Myriam Salama-CarrCentre for Translation and InterpretingSchool of Humanities, Languages and Social SciencesUniversity of Salford

Honorary Research FellowCTISUniversity of Manchester

Translation and the Popularization of Science in the Digital Age

HEA SymposiumUniversity of Stirling20-21 June 2014

• Introduction

1) The Popularization of Science

The Popularization of Science through translation

2) Scientific and technical translation (STT)

Definitions

STT in Translation Studies

3) The Language of Science

4) Examples of Popularization of Science (The Unesco publications;

La Recherche)

Conclusion – Why study the translation of popular science?

The conflicting narratives of popularization

Recontextualisation rather than simplification

Reformulation

What is popularization (of science)?• Popularization of science is nothing else than an

endeavour to image scientific ideas in such a way that everyone (especially non-scientists) can grasp the fundamental concepts and have an idea of what science in essence is.

• (Cornelis, G “Is popularization of science possible?, 20th World Congress of Philosophy)

• https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Scie/ScieCorn.htm

• Popular science books have never been so popular. Readable factual books on subjects from neurology to quantum entanglement have captured the public imagination, resulting in an enthusiastic audience for science fact, and a string of bestsellers for writers best able to distill complex theory into compelling writing.

• Award-winning science writer Brian Clegg (A Brief History of Infinity) explores practical tools and techniques for the popular science writer, guiding aspiring authors through the process of planning, writing and publishing a popular science book, from concept to final edit.

• Guest speakers including Angela Saini (Geek Nation) and science publisher and writer Simon Flynn (author of 'The Science Magpie') ensure you'll receive a thorough grounding in how to choose the right topic, make hard science approachable for a non-specialist audience, build a narrative to keep your readers hooked, and craft a proposal publishers will love. Finally, you'll be given a chance to pitch your own idea to a panel of experts for instant feedback.

• http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-masterclasses/writing-popular-science-brian-clegg-course

Popularization through translation

1) What is Scientific and Technical Translation (STT)?

2) Scientific & Technical Translation in the discipline of Translation Studies

• Byrne (2012:2) claims that technical texts are “designed to convey information as clearly and efficiently as possible”, while scientific texts “will discuss, analyze and synthesize information with a view to explaining ideas, proposing new theories or evaluating methods”

Sci-tech translation

‘In science the language is concept-centred; in technology it is object-centred’

(Newmark 1988: 155)

Scientific translation – both present and under-researched

• Translator Training• Professional practice• Translation Research

Scientific discourse and translation

Two widely held views:

Scientific discourse is neutral, less ‘controversial’ re.translation

Scientific models are more robust, complex and rigorous than ‘liberal arts’ frameworks.

• The naming of some claim or line of reasoning or piece of research “scientific” is done in a way that is intended to imply some kind of merit or special kind of reliability” (Chalmers 2002: ix).

• The language of science

Adherence to textual conventions

High density of technical terms

The referential function is given priority – the theme and theme pattern

The use of nominalisation

The use of metaphor

Peer writing/popularized texts (or extension texts)

• “No less than in the humanities, or in any other form of discourse, scientific expression is full of strategies whose goal it is to persuade the wary or unwary reader” (Montgomery 2003: 1)

• “But it surely is striking how deeply scientific thinking is pervaded by patterns drawn from everyday thought and, in particular, how strong an effect the imagery chosen has on what is concerned at a given time as being scientific” (Midgley 2006: 81)

• “problems of ‘style’ are largely secondary when a technical text is being translated.. . Scientific texts are intended to be read by scientists, and so are scientific translations. Obstrusive ‘style’ should be notable by its absence. “

• (Finch 1969: 4). An oversimplification?

• http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/at-scientific-american/2014/03/12/know-another-language-help-us-globalize-science-by-translating-our-video-captions

If translators are readers of the source text that they translate, scientists are readers of the ‘book of nature’ which they then translate

(Sarukhai 2002: 125)

• An example of global popularization in a multilingual institutional setting

The Unesco Courier (www.unesco.org/news/en/unesco-courier/the magazine)

A World of Science (www.unesco.org/news/en/natural-sciences/resources/periodical/a-world-of-science/)

• “Geneticists have occasionally wished to emphasise that a certain trait has a heritability of, say, 60% whereas another has a heritability of only 30% but, in fact, there are no implications for the likely impact of environmental intervention from this difference in heritability”

• (‘Opportunities for psychiatry from genetic findings’ in The British Journal of Psychiatry 171 (1997): 209-219)

• “Des généticiens ont voulu parfois mettre l’accent sur le fait qu’un trait donné avait un taux d’héritabilité de 60%, alors qu’un autre possédait seulement un taux de 30%, mais en réalité cette différence d’héritabilité ne dit rien de l’impact sur l’environnement(‘Petit catalogue des idées reçues – La méconnaissance de la génétique provoque une épidémie de lieux communs’ – La Recherche,no 311, 1998, 54-56)

• Another example of this phenomenon that is of relevance to psychiatry is phenylketonuria, a recessive disorder occurring in those with mutations in both copies of the phenylalanine hydrolase gene. Given that phenylalanine is ubiquitous in our normal diet, this disorder has a heritability of 100%

• Autre exemple : la phénylcétonurie, ce trouble survenant chez des sujets qui présentent des mutations dans les deux copies du gène de l’hydroxylase de la phénylalanine. Etant donné que la phénylalanine est présente dans tous les aliments, l’héritabilité de ce trouble est de 100% dans une population qui suit un régime normal.

• Possible incentives for research in scientific translation

• The growth of ‘popular science’• Science in contemporary debates (see The New Statesman, Aug 2010

issue on ‘The War on Science’)• The centrality of language to the making and communicating of science

(Chalmers 1998; Sarukkai 2002)• The Philosophy of Science

Science in contemporary debates:20 new ideas in Science (The New Statesman, Aug 2010)

• Humans are still evolving• There is no such thing as time• This is one of many universes• We might be able to turn off ageing• Everything is information• Understanding consciousness is no longer an impossible dream• Most of the universe is missing• We may be close to understanding mass• Prepare for aliens• Humans are not special• We are born believers

• 20 New Ideas in Science (continued)

• Most of the earth is unexplored• The tree of life is a web• There’s more than one path to the final theory• We can do big physics in small labs• Language is the key to thought• DNA Origami can change our inner world

(New Statesman, The War on Science, 16 Aug 2010)

• “History proves that, as writers and speakers, we are immediate contributors to the evolution of scientific discourse. Every article or proposal or report that we produce, every word we put to paper, is an event within the flow of this evolution. Scientific language continues to change, as it must. We are its creators and metabolizers: through our efforts to create and exchange knowledge, this language is made real and alive. To write and speak well, whether functionally or eloquently, is to take responsibility for history, for knowledge, for oneself as a scholar.” (Montgomery 2003: 25)

The debate on the use of English• Manière de

voir, “la bataille des langues”, no.97, 2008

Conclusion

References• Chalmers, A. F. 2002 What is this thing called Science? Buckingham: Open University Press.

Finch, C. A. 1969. An Approach to Technical Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press• Midgley, M. 2006. Science and Poetry. London & New York: Routledge.• Montgomery. S. 2000. Science in Translation. University of d Press.• 2003. The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science. University of Chicago Press.• Olohan, M. & M. Salama-Carr (eds) 2011.Science and Translation, special issue of The Translator –

issues in intercultural communication, vol 17(2).• Salama-Carr, M. 2009.Translation and Knowledge. In B. Ahrens et al (eds) Translations –

wissenschaftliches Kolloquium I. Peter Lang. • Sarukhai, S. 2002. Translating the World – Science and Language. Lanham/NY/Oxford: University Press

of America.