Theme: Translation as a type of social activity

TRANSLATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION: SIMILARITIES AND

DIFFERENCES
1. Cross-cultural communication.
2. Translation and cross-cultural communication: are they the same?
3. Cross-cultural competence and translational cross-cultural competence.

Cross-cultural communication is communication between two cultures. Culture is "the way of

life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its
means of expression", thus acknowledging that each language group has its own culturally
specific features. Communication is the exchange of ideas, information, etc. between two or
more people. In an act of communication there’s usually at least one speaker or sender, a
message which is transmitted, and a person or persons for whom this message is intended – the
receiver (Richards,1985).
Communication is a process that involves sending and receiving messages. Language and culture
are obviously the two dominant factors, which make translation an indispensable and most
complicated kind of intellectual activity. When people of different languages are to
communicate, they need a common language for understanding each other.
There are often more problems in cross-cultural communication, which happens between people
of different cultural backgrounds than in communication between people of the same cultural
background. Each participant may interpret the other's speech according to his/her own cultural
conventions and expectations. If the cultural conventions of the speaker are widely different,
misinterpretations and misunderstandings can easily arise, even result in total breakdown of
communication. (Richards, 1985).
Cross-cultural communication, also frequently referred to as intercultural communication, is a
field of study that looks at how people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, in
similar and different ways among themselves , and how they endeavor to communicate across
cultures. There are three major types of communication: Verbal or dialog, Non-verbal, and
visual.
Dialog or verbal communication is a conversation between two or more entities in which they
use their speech organs to convey a message. It has two subcategories: Interpersonal and public
speaking.
Nonverbal communication is the process of communicating through sending and receiving
wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gestures, body language or
posture, facial expression, eye contact, object communication such as clothing, and hairstyles, or
even architecture or symbols.
Visual communication, as the name suggests, is communication through visual aids. It is the
transmission of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon.
Basic Principles of Cross-cultural Communication:
1. Assume differences in a cross-culture situation.
2. Recognize differences within cultures: subordinates from different countries will have
different personalities, skills, and problems.
3. Watch your language: Use simple language. Avoid clichés, jargon, and slang until you are
communicating with a person who is very fluent in English.

2. Translation and cross-cultural communication: are they the same? Translation as a

means of cross-cultural communication

People communicate to transfer information, and translation helps people communicate if they
speak different languages.
It is widely accepted that translation is a complex speech-thought process realized by
representatives of definite ethnic communities in correspondence with concrete aims of
translation. Two main tasks are realized in the translation process: understanding and
reproduction (proper translation).
According to M. Brandes, “translation is a kind of language mediation where the content of the
foreign text (original) is transferred to other language by way of creating a communicatively
equivalent text in this language.”
In L. Barkhudarov’s opinion, “translation is a process of transformation of a speech product in
one language into a speech product in another language, the invariable meaning being
preserved.”
G. Toury believes that “translation is kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two
languages and two cultural traditions.”
It is important to signify that translation analysis of messages embraces the analysis of their
cultural aspects without which it is impossible to render them properly.
Taking into account the fact that language is a cultural unit, as well as a powerful means of
communication, we can consider that translation is a complex speech-thought process realized at
the process of cross-cultural communication.
To prove it we should say that both translation and communication are based on language. The
message sent from the speaker to the listener/reader contains a wide array of features such as
words, grammar, syntax, idioms, tone of voice, emphasis, speed, emotion, as well as the body
language.
The notion of culture is essential to considering the implications for translation. Discussing the
problems of correspondence in translation, Nida confers equal importance to both linguistic and
cultural differences between the SL and the TL and concludes that "differences between cultures
may cause more severe complications for the translator than do differences in language
structure" (Nida 1964: 130).
It is well known that parallels in culture often provide a common understanding. The cultural
implications for translation are thus of significant importance as well as lexical concerns.
The oral translation or interpretation requires the listener to attend to all of these features, while
at the same time constructing an understanding of the speaker's intentions, emotions, politeness,
seriousness, character, beliefs, priorities, motivations, and style of communicating. This means
that the message produced by the translator should call forth a reaction from the TL receptor
similar to that called forth by the original message from the SL receptor.
The goal of communication is to send a message with the intention of informing, inspiring or
questioning, to be fully understood by the recipient.
Face to face communication is far more than an exchange of words. Facial expressions, hand
gestures, posture, eye contact, even silence… all these are constantly sending messages about
our attitudes, our emotions, our status, our relationships.
Translation theory shares a number of concerns with what is commonly called communication
theory.
Perhaps the most important observation of communication theorists for translators is the
recognition that every act of communication has three dimensions: Speaker (or author), Message,
and Audience.
Awareness of this tri-partite character of communication can be very useful for interpreters.
Assuming that an act of communication is right now taking place, there are three dimensions to
this particular act of communication:
• speaker’s intending to communicate;
• actual words used in message;
• understanding of what is said by audience.
When these three dimensions come together, the communication has been efficient.
According to A.D. Schweitzer, “translation can be defined as a unidirectional and twophase
process of interlingual and intercultural communication, where a secondary text (metatext) text is
created on the basis of the primary text subjected to purposeful (“translational”) analysis, the
secondary text replacing the primary one in another language and cultural environment”.
Thus, translation is a communication process that involves the transfer of a message from a
source language to a target language.
It is a special type of cross-communication intended to convey information between the
participants using two different languages. Cross-cultural communication is impossible unless
the message is transmitted and is understood by the communicants. However, this understanding
can be achieved only if the information contained in the language units corresponds to the
background knowledge of the facts mentioned in the message.
Thus, the process of translation creates its specific characteristic. It has to find out the origin of
the source text, conditions of understanding of the target language, social status of
communicants, linguistic situation, and everything that is a part of the complex notion of cross-
cultural communication.

3. Cross-cultural competence and translational cross-cultural competence

Cross-cultural competence refers to the knowledge, skills, and affect/motivation that enable
individuals to adapt effectively in cross-cultural environments.
Cross-cultural competence is defined here as an individual capability that contributes to
intercultural effectiveness regardless of the particular intersection of cultures. Although some
aspects of cognition, behavior, or affect may be particularly relevant in a specific country or
region, evidence suggests that a core set of competencies enables adaptation to any culture
(Hammer, 1987).
Cross-cultural competence is not an end in itself, but is a set of variables that contribute to
intercultural effectiveness. Whereas previous models have tended to emphasize subjective
outcomes, by focusing primarily on adjustment, outcomes of interest here include both
subjective and objective outcomes.
Translation competence is a complex concept that has been addressed by a number of
researchers in the field of Translation Studies. Professional translation as a social practice is
based, framed by a specific culture (competence). The framing culture of this social practice is
composed by:
• A professional culture of the translator (language skills, technical knowledge in translation,
“general culture”).
• An embedding culture (more general knowledge and values of the social actor/group to which
belongs the translator);
• A “personal culture” (knowledge and values characterizing the individual as a “social person”).
Translation competence should help to enhance the following skills and abilities of the translator:
• Recognizing and establishing the structure of the source and target texts;
• Recognizing the texture of the source text and organizing that of the target text (selection of
lexical items, syntactic organization, cohesion);
• A detailed understanding of the text forms of particular genres;
• Developing reformulation strategies such as: paraphrasing, summarizing, avoiding calques, and
so forth;
• Producing appropriate texts in the target language. In general, translation competence is the
abilities, skills and attitudes needed to carry out an activity successfully and it therefore affects
different aspects of the translator's training (and work).

Self-check
1. Translation as a linguistic and cultural act.
2. Cross-cultural сcommunication.
3. Translation and cross-cultural communication: are they the same?
4. Cross-cultural competence and translational cross-cultural competence.