Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

What is Real Transcreation? A Case Study of Transcreation in Corporate Communication Writing

Li Wang, Lay Hoon Ang, Hazlina Abdul Halim

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i12/11686

Open access

Transcreation, a term merging “translation” and “creation”, has become a buzzword in the language service industry as well as in translation studies. However, pertinent questions with regard to it are: “what is transcreation?” and “what kind of text is a transcreated text?” This paper addresses the first issue by a systemic functional linguistics based survey of definitions from professional translators, language service providers and scholars in translation studies respectively for a real definition of transcreation with descriptions of its metafunctions. Further, by textual analysis in the case study of the Chinese and its English translation corporate profiles of Huawei, a multinational information and communication technology company of China, the paper studies the application of transcreation in corporate communication writing by examining its metafunctions. It is concluded that transcreation requires multi-party’s interplay and produces new constructs in the transcreated texts, which poses both challenges and opportunities to translators. The research findngs prove transcreation’s effectiveness and flexibility in corporate communication and showcase the challenges and opportunities it brings to the translation profession by linking its real definition with its practical use.

Baker, M. (2018). In Other Words. A Coursebook on Translation (Third). Abingdon: Routledge.
Benetello, C. (2017). Transcreation as the Creation of a New Original: A Norton TM Case Study. Exploring Creativity in Translation across Cultures, December, 237–247. https://doi.org/10.4399/978882550960117
Bickenbach, J. E., & Davies, J. M. (1996). Good Reasons for Better Arguments: An Introduction to the Skills and Values of Critical Thinking. Ontario: Broadview Press.
Black’s Law Dictionary. (n.d.). What is Company Profile? Definition of Company Profile. Retrieved December 20, 2018, from https://thelawdictionary.org/company-profile/
BusinessDictionary.com. (n.d.). What is Company Profile? Definition and Meaning. Retrieved December 20, 2018, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/company-profile.html
China Going Global: between ambition and capacity. (2017). Beijing. Retrieved from https://policycn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2017-Chinas-going-global-strategy.pdf
Donkor, L. (2015). Three Differences between Transcreation and Translation. Retrieved March 8, 2018, from https://www.welocalize.com/three-differences-between-transcreation-and-translation/
Dooly, M. (2006). Semantics and Pragmatics of English: Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Bellaterra: Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona.
Fang, J., & Song, Z. (2014). Exploring the Chinese Translation of Australian Health Product Labels?: Are they selling the same thing?? Cultus: The Intercultural Journal of Mediation and Communication 2014:, 7, 72–93.
Ferose, V. R., Pell, B., & Pratt, L. (2018). From The Business Of Language To The Language Of Business: The Future Of Translation Worldwide. Retrieved November 12, 2019, from https://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-work/2018/05/17/future-of-translation-worldwide-06168565
Gaballo, V. (2012). Exploring the boundaries of transcreation in specialized translation. ESP Across Cultures, 9(2012), 95–113.
Gupta, A. (2019). Definitions. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab Center for the Study for the Study of Language and Information Stranford University. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/definitions/#ReaNomDef
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1987). Language , Context , and Text?:Aspects of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 353–359.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar (Fourth). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203431269
Huawei. (n.d.). Corporate Information - Huawei. Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://www.huawei.com/en/about-huawei/corporate-information
Introducing the RWS Moravia Go Global Model - RWS. (2018). Retrieved November 12, 2019, from https://www.rws.com/insights/rws-moravia-blog/introducing-the-rws-moravia-go-global-model/
Job Description-DJI Recruits Genius. (2019). Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://we.dji.com/detail_en.html#1353&Shenzhen
Katan, D. (2014). Introduction: Uncertainty in the Translation professions: time to transcreate? Cultus: The Intercultural Journal of Mediation and Communication 2014:, 7, 10–19.
Kublikowski, R. (2009). Definition within the Structure of Argumentation. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 16(29), 229–244.
Law, L. (2017). How Transcreation is Different from Translation. Retrieved December 28, 2018, from https://www.welocalize.com/transcreation-different-translation/
Li, E. S. (2007). A Systemic Functional Grammar of Chinese?A Text-Based Analysis. London: Continnum international Publishing Group.
Locke, J. (1999). An Essay concerning Human Understanding. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University. https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00018020
Lu, J. (2014). A Translation Internship Report in Huawei Translation Service Center. Xidian University.
Meer, J. van der. (2018). Fixing the Translation Ecosystem. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://blog.taus.net/fixing-the-translation-ecosystem
Morón, M., & Calvo, E. (2018). Introducing transcreation skills in translator training contexts: A situated project-based approach. The Journal of Specialised Translation Issue (Vol. 29).
Multicultural Marketing | TransPerfect. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2019, from https://www.transperfect.com/services/multicultural_marketing.html
Pedersen, D. (2014). Exploring the concept of transcreation–transcreation as “more than translation". Cultus: The Journal of Intercultural Mediation and Communication, 7, 57–71.
Pedersen, D. (2016). Transcreation in Marketing and Advertising: An Ethnographic Study. Aarhus University. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-8062.2012.00338.x
Simon, M. K., & Goes, J. (2013). Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations, and Scope of the Study. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from www.dissertationrecipes.com
Todorova, G. (2015). Marketing Communication Mix. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 13, 368–374. https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2015.s.01.063
Translation Project Manager. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://job.bytedance.com/en/pc/position/detail/6749823268871473421
Vieiria, E. R. P. (1994). A postmodern translational aesthetics in Brazil. In K. K. Mary Snell-Hornby, Franz Pöchhacker (Ed.), Translation Studies: An Interdiscipline 2 (pp. 65–72). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Wang, H., & Miao, L. (2016). China goes global: how China’s overseas investment is transforming its business enterprises. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Wang, L. (2017). Blue Book of Language Service for Chinese Enterprise Globalization (2016) (Second). Beijing: University of International Business and Economics Press.
Xiao, R., & Hu, X. (2015). Corpus-Based Studies of Translational Chinese in English- Chinese Translation. Heidelberg: Springer.
Yunker, J. (n.d.). “Transcreation” Gaining Momentum. Retrieved December 28, 2018, from http://www.translationdirectory.com/article498.htm
??. (n.d.). ???? - ????. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.huawei.com/cn/about-huawei/corporate-information

In-Text Citation: (Wang et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Wang, L., Ang, L. H., & Halim, H. A. (2021). What is Real Transcreation? A Case Study of Transcreation in Corporate Communication Writing. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(12), 1149–1165.