The definition of translation

One of the most famous aphorism about translation is:

”Translation is like a women: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful and if she is beautiful, she is not faithul” (Voltaire)

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But what is the definition of translation?

According to the Oxfrod dictionary, translation is the process of translating words or text from one language into another but what is the complete definition of this word? Nowadays, we can say that the translation is a science. Newmark who was an English professor of translation perceived translation as a science which includes the knowledge and the scientific methods. However, in the late 70s a Translation Studies were born as a new academic discipline. Many academics reflected about the creation of an adequate definition of translation. Indeed, the art of translation is as old as literature. The works of Homer were translated by philosophers in ancient times. However, the real discussion about the theory and the problems related to the translation was born when Nida began translating the Bible. In 1943 Nida completed a doctorate in linguistics and he was hired by the American Bible Society. In 1949 he founded The Bible Translator when he was writing about the theory and practice of Bible translation. In the late 60s Nida had published Toward a Science of Translating and The Theory and Practice of Translation. In two books he had introduced new concepts of dynamic equivalence theory. His definition of translation is very interesting. Nida had stated: translation consists of reproducing in the receprot language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. In other words, the translator’s main attention should be focused on the accurate semantic transference and also on the appropriate syntax and diction.

Today there are many theories of translation which should help to solve the problems of the translators because global communication dominates on the world. Translation seems to play a key role in exchanging information between languages and countries.