Mikael: Kääntämisen ja tulkkauksen tutkimuksen aikakauslehti

Tekoäly on täällä – mitä tekee kääntäjänkoulutus?

Maarit Koponen, Minna Ruokonen — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

This article reports on the autumn seminar of the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL), organized in August 2023. The program consisted of presentations and workshop discussions on generative artificial intelligence in translator training, competence descriptors for specialized translation, and literary translators’ technology use and attitudes. The seminar served as a starting point for translator trainers to discuss both the general principles and practical exercises for integrating AI use into translator training.

Kääntäjien kouluttajat Alicen alasimessa

Kaisa Koskinen — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Twelve translation teachers from all Finnish universities offering translator training participated in a four-day literary translation workshop in Urjala in August 2023. The workshop was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and organized by Alice Martin, a renowned editor of translated literature and herself also a literary translator. Following the same model as the many workshops she has previously offered to professional literary translators, the workshop mainly consisted of intensive group discussions on preprepared translation assignments. The participants also heard up-to-date lectures of literary translators’ work by the two representatives of the Literary Translators’ Branch of the Union of Journalists in Finland (KAOS), Riina Vuokko and Jaakko Kankaanpää, and the participants exchanged views on current issues in practice and research. The workshop will benefit future students as teachers bring their new knowledge into the classrooms.

Exploring translation students’ feedback literacy

Minna Ruokonen — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Feedback literacy, or the ‘ability to understand, utilise and benefit from feedback processes’ (Molloy et al. 2020, 528) is arguably crucial for developing into an expert professional translator. Yet translation-pedagogical research is only beginning to address students’ engagement with feedback. This discussion article introduces the concept of feedback literacy and reports on a teaching experiment where the concept was applied on a course on authorised translation for MA students (n=8). The aim is to explore 1) whether the concept of feedback literacy can be useful in translation teaching and 2) how translation students who have not been systematically instructed in feedback literacy perceive feedback use and whether there are indications of feedback literacy in their reflections. The results suggest that while the students seem to have developed some aspects of feedback literacy without systematic instruction in it, it could be fostered further by integrating the concepts of feedback and feedback literacy into translation courses. At the same time, the current models of feedback literacy appear partly unnecessarily complex for pedagogical purposes and partly bypass some important questions, so further investigation of how to develop and apply them is needed.

Auktorisoidun kääntäjän tutkintojärjestelmän kehittämistyöstä vuoden 2008 jälkeen

Gun-Viol Vik, Terhi Seinä — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Translators have been certified in Finland since 1967. In 2008, the organisation of the examination for authorised translators was revised and ever since it has been maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Digitalisation has provided new means for the development of the examination as well as the register of authorised translators. The Optima learning management system was introduced in 2014 as a platform for the administration of the examination. The platform is used by 1) the Board for the Authorised Translator’s Examination for approving examination tasks and verifying examination assessments, 2) the participants of the examination, 3) the assessors of the examination tasks, and 4) by the Board and the responsible administrators at the Finnish National Agency for document management. In 2022, the Register of Authorised Translators was revised. In the revised register, special emphasis was placed on the accessibility for individuals seeking an authorised translator as well as on the equality among registered authorised translators offering their translation services.

In this article, we discuss the benefits of this development work since 2008, including some effects related to sustainability.

Examining User-Centered Translation

Juho Suokas — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Esipuhe - A note from the editors

to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Mikaelin 17:1 esipuhe

Psychological sustainability in the translation professions

Severine Hubscher-Davidson — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Psychological sustainability is increasingly recognised as an important component of professional development, and it is known to influence worker well-being and career success. Nevertheless, there is little information available on professional translators’ psychological sustainability. The aim of this study was to explore whether a two-hour focused intervention could make a difference in this respect. Drawing on established psychological frameworks, two intervention studies with CIoL linguists and UN translation staff were delivered targeting emotional skills and making use of a workshop design and a coaching approach. Findings from the post-intervention questionnaire data (n=94) revealed that language professionals perceive this type of intervention to be relevant and useful for their job, and that emotional skills learned can influence future work behaviours. Findings from open comments suggested specific ways in which interventions can develop psychological and career sustainability. The study concludes with a discussion of its limitations and practical implications for future intervention studies with translators.

Karibialaisen kirjallisuuden trendit ja niiden vaikutukset käännöskirjallisuuteen

Laura Ekberg — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Heterolingualism has long been an integral part of Caribbean literatures. The trends of how different heterolingual practices are used in the literary works have changed over the decades. This has also influenced how the works are translated. This article discusses the ways in which the trends seen in original Caribbean literary production impact how these works are translated into Finnish and what kinds of works are selected for translation. Special focus is given to the trend of renouncing the use of italics as a marker for code-switching in Caribbean literary works. Although this trend has spread quickly in original works, it has not been as readily adopted in Finnish translations. The article focuses mainly on the translations of works whose primary language is English.

Translating Market Desires in the Finnish Context

Svitlana Firsova — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

This paper examines a part of the Finnish translation market through 97 English-language translation job advertisements. The results agree with the previous Finnish research on the importance of the country’s official languages, Finnish and Swedish, alongside English as a foreign language. The study presents a mixed emphasis on the significance of formal education – Finnish employers who value it prefer a bachelor’s over a master’s degree. Experience and soft skills are crucial for recruiters, and the analysis of translators’ job responsibilities reveals translators’ multifaceted roles and alignment with the EMT competence framework, highlighting the vital role of translation, service provision, and technology. The outcomes have practical implications for the development of translator training curricula and generate a modern image of the professional translator from the market perspective. They also enable translators to anticipate employers’ needs and adequately prepare for their future careers.

Paratekstianalyysi suomennoskirjallisuuden tutkimusmenetelmänä

Nina Havumetsä, Hannu Kemppanen, Marja Sorvari, Erja Vottonen — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

The article discusses paratexts as research material for literary translation studies, as well as methods for their analysis, by using Finnish literary translation as an example. It gives examples of how paratexts can be used to describe the translation culture of the target culture (Prunč 1997) and the changes that have taken place in it. The article is based on the authors’ research projects on the translation and reception of Russian-language non-fiction and fiction as well as translated non-fiction, dealing with Russia or the Soviet Union by using bibliographic research and paratextual analysis. We apply the concept of paratext (Genette 1997; Batchelor 2018) and describe the stages of the research process from the collection of both peri- and epitexts to their processing and analysis. Finally, the article discusses the challenges of using paratextual data, including the ethical issues related to collecting data from the social media.

Kääntämistietoisuus koronakäännöksiä koskevissa laatukäsityksissä

Päivi Kuusi, Tuija Kinnunen, Simo Määttä, Svetlana Probirskaja — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several organizations in Finland produced multilingual information targeted at the migrant populations. To assess these translation policies and practices, we conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with persons involved in the purchasing, producing, editing, and dissemination of translated information targeted at migrants in 11 organizations including, for example, three municipalities of the greater Helsinki region, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, and three NGOs.

One of the issues raised by several interviewees was the poor quality of translations, and many interviewees also gave alleged reasons for it. In this paper, we analyze the interviewees’ comments on translation quality (and why it matters) as reflecting their understanding of translations and translating. To capture the many facets of this understanding, we propose the notion of translation awareness – a parallel to language awareness – and discuss how this awareness (or the lack thereof) influenced the translation practices in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thriving or Surviving

Joseph Lambert, Callum Walker — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Despite the health of the language industry in general, the translation profession(al) faces a range of sustainability challenges. Against a backdrop of key disruptors that are transforming workflows and working conditions, and ongoing concerns over status, pay, and wellbeing, industry reports flag an intensifying ‘talent crunch’, making it increasingly difficult to retain vital human capital. And yet, despite a range of rather bleak industry and academic data, many translators are still happy. In this paper, we use Maslow’s influential theory of motivation to draw together key concerns and to analyse this motivation-satisfaction paradox. We identify worrying deficits in all and even the most basic needs and contend that translators’ self-actualisation – in this case, their sense of fulfilment through translation itself – acts as a ‘pull’ factor that can compensate for these unfulfilled needs, to a degree. Ultimately, however, these deficits are clearly taking an increasing toll, and, in the interests of long-term professional conservation, we must focus further on the lived experience of the individual translator to build towards a thriving professional environment.

In Prosperous Sweden…

Malin Podlevskikh Carlström — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Based on a corpus of 203 reviews published in Russian newspapers and periodicals between 2000 and 2021, this article investigates the image of Sweden in the Russian reception of Swedish crime novels. The analysis aims to answer the following research questions: 1) How are Sweden and Swedes described in Russian reviews of Swedish crime fiction in 2000–2021? 2) Is there any indication of the novel reviewed having influenced the critic’s perception of Sweden? Swedish crime fiction is a popular genre in Russia, and constitutes as much as 63% of all translated Swedish prose fiction published in Russia between 2010 and 2021, which makes this a highly relevant inquiry. The thematic analysis of the reviews revealed that previously established positive images of Sweden are often used ironically, in contrast to the gruesome crimes described in the novels. Furthermore, several reviews indicate that the novel reviewed had an impact on the critic’s view on Sweden. Additionally, some reviews display ideological interpretations, indicating that western values are to blame for the situations described in the novels. Based on the analysis, it seems that Swedish crime fiction does impact the image of Sweden in Russia, which might be problematic given the genre's popularity.

Increasing translation awareness

Helka Riionheimo, Juha Lång, Juho Suokas, Erja Vottonen, Esa Penttilä — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

Multilingualism is so deeply embedded in researchers’ everyday work that they may not fully acknowledge how big a role translation plays in it. In this article, we examine PhD researchers’ views on research translation through the concept of translation awareness. We demonstrate how PhD researchers as paraprofessional translators see the role of translation in their research projects and what specific translation challenges they encounter. We also examine how taking part in a course on translating research material influences their views. This article aims to continue and expand discussion on the concept of translation awareness.

Finnish literary translators' use of translation technology and tools: processes, profiles, and purposes

Minna Ruokonen, Leena Salmi — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

While Translation Studies has started investigating the potential of translation technology in literary translation, the research has largely focused on optimizing product quality and bypassed the experiences of literary translators. This study contributes to filling that gap by means of a survey (n=72) and interviews (n=7) among literary translators with Finnish as a working language. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, we investigate what tools are used by literary translators, at what stages of the translation process, and for what purposes, and what factors are linked to technology use. We identify three types of translation processes (“from scratch”, “TM use”, and “MT post-editing”) with some individual and source-text-specific variation, and observe that translation technology use is more likely for translators who also use it for non-literary translation. The results also draw attention to literary translators’ different processes and the variety of purposes for which the different tools are used. The results have implications for publishers’ workflows, usability, and literary translators’ agency and profession.

Exploring Interreal Translation

Mattia Thibault — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

In this paper, I document my efforts to define “interreal translations”, a diverse series of semiotic operations that involve the translation of objects, spaces, and subjects across media-generated virtual spaces, including virtual and augmented realities. This exploration is grounded in the discussions about different types of translation and interpretation, and especially on intersemiotic translation within translation studies and semiotics. In this paper I advance a possible definition of interreal translations, as well as a mapping of their configurations, which I describe as vertical (between the primary reality and alternative realities) and horizontal (between different alternative realities). These translations play a significant role in our diverse mediascape and require a multidisciplinary approach grounded on Semiotics and Translation Studies. This exploration of interreal translations offers a promising avenue for future research, reflecting the dynamic evolution of the discipline and the growing importance of digital and virtual contexts.

Biological Taxonomy as an Extended Analogy in Translation Research

Damon Tringham — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

This paper focuses on how a biological concept can be utilised as a translational tool. This takes the form of an extended analogy that constitutes a viable and useful aid in research. My basis is the terms and categories of biological taxonomy and speciation as commonly understood, and how these may be applied to the study of the translation of novels, in my case the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. The paper introduces the use of metaphors and analogies used both about and in translation studies, discussing these to demonstrate how they differ from mine. I justify the use of analogy as a tool before presenting a biological analogy used to aid creativity in my research. I show how the analogy was constructed and highlight an initial weakness as an example of potential pitfalls. On the relationship between source text and translation, I reflect upon their sameness or otherwise, looking at how changes made in the language and other features may be considered speciation. I also briefly introduce some parallels created by the analogy that can be explored. My study is thus an exercise in meta-methodology, attempting to introduce a novel way of self-reflection on theoretical thinking.

Runojen uudelleensuomentaminen ja tekijyys

Anne Turkia — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

For over a century, several Finnish literary translators have used existing translations as source texts alongside the ultimate source text. In indirectly translated poems, the different translators’ interpretations show in both the rhythm and the word choices. The anthology Tuhat laulujen vuotta (One Thousand Years of Songs, 1957) contains Finnish translations of poetry classics. The editor, Aale Tynni, translated 283 texts, 11 of them indirectly and included 89 mostly edited old translations. The original translators’ permission for the edits or for using their translations for retranslations was not asked. Moreover, Lauri Viljanen’s translation and Tynni’s retranslation of “A Toccata of Galuppi’s” (Robert Browning) share most of the rhythmical choices and several identical passages, rhymes, and interpretations. In contrast, Tynni’s edit of Viljanen’s translation of “La saison de semailles. Le soir” (Victor Hugo) has a different metric structure than Viljanen’s version. The Berne Convention (1889) prohibits publishing revised translations without the translator’s consent, but this type of activity can go unnoticed when sufficient information about the source text(s) is not published. Sometimes identifying the source texts requires extensive investigation. This study suggests that when detecting connections between poem translations, rhythm should also be considered.

Tulkin ammatillinen toimijuus koronapandemian työskentelyolosuhteissa

Anu Viljanmaa — to, 25 huhti 2024 00:00:00 +0300

This article focuses on the interpreter’s professional agency during the Covid-19 pandemic in the years 2020 and 2021. The pandemic changed the working environment of interpreters with a rapid switch to remote interpreting only, i.e., the use of virtual meeting tools such as Teams alongside traditional telephone interpreting, and the development and use of various platforms for remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI). Later interpreters were able to return to face-to-face interpreting but had to wear face masks. This study focuses on the professional agency of interpreters during this period as portrayed in their personal experiences. Research data consist of answers from 48 interpreters to an electronic survey carried out in November 2021. Data was analyzed with a theory-driven approach focusing on selected elements of professional agency. The results show how structure restricts interpreter’s agency, but elements of professional agency exist in the ways interpreters shape their working environment and interpreting processes.