Gender and Translation
Gender and Translation Accuracy
Salar Manafi Anari[1]
(Professor, Allameh Tabataba 'i University)
Maliheh Ghodrati[2]
(M.A. Graudate from Science and Research Campus, Islamic Azad University)
Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the role of the gender of the translator on the accuracy of the translation, and to determine whether there is any difference between the translations done by female and male translators in terms of translation accuracy. Two English novels and two translations for each, one done by a female and the other by a male translator, were selected. Each translation was compared with its source text, sentence by sentence, and based on some certain categories, their inappropriate renderings affecting the understanding of the ST, and in fact affecting the translation accuracy, were extracted. The total numbers of the observed inappropriate renderings of each group of the female and male translators were counted. Having analyzed the data and having applied some statistical analyses, the researcher discovered that the answer to the research question was negative and the null hypothesis of the research was supported. Key Words: gender, accuracy, mutedness, politeness, dominance 1. Introduction Every process of translation involves at least two languages and one message, which can be called form and meaning. In fact, the meaning is the message which is transferred by various features and it is the task of the translator to transfer the meaning of the ST into the TT. So, depending on different factors affecting the translator 's performance and the way the message is conveyed, different translations will be produced. Gender of the translator is one of the factors that may affect the product of the translator, and the accuracy of translation is an important feature in evaluating any translated text. This research aimed to work on the differences which might exist in terms of the accuracy between the
Salar Manafi Anari[1]
(Professor, Allameh Tabataba 'i University)
Maliheh Ghodrati[2]
(M.A. Graudate from Science and Research Campus, Islamic Azad University)
Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the role of the gender of the translator on the accuracy of the translation, and to determine whether there is any difference between the translations done by female and male translators in terms of translation accuracy. Two English novels and two translations for each, one done by a female and the other by a male translator, were selected. Each translation was compared with its source text, sentence by sentence, and based on some certain categories, their inappropriate renderings affecting the understanding of the ST, and in fact affecting the translation accuracy, were extracted. The total numbers of the observed inappropriate renderings of each group of the female and male translators were counted. Having analyzed the data and having applied some statistical analyses, the researcher discovered that the answer to the research question was negative and the null hypothesis of the research was supported. Key Words: gender, accuracy, mutedness, politeness, dominance 1. Introduction Every process of translation involves at least two languages and one message, which can be called form and meaning. In fact, the meaning is the message which is transferred by various features and it is the task of the translator to transfer the meaning of the ST into the TT. So, depending on different factors affecting the translator 's performance and the way the message is conveyed, different translations will be produced. Gender of the translator is one of the factors that may affect the product of the translator, and the accuracy of translation is an important feature in evaluating any translated text. This research aimed to work on the differences which might exist in terms of the accuracy between the
References: Baker, Mona. (ed.) (1998). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge. Beekman, John. and J. Callow. (1989). Translating the Word of God. Zondervan Publishing House. Coates, Jennifer (1997). Women, Men and Language (A Sociolinguistic Account of Gender Differences in Language). 2nd Edition. London and New York: Longman. DeVault, Marjorie. L. (2002). "Talking and Listening from Women 's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis". Darin Weinberg, (ed.) Qualitative Research Methods. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 88-111. Graddol, David. and J. Swann. (1992). Gender Voice. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Hatim, Basil. and J. Munday. (2004). Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. London and New York: Routledge. ` Holmes, Janet Khomeijani Farahani, Aliakbar. (2005). "A Framework for Translation Evaluation". Translation Studies, 3 (9), 75-87. Larson, Mildred. L. (1984). Meaning-based Translation: A Guide to Cross-language Equivalence. Lanham/New York/London: University Press of America. Manafi Anari, Salar. (2004). "A Functional-Based Approach to Translation Quality Assessment". Translation Studies, 1 (4), 31-52. ----- (2004). "Accuracy and Naturalness in Translation of Religious Texts". Translation Studies, 2 (5), 33-51. Newmark, Peter. (1996). About Translation. Clevedon/Philadelphia/Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Simon, Sherry. (1996). Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission. London and New York: Routledge. Stockwell, Peter. (2002). Sociolinguistics: A Resource Book for Students. London and New York: Routledge. von Flotow, Luise. (1997). Translation and Gender: Translating in the 'Era of Feminism '. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing. Waddington, Christopher. (2001). "Different Methods of Evaluating Student Translations: The Question of Validity". Meta, XLVI (2), 311-325. Also, available from: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2001/v46/n2/004583ar.pdf [Accessed May 5, 2007]. [2] Contact Number: 09124017793, 02133793821 E-mail Address: maliheh.ghodrati@gmail.com