9 April 2025
9.00 pm - 10.30 pm NZST (7.00 pm - 8.30 pm AEST)
Online via Zoom
NZSTI Members $30 AUD | Non-members $90 AUD
For Registration Code please email admin@ausit.org with your member number.
Swearing varies enormously from language to language, presenting unique challenges for translators. Taboo words that express extreme emotions in one language may indicate nothing more than mild impatience in another. Additionally, exotic combinations of scatology and theology may have a medieval tone in one language while being an essential part of 21st-century street slang in another.
This webinar will address the specific challenges involved in translating swearwords, highlighting the need to consider issues such as the mismatch of literal and pragmatic meaning, cultural differences between source and target languages, questions of register, tone, and voice, as well as the continuum between translation and localisation.
Through various examples drawn from fiction and theatre translation, the discussion will illustrate how effective translation solutions require a deep understanding of both the source and target contexts, extending beyond the words on the page. The focus will be on pragmatics, the broader text, cultural context, and how specific choices impact the overall effect of the finished translation and its reception by readers.
Despite the launch of ChatGPT in 2023 and the recurring concern of human translators being replaced by machines, this webinar will highlight that aspects such as pragmatic meaning, cultural context, tone, and register remain beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated machine translation solutions.
Find out more and register here >