18ITI bulleTIn March-April 2017 www.iti.org.uk in EU documents. Similarly, flessibilità in uscita (flexible contractual tools that allow employers to easily dismiss workers if expedient) is rendered as ‘exit flexibility’. Likewise, flessibilità interna/esterna is given literally, but unhelpfully, as ‘internal/external flexibility’.
Endanger understanding
Examples 1 and 2 below show verbatim translations which might fall a bit short of the intended meaning for at least two reasons. First, these renderings might endanger understanding, as no further explanation is offered to help readers appreciate their meaning in context. Furthermore, the decision to transpose the expressions above literally causes the original metaphors used to be somewhat lost in translation, as they do not take on the same figurative meaning in English.
One possible solution is simply to express the meaning of these phrases in the target language without
transposing the metaphor. For instance, one possibility for expressing flessibilità in entrata in English might be ‘flexibility in hiring’. By the same token, flessibilità
in uscita might be translated as
‘flexibility in dismissing’. These renderings appear to fit the bill because they meet a twofold objective: they describe which flexibility we are talking about – easily adjustable working arrangements – and elucidate the distinction between them, thus managing without obscure formulations in the target language.
The conclusion that can be drawn from the above is a word to the wise. When in doubt as to whether to translate metaphors or to express the original meaning, priority should be given to the latter. Particularly in comparative industrial relations, the willingness to transpose literary devices should give way to equivalence of meaning. This will help improve our understanding of similar practices in different countries.
T
ranslators frequently bump into words charged with metaphorical meaning, which makes it difficult to express them in the target language. Arguably, it would be wrong to assume that metaphors are only used in literary texts. Technical documentation, too, widely employs metaphorical figures of speech.One example of this can be found in industrial relations discourse and concerns the notion of flexibility. Taken on its own, this concept is
fairly straightforward, as is its translation into different languages. However, things might get a little more difficult when the term is used in the labour market, for example to describe fluidity when it comes to hiring and dismissing workers. In Italy’s industrial relations parlance, the term flessibilità in entrata – literally ‘entry flexibility’ – is often used to refer to schemes that facilitate workers’ access to the labour market.
Conversely, flessibilità in uscita (‘exit flexibility’) is used in reference to mechanisms that make it easier for employers to dismiss workers.
In Italian, these metaphors work well as they convey the idea of flexible structures when it comes to entering or exiting the labour market. One might note that
flessibilità in entrata – which is concerned with flexible
working schemes that help employers hire workers more easily – is often translated into English as ‘entry flexibility’
Pietro Manzella uses an example from
industrial relations to illustrate the
challenge of translating metaphors
Pietro Manzella has a PhD in Labour Relations from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). He is a senior research fellow at ADAPT (www. adapt.it). His interests include language and translation issues in comparative labour law and industrial relations. Email: pietro.manzella@ adapt.it.
The search for meaning
FEATURE
When in doubt as to
whether to translate
metaphors or to express
the original meaning,
priority should be given
to the latter
EXAMPLE 1
Italian Version English Version
Garantire una corretta attuazione e un attento monitoraggio degli effetti delle riforme adottate in relazione al mercato del lavoro e al quadro di contrattazione salariale è
fondamentale per ottenere i benefici previsti in termini di maggiore flessibilità in uscita, di una flessibilità in entrata meglio regolamentata, di un sistema più integrato di sussidi di disoccupazione e di un migliore allineamento dei salari alla produttività.
Ensuring proper implementation and careful monitoring of the effect of the labour market and wage-setting reforms adopted is key to guaranteeing that the expected benefits in terms of enhanced exit flexibility, better regulated entry flexibility, a more comprehensive system of unemployment benefits and better alignment of wages on productivity materialize. Source: EUR-lex
EXAMPLE 2
Italian Version English Version
I regimi di flessicurezza applicati da taluni Stati membri sono fondati su modelli diversi. Tali regimi privilegiano o la flessibilità detta esterna, che implica politiche di risorse umane adeguate alle esigenze del mercato, o la flessibilità detta interna, caratterizzata da
un’organizzazione del lavoro adeguata alle esigenze dei lavoratori. Due modelli conciliano queste forme di flessibilità.
The flexicurity regimes applied by some Member States are based on different models. They favour either ‘external’ flexibility, which involves human resources policies adapted to market constraints, or ‘internal’ flexibility characterised by work organisation which is adapted to workers’ needs.
Source: EUR-lex
