2. Ethics in Translation

2.1. Who are translators?

The work of a translator or interpreter is a very hard one. Translators and (especially) interpreters do all have something of the actor in them, the mimic, the impersonator, and they do develop remarkable recall skills that will enable them to remember a word (often in a foreign language) that they have heard only once. Translators and interpreters are voracious and omnivorous readers, people who are typically in the middle of four books at once, in several languages, fiction and nonfiction, technical and humanistic subjects, anything and everything. They are hungry for real-world experience as well, through travel, living abroad for extended periods, learning foreign languages and cultures, and above all paying attention to how people use language all around them: the plumber, the kids' teachers, the convenience store clerk, the doctor, the bartender, friends and colleagues from this or that region or social class, and so on. Translation is often called a profession of second choice: many translators were first professionals in other fields, sometimes several other fields in succession, and only after that turned to translation. The primary characteristics of a good translator are similar to the expectations translation users have for the ideal translation: a good translator is reliable and fast, and will work for the going rate. From an internal point of view, however, the expectations for translation are rather different than they look from the outside. For the translator, reliability is important mainly as a source of professional pride, which also includes elements that are of little or no significance to translation users; speed is important mainly as a source of increased income, which can be enhanced through other channels as well; and it is extremely important, perhaps even most important of all, that the translator enjoys the work, a factor that is of little significance to outsiders. From the user's point of view, it is essential to be able to rely on translation — not only on the text, but on the translator as well and generally on the entire translation process. Because this is important to the people who pay the bills, it will be important to the translator as well; the pragmatic considerations of keeping your job (for in-house people) or continuing to get offered jobs (for freelancers) will mandate a willingness to satisfy an employer's or client's needs.

But for the translator or interpreter a higher consideration than money or continued employability is professional pride, professional integrity, professional self-esteem. We all want to feel that the job we are doing is important, that we do it well, and that the people we do it for appreciate our work. Most people, in fact, would rather take professional pride in a job that pays less than get rich doing things they don't believe in. Despite the high value placed on making a lot of money a high salary gives little pleasure without pride in the work.

A translator converts written material such as newspaper material, books , articles from one language into another. An interpreter converts spoken material such as speeches, presentations and the like from one language into another. Although there is some vague connection between abilities involved in translation and interpretation, it is not necessary for the translator to interpret and for interpreters to translate. Moreover, the best translators are not good interpreters and truly great interpreters are not good translators. And while many professional training programs require interpreters to develop some skill in translation, professionally trained translators often have no exposure to the skills of interpretation.

The profession of a translator/interpreter has a long history. According to the Bible at the dawn of human civilization all people spoke one language but when the God got angry with people he mixed their languages in such a way that they couldn’t understand each other. And since that time the need in interpretation and translation appeared. With the development of human society the art of translation has developed as well. Many poets and writers who know foreign languages are good translator. The conference interpreting was developed as well. The first device for synchronous (simultaneous) interpretation was developed in 1926 in America.

In synchronous interpretation the interpreter is supposed to be able to give his translation while the speaker is uttering the original message. This can be achieved with a special radio or telephone equipment. The interpreter receives the original message through his ear-phones and simultaneously speaks into the microphone (mike) which transmits his speech to the listeners. This type of translation involves a number of psychological and psycholinguistic problems both of theoretical and practical nature.

In consecutive (posledovatelnii) translation the translating starts after the original speech or some part of it has been completed. Here the interpreter’s strategy and the final result depend to a great extent on the length of the segment to be translated. If the segment is just a sentence or two the interpreter closely follows the original speech. As often as not, however, the interpreter is expected to translate a long speech which has lasted for scores of minutes or even longer. In this case he has to remember a great number of messages and keep them in mind until he begins his translation. To make this possible the interpreter has to take notes of the original message.

Sometimes the interpreter is limited in time to give his rendering. It means that he has to reduce his translation considerably, selecting and reproducing the most important parts of the original and dispensing with the rest. This implies the ability to make judgments on the relative value of various messages and to generalize or compress the received information. The interpreter must be good and quick-witted person.

The profession of an interpreter/translator, especially, conference interpreter is prestigious, well-paid and respected. But the person who wants to be a good translator/interpreter should overcome all obstacles and learn all stages of this profession from the “linear interpreter” when he is young and it is not difficult for him to meet the guests at the airport and be their guide up to the conference interpreter. It’s one of the most interesting professions because very often the interpreter can see all spheres of our life not as an outsider but from inside.

Different Levels of Difficulties in Translation

Sometimes people think that if a person knows two languages perfectly well it is not difficult for him to translate from the Target language into the Source language. But it’s not so. Let’s take for example the simple sentence in English “ The cat is on the mat”. It seems quite easy to translate this sentence into Russian or Romanian”Koshka na kovre” and “Mîtsa este pe covor”. Even this sentence gives rise to some alternatives. Translating the word “cat” into Russian or Romanian is rather straightforward. No matter how finicky one may get. Translation into Romanian is easier because there are articles definite and indefinite in English and Romanian. But translating into Russian the translator has some problems because in the Russian language there are no articles, so the translator has a dilemma» What cat?” Is it our or the neighbor’s cat, or may be it is some unknown cat? The following phrase is ‘The cat is…’. English uses the verb ‘to be’ to express existence, both temporary and permanent, and location in addition to its more usual function as a meaningless auxiliary. Romanian uses ‘a fi’ in the same way but in Russian this verb is not translated. Thus, if the sentence is taken independently of the text we don’t know what time it refers to.

‘The cat is on…’ English prepositions are widely regarded as being diabolical when translating from other languages into English.

Finally ‘the mat’. This really is troublesome. Consider the fact that ‘the mat’ has no definite size. In this case it can mean ‘a rug’ or ‘a carpet’. Additionally, ‘A mat’ can be used for: - cleaning your shoes, in which case it can be called ‘a doormat’; - keeping your feet warm; - protecting the floor in front of the sofa; - preventing you from slipping and injuring yourself in the bath( bath-mat). It can be made of wool, rubber, cotton, synthetics… . It is a very difficult thing to define the meaning of a word without a context. In each case this word can be translated in different ways. The knowledge of a context is very important especially for technical translators. But even in the case when the translator knows the context the difficulties continue. Here we can speak about pragmatic difficulties. For example, in hot countries the floor is never covered with thick carpets, especially from wall-to-wall variety.

The attitude to cats also varies from country to country. In ancient Egypt the cats were the sacred animals. In the world of the rich cats are often better looked after than any children in poor families. In less privileged societies animals are treated as animals should be. Cats are useful for catching rats, mice… . The attitude of the poor to cats differ greatly from the attitude of the rich.

So, we can speak about the contrasting world views of different people. It means that geographical and historical context, material well-being and similar factors change the person’s view of things.

The analyzed sentence is simple from grammar point of view but nevertheless it is sometimes difficult to give the proper variant of translation.

Very often there happen sentences which are unclear and it is difficult to see where the translation begins from. Let’s take the sentence ‘The buyer of the collar buys a cap and writes the floor; the writer of the collar writes a cap and buys a floor’. To translate this sentence in a proper way the translator should analyze not only the grammar of the sentence but paradigms of all words as well.

Translators come from all backgrounds. While a specialized degree in translation is useful it is far from necessary. What counts more is ability. Most translators are very well read in their languages and can write well. Some are writers who use translation as a way to write for living. Others are fascinated by the language and use translation to be close to their favorite subject. Still others are experts in certain fields and use their language skills to work in that field.

Almost all translators should have a college degree. All translators must have a deep interest and dedication to the languages they work with. The only exception to this rule is people who translate very specialized material.

The knowledge on the field the translator is working in is often overlooked by translators and those people that hire them. Translators are by definition language professionals, but they also have to cultivate a knowledge of the areas they work in. Few translators claim to be able to translate anything written in their languages just as few people can claim to be experts in everything. Most translators have to specialize, working with one or two related categories of material: legal, financial, medical, computers or engineering.... . Each field has its own vocabulary, syntax, style; the translator has to work hard to develop knowledge necessary to deal with such material. This knowledge includes two main factors.

First – the background knowledge, experience and education.

Second - the translator should have the necessary resources to deal with the material. This means dictionaries, glossaries, etc. Such resources can include web sites devoted to translation or terminology, Usenet discussion groups concerning translation, friends or colleagues who work in this profession, magazines and journals. Translators have to work tirelessly if they want to improve their knowledge. They also have to invest time and money in maintaining their reference library. In other words professional translators are always learning.