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Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 70:3 (2024) ► pp.381–414

Decision-making in the translation of proper-name allusions

Translation strategies in both directions between English and Chinese

| University of Southampton
As an intertextual and culture-specific expression, allusion activates two texts simultaneously, embedding them with intended meaning from the source culture but not necessarily in the target culture. In the context of L1 translation being the majority, allusions can be puzzles that cause “cultural bumps” for translators unfamiliar with the source culture and language. It is a concern whether translators can accurately and appropriately handle allusions, e.g., proper-name and key-phrase allusions. This paper focused on the novice translator’s utilization of translation strategies in both directions of translation to find out how they deal with proper-name allusions and what might influence their choice of strategies. The results suggest that the translators have distinct preferences for the strategies used to translate proper-name allusions in both directions of translation. The findings further identified potential factors that motivated the novice translators’ decision-making process. They revealed their translation competence and awareness that may influence the decision-making of translators handling proper-name allusions.
Keywords: translation of proper-name allusion, translation strategies, directionality, translation competence and awareness, translator training
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Pile Pelion on Ossa
  • 2.Translation strategies for proper-name allusions
  • 3.Research design: Three phases
    • 3.1Participants’ information
    • 3.2Ethical consideration
    • 3.3Source text
    • 3.4Data analysis
  • 4.Findings: Translation strategies in L1 and L2 translation
    • 4.1Verbal feedback in L1 translation
    • 4.2Verbal feedback in L2 translation
  • 5.Discussion: Translation competence and awareness influences
    • 5.1Command of translation strategies
    • 5.2Understanding the allusion and its connotation
    • 5.3The contextual meaning in the ST and the fine-tuning of the TT
    • 5.4Awareness of Skopos and readership
  • 6.Conclusion: In a nutshell
  • References
Published online: 11 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00385.ren
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