20 January 2017

Transcreation, examples from an online newsletter, #2

Example from
Le nouveau Figaro à foils sera construit dans une usine dédiée à Nantes
and 
New Bénéteau racing monohull with foils.

To understand the approach taken to the adaptation of this article, it helps to know that the original was first published by Le Télégramme. The newspaper's online tagline is: 
Actualité et infos en direct et en continu sur Brest, Lannion, Lorient, Quimper, Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Malo, Vannes et les autres communes de Bretagne.
The French journalist was writing for a local audience that follows maritime and yachting news closely and is assumped to be familiar with the relevant technical jargon.
This contrasts with the Mer et Marine monthly newsletter in English which targets L1* and L2* readers of English working in the marine/maritime/naval industries interested in French innovations.
Hence the need for some periphrases in English to explain technical terms that readers of the French version were assumed not to need.

First, the headline

Compare:
Le nouveau Figaro à foils sera construit dans une usine dédiée à Nantes
and 

The French headline highlights the type of boat and where it will be built, which is perfectly logical given Le Télégramme's focus.
The English version focuses on the manufacturer's name and the innovation.

Next the introduction

[FRA] Il y avait foule, samedi 3 décembre, sur la grande scène du Nautic, à Paris, pour la présentation du Figaro 3. Depuis le temps qu'on l'attend ce nouveau monotype
[ENG] The new Figaro Bénéteau 3 made a big impression at the Nautic boatshow.
The mockup presented at the Nautic boatshow in Paris on Saturday 3 December attracted a big crowd. The new ‘one-design’ — a yacht built to a standard design for one-design racing, in this case the Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro event — was on display, after what many felt was a long wait.


* L1: mother-tongue
* L2: second-language

ChatGPT, a drafting aid for translation by emulation

On 17 October 2011, I published the first of two posts summarising my general approach to the type of translation/adaptation services I was ...