The Translation Process Methods and Problems of its Investigation.pdf

Article

"The Translation Process: Methods and Problems of its Investigation"

Wolfgang Lörscher

Meta, vol. 50, n° 2, 2005, p. 597-608.

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The Translation Process: Methods and

Problems of its Investigation

WOLFGANG LÖRSCHER

University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

WolfgangLoerscher@web.de

RÉSUMÉ

Après une brève introduction sur l’analyse de processus mentaux (section 1), ainsi

qu’une esquisse d’une recherche approfondie décrite dans cet article (section 2), nous

présentons notre méthodologie (section 3). Elle consiste en une sélection de données

ainsi qu’une analyse et évaluation de ces dernières. La section 4 décrit une analyse stra-

tégique du processus de traduction faite sur trois niveaux : le niveau des éléments de

stratégies de traductions (4.1.) ; des stratégies elles-mêmes (4.2) ; ainsi que des versions

(5). La fin de l’article compare brièvement les processus de traduction entre profession-

nels et non-professionnels.

ABSTRACT

After the introductory remarks about the analysis of mental translation processes (sec-

tion 1) and an outline of the investigation reported on in this paper (section 2) the

methodology used is presented (section 3). It consists of the methods for data elicitation

as well as for data analysis and evaluation. Section 4 describes a strategic analysis of

translation processes carried out on three levels: the level of the elements of translation

strategies (4.1), of the strategies themselves (4.2) and of the translation versions (5). The

paper terminates with a brief comparison of professional and non-professional transla-

tion processes (section 6).

MOTS-CLÉS/KEYWORDS

translation problem, translation strategy, translation performance, translation version,

translation process

1. Introduction

Up to the 1980s, translation theory was primarily concerned with two phenomena

(Lörscher 1991a): with translation as a product and with translation competence.

Translation as a product that is a written text in a target-language (TL), which

represents the result of a translation process, had been described and analysed by a

comparison with the respective source-language (SL) text. The relation between the

SL text and the TL text had been the object of the numerous and highly abstract mod-

els of equivalence (Koller 1978; 2 1983: 95; Ladmiral 1981: 393). In most cases, these

models were prescriptive in nature and of very limited use for the practical translator.

Translation theory was mainly competence-oriented and concentrated on the

internalized knowledge of the professional translator. The models of translation were

theoretical and speculative rather than empirical, and were based on idealizations

rather than on actually occurring data (Toury 1980: 41).

As a consequence of this orientation on product and competence, translation

processes and translation performance remained largely unexplored (Reiß/Vermeer

Meta, L, 2, 2005

598 Meta, L, 2, 2005

1984: 41; Krings 1986). This narrowing of the object and of the dimensions of inves-

tigation has only recently been recognized as a deficit. As a result, a new, process-

oriented, performance-analytical discipline has developed within translation studies

(cf. Gerloff 1988; Jääskeläinen 1990; Krings 1986; Lörscher 1991a; Séguinot 1989;

Tirkkonen-Condit 1991).

The considerations which will be made in this paper can be located within this

area of research. They are based on a research project in which psycholinguistic as-

pects of the translation process are investigated by analyzing translation performance .

This is done in order to reconstruct translation strategies . These underlie translation

performance , operate in the translation process and thus are not accessible to direct

inspection.

2. The Design of the Investigation

The empirical basis of the investigation was sixty orally performed and tape-re-

corded translations (German-English; English-German) of nine written texts. The

oral form of translation was chosen, since presumably more aspects of the process of

speech production – and thus also those of the translation process – can be external-

ized herein than would be the case in written translation.

During the first phase of the project, translation processes of advanced foreign

language learners were investigated. The subjects – mostly students of English in

lower semesters – had received no or only a minimal education in translation. They

had only a partial competence in English beside their German mother tongue. The

results brought forth are shown in my monograph Translation Performance, Transla-

tion Process, and Translation Strategies. A Psycholinguistic Investigation , Tübingen, 1991.

In 1992, the project entered its second phase in which the mental processes of

professional translators were analysed. At the moment, a third phase is in preparation

which will concentrate on bilinguals’ translation processes (Lörscher [in preparation]).

3. Methodology

Concerning the methodology which has been applied for the investigation of the

translation process, distinctions can be made between the methods for data collec-

tion and those for data evaluation.

3.1 Methods of Data Collection

As regards data collection , a combination of thinking-aloud and retrospective

probing plays a decisive role as a method to discern the mental processes involved

(Ericsson/Simon 1984). The subjects were asked to verbalize the thoughts that

occurred to them as much as possible while they performed the translation task. In

addition, the subjects were confronted with their translation problems shortly after

their translation and were asked to comment on the problems and the ways in which

they tried to solve them. During the last several years, many arguments have been put

forward about the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure. Elsewhere

(Lörscher 1991b), I pointed out seven arguments in favour of thinking-aloud as a

method for the elicitation of data on translation processes. By way of conclusion, it

the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 599

can be assumed that thinking-aloud in combination with retrospective probing rep-

resents a useful instrument to formulate hypotheses on mental processes in general

and about translation processes in particular. It goes without saying that both the

situation in which the data has been externalized and its inherent limitations must be

taken into account.

3.2 Methods of Data Analysis and Evaluation

The analysis and evaluation of data are carried out by means of an interpretive

approach, as is customary in performance analysis. The primary aim of this

approach is the hypothetical reconstruction of sense relations. In the process of in-

terpretive reconstruction, certain data are interpreted as (observable) indicators of

(unobservable, mental) translation strategies. These indicators represent the basis for

the formation of hypotheses on the mental translation process. A more detailed

description of these phenomena is discussed in Lörscher 1991a: 56-66.

The process of knowledge accumulation with respect to translation strategies

has a dialectical nature. On the one hand, the analysts must have some knowledge of

the concept of translation strategies in order to be able to ascribe the status of strat-

egy indicators to their respective signs. On the other hand, translation strategies are

only constituted by their indicators, so that knowledge of them can, to a very large

extent, only be gained by means of strategy indicators. Therefore, the analysts must

often proceed in a speculative and hypothetical way. They often do not interpret

signs to be indicators because they know the respective entity, i.e. the strategy, but

rather on the basis of considerations of probability. These can be corroborated or

turn out to be false in the course of accumulating further knowledge of the phenom-

ena and of acquiring more experience in interpretation (Lörscher 1991a: 56-66).

4. A Strategic Analysis of the Process of Translation

Translation strategies have been defined by me as procedures which the subjects employ

in order to solve translation problems (Lörscher 1991a: 76-81). Accordingly, transla-

tion strategies have their starting-point in the realization of a problem by a subject,

and their termination in a (possibly preliminary) solution to the problem or in the

subject’s realization of the insolubility of the problem at the given point in time.

Between the realization of a translation problem and the realization of its solu-

tion or insolubility, further verbal and/or mental activities can occur which can be

interpreted as strategy steps or elements of translation strategies. They can be for-

malized to yield categories of a model for the strategic analysis of the translation

process. A model of this type was developed on the basis of a corpus of translations

made by foreign language students. In the second stage of the project, it was applied

to translations performed by professional translators. Significant modifications of

the model were unwarranted for an adequate analysis of professional translation

processes although the quality and structure of the translation strategies and their

elements, as well as their quantitative distribution differ considerably, at least in part

(cf. section 6 for more details).

The model consists of two hierarchical levels. The first and lowest level contains

those phenomena which can be interpreted to be elements of translation strategies , i.e.

600 Meta, L, 2, 2005

the smallest discrete problem-solving steps. The second level captures the manifesta-

tions of translation strategies. Translation versions can be located within strategies or

can comprise several strategies, and are thus intra- or interstrategic phenomena.

More about the hierarchical organization of the model will be pointed out in sec-

tions 4.3 and 5.

4.1 Elements of Translation Strategies

The elements of translation strategies can be distinguished as to whether they are

original, i.e. constitutive, or potential. The former only occur within strategic, i.e.

problem-oriented phases of the translation process and are thus original, constitutive

elements of translation strategies. The latter may also occur within non-strategic

phases of the translation process.

In my data corpus, 22 elements of translation strategies could be found. They are

contained in Annex 1.

4.2 Translation Strategies

Translation strategies are procedures for solving translation problems. They range

from the realization of a translational problem to its solution or the realization of its

insolubility by a subject at a given moment. They are constituted by those minimal

problem-solving steps outlined above.

The flow chart represented in Annex 2 shows the interplay of the elements of

translation strategies and thus the decision paths available to the subjects when they

are engaged in solving translational problems.

As the data show, the elements of translation strategies only combine in specific

ways to build up structures. Accordingly, translation strategies contain one or more

of these structures.

Following a model for the analysis of discourse, which I developed in a different

context (Lörscher 1983), a distinction is made between basic structures , expanded

structures , and complex structures of translation strategies. This is based on the fact

that although translation strategies can be highly complex and thus difficult to docu-

ment and describe in their manifold forms, they can be reduced to a fairly small

number of relatively simple structures. The application of a generative principle allows

the transformation of basic structures into expanded and complex structures .

The types of translation strategies used by the subjects of my investigations are

schematically represented as follows.

Five types of basic structures occur in my data corpus:

Type I. : RP - (P)SP#/SPØ

Type II. : RP -

→

SP) - VP - (

→

SP) - (P)SP#/SPØ; at least one

→

SP must be

realized.

Type V. : (…) (P)SPa/SPaØ (…) (P)SPb/SPbØ (…) (P)SPc/SPcØ (…)

Type I. is the easiest case to describe and consists of the recognition of a problem

(RP), followed by the immediate solution of the problem or the recognition of the

momentary insolubility of the problem. According to the generative principle, types

SP - (P)SP#/SPØ

Type III. : (RP) - VP - (P)SP#/SPØ

Type IV. : (RP) - (

→

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