Translation of Thai Culture-Specific Words Into English in Digital Environment: Translators’ Strategies and Use of Technology
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Published:
Sep 23, 2021
Keywords:
Translation strategies Impact of technology Bourdieu’s habitus Actor-Network Theory
Main Article Content
Abstract
The present research investigates how translators deal with the challenges of translating culture-specific words from Thai into English within a digital environment. Using strategies suggested by Baker (2018), the study collected data from surveys, written sources and observations to examine which approaches are used by translators. It also addresses how technology impacts the decision making of translators as they create translations employing both Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (1977, 1990) and the Actor-Network Theory proposed by Latour (1987, 2005). The findings show that translators use eight primary strategies when translating culture-specific words, with the use of loan words being the most common and literal translation the least used. The habitus of translators possibly influences their translation choices, with technology playing a crucial role in determining which solutions and strategies translators choose. This proves the extent to which technology currently influences translators in the completion of translation tasks in digital environments. Consideration of these factors should be considered as a way to improve translation training in a Thai context.
Article Details
How to Cite
Wongseree, T. (2021). Translation of Thai Culture-Specific Words Into English in Digital Environment: Translators’ Strategies and Use of Technology. REFLections, 28(3), 334–356. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v28i3.254613
Section
Research articles
References
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Arifin, Z. (2019). Translation strategies of specific-culture terms in the tourism text “Wisata Kuliner di Kota Batik”. Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies, 6(1), 37-44.
Arsairach, S., Juntiya, T., & Kakaew, J. (2017). Problems of translation and strategies for English into Thai academic text translation of students majoring in English education. Journal of Education and Human Development Sciences, 1(1), 71-85.
Aungsuwan, W. (2017). Translation strategies and Thai identities in the English translated versions of Thai Buddhist books: The case study of good kids stories with V. Vachiramedhi. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2980639
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Bassnett, S. (2014). Translation studies (4th ed.). Routledge.
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Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Polity Press.
Buzelin, H. (2007). Translations “in the making”. In M. Wolf & A. Fukari (Eds.), Constructing a sociology of translation (pp. 135-169). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Buzelin, H. (2011). Agents of translation. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 2 (pp. 6-12). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. In J. Law (Ed.), Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge? (pp. 196-223). Routledge.
Chaleegul, W., & Nathalang, S. S. (2019). Strategies for translating Thai cultural terms into English: A case study of Utsana Phlengtham’s ‘the story of Jan Dara’. Vacana Journal of Language & Linguistics, 7(1), 1-20.
Chesterman, A. (2007). Bridge concepts in translation sociology. In M. Wolf & A. Fukari (Eds.), Constructing a sociology of translation (pp. 171-183). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Córdoba Serrano, M. S. (2020). Actor-Network Theory (ANT). In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (3rd ed.) (pp. 5-10). Routledge.
De Barra-Cusack, F. (2014). A user-oriented study of metadata in focal.ie. [Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University]. DCU Online Research Access Service. http://doras.dcu.ie/20237/
Díaz-Cintas, J. (2015). Technological strides in subtitling. In S. Chan (Ed.), The Routledge encyclopedia of translation technology (pp. 632-643). Routledge.
Filep, B. (2009). Interview and translation strategies: Coping with multilingual settings and data. Social Geography, 4(1), 59-70.
Gambier, Y. (2010). Translation strategies and tactics. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 1 (pp. 412-418). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Gouanvic, J. (2005). A Bourdieusian theory of translation, or the coincidence of practical instances. The Translator, 11(2), 147-166.
Guerra, A. F. (2012). Translating culture: Problems, strategies and practical realities. Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation, 3(1), 1-27.
Hekkanen, R. (2009). Fields, networks and finnish prose: A comparison of Bourdieusian field theory and Actor-Network Theory in translation sociology. In D. De Crom (Ed.), Translation and the (Trans) formation of identities: Selected papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation Studies 2008 (pp. 1-22). http://www.kuleuven.be/cetra/papers/Papers2008/Hekkanen.pdf
Inghilleri, M. (2005). The sociology of Bourdieu and the construction of the ‘object’ in translation and interpreting studies. The Translator, 11(2), 125-145.
Inghilleri, M. (2009). Sociological approaches. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (2nd ed.) (pp. 279-282). Routledge.
Inphen, W. (2020). A dominant global translation strategy in Thai translated novels: The translations of religious markers in Dan Brown’s thriller novels. Manusya: Journal of Humanities, 23, 286-304.
Janthajumrusrat, C. (2018). An analytical study of strategies of foreign action movies translation into Thai [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University.
Kemp, S. (2021). Digital 2021: Thailand. Datareportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/ digital-2021-thailand
Kenny, D. (2017). Introduction. In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 1-7). Routledge.
Khongbumpen, C. (2008). Strategies employed in translation from Thai into English: A case study of an article in focus Bangkok [Unpublished master’s project]. Srinakharinwirot University.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society. Harvard University Press.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford University Press.
Meylaerts, R. (2008). Translators and (their) norms: Towards a sociological construction of the individual. In A. Pym, M. Shlesinger & D. Simeoni (Eds.), Beyond descriptive translation studies: Investigations in homage to Gideon Toury (pp. 91-102). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Newmark, P. (1995). A textbook of translation. Phoenix ELT.
Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a science of translating. E. J. Brill.
Office of the Royal Society. (1999). Notification of the Royal Institute concerning the transcription of Thai characters into Roman. https://www.orst.go.th/iwfm_table.asp?a=36&i=0040002104011001%2F63ERJ5814038
O’Hagan, M. (2017). Deconstructing translation crowdsourcing with the case of a Facebook initiative: A translation network of engineered autonomy and trust?. In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 25-44). Routledge.
Risku, H., & Windhager, F. (2013). Extended translation: A sociocognitive research agenda. Target, 25(1), 33-45.
Saldanha, G., & O’Brien, S. (2014). Research methodologies in translation studies. Routledge.
Schäffner, C. (2010). Norms of translation. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 1 (pp. 235-244). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Simeoni, D. (1998). The pivotal status of the translator’s habitus. Target, 10(1), 1-39.
Thappang, A. (2012). Translation strategies of compound nouns from English to Thai in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. Institute of Culture and Arts Journal Srinakharinwirot University, 14(1), 95-104.
Vinay, J. P., & Darbelnet, J. (2000). A methodology for translation. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 84-93). Routledge.
Wang, V. X., & Lim, L. (2017). How do translators use web resources? In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 63-79). Routledge.
Warachananan, P., & Roongrattanakool, D. (2015). A study of translation strategies in the translation of songs in Walt Disney’s animated feature films into Thai versions. Proceedings of 15th National and International Conference Interdisciplinary Research for Local Development Sustainability (pp. 75-84).
Williams, J., & Chesterman, A. (2012). The map: A beginner’s guide to doing research in translation studies. St. Jerome Publishing.
Wongseree, T. (2018). Understanding Thai fansubbing: Collaboration in fan communities translating a Korean TV show [Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University]. DCU Online Research Access Service. http://doras.dcu.ie/22113/
Wongseree, T. (2020). Understanding Thai fansubbing practices in the digital era: A network of fans and online technologies in fansubbing communities. Perspectives, 28(4), 539-553.
Wongseree, T., O’Hagan, M., & Sasamoto, R. (2019). Contemporary global media circulation based on fan translation: A particular case of Thai fansubbing. Discourse, Context & Media, 32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100330
Wongthananan, P. (2016). An analysis of English to Thai song lyrics translation strategies [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Buriram Rajabhat University.
Yannakoloulou, V. (2014). The influence of the habitus on translatorial style: Some methodological considerations based on the case of Yorgos Himonas’ rendering of Hamlet into Greek. In G. M. Vorderobermeier (Ed.), Remapping habitus in translation studies (pp. 163-182). Rodopi.
Yannakoloulou, V. (2008). Norms and translatorial habitus in Angelos Vlahos’ Greek translation of Hamlet. In P. Boulogne (Ed.), Translation and its others: Selected papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation Studies 2007. http://www.kuleuven.be/cetra/papers/papers.html
Yousefi, S. (2017). Translation of cultural specific items: A case study of Gulistan of Saadi. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 4(5), 62-75.
Abdallah, K. (2014). The interface between Bourdieu’s habitus and Latour’s agency: The work trajectories of two Finnish translators. In G. M. Vorderobermeier (Ed.), Remapping habitus in translation studies (pp. 111-132). Rodopi.
Arifin, Z. (2019). Translation strategies of specific-culture terms in the tourism text “Wisata Kuliner di Kota Batik”. Ahmad Dahlan Journal of English Studies, 6(1), 37-44.
Arsairach, S., Juntiya, T., & Kakaew, J. (2017). Problems of translation and strategies for English into Thai academic text translation of students majoring in English education. Journal of Education and Human Development Sciences, 1(1), 71-85.
Aungsuwan, W. (2017). Translation strategies and Thai identities in the English translated versions of Thai Buddhist books: The case study of good kids stories with V. Vachiramedhi. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2980639
Baker, M. (2018). In other words: A coursebook on translation (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Bassnett, S. (2014). Translation studies (4th ed.). Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Polity Press.
Buzelin, H. (2007). Translations “in the making”. In M. Wolf & A. Fukari (Eds.), Constructing a sociology of translation (pp. 135-169). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Buzelin, H. (2011). Agents of translation. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 2 (pp. 6-12). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. In J. Law (Ed.), Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge? (pp. 196-223). Routledge.
Chaleegul, W., & Nathalang, S. S. (2019). Strategies for translating Thai cultural terms into English: A case study of Utsana Phlengtham’s ‘the story of Jan Dara’. Vacana Journal of Language & Linguistics, 7(1), 1-20.
Chesterman, A. (2007). Bridge concepts in translation sociology. In M. Wolf & A. Fukari (Eds.), Constructing a sociology of translation (pp. 171-183). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Córdoba Serrano, M. S. (2020). Actor-Network Theory (ANT). In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (3rd ed.) (pp. 5-10). Routledge.
De Barra-Cusack, F. (2014). A user-oriented study of metadata in focal.ie. [Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University]. DCU Online Research Access Service. http://doras.dcu.ie/20237/
Díaz-Cintas, J. (2015). Technological strides in subtitling. In S. Chan (Ed.), The Routledge encyclopedia of translation technology (pp. 632-643). Routledge.
Filep, B. (2009). Interview and translation strategies: Coping with multilingual settings and data. Social Geography, 4(1), 59-70.
Gambier, Y. (2010). Translation strategies and tactics. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 1 (pp. 412-418). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Gouanvic, J. (2005). A Bourdieusian theory of translation, or the coincidence of practical instances. The Translator, 11(2), 147-166.
Guerra, A. F. (2012). Translating culture: Problems, strategies and practical realities. Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation, 3(1), 1-27.
Hekkanen, R. (2009). Fields, networks and finnish prose: A comparison of Bourdieusian field theory and Actor-Network Theory in translation sociology. In D. De Crom (Ed.), Translation and the (Trans) formation of identities: Selected papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation Studies 2008 (pp. 1-22). http://www.kuleuven.be/cetra/papers/Papers2008/Hekkanen.pdf
Inghilleri, M. (2005). The sociology of Bourdieu and the construction of the ‘object’ in translation and interpreting studies. The Translator, 11(2), 125-145.
Inghilleri, M. (2009). Sociological approaches. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (2nd ed.) (pp. 279-282). Routledge.
Inphen, W. (2020). A dominant global translation strategy in Thai translated novels: The translations of religious markers in Dan Brown’s thriller novels. Manusya: Journal of Humanities, 23, 286-304.
Janthajumrusrat, C. (2018). An analytical study of strategies of foreign action movies translation into Thai [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University.
Kemp, S. (2021). Digital 2021: Thailand. Datareportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/ digital-2021-thailand
Kenny, D. (2017). Introduction. In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 1-7). Routledge.
Khongbumpen, C. (2008). Strategies employed in translation from Thai into English: A case study of an article in focus Bangkok [Unpublished master’s project]. Srinakharinwirot University.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society. Harvard University Press.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford University Press.
Meylaerts, R. (2008). Translators and (their) norms: Towards a sociological construction of the individual. In A. Pym, M. Shlesinger & D. Simeoni (Eds.), Beyond descriptive translation studies: Investigations in homage to Gideon Toury (pp. 91-102). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Newmark, P. (1995). A textbook of translation. Phoenix ELT.
Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a science of translating. E. J. Brill.
Office of the Royal Society. (1999). Notification of the Royal Institute concerning the transcription of Thai characters into Roman. https://www.orst.go.th/iwfm_table.asp?a=36&i=0040002104011001%2F63ERJ5814038
O’Hagan, M. (2017). Deconstructing translation crowdsourcing with the case of a Facebook initiative: A translation network of engineered autonomy and trust?. In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 25-44). Routledge.
Risku, H., & Windhager, F. (2013). Extended translation: A sociocognitive research agenda. Target, 25(1), 33-45.
Saldanha, G., & O’Brien, S. (2014). Research methodologies in translation studies. Routledge.
Schäffner, C. (2010). Norms of translation. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies: Volume 1 (pp. 235-244). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Simeoni, D. (1998). The pivotal status of the translator’s habitus. Target, 10(1), 1-39.
Thappang, A. (2012). Translation strategies of compound nouns from English to Thai in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. Institute of Culture and Arts Journal Srinakharinwirot University, 14(1), 95-104.
Vinay, J. P., & Darbelnet, J. (2000). A methodology for translation. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 84-93). Routledge.
Wang, V. X., & Lim, L. (2017). How do translators use web resources? In D. Kenny (Ed.), Human issues in translation technology (pp. 63-79). Routledge.
Warachananan, P., & Roongrattanakool, D. (2015). A study of translation strategies in the translation of songs in Walt Disney’s animated feature films into Thai versions. Proceedings of 15th National and International Conference Interdisciplinary Research for Local Development Sustainability (pp. 75-84).
Williams, J., & Chesterman, A. (2012). The map: A beginner’s guide to doing research in translation studies. St. Jerome Publishing.
Wongseree, T. (2018). Understanding Thai fansubbing: Collaboration in fan communities translating a Korean TV show [Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University]. DCU Online Research Access Service. http://doras.dcu.ie/22113/
Wongseree, T. (2020). Understanding Thai fansubbing practices in the digital era: A network of fans and online technologies in fansubbing communities. Perspectives, 28(4), 539-553.
Wongseree, T., O’Hagan, M., & Sasamoto, R. (2019). Contemporary global media circulation based on fan translation: A particular case of Thai fansubbing. Discourse, Context & Media, 32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100330
Wongthananan, P. (2016). An analysis of English to Thai song lyrics translation strategies [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Buriram Rajabhat University.
Yannakoloulou, V. (2014). The influence of the habitus on translatorial style: Some methodological considerations based on the case of Yorgos Himonas’ rendering of Hamlet into Greek. In G. M. Vorderobermeier (Ed.), Remapping habitus in translation studies (pp. 163-182). Rodopi.
Yannakoloulou, V. (2008). Norms and translatorial habitus in Angelos Vlahos’ Greek translation of Hamlet. In P. Boulogne (Ed.), Translation and its others: Selected papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation Studies 2007. http://www.kuleuven.be/cetra/papers/papers.html
Yousefi, S. (2017). Translation of cultural specific items: A case study of Gulistan of Saadi. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 4(5), 62-75.