Media Translation Media Translation By Mohammad Akbar Media Translation, by Mohammad Akbar This book first published 2012 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2012 by Mohammad Akbar All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-3884-5, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3884-9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword...................................................................................................vii Chapter One.................................................................................................1 Translation History, Progress and Types 1.1 Translation History 1.2 Most Important Schools of Translation 1.3 Types of Translation 1.4 Effects of Translation 1.5 The Importance and Results of Translation 1.6 Media Translation Practical Applications Chapter Two............................................................................................157 Translation for Cinema and Television 2.1 Translating Movies and Other TV Programs 2.2 Sayings and Expressions References...............................................................................................167 FOREWORD Anyone working in the field of translation of any kind knows that it is a difficult and problematic enterprise, something that is largely unfelt by the reader or received of the translated text. It is a profession based on acquired experience, yet it can also be an art as creative as any other art. Translating from one language to another is not a matter of giving parallel words and expressions even in a scientific or documentary translation. It is, and largely in literary texts, a rendering of the spirit of the original language and the author. There are texts that no translator would aspire to translate regardless of his/her experience, talent and self-confidence. The best he could hope for is to convey meaning in a language that reflects more or less the spirit of the original text. The translator's profession is fraught with continuous anxiety and tension which are accompanied at the end with a feeling of dissatisfaction. It is also a morally and physically risky profession. Whatever we were to say about the critical importance of translation, we would never do it justice. In this context, we have nothing to do but to remember the role played by translators over the ages by translating sciences and knowledge among nations and peoples and their role in achieving civilization and development for nations.Ancient and modern history registered famous names in the world of translation in recognition of the credit of their authors in conveying sciences and knowledge from one civilization to another and from one culture to another. This book deals with one of the aspects of translation approached by a number of Arabic books, i.e. media translation which has become more and more important in recent times. The book is divided into two chapters; in the first chapter, I have included a number of sections on the history, importance, role, progress, most important theories and types of translation; in the second chapter, I included several applications in both Arabic and English so that the professionals working in the domain of translation can make use of it, especially those working in media translation. I wish this book, after my earlier one entitled "Television Translation" and having worked for 30 years in media translation, would be beneficial for viii Foreword those concerned with studying the history, art and science of translation. May it engender your career so that you acquire full command of both the languages (source language and target language). I wish also that this book would fill a vacuum in the Arabic Library in the field of translation, especially media translation. Moreover, this book should ideally be an incentive for those working in media translation to contribute to writing books enriching the Arabic Library and provide great benefit for concerned persons and students. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to finalizing this book and providing advice and consultation, especially Mr Samir Mas'oud who contributed with his wide-range experience over a long period and Dr Abdullah Badran who exerted great effort to follow up the work. CHAPTER ONE TRANSLATION HISTORY, PROGRESS AND TYPES 1.1: Translation History There is a statement frequently quoted in almost all intellectual books: "Without translation, the world has no history". This clear and brief statement summarizes the importance of translation and sheds light on the major role played by it; studying the history of translation helps those concerned with translation, literature and cultural studies to have a better and profound understanding of the contributions made by translation in civilization and its role in the process of cultural and intellectual life development. The reason for this is that translation is closely related to progress achieved in all fields; all the eras of awareness and renaissance in the history of nations, peoples and societies started with translation. The French Scholar, Antoine Berman, says, "Building the history of translation is the first task of the modern translation theory." In the modern era, civilizations became various, the scope of culture widened and sciences became ramified; it has become necessary for each nation to make full use of the heritage, culture and sciences of other nations, and to develop, enrich and utilize them for achieving the welfare of all humanity. Thus, translation becomes a bridge linking nations that have varying degrees of development and prosperity. Hence, differences and gaps become small, and each respective heritage in every nation derives from the general human heritage. Considering the very beginning of translation among the languages of nations and peoples, one finds that ideas and visions were imparted from one culture to another through travellers and dealers; translation gradually began to play a major role in developing the world culture. 2 Chapter One For example, translation played a major role in imparting knowledge and sciences from Ancient Greece to Persia, from India to the Arabs, from Islam to Christianity and from Europe to China and Japan. Then, the invention of alphabets helped authors and translators to compile and construct written languages and dictionaries; this was contributed to by the emergence of national literature and the dissemination of religions. Translators played an effective and decisive role in achieving development and progress for their societies and in writing the history of thought itself. Over time, the task assumed by a translator gained an overriding importance in developing, activating and imparting cultural heritage to humanity. Translation is as old as man's instinct to know, understand and be understood by others. George Monan, in a major encyclopaedia, says that there was a treaty between the Ancient Egyptians and Hittis three thousand years ago, the text of which was written in the languages of both sides and that there were translators appointed by the ruling Pharaohnic dynasties, who used to inherit this work and hold the title of a prince. The first annals of history (some of which date back to the 11th Century BC) show considerable activity in translation, especially in China and India indicate that translation was practised by government employees whose main concern was to convey ideas. This made the Scholar Jia Ghunghian define translation as the replacement of one written language for another without changing the meaning. This definition, despite being a primitive one, proves the existence of a translation theory in Ancient China. However, serious discussions regarding translation were initiated only after the introduction of Buddhism in such countries in 222 – 589 AD, when the monks of Buddhism started to translate the classics of Buddhism into Chinese. By the early fourth century, translation was organized, at a large scale in China, and a governmental school was established for translation under the administration of Daw Ann who was kidnapped to Changhan where he established his famous translation school and which became one of the most important translation centres of the time. Three of the most prominent translators of this school adopted different techniques and theories of translation: Daw Ann: He insisted upon strict literal translation, i.e. rendering the source text into a word-for-word translation.