MCLS 61240, Spring
Semester 2005:
German Cultural and Literary Translation
Keeping a Translation Log
The purpose behind the translation log is to encourage students to think critically about the translation process, to identify specific kinds of problems, and to be able to analyze solutions. The best way to maintain such a log is to create a separate Word file containing a table that looks something like the one shown below. As you encounter problems in your work, enter the information on the problem in a row of the table. If you don't find a solution until later (research, workshopping, discussion with other translators), insert a new row just below the original one. The book Translation Terminology contains definitions of translations errors, approaches, and strategies that may play an important role in identifying and solving these kinds of problems. You should be working to master this terminology so that you can discuss translation problems in a professional manner. The log itself should be accompanied by a coherent analysis of the translation process based on the raw material that you have collected in compiling the log. You should maintain and submit a log for each of the workshopping assignments and for the final project. The final project should be accompanied by a log-based analysis of between three and four pages, double-spaced.
Sample Translation Log
| Name: | Sue Ellen Wright, German 61240 |
| Date: | 2000-01-10 |
| Project: | Text No. 2, Theo Sommer “Globalization” |
Source audience: Readers of a
German weekly newspaper
Target audience: Readers of an
American newspaper similar to the Christian Science Monitor or the
Economist
| No. | Date | Type of Problem | Problem | Proposed Solution | Solution, Source, Strategy & Notes |
| 1 | 01/07 | idiom | standen dann im Zeichen | were played out under the sign of ... | equivalent idiomatic expression |
| 2 | 01/08 | metaphor, potential ambiguity (de polyseme) | der Fluß der Historie ... eingefroren ... ins Treiben | the river of history ... frozen ... adrift (NOT the flow of history) | Retention of metaphor; textual cohesion; Fluß a potential false friend |
| 3 | 01/08 | term | Sprengel | ?? | unfamiliar lexical item |
| 4 | 01/10 | ditto/strategy | ditto | town meeting, village green, ward, precinct, (parish, diocese) | found in Langen- scheidt; equivalent found in Benjamin (Jihad & McWorld) |
| 5 | 01/08 | term/strategy | Kabotage | ?? | |
| 6 | 01/10 | ditto | ditto | [extended paraphrase] | found in Langen- scheidt; true English cognate unfamiliar to target audience; retention of sailing metaphor |
The Translation Log and Translation Analysis
The log only provides some of the raw material that you need to write a coherent analysis of a particular translation job. It can reveal to you whether the problems you identified are fundamentally terminological or syntactical, for instance, but it should not be used strictly as a check list or as an organizational feature to structure your analysis either chronologically or thematically. You always have the option of writing an extended commentary on your decisions, analyzing the text, your approach, and your strategies.
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