Approaching Translation is designed as a tool for university students specializing in Modern Foreign Languages who are beginning to explore translation for the language pair English-Italian. Section 1 provides an overview of the main translation theories, highlighting both linguistic angles – such as semantics, equivalence and functionalism – and cultural ones, like deconstruction, postcolonialism and the current debate on ideology and ethics. Section 2 focusses on the preparatory steps by presenting aspects of text analysis, listing some useful tools and discussing a few examples of translation briefs. It also includes samples of analyzed texts and reflections on potential translation problems. Finally, Section 3 provides opportunities for practice through a selection of texts drawn from various sources, including tourist promotional material, academic articles, EU minutes and reports, mission statements, political speeches and literature. The route laid out in Approaching Translation aids students in acquiring basic translation skills while enhancing their language and culture awareness.

Approaching Translation costituisce un avviamento alla traduzione nell’ambito inglese italianorivolto a studenti universitari di Lingue e Letterature Straniere. La prima parte fornisce un panorama delle principali teorie relative alla traduzione, evidenziando sia aspetti linguistici inerenti la semantica, la questione dell’equivalenza e il funzionalismo, sia prospettive culturali quali il decostruzionismo, gli studi postcoloniali e l’attuale dibattito su ideologia ed etica. La seconda parte esplora le fasi preparatorie alla traduzione presentando aspetti di analisi testuale, strumenti informatici utili ai traduttori ed esempi di indicazioni fornite dal committente; contiene inoltre analisi svolte e considerazioni circa le difficoltà emerse a livello di traduzione. Infine, la terza parte presenta una selezione di testi da utilizzare a fini di esercitazione tratti da materiale turistico, articoli accademici, relazioni e processi verbali dell’UE, mission di aziende o enti, discorsi politici e testi letterari.
Il percorso presentato in Approaching Translation mira all’acquisizione dei fondamenti della traduzione, potenziando al tempo stesso la consapevolezza linguistica e culturale degli studenti.

Introduction

ONE: Setting the Ground
1. Western translation theories in the 20th century
1.1 Definitions of translation and translation studies
1.2 Translation as equivalence
1.2.1 Roman Jakobson: equivalence in difference
1.2.2 Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet: equivalence through comparative stylistics
1.2.3 Eugene A. Nida and Charles R. Taber: equivalent effect
1.2.4 John C. Catford, Otto Kade, Werner Koller: scientific taxonomies of equivalence
1.3 Translation as communication
1.3.1 German functionalism
1.3.2 Peter Newmark: a practical approach to translation
1.4 Translation as cultural interface
1.4.1 Translation and deconstruction
1.4.2 Translation and gender
1.4.3 Translation and rewriting
1.4.4 Translation and postcolonial studies
1.4.5 Recent areas of research 54

TWO: Getting Started
2. Engaging the text
2.1 Elements of discourse and text analysis
2.1.1 Register
2.1.2 Cohesion
2.1.2.1 Reference
2.1.2.2 Substitution
2.1.2.3 Ellipsis
2.1.2.4 Conjunction
2.1.2.5 Lexical cohesion
2.1.3 Coherence and pragmatic aspects
2.2 Tools
2.2.1 Dictionaries
2.2.2 Technological and online tools
2.2.3 Corpora
2.3 Considering the brief
2.4 Mapping the text
Text 1: Wales
Text 2: Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
Text 3: Retail Loss Prevention UK
2.5 Parallel texts for analysis:
Text 4: European cinema in the digital era (En; It)
Text 5: Satellite navigator user manual / function manual (It; En)
Text 6: Rudyard Kipling, The Man Who Would Be King (En; It)

THREE: Practising Translation
3.1 Some final considerations and suggestions
3.2 Texts for analysis and translation
Text 1: Cornell University Mission
Text 2: The Hunger Grains (Oxfam Briefing Paper)
Text 3: Erasmus for All (EU-commissioned report)
Text 4: Medical Devices (EU Commission)
Text 5: Transcript of President B. Obama’s acceptance speech
Text 6: Treatment Response in Child Anxiety (academic article)
Text 7: US Empire and South African Subimperialism (acad. article)
Text 8: Unilever’s History (self-presentation on corporate website)
Text 9: Russell Banks, Continental Drift (excerpt from a novel)
Text 10: Craig Davidson, Rust and Bone (excerpt from a short story)

Bibliography

Paola Brusasco has taught English Language and Translation at the University of Torino for several years. After her PhD in English Studies, she has carried out research in Translation Studies and written articles both on teaching and on issues of power and identity in language, as well as the monograph Writing Within/Without/About Sri Lanka. Discourses of Cartography, History and Translation in Selected Works by Michael Ondaatje and Carl Muller. She has translated reports for the EU and literary texts, ranging from classics (e.g. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Olalla) to works by contemporary writers such as Craig Davidson, Russell Banks and Colson Whitehead.

Paola Brusasco è docente a contratto di Lingua e traduzione inglese presso l’Università degli Studi di Torino. Dopo il dottorato di ricerca in Anglistica, si è occupata di Translation Studies e ha pubblicato articoli sulla didattica della traduzione e su questioni di potere e identità nella lingua, nonché la monografia Writing Within/Without/About Sri Lanka.
Discourses of Cartography, History and Translation in Selected Works by Michael Ondaatje and Carl Muller. Ha tradotto per l’UE (relazioni e processi verbali) e per l’editoria, sia classici come Cime tempestose e Olalla, sia opere di contemporanei, fra cui Craig Davidson, Russell Banks and Colson Whitehead.