Risk mitigation in translator decisions

Abstract

The translator's risk management while translating can involve several general dispositions, of which risk taking, risk avoidance, and risk transfer have been modeled previously (Pym 2015). In this paper we propose a fourth type of disposition, risk mitigation, which was identified by Matsushita (2016) through empirical research based on Pym's model. Risk mitigation is a disposition where the translator incurs one kind of risk in order to reduce another. Analyzing authentic examples in multiple languages, we ask whether mitigation is fundamentally different from the other three types, whether it involves a specific restriction on how much effort should rationally be invested by the translator, and whether a general logic of trade-offs is applicable. We further propose that mitigation correlates with factors both on the production side of the translator's discourse, where it enhances translatorial visibility, and on the reception side, where it can respond to imprecise identification of the target public.

The moving boundaries of news translation

“…Journalists try to avoid showcasing foreign voices in audiovisual content because of their audience's tolerance to hearing another language (Davier accepted, Gendron, Conway, and Davier accepted). Convergence could increase the risk of losing multilingual voices in journalism, as already observed in a pre-convergence framework Perrin, Ehrensberger-Dow and Zampa 2017). Nevertheless, we need multiplied case studies to check whether this result -obtained in the specific context of public broadcasting in Canada -is similar in other media landscapes.…”

“…To the best of my knowledge, cognitive approaches have only been used in news translation by one team of researchers working with Perrin (see, among others, Ehrensberger-Dow and Perrin 2013;Perrin, Ehrensberger-Dow and Zampa 2017). Although the mixed methodology Perrin presents (process, participant, and product-oriented) is very promising, it requires a whole team of researchers to set up and expensive equipment (an eye tracker and software for computer logging and screen recording).…”

Cooperation, risk, trust

“…Trade-offs, finally, are when the translator takes a minor risk in order to mitigate a major risk. In Pym and Matsushita (2018) this strategy is actually called "risk mitigation", but "trade-off " seems a clearer term. To continue with the same example, the translator may not want to take the absolute risk of specifying "the Spanish Civil War" and so will opt for literalism, but nevertheless take a minor risk by adding a footnote suggesting the nature of the reference.…”

Translation Support Model of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the Ongoing Hybrid Russian Warfare

“…Drawing upon our own translation practice, we may suggest that one of the special and persuasive characteristics of military translation in the hybrid warfare context is the risk mitigation strategy (Pym, Matsushita, 2018) As far as the mitigation strategy is concerned, the key notion of risk mitigation is interlaced with other risk management tools in translation. According to a brilliant analysis presented in the Anthony Pym's and Kayo Matsushita's article, there are the following risk management "dispositions" in translation: risk taking, risk avoidance, risk transfer and risk mitigation [4]. We consider it necessary to clarify which types of risks are managed (taken, mitigated, transferred or avoided) in the military interpreting and what exactly is implied by "risk", i.e.…”