Translation of footnotes: not sure which parts to translate Thread poster: Johanna Timm, PhD
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Dear colleagues,
I would appreciate your advice regarding the translation of footnotes! I am working on an academic paper (E>>G) with tons of footnotes and am not sure which parts I need to translate and where a translation would be just confusing. Just on example: The author quotes an entry/ a definition from a philosophical dictionary like this:
By “modernization,” I refer to the “process of economic, political, social and cultural change occurring in undeveloped count... See more Dear colleagues,
I would appreciate your advice regarding the translation of footnotes! I am working on an academic paper (E>>G) with tons of footnotes and am not sure which parts I need to translate and where a translation would be just confusing. Just on example: The author quotes an entry/ a definition from a philosophical dictionary like this:
By “modernization,” I refer to the “process of economic, political, social and cultural change occurring in undeveloped countries as they move towards more advanced and complex patterns of social and political organization” (Jorge Larrain, “Modernization,” The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Social Thought, eds. William Outhwaite and Tom Bottomore [Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995], 392-94).
Do I translate the title ”Modernization”? Do I translate the definition? Do I translate just one or the other?
Thanks so much for your input.
johanna ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I think you should translate | May 29, 2003 |
if you think that the audience would not understand the language. Your example seems to be like a Note Of Translation (or Translator) as it is a comment on the special meaning of the word in question. Obsviouly, you should be paid for the translation of the footnotes.
Hope this help.
François
| | | | Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 03:08
Spanish to English
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| Translate the excerpt | May 29, 2003 |
because it contains the message. But do not translate the title because it goes with the publication data given.
Another solution (depending on the level of scholarly presentation involved) is to leave the original and put a translation beside it, with one of the two in parenthesis or in italics.
The second solution is a safe hedge for thesis-writers, since a jury may want to revise what was said in the original.
The first solution is normally accepted in p... See more because it contains the message. But do not translate the title because it goes with the publication data given.
Another solution (depending on the level of scholarly presentation involved) is to leave the original and put a translation beside it, with one of the two in parenthesis or in italics.
The second solution is a safe hedge for thesis-writers, since a jury may want to revise what was said in the original.
The first solution is normally accepted in publication, so as not to make the text too footnote-heavy.
Note that there are also conventions for footnoting and bibliography that may "translate" (punctuation marks used, treatment of Latin symbols, etc.).
Typefaces to use may also be classified into two: plain text (using apostrophes where book print may use Italics, and underlining titles that would appear in boldface in a book). Whatever the criteria you choose, be consistent throughout the text.
Hope it helps!
 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 18:08
English to Arabic
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| Insert the references, as they are | May 29, 2003 |
Greetings.
My recommendation and customary practice, also shared by other colleagues in my language pairs, is to insert the footnotes and reference citations as they are and in the original language.
If the reader of the translation desires to check a cited reference, that reader then knows exactly where to search.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
(English Arabic,
Farsi and Kurdish)
Los Angeles
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| Translate the quote | May 30, 2003 |
Johanna Timm, PhD wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I would appreciate your advice regarding the translation of footnotes! I am working on an academic paper (E>>G) with tons of footnotes and am not sure which parts I need to translate and where a translation would be just confusing. Just on example: The author quotes an entry/ a definition from a philosophical dictionary like this:
By “modernization,” I refer to the “process of economic, political, social and cultural change occurring in undeveloped countries as they move towards more advanced and complex patterns of social and political organization” (Jorge Larrain, “Modernization,” The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Social Thought, eds. William Outhwaite and Tom Bottomore [Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995], 392-94).
Translate the quotation itself. Do *not* translate the title of the book: the book exists only in English, and the page references only apply to that edition (some translators have to research whether there is a German edition and what page numbers apply, and then give both the English and German references, but I assume they are paid extra - I've never done it).
It is usual to translate things like eds. = Hsg., pp. etc. but I can't see that it's necessary, since only an English-speaking librarian would need the information.
HTH
MM
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