Transcreation : a polymathic approach to translation

Abstract

Transcreation, specifically that of advertising copy, is a relatively new discipline that is growing in demand, affording Translation Studies scholars a microcosm of theoretical and practical issues for exploration. The high level of creativity in the source text and concepts in advertisements require skills beyond the intra-lingual and textual, which Neural Machine Translation (NMT) has yet to master. From the standpoint of a practising advertising account management professional-copywriter-transcreator, this paper explores the extra-lingual and textual considerations with a polymathic approach, which is a method/theory-agnostic one that draws upon the application of learnings from multiple disciplines to address issues that existing translation theories or methods have yet to fully resolve. Case studies in English, Simplified Chinese (Mainland Chinese Mandarin) and Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese) demonstrate the inner workings of a transcreator’s mind in polymathic mode when navigating the complex web of agents, fields, habitus and doxa that govern the advertising creative development process and the transcreation process. Resulting transcreations and rationales, while not wholly conclusive, substantiate the author’s argument that this organic and holistic approach is a practical, necessary, and achievable one that may defuse the threat of translator obsolescence. Keywords: Advertising; Bourdieu; Multidisciplinary; Polymaths; Transcreation; Translation