University of Basra

College of Arts
Department of Translation

Reported by Saja Abd Alhussain Shaya Reported to Dr.Abdulsalam Al-Ogaili

4th Year\Morning studies\Sec. B

Why is media translation regarded as an art of word

translating and how to form it?

❖ Introduction:
Translation is the art of translating words or texts from one language into another.
and the process of translation can be divided into different stages. The first thing is
understanding the text or the meaning you want to convey. Here the translator will
need to detach himself from the specific words in order to give more meaning to
the thoughts of the original author. A professional translator also has to be an
excellent writer, considering that he or she has to make sure that the final text is
easy to read, Then, once this is achieved, the text must be reinterpreted and adapted
to the target language. The world of translation is a vast and varied one. There are
diverse theories about translation and many different translation services types,
including legal, medical, political, judicial translation and many other types each
for a specific field. One of them is media translation which is considered to be the
most wide spread type of translation the reason being in the importance of mass
communication around the world. We live in a time where things that are
happening in other countries could very well impact our way of living. Staying
informed about what is happening around the world will help us keep an open
mind and know how to handle certain situations. This is why media translation is
extremely important in our day and time. Staying informed about what is
happening in the world around us will help us better realize that we are all citizens
of this world and are connected in more ways than one. The aim of this report is to
answer the question of why is media translation considered an art of word

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translating? and how to form it to help us further understand this very much
impactful field of translation.

❖ Why is media translation regarded as an art of word translating?

In order to fully understand why translation is regarded as an art of word
translating, we first need to understand the concept of art itself. According to
Wikipedia art is” A diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or
performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative, conceptual
ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional
power.” Another simple definition by Merriam Webster states that art is” skill
acquired by experience, study, or observation.”
From the definitions of art mentioned above we can clearly see that media
translation falls into the category of art pretty easily, because the translator is
trying to figure out what is meant in one language and then is basically painting a
picture of what is meant in the other language. When you are dealing with different
cultures and ethnicities, you are really translating a message and what is intended
from the speaker into the new culture with now adding on a layer of cultural
sensitivity. The Translator has to reflect on the actual meaning and intentions of
the person for whom is being translated before rendering the message.
The translator really has to understand a message and then paint that picture in the
target language. This is why translation is an art because it requires in-depth
understanding of the nuances of two languages and the ability to artfully convey
the meaning and feel of writing in one language in terms of the other. Going back
to the Merriam Webster dictionary definition of art we can see that it applies to
everything we have mentioned above.

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 ❖ How to form it?
Media translation deals with many news items which come from several sources
and are translated into all the languages of the world, and a great number of them
are in need of being translated into the languages to be dealt with and in such a
manner that meets the demands of the audience to which they are addressed.
Journalistic English has a style all of its own, and this is most evident in headlines.
The actual article should simply describe an event or occurrence, giving the details
in a clear, well-ordered, easy-to-understand way. There is no doubt that the ability
to convey the media message or dialogue material in the dramatic style relies upon
the competence of the translator in the first place and his mastery of both
languages, in the visual, audio or written field. The more the similarity between
both texts in terms of lexical items, sentences, content and verbal rhyme, the more
enjoyment the viewer feels visually and intellectually; this means that the translator
reflected the image as it is and did not portray an image of his own. The selection
of words or equivalents needs a great deal of care and accuracy; for example. ‫هواء‬
(air) can be ‫هواء‬, ‫ريح‬, ‫نسيم‬, ‫هبوب‬, and in English there are similar, even though less
variables. Like air, wind. breeze. gust. draft, etc. The use depends greatly on the
context of the text.
Headlines, however, have rules all of their own. By their very nature, they usually
have to be short and concise, and their function is to draw the reader’s attention to
the article and make him/her want to read the actual text. To draw the reader's
attention, the media professionals and media translators rely very heavily on the
news headlines which incorporate several features: though similar in some respect
to standard language, yet they also show many differences and peculiarities which
may sometimes render the news headlines ambiguous and misleading.
Due to their significance as a special text type, translation of headlines has
particularly attracted translation scholars and researchers. When translating
headlines, the trait of ambiguity mentioned above should be preserved when
translating a headline of course in the light of the target language culture and
readership. That is why headlines are said to pose challenging translation
difficulties. Therefore, translators have to produce news headlines that are concise
and appealing to TL readers. Since what is deemed appealing to ST readers may
not necessarily be attractive to TT readers, news headlines need to undergo
rewording, modifications or even complete replacement. In other words, for
translated news headlines to be effective in the TL, translators have to employ
multiple translation procedures.

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For example:
• T-Rex Cousin "Reaper of Death" Discovered in Canada
This headline arouses interest with the reference to T. Rex, in addition it conveys
the idea of the original article in a simple way. We know that it’s a dinosaur, it was
scary, it was related to T. Rex, and that it has just been discovered.
• ‫ اكتشف في كندا‬، ‫ ريكس المكتشف حديثًا‬.‫ ابن عم تي‬، "‫ريبر الموت‬
while English is flexible as to whether the source of a speech comes before or after
a speech, Arabic only allows the source of speech to come before the actual
speech, for example:
• No plan to use National Guard for immigration enforcement: White
House
• ‫ ال خطة الستخدام الحرس الوطني لتنفیذ قوانین الهجرة‬:‫البیت األبیض‬

More examples:
• Violence grips protest rally in Baghdad
• ‫قتیل وجرحى في إطالق نار على المتظاهرين في بغداد‬

• Francois Fillon to be summoned over 'fake work' scandal

• ‫اتهامات الفساد تالحق فیون ولوبان بفرنسا‬

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 ❖ Conclusion:
In conclusion media translation is considered to many as an art of word translating
because it gives a translator the opportunity to paint the picture of what they
believe is the meaning of this other one. And this is subjective, many translators
may translate a message differently. Translating something is definitely a creative
process and the more we understand the writer’s intended words what they really
want to say the easier would be to paint that picture in the target language. But it
still requires an enormous amount of creativity because some things just don’t
translate easily. In the modem age, the media is no longer limited to satisfying
interests and instilling information: rather, it has been transformed into creating
interests and cultural reformulation in man through different arenas and developed
technologies.

❖ References:

1. Akbar, Mohammad. Media Translation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.

2. https://www.translationdirectory.com/article138.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art