What is transcreation?In this post I will concentrate on one or two aspects of my approach to the transcreation of articles selected from the Mer et Marine daily news page in French for adaptation into English and publication in the Mer et Marine monthly newsletter in English.
It's about adapting a client's document in the source language to a specific communication challenge in a target language. Given that the audiences are different, the aims will differ. The process typically combines high-quality translation with new content as appropriate. Passages of little or no interest to the target audience may be deleted. Transcreation enables clients to convey their messages in a way that is relevant and engaging.
But first I need to explain that much of what is involved in the process of transcreation is based on
(a) explicit information or reasonable assumptions concerning the aims of the original and the target readership, and (b) similar explicit information or reasonable assumptions concerning the aims of the English-language version and the target readership.
The Mer et Marine daily aims are summarised in their presentation statement:
Mer et marine, toute l’actualité maritime.which I have rendered as:
Media leader de l’actualité maritime : construction navale, défense, shipping, ports, offshore…
Maritime news from France and around the world : shipbuilding, naval defence, shipping, ports, offshore and more.
Examples from Amiral Prazuck : « Notre défense commence au large »
Additional information in EN because target readership know less about the subject than Admiral Prazuck
[FRA] La régénération de nos unités qui sont extrêmement sollicitées, bien au-delà des contrats opérationnels définis dans le Livre Blanc.
[ENG] Assets in the highest demand will be refurbished beyond the requirements of the operational contracts listed in the government’s white paper on defence and national security (Livre blanc sur la défense et la sécurité nationale).
[FRA] Pouvez-vous dresser un premier bilan du déménagement de l’état-major à Balard ?
[ENG] Could you also give us a brief report on the move to the Hexagone Balard, the Ministry of Defence’s new joint headquarters?
[FRA] Nous avons quitté une adresse prestigieuse qui nous a hébergés pendant 226 ans à l’Hôtel de la Marine.
[ENG] In July 2015, the naval high command moved out of the Hôtel de la Marine, the imposing classical building overlooking the Place de la Concorde that housed the Navy headquarters for 226 years.
[FRA] Les marins y ont gagné un confort de travail indiscutable.
[ENG] Working conditions in the new HQ, on the southern edge of central Paris, are a huge improvement.
Odd, off-the-cuff term replaced by standard equivalent
[FRA] Enfin leur radar-plaques ouvre de nouvelles perspectives, notamment pour les luttes anti-aérienne et anti-missile.
[ENG] The FTI’s planar array radar will also open up new perspectives, particularly for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare.
(The above table is a formatting experiment. My procedure involved several steps. 1) Generate bitext using Terminotix's AlighFactoryLight. 2) Edit bitext using AFL alignment editor. 3) Add explanatory notes in blank cells using AFL alignment editor. 4) Open bitext using browser. 5) Copy & paste browser page into Blogger page. 6) Add character attributes (bold, ital, highlighting) as necessary. 7) Publish.
