Literality and intention

Excerpt from A matter of gain in translation? by Suresh Menon

All translations are a compromise between two mutually exclusive exigencies – fidelity to the literality of the words and fidelity to the literary intention of the author. I can’t remember who said that, but it is well put. Vladimir Nabokov, for example, belonged to literal school, and his translation of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, therefore, strips the original of all poetry. Vikram Seth, whose technique in Golden Gate was inspired by Pushkin, pays a tribute to the English translator Sir Charles Johnston with several lines devoted to him. He says, ‘Pushkin’s masterpiece/ In Johnston’s luminous translation’

In a collection of essays on the subject of translation, Mouse or Rat ? Umberto Eco speaks of translation as negotiation (that is, in fact, the book’s sub-title), arguing that the negotiation is not just between words but between cultures. The Italian ‘ratto’ is ‘rat’ while ‘topo’, he says can be either ‘rat’ or ‘mouse’, and a shriek followed by a cry of ‘Un toppo’ is acceptable in an Italian translation of Shakespeare. But in a translation of Albert Camus’ La Peste, the rat presages the plague, and therefore only ‘ratto’ will do.

Susan Sontag has mentioned three versions of the modern idea of translation – translation as explanation (the translator’s mission is clarification, enlightenment), translation as adaptation (to write another version), and translation as improvement (Baudelaire’s translation of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry is considered an improvement on the original and some say, perhaps more controversially, so is the German translation of Shakespeare by Schlegel-Tieck).

Translation is an art and despite Eco’s efforts at giving language a mathematical base, art is often imprecise. Publishers prefer to make everything as familiar and unthreatening as possible. This is a commercial decision, and has nothing to do with the flavour of the original or the way it is captured in a translation. Some writers take it upon themselves to help a translator while others like Marquez see it as a different discipline altogether and leave everything to the translator.

Can there be an untranslatable work? I would imagine Finnegan’s Wake is untranslatable, as is poetry in many cases. Poetry is what is lost in translation, said Robert Frost. Perhaps, at the hands of a great translator, the reverse is also true: poetry is what is gained in translation.

EC launched language information portal in 20 languages

As part of it's commitment to the multilingual society of Europe, the European Commission yesterday launched an informational web portal on European languages.

The web portal on Europe and Languages provides various information on linguistically relevant topics that touch Europe especially. A news section provides latest press releases of EU institutions touching linguistic diversity policies, EU's translation services, and language learning.

The newly created web portal, the press release informs,

"will be an easy point of entry for the general public, the media or students to information about languages from the European Union. The subjects covered range from the Union's policies to encourage language learning and linguistic diversity, by way of a review of language skills in the Union today, to the rules for the use of the EU's own official languages and a round-up of employment opportunities for professional linguists with the Union's institutions. The content is organised in a logical and user-friendly way and, most importantly, all the navigational and presentational text in the portal itself is provided in all 20 official languages - reflecting the Union's commitment to communicating with its citizens in their own language."

EU translation standard

There has been considerable discussion about the draft EN translation standard (prEN 15038), regrettably more with regard to the free accessibility of the standard than its content. The standard can be viewed (free of charge) here.

Конкурс за писмени преводачи в Европейския съюз

Европейската служба за селекция на кадри (EPSO) организира следния открит конкурс чрез провеждане на тестове с цел създаване на резервен състав за набиране на


ПИСМЕНИ ПРЕВОДАЧИ НА БЪЛГАРСКИ ЕЗИК
(АДМИНИСТРАТОРИ ЛИНГВИСТИ AD5)

Конкурс на общо основания EPSO/AD/35/05

Кандидатите трябва да бъдат граждани на една от държавите-членки на Европейския съюз или на една от страните в процес на присъединяване (България, Румъния)

> Квалификации и дипломи
Кандидатите трябва да са завършили пълния цикъл на университетско образование от най-малко три години, удостоверено със съответната диплома за висше образование.

> Езикови познания
Кандидатите трябва да отговарят на следните три условия:
а) отлично владеене на основния език (български);
б) задълбочени познания по един от следните езици: немски, английски или френски;
в) задълбочени познания по един от следните езици: немски, английски, испански, френски, италиански или полски, но различен от езика, избран съгласно точка б).

Обявлението за конкурса е публикувано в Официален вестник на Европейския съюз C 282 A от 15 ноември 2005 г. на немски, френски и английски. Заинтересованите лица трябва да кандидатстват онлайн, като за целта посетят уебсайта на Европейската служба за селекция на кадри (EPSO), където се предлага по-подробна информация относно процедурата за кандидатстване онлайн, както и електронния формуляр за кандидатстване.

Крайният срок за кандидатстване е 15 декември 2005 г, 12 ч брюкселско време.

Кандидатите, които страдат от някакво увреждане, което не им позволява да подадат формуляра за кандидатстване по електронен път, могат да поискат, само и единствено в писмен вид, хартиения образец на същия формуляр, като изпратят молбата си на адреса, посочен в настоящето съобщение.

Внимание: За всички конкурси на EPSO, единственият достоверен източник на информация е обявлението, публикувано в Официалния вестник на Европейския Съюз. Ако се установи разлика между информацията, съдържаща се в обявлението за конкурса, и информацията, предоставена от друг източник, меродавна е информацията, съдържаща се в обявлението за конкурса.

European Court of Auditors about EU's interpretation costs

European Court of Auditors releases Special Report No. 5/2005 about interpretation expenditure

Recently the European court of auditors presented a report about the interpretation costs incurred by the European Council, the Commission and the Parliament revealing interesting results.

With the so far last enlargement and changes in the status of languages (Walsh) by January 2006 21 European languages will have the status of official and working languages of the European institutions. Due to the nature of their activities the Parliament, the Commission and the Council require the largest volume of interpretation services. The General Directorate for Interpretation of the Commission (GD Interpretation) is responsible for the interpretation needs of the Council and the Commission. The Parliament has its own interpretation service.

The European Court of Auditors was to find out if the interpretation services were managed economically or if they exceeded the needs, if the institutions possessed adequate instruments and techniques and if the interpretation services were provided at the lowest possible costs but were of high quality.

The European Court of Auditors' report reveals that the overall quality of interpretation services in most cases corresponds to the users' needs and expectations, further measures are, however, necessary to further decrease the costs of the service.

The detailed report, which is available at www.eca.eu.int, showed that the reduction of costs for interpretation services for the Council, the Commission and the Parliament could exceeded expectations - even if absolute costs will rise due to the increased demand after the enlargement.

Due to the introduction of active and passive languages "on demand" it was possible to harmonise the language combinations with the special requirements of the individual institutions and meetings, thus reducing the number of interpretation day by almost seven percent compared to 1998.

European institutions employ permanent interpreters (civil servants) as well as so called ACI - auxiliary conference interpreters, their payment being justified:

"The daily fee paid by the European institutions in 2004 at a fixed rate of 483,98 euro per day for experienced interpreters is in line with current market conditions in the private sector. However, it is lower than the gross average rate paid by other international organisations, which have also signed Conventions with the IACI. The much higher volume of employment and the longer contracts that the E.U. institutions are able to offer, as well as the favourable tax treatment (ACIs pay a community tax and are as a consequence exonerated from national income taxes) explain the difference. The effect of the favourable tax treatment is that, in spite of a lower gross rate, the net amount received by the freelance interpreter from DG Interpretation and the Parliament is higher than the net amount earned by working for the private sector or for other international organisations. This means that the E.U. institutions can afford to apply high standards in recruiting ACIs, but also have to carefully observe the market conditions in order to avoid overpaying their ACIs."

Problems, however, are posed by the different regulations concerning the deduction of travel costs with regard to freelance interpreters (ACI) and permanent interpreters and the sometimes disproportionate willingness of EU institutions to pay for unnecessary or excessive travel costs. According to the report, pre-tax costs and indirect costs for ACI at the Parliament are 15% higher than those for permanent interpreters. (The costs for ACI at the Directorate General for Interpretation are, however, 14% lower.)

The European Court of Auditors' report concludes that the number of interpreters available for the new official languages remains too low. The European Court of Auditors furthermore recommends equal conditions for ACI and permanent interpreters.

Sources: EU press release (pdf)

New competition for translators for Bulgarian language

Here is the information published at the EPSO site:

Linguistic administrators (Translators – AD5) for Bulgarian language

OPEN COMPETITION EPSO/AD/35/05

Official Journal C 282 A

Publication date: 15 November 2005
Closing date: 15 December 2005, 12.00 noon (Brussels time)

You may apply for this competition if, on the closing date for online registration, you meet the following requirements:

1. Qualifications
You must have completed the equivalent of a university course at least three years long and obtained the relevant leaving qualification.

2. Professional experience
No professional experience is required.

3. Languages
You must satisfy the three following conditions:

a) have a perfect command of your main language (Bulgarian);
b) have a very sound knowledge of either English, French or German (the first compulsory source language);
c) in addition to the languages chosen under (a) and (b), have a very sound knowledge of either English, French, German, Italian, Polish or Spanish (the second compulsory source language).

Knowledge of other official languages of the European Union or the acceding countries is an advantage and may be assessed if you pass the competition successfully.

Applicants must be citizens of one of the Member States of the European Union or of one of the acceding countries (Bulgaria, Romania).

You can start your electronic application for EPSO/AD/35/05 here

Конкурс за конферентни преводачи към Европейския съюз

Европейската служба за селекция на кадри (EPSO) организира следния открит конкурс чрез провеждане на тестове с цел създаване на резервен състав, от който да се набират


КОНФЕРЕНТНИ ПРЕВОДАЧИ
(АДМИНИСТРАТОРИ ЛИНГВИСТИ AD5)

ЗА БЪЛГАРСКИ ЕЗИК EPSO/AD/33/05

Кандидатите трябва да бъдат граждани на една от държавите-членки на Европейския съюз или на една от страните в процес на присъединяване (България, Румъния)

> Кандидатите трябва да имат:
i) завършено най-малко тригодишно обучение за конферентен преводач и прдобита съответна академична квалификация,

или
ii) завършен най-малко тригодишен курс, равностоен на университетски, и съответна квалификация, придобита при завършването му, И завършено обучение за конферентен преводач и съответна квалификация, придобита при завършването му,

или
iii) завършен най-малко тригодишен курс, равностоен на университетски, и съответна квалификация, придобита при завършването му, И доказан едногодишен стаж като конферентен преводач.

Езици
За подробна информация по комбинациите от езици трябва да направите справка в обявата за конкурса.

Обявата за конкурса е публикувана в Официален вестник на Европейския съюз C 273 A от 4 ноември 2005 г. на немски, френски и английски. Заинтересованите лица трябва да кандидатстват онлайн, като за целта посетят уебсайта на Европейската служба за селекция на кадри (EPSO), където се предлага по-подробна информация относно процедурата за кандидатстване онлайн, както и електронния формуляр за регистрация. В допълнение към кандидатстването онлайн, отпечатайте и попълнете отделно формуляр за кандидатстване от уебсайта на EPSO и го изпратете на EPSO преди крайния срок – 6 декември 2005 г.

Повече информация за услугите на Европейския съюз в областта на устния превод можете да намерите на уебсайтовете на трите заинтересовани институции:
Европейската комисия
Европейския парламент
Европейския съд

Внимание: За всички конкурси на EPSO, единственият достоверен източник на информация е обявлението, публикувано в Официалния вестник на Европейския Съюз. Ако се установи разлика между информацията, съдържаща се в обявлението за конкурса, и информацията, предоставена от друг източник, меродавна е информацията, съдържаща се в обявлението за конкурса.

Brussels looking for Bulgarian translators

Brussels is seeking Bulgarian translators for [a monthly salary of] EUR 3,800. The European Personal Selection Office (EPSO) has opened two competitions - the one starting November 4 and the other to be opened November 15 - for conference and linguist translators from Bulgaria and Romania.

Applicants should be fluent speakers of Bulgarian and at least one of the other EU official languages. They must also have good general knowledge of the EU institutions, be fine team workers, and adapt quickly to new and exceptional circumstances.

For more information, please visit:
www.novinite.com
europa.eu.int