Discussing Translation and Culture through Comparative Analysis - Focusing on the biography: Steve Jobs -

This paper explores the construct of how a published book, or a “best-seller,” and its translation can be adapted as effective teaching material for teaching translation and culture by presenting a case study. A group of students was engaged in an in-class text analysis comparing source and target texts using the recently published biography of Steve Jobs. Between carefully selected ST-TT pairs, students were to identify omissions and mistranslations and other types of translational gaps, and to suggest revisions to the published translation. The paper describes how text analysis has helped them approach translation as a multi-faceted endeavor to deliver what the source text “means” rather than a flat, textual transference of what the source text “says.” In doing so, the paper incorporates samples and descriptions of how the students have carried out comparative text analysis of specific samples of ST-TT pairs. As for the choice of books to be used as teaching resource for translation, the paper recommends recent publication or “best sellers” (as opposed to “classic”) because of contemporary topics that are familiar and relevant to students lives while the cultures behind these familiar issues can be foreign. By comparing cultural differences under such common topics as the Internet and finance in translation studies, students may be able to deepen their understanding of inter-cultural issues involved in effective translation.