense
1.5.3. The immediate grasp of sense
1.5.4. Units of sense
1.6. The written form
1.7. Understanding
1.7.1. Understanding the linguistic component
1.7.2. Understanding what is implicit
1.7.3. Cognitive inputs
1.8. Expression
1.8.1. Reverbalization
1.8.2. The verification stage
1.8.3. Identical contents, equivalent forms

Chapter 2: Equivalence and correspondence

2.1. Equivalence and correspondence
2.1.1. What is equivalence?
2.1.2. What is correspondence?
2.2. Translation by equivalence
2.2.1. Cognitive equivalence
2.2.2. Affective equivalence
2.2.3. The global nature of equivalence
2.2.4. Explicit or synecdoche
2.2.5. The spirit of a language and the creation of equivalents
2.2.6. How to evaluate equivalence?
2.3. Correspondences which are appropriate when translating texts
2.3.1. Words chosen deliberately
2.3.2. Enumerations
2.3.3. Technical terms
2.3.4. Polysemy and actualization
2.3.5. The various forms of translation by correspondence
2.4. Faithfulness and freedom

Chapter 3: Language and Translation

3.1. Linguistics and translation
3.1.1. Structural linguistics
3.1.2. Generative linguistics
3.1.3. Communication and the interactionist approach
3.2. Langue, parole and text: some definitions
3.3. Macro-signs and hypotheses of senses
3.4. Interpretation
3.5. Two demonstrations of interpretation
3.5.1. Interpretation from the actor
3.5.2. Interpretation made explicit

Part II: The Practice of Translation

Chapter 4: The Practical Problems of Translation

4.1. A few problems observed in practice
4.1.1. The absence of deverbalization
4.1.2. Deverbalization, a methodological issue
4.1.3. The translation unit
4.1.4. Faithfulness
4.1.5. The transfer of culture

Chapter 5: Translation and the Teaching of Languages

5.1. The natural tendency of all learners
5.2. Comparative studies and the teaching of translation
5.3. The awkward position of translation
5.4. Translation into the foreign language (thème) and translation into the mother tongue (version
5.4.1. Translation into the foreign language (thème)
5.4.2. Translation into the mother tongue (version)
5.5. How to improve the language skills of the would-be-translator
5.5.1 The language skills course
5.5.2. The self-study brochure
5.6.The teaching of translation

Chapter 6: Translation into the Foreign Language

6.1. Into which language should one translate?
6.2. The limits of translation into the foreign language
6.3. Acceptability in translation
6.3.1. The complementarity between the specialist reader and the foreign language translation
6.3.2. Foreign language translation and its cultural adaptation to the reader
6.3.3. The general public and translation into a foreign language

Chapter 7 Machine Translation versus Human Translation

7.1. An historical overview of machine translation
7.2. Machine translation today
7.2.1. Fully automatic machine translation
7.2.2. Human intervention
7.3. How the machine understands languages
7.3.1. Lexical data
7.3.2. Transformational rules
7.3.3. Parsing
7.4. Comparing humans and machines
7.4.1. The differences
7.4.2. The similarities
7.4.3. Real world knowledge and contextual knowledge
7.5. Machines move closer to humans
7.5.1. Knowledge bases
7.5.2. Neural networks
7.6. Machine-aided human translation

Afterword

Appendix 1 Cannery Row

Appendix 2 The Woman behind the Woman