Project Log

Project Log

 

Project Log

 

INTRODUCTION

LEXICAL
PROBLEMS

STRUCTURAL
ASPECTS (GRAMMAR & STYLE)

CULTURAL
ITEMS TRANSMISSION

DRAFTING
(CONNECTING SENTENCES, WORD SELECTION, TEXTUAL COHESION)

EDITING
(VERSION PRODUCED AFTER FEEDBACK FROM TUTOR)

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

The reason I chose this project for the practicum
subject is because I want to know more about the subject of art databases and
the London art market. Eventually, I want to post my translation in my wordpress
blog: rosgom2000.wordpress.com.

 

Furthermore, being in University means a lot of essay
writing. I find it difficult to write such texts in English, and I thought that
this project would help with my English, and also with my academic and formal
linguistic register in particular.

 

In this way I would develop my reading comprehension
skills and study the structures of the foreign language.

 

Last year in translation we focused on literary and
journalistic texts, so I thought it was important to change the linguistic
register.

 

The goal of academic writing is to summarize your
research and to explain what material you found and where you discovered it.

 

LEXICAL
PROBLEMS

 

 

Although I started my project with weak results: very
literal translation in places. Later on I tried to attempt to write well
without literal translation. But this provoked a semantic distance between the
original and the translation which I had to edit after looking more carefully
to the original.

 

As regards lexical choices I made in my translation I
tried to bear in mind my tutor feedback. The original text provided lots of
examples that challenged my perception towards the right translation in the
target language. Most of them relate to English for Business. Such well-known
term as “businesses” I wrongly translated as “empresas”, being in fact
“negocios”. “Droit de suite” I had to search in a French monolingual Dictionary
providing the following definition: “Droit pour un auteur (et ses héritiers
après sa mort pendant 50 ans) d’oeuvres graphiques ou plastiques de percevoir
une partie du prix de toute vente de ces oeuvres.” Besides «a car boot
sale » translated in the draft as “mercadillo” ended up in the edited
version as “Mercado de segunda mano”. Again “tastemakers” had to give the idea
of someone that creates taste so it becomes “generadores de gusto”. A tricky
one that makes you forget your task because it is difficult to find an
equivalent in the target language is “the market to be made”, that is “hacer
mercado”.

 

 

STRUCTURAL
ASPECTS (GRAMMAR & STYLE)

 

 

 

The problems and issues I found and discussed with my
tutor are as follows:

 

• Compared to English, academic Spanish uses lots more
  words to say the same things
• I did not know if I had to translate quotations into
  Spanish. You bet
• Coherence in the use of tenses was a challenge at times.
  I decided to be flexible and turned negligent instead so I had to proofread
  tenses in several occasions. The historical present works well in Spanish so I
  tried to use it even when writing about historical facts as if they were
  happening now
• Gerunds appear again and again in titles such as
  “Cataloguing Auctions”, “Recording Auctions”, “Advertising Auctions”. Once I
  decided to translate the first one as “Subastas para catalogar” I was
  consistent with the other ones
• Style: I find it quite elegant and a pleasure to read.
  I try hard for my translation to be interesting too. Sometimes I overdo it and
  sound ironic instead. One example of that is my translation of “homes” for
  “mansiones”. Larry fortunately pointed that out for me. Because sometimes I
  stressed out I got angry and bored when having to repeat the same expressions
  and write endless figures. After relaxing a little bit I appreciated the
  quality of the source text much more

 

 

CULTURAL
ITEMS TRANSMISSION

 

Cultural
items in the text require a minute address. By cultural items we mean:
periodicals, geographical names- neighbourhoods or streets-, organizations. It
is difficult to be understood by the average foreign reader without further
information.

 

Double-check
always which is the true meaning of the cultural item you deal with! I was
astonished how many times I could not define properly basic cultural items. Try
to make the real meaning of the cultural item crystal clear for the reader.
This way you avoid compromising the comprehension of the text.

 

 

 

 

The following are some examples of this
problem:

 

 

• “The Daily Telegraph”: small specification must be
  included about this periodical; “el fiable diario londinense”
• “East End”: it is better to add “el barrio londinense
  del East End”; which is currently hype in art life
• “Society of London Art Dealers”> Sociedad de
  marchantes de arte de Londres; best option as this can be understood by a
  Spanish reader
• Cosmovision: “The market is so exciting at the moment.
  It is almost like going to the theatre.” I claim the status of theatre and
  shopping in London is not the same as it is here: considering wealthy and
  ordinary people from all over the world travel to London to spend their money
  in these activities

 

DRAFTING
(CONNECTING SENTENCES, WORD SELECTION, TEXTUAL COHESION)

 

 

A translator is a writer, therefore he must
write well in the target language. The general process I work with is: read
everything; later, get something done. After reading the original more
carefully, understand it thoroughly, edit it and achieve the best possible
translation.

 

EDITING
(VERSION PRODUCED AFTER FEEDBACK FROM TUTOR)

 

 

When I had to work on my final version I tried to make a personal
reflection about my mistakes, have a look at Larry’s corrections and just read
it out loud to see how it sounds. My criterion was clear, try to understand the
sentence in English first. That is worth it. Not only read it. Try harder when
necessary, especially when I had made too many mistakes. That is the first
step.

 

Then
double-check the mistakes. Think why they are mistakes. Correct them.
Double-check again to see how it sounds. Can I understand the same thing now
that it is in a different language? If not, start again until happy with the
result.

 

It comes to
a point when you realize the text sounds all right, that is bliss, and you
never thought you will be there. Time to enjoy!

 

I am a bit surprised of the amount of time I
have spent in these tutorials. I understand it is the first time in my degree
that I find real coaching sessions. This is a privilege. I learn in the process
to use my tutor to my best advantage. Discuss with him what my problems have
been in terms of vocabulary, grammar, etc.

 

 

 

 

SOURCES

Original
Text: “Art Databases, the Internet and the London Art Market”

Practicum Translation
Correcting Scheme (Larry Muies)

Machine
translation services: Google Translator (at Google
(http://translate.google.com))

Dictionaries:
Oxford English-Spanish, Spanish-English Dictionary & Collins Monolingual
Dictionary

Dictionaries in the web

-
Answers
(http://www.answers.com/)

-
WordReference
(http://www.wordreference.com/)

Terms

-
IATE
(http://iate.europa.eu/)

-
This is a European council dictionary organized by subject that is very useful for technical terms

 

Bibliography:

 

Newmark,
Peter (1988), A Textbook of Translation. New York & London: Prentice Hall

Bravo
Utrera, Sonia (2004), La traducción en los sistemas culturales. Ensayos sobre
traducción y literatura. Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Servicio de
Publicaciones

Eco, Umberto (2003), Decir casi lo mismo. Editorial Lumen

 

 

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