Modes of translation

There are various ways in which an advertisement is carried across to other languages and cultures, but two main procedures can be identified. First is when the translators are part of the company that creates the advertisement. Thus the Indian version of the Vanish advertisement can be written by an Indian translator working in the US or UK. Guidère describes this as a “centralizing” process characterized by “in-house management of the entire process” (7). The other method is “decentralized” as “translation is outsourced to organizations external to the company” (7). Here the translation may be managed by an international translation centre or a multinational agency that has branches in the receptor country.

Guidère observes that the adoption of one or the other mode of translation depends on the nature of the company. The centralized approach will be adopted by a corporate organization that believes that “language belongs to those who speak it”. They will not outsource the translation to an outside agency, but will depend on translators who are native speakers, but work in another country. These translators who are not in contact with their native culture on a regular basis, “rarely faces the problems often raised about the target text and the target language. He is facing all difficulties of the source text and the culture producing it” (8). He is not very concerned about the reception of his message. The organization that entrusts the translation to a translator in the receptor country has a decentralized structure. Here the translator is concerned about the advertisement’s suitability to the receptor culture; this naturally makes him/her more target-oriented. S/he will be able to assess what will fit the target culture best. It goes without saying that, irrespective of the translation mode, all these translation activities will be subject to the guidelines of the parent organization.

Thus the challenges before the translator of advertisements are many. However, this field has not been studied in detail by translation theorists. Although this translation is very much like the interlingual one that happens between languages, it is very unlike literary translation in its commercial framework and purely utilitarian purpose. However, this area of translation is getting more critical attention today, especially from those working in the cultural studies domain.

Assignments

1. What are the challenges faced by a translator of an advertisement?
2. Select an advertisement from a culture / language that is alien to yours. How would you translate it in all aspects of the term?
   
   

Reference

Guidère, Mathieu. “Translation Practices in International Advertising”. Translation Journal. Volume 5, No.1. January 2001. <http://translationjournal.net/journal//15advert.htm>