The role of translators as cultural mediators and its implications in the training of prospective Maltese translators

Abstract

The last decades have seen a significant change in the perception of the role of translators. The increased complexity of communication networks brought about by globalization and the exponential increase in the use of the internet have resulted in a stronger awareness of cultural differences that may hinder effective communication. Since the cultural turn in Translation Studies of the 1990s, cultural mediation (as defined by Stephen Bochner in his The Mediating Person: Bridges between Cultures, 1981) has become the major focus of attention in the analysis of the relationship between source and target texts. Translation is nowadays considered much more than the practice of linguistic transposition. The translator is not just a linguist who knows more than one language, but a specialist in both the source and the target culture, a bi-cultural expert whose task it is to translate both the written and the non-written. On their part, translation-training courses often tend to overlook the cultural aspect of translation, taking the students’ competence in both cultures as a given, in order to focus on translation strategies and linguistic correspondence. The paper aims to investigate the role of the translator as a mediator and the importance of cultural awareness, with specific reference to the training of prospective Maltese translators. It will discuss effective cultural competence and students’ self-evaluation, attitudes towards highly culturally specific texts, research issues, and the translation strategies required to bridge the cultural gap between texts. It also suggests ways how to include cultural awareness in translation training programmes to ensure that future translators are not only aware of the importance of their role as cultural mediators but also well-equipped to take on such a responsibility. The issues discussed and the examples provided are based on the author’s experience as a translator trainer responsible for the Italian-Maltese practical translation course at the University of Malta.