UNIT 1

Basic approaches to translation and interpretation. Interpreting as interlingual and cross-cultural communication

Main points

1. Basic approaches to translation and interpretation

2. Interpreting as interlingual and cross-cultural communication

3. Types (modes) of translation and interpretation

4. Regulators of interpretation and associations of translators/interpreters

5. Language combination

6. Specific skills required for interpreting

7. Professional ethics and moral code of interpreters

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1.1 Basic approaches to translation and interpretation

There exist many rather controversial definitions of translation and interpretation suggested by the representatives of different schools of linguistics and translation. These definitions range from formal, structural approaches to translation, e.g. “translation is substitution of elements or structures of one language for the elements or structures of another language (A. Oettinger, N. Chomsky, O. Kade, V. Rozentsveig), to semantic and functional approaches to translation, e.g. “translation is rendering in the target language (TL) of the closest natural equivalent of the initial message from the point of view of its meaning and style” [Nida, Taber 1969, see also a survey of different approaches to translation in Швейцер 1988: 42-75].

All these approaches contributed to a contemporary understanding of translation as interlingual and cross-cultural communication recognised by many Ukrainian (O.Cherednychenko, L. Chernovatyi, V. Karaban, I. Korunets, S. Maksimov, G. Miram, O. Semenets, S. Shvachko, O. Vasylchenko, etc), Russian (L. Barkhudarov, G. Chernov, A. Chuzhakin, A. Fedorov, V. Komissarov, R. Minyar-Beloruchev, Ya. Retsker, A. Shveitser, etc) and western (M. Baker, M.A.K. Halliday, D. Hatim, R. Jones, J. Munday, V. Taylor-Bouladon, L. Vysson, etc) scholars.

According to this understanding translation is a process of transforming speech messages in the source language (SL) into the speech messages in the target language (TL) under condition that their sense and communicative intention remain unchanged [Чернов 1987: 6]. It is quite natural that in the process of translation the form of the messages can be transformed, which is conditioned by the structural (lexical, morphological and syntactical) differences between languages. Such transformations, which are inevitable in the process of translation, are also called “code shifting” (i.e. substitution of the TL structures for the SL structures). The term "sense” denotes meaning conveyed or intended in speech. As interpreters, we certainly try to convey sense and get the message across [Luccarelli 2003].

1.2 Interpreting as interlingual and cross-cultural communication

The process of translation (interpreting) is often described for practical reasons as a three-stage pattern [see Швейцер 1988: 49; Miram 1998: 57]: