SOLUTIONS FOR TRANSLATING “SENSITIVE’’ TEXTS

Both translation theory and common sense will agree that a good translation must rely on thorough cultural background knowledge on the part of the translator. Linguistic performance is never enough if it is not doubled by a detailed research on the general topic, as well as by an unbiased attitude towards “sensitive” topics. The most significant difficulty, in what politically correct terms are concerned, is the fact that they seem to grow in number by the day, and translators possibly regret the absence of relevant dictionaries, although these would probably be subject to endless add-ups and changes. In English, several topics arguably require constant updating to keep up the pace with public attitude: gender, religion (and the festivals and celebrations related to it), social status (including names of professions) and disabilities of any kind. Racial issues stepped further back from

the limelight once the reference to geographical specificity (Afro-American, Asian- American, Native American etc.) replaced the old pejorative words.

But what should a translator do when faced with job names such as “transparent-wall maintenance officer”, "sanitation engineer" or even "custodian" – that is, the current replacements for “window cleaner” or “janitor” respectively? Any previous knowledge on army and engineering matters or museum clerks can be of no help, and the translator must rely exclusively on his/her understanding of the context.

Translation difficulties are more obvious in cases such as the chains of terms(euphuism treadmill) related to certain disabilities. Bibliographical references cite widely known examples such as: "lame – crippled – handicapped – disabled – physically challenged – with differing abilities" – an impressive number of variants that would pose a challenge even for the brightest of translators. Such a translation would surely use archaisms and the technique of compensation in order to cover for the existing white spots in the target language corpus. However, other difficulties may arise when some of the above words are used in completely different contexts, as shown in the following quote:

“ The word "lame" from above, having faded from the vernacular was revitalized as aslang word generally meaning "not living up to expectations". Connotation of a euphemism can also be subject-specific. The term "handicap" was in common use to describe a physical disability; it gained common use in sports and games to describe a scoring advantage given to a player who has a disadvantageous standing in ability, and this definition has remained common, even though the term as describing physical disability has mostly faded from common use. One exception to this is in the United States when designating "handicapped" parking spaces for such individuals”.

Due to space restrictions the following table presents only a few examples of the evolution of certain words or terms under the rule of political correctness, as well as a suggested translation into Romanian. However, the author has already gathered a significant number of such examples (as well as quotations and literary excerpts) which may be the basis for a future extended glossary on the topic. The effects of globalization could have certain effects on the development of this specific topic, and many words as we know them today could cease to be used, for the same reason.