Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Proximity (October 2024)
Again, we are discussing a sentence from David van Biema’s article “Can Megachurches Bridge the Racial Divide?” (time.com, 11 January 2010). In this sentence, the initial possessive pronoun refers to Bill Hybels, a senior pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church: “His efforts illustrate both the possibilities and the challenges that smaller churches may face as they attempt to move beyond black and white.”
This has been translated as follows: “Seine Bemühungen zeigen sowohl die Möglichkeiten als auch die Herausforderungen, die kleinere Kirchen haben könnten bei ihrem Versuch, über Schwarz und Weiß hinauszuwachsen.”
As in the example of September 2024, there is but little need for improvement. What is relevant, here, is the principle of proximity – both in the source and in the target sentence.
In this case, the principle of proximity applies to the semantic correspondence between a verb and its grammatical object. This verb is “face” in the English original. Its immediate grammatical object – the relative pronoun “that” – refers to the nouns “possibilities” and “challenges” in the main clause. However, the noun “challenges” fits better as an object of the verb “face” than the noun “possibilities”. This is why, in the construction of the sentence, the noun “challenges” is closer to the verb “face” than the noun “possibilities”. Compare: His efforts illustrate both the challenges and possibilities that smaller churches may face as they attempt to move beyond black and white. Such a sentence is acceptable, but the original feels somewhat more idiomatic for the reason given above.
In the German translation, this principle of proximity shows even more clearly. Here, the verb in question is “haben” in the relative clause. The nouns that serve as its grammatical object are “Möglichkeiten” and “Herausforderungen”. They appear in the same order as the corresponding words in the English source sentence. The resulting proximity is, thus, between the verb “haben” and the noun “Herausforderungen”. Only that this noun is not a typical object of the verb “haben” – at least, as a full verb. Idiomatic collocations are “sich einer Herausforderung stellen” (to meet or face a challenge), “eine Herausforderung meistern oder überwinden” (to master or overcome a challenge), but “Herausforderungen haben” (to have challenges) is rather unidiomatic. The verb “haben”, though, perfectly combines with the noun “Möglichkeiten”.
The problem sketched above can be solved in two ways: (1) by choosing a fitting verb for each of the two grammatical objects (thereby avoiding the proximity principle), or (2) by embracing the advantages of the principle of proximity. The first solution might be: Seine Bemühungen zeigen sowohl die Möglichkeiten, die kleinere Kirchen haben, als auch die Herausforderungen, denen sie sich stellen müssen bei ihrem Versuch, über Schwarz und Weiß hinauszuwachsen. In English: His efforts illustrate both the possibilities that smaller churches have and the challenges they must face as they attempt to move beyond black and white. The second solution is more straightforward: Seine Bemühungen zeigen sowohl die Herausforderungen als auch die Möglichkeiten, die kleinere Kirchen haben bei ihrem Versuch, über Schwarz und Weiß hinauszuwachsen. The only change compared to the original translation is the order of the nouns “Herausforderungen” and “Möglichkeiten”. “Möglichkeiten haben” is very idiomatic; that the combination “Herausforderungen haben” is rather unidiomatic remains inconspicuous thanks to the distance between the noun “Herausforderungen” and the verb “haben”, and because there is the noun “Möglichkeiten” in between.
PS: The attentive reader may have noticed that the second solution does without the modal verb “könnten” from the original translation. This has been intended as “Möglichkeit” and “können” overlap semantically so that the modal verb becomes redundant.