ITI Translation Theory 3

Question 1

Lawrence Venuti's concept of 'foreignization' recommends that the translator:

Accepted Answer

Retain textual features that signal the foreign origin of the source text

Answer

Venuti argues that foreignizing translation resists cultural absorption and makes the act of translation visible, challenging dominant target-culture values.

Question 2

In Polysystem Theory (Even-Zohar), translation literature occupies a 'primary' position in a literary polysystem when:

Accepted Answer

The target literary system is young, weak, or in crisis and needs foreign models

Answer

Even-Zohar observed that translated literature plays an innovating, primary role in peripheral or emerging literary systems that lack canonical models of their own.

Question 3

The 'cultural turn' in Translation Studies, associated with scholars like Bassnett and Lefevere, shifted focus toward:

Accepted Answer

The role of ideology, power, and cultural context in shaping translations

Answer

The cultural turn repositioned translation as a social and political act embedded in cultural systems, moving beyond purely linguistic analysis.

Question 4

Peter Newmark's 'semantic translation' differs from his 'communicative translation' primarily in that semantic translation:

Accepted Answer

Attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original, even at the cost of naturalness

Answer

Newmark's semantic translation is author-focused and attempts to preserve the original's meaning precisely, whereas communicative translation is reader-focused and prioritizes naturalness.

Question 5

What is 'back-translation' and what is its primary limitation?

Accepted Answer

Re-translating a translated text into the original language to check accuracy; it cannot reliably detect all pragmatic and stylistic losses

Answer

Back-translation converts a target-language text back into the source language, but it cannot guarantee that subtle meaning, register, or cultural nuances lost in the first translation will be exposed.

(ITI) Institute of Translation and Interpreting Diploma in Translation Practice Test

(ITI) Institute of Translation and Interpreting Diploma in Translation Practice Test

ITI Translation Theory 3