Reflections on translating a newspaper article:
I chose to post and reflect on the this particular excerpt from my translation because it was a very challenging section, and therefore I worked closely with the text and revised it a number of times. The excerpt below deals with geographical locations as well as cultural and political practices. One of the challenges was how to convey these details to an American readership. Addressing this challenge helped me to be able to identify and improve some skills that are key to the translation process. In my first draft of this part of the article I tried to keep the translation as faithful to the original as possible. But this presented a problem: the American readership might need more information than the German readership. For this reason I added some information regarding, for example, the location of the city Rosenheim. In my first draft of this section I did not think to add anything about Rosenheim that was not in the original. But as we workshopped particular sentences it became clear that the American readership is not as familiar with the geography as well as cultural and political practices in region as Germans. It was an easy fix to add the phrase "a city in Germany near the Austrian border," but it demonstrates a larger learning experience for me. It is for this same reason that in other parts of the article I decided to explain that the "Königsteiner Schlüssel" is a distribution formula, and that Bavaria is in the southwest of Germany. These are small additions to the original, but they contain information that I as the translator deemed necessary for the new readership.
This challenge revealed to me the importance of "skopos"-- the concept that the purpose of the translated text is one of the most important factors in translating, sometimes even over fidelity. As a newspaper article, giving the reader information about these events surrounding the migrant crisis in is part of Europe is the most important factor. Therefore, I resolved to give up some fidelity in order to make sure the reader has the necessary information to understand the subject of the article. There are so many decisions that go into translating and I was surprised to learn that skopos would sometimes be more important than fidelity. I think that in the context of a newspaper article, providing the readership with practical information is essential.
I chose to post and reflect on the this particular excerpt from my translation because it was a very challenging section, and therefore I worked closely with the text and revised it a number of times. The excerpt below deals with geographical locations as well as cultural and political practices. One of the challenges was how to convey these details to an American readership. Addressing this challenge helped me to be able to identify and improve some skills that are key to the translation process. In my first draft of this part of the article I tried to keep the translation as faithful to the original as possible. But this presented a problem: the American readership might need more information than the German readership. For this reason I added some information regarding, for example, the location of the city Rosenheim. In my first draft of this section I did not think to add anything about Rosenheim that was not in the original. But as we workshopped particular sentences it became clear that the American readership is not as familiar with the geography as well as cultural and political practices in region as Germans. It was an easy fix to add the phrase "a city in Germany near the Austrian border," but it demonstrates a larger learning experience for me. It is for this same reason that in other parts of the article I decided to explain that the "Königsteiner Schlüssel" is a distribution formula, and that Bavaria is in the southwest of Germany. These are small additions to the original, but they contain information that I as the translator deemed necessary for the new readership.
This challenge revealed to me the importance of "skopos"-- the concept that the purpose of the translated text is one of the most important factors in translating, sometimes even over fidelity. As a newspaper article, giving the reader information about these events surrounding the migrant crisis in is part of Europe is the most important factor. Therefore, I resolved to give up some fidelity in order to make sure the reader has the necessary information to understand the subject of the article. There are so many decisions that go into translating and I was surprised to learn that skopos would sometimes be more important than fidelity. I think that in the context of a newspaper article, providing the readership with practical information is essential.
The full original article "Bayern ruft andere Länder um Hilfe" from the newspaper Die Zeit can be found here.
Refugees and police at Munich's main train station © Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images
The Original"Viele wollen nach Deutschland
Ungarn liegt an der sogenannten Westbalkanroute, über die Flüchtlinge aus Syrien und anderen Krisenregionen von Griechenland her weiter in westliche EU-Länder gelangen wollen. Nach den gemeinsamen EU-Asylregeln wäre Griechenland als Ankunftsland, aber auch Ungarn verpflichtet, alle Flüchtlinge zu registrieren. Dazu müssen aber die Behörden Kontakt zu ihnen bekommen. Viele Flüchtlinge wollen aber nach Deutschland weiterreisen. In Rosenheim stoppte die Bundespolizei einen Zug und brachte 190 Menschen zur Registrierung in eine ehemalige Kaserne. Etwa 200 weitere ließ sie nach München weiterreisen. Am Münchner Hauptbahnhof koordiniert auch die städtische Polizei die Hilfe für die Ankommenden. Viele Menschen brachten dort in den vergangenen Stunden Hilfsgüter hin. Die Polizei dankte auf Twitter für die Hilfsbereitschaft und teilte mit, derzeit werde nichts mehr benötigt." |
My Translation"Many Want to Get to Germany
Hungary lies on the so-called “West Balkan Route,” over which the refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions hope to travel. Many are coming through Greece and want to eventually reach western countries in the European Union (EU). In accordance with the EU asylum agreements, not only Greece, as the official place of arrival, but also Hungary would be obligated to register all refugees. For this to happen, authorities must have contact with them all. But many of the refugees want to continue traveling into Germany. In Rosenheim, a city in Germany near the Austrian border, the federal police stopped one train and brought 190 people to a former barracks to be registered. They allowed about 200 others to travel onto Munich. At the main train station in Munich, the municipal police are coordinating help for the refugees, and in the past few hours many people have come with relief aid. The police expressed thanks on Twitter to everyone who offered their help and cooperation and announced that nothing more was needed at the moment." |