dileMMas and Contexts oF JudiCial ethiCs in Court interPreting 1
3. translation agenCy resPonses and solutions to the Challenges oF JudiCial ethiCs
oFFILtd.’squalifying body for translation and interpreting, establishedin2015,isthe
advisoryandconsultativepanel22oftheCeo.Thisbodyisledbya chairelectedbyandfrom
itsmembersandoperatesasanindependent,decision-preparatory,proposal-makingbody.
onetask,amongothers,isto“formulateanopinionontherecommendationsdrawnupfor
thepurposeofqualityassuranceoftranslation,revisionandinterpreting,andtheratings
formedonthebasisthereof”23 .ThisBodyhasalreadyformulatednumerousopinionsregard-inginternalorganisationalandregulationreformsaimedattherenewalofthestate-owned
translationbureau.naturally,thisBodyhasalsoexpressedopinionsontheTranslators’Code
ofethicsofoFFILtd.,whichwasthusformulatedwiththeparticipationofexpertswith
a leadingroleintheeducationoftranslatorandinterpreterprofessions.Itwashighlyinforma-tiveforthemembersoftheBodyandfortheemployeesofoFFILtd.,bothtogettoknow
eachother’sstandpointsastotheissuesanddilemmasarisingfromtheperspectivesofscience,
educationandactualperformanceofpublicdutyasa serviceprovider,andthecomparison
andclashofsuchstandpoints.Theadaptationofprofessionalandethicalconsiderationsto
theextremelyhighvolumeactivityperformance24characteristicofoFFIandtherelatedduty
performanceobligation,anditsintegrationintoitsinternalworkprocesseshaveattimesposed
specificallydemandingchallenges.
The state translation bureau has itsowninternship and mentoring programme for
newlyhiredfreshgraduatetranslators(orexperiencedtranslatorswhohavenotyetworked
foroFFI),wherethemostup-to-datespecialistknowledgerequiredforattestedtranslation
andspecialoFFIworktechniquescanbeacquired.Theaimandresultofthisprogramme
isthatinthiswayinexperiencedtranslatorsandinterpretersoruniversitystudentsfinishing
theirrelatedstudiescanbeintegratedintheworkofthetranslationbureau,withoutanyrisk.
Throughthisprofessionallysupportivemethodology,clientinterestscannotsufferanyharm,
thepossibilityofmakinga mistakeisminimal,andacquiringspecialknowledgeina realop-eratingsystem,notmerelyreadingtheoreticalstudies,presentsanextraordinaryopportunity.
asoFFIwishestodevoteseriousattentiontotheefficientfuturesupplyoftranslators,revis- ers,terminologists,itiscrucialtointroduceoFFI’sspecialactivityandprofessionalrequire-mentstogiftedyoungpeoplefinishingtheirinternship,andtocareerstartersorexperienced
andqualifiedprofessionalswhohavesuccessfullyappliedforexternaltranslator/interpreter/
reviserpositions.Hereinlaythereasonforestablishingthementoringprogrammein2016.
22TheorganisationalandoperationalregulationofoFFILtd.stipulatessince2015thatthebodyshall
consistoffiveexpertmembersdelegatedbyprestigioushighereducationinstitutions(associateprofes- sors,headsofdepartmentsassuminganesteemedroleintranslatorandinterpretereducation),theopera-tionofwhichisassistedbya separateorganisationalunitwithinoFFI.
23TheorganisationalandoperationalregulationofoFFILtd.inforcesince2015,SectionV/6
24onanannualbasis,ordersforattestedtranslationmayreachthefigureof80,000.
gabriellanémeth
Thedirectpassingonofexperiencebymentoringreviewersandterminologiststhroughper-sonal,liveandprofession-relatedexamplesisthebestwayforthementoreetolearnaboutthe
ethicalaspectsreferredtointhisstudyandthemagnitudeoftranslators’orcourtinterpreters’
personalresponsibilityineachgiventranslationcaseorscenario.
ThroughoFFi academy25, the state-owned translation bureau places great emphasis
ontrainings.TrainingsapplytoalloFFIcollaborators,andpersonaldevelopmentcanbe
achievedintheformoftrainings,workshops,conferences,studytripsabroad,anddepart-mentmeetings.Theinstruction of project managersworkinginthefieldofinterpretingis
extremelyimportant,asfindingtherightinterpreterfortherightcase(forexampleina case
involvinga child:a particularlykindindividualforthechildconcerned;ina seriouscriminal
case:a colleaguewhoworkswellunderintensepressureetc.)requiresadequatecommunica-tionskills,properattitude,a highlevelofproblem-solving,instantdecision-makingskills
anda consensus-seekingattitudethatcanbedevelopedviatrainings.WithinoFFIacademy,
apartfromdevelopmentinlanguage,grammarandlinguisticissuesviaconferencesorinter-nalworkshops,interpretersalsohavetheoccasionalopportunitytoattendso-calledsafety
trainings.Forletusnotforget:theinterpreterprofessionisa sensitiveandpotentiallyrisky
fieldtoo26,whichbyallmeansmayrequireextraattentionfrominterpreterswhowishtoact
ethically.
Ihopethattheabovethoughtsofa legalprofessionaloncertainprofessionsfulfilling
publicdutiesinthefieldofjusticeshallcontributetoconcludingthat:court and official interpreting in the judicial system is a highly responsible activity,andifanydamageis
sufferedintheprocess,thesocialtrustinjusticemaybedirectlyaffected.Thus,itisa special
pleasuretohavethepossibilityinthisvolumeofstudiestohighlighttheresponsibility of translators and interpretersparticipatinginlegalcases,andtheimportanceofquestions
andriskspertainingtoprofessionalandethicalresponsibilityarisinginthefieldofjustice,
notonlythroughtheexamplesofotherprofessionsinthefieldofjustice,butalsothoughpre-sentingoFFILtd.’sorganisationalfeatures,togetherwithsomesolutionsandgoodpractices
appearinginitsmedium-termorganisationaldevelopmentstrategy,approvedfortheperiod
2016-2018.
25oFFIacademyisaninternalbrandofoFFILtd.,withitsowntrainingactivityfocus,basicallyconsist-ingof3pillars:i)trainingofallworkers(forexampleclientservices,projectmanagers),ii)trainingof
leaders(headsoforganisationalunits),iii)trainingoflanguageprofessionals(employeesoftherelevant
department).
26See,forexample,migrationaffairsthatareevertopicalnowadays,orinterpretingatbiginternationalstate
conferences,etc.
on the language use oF the target language audienCe
judit sereg seregjudit@gmail.com
abstract: Inthispaper,a researchispresentedwhichwasconductedin2016in6primaryschoolsin
Budapest.Morethan300studentsfilledouta questionnaireconsistingof11questionsrelatedtothe
respondents’consumptionoftranslatedaudiovisualmaterialsandtheirlanguageuse.Theaimofthe
researchwastoprovethatthelanguageofaudiovisualtranslationscanhaveanimpactonthelanguage
useofthetargetlanguagepopulation,canaddnewmeaningstowords,makepreviouslyincorrector
unnaturalexpressionsincreasinglyacceptableandinstallnewexpressionsintothetargetlanguage.The
research’stheoreticalbackgroundisprovidedbythepolysystemtheoryofeven-Zohar(1978)which
wasappliedtothefieldofaudiovisualtranslation(aVT)bydiazCintas(2004).Theresultsofthe
researchcorroboratethehypothesisthattranslations(includingaudiovisualtranslations)infacthave
animpactonthedevelopmentofthetargetlanguage,althoughtheextentandin-depthexamination
ofthisimpactmaybethesubjectoffurtherresearch.
Keywords: audiovisual translation, dubbing, language use, polysystem theory, audience-focused
research
1. introduCtion
asa practisingaudiovisualtranslatorI havebecomeincreasinglysensitivetounnaturaltrans-lationsandmistranslationsindubbedandsubtitledtelevisionprogrammes.However,when
talkingwithmembersoftheoldergeneration,I startedtorealisethatwe,theyoungergenera-tionaremoreacceptingofcertainlinguisticelementscomingfromforeignlanguagesthan
theyare,butwhenlisteningtothelanguageuseoftheyoungergeneration(thoseinprimary
andsecondaryschoolespecially),I sometimesfeelshockedhearingtheforeignexpressions,
borrowedinunchangedformfromanotherlanguage,beingusednaturallyintheiroraldis-courses.Thatwastheinitialobservationwhichmademewanttoconducta researchwhich
mightbeabletoshowhowtranslations–especiallyforeignisingtranslations–mightshape
thelanguageuseofthenewgenerations,whoaremuchmoreexposedtoaudiovisualcontents
andtranslatedlanguagethanthepreviousgenerations.
Iconducteda questionnaire-basedresearchwithstudentsbetweentheageof13and16
years,andassessedtheirtelevisionviewinghabitsandlanguageusethrougha fewlinguistic
phenomenaidentifiedbymyselfandotherexpertsofTranslationStudiesthroughourday-to-dayexperiences.Myresearchisbasedonthepostulatesofthepolysystemtheoryandthe
characteristicsoftheaudiovisualtranslationmodes,especiallydubbing,whichisthemost
commonlyusedmethodofaudiovisualtranslation(aVT)ontheHungarianmarket.
JuditSereg
Inthispaper,I presentthetheoreticalbasisformyresearch,thedesignandcircumstances
oftheresearch,whichwasconductedin6primaryschoolsinBudapestin2016,andthere-sultsofthequestionnairesfilledoutbymorethan300students.