Propositions on cross-cultural communication and translation
AnthonyPym
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Abstract
Cross-cultural communication can be characterized by a relatively high degree of effort required to reduce complexity, by relatively high transaction costs, by relatively low trust between communication partners, and by relatively narrow success conditions that create points of high-risk discourse. To communicate successfully between cultures would thus require a special kind of risk management. Translation, as a mode of cross-cultural communication, is held to share those same features, as well as at least two specific representational maxims concerning discursive persons and textual quantity. It is argued that the related concepts of complexity, success conditions and risk can describe not only the act of translating as a mode of cross-cultural communication, but also certain features of the professional intercultures to which translators belong. Step-by-step propositions thus synthesize an approach that runs from an analysis of cross-cultural communication to a description of professional intercultures, their sources of power, and the reasons for their apparent lack of power in a globalizing age.
The following are propositions designed to connect a few ideas about crosscultural communication. They are presented in fairly common language and as concisely as possible. The ideas are drawn from a multiplicity of existing theories; the aim is not particularly to be original. The propositions are instead intended to link up three endeavors: an abstract conception of cross-cultural communication, a description of the specificities of translation, and an attempt to envisage the future of cross-cultural communication in a globalizing age. The various points at which the propositions draw on previous theories are indicated in a series of endnotes. Examples and illustrations can be found in the works referred to.
References
Agar, Michael
1994Language shock: Understanding the culture of conversation. New York: William Morrow.
Bourdieu, Pierre
1979Le sens pratique. Paris: Minuit.
Chatwin, Bruce
1987The songlines. London: Picador.
Chesterman, Andrew
1994a “From ‘is’ to ‘ought’: Laws, norms and strategies in Translation Studies”. Target 5:1. 1–20.
Chesterman, Andrew
1994b “Karl Popper in the translation class”. Cay Dollerup and Annette Lindegaard, eds. Teaching translation and interpreting 2: Insights, aims and visions. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins 1994 89–95.
Chesterman, Andrew
1997Memes of translation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Chesterman, Andrew
2001 “Proposal for a Hieronymic oath”. Anthony Pym, ed. The return to ethics. Special issue of The translator 7:2. 139–154.
1995Cultural studies and cultural value. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gile, Daniel
1995Basic concepts and models for translator and interpreter training. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Grice, H. Paul
1975 “Logic and conversation”. Peter Cole and Jerry L. Morgan, eds. Syntax and semantics 3: Speech acts. New York: Academic Press 1975 41–58.
Gutt, Ernst-August
1991Translation and relevance. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Halverson, Sandra
1999 “Conceptual work and the ‘translation’ concept”. Target 11:1. 1–31.
Holmes, James S.
1988 “Forms of verse translation and the translation of verse form”. Translated!: Papers on literary translation and Translation Studies. Amsterdam: Rodopi 1988 23–33.
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa
1984Translatorisches Handeln: Theorie und Methode. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
Katz, Jerrold
1978 “Effability and translation”. F. Guenther and M. Guenther-Reutter, eds. Meaning and translation: Philosophical and linguistic approaches. London: Duckworth 1978 191–234.
Keohane, Robert O.
1984After hegemony: Cooperation and discord in the world political economy. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lambert, José
1989 “La traduction, les langues et la communication de masse: Les ambiguïtés du discours international”. Target 1:2. 215–237.
Levý, Jiří
1967 “Translation as a decision process”. Reprinted in Andrew Chesterman, ed. Readings in translation theory. Helsinki: Oy Finn Lectura Ab 1989 37–52.
Luhmann, Niklas
1989Vertrauen: Ein Mechanismus der Reduktion sozialer Komplexität, 3. durchgesehene Auflage. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke.
Mayoral, Roberto
2003Translating official documents. Manchester: St Jerome.
Monacelli, Claudia and Roberto Punzo
2001 “Ethics in the fuzzy domain of interpreting: A ‘military’ perspective”. Anthony Pym, ed. The return to ethics. Special issue of The translator
7:2. 265–282.
Pym, Anthony
1992aTranslation and text transfer: An essay on the principles of intercultural communication. Frankfurt/Main, Berlin, Bern, New York, Paris, Vienna: Peter Lang.
Pym, Anthony
1992b “The relations between translation and material text transfer”. Target 4:2. 171–189.
Pym, Anthony
1992c “Translation error analysis and the interface with language teaching”. Cay Dollerup and Anne Loddegaard, eds. The teaching of translation: Training talent and experience. Amsterdam: John Benjamins 1992 279–288.
Pym, Anthony
1993Epistemological problems in translation and its teaching. Calaceite: Caminade.
Pym, Anthony
1995 “Translation as a transaction cost”. Meta 40:4. 594–605.
[ p. 27 ]
Pym, Anthony
1996 “Multilingual intertextuality in translation”. Beatriz Penas Ibáñez, ed. The intertextual dimension of discourse. Zaragoza: Universidad de Zaragoza 1996 207–218.
Pym, Anthony
1997Pour une éthique du traducteur. Arras: Artois Presses Université/Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.
Pym, Anthony
1998Method in translation history. Manchester: St Jerome.
Pym, Anthony
2000a “On cooperation”. Maeve Olohan, ed. Intercultural faultlines: Research models in Translation Studies I: Textual and cognitive aspects. Manchester: St Jerome 2000 181–192.
Pym, Anthony
2000bNegotiating the frontier: Translators and intercultures in Hispanic history. Manchester: St Jerome.
Pym, Anthony
2001a “Alternatives to borders in translation theory”.
Athanor (Bari) 12, nuova serie: Lo stesso altro
, ed. Susan Petrilli 2001 172–182.
Pym, Anthony
2001b “Four remarks on translation and multimedia”. Yves Gambier and Henrik Gottlieb, eds. Multimedia translation: Concepts, practices, and research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2001 275–282.
Pym, Anthony
2003a “Redefining translation competence in an electronic age”. Meta 48:3. 481–497.
Pym, Anthony
2003b “Translation Studies should help solve social problems”. Georges Androulakis, ed. Translating in the 21st century: Trends and prospects. Proceedings. Thessaloniki: Aristotle University 2003 439–448.
Pym, Anthony
2004The moving text: Localization, translation, and distribution. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Quine, Willard Van Orman
1960Word and object. Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press.
Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson
1988Relevance: Communication and cognition. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Sprung, Robert C.
ed.2000Translating into success: Cutting-edge strategies for going multilingual in a global age. American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series XI. Amsterdam/PhiladelphiaJohn Benjamins.
Stecconi, Ubaldo
2002 “Not a melting pot: The challenges of multilingual communication in the European Commission”. Paper delivered to conference The translation industry today. Rimini, Italy, 11–13 October 2002.
Toury, Gideon
1995Descriptive Translation Studies and beyond. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Toury, Gideon
2002 “What’s the problem with ‘translation problem’?”. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, eds. Translation and meaning Part 6: Proceedings of the 3rd International Maastricht–Lódź Duo Colloquium. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers Maastricht 2002 57–71.[ p. 28 ]