Translation studies research

1. Name: Ahmed Eltigani Mahil Ahmed
Mohammed
Student Number: 48770779
Course Code: HTR4803
Assignment Number: 04
Title of Assignment: Sociological
and cultural issues
Language Combination: (SL –TL)
English – Arabic
1

2. 2
Table of Contents
1.Introduction 3
2.Section A: Practical translation 4
3.The source text 4
4. Arabic Translation of the Source Text 7
5.Translation brief 11
6. Annotated Translation 11
7.Section B: Theory 14
8. Conclusion 18
9.Reference 19

3. Sociological and cultural issues
3
1. Introduction
Cultural studies, as a distinctive problematic, emerges from one such
moment, and for a long time period since 1950s. it was certainly not
the first time that its characteristic questions had been put on the
table to discuss through the research methods.
Translation is usually defined as a process of establishing equivalence
between the source text and the target text while equivalence is often
seen as one of the most problematic and controversial notions in
translation studies. To a great extent, translation theory, the linguistic
approach to translation in particular, has evolved around the notion of
equivalence and various theories have been proposed and elaborated from
different perspectives. Equivalence has been defined in terms of meaning,
function, effect, and even form. On the basis of his semiotic approach to
language, Roman Jakobson introduces "equivalence in difference". From a
communicative point of view, Eugene A. Nida distinguishes between "formal
equivalence" and "dynamic equivalence". J. C. Catford makes a distinction
between "textual equivalence" and "formal correspondence". These types of
equivalence are mainly constructed on the basis of formal linguistics, which is
highly sentence-bound and views meaning within a rather limited scope. As a
result, translation equivalence is generally discussed at word or sentence
level before text-linguistics finds its application to translation studies. In the
recent trends of translation research the views of translation as text and
equivalence as a textual notion have become a general agreement among
translators and translation scholars. The term translation itself has several
meanings; it can refer to the general subject field, the product (the
text that has been translated) or the process (the act of producing the
translation, otherwise known as translating). The process of
translation between two different written languages involves the

4. translator changing an original written text (the source text or ST) in
the original verbal language (the source language or SL) into a written
text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal language (the target
language or TL). The practice of translation was discussed by, for
example, Cicero and Horace (first century BCE) and St Jerome (fourth
century CE).
2. Section A: Practical translation:
3. Dubai shows way to diversify economies
In a report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) suggested that
following the path of those economies by focusing on higher value-added
sectors and reforms could raise GDP in the region by 1 to 1.5
4
per cent.
The advice to speed up diversification comes as oil revenue for most of
the GCC is expected to fall short of last year's gains as crude prices
have slid. The oil sector accounts for about 30 per cent of GDP in the
GCC on average.
"Since the 1970s, the economies of the GCC have been exposed to
volatility because of swings in oil prices, and we can see that going on
unless diversification is stepped up," said Jean-Michel Saliba, a Middle
East and North Africa economist at BAML global research. "Dubai
started diversifying in the 1980s, and look where it is now."
As the GCC's most open economy, Dubai was heavily rocked by the
global financial crisis that began in 2008, with a property downturn
and soured global investments triggering debt restructuring at several
government-linked companies.

5. But the emirate's reliance on non-oil trade including transport and
tourism helped it to rebound, and it is tipped by officials to achieve
growth this of year of 4.5 per cent.
Within the region, Dubai could prove a "long-term winner", benefiting
from continued population growth and its past infrastructure
investment, BAML said.
Norway has already been used as a role model in diversification by
Abu Dhabi within its 2030 Economic Vision. Both economies are
blessed with oil, but Norway's output stems from a wider mix. Abu
Dhabi has taken steps to move in a similar direction in recent years by
expanding infrastructure, expanding its industries and building a
financial centre.
"Norway is the same size [population-wise] as Abu Dhabi and is the
obvious model as they both have oil," said Mr Saliba. "Abu Dhabi has
the muscle, but it's just a question of how it deploys it."
BAML said the GCC could learn from Norway's example in several
ways: first, Norway's emphasis on an early building of human capital
by investing in education, raising labour force participation and
supporting productivity growth. Human capital now accounts for 82
per cent of Norway's national wealth compared with just 7 per cent for
petroleum.
Second, Norway has also developed its export base away from only oil
and gas. It is also the second-largest exporter of seafood, the sixth-largest
exporter of aluminium and the leading exporter of sub-sea
5
technology and products.

6. In contrast, the GCC's development since starting to amass revenue
from oil exports in the late 1950s has been heavily labour and capital -
intensive.
The next step for the GCC was to create a self-sustaining non-oil
economy less dependent on fluctuations in oil prices, the report said.
"This will require the attraction and retention of white-collar workers,
steady progress on institution-building, education and business
climate reform to overcome structural rigidities," it said.
The UAE is gradually taking steps to reform its business climate. A new
companies law is in the pipeline, which opens the door to what many
foreigners have been seeking for decades - a potential easing of
ownership rules for international companies in certain industries. A
draft bankruptcy law designed to support struggling companies should
come into effect by the end of the year, say officials
Source: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/
economics/dubai-shows-way-to-diversify-economies
6

7. 4. Arabic Translation of the Source Text
دبي تكشف عن توجهها نحو الاقتصادات المتنوعة
7
ج
في تقري ه ر الصادر )BAML : اقترح البنك الأمريكي ميريل لينش )بي أيه أم ال
مؤخ ا ر، عن أن مسار تلك الاقتصادات من خلال التركيز على القطاعات ذات
القيمة المضافة الأعلى والإصلاحات يمكن أن ترفع من الناتج المحلي الإجمالي
في المنطقة بنسبة 1 إلى 1.1 في المائة.
جاء النصح بتنويع الاقتصاد حيث يتوقع انخفاض عائدات النفط لكثير من بلدان
الخليج دون مكاسب السنة الماضية بفعل انخفاض أسعار النفط ، إذ يسهم قطاع
النفط بنسبة 03 في المائة في متوسط الناتج المحلي لدول مجلس التعاون
الخليجي.
وذكر جين ميشيل صليبا، الخبير الاقتصادي في مركز البحوث العالمية التابع
للبنك الأمريكي )بي أيه أم ال( والمختص في شؤون الشرق الأوسط وشمال
أفريقيا أنه "منذ السبعينات ظلت اقتصادات دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي تتعرض
للتقلبات بسبب حالات التأرجح في أسعار النفط، وقد نرى ذلك يحدث باستم ا رر
ما لم ت تخذ خطوات لإس ا رع التنويع" مضيفا: " بدأت إما ة ر دبي عملية التنويع في
الثمانينيات، ولننظر أين هي الآن."

8. إن دبي بوصفها إما ة ر من دولة الإما ا رت العربية المتحدة، كغيرها من دول مجلس
التعاون الخليجي التي تتبع سياسة اقتصادية أكثر انفتاحاً، أصابتها هزة قوية
بسبب الأزمة المالية العالمية والتي بدأت في العام 8332 ، حيث ت ا رجعت أسعار
العقا ا رت وتذبذبت الاستثما ا رت العالمية مما أدى لإعادة هيكلة الديون على
الشركات المرتبطة بالحكومة.
غير أن اعتماد الإما ة ر على التجا ة ر غير النفطية بما في ذلك النقل والمواصلات
والسياحة قد ساعدها على استرداد عافيتها ، وبتحفيز المسؤولين استطاعت
تحقيق نمو بلغ هذا العام 5.1 في المائة.
وقال البنك الأمريكي بي أيه أم ال، أن دبي يمكن أن تثبت بأنها "ال ا ربح على
المدى البعيد" في المنطقة من خلال الاستفادة من النمو السكاني المستمر
واستثما ا رتها السابقة في مجال البنية التحية.
وقد اتخذت أبوظبي النرويج كأنموذج للتنويع الاقتصادي تحتذي به في إطار
رؤيتها الاقتصادية للعام 8303 . فاقتصادات كلا البلدين تنعم بالنفط، غير أن
مخرجات الإنتاج في النرويج متعددة المصادر. أما أبوظبي فقد اتخذت خطوات
للتحرك في نفس الاتجاه خلال السنوات الأخي ة ر عن طريق توسيع وزيادة البنية
التحية وتوسيع صناعاتها وبناء مركز مالي.
8

9. قال السيد صليبا "أن النرويج مثلاً لها نفس الحجم )من حيث عدد السكان( مثلها
مثل أبوظبي والنموذج واضح في كليهما حيث امتلاك النفط." وأضاف: "أبوظبي
لها الإمكانيات، والمسالة مسألة توزيعها".
وذكر البنك الأمريكي بأن دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي يمكنها أن تتعلم وتستفيد
من النموذج النرويجي في عدة أوجه: أولاً النرويج ركزت مبك ا رً على بناء أ رس
المال البشري من خلال الاستثمار في التعليم وزيادة مشاركة القوة العاملة
ومساندة نمو الإنتاجية. ف أ رس المال البشري الآن يسهم بحوالي 28 % من الثروة
القومية للنرويج مقارنة بـــ 7% فقط من النفط.
ثانياً: النرويج طورت قاعدة صاد ا رتها أيض اً بعيداً عن النفط والغاز لوحدهما. بل
هي ثاني أكبر مصدر للمأكولات البحرية، وسادس أكبر مصدر للألمونيوم ،
وهي دولة ا رئدة في تصدير المنتجات والتقنية المستخدمة تحت سطح البحر.
وفي المقابل ظلت التنمية في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي منذ بداية تكديس
العائدات من صاد ا رت النفط في أواخر الخمسينات تعتمد على العمالة وتحفيز
أ رس المال.
وذكر التقرير، بأن الخطوة التالية لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي هي إيجاد
اقتصاد مستدام ذاتي اً غير نفطي أوقل اعتمادا على تقلبات أسعار النفط.
9

10. "وهذا" حسب التقرير "سيتطلب جذب الموظفين المكتبيين اولحفاظ على صغار
الموظفين ، والتقدم المطرد في المؤسسات والتعليم واصلاح بيئة العمل من أجل
التغلب على الجمود الهيكلي والبنيوي."
إن دولة الإما ا رت العربية المتحدة تتخذ خطوات تدريجية لإصلاح بيئتها العملية.
حيث أن هناك تشريعاً على الأبواب لقانون الشركات الجديد الذي سيفتح الباب
لما ظل العديد من الأجانب يسعون إليه منذ عقود ، ألا وهو التسهيل المحتمل
لقوانين التملك للشركات العالمية في صناعات معينة. فمشروع قانون الإفلاس
الذي يهدف لدعم ومساندة الشركات التي تكابد يجب أن يدخل حيز التنفيذ بنهاية
هذا العام، حسب المسؤولين.
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry- : المصدر
/insights/economics/dubai-shows-way-to-diversify-economies
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11. 11
5. Translation brief
We would like to apply the translation brief on our source which the
information about the economic method which is used in order to
achieve profits and benefits to Dubai Emirate through the way to
diversify economics. the text should be translated into Arabic with
maintain the same layout of the source text.
This information would enable us to extract the following
requirements for the translation (Nord 62:2007):
 In order to achieve the intended function the text should
conform to text type and general style conventions and a
rather formal register;
 The text producer should take into account of the prospective
audience's culture - specific knowledge presuppositions;
 Spatial and temporal deixis will refer mainly to United Arab
Emirates economic industrial aspect about oil industry,
infrastructure, transport, tourism and non-oil trade.
 The text must preserve the source text layout
Based on the differences between the function of the translation
process and that of the target text Nord (2007:47ff) . with the help of
the information the translation brief provided we can decide on the
steps be taken to translate the source text.
6. Annotated translation
“ Through most translators and translation critics would agree that
assumptions about the reader’s need often feature prominently in the
process of translation, there is no necessary consensus at what the
reader’s need is. Before one can address such need, one has first to

12. address the question of who is the prospective reader.” This article
shows us the way of Dubai to diversify economies. During the
translation of this text and as I translator may I have different answers
to the question above mentioned and that achieved translation is
often the result of explaining the text from the sender to be
understood by the reader in the target language.
According the differences in the functions of the two texts we can
use some strategies of translation to tackle the culture-bound
terms and expressions are always problematic especially because
invariably, one struggle to find suitable equivalents or
approximations in the target language, for examples: ( the source
text: “In a report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) suggested
that following the path of those economies by focusing on higher
value-added sectors and reforms could raise GDP in the region by 1
to 1.5 per cent,” and “the target text: اقترح البنك الأمريكي ميريل لينش )بي
أيه أم ال( في تقريره الصادر مؤخ ا ر، عن أن مسار تلك الاقتصادات من خلال التركيز
على القطاعات ذات القيمة المضافة الأعلى والإصلاحات يمكن أن ترفع من الناتج
المحلي الإجمالي في المنطقة بنسبة 1 إلى 1.1 في المائة ” from this paragraph
we can see that the writer used the abbreviation “GDP” which is
common is economic language but, it is better if the writer the full
stand and put this abbreviation between brackets because some
audience can be confused. And (the source text: “The advice to
speed up diversification comes as oil revenue for most of the GCC
is expected to fall short of last year’s as crude prices have slid. The
oil sector accounts about 30 per cent of GDP in the GCC on
average” And “the target text: جاء النصح بتنويع الاقتصاد حيث يتوقع
انخفاض عائدات النفط في العديد من بلدان مجلس التعاون الخليجي دون مكاسب العام
12

13. الماضي بفعل انخفاض أسعار النفط، إذ يسهم قطاع النفط بنسبة 03 في المائة من
متوسط الناتج المحلي الإجمالي لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي ” from this
paragraph, the writer also used two common abbreviations without
full stand and putting them between brackets in addition to, he
used the expression (crude prices) which is a pure economic
terminology that means the prices of the raw material of oil. During
translating the source text we found some challenges at word-level
because the two languages are completely different in some
respects so some words are clearly untranslatable for example,
(“the source text: . BAML in this case the translator has two
options, one is to leave word as it is (same word spell) and the
other is Arabization (to make the word Arabian) like (BAML= بي أيه
أم ال ). The writer used metonymy, synecdoche and metaphorically
expression such as (White-collar workers = صغر الموظفين أو الموظفين
المكتبيين ) which is means the small ranks staff who are working in
the offices.
Due to the difference in the sociocultural background, world
knowledge and cultural expectations of the source text and target text
The translator should do his best to provide the target text reader with
the necessary information which is explicit provided in the original as
due to reader' lack of source culture knowledge they might need more
elaboration on the target text. The translator should preserve the
layout and to overload with explanations and information about the
diversify economies should have priority over other information in
case the need arises to reduce the information load to maintain the
text layout.
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14. 14
7. Section B: Theory
More than twenty-five years ago cultural studies was new again for
the first time. Although Stuart Hall’s 1980 essay ‘Cultural Studies: the
paradigms’ presented itself as an evenhanded assessment of the state
of cultural studies, it was clear that ‘structuralism’ (the paradigm in
town) would be continuing along its path of ascendance as begun in
the late 1960s and early 1970s. meanwhile, ‘culturalism’ as the
founding paradigm of cultural studies – exemplified, for Hall, in the
work of Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams and F.P.Thompson, was
plainly receding. Sharing at best a fairly loose coherence, the so-called
culturalists held to the notion that the realm of culture (as found in
texts, in history, in lived experience) could not always be
determinately fixed to the relations of production ‘society’s economic
base’ (Cultural Studies and Gilles Deleuze: Gerory J.Seigworth).
But in 1990s, the object of the study had been redefined; what is
studied is the text embedded in its network of both source and target
cultural signs and in this way translation studies has been able both to
utilize the linguistic approach and to move out beyond it. As per
(Bassnett and Lefevere:1990). So this shift of emphasis is being called
‘the cultural turn’ in translation studies by “Bassnett and Lefevere”
through their suggestion that said that a study of the processes of
translation combined with the praxis of translating could offer a way of
understanding how complex manipulative textual processes take place
and how a text is selected for translation as well as what role
translator plays in that selection and what criteria determine the
strategies that will be employed by the translator with concentrate on
how a text might be received in the target system. For instance, (The
advice to speed up diversification comes as oil revenue for most of the

15. GCC is expected to fall short of last year’s as crude prices have slid. The
oil sector accounts about 30 per cent of GDP in the GCC on average)
from the source text for translation to show how the translator has to
make decision based on cultural or ideological differences. Translation
always takes place in a continuum, never in a void, and there are all
kinds of textual and extratextual constraints upon the translator.
These constraints, or manipulatory processes involved in the transfer
of texts have become the primary focus of work in translation studies.
And translation studies approach to the medieval lyric would use a
similar comparative methodology to discuss the role played by
translation in the development and dissemination of the lyric to look
at the development of a literary form in terms of changing sociological.
For that there was some criticism of the polysystems approach, most
notably that it had shifted attention too far away from the source and
context onto the target system.
In short, cultural studies has moved from its very English beginnings
towards increased intermationalisation and discovered the comparative
dimension necessary for what the scholars might call ‘intercultural
analysis’. In terms of methodology, cultural studies has abandoned its
evangelical phase as an oppositional force to traditional literary studies
which is looking to relations in text production. Similarly, translation
studies has moved on from endless debates about ‘equivalence’ to
discussion of the factors involved in text production across linguistic
boundaries, for example ("Since the 1970s, the economies of the GCC
have been exposed to volatility because of swings in oil prices, and we
can see that going on unless diversification is stepped up," said Jean-
Michel Saliba, a Middle East and North Africa economist at BAML
global research. "Dubai started diversifying in the 1980s, and look
where it is now.") in this paragraph the translator should need to
15

16. understand culture, politics and ideology to be able to take a sound
decision in translation by selecting the best equivalence that the
receiver to get the production easily. So both translation studies and
cultural studies are concerned primary with power relations and
textual production.
As (Venuti: 1995), every step in the translation process from the
selection of foreign texts to implementation of translation strategies
to the editing, reviewing and reading of translations is mediated by the
diverse cultural values that circulate in the target language, always in
some hierarchical order, for instance, (In contrast, the GCC's
development since starting to amass revenue from oil exports in the
late 1950s has been heavily labour and capital-intensive. The next step
for the GCC was to create a self-sustaining non-oil economy less
dependent on fluctuations in oil prices, the report said.) this paragraph
shows how the translator is tackling the diverse values that circulate in
the TL.
During focusing particularly on the text of practical translation to
ascertain the examination of very concrete factors that systemically
govern the reception, acceptance or rejection of literary texts; that is
issues such as power, ideology and manipulation the translator should
take liberties in translation in order to improve on original with the
same meaning and intention of the sender. Moreover, the importance
of understanding what the author plans in his vision of text in
particular, translation is increasingly being seen both as actual practice
and as metaphor for example form the practical translation text ("This
will require the attraction and retention of white-collar workers,
steady progress on institution-building, education and business
climate reform to overcome structural rigidities," it said.)
16

17. We can say that, “Translation is the most obviously recognized type of
rewriting, and it is potentially the most influential because it is able to
project the image of an author and/or those works beyond the
boundaries of their culture of origin.” (Lefevere: 1992).
17

18. 8. Conclusion
This shift of emphasis takes up and re-works the connotation of the
term ‘Culture’ with the domain of ‘ideas’ in translation studies to study
the processes of translation combined with the praxis of translating
could offer a way of understanding how complex manipulative textual
processes take place. As in his study Lefevere describes the literary
system in which translation functions as being controlled by three
main factors, which are (1) professionals within the literary system, (2)
patronage outside the literary system and (3) the dominant poetics.
18

19. 19
9. Reference
 Introducing translation studies: Jermy Munday.
 Tutorial letter 103/0/2012
 Cultural studies: Stuart Hall
 Cultural studies and Gilles Deleuze: Gregory J. Seigworth