Source: self-made.
doi.org/10.15178/va.2020.150.59-80
RESEARCH
CHALLENGES BEFORE REWRITING THE WOMEN’S SEXED BODY AND FEMALE PROSTITUTION: CASE STUDY
RETOS ANTE LA REESCRITURA DEL CUERPO SEXUADO DE LA MUJER Y LA PROSTITUCIÓN FEMENINA: ESTUDIO DE CASO
RETOS DIANTE DA REESCRITURA DO CORPO SEXUADO DA MULHER E A PROSTITUIÇAO FEMININA: ESTUDO DO CASO
Antonio-Jesús Martínez-Pleguezuelos. PhD in Translation from the University of Salamanca, Professor and Researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid1
Elena Alcalde Peñalver2
Alexandra Santamaría-Urbieta2
1Complutense University of Madrid. Spain
2Alcalá University. Spain
2Alcalá University. Spain
ABSTRACT
This study aims to highlight the challenges that are faced in the professional practice of translation when recognizing the feminist perspective as an area where we need to focus our attention when working with texts related to prostitution. Knowing the difficulties involved in a translation that places men and women on equal footing in the treatment of prostitution, we propose a group of students without specific previous training in translation a practical exercise in which they had to translate from English to Spanish an article that addresses the social and cultural complexities that emanate from conceiving prostitution as a human right. The objective of the activity was to favor a reflection on the ideological implications that participate in the translation of this type of texts, as well as to know the point of view and the tools available for a commission with these characteristics. The study was carried out in three phases. After the qualitative analysis of the results obtained, we corroborated the ethical implications of the translation exercise in the discursive definition of both women and men in opposite directions. Thus, we considered it necessary to continue training students in translation so that they are able to detect the discursive tools that contribute to strengthening the imbalances between men and women and the roles that are assigned in society .
KEYWORDS: translation, feminist perspective, prostitution, discourse, ideology, text, rewriting
RESUMEN
Este estudio pretende poner de manifiesto los desafíos que se afrontan en la práctica profesional de la traducción a la hora de reconocer la perspectiva feminista como un ámbito en el que necesitamos poner el foco de atención cuando se trabaja con textos relacionados con la prostitución. Sabedores de las dificultades que entraña una traducción que sitúe en pie de igualdad a hombre y mujer en el tratamiento de la prostitución, planteamos a un grupo de estudiantes sin formación específica previa en traducción un ejercicio práctico en el que debían traducir de inglés a español un artículo que aborda las complejidades sociales y culturales que emanan de concebir la prostitución en tanto que derecho humano. El objetivo de la actividad consistía en favorecer una reflexión sobre las implicaciones ideológicas que participan en la traducción de este tipo de textos, así como conocer el punto de vista y las herramientas de las que disponían para un encargo de estas características. El estudio se llevó a cabo en tres fases. Tras el análisis cualitativo de los resultados obtenidos corroboramos las implicaciones éticas del ejercicio de la traducción en la definición discursiva tanto de la mujer como del hombre en sentidos opuestos. Por ello, consideramos necesario seguir formando a estudiantes en traducción para que sean capaces de detectar las herramientas discursivas que contribuyen a afianzar los desequilibrios entre hombres y mujeres y los roles que quedan asignados en la sociedad.
PALABRAS CLAVE: traducción, perspectiva femenina, prostitución, discurso, ideología, texto, reescritura
RESUME
Este estudo pretende pôr em manifesto os desafios que afrontam na pratica profissional da tradução na hora de reconhecer a perspectiva feminista como um âmbito no qual necessitamos pôr o foco de atenção quando se trabalha com textos relacionados à a prostituição. Sabedores das dificuldades que entranha uma tradução que situe em igualdade a homens e mulheres no tratamento da prostituição, propusemos a um grupo de estudantes sem formação específica prévia em tradução um exercício prático no qual deviam traduzir do inglês ao espanhol um artigo que aborda as complexidades sociais e culturais que emanam de conceber a prostituição como um direito humano. O objetivo da atividade consistia em favorecer uma reflexão sobre as implicações ideológicas que participam na tradução deste tipo de textos, assim como conhecer o ponto de vista e as ferramentas das que dispunham para uma incumbência destas características. O estudo foi feito em 3 fases. Depois da analises qualitativa dos resultados obtidos corroboramos as implicações éticas do exercício da tradução na definição discursiva tanto da mulher como do homem em sentidos opostos. Por isso, consideramos necessário seguir formando a estudantes em tradução para que sejam capazes de detectar as ferramentas discursivas que contribuem a assegurar os desequilíbrios entre homens e mulheres e os papéis que ficam assignados na sociedade.
PALAVRAS CHAVE: tradução, perspectiva feminina, prostituição, discurso, ideologia, texto, reescrita
Correspondence:
Antonio Jesús Martínez Pleguezuelos. Complutense University of Madrid. Spain.
antmar17@ucm.es
Elena Alcalde Peñalver. Alcalá University. Spain.
e.alcalde@uah.es
Alexandra Santamaría Urbieta. Alcalá University. Spain.
alexandra.santamaria@uah.es
Received: 13/05/2019
Accepted: 24/06/2019
Published: 15/03/2020
How to cite the article:
Martínez Pleguezuelos, A. J., Alcalde Peñalver, E. & Santamaría Urbieta, A. (2020). Challenges before rewriting the women’s sexed body and female prostitution: a case study. [Retos ante la reescritura del cuerpo sexuado de la mujer y la prostitución femenina: estudio de caso]. Vivat Academia. Revista de Comunicación, 150, 59-80.
doi: http://doi.org/10.15178/va.2020.150.59-80
Recovered from http://www.vivatacademia.net/index.php/vivat/article/view/1184
1. INTRODUCTION
We are in a historical moment in which women raise their voices to claim their rights and denounce glass-ceiling transversal discrimination:, lower wages than men, abuses of all kinds, stereotypes, prejudices, as well as young people converted into objects of consumption, among others. Institutions at national and international level make public a reality that must also be made visible in universities, so, as professors, we must know the reality of our classrooms and prepare future professionals from different work fields. In the specific case that concerns us in the following pages, we approach the figure of the translator and analyze the rewriting of current texts with marked ideological tendencies or symbolisms born within the society in which we live.
The case study that we propose below describes a practical exercise that was presented to a group of students in the first year of the Degree in Modern Languages and Translation of the University of Alcalá. This is a commission in which they had to translate from English to Spanish a newspaper article of the online version of The Guardian that addresses the social and cultural complexities that emanate from conceiving prostitution as a human right. To do this, and with the objective of favoring a reflection on the ideological implications involved in the translation of this type of texts, as well as knowing their point of view and the tools they had and with which they departed for a commission of these characteristics, this process was divided into three steps: (1) pre-translation (2) translation properly speaking and (3) post-translation. This division is related to the goals to be achieved, detailed below, all linked to getting students to rethink of the translator’s central position when rewriting social realities that affect the image of a particular group, in this case, those women who work as prostitutes.
The challenge of facing a translation of such characteristics comes from the perspective taken when approaching the intrinsic difficulties it contains. The repercussions that derive from rewriting a speech about the treatment of prostitution, the figure of women and the manipulation of their body, as well as the veiled participation of men in the sexual market are evident in view of the work carried out in the feminist movement. This study aims to highlight the challenges of professional translation practice from a didactic perspective. Both students and professors must recognize the feminist perspective as an area in which we need to focus attention when rewriting the figure of the women’s body, as well as the texts related to female prostitution.
1.1. The entity of the sexed body of women
Given the high levels of visibility that the prostitution market has reached in much of the world and the growing social debate generated around this activity, the polarized views that defend the legalization of prostitution or its eradication are far from reaching satisfactory agreement for both positions. Nowadays, the confrontation between the two positions has transcended the level of feminist theory and opinions of the sex industry, philosophy, the media or politics at national and international level have joined the academic field. To this end, it seems appropriate to point out that the report issued by the General Directorate of Internal Policies of the European Parliament “Sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality” (Schulze, 2014) states that, in line with the position that supports eradication of sexual exploitation, prostitution cannot be considered a legitimate business because it defends an approach that is contrary to the principles established in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union , among which is gender equality.
In a more detailed explanation, this study maintains that both prostitution and sexual exploitation “are highly gendered issues with in most cases women and girls selling their body, either by coercion or consent, to men or boys who pay for this service” ( 2014, p. 9). In this respect, many other works developed on the subject recognize that the debate is generated in a society with great asymmetries of power between men and women. From this situation of inequality, the report continues (2014 , p. 19), in addition to the reinforcement of gender stereotypes, the right of men to access women’s bodies and their sexuality because of men’s superior position, and to equate the sexual needs of men with a kind of power granted solely by their gender. This is stated by Gimeno (2014) when he defends that “men do not buy a body, or sex, but a fantasy of traditional dominance and masculinity”, so that the context of prostitution can be understood, in line with Eksberg’s perspective (2004, p. 1190), as a permissive space with abuse and violence towards women that contributes to propping up a dominant male hierarchy against a female subordinate (cf. Farley, 2004; Mackinnon, 2005). Not surprisingly, the Political Manifesto for the abolition of prostitution, drawn up by different associations in Spain, defends that prostitution, in any circumstance, is a “modality of sexual exploitation of prostituted persons, […] and is one of the more entrenched forms in which gender violence is manifested, exercised and perpetuated” (in Villa Camarma, 2010, p. 170), which is one of the multiple forms of aggression against women.
This way, the concept of “women ” is assimilated as “bodies and pieces of bodies that are normal to be possessed and about which it does not mind wondering how or why they are there ” (de Miguel Álvarez, 2012, p. 64), as a way to legitimize relationships of domination of men over the women ›s dispossessed body. This positivist paradox coincides with the description of the material construction of the bodies carried out by Judith Butler in stating that there is no bodily essence that escapes the complex power relations that are currently imposed in contemporary societies and which one can access without previously passing through the language screen. As the philosopher maintains (Butler, 1999/2007, p. 254), the body is shown as a passive surface that is inscribed by networks of power external to it, that penetrate it, but that, at the same time, from these constructivist postulates, it is questioned as a prediscursive entity . This way, gender becomes the enclave to reinterpret certain cultural meanings from the inherited social patterns around gender (de Mauro Rucovsky, 2015, p. 44). As we will see below with the selected examples of the translations presented by the students, the treatment of the lexicon will be decisive in shaping the identity of women and their participation in the exercise of prostitution .
Not by chance, Butler rightly questions whether the body is understood as the basis on which both gender and compulsory sexuality systems operate. Through the genealogical process she takes up from Foucault, the author urges to discover the history recorded in the bodies as significant practices that submit them and that give them meaning (Butler, 1999/2007, p. 256 et seq.). With this, cultural values are inscribed in the body as a regulatory template that allows them to be understood, but at the same time establishes those possibilities of intelligibility that condition what constitutes the body and what its limits are (1999/2007, p. 257 ).
We find, this way, bodies inhabited by an infinite number of speeches that collaborate in their own definition and which, to a large extent, as feminist approaches pose, have unbalanced the positions between men and women by relying on schemes that put the right of men over that of women. Therefore, the body, conceived as the last frontier of subjectivity, yields to social and cultural pressures and is open to a reading that configures the profile of women and, specifically in our study, that of those dedicated to prostitution.
1.2. Rewrite the body
From these epistemological foundations, it is easy to think about the relevance of translation practice in the construction of the discourse on the sex market. As we have seen, and under the protection of post-structuralist theories of language, we live in discursive worlds and, therefore, our own existence is produced through language. The speech acts presented by Austin, the basis from which Butler widely develops her theory of performativity, shifted the privileged position of Truth towards the field of language (Burgos Díaz, 2006, p. 99) to discover the enormous capacity of words when it comes to building realities.
In a fundamentally translated world like the one we inhabit, with an incessant and immediate contact between different social, cultural and linguistic communities, the translatability argument of the bodies has become one of the most interesting research lines in recent years (cf. Vidal Claramonte, 2018; Arcos Rodríguez, 2018) for its ability to define and shape them. In line with those authors who have approached the study of identity through the rewritten text (cf. House, Martín Ruano and Baumgarten, 2005; Cronin, 2006; Vidal Claramonte, 2007), the translational approaches that address the definition of the body intend to show the performative force of the rewritten text in the representation of sexed bodies.
This relatively recent field in the area of Translation Studies can be explored from an expanded approach in relation to what, in a traditional way, has been considered the object of work of the translator. From the emergence of the Cultural Turn presented by Bassnett and Lefevere (1990) in which the intercultural perspective became dominant in the development of the translation exercise to the Power Turn described by Gentzler (2002, 2012) and Tymozcko (2007), the various positions that have been maintained on what translating means and what the role of the translator is have evolved to forced marches in tune with the advances and new perspectives that are incorporated from other disciplines. The great capacity of language to recreate bodies and identities has led to rethinking the limits of translation to include positions such as, for example, those covered by the definition of Post-Translation Studies proposed by Gentzler (2017).
It is enough, as a sample, to keep in mind the calls of attention of different authors who, from the Gender Studies and the latest feminist currents, warn about the connoted nature of the figure of prostitute women and the stigma they bear in the exercise of this activity, and how, in the vast majority of speeches about this debate, the figure and position of men are made invisible or ignored when the problem is addressed. Villa Camarma (2010, p. 165) states that “talking about a sex worker means talking about clients. Talking about prostitutes means talking about prostitutors, intermediaries (panders, pimps and the sex industry)”. In this sense, translating this perspective will imply adopting a determined ideological position that will come to strengthen the marked social imbalances that continue to charge against women and reinforce male superiority. In the words of Gimeno (2014): “Today’s prostitution trains, teaches, disciplines the male body in extreme inequality, in the naked commodification of human relationships and erotizes that relationship”, and a rewriting that contributes to perpetuating stereotypes will become the perfect accomplice capable of reproducing these gender inequalities in a different language for another audience. In the analysis of the different translations received from the students, this point will be fundamental to understand how the role of men and women in the field of prostitution is discursively designed, since a rewriting that emphasizes the figure of the prostitute woman in the face of the concealment of man as a client will participate directly in this hierarchy of power.
On the contrary, in line with the gender perspectives that are already entrenched in the field of translation, an ethical rewriting that makes visible the leading role of men in prostitution and that sheds light on their participation in this economic activity will contribute to the development of a speech in favor of gender equality without loading or stigmatizing women and their sexuality. The lexical selection made by the translator, the emphasis on presenting women as a main subject in prostitution, the connotation of the chosen verbs or the thematic position of the information can contribute, irremediably, to presenting the information to the target audience in a biased way that strengthens traditional inequalities between both genders when the link between the prostitute and the client is rewritten.
2. OBJECTIVES
Knowing the difficulties involved in a translation that places men and women on equal footing in the treatment of prostitution, we have proposed a translation test to students in the first year of the Degree in Modern Languages and Translation of the University of Alcalá. It is necessary to point out that the students of this first course have not yet received specific training in translation, since the initial subjects are based on language and culture as a phase prior to an introduction to translation that they already receive in the second year of study. However, as part of the English II subject in which the students showed constant interest in the translator’s profession, we decided to design an activity that, in addition to involving the work of understanding the English text and its translation into Spanish, covered a thematic area that made students stop to reflect. The activity was rated as part of the 20% evaluation aimed at participation and delivery of learning journals in which students explained what they were doing for the development of English language proficiency outside the classroom. The objectives of our study were the following:
1. Know how first-year students without specific training in translation face translation problems associated with a gender theme.
2. Analyze the lexical selection of students and the differences that may exist between the thematic position of the final translations based on this selection.
3. Raise awareness among students who have not yet received specific training in translation about the translator’s role in speeches related to gender perspectives.
3. METHODOLOGY
To carry out the study, we divided our research into three phases. First, we explained to the students what the activity consisted in and asked them to organize work in pairs. Therefore, 12 groups were formed with a total of 24 participants in the classroom. Before proceeding to the translation of the article, they had to complete a questionnaire with open questions that invited a previous reflection on the subject and possible translation difficulties (see Annex 1). With these questions, they should think about the terms, expressions or parts of the text that, in their opinion, could be difficult to translate without consulting any kind of linguistic resource. Also, one of the questions asked them to look for parallel texts and, with their help, provide the translation of some specific words in the text. Next, they had to look for different translation options for terms in the English text and choose one of them. Finally, based on the theoretical approaches that analyze the ideological component in the rewrites (cf. Calzada, 2003), the questionnaire required that they reflect on the weight of the translator’s position when confronting texts such as those of the prepared activity and if this could influence the final delivery. In the second phase, once the working methodology was explained, each student should proceed to translate the text (see Annex 2). To do this, they worked in class with computers and did not make any kind of recommendation of linguistic resources, with the exception of parallel texts that they had identified in the previous phase. For the translation, they had three hours of class. Finally, the third phase was completed, once the translation was delivered, with another questionnaire of open questions to compare their answers with the previous ones obtained prior to the work process (see Annex 3). This way, we were interested in the treatment of the most difficult terms to translate, text or expressions after translating, the resources they used, the influence of ideology when choosing the translation of a term and, finally, if they felt it was important to train the translation students in this area.
To analyze students’ responses, as well as their translations based on the objectives outlined above, we have followed a qualitative analysis methodology applied by Roskoka and Rupniece (2016) in a previous study. For this we have used an observation framework on content units, grouped by analytical categories. We show the results in the following section in specific tables for each category, according to the theoretical literature model of Geske and Grinfelds (2006).
4. RESULTS
As mentioned in the previous section, we analyze our results based on content units, grouped by analytical categories, and show the results in specific tables for each of the identified values. We also marked, with each comment, whether it was a male or a female student.
Table 1. Student opinion on the influence of ideology (pre-test).
Source: self-made.
These answers are in line with objectives number two and three of our research, as the students reflected on the role of the translator when choosing a term in the Spanish text and the influence that the ideology on this topic had on the process.
Table 2. Student opinion on the influence of ideology (post-test).
Source: self-made.
In this case, after completing the translation, the results show that the students were aware that their opinion on the subject could influence their translation decisions. This is in line with objectives number two and three, since the students reflected, when choosing the terms, on the importance that their lexical option could have when rendering the meaning in Spanish.
Table 3. Importance of the formation of the translator in this area.
Source: self-made.
The students of the Degree in Modern Languages and Translation are, as the content units shown in Table 3 show, aware of the importance of proper preparation in translation in the field at hand. Also, some of the answers show the need and importance of training the translator in current affairs, as well as specialty, with which they will meet in the future professional world for which they are being trained.
In short, we can affirm that the three objectives that were raised at the beginning of the case study that concerns us ([1] know, [2] analyze and [3] generate awareness) have been achieved since, first, we have raised a translation assignment for students who faced a task of this type for the first time. We have known, on the one hand, from what point of view they faced the translation of a text in which the gender perspective was essential. On the other hand, we have been able to analyze the thematic position they have taken and, finally, we have raised awareness about the importance of receiving specific training and the role that a translator should adopt in the face of an assignment with these characteristics.
As for the problems of translation of the text, the students opted for different solutions to translate some of the main difficulties detected according to the problem raised in our study, whose most representative examples we show below. In the first case, for the translation of “pimps and buyers of sex”, the answers were all the same for “pimps” (proxenetas), but they differ in the second term, as can be seen in the following graph. The jumps in the representation of the prostitution client will not be a trivial matter and will have an impact on the image shown to the target reader in Spanish. The emphasis placed is the lexical selection, as well as the appreciable differences between “clients” or “consumers” and the appearance or absence of direct references to “sex” or “prostitution” will condition the reception of the text and will influence the discourse around the figure and participation of men in the sexual market, whose presence and visibility demand recent feminist approaches. In addition, it should be noted that male students always translated this term as “clients”, while the group of female students opted for more varied options.
Source: self made.
Graph 1. translation of “buyers of sex”.
In relation to the use of masculine or feminine for the translation of the term “sex workers” (graph 2), the majority of students opted for its use in masculine. To some extent, and according to the point of view that the original text itself maintains, it is striking that the majority of students have opted for the masculine version, with which the exposure of women to the structural violence of prostitution is partially hidden behind a generic masculine who does not reflect the reality of the sexual market described by the studies we have already talked about (Schulze, 2014). In this sense, it should be noted that no male student used the feminine form in his translation.
Source: self made.
Graph 2. translation of “sex workers”.
Regarding the translation of the term “sex trade”, students showed preference for the term “comercio sexual”, while in one case they opted for “trata sexual”. The semantic discrepancies that can be seen between the different options do not escape our analysis, and it is necessary to keep in mind the asymmetries presented to the target reader in both cases. The reminiscence of the term “trata” the exploitation, violence and slavery of human beings, all of which is included in the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy, reaffirms the cruelty and harshness of this type of commodification of the body of women in today’s society. In this case, except for the option of “commercialización del sexo”, only used by female students, we find that both boys and girls have used the rest of the solutions in their translation.
Source: self made.
Graph 3. translation of “sex trade”.
Along the same lines, for “sex trafficking” only two options have been found, and the minority solution, in line with the translation of “sex trade”, remains that of “trata sexual”. This terminological treatment in the translated discourse confirms, as we explained in the theoretical framework of our study, a reduction in the tone of the text, where the severity of the subject conflicts with the panorama that most students develop in their proposal. Perhaps, as several authors have already discussed (cf. Santaemilia, 2008; Ávila Cabrera, 2014), the approach to a taboo subject, greatly influenced by the prevailing patriarchal vision of contemporary society, cuts off the discursive possibilities of Translation students, who have not yet internalized the need to keep the same message. We point out that only one male student in the student group has used the term “trata sexual”, along with three other female students.
Source: self made.
Graph 4. translation of “sex trafficking”.
Finally, we selected the sentence “Those who derive sexual pleasure from reducing the humanity of women they buy” to analyze whether different translation options emerged from the interpretation of its content. On the one hand, the most used (six cases) was “aquellos que separan el placer sexual de reducir la humanidad de las mujeres que compran”, that is, by using “reducer la humanidad” and “las mujeres que compran”. However, we found a case in which they omitted “las mujeres que compran” and decided to opt for “trabajadora sexual”, as shown below: “los que obtienen placer sexual reduciendo la humanidad de la trabajadora sexual”. However, in the remaining four cases, we observed the following translations of the verb “reduce”:
Translation 1: “los que obtienen placer sexual al rebajar la humanidad de las mujeres que compran”.
Translation 2: “los que obtienen placer sexual negando la integridad de la mujer que compran”.
Translation 3: “aquellos que obtienen placer sexual rebajando la humanidad de la mujer que compran”.
Translation 4: “aquellos que obtienen placer sexual al humillar a las mujeres que compran”.
These results reveal that it is important, as Kim (2009) pointed out, that translation theory focuses on people, since research in these areas can contribute specifically to how to write texts with a perspective of gender is not biased by the prevailing ideology in society. As the works on this aspect demonstrate (cf. Calzada, 2003), it is practically impossible that the ideology is not pronounced through the target text, that is, that the opinion of the translator is shown through the use of certain lexicon, article or verb. Even, as Pym (2010) states, the most neutral positions must be created from a specific linguistic selection. This author also highlights the degree of responsibility that will be taken in translating, which must evaluate it at all times according to the texts on which one works. To this he adds that “translators are expected to be intellectuals who have ideas about their collective identity and aims” (Pym, 2010, p. 179). Therefore, it is vitally important to inform and train the professionals of the future on the translation of complex texts of deep social depth that can have repercussions on the lives of different groups. On rare occasions they will face translations of an objective nature, since they will have to deal with commissions that make them reflect on their own opinion on the issue being addressed. Becoming part of the discourse through the use of certain resources of the language or becoming invisible before the eyes of the reader of the target text will be a decision that they themselves must make. Although adopting one or another position is the final step they must face, it constitutes the starting point for the professor, who must provide all the tools and possibilities available to these future professionals.
5. DISCUSSION
After the case study we presented and the analysis of the results we obtained, we corroborated the ethical implications of the exercise of translation in the discursive definition of both women and men in opposite directions. On the one hand, we verified that, when talking about prostitution, the role of men as clients and requesters of a market that, despite legislative and social advances, is increasing. The link between sex trade and the woman’s body is still present in the rewrites with cases, for example, such as that of many students choosing the expression “los trabajadores sexuales” instead of “las trabajadoras sexuales”. The neutralization of women in this construction makes invisible the violence that is fundamentally exercised unidirectionally towards women and does not indicate, for the target reader, who is the victim in the vast majority of cases of prostitution.
On the other hand, and in line with this argument, the power of ideology exerts pressure on translators when they must recreate the identity of women in the speech of prostitution and will contribute to, consciously or unconsciously, offering a certain image in their translation. Therefore, according to the results, and in view of the enormous potential these professionals have, we consider it necessary to continue training students in translation so that they can detect the discursive tools that help to strengthen the unbalances between men and women and the roles that are assigned in society.
REFERENCES
AUTHORS:
Antonio Jesús Martínez Pleguezuelos: has a degree in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Granada, a master’s degree in Translation and Intercultural Mediation and a PhD in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Salamanca. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and at the Autonomous University of Madrid. His lines of research include translation, ideology and identity, translation and studies of gender, sexuality and queer theory and audiovisual translation, areas on which he has published different chapters and articles in national and international publishers and magazines (Meta, MonTI, Trans, Atlantis , Quaderns de Filologia, etc.). He is the author of the book Translation and sexual identity: audiovisual rewrites from Queer Theory (Granada: Comares, in press). He combines teaching and research with professional translation as a freelance translator.
antmar17@ucm.es
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1732-3178
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio_Martinez_Pleguezuelos
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=NjFom9QAAAAJ&hl=en
Elena Alcalde Peñalver: obtained a doctorate from the University of Granada in 2014, after having an FPU scholarship in the Translation and Interpreting Department of this university. She also has a degree in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Granada in the English-French-Spanish language combination. Since September 2017 she has been a PhD Assistant Professor at the University of Alcalá. In addition, since 2010 she works as an independent translator and interpreter.
e.alcalde@uah.es
Orcid ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-4792
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elena_Alcalde_Penalver
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=Pp4ONR8AAAAJ&hl=es
Alexandra Santamaría Urbieta: is a doctor from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and currently works as a professor and researcher at the University of Alcalá. She has a degree in Translation and Interpreting from the University of the Basque Country.
alexandra.santamaria@uah.es
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0935-0616
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=Em8ZzYUAAAAJ&hl=es
ResearchGate: A-9675-2018
ANNEX 1: Questionnaire prior to the translation
Work in pairs. You are going to translate this text into Spanish. Before starting to translate, please answer the following questions.
1. Read the text carefully. In your view and before consulting any kind of linguistic resources, what parts/terms/expressions of the text do you think that will be difficult to translate? Justify your answer.
2. Look for parallel texts in Spanish on the same topic. What terms can you already translate using those parallel texts without any other linguistic resources? Write the term in English, the translation you found in Spanish and the source of the parallel text.
3. Are there any terms that could be translated in different ways (synonyms or different expressions) in Spanish? If you had to choose one before starting to translate, which one would it be? Write them in the different columns.
4. Do you think that the translator’s ideology on a controversial topic such as the one covered in the text that you are going to translate can have an influence on the result of the final translation? Why?
ANNEX 2: Text to translate
Amnesty International says prostitution is a human right – but it’s wrong
If the organization endorses prostitution as a human right, it won’t be supporting the women who might have no choice, but rather the pimps and buyers of sex who have all the choice in the world
Jessica Neuwirth
Has Amnesty International been hijacked by proponents of the global sex trade? When the human rights nonprofit convenes its International Council Meeting next week in Dublin, delegates from around the world will be asked to vote on a proposal to recognize prostitution as a human right.
Amnesty is arguing that prostitution is a matter of free choice, a stance heavily promoted by the multibillion-dollar commercial sex industry. The group is putting forth the view that sex work is compatible with the principle of gender equality and nondiscrimination, as if it were a job like any other.
“By definition,” Amnesty’s proposal states, “sex work means that sex workers who are engaging in commercial sex have consented to do so.” This definition fails to take into account the dire economic need, the childhood sexual abuse, the brutal coercion employed by pimps, and the vast power differences of sex and race that drive the commercial sex industry.
Amnesty contends that “such conditions do not inevitably render individuals incapable of exercising personal agency”. This argument ignores the reality for the vast majority of individuals exploited by the commercial sex industry. When United Nations personnel trade food for sex, these transactions – called “survival sex” – might technically be consensual, but can hardly be considered examples of free will. Almost all prostitution is some form of survival sex. There is no choice in the absence of the freedom to choose otherwise.
Amnesty’s stance on prostitution shows it is missing a gender lens. This isn’t the first time Amnesty has been slow to protect women’s rights: the group failed even to recognize sex trafficking as a human rights violation until the late 1990s. But it now recognizes rape as a weapon of war and some other forms of violence against women – including trafficking – as violations of human rights.
It also previously shied away from recognizing female genital mutilation as a human rights violation, noting the practice was deeply rooted in tradition, but then took up the issue in 1995. The issue is harm, not choice.
Perhaps Amnesty should look to the 1949 UN Convention on trafficking, which characterizes prostitution and sex trafficking as “incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and endanger[ing] the welfare of the individual, the family and the community”. If the organization endorses prostitution as a human right, it won’t be supporting the women who might have no choice but to have sex for money, but rather the pimps and buyers of sex who have all the choice in the world.
Amnesty is urging its membership to separate prostitution and sex trafficking as entirely unrelated. Yet common sense and the economics of supply and demand dictate that demand for prostitution fuels sex trafficking to supply it: not all prostituted women are sex trafficking victims, but all sex trafficking victims are sold into prostitution. Amnesty is urging its membership to legalize the industry, making no distinction between the women being prostituted and those who pay for and profit from their exploitation.
Sweden has made a legal distinction between those driven into the sex industry by poverty and discrimination and those who buy sex as an exercise of power and privilege. Its model law criminalizes only the buying of sex and offers support services to those who are bought. This progressive feminist method aims to decriminalize prostituted women without legitimizing the men who buy them.
In the book Paid For, a compelling analysis of author Rachel Moran’s experience in the sex trade, she describes three types of men who patronize prostitution: those who assume the women they buy have no human feelings; those who are conscious of a woman’s humanity but choose to ignore it; and those who derive sexual pleasure from reducing the humanity of women they buy. Is Amnesty really going to defend the rights of such men to buy women?
It’s a heartbreaking moment for those of us who love Amnesty International. Former US president Jimmy Carter, who made human rights a centerpiece of US foreign policy, has started an online petition urging the group not to endorse commercial sexual exploitation as a right. The concept of human rights itself – not to mention sex equality – is at stake.
746 words
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jul/28/amnesty-international-prostitution-sex-work-human-trafficking
ANNEX 3: Post-translation questionnaire
1. After completing the translation, which were the most difficult terms/parts/expressions to translate? Justify your answer.
2. Which resources were the most useful to solve the translation problems that you found in the text?
3. Do you think that your ideology on the topic played a role in choosing one term in Spanish over another? Justify your answer.
4. Do you think that specific translation training for texts on topics such as the one covered in the article would be useful for translators? Why?