Politeness as an impediment to translation: a case of medical translation

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to establish how politeness can be an impediment in the process of translating a medical text from English to Kiswahili. Translation does not only deal with the transfer of meanings from one language to another, it also involves the transfer of cultural aspects from the source to the target culture. These cultures use different languages in any given pragmatic set-up, some cultures use polite language in their communication while others use candid and more explicit language. The study was based on the politeness and face - work theories by Brown Levinson (1987) and Goffman (1959). These theories were used to show how socio-cultural, ideological and interactional contexts dictates the level of politeness in the Swahili culture and how in the end, these factors could be an impediment in the process of translating a medical text from English to Kiswahili. In chapter two, it was evident that the Swahili culture uses two languages, the hard language and the polite one. When a translator tries to show the positive politeness and “face saving” factors in translating a medical text from English to Kiswahili, they could end up passing a message with distorted meaning. Chapter three dealt more with how the socio-cultural aspects affect the process of translation and how these aspects directly dictate the level of politeness in the Swahili culture. At the ideological and interactional level, it was depicted how the lexical choice and foreignizing aspects of translation are closely related to the polite nature of Swahili, this was discussed in details in chapter four. The data used in used in this study was purposefully sourced from online sources. In chapter two, the English version of the FGM data was sourced online and given to, Fredrick Otiato for translation (He is a freelance translator working with ST Communications since 2009). Both the English and Kiswahili texts on obstetric fistula were obtained online. In chapter three, the English text was sourced online and its translation to Kiswahili done by Michael Odhiambo of Radio Maisha Kenya. The data used in chapter 4 was obtained from an online book called “Where there is no doctor” whose Kiswahili version is “Pahali pasipokuwa na daktari” the back translation was then done by Fredrick Otiato. The analyzed data revealed how indeed politeness could be an impediment in medical translation. The study was specifically vital in showing how politeness can cause misinterpretation of medical texts that could in some cases have serious repercussions on human life. The study recommends that a medical translator should not be enslaved to the polite culture of the Swahili; instead, they should use the candid and explicit language in their translation in order to avoid any possible misinterpretations. It also recommends that translators should “foreignize” their translations so as to strike a balance between passing the intended message to the target audience and respecting the source culture.