Markets and the creative paradigm: Identity variability in English-Greek translated promotional material1
Maria Sidiropoulou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
ABSTRACT
The study uses as a starting point a set of value dilemmas traced in corporation management strategies worldwide; these dilemmas can offer a rationale for exploring whether and how automobile industry advertising on UK-Greek corporation homepages creatively employs values inherent in relevant management strategies. Findings show that automobile digital advertising is an eloquent paradigm of cross-cultural variation in entrepreneurial communication with clients. The study encourages focus on cultural aspects of commercial material mediation in accounting for variation in the implementation of value dilemmas in intercultural transfer. A tension between global and local cultural variabilities is emerging which highlights the socially aware aspect of innovation. 'Culturalising' economic life, in terms of raising awareness of culture-specific norms in communication, seems to be of paramount importance in wealth creating environments, as is argued in the conclusion.
KEYWORDS
Identity, translation, cultural/entrepreneurial value binaries, business, corporations, automobile industry, intercultural communication, hard/soft approaches, creativity, advertising.
1. Values, business and translation
Values are a core issue in the business world. Gallagher (2003), a business consultant and a scholar in management, confirms the interaction of values with business environments. Business communication which crosses cultural boundaries intersects with competences required in intercultural communication. Communication competences may be effectively tackled (and developed) through discourse-focused translation studies.
The present section provides a model of management strategies highlighting certain entrepreneurial value dilemmas, on which the study draws in order to account for translation shifts in intercultural transfer. Approaches to building a values-driven organisation may be hard- and soft-oriented, emphasising different levels of consciousness and world views (Barrett 2006). Occasionally, hard- and soft-oriented approaches to building an organisation may merge in corporation-specific ways. “Institutionalized values are collectively agreed upon value criteria that apply to role performance” (D'Andrade 2008:123, emphasis in original). Building cross-cultural competence in wealth-creating environments has been assumed to involve awareness of at least six dimensions of cultural diversity, namely, universalism/particularism, individualism/ communitarianism, specificity/diffusion, achieved/ascribed status, inner/outer direction, and sequential/synchronous time (Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars 2000:11).
|
Hard approach |
Soft approach |
1 |
Universalism |
Particularism |
2 |
Individualism |
Communitarianism |
3 |
Specificity |
Diffusion |
4 |
Achieved status |
Ascribed status |
5 |
Inner direction |
Outer direction |
6 |
Sequential time |
Synchronous time |
Table 1. Dimensions of cultural diversity and related value dilemmas.
The explanatory value of this framework for automobile industry translating lies in that it is business-oriented. The entrepreneurial value dilemmas in Table 1 draw on research conducted in corporation environments (rather than in broader societal environments) with a sample of forty-six thousand managers from more than forty countries (Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars 2000). The study attempts to examine whether and how entrepreneurial dilemmas, which are claimed to be implemented differently across corporation cultures, could have any bearing in cross-cultural communication of company with client, as manifested through translation. The assumption in this study has been that different value sets may be favoured across source and target homepages of companies to ensure effective communication with clients and wealth creation. Awareness of cross-cultural shifts in real life entrepreneurial meaning transfer is expected to heighten perception of how communicative force of messages may be optimised on the market, doing justice to linguistic and cultural relativity.
An interesting point about the automobile industry, as in many other areas of advertising (Adab and Valdés 2004), is that linguistic transfer is most frequently an adaptation rather than a close translation, highlighting different sets of values on cross-cultural agendas. Corporations and scholars are aware that blending and reconciling values of dilemmas is an optimum strategy for wealth creating. For instance, Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars (2000:10) argue that “where these differences are reconciled whole organizations grow healthier, wealthier, and wiser as a consequence.” However, the data show that blending and reconciliation of values may be somewhat 'culturally-informed' and this makes automobile industry material extremely valuable for translational creativity research. Despite blended entrepreneurial approaches to value dimensions globally, hard-sell approaches seem to be favoured in Western companies, with soft-sell approaches rather prevailing in Eastern-origin companies (ibid). The study examines verbal digital communication through UK and Greek homepages of fourteen corporations: 7 randomly selected corporations with western headquarters (Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Mini, Renault, Seat, Volvo, Volkswagen) and another 7, also randomly selected, with Eastern headquarters (Daihatsu, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota). Selecting data from Western/Eastern-origin companies is a methodological decision made on the grounds that the origin of the company may be explaining emergence of values on homepages. As will be shown in section 3, awareness and management of cultural diversity in cross-cultural meaning transfer is highly significant in boosting translational creativity and the communicative force of messages in the services sector. This is a point that tallies with findings by scholars focusing on economic processes in the services sector. As Flew suggests (2005:349), economic processes inevitably possess a cultural dimension, particularly with the growth of the services sector, where economic transactions are often more directly related to interpersonal relations and communicative practice.
Measurement of value intensity in Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars' (2000) study includes Greece in value pairs 1, 2 and 3 (Table 1). With the rest of the value pairs, Greece is not included in the measurement, probably for lack of adequate evidence. The study attempts to trace all value pairs in automobile industry advertising across English-Greek to portray how creativity may interact with social awareness cross-culturally.
Although grammatical or cohesive variation across versions can be a highly rich resource for drawing conclusions about cultural variabilities, the focus in this study is rather on lexical items and/or pieces of information, which are assumed to implement the abstract notion of 'value' in the Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars model, in terms of linguistic manifestations in the parallel text versions. Lexical items or phrases which are added to, or 'censored' from, parallel text versions are assumed to be highly instrumental in meeting pragmatically relevant audience needs in cross-cultural meaning-making (e.g. through considering what might be pragmatically 'relevant' across cultures) and may be more integral to creativity than grammatical structures and cohesive shifts, because they assume a rather open-ended set of options which can creatively reshape messages.
As in all multimodal communication, visual material accompanying text samples may be extremely useful in complementing implementation of variabilities cross-culturally (Pan 2015), but the analysis in this study confines itself to verbal material, namely headers and main bodies of advertising texts, traced on main or subsidiary pages of websites. Visual material would be extremely worth exploring for the cultural insights it carries and the intercultural differences it may highlight, but it needs a diversified approach to the task, and is thus outside the scope of this research.
2. Creativity and value dichotomies in advertising
Promotional material has attracted the attention of translation scholars (Smith 2002, Adab and Valdés 2004, Chiaro 2004, Chen 2014, Chen, Qiu and Wang 2013, De Mooij 2004, Ho 2004, Kefala and Sidiropoulou 2016, Munday 2004, Sidiropoulou 1998, 2008a/b, Theocharous 2014, Tuna 2004) and strategies were shown to vary with product category within the same culture, hence the focus on automobile industry in this study.
Creativity has been approached in various ways and from various disciplines, namely, behavioural, clinical, cognitive, cross-cultural, developmental, educational, genetic, organisational, psychoanalytic, psychometrics and social (Creativity Research Journal online). Interdisciplinary research is particularly welcome in journals and periodicals focused on creativity. Advertising may potentially provide linguistic evidence relevant to a cognitive perspective into creativity and advertisement translation seems to intersect with cross-cultural aspects of it. The study attempts to unveil patterns of value shifts which manifest the translators' creative task in renegotiating entrepreneurial communication with the client cross-culturally.
Perceptions of creativity may vary cross-culturally. In considering Western and Eastern culture perceptions of creativity, Lubart (2010) suggests that Western cultures seem to focus more on the product and conceptualise creativity as a linear process, whereas Eastern cultures seem to focus on the process conceptualising it as cyclic: “[i]t involves connecting to a larger reality, reconfiguring or rediscovering existing elements.” Managing corporate and societal values in a target text is a creative task, and assumes a cyclical notion of creativity, which takes into consideration the larger reality of corporate and societal value priorities.
Below are instances of value shifts across English-Greek, which holistically highlight divergent thinking on the part of mediators and the cyclic aspect of creativity in translation performance, by showing the significance translation practitioners assign to cultural diversity in communicating with clients. Analysis shows that translation practice may creatively shift hard/ soft approach values in text versions, to amplify the communicative force of messages. Examples below show instances of shifts across versions along the dilemmas of 'universalism/particularism,' 'individualism/communitarianism,' specificity/diffusion,' 'achieved/ascribed status,' 'inner/outer direction' and 'sequential/synchronous time.'
2.1 Universalism vs. particularism
Although universalist values do appear in the sample, the genre of commercial advertising is expected to major on particularism, as it is motivated to promote items as distinctive and incomparable, in an attempt to highlight “unique exceptional forms of distinction” (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000:14). The fragments below manifest universalist and particularist communicative intentions on the part of content owners. Resemblance is a universalist value, difference is a particularist one.
Universalist |
Particularist |
THE JEEP® RENEGADE JOURNEY |
SEE THE DIFFERENCE. There's more than one way to experience the Baleno. See what our different models have to offer and find the right one for you. http://www.suzuki.co.uk/cars/cars/new/baleno/Baleno DISTINCTIVE - FEEL THE DIFFERENCE. Why not discover the new shape of the exhaust tail pipes, leather steering wheel and darkened treatment for the headlights which can be found in the New Alfa Giulietta. http://www.alfaromeo.co.uk/models/giulietta#_ |
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars argue that in business and industry, “[t]he clash between Universalism and Particularism takes many forms. [...] One example is the historic clash between scientific management, a most universalist approach to business [...], and the human relations movement” (2000:26, emphasis added). In advertising, this may be manifested through an intention to develop a core competence in communication or “getting close to the customer” (2000:28). For instance, the UK Subaru-Forester homepage includes a section (“What people say”) informing prospective clients what owners of Subaru cars say. This section does not appear on the Greek homepage: deleting this informal aspect of communication is taken as neglect of a particularist value in the target environment, in favour of universalism. Such shifts confirm the re-writing aspect of advertisement translation process.
ST1 |
What People Say |
TT1 |
-- http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/forester/ |
In a similar fashion, the UK homepage of Nissan-Pulsar encourages clients to sample former/current customer feedback featured on their webpage. The Greek version does not, probably because international evidence may not be as relevant, in the sense that living conditions and needs often differ considerably on the global stage, or because automobile industry in Greece may not have exploited this source of 'authority' yet. Higher power distance between advertiser and customers was shown to be preferred in the Greek version of translated advertisements (Sidiropoulou 2008b) and thus customer feedback may rather be dismissed as informal information. In any case, international websites often localise material and scholars have identified “significant differences in the prototypical macrostructures of original and localised texts, as well as an impact on their terminology and phraseology” (Jiménez-Crespo 2011 online). Scholars have also been concerned with whether current industry favours internationalised strategies vs. adapted localisations (ibid).
ST2 |
REAL PEOPLE, REAL OPINIONS |
TT2 |
-- http://www.nissan.gr/vehicles/city-cars/pulsar.html |
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars have measured the extent to which certain cultures may be universalist or particularist by eliciting responses from people with reference to a particular dilemma. They asked questions on everyday issues and categorised responses as to whether they favoured the hard- or soft-oriented value of the dilemma. They found that the UK scores relatively high (70, highest score 90 by Norway) on the universalist/particularist scale, and Greece scores relatively low (38, lowest score 10). Although the present study does not draw on questionnaires or any crowd sourcing techniques, it attempts to examine in what way cross-cultural automobile industry interaction with client displays tendencies observed in Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars' measurement of value intensity. The assumption is that cross-cultural automobile promotional material may show otherwise. For instance, a closer look at the data set does not seem to verify Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars' measurement of the universalist/particularist dilemma in automobile industry promotional material, namely that the UK scores 70 and Greece 38. Greek seems to be much higher on universalism in the sample, neglecting quite a few of the particularist values favoured on the English homepage. Evidently, genre-specific translation evidence may reshape perception of cultural preference intensity with respect to value dilemmas, within the same language pair. Further research may be necessary for scholars to conclude that certain values (e.g. hard-oriented ones) may be prioritised in wealth creating environments, within the same language, which otherwise would have favoured soft-oriented approaches to value dilemmas.
Particularism foregrounds passion: “[p]articularism is also involved in our intimate and passionate relationships” (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000:22). As shown in example 3, the value of passion and desire is favoured in the English version of a Renault Clio ad, which does not survive in Greek (the passion item is eliminated from the Greek heading). The pun Be moved in English further contributes to the passion reading through appeal to emotions. A particularist value in the Greek version is that of customisation (εξατομίκευση). The Greek version majors on technology (a universalist value).
ST3 |
CLIO. Inspired by passion. BE MOVED, NOT DRIVEN. |
TT3 |
CLIO. Ανακαλύψτε το. |
(BT) CLIO. Discover it. |
2.2 Individualism vs. communitarianism
Individualism vs. communitarianism is another dilemma for any business unit or culture. Individualism assumes competition, self-reliance, self-interest, while communitarianism assumes cooperation, social concern, altruism (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000).
Individualism seeks to locate the origins of value in the creative, feeling, inquiring, and discovering person who seeks fulfillment [...]. Communitarianism seeks to locate the origins of value within the social discourse of the living society, which nurtures, educates, and takes responsibility for the spirit engendered among its members. (2000:69-70)
An experiment on how individual freedom is valued gave the UK a 61% and Greece a 46%, on a scale from 89% to 30% (ibid).
The author's insight into Greek and evidence from other product categories verify that advertising discourse in Greek favours communitarian values. Collectivism was shown to be preferred in the Greek version of a set of 26 English-Greek advertisement pairs (Sidiropoulou 2008b); there was an evaluation intention on the part of the Greek advertiser, manifesting concern for facilitating 'in-groups' with processing, a communitarian value. Concern for in-groups is a positive politeness device (Sifianou 1992) and may be manifested in discourse through a wide range of devices. For instance, the slogan on the front cover of the Greek version of the 2016 IKEA catalogue reshapes the verbal message to favour a communitarian value: Ιt is the little things that matter vs. Ζούμε μαζί όμορφες στιγμές (we live wonderful moments together), 19/8/2016. However, in automobile industry, it is interesting for readers to see how the family value disappears from the Greek version in TT4, although the car is originally meant to be a family car. Instead drivers are assumed to be on their own in the Greek version, with Nissan Pulsar presented as “an ideal companion for safe driving” (TT4). The individualistic gloss may be manifested through the item σχεδιασμένο για να ελκύει τα βλέμματα (designed to attract attention), which heightens driver self-confidence.
ST4 |
BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU LIVE - GET YOUR FAMILY AN UPGRADE THE AWARD-WINNING FAMILY CAR A NEW EXPERIENCE - THE AWARD WINNING FAMILY CAR |
TT4 |
ΜΟΝΤΕΡΝΟ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΜΨΟ - ΣΧΕΔΙΑΣΜΕΝΟ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΕΛΚΥΕΙ ΤΑ ΒΛΕΜΜΑΤΑ. |
(BT) MODERN AND ELEGANT - DESIGNED TO ATTRACT ATTENTION [...] |
Family references are also eliminated from the Greek version of the Hyundai i20 car. Instead of family references, the Greek version favours self-reliance (individualism) and self-confidence, thus heightening awareness of independence, wealth and recognition.
ST5 |
QUALITY THROUGH EVERY DETAIL. All New i20 changes everything [...] |
TT5 |
Αυτοπεποίθηση στο δρόμο. |
(BT) Self-confidence on the road. The new i20 has even more dynamic and sleek front [...] |
The same holds for the next example from the Volvo-S60 Cross Country homepage. The Greek version majors on individualistic, rather than communitarian, values (ξεχωρίζει από το πλήθος/stands out from the crowd) in TT6, which does not appear in the English version.
ST6 |
ALL ROAD, ALL WEATHER. -- [...] http://www.volvocars.com/uk/cars/new-models/s60 |
TT6 |
ΠΑΝΤΟΣ ΔΡΟΜΟΥ, ΠΑΝΤΟΣ ΚΑΙΡΟΥ. |
(BT) FOR EVERY ROAD, EVERY WEATHER. |
Automobile industry translation practice does not seem to verify the claim that Greece scores lower than the UK on the individualism-communitarianism scale, although this may be true of other product type ads, in interpersonal communication (Sifianou 1992), etc. It is as if, for luxury items such as cars, individualistic concerns carry a stronger persuasive force, as they boost an image of personal success and unfettered economic or other freedom. Sub-generic conventions in the advertising genre seem to be integral to discourse strategising, in real life translation practice.
2.3 Specificity vs. diffusion
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars trace the origin of the dilemma as follows: much of the preference, they claim, relates to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th century. “Catholicism was diffuse, picturesque, multisensual, passionate, elaborate, mysterious, and romantic [...] Protestantism was specific, verbal, literal, emotionally controlled, spare, plain speaking, and classic” (2000:123). In measuring the specificity-diffusion dilemma, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars attribute the UK a 82% and Greece a 45%, in a range between 90% and 10%.
In business and industry, specificity entails for a company to be seen as “a system designed to perform functions and tasks in an efficient way” (2000:125). Diffusion would see a company as “a group of people working together [...]. The functioning is dependent on these relations” (2000: 126).
Another manifestation of the dilemma diffuseness/specificity is realised through conceptualising the corporation as an organism or as a machine, respectively. Diffuseness conceptualises a company as “a living system with the capacity to grow, unfold, and realize the information within its DNA” (2000:146). See for instance Renegate has Jeep DNA in 2.1. The alternative specificity metaphor is that a corporation is a machine: it “consists of specific, replaceable parts, so if any part, human or mechanical, misfunctions, it should be replaced with a more reliable component” (2000:145).
Diffuseness would tally with positive politeness (e.g. favouring interpersonal proximity, rather than distance) in communication. Greek may occasionally prefer positive politeness patterns in some genres (Sifianou 1992), and a clear preference for specificity. The 'uncertainty avoidance' feature in the Greek versions of advertisements (Sidiropoulou 2008b) is a manifestation of the specificity value in the Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars model (2000). Examples below show instances of specificity shifts introduced in the Greek versions of automobile industry ads.
On a cultural level, the difference is also manifested through a different conceptualisation of public and private space. Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) refer to public and private space as two concentric circles with the private circle inside the public one. While the outer 'public space' circle may be invariable, the inner 'private space' circle varies cross-culturally between small and big manifestations of it: there are cultures which seem to prefer a small private space, which leaves enough public space open, and others which assume larger private space, which leaves less public space available. Specificity favours large public space and small private one, diffuseness favours small public space and large private one (ibid). This is probably why the UK Nissan Pulsar and Hyundai i20 advertisements assume large private space which includes family (diffuseness), while the Greek version assumes small private space with the Greek Nissan Pulsar drivers solely accompanied by their cars as ideal companions (individualism).
In example 7, neglecting the organism metaphor in Greek entails specificity (ST7, see muscular stance)2. Weight measurement is introduced in the Mazda-MX5 advertisement (TT7) as a specificity index.
ST7 |
Its muscular stance and piercing LED headlights provide presence on the road. [...] |
TT7 |
-- [...] |
(BT) The first Mazda MX-5, changing previous achievements - it was just 955 kilos - proved to be a really light sports car. |
Likewise, in example 8, manifestation of the preference for specificity appears in the temporal span required for the hood to open (TT8 just 15 seconds preferred over less than 20) and rendering the ST8 smart technology metaphor (corporation as a living organism entailing diffuseness) as TT8 advanced technology (corporation as a machine, entailing specificity).
ST8 |
The new MINI Convertible [...] With a sleeker design, go-kart handling and smart technology, it’s ready for next-level open-air adventure. [...] Quick and quiet, the new electrical hood mechanism means you can get a full view in less than 20 seconds. https://www.mini.co.uk/en_gb/home/range/mini-convertible.html |
TT8 |
Το νέο MINI Cabrio [...] Με πιο κομψή εμφάνιση, οδηγική αίσθηση go-kart και προηγμένη τεχνολογία, δηλώνει πανέτοιμο για να προσφέρει μια νέα εμπειρία οδήγησης με ανοικτή οροφή. [...] Γρήγορα και αθόρυβα, ο νέος ηλεκτρικός μηχανισμός ανοίγει την υφασμάτινη οροφή σε μόλις 15 δευτερόλεπτα http://www.mini.com.gr/mini-cabrio/mini_yours/index.html |
(BT) The new MINI Cabrio [...] With a more elegant design, go-kart handling sense and advanced technology, it declares itself to be ready for a new open-roof driving experience. [...] Quickly and quietly, the new electrical mechanism opens the hood in just 15 seconds. |
In this context, there are two further shifts which are indicative of a penchant for diffuseness in Greek and which balance the specificity effects. These are TT8 it declares itself to beready for..., assuming the living organism metaphor, and the TT8 go-kart handling sense, which favours the sensual (diffuse) over the specific function (handling). Most other shifts seem to favour diffuseness on the Greek side. This is manifested either by omitting ST specificity markers in the target version (ST9 and ST10) or by adding diffuseness ones. For instance, the organism metaphor thrives in the Greek version of the data. The ST9 nothing they don't [need] entails exactness and specificity.
ST9 |
[The Jeep Renegate] IS A TOP 10 WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR FINALIST 2015 WORLD CAR AWARDS The Jeep® Renegade is an SUV that offers everything a driver needs and nothing they don’t. http://www.jeep.co.uk/renegade/ |
TT9 |
-- Το ολοκαίνουργιο Jeep® Renegade σας προσφέρει όλα όσα επιθυμείτε για να απολαύσετε μοναδικές εμπειρίες. http://www.jeep.gr/renegade_2015/index.html |
(BT) The brand new Jeep® Renegade offers you all you desire to enjoy unique experiences |
Examples 10-12 show diffuseness in the Greek version, either added (TT10, TT11) or compensating for ST diffuseness. TT10 reinforces diffuseness through the organism metaphor (generation). ST11 emotions alludes to diffuseness, as does TT11 charm of genius, but TT11 reinforces the organism representation by including dynamic personality (δυναμική προσωπικότητα) in the strong features of the product.
ST10 |
AYGO. It's time to play ... https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/aygo/index.json |
TT10 |
Νέα Γενιά Aygo ... https://www.toyota.gr/new-cars/aygo/index.json |
(BT) New Aygo Generation |
ST11 |
Yaris. Amplifies your emotions. |
TT11 |
Yaris 2016. Η γοητεία της ευφυίας. |
(BT)Yaris 2016. The charm of genius. |
TT12 road of your heart item (ο δρόμος της καρδιάς σας) renders the diffuseness carried by ST12 embrace every moment, while TT12 reinforces the organism metaphor by TT trust (εμπιστοσύνη) and personality (προσωπικότητα) additions.
ST12 |
EMBRACE EVERY MOMENT |
TT12 |
ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΔΡΟΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΡΔΙΑΣ ΣΑΣ. ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΗΣΤΕ ΤΟΝ. |
(BT) IT IS THE ROAD OF YOUR HEART. FOLLOW IT. |
English-Greek automobile advertising seems to favour specificity occasionally, although diffuseness seems to be a dominant value. Although word-count is hard to specify, given the localisation strategies and the fragmentary nature of the data traced, in the fourteen pairs of automobile homepages, the data set seems to roughly verify the 82% vs. 45% ratio on the specificity-diffuseness scale.
2.4 Achieved vs. ascribed status
Achievement relates to how much one has done. Ascription is about who one is (family, background etc). The UK is reported to be evenly divided between achievement and ascription values and much of the rest of the world is ascription-oriented. Korea is 76 percent ascriptive, Japan 70 percent, France 65 percent, and Singapore 60 percent (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000). In business and industry, corporations favouring achievement usually have an 'up or out' strategy. Those favouring ascription may be interested in nurturing employees to higher status. Ascribed status pairs with small private space focusing on the individual. Ascribed status rather tallies with large private space assuming a more communitarian approach.
Example 13 highlights ascribed status attributed to the product by referring to the brand's legendary heritage. Both versions make use of ascribed status in their persuasive strategy, but TT13 enhances ascribed status by the family item. Besides, ST item the legendary Jeep brand heritage appears on a subsidiary page of the UK homepage and is fronted to the main page in the Greek homepage.
ST13 |
MAVERICKS WELCOME - THE JEEP® RENEGADE JOURNEY |
TT13 |
Η ΠΕΡΙΠΕΤΕΙΑ ΞΕΚΙΝΑ. Άνεση και ασφάλεια, όπου κι αν βρεθείτε. |
(BT) ADVENTURE BEGINS. Comfort and safety, wherever you are. |
Another occurrence of ascribed status in the Greek version appears in TT6: Swedish luxury assigns the product ascribed status. Ascribed status may nurture public spirit in recipients: one may feel “some obligation to return to the society [...] some recompense for its generosity” (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000:198). This ascribed status approach has probably reinforced the safety concern on the part of the Subaru corporation advertising the Forester car in Greek. In TT14 the safety concern is added, in TT15 it is simply reinforced, through the TT top priority item in the heading. Besides the company's determination to protect clients is accentuated through TT item [t]here may be dangers in life but we make sincere efforts for you and your passengers to be protected, which ensures audience that the company is concerned with overcoming obstacles to client security.
ST14 |
--- http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/forester/ |
|
TT14 |
ΤΟ ΟΡΑΜΑ ΜΑΣ. Η ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ. Για να σας προστατεύει και να σας βοηθά να αποφεύγετε τα ατυχήματα, το SUBARU XV είναι εξοπλισμένο με ένα συνδυασμό ενεργητικής και παθητικής ασφάλειας. |
|
|
(BT) OUR VISION. YOUR SAFETY. To protect you and help you avoid accidents, SUBARU XV is equipped with a combination of active and passive safety (features) |
ST15 |
OUTSTANDING SAFETY |
TT15 |
Η ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΠΡΩΤΗ ΠΡΟΤΕΡΑΙΟΤΗΤΑ. |
(BT) SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY. Being aware of the significance passengers' integrity carries, we have equipped Outback with high quality safety systems, like 7 airbags [...] There may be dangers in life but we make sincere efforts for you and your passengers to be protected. |
Example 16 shows that the Seat-Ibiza TT enhances safety information, by enumerating specific items of safety equipment, whereas the source text groups them together as 'standard and optional assistance features.'
ST16 |
SAFETY - Peace of Mind |
TT16 |
ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑ - Περισσότερη ασφάλεια, λιγότερο άγχος |
(BT) Safety has been reinforced with the use of advanced technology which includes LED daytime running lights parking assist pilot and driver alert and rear view camera embodied in the entertainment and information system This has been our safest Ibiza up until now. |
Likewise, in example 17, the Greek version of the Alfa Romeo Julietta shows a similar tendency for providing specific information on safety equipment. This is evidenced by the text fragment length dedicated to each safety equipment. Evidently, this seems to be pragmatically 'relevant' information, which marketing experts thought the target audience would appreciate.
ST17 |
SAFETY - PEACE OF MIND |
TT17 |
ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑ. Ασφάλεια 5 αστέρων [...46-word text...], Αξιολόγηση 5 αστέρων στο Euro NCAP [...94-word text...], Ενεργητική ασφάλεια [...15-word text...], Παθητική ασφάλεια [...82-word text...], Προληπτική ασφάλεια [...49-word text...] http://www.alfaromeo.gr/gr/montela/giulietta/stil |
(BT) SAFETY. 5-star safety [46-word text], 5-star assessment at Euro NCAP [94-word text], Active safety [15-word text], Passive safety [82-word text], Preventive safety [49-word text] |
Concern for heightening specificity on safety also appears in the Greek version of the Renault Clio homepage (repeated below as ST/TT1', with the relevant items highlighted). The TT adds the award-winning information (which points to individualism) to major ascription.
ST1' |
CLIO. Inspired by passion. BE MOVED, NOT DRIVEN. The Renault Clio makes hearts beat faster. EXPLORE CLIO. |
TT1' |
CLIO. Ανακαλύψτε το. |
(BT) CLIO. Discover it. |
Example 18 shows ascribed status concern in both ST and TT, but manifested through different ascribed status features. Beyond publicspirited awareness, which is highlighted in the concern for the environment in the Greek homepage of the Nissan corporation (TT18), the Nissan-Pulsar homepage highlights “relationships of trust, integrity, and reputation for fair dealing” (2000:198). Relationships of trust is another feature of ascribed status approaches.
ST18 |
CUSTOMER PROMISE |
TT18 |
ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝ |
(BT) ENVIRONMENT |
Likewise, Mitsubishi corporation brings up their promise to customers in ST19 elaborating on it in terms of a 75-word fragment. The Greek version resorts to responsibility for the environment and corporation heritage, which are also ascription values.
ST19 |
CUSTOMER PROMISE |
TT19 |
ΤΟ ΚΑΘΗΚΟΝ ΜΑΣ ΑΠΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝ [...63-word fragment...] |
(BT) OUR DUTY TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT [63-word fragment elaborating on this] |
There seem to be ascription-driven tasks in commercial material transfer, realised differently in source and target environments. Trust may be taken for granted in Greek, so it is replaced with concern for the environment, which is less directly interpersonal.
2.5 Inner direction vs. outer direction
In business and industry, inner directed leaders “must override the opinions of those around” them (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000: 255). If they choose to listen to subordinates, they are outer directed. As stereotypical as it might seem, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars argue that “East Asian authority figures become chief listeners to the petitions, requests, and initiatives of their subordinates. [...] To be outer directed is to be mature, responsive, and nurturing” (2000:255). In fact, inner direction seems to pair with individualism and achievement (all hard-oriented approaches to value dilemmas), whereas outer direction is more aware of the contribution of others and the environment or fate, as communitarianism and ascribed status are (soft-oriented approaches to value dilemmas). Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars measure inner/outer direction by questions highlighting the advantages of self-determination and inner control vs. “the advantages of contingency, luck, fate, and circumstance” (2000:238). Example 1, which is repeated here as 1'', highlights the value of luck on the UK website, which disappears from the Greek TT.
ST1'' |
CLIO. Inspired by passion. BE MOVED, NOT DRIVEN. |
The concept of fate also appears in Greek, on the Subaru Forester homepage, as shown in TT20.
ST20 |
Balanced design for a balanced life. [...] http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/forester/ |
TT20 |
ΓΕΝΝΗΜΕΝΟ ΝΑ ΕΞΕΡΕΥΝΑ. ΠΡΟΟΡΙΣΜΕΝΟ ΝΑ ΤΑΞΙΔΕΥΕΙ. http://subaru.net.gr/2016forester.html |
|
(BT) BORN TO EXPLORE. DESTINED TO TRAVEL. |
The Greek data provide quite a few instances of outer-directed communication. For instance, the addition made to TT15 highlighting the company's responsibility for client security shows awareness of potential dangers in life (awareness of the environment, fate etc.) and displays a modest, rather than confident, presentation of sincere efforts the Subaru corporation is making to protect driver and passengers.
Outer-directed cultures are in touch with the living environment, which they study carefully. The Greek version of the Jeep Renegate website (TT 21) provides instances of this outer direction tendency. The link with the environment is elaborated in Greek.
ST21 |
CUSTOMER PROMISE |
TT21 |
ΤΟ ΜΙΚΡΟ JEEP® ΜΕ ΤΙΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΕΣ ΙΚΑΝΟΤΗΤΕΣ |
(BT)SMALL JEEP® WITH A BIG POTENTIAL |
This outer-directed approach is very often realised in that the Greek version occasionally brings up the issue of safety, or simply reinforces the references made to safety in the TT (as shown above, 2.4). Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) seem to relate the concept of safety to outer-/inner-directness.
2.6 Sequential time vs. synchronous time
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) refer to two conceptions of time prevalent in Chinese and ancient Greek mythology (personified in two mythical figures Chronos and Kairos): linear time, conceptualised as a thread, “joining the past to the present and stretching out into an interminable future” (2000:296), and winding or circular time, where “cycles of growth and decay, birth and death, springtime and autumn promised a harmony with nature and perpetual regeneration” (ibid).
They also argue that short-term orientation in cultural values tie with the conception of sequential time (as if what is lost in the present is lost forever), whereas long-term orientation pairs with synchronous time conception (“the seeds planted now will bear fruit continuously in future years” 2000:299). This future orientation may be traced in the Daihatsu Group Slogan “Innovation for Tomorrow.” As the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota, so the Daihatsu corporation thanks its customers for using their “contents for a long time.” The advertising data sample in Sidiropoulou 2008b did not provide evidence of synchronous time in the Greek version as contrasted to sequential time in English; it was tentatively inferred through other generic evidence that Greek appreciates long-term orientation vs. a rather short-term orientation in English. Example 22 in this study seems to provide a manifestation of a diversified approach to the dilemma 'sequential vs. synchronous' time.
Translational shifts in the data which show preference for one conception of time over another are extremely rare in the data sample. Example 22, a Mazda-MX-5 promotional material fragment offers such a shift. Going back to its roots seems to assume a linear conceptualisation, sequential time, whereas mountaining/climaxing (μεσουράνημα) draws on the solar curve, on the sky, and assumes a cyclical conception of time. TT22 revival (αναγέννηση) also assumes cyclical time, as the revival of seasons does.
ST22 |
CUSTOMER PROMISE |
TT22 |
Στη δεκαετία του 1980, κανένας πια δεν κατασκεύαζε roadster. Το μεσουράνημά τους κατά τις δεκαετίες '50 και '60 στη Βρετανία, έμοιαζε να έχει παρέλθει οριστικά, έως ότου η Mazda εμφανίστηκε στο προσκήνιο. [...] Αυτή ήταν η αναγέννηση των roadster. Greece/Mazda-Heritage/The-MX-5-1989 |
(BT)In the 1980s no one made roadsters. Their mountaining/climaxing in the 1950s and 1960s in Britain seemed to have gone forever, until Mazda appeared on stage. [...] This was the revival of roadsters. |
In examining these hard/soft approaches to selling, the study focused on values mediators chose to highlight, with reference to content. It rather neglected values which have been inscribed in the linguistic system in Greek, contributing to one or another value of the Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars framework. For instance, Greek is a positive politeness language (Brown and Levinson 1978/1987, Sifianou 1992), which at least in some genres favours interpersonal proximity (e.g. All Bases Covered. We want you to love every minute of driving your SEAT,translated as Σας καλύπτουμε. Θέλουμε να νιώθετε όμορφα και άνετα κοντά μας(Wecoveryou. We want you to feel nice and comfortable close to us).
4. Summary of findings: creativity, translation and new economies
Value shifts are summarised in Table 2. The bullet (•) stands for instances of hard-approach values, the circle (o) stands for soft-approach values in entrepreneurial communication with client.
Findings show that both the hard-sell and the soft-sell approach are reinforced on the Greek homepages. The ratio between hard- and soft-sell approach items in English is 1 hard/4.3 soft, whereas in Greek the hard-sell approach is higher (1 hard/2.7 soft). The finding that Greek versions of automobile industry web texts favour hard-sell values in the communication with clients is a manifestation of the translators' creative mediation, namely, their potential to holistically integrate into discourse their awareness of what an appropriate approach to cultural diversity might be, in communication.
The study drew on authentic parallel advertising data in automobile industry, focusing on the English-Greek language pair. It accounted for translation shifts between the English and Greek homepages of fourteen Western-/Easter-origin automobile industries, in terms of a model of values preferred in building a corporation cross-culturally (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars 2000). It highlighted the contribution automobile industry parallel data may make to enhancing understanding of divergent thinking as a manifestation of creative processes required in website translation.
Table 2. Value distribution in translational shifts of examples 1-23.
Although a critical approach to the Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars model could rightly identify potentially overgeneralising and perhaps simplistic categorisation of values and attitudes in building a corporation, the study shows that an intercultural perspective into authentic data cannot afford to neglect the contribution of relevant value dilemmas to analysing cross-cultural interaction between industry and client.
The argument for supporting the creative industry sector is that “we can no longer afford to understand the social and creative disciplines as commercially irrelevant, merely 'civilizing' activities” (Cunningham 2005:293). Science and technology seem to have to make room for creativity and the “culturalization of economic life” (Flew 2005:384). In this view, nations “need to invest in creative human capital throughout the economy” (Venturelli 2005:396). The data set highlights the link between values and progress, geography and culture, culture and institutions (Harrison 2000: xxiv).
In a context where interdisciplinarity prevails and creative industries increasingly need different competences in professionals to boost their potential for growth, translation competence is a crucial area of expertise which enhances communication channels between content owners and consumers. This is done by tailoring advertising campaigns to local consumer needs and tastes.
Translation seems to be an occupation which assumes high creative intensity and can sustain growth in national economies. For instance, if advertising and marketing has already been a promising creative economy group, translation can reinforce this potential for growth. Within the new economy paradigm, translation is dynamic, global, networked, service-oriented occupation, drawing on human and social capital, a knowledge/ innovation-based activity where the importance of research and innovation is high.
The present study used the anthropological and commercial understanding of culture (Venturelli 2005), rather the artistic one, to show that no matter what source and target societal value measurement may suggest, particular sectors seem to have their own value balancing, which assumes a creative perspective to translational advertising. Such findings need further attention for a whole lot of beneficiaries (government, business, academia and research institutions).
In fact, translation is ubiquitous to all sectors of creative industries, whether heritage art, media and functional creation. For instance, the English-Greek paradigm has shown that in the heritage sector, Greek-English tourism advertising shows that different cosmopolitan dimensions are favoured across English and Greek tourism discourse (Kefala and Sidiropoulou 2016), which assumes high creative intensity. In the field of the arts, stage translation is a rich resource for growth and exporting culture. Translation in the media is an additional layer of mediation process which is worth exploring both in academia and in media institutions for ideological and cultural reasons. Whatever the creative industry sector, translation can boost exports of goods, whether performed by in-house employees or translation agencies.
Translation products are creative goods to be included in official statistics on creative industries. Measuring productivity and creative intensity should probably take into account task complexity as perceived and studied in academia. It is a task requiring cultural imagination allowing a 'sensible' manipulation of values. The task encompasses translation competence and creativity, it extends from “learning how to act in already structured situations, and how to respond to situations which are relatively unstructured” (Negus and Pickering 2004:19).
Translation research could also be of service to other growth sustaining disciplines. For instance, it could reveal, perspectives on the value of conservation (of cultural/natural heritage) across cultures, broadening the multidisciplinary approach of scholars studying the economics of heritage and conservation (De la Torre 2002). The bilingual automobile data set in this study shows that concern for the environment may be treated differently across cultures.
Technological advances heighten, rather than mitigate, the need for appropriacy in translation. Translation should probably be subsumed under those creative industries whose intensity is increasing. The assumption is that as more product or service diversity is advertised on the web, the more variability will occur in the parameters affecting translation performance.
If entrepreneurial attitude has been found to explain growth differentials in 54 European countries (Beugelsdijk and Niels Noorderhaven 2003), and these attitudes are shown to be reflected in commercial advertising, the asssumption is that regional variability is to be taken into account in enhancing the potential and effectiveness of the creative economy.
Out of the creative industries inventory, the study has focused on 'creative services', namely, digital advertising. The study intended to enhance understanding of creative processes in translational advertising practices and associated innovation with the social awareness required for the task. Taylor abjures the “asocial approach to creative industries often presented in public policy and which becomes replicated in the kinds of initiatives that are designed to support it” (Taylor 2011:45). If “there exists a disparity in the content and quality of entrepreneurship education programmes on offer” (Penaluna and Penaluna 2011:66), social awareness in translational advertising would complement entrepreneurship education programmes.
Today, the creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors in the world economy providing new opportunities for developing countries. Transferring growth and heightening demand. Universities are assumed to orient students towards integration of acquired skills, thus ensuring a better match between supply of skills and demands of the labour market. Enhancing awareness of intercultural diversity in commercial environments is one of the services education can contribute to the general objective of supporting creative industries.
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Biography
Maria Sidiropoulou is Professor of Translation Studies (2006-) and Head of the Department of English Language and Literature, School of Philosophy, University of Athens (Dec. 2017-). She was president of the Interuniversity and Interfaculty Co-ordinating Committee of the Translation-Translatology MA Programme of the University of Athens, in 2009-2011 and director of the Language and Linguistics Department of the Faculty of English in 2004-2006. Her recent publications (books, co-/edited volumes, articles) deal with intercultural issues manifested through translation in the press, in advertising, in EU documentation, in literature, in academic discourse, on stage and screen. She is founding member of the META-FRASEIS/ΜΕΤΑ-ΦΡΑΣΕΙΣ translation Programme
(http://en.metafraseis.enl.uoa.gr/the-programme.html).
Email: msidirop@enl.uoa.gr
Endnotes
Note 1:
I would like to thank the Special Account Research Fund (ELKE) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for funding this research.
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Note 2:
See also the Seat-Ibiza Accessories Section where the fall in love item (IBIZA=ORGANISM) is abandoned:
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