Medical Translation: Functionalist Approaches

Medical Translation: Functionalist Approaches Medical Translation: functionalist approaches Translation is used in every day life and is used in multiple fields of work. Translation is defined in the Collins Dictionary as a piece of writing or speech that has been translated into another action and as the act of translating something. The two definitions point to the two different ways translation is explained, the first as being the product produced by the translator and the second as the actual process of translation. The dictionary of Translation Studies additionally introduces sub types of translation such as literary translation, technical translation, subtitling and machine translation. . .interpreting (Hatim, Munday: 2004). The sub type I shall be discussing is medical translation. At every milestone, translation was the key to scientific progress as it unlocked for each successive inventor and discoverer the minds of predecessors who expressed their innovative thoughts in another language (Fischbach: Wright1993). Translation has been used since Hippocrates and Galen in Greek and was translated primarily into Latin and Arabic, Arabic especially in the Middle Ages. This spread knowledge to the Western world producing translations into Castilian and English. [1] Whilst medical translation shares many features with other sub types in that it involves adapting to cultural differences, using technological tools and communicating through linguistic barriers, this sub type has many specialties of its own. When translating a medical text, one must be careful to communicate the specific knowledge correctly. Factual complexity and accuracy becomes a main priority for the translator. Medical terminology, communicative situations (among specialists, in the mass media, in education, to patients, in campaigns and internationally), medical genres and medical ethics also influence the way in which translation is produced. I shall be focusing on functional approaches to translation, introducing Vermeers Skopostheorie, Reiss theory of text types and functional equivalence and lexical equivalence, applying them to the aspects of specific audiences, Latin based terms, medical English standardisations and medical texts. Functionalism is the broad term used for the many theories that approach translation using functionalist methods. It focuses on the importance of the function or functions of the target text rather than the linguistic equivalence to the source text. Texts are produced with a specific purpose or function in mind. The starting point for any translation is therefore not the linguistic surface structure of the ST, but the purpose of the TT (Nord: 1997). It also includes the notion of translation as communication. Translation is defined as a purposeful, transcultural activity whose linguistic form depends on the function or the purpose of the target text. Action, communication and cultural theories are included under the title of functionalism. Skopostheorie, translational action theory and Reiss and Vermeers general theory of translation will be discussed in further detail. The main theory within functionalist approaches is Skopostheorie, (Skopos meaning purpose in Greek) by Hans J. Vermeer. Vermeer believes that linguistics alone is not enough for translation as he believes not all problems can be solved solely through language abilities but that the prime principal determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translational action (Vermeer: Nord1997). He understands translation as a human action and that all actions are intentional and purposeful behaviours. Any form of translational action, including therefore translation itself, may be conceived as an action, as the name implies. Any action has an aim, a purpose. [. . . ] The word Skopos, then, is a technical term for the aim or purpose of a translation (Vermeer1989). He also adds that these behaviours take place in situations which happen in cultures which consequently leads to the Skopostheorie being culture specific as Holz-Manttari explains in further detail. From this thought, Vermeer derives a general Skopos rule, which states: translate/interpret/speak/write in a way that enables your text/translation to function in a situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function. This rule is designed to solve dilemmas such as free vs. faithful translation or dynamic vs. formal equivalence. Another general rule mentioned which will be discussed again later is the coherence rule which concerns the target text must be coherent to allow the intended users to understand it in their situational circumstances. Another important factor of Skopostheorie is that of the addressee which is the receiver or the audience. The translation must be directed towards them, which is why purpose and the coherence rule are so important. *** Holz-Mantarris translational action theory goes further than the Vermeer in that she completely disregards the word translation, referring to it instead as message transmitters. She describes translation as a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose. The purpose of this theory is to create the ability to send messages across culture and language barriers by experts (translators). She also highlights the actional aspects of the translation process such as the translator, initiator, message receiver and the situational conditions in which the action (of translation) takes place. She calls this intercultural cooperation. The audience, as mentioned before, is one of the most important factors in Skopostheorie. Medic al translation requires the translator to be faithful to the client as well as the source text*** In the medical field, there are two main types of audiences: the lay audience and the expert audience. Often, when translating medical technical terms, which is very common and can cause problems, terms can be changed or borrowed in order to make sense in the target culture. Because Latin was once the lingua franca of medicine and Greek was the original language of medical text, there still exists today a great amount of Latin and Greek based words and the use of Latin and Greek suffixes and prefixes. This topic has proved difficult for translators as it challenges the Skopostheorie in that linguistic equivalence is not necessary. We see here that this is not always the case. The use of Latin words is extremely common in English; words such as pneumonia and appendicitis are very common amongst both types of audiences. When translating into romance languages and even into Germanic languages, the word tends to be equivalent to that of the English with minor spelling changes: English Spanish  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   German Pneumonia Neumonia Pneumonie Appendicitis Apendicitis Appendizitis However, in some countries such as Germany and Denmark, Latin continues to act as the lingua franca in medicine and therefore is not understood by the lay audience. They are replaced by more popularized terms in order to reach out to a larger audience: German Danish Expert:   appendizitis expert: Appendicitis Non- expert: Blinddarmentzundung non-expert: blindtarmsbetoendelse Expert: Pneumonie expert: pneumoni Non- expert: Lungenentzundung non- expert: lungebetoendelse [1] Hippocrates, known as the Father of Medicine, was known for his medical knowledge which Galen and Perganum expanded 400 years after. The numerous articles of Hippocrates and Galen gave way to the need of medical translation. Aulus Cornelius Celsus, otherwise known as Cicero, was the first to translate the Greek works and terms into Latin in the first century AD. With the rise of Islam in the seventh century, and the establishment of medical schools in the major cities such as Baghdad and Damascus created the need for translation of Greek medical works into Arabic. By the Middle Ages, translation from Arabic to Latin saw the spreading of information to the Western world and Christian Europe and with the colonisation of the New World and the discovering of new drugs, translations into Castilian and English were produced in the sixteenth century (Fischbach: Wright1993). In the Renaissance, Latin was the Lingua Franca creating translations between Latin and vernacular languages and b etween vernacular languages themselves (Montalt and Davies, 2007). Bill T Jones | Choreography Analysis Bill T Jones | Choreography Analysis Bill T. Jones is a startling choreographer with an exhilarating presence and charisma. His compilation of Solos includes Tea for Two, Ionization, and Chaconne. All different from each other are depictions of Jones emotions and body movements to their extremes. Giving a brief explanation to each, Tea for Two is a depiction of emotions like desire and love, while Ionization has an extreme involvement of strong music, movement, and expressions which depict violence, and finally, Chaconne is a flickering performance that displays the involvement of artistic techniques and music insinuating a certain story, or feeling. This paper is an outlook of Jones work, especially in these performances, and how each performance is an artistic representation of a certain theme. The classical song Tea for Two is what Bill T. Jones performance is based upon. It is a solo which he presents twice; once on the stairs, and next in a studio. On the other hand, as a spectator I have realized that differences in the setting may lead to a vast distinction between two performances. Firstly, Tea for Two: On the Stairs. The performance is a depiction of love, freewill, and desire. I have felt that Jones performs with his full fervor on the streets out to celebrate. Also, the lyrics sung by Blossom Dearie speak for themselves as the dancer is blissful and content about the house created for him and his lover away from the busy life of the city. As a spectator, I have felt that it is a romantic ballad dance where Jones is conveying to his audience that he is happy regarding being alone with his loved one with no one to bother them enabling them to have tea for two and enjoying it without any interruption. Also, I have realized that Jones free style of dancing reflects his freedom and peacefulness. The daylight tends to capture the essence of love and happiness, while his facial expressions are of a happy man content with his living and life. In this dance sequence, the space is fully utilized with no sets, or props to disturb the concept of freedom he is trying to convey to the audience. A very natural and clean performance, which shows what little happiness in life, along with a loved one, can do to a human being. Furthermore, moving on to Tea for Two: In the Studio. Although Jones had performed the piece twice on the same music, the difference in the setting gave the dance another feeling. I felt that Jones is not performing with the same essence, or power. Also, I believe that his performance in the studio constrained him; impeded him from moving freely, unlike his performance on the stairs where you could feel the positive energy shimmering from every movement and line Jones had made. Moreover, Do you think Ill make a soldier, every round goes higher and higher, do you want to have your freedom? are the words of Bill T. Jones which he added after his performance to the piece in the studio. To me, this altered the mood after watching the performance as Jones left the audience in deep thoughts; also, as a spectator, I did not fully understand the intention of such a quote; however, it could be that Jones is doubtful while referring to himself as a soldier, and questionable regarding acquiring his freedom as he pictures it with his loved one. Moving on to another spectacular piece by Bill T. Jones entitled Ionization. Ionization is a piece choreographed to a classic music composition by Edgar Varese, and this dance piece is an excellent synchronization of different instruments with the moves of the body. Also, as a spectator, the dance is an ionization of the human body to different beats in life and is also built on the premise of how a body moves to the most sensitive distinctions of various kinds of percussive sounds. Different instruments such as the bass and the drums are a pleasure to hear when synchronized to the soft and soothing sounds of the piano and the saxophone. Also, as a spectator, I was awakened with the African like beats, as well as, beats similar to the roaring of a lion and sirens allowing Jones to shift within the space using stronger movements according to the beat of the instruments. Furthermore, I consider this solo performance by Jones very much attention grabbing as the way he communicated with his audience through his facial expressions was outstanding; also, the way he switched swiftly from one expression to another, yet having full control to make such switches apparent was expertly done. Moreover, violence could be seen gradually in the performance from the beginning to the end from his sharp stomp like movements to his facial expressions with accordance to the music played. However, although Jones performance fully caught my attention, the music he chose for such a sequence was somehow dominating making me focus in certain parts with the music played rather than Jones while performing. Additionally, Chaconne is framed around spoken text and the music of Bachs D-Minor Partita for Solo Violin. This solo performance accompanied by Bachs D Minor Partita could be about Jones personal memories accompanied by the appearance of written text on screen about a close friend of him, or it could be dedicated to his mother. Moreover, I believe that the text is directly related to the sad and painful moves of Jones in the dance sequence. Also, the text helped me as a spectator understand the mood of the performer and comprehend the purpose of the dance sequence as it felt that Jones was somehow impersonating the person in agony, or remembering how she felt during her instant of pain, especially during the part while he was on the floor with his hand forming a heart like shape and the text appearing. Furthermore, the music, which is entirely a mix of violins, added to the softness of the performance. Although there is a huge difference between Jones four performances, I have liked Chaconne the most as I have felt that it reflects certain hidden emotions within him which he is able to only reflect through dance and hidden speech. Last but not least, it is difficult to compare between two profound choreographers such as Bill T. Jones and Merce Cunningham; however, I have admired Jones style most as to me he managed to portray original contemporary dancing and choreography. Although Merce Cunningham is a pioneer in contemporary dancing, and I am not a guru in such a field to fully express my opinion; however, that is what I have realized after watching several pieces by both choreographers. Bill T. Jones is an exquisite performer and choreographer who is able to grab hold of his audiences attention from the moment he starts dancing. Also, his ability to establish choreography with clear messages sent is an attribute which I find significant. Bill T. Jones is truly proficient in his field of expertise, and really has the ability to keep his audience engaged wherever and whenever he performs.