Conference

Abstract for “Yayayku (“the Lord’s Prayer”)—Attempts of the Dominican Order to Fight against the Deminorization of Quechua and Amerindian Languages through their Translation and their Diffusion”

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Lorena Hurtado Malillos, University of Valladolid

In this contribution, the situation of minorized languages in Latin America is analyzed, in particular the situation of Quechua from a historical and legal perspective. Thus, it dates back to the discovery of the so-called New World, the first years of the Spanish conquest of America and the work which was carried out by the congregation of the Dominicans in defending the indigenous peoples and languages.

The activity of the Dominican missioners in the New World was not limited to theological aspects. These missioners had a solid humanistic formation and a proficiency in classical languages. This fact paved their way to become pioneers in the translation and diffusion of the indigenous languages in America. Among these missioners, Domingo de Santo Tomás was the one who published the first Quechua-Spanish dictionary in Valladolid in 1560.

The Dominican Order stood out for their fight in defence of human rights and for the exposure of the abuses committed by the Spanish conquerors against the indigenous peoples during the conquest of America. Examples are the sermon of Antonio de Montesinos or the chronicles of Bartolomé de las Casas. This action had an impact on the metropolis. Indeed, in 1512, the Leyes of Burgos (“Laws of Burgos”) were enacted. This was the first codified set of laws protecting the indigenous people of the Americas. Also, Francisco de Vitoria, who is said to be the father of international law and who was the founder of the School of Salamanca, wrote a freedom charter for the indigenous peoples of America. The Dominican congregation was also the founder of the University of Santo Tomás de Aquino (Santo Domingo), which is deemed to be the first university in the New World. It should be noted that these centres already gave special importance to language learning. In the newly created professorships of the Universities of Peru and Mexico, missioners had to pass an exam on Amerindians languages which enabled them to preach.

In this vein, this contribution will address multilingualism and minorized languages in the translation process. Furthermore, it will be claimed that the Dominican Order played a paramount role in the protection of the peoples of the New World and the conservation of their languages.

Conference

Abstract for “Editing as a Tool for Adapting Content against Discrimination: “Being Hungry Makes You Healthy” Translation Project as a case study (by Yoshinori Nagumo)”

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María Ferrer, University Jaume I

Within a professional context, when the idiosyncrasy of the source culture produces best sellers which could be discriminatory and misogynous in the target culture, both translators and editors need to reconsider their roles. The editor, who is a vehicle of knowledge and culture, wants to sell the book. However, the message may be controversial in its original form. Therefore, the translation approach will be key. “Being Hungry Makes You Healthy” (Yoshinori Nagumo, 2012) is a diet that claims that starving oneself makes you beautiful. Thus, despite being socially unacceptable due to its being an apology of anorexia, the commercial approach takes precedent over the intellectual and mediation approaches (the latter being understanding how the Japanese society and the author think). The translator, by following the editor, uses editing in order to make conflicting parts go unnoticed and to dilute the presence of those ideologies which are too different from what our culture accepts. This process ends with the elimination of specific passages, hiding those aspects that may be offensive for the occidental culture. On the one hand, this shows how the editor does not privilege communicating the message as a goal but enhancing the commercial potential of his own brand and the product. On the other hand, it also shows how the social efforts to fight against the discrimination against the most vulnerable groups leads to the rejection of certain ideological components, which disappear through translation. In this process, the translator, who is an expert in the source culture, works as a cultural and ideological mediator.

 

Conference

Abstract for “Quintessence Service Ideal: the Role of the Client’s Best Interest in Interpreting Studies”

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Mediha Ohranovi?, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

The service ideal represents a core element in the so-called ‘trait’ approach in the Sociology of Professions. The service ideal is a ubiquitous feature in the models suggested under this approach and it is presented as interacting with other attributes of professions: (i) knowledge, (ii) professional association and codes of ethics, (iii) jurisdiction, autonomy and self-control. This paper focuses on the role of the ‘service ideal’ trait in the professionalization models adopted and adapted in interpreting studies. The study hypothesizes that the service ideal does not play a pivotal role in the scientific production of interpreting studies scholars as it does in the originally developed models. To test the hypothesis, a content analysis of interpreting studies literature is conducted to find out to what extent interpreting studies covers topics related to the four central attributes of professions mentioned above, including the service ideal. The analysis showed that all these features are present in the literature discussing the professionalization of interpreting. The service ideal has a focal role in texts about interpreters’ codes of ethics, but it cannot be said to represent a key aspect in interpreting professionalization models. The question arises as to whether interpreting studies’ incursion in the sociology of professions has neglected the complex interaction between the different elements and the role of this particular feature as a quintessential piece.

Keywords: interpreting; translation studies; professionalization; sociology of professions; service ideal; client’s best interest