TRANSLATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE GLOBALIZED WORLD

1.    In the beginning, it was the verb ... and its translation

Since the very first human groupings, since the beginning of what we now call human culture, man has been weaving his history with words, and soon became aware of the existence of other groups with languages and habits different from his own, which must have been, in fact, an astonishing experience. It is this amazement that the Mexican poet and translator Octavio Paz tells us about in his essay "Lectura y Contemplación":

Todas las sociedades, tarde o temprano, descubren que hay otros grupos que hablan un lenguaje distinto al suyo. Advertir que, para otros hombres, los sonidos que nos sirven para designar a esto o aquello - pan, cielo, demonios, árboles - nombran a otros objetos o no designan nada y sonero mero ruido, debe haber sido una experiencia sobrecogedora. (1984:7)

The perplexity resulting from this discovery - which still affects us today when we encounter unexpected linguistic-cultural differences - leads us to think that the need for communication between groups, tribes and peoples, made possible through interpretation and, later, written translation, makes these two activities the great precursors of the globalization movement, here understood in the sense of integration of the cultures that make up the diversity of the world and of the ways of looking at this world. Understood in this way, translation has always been at the service of globalization, that is, the reduction of distances, the exchange between communities, the bringing together of peoples, the creation and maintenance of a network that, initially local and regional, intensified until it became the linguistic network that today connects our global village.
The role of the written word and of translation in human history has been to bring news, discoveries, findings, and reflections on the various ways of conceiving mankind and its relationships in society, thus contributing to expand the acquis of humanity in the most varied fields, from cuisine to military decisions, spreading technical and scientific knowledge, artistic manifestations, religious doctrines, political, economic, and philosophical theories and practices. In their book "Translators in History" (1995, translated by Sérgio Bath, 1998), Delisle and Woodsworth discuss the work of translators over the centuries and their impact on intellectual life and the evolution of thought. The authors retrace the path taken by translators, reconstructing the history of translation from the personalities who have left their mark on the profession, whether "inventing alphabets, enriching languages, stimulating the emergence of national literatures, disseminating knowledge" (1998: 11) or preparing valuable dictionaries. The nine themes that make up the work show that the translator is often an agent of profound social and ideological changes. The book thus gives deserved prominence to the translator’s social function and makes a significant contribution to Translation Studies.

2.    The scenario today: new conjugations

If the translator has, in fact, since the 18th century B.C. (when Sumerian texts were translated into Akkadian, according to Yebra, 1989, apud Albir, 2001:100), helped in the task of facilitating and stimulating intercommunication, what is his role and importance today, in the globalized world?

Over the last 40 years, we have witnessed a growing interest in the area in various parts of the world and in Brazil, which has been consolidated by the increase in university, specialization and post-graduate courses, the development of research and the dissemination of its results in congresses and publications, the renewal of concepts and assumptions, and the expansion of sub-areas to include new perspectives, advances and issues. In order to understand the profile of the contemporary translator, in the context of globalization, it is necessary to examine the changes that are taking place in the forms and functions of translation work.

The concept of globalization refers, fundamentally, to a worldwide political-economic phenomenon. It refers, in its most basic form, to the trading of products and services to distant markets, that is, the expansion of consumer markets by means of communication technology, thus involving greater production and distribution of goods and texts. This implies that, when producing a certain article, the producing country or place will foresee as an integral part of the process a step of foreignization or translation of the documents, leaflets, packaging, package inserts, manuals, which accompany the product so that it can reach the foreign consumer. In this context, translation is a tool of distribution, in the words of Pym, 2003, as it makes marketing and sales possible, gaining an expected place in the merchandise’s advertising strategies. The translation process, which relies on electronic communication, is not only more agile but also less costly in terms of time spent and the transport of information. Furthermore, there is a great need for communication and translation today not only because it is easier to interact, but also because there are more partners and more development in all areas of knowledge, and greater dissemination of ideas, products and services resulting from research.

How does this new configuration in commercial relations, allied to electronic communication, influence or affect the translator’s work, or even his/her professional profile? I propose to reflect on some changes in the profile of the translation professional using as a starting point the texts by Anthony Pym ("Globalization and the Politics of Translation Studies", 2003), Edwin Gentzler ("Translation and Technology: Bridging the Gaps", 2003) and the book Conversations with Translators (2003), from which I will use the statements specifically directed to the topic of globalization.

Relative to the translator of a few decades ago, of the "pre-globalization" era, the translator today must have, more than just a solid knowledge of the two languages and "a lot of culture" (the so-called "general knowledge"), a solid knowledge of languages, combined with sensitivity to cultural differences and regional and local variations. Today, there is greater awareness of the textual and interpretive nature of translation, whose function is to transform the communicative act expressed in the source language into a communicative act in the target language, bearing in mind the purpose and the reader of the translation. As a result of this awareness, the guiding criteria for translating began to emphasize function and reception, as advocated by the pragmatic line represented by Skopos Theory, developed in Germany in the early 1980s. If the translator previously sought general knowledge and used the source text as a reference, now he/she must pay special attention to the macro context that generated it and to the specific communicative situation in which the translated text is to be inserted. Faced with these demands, it is important to know the linguistic-cultural configurations of the area of translation, be it legal, financial, technical, medical, artistic, computer-related, etc. Thus, the translator must have knowledge of linguistic and cultural variants, and it is desirable that he or she have training in translation, with practice in specific areas.

As for the work dynamics, if before he/she used to translate practically alone, with the help of dictionaries, grammars, encyclopedias and translated works, and had few documents available for his/her research, today the translator integrates teams, often international, and works for multiple clients, which implies managing relationships and deadlines in an entirely new way. To meet these challenges, he or she has many more resources, since in addition to the existing ones, they have access to on-line dictionaries and glossaries, terminology and phraseology databases, countless sites -- including the client’s site --, a network of consultants in discussion groups, and contact with specialists. The translator has more sources for information, but this does not mean that he/she has less work to do or that his/her decision-making process is simpler, or that his/her responsibility is shared with his/her informants. On the contrary, he/she must evaluate the information, read a lot, and be very cautious, given the volume of data at his/her disposal. Moreover, he/she should be aware of the "ephemeral useful life of the information provided" (Alfarano, 2003: 38) and be conscious of the transformation of discourses, which follow the pace of discoveries and research in various fields. The translator must also be responsible for the orthographic and grammatical revision of the translated text.

Another notable aspect of change in the translator’s activity concerns the way the translation was delivered to the client. If before, the translator delivered the translation typed or on the computer, personally or by mail, although he/she still uses these delivery methods, today the translator must be prepared to receive and send e-mails and attachments and deliver the project on diskette. To do so, he must have up-to-date technology, be equipped with computers with data storage, word processing, and image editing capacities compatible with his work needs, constantly update his antivirus, have access to the Internet network through broadband, and acquire several program packages, scanner, fax, and other peripherals. This means a good financial investment, and requires translators to develop a series of skills to deal with the new tools and tasks, making the computer a vital element in translation work. It also implies mastering the use of word processors, file types, Internet languages, formatting and layout techniques, including fonts, graphics, tables, and others. These skills in dealing with new technologies are part of the contemporary translator’s profile, as Gentzler clearly states:

The skills required of translators have changed dramatically in the last few years; what once was primarily a linguistic activity has evolved into a complex practice requiring both advanced language and computer skills. (2003: 413) If, on the one hand, these technological tools allow translators greater agility in relation to almost non-negotiable deadlines, on the other, they impose a very intense regime of activities on professionals. Claudia Berliner, psychoanalyst and translator, points to the tension between productivity and quality:

Our globalized postmodernity also manifests itself in a more vertiginous time, in a week without rest days, in a pressure for productivity against which we have to fight in order not to lose in quality. (2003: 76)

In the post-globalization scenario - an appropriate term if we consider that we are currently living the moment to reflect on the effects of globalization on intercultural communication processes driven by the expansion of commercial relations - there is a new area of operation in the market that is booming: software translation or localization. Given the expansion of this segment, and considering that little has been written about it, we believe it is necessary to examine this translation modality in greater detail.

First of all, software translation consists in translating Manuals with instructions, the Help System, Messages, and the software itself. Frequently, we work with multilingual projects, i.e., the translation is done into several languages and their variants. This reality brings a new fact to Translation Studies, which A. Pym calls it "one-to-many projects" (2003): the relationship becomes one between a source text and many target texts, which brings new research topics to translation theory (such as the political and cultural differences between languages). Software translation is called localization because it must be adapted to the cultural environment of the consuming audience. While translation has always implied adaptation at some level, in the context of localization, the concept takes on a "technical" character, without the usual associations attributed to the term (such as "distortion," "subjectivity," "lack of fidelity," etc.)

This growing segment, which according to LISA (Localization Industry Standards Association) generates somewhere between 5 and 18 million dollars/year (C. Arrojo, 2003: 319), has brought to the translator a series of new possibilities and demands. Upon receiving a project, the office forwards it to the project manager, who must manage it. His tasks are as follows: (a) analyze the project taking into account the area or subject, the formatting and filing of the text, the client’s need (deadline), the volume of work for the stipulated deadline, the number of translators needed as well as specialists, and the calculation of the budget, considering all the expenses involved; b) distribute the translation to the professionals working in the team, usually using translation memories (Transit, SDLX, Trados, Deja Vu) that aim to speed up the work, standardize terms, feed glossaries, and maintain terminological coherence and linguistic quality; c) review the translation keeping in mind terminological coherence, orthographic, grammatical and stylistic revision, in comparison with the source text; d) after the revision, do the layout and formatting and, in the case of software translation, send it to the localization team, inside or outside the agency/company, so that the programmers and engineers take charge of inserting the information on the screens or user interface windows. The project leader also takes care of the delivery of the translations, the receipt of the fees, the payment of the team, and the "after-sales" service, i.e. feedback from the customer on corrections, as well as contact for future work. The translator who works in this market may be the project coordinator (in which case he/she needs to develop managerial skills such as organizing and supervising team work, having clear communication with the various parties, knowing how to negotiate, knowing how to divide tasks, and managing budgetary aspects), or he/she may be the translator in a team, and for this he/she needs to be familiar with translation memory technology; he/she may work on the standardization and management of glossaries, updating banks, being the reviser of one or more languages, or even the writer of the company’s style sheets. This field of activity, although it opens new perspectives for the translator, demands a critical eye from the scholar.

First of all, every translation and research done for the client is recorded at the company, and becomes its property; on the other hand, the translator has access to the work of other translators and to stored glossaries. Another important point is that memories are expensive and the versions that can be downloaded from the Internet do not allow importing and exporting the formatting, which makes the translator dependent on the agency. Without access to the source text in its entirety or in the original formatting, the translator works with two windows full of signs, which makes it difficult to have a clear view of how the different parts are articulated to form the text; the pre-translated segments automatically advance the cursor to the next segment to be translated, making the reading of the text fragmented. Furthermore, what is pre-translated is generally not paid for. As for the fuzzy match (approximate equivalence), although it is an interesting resource, it is not very reliable, and, according to research by E. Ross, the translator spends 1/3 of the time reviewing translations recorded in the Fuzzy Index (2003: 467), i.e. the time advantage is relative.

3.    Translating: linking verb

The localization industry’s use of programs and memories aims at productivity, which benefits from "terminological consistency" and controlled language use. This standardization of terms, however, is a trend that is noticeable not only in this area, but in many others, as is the case, for example, in the translation of economics texts, as Alfredo B. Pinheiro de Lemos points out:

Globalization imposes more and more universal terms, which the translator has to accept. In economics, for example, the English indications are generally used in equations (M for money, L for work, etc.). It is inevitable, so that people can understand them in books or articles in any language. (2003: 127)

Terminological standardization promotes the dissemination of information and technologies, leading to uniformity in cultural values and goods. While on the one hand it expands the knowledge of foreign cultures and promotes the exchange of scientific production, on the other hand it runs the risk of trivializing differences or masking them by means of a "common" language, emptied of peculiar metaphors and impoverished of idiosyncrasies.
This brief reflection on the effects of the so-called "globalization" on the translator’s work leads us to ponder that several aspects of the translation task were, in fact, altered due to innovations in computational tools and in the world dynamics of market relations. This does not mean that there has been a change in the translator’s core activity, which involves reading, research, glossary preparation, rewriting, revision and more research, preparation of the "final" text, negotiation with the client about deadlines and fees, and project management. Today, there is a sophistication and complexity in some stages of the process, which vary according to the area of translation. There are also new possibilities that generate new partnerships, in addition to those mentioned above: with the marketing professional, for example, the translator may act as a cultural consultant, and with the linguist, as a terminologist in the research and translation of technical terms.

We are experiencing a vigorous moment of reconfiguration in the way many professions are conceived, with consequences that are sometimes clearly beneficial, sometimes potentially dismal. What is certain is that the translator’s profile is in full transformation and it is up to us to be attentive to the new directions and their unfoldings.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

ALBIR, Amparo Hurtado. Traducción y Traductología. Madrid: Cátedra, 2001.
ALFARANO, Regina. Interview. Conversations with translators. Benedetti,
I.C. and Sobral, A. (orgs) São Paulo: Parábola Editorial, 2003.
ARROJO, Cristina Márquez. Globalization, internationalization and localization of software, a brief review. III Congreso Latinamericano de Traducción e Interpretación. (vol.2) Buenos Aires: CTPCBA, 2003.
BERLINER, Claudia. Interview. Conversations with translators. Benedetti,
I.C. and Sobral, A. (orgs) São Paulo: Parábola Editorial, 2003.
DELISLE, Jean and WOODSWORTH, Judith. Translators in History. Trad. Sérgio Bath. São Paulo: Ática, 1998
GENTZLER, Edwin. Translation and Technology: Bridging the Gaps. III Congreso Latinamericano de Traducción e Interpretación. (vol.2) Buenos Aires: CTPCBA, 2003.
PAZ, Octavio. Lectura y contemplación. Translation and Communication. São Paulo: Álamo, 1984.
PINHEIRO DE LEMOS, Alfredo B. Interview. Conversations with translators. Benedetti, I.C. and Sobral, A. (orgs) São Paulo: Parábola Editorial, 2003.
PYM, Anthony. Globalization and the Politics of Translation Studies. Available at http://www.fut.es/~apym/on-line/globalization_canada.pdf consulted on 09/Dec/2003.
ROSS, Evelyne. Working environment changes induced by translation memories. III Congreso Latinamericano de Traducción e Interpretación. (vol.2) Buenos Aires: CTPCBA, 2003.