History of the translation industry
Around 3200BC
The primary confirmations of interpretation, conceivably in combination with composing, were found in old Mesopotamia around 3200 BC when clay tablets were utilized for basic purposes such as keeping numbers of packs of wheat.
The primary case of a composed interpretation was almost 1,200 a long time afterward, with the magnificence of the Sumerian epic, the lyric “Gilgamesh” being deciphered into the languages of Southwest Asia. This is often the captivating and energizing story of the fellowship between a mighty king and a wild man, the primary awesome work of writing. Subsequently, it is considered as a candidate for verification of the early period of interpretation.
Around the 1rst century BC
Reasonable media and amusement are fair of two strengths behind the primary interpretations. Religion is one of the most communication dialects between the languages. The primary known interpretation groups were 70 Jewish researchers who interpreted a collection of sacred writings called the Septuagint in Greece around the 1rst century BC.
Medieval recorders tirelessly interpreted into Greek, Latin, Arabic and other vernacular dialects in the extraordinary cloisters of Europe. The puzzling request of “The Title of the Rose”, set within the shadows of Melk Nunnery, could be a must read for anybody fascinated by the beginnings of interpretation.
Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the primary journalists who decipher foreigners writing into local English and build up one of the richest scholarly conventions within the world. Shakespeare too drew motivation from the stories of removed lands, wearing them into prominent showy works. The Victorian period checked the entry of interpret that was actually and with the fastidious accuracy and regard it is nowadays.
Formation of the translation industry
20th century
In the 20th century, scientific academia for the first time really paid attention to translation, associated with more interest in humanities such as: linguistics, sociology, psychology, anthropology. This particular interest, combined with the advances in technology and economic globalization of the last years of the 20th century, completely revolutionized translation. Nowadays translators work for companies all over the world easily thanks to the advancement of science and technology.
Currently, there are more than 7000 languages spoken worldwide but commerce, entertainment, ideology, personal relationships and learning bring us together. Because we humans still want to communicate with each other in those important areas, translation and translator will still thrive.
History of translation in Vietnam
Since ancient times, translation has played an extremely important role in the history of peoples because translation not only conveys language but also supports the process of cultural transmission.
Perhaps, the history of Vietnamese translation is closely related to the history of the written word. Because our country’s writing goes through three stages, from Han to Nom and finally to Quoc Ngu. Each stage of writing has a need to convey language in order to spread cultural ideas to each class of people.
Formation of document translation in Vietnam
Chinese and Chinese characters
Chinese characters and Chinese appeared from the first centuries A.D, it became the means of communication and recording of Vietnamese people to develop national culture. However, Chinese characters could not completely meet the needs of Vietnamese people to express themselves in words, so based on Chinese characters, Nom script was born.
Then, to perfect and exploit the language to the fullest in conveying and expressing ideas easily and quickly, the national language script was born. The word national language appeared from the spread of Christianity in Vietnam.
Bishop Alexandre De Phodes used Latin letters to transcribe into Vietnamese, and together with Vietnamese religious priests and teachers, and with Pigneau de Behaine’s reformation, Quoc Ngu appeared and used to this day. Thanks to that, we have had the opportunity to access many literary works originating from other countries.
Chinese and Chinese characters
Translate Nom and Quoc Ngu
As for the form of Nom translation such as: decoding, pronunciation, performance singing or interpreting, the works of Chinese characters are translated for the common people and those who are going to school.
When the Quoc Ngu script was born, there was a need to translate from the square block writing system of Han characters and Nom characters to the Quoc Ngu script, leading to a break in traditional culture, but on the contrary, they contributed to the transformation of Vietnamese characters. load many exogenous cultural factors – is a necessary requirement for the modernization process. At the same time, this is also a bridge connecting traditional culture and arousing endogenous factors to serve as the foundation for the development of all aspects in the direction of modernity.
Translation at the end of the 19th century was mainly aimed at popularizing the national language script. In the early 20th century, translation was associated with meeting the aesthetic tastes and reading needs of the masses.
Therefore, the translation of literary works associated with the historical development of countries has become more popular, especially the peak of translation of classical Chinese literary works in the early twentieth century.
After 1945
After 1945, Vietnamese translation began to develop rapidly with translations of typical works of world literature, translations of literary theory, documents on socialist realism, translations in newspapers, famous foreign translations of famous authors, etc.
Starting to thrive with translations of typical works.
After 1975
After 1975, after the country was completely unified, the book publishing industry grew, and the number of translators increased. Literary works from countries: Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America, Cuba, etc.
With talented translators such as: Phan Ngoc, Duong Tuong, Truong Chinh, Le Khanh Truong, Nguyen Trung Duc, … increasingly affirming the role of translation as well as the image of Vietnamese translators in public.
Vietnamese translation
And today, Vietnamese Translation does not only stop at translating literary works, but also translates documents of different fields and specialties, import and export documents, translation, notarization… to meet everyone’s needs.
History of translation in European countries
At the beginning of the modern era of European countries, after the printing industry appeared, book publishing and translation also began to flourish. Translation is divided into two schools: transliteration and interpretation.
• The interpretive school interprets the source text in the simplest way so that it can be understood by most of the population.
• The second school is transliteration by translating the original text into many different languages for the purpose of knowledge transmission and cultural exchange, often scientific or religious works.
During that period there were thousands of translators working in the field of translation. Most are not professional translators; they only engage in translation a few times in their life.
Translators often see themselves as co-writers. At this time, it was common to summarize or expand the original text and often make changes to the original text without warning.
It can be concluded that translation in Europe developed strongly especially after the expansion of the audience. They are the new social groups such as craftsmen, women and also the gradual reduction of dependence on Latin as a primary language.
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Trang
