Agenda

Workshop on Function and Translation

9 November 2017

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (North Campus)

Guangzhou, China

09:00~12:00: Registration

Venue:  Room 402, Teaching Building 4 of GDUFS

14:00~17:00: Workshop on Function and Translation

Venue:  International Conference Hall, 3rd Floor, Administrative Building of GDUFS

13:50~14:00: Group Photo

14:00~14:05: Welcome and Opening 

Welcoming Speech by

Prof. ZHAO Junfeng, Dean of School of Interpreting and Translation Studies，Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Secretary General of China National Committee for Translation & Interpreting Education, Secretary General of World Interpreter and Translator Training Association (WITTA)

14:05~14:20: Appointment Ceremony 

14:20~17:00: Lectures

                     Moderator: Prof. HUANG Guowen

14:20~14:45: Lecture by Prof. Christiane Nord

Topic：Meaning, Sense, Function: What do We Translate?

14:45~15:10: Lecture by Prof. Jan-Louis Kruger

Topic:   The Tension between Documentary and Instrumental Translation in Audiovisual Translation

15:10~15:40:   Q&A

15:40~16:05: Lecture by Prof. HUANG Youyi

Topic：  For Whom do We Translate and How?

16:05~16:30: Lecture by Prof. FU Penghui

Topic：Foreignizing or Domesticating Translation: The Case of UN Verbatim Reporting

16:30~17:00:   Q&A

 Prof. Christiane Nord:

Christiane Nord was trained as a translator for Spanish and English at Heidelberg University (degree equivalent to a B.A. Honours). She holds a PhD in Romance Studies (Spanish and Portuguese language and literature) from the University of Heidelberg and a post-doc qualification (“Habilitation”) in Applied Translation Studies and Translation Pedagogy (University of Vienna). Between 1967 and 2005, she taught translation theory, methodology and practice at various universities in Germany and abroad (Heidelberg, Vienna, Hildesheim, Innsbruck, Magdeburg). From 1998 to 2000, she was Vice-Rector of the University of Applied Sciences of Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany.

Since her retirement from active university service in 2005, short-time invitations to international conferences and teaching appointments by universities and translator training institutions in Europe, Middle East, America, Asia and Africa are taking her around the world. In 2007, she was appointed research associate and professor extraordinary of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. She is a visiting professor at the University of Vigo, Spain, and various universities of the PR of China (Qingdao, Xi’an, Tianjin) and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2015.

Christiane Nord is a member of the Board of Advisors of various scholarly journals, among them are The Translator (Manchester, St. Jerome), Sendebar (University of Granada, Spain), Cuaderns (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES (Budapest, Hungary), Cadernos de Tradução (Florianopolis/Brasil).

She has appr. 200 publications in German, English, and Spanish about theoretical, methodological and pedagogical aspects of skopos theory and "functionalism" in translation. Her books have been translated into many languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Greek and Arabic.

Among her most important book publications are Text Analysis in Translation (1991, 2nd rev. ed. 2005), Translating as a Purposeful Activity (1997, 2nd rev. ed. forthcoming), and the English translation of the seminal book on Skopos theory by Reiss and Vermeer, Towards a General Theory of Translational Action (2013). She has translated various other books, among them a new German translation of the New Testament together with her husband, the New Testament scholar Klaus Berger (1999).

Christiane Nord is a member of the German Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters (BDÜ), the European Society of Translation Studies (EST), and the German Society of Applied Linguistics (GAL). She is also a member of the Board of Advisors of a number of scholarly journals, and a member of the Committee of Translation Policies (COTP) of the United Bible Societies.

Topic: 

Meaning, Sense, Function: What do We Translate?

Abstract

  Functionalist translation theory (Skopostheorie) postulates that the intended function of the target text, explicitly or implicitly defined by the translation brief, should be the guideline for the translator’s decisions. Equivalence-oriented theories, however, focus on the “meaning” or “sense” of the source text which should be “preserved” in the translation process.

  Lay people (and even some linguists) understand by “meaning” the definition or paraphrase offered for a lemma in the monolingual dictionary. The term “meaning” here indicates that the specific circumstances in which the word or expression is uttered are not taken into account: meaning is defined at the level of type, not of token. However, translation takes place in situations which are, in turn, embedded in a culture, and there, meaning is determined by material aspects of the object in question, psycho-mental aspects of the users, norms and conventions of usage and prototypical forms of even the simplest object, i.e. at the level of token. If it were meaning that has to be “preserved”, translation would indeed be impossible.

  Meaning takes form in context and becomes “sense”. But every recipient “makes sense” of an utterance in different ways, due to their socio-cultural background, their expectations, and their attitude towards the sender. Therefore, sense cannot be “preserved either”.

  Instead of trying to preserve meaning or sense in spite of different conditions in source and target communicative situations, as postulated by equivalence-based theories, it seems more appropriate to use “intended function” as a guideline for translation. “Function” is an abbreviated way of speaking about function or functions or hierarchy of functions, since texts are rarely intended for one single function. To make this concept operational, I will present my “four-function model” for translator training and translation practice. 

 Prof. Jan-Louis Kruger:

  Jan-Louis Kruger is Head of the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. His main research interests include studies on the reception and processing of audiovisual translation products including aspects such as cognitive load, comprehension, attention allocation, and psychological immersion. He is a co-editor for Perspectives, Studies in Translatology. His current research projects investigate cognitive load in the context of educational subtitling with a view to optimising subtitles as language support in second language environments.

Topic

The Tension between Documentary and Instrumental Translation in Audiovisual Translation

Abstract

  Audiovisual translation differs from the translation of either written language or the spoken word in that the audience is constantly reminded of the fact that they are processing the target text in addition to the source text. At the same time, audiovisual translation tries to disappear into the background so as not to disturb the aesthetics of the audiovisual text. In that sense, audiovisual translation is always only a partial translation of the source text, because a big part of the source text does not require translation. I will attempt to explore the fundamental tensions in the mode between documentary translation practices and instrumental translation practices (in Nord’s terms) when dealing with the translation of audiovisual texts where the dialogue is only one component of the meaning.

 Prof. HUANG Youyi:

  A translator and editor for more than 30 years, Huang Youyi has been a long-time proponent of the language and translation profession. He served as vice president of the International Federation of Translators (FIT) from 2005 to 2011 and vice president and editor-in-chief of the China International Publishing Group from 1993 to 2013. Currently he is executive vice president of the Translators Association of China (TAC), vice president of the China Academy of Translation, chairman of the China National Committee on TI Education, chairman of the English Specialists Committee of China Aptitude Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI) and chief editor of the Chinese Translators Journal.

  He has translated and edited more than 40 books, mostly from Chinese into English covering a wide-range subjects from literature to law, and history to political science. His English-Chinese translations include The Vanity Fire, George Marshall, Ordeal and Hope 1939-1942 and Highest Duty. He has also written extensively for a number of journals and newspapers focusing on the translation profession and international cultural exchanges.

  In recognition of his many contributions throughout his 30-plus years of dedicated service to the translation profession, he was awarded the FIT Medal of Golden Pin and the Special Contribution Award by TAC.

Topic

For Whom do We Translate and How?

Abstract

  Translating Chinese for international English audience involves effectively crossing such barriers as historic background, cultural differences and linguistic habits. Given the growing amount of translation work and the shortage of native English-speaking translators, currently the best approach is for Chinese translators and their overseas counterparts to work together. The need for such cooperative translation initiatives is stronger more than ever before.

 Prof. FU Penghui:

  FU Penghui, Yunshan Senior Professor, School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, GDUFS; Strategic Consultant, World Interpreter and Translator Training Association (WITTA); UN-Certified Translator/Senior Reviser.

  Graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in 1980; graduated from the Graduate Program for UN translators training, based in BFSU, in 1984, with two UN Certificates for Chinese Translators and Verbatim Reporters respectively; graduated from the Graduate School, CUNY, in 1989, with a MA degree in Political Science.

  37-year experience in the field of translation - worked as Translator/Interpreter, for the Beijing Bureau of the Baltimore Sun, an American Newspaper, from 1980 to 1983; was employed by the UN from 1984 to 2017, having served in various capacities – Translator, Reviser, Senior Reviser, Chief of Service, and Deputy Director; translated, revised, or otherwise contributed to the processing of, the meeting records for thousands of various meetings, covering a broad range of subjects – with a word count of tens of millions; was actively involved in conducting several UN Competitive Examinations for Translators, Editors and Verbatim Reporters, as chair or member of the Board of Examiners. Have been teaching graduate courses on translation in the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies, GDUFS, since early September 2017.

Topic

 Foreignizing or Domesticating Translation: The Case of UN Verbatim Reporting

Abstract

  Will give a brief account of the UN translation services, consisting of document translation and verbatim reporting, the latter being the preparation of a word-for-word meeting record and its translation, which is the focus for discussion. Will explain how a meeting record is prepared and translated from one language into another.

  As part of the UN official documents, verbatim meeting records are produced, with accuracy as the main criterion. As required, verbatim reporters and revisers are responsible for ensuring conformity of the translated/revised meeting records with the original and/or other language versions and with the United Nations established practice. While there is no official classification in the UN as to what type of translation is used, two types of translation – foreignizing and domesticating translation – are commonly employed, though to varying degrees.

  Related examples will be cited to show how important it is to employ different types of translation as appropriate and as dictated by the principle of accuracy. This area may be worth looking into, so as to provide helpful lessons for the training of UN translators.

Prof. HUANG Guowen:

  HUANG Guowen is a Chair Professor of the Changjiang Programme selected by the Ministry of Education of P.R. China.  He was a professor of Functional Linguistics during 1996-2016 at Sun Yat-sen University, P.R. China.  He is now a professor of Functional Linguistics and Ecolinguistics and is also Dean of the College of Foreign Studies as well as Director of Centre for Ecolinguistics at South China Agricultural University, P.R. China (Guangzhou).  He was educated in Britain and received PhD degrees from two British universities (1992: Applied Linguistics, Edinburgh; 1996, Functional Linguistics, Cardiff).  He was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University during 2004-2005. During 2011-2014 he was Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Systemic Functional Linguistics Association.  He is Editor-in-chief of the journal Zhongguo Waiyu (Foreign Languages in China) (Beijing), and is Co-editor-in-chief of Functional Linguistics (Springer), Journal of World Languages (Routledge), and M.A.K. Halliday Library Functional Linguistics Series (Springer), apart from serving as adviser or member of editorial boards for a number of international journals and publishers.  His main research interests include systemic functional linguistics, translation studies, ecolinguistics and discourse analysis.