Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Concerns (June 2025)
In “Green Gold” by Sally Williams (telegraph.co.uk, 27 October 2007) we read: “ARM has made it clear it is concerned about other organisations sourcing gold from those mines working towards Fairtrade certification, as it will undercut the ‘Fairtrade process’.”
In German: “ARM hat deutlich seine Besorgnis über andere Organisationen geäußert, die ihr Gold von eben diesen Minen beziehen, die auf eine Fairtrade-Zertifizierung hinarbeiten, da somit der ‘Fairtrade-Prozess’ unterwandert wird.”
The above rendering should be improved in two respects. Of particular interest is the syntactic change required in the translation and the resulting disambiguation: what ARM is concerned about in the original can be interpreted in different ways. Is ARM concerned about organisations that already source gold from certain mines? Or is ARM concerned about the possibility of organisations sourcing gold from these mines? While both interpretations may be possible grammatically, the context suggests the second interpretation as the more likely one.
In addition, the verb “unterwandern” does not fit because it requires people as its subject. The negative impact on the Fairtrade process can be expressed using the verb “untergraben” instead.
My suggestion for the German translation would be: ARM hat deutlich seine Besorgnis darüber geäußert, dass andere Organisationen ihr Gold von ebendiesen Minen, die auf eine Fairtrade-Zertifizierung hinarbeiten, beziehen könnten und so der Fairtrade-Prozess untergraben würde.