PR-specialists and translators – a lot in common!

Smaglova A.S. candidate of philological sciences,professor 

Tussupova A.K. candidate of philological sciences, Associate Professor

Rakhimbayeva R.M. professor 

Summary

Language is not only a way of expressing thoughts, but it also carries a lot more information. By the language, the style of communication, one can even determine the psychotype of a person, his imperious ambitions, some inclinations. There is even such an approach, called discourse analysis, which analyzes the socio-psychological characteristics of a person through language. In this article, we would like to touch on the essential role of translation and interpretation of terminology among PR specialists, and when analyzing the language, one can come to conclusions that at first glance are not striking. Because in the United States and in Western Europe, such a negative attitude is not observed. If such an attitude towards PR in post-Soviet countries is mostly associated with the unethical behavior of the PR people themselves, then there is a subconscious role of the language itself, or rather, would-be translators who translated terms from English into Russian, and then into other languages. At the moment, these terms are translated respectively as "public relations" and "media relations". For discourse analysis, we will take not so much a purely textual meaning, but rather the meaning that we attach to these words in everyday life, in everyday life.

Key words: Language, style, terms, translation, discourse, analysis

 

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Тіл-бұл ойларды білдірудің тәсілі ғана емес, сонымен қатар ол көп ақпарат береді. Тіл, қарым-қатынас стилі арқылы сіз тіпті адамның психотипін, оның амбициясын, кейбір бейімділігін анықтай аласыз. Тіл арқылы адамның әлеуметтік-психологиялық ерекшеліктерін талдайтын дискурстық талдау деп аталатын мұндай тәсіл де бар. Бұл мақалада біз PR мамандары арасында терминологияның жазбаша және ауызша аудармасының маңызды рөліне тоқталғымыз келеді және тілді талдағанда бір қарағанда таңқаларлық емес тұжырымдарға келуге болады. Себебі АҚШ пен Батыс Еуропа елдерінде мұндай теріс қатынас байқалмайды. Егер посткеңестік елдердегі PR-ға деген мұндай көзқарас көбінесе PR-дің этикалық емес мінез-құлқымен байланысты болса, онда тілдің өзі, дәлірек айтқанда, терминдерді ағылшын тілінен орыс тіліне, содан кейін басқа тілдерге аударған қайғы-аудармашылардың саналы рөлі бар. Қазіргі уақытта бұл терминдер сәйкесінше "қоғаммен байланыс" және "БАҚ-пен байланыс"деп аударылады. Дискурстық талдау үшін біз таза мәтіндік мағынаны ғана емес, күнделікті өмірде, күнделікті өмірде осы сөздерге көбірек мән береміз.

Түйінді сөздер Тіл, стиль, терминдер, аударма, дискурс, талдау

 

Резюме

Язык является не только способом выражения мыслей, но он также несет в себе намного больше информации. По языку, стилю общения можно даже определять психотип человека, его властные амбиции, какие-то наклонности. Есть даже такой подход, называется дискурсный анализ, который анализирует посредством языка социо-психологические особенности личности.  В этой статье нам хотелось бы коснуться  существенной роли письменного и устного перевода терминологии среди PR специалистов и  при  анализе языка можно прийти к выводам, которые на первый взгляд не бросаются в глаза. Потому как в США и в странах Западной Европы такого негативного отношения не наблюдается. Если такое отношение к PR в постсоветских странах связано в большинстве своем с неэтичным поведеним самих пиарщиков, то тут есть подсознательная роль и самого языка, вернее, горе-переводчиков, которые переводили термины с английского языка на русский, а потом на другие языки. На данный момент эти термины переводятся соответственно как "связи с общественностью" и "связи со СМИ". Для дискурс-анализа возьмем не столько чисто текстовое значение, а больше значение которое мы придаем этим словам в быту, в повседневной жизни.

Ключевые слова: Язык, стиль, термины, перевод, дискурс, анализ

 

Introduction

Language is not only a way of expressing thoughts, but it also carries a lot more information. By the language, the style of communication, one can even determine the psychotype of a person, his imperious ambitions, some inclinations. There is even such an approach, called discourse analysis, which analyzes the socio-psychological characteristics of a person through language.

In this article, we would like to touch on the essential role of translation and interpretation of terminology among PR specialists, and when analyzing the language, one can come to conclusions that at first glance are not striking. Because in the United States and in Western Europe, such a negative attitude is not observed. If such an attitude towards PR in post-Soviet countries is mostly associated with the unethical behavior of the PR people themselves, then there is a subconscious role of the language itself, or rather, would-be translators who translated terms from English into Russian, and then into other languages. It is also no secret that many terms were translated into Russian without taking into account the specifics of the profession, which not only distorted many concepts and terms, but also added a negative to the profession of a PR specialist. In this way, let's start with such elementary terms as Public relations, Media relations.

At the moment, these terms are translated respectively as "public relations" and "media relations". For discourse analysis, we will take not so much a purely textual meaning, but rather the meaning that we attach to these words in everyday life, in everyday life. For example, in everyday life, in Russian, when they use the word "connection", they mean something intimate, private. For example, when they say “he has connections,” it means some kind of proximity, influence, but of a private nature. The same is about personal life. When they say "he has a connection with a woman," they again mean that this connection, which is not customary to talk about, is a hidden connection. And when they say, for example, "he is in a relationship with her," it means that the "relationship" is something official, not hidden from anyone, everything is honest and transparent. So, for all Western specialists, in terms of Public Relations, Media relations, the word "relations" means exactly "relations", that is, something honest, clear and transparent. Western experts do not say "Public connections" or "Media connections", namely, relations. In addition, relationships always imply that they are long-term, honest, open, while relationships can often be short-term and private. Thus, it turns out that the PR people themselves (or translators) turn the PR profession not into an open and honest one, but a private one. The same applies to "investor relations" - "relations with investors". It would be more accurate to translate everything as public relations, relations with the media, relations with investors. For example, another term is "target audience". In marketing, in English, there is the term "target audience", which in a rough translation means "targeted audience", the audience of which we want to sell something and therefore target it, that is, we push it some product. According to the marketing paradigm, this is normal, and here the "target audience" is quite an adequate translation. But in PR, in Western countries, the term "target audience" is not used to mean "target audience", but such a term as "key publics" is used. If we translate the word "publics" into Russian, then the word "public" is better suited. In Western countries, it is understood that in marketing we push the product and therefore target the audience, and in PR we inform it and therefore the term "publics" is used.

Consequently, if we compare further, in Western countries nothing is pushed through public relations in Western countries, nothing is sold, it is informed, convinced. And in Russian, the use of the term "target audience" implies that in PR we are selling something, pushing something to the audience. And accordingly, in Western countries, a PR specialist is a person who convinces and, consequently, is trusted. And the one who pushes something, sells is not entirely trusted, not to mention the fact that sellers are often equated with scammers. Or another example with the term crisis communications. In terms of Western PR, this term means communication during a crisis. That is, the crisis is seen as a situation from which it is necessary to find a way out, to communicate during the crisis. And this term was translated into Russian as anti-crisis communications, that is, to fight against the crisis.

If in the Western paradigm a crisis is an inanimate one and a situation from which one must get out, then in Russian the crisis takes on the character of some kind of animate one, against which one must fight, which is fundamentally wrong. That is, subconsciously it turns out that communication is aimed at managing or solving a problem. Although in fact, communication is the translation of an already made decision, a fact, but when making decisions, the communication aspect must be taken into account. In this regard, the very term anti-crisis communications smacks of manipulation rather than PR. The term "PR", which is widely used in Russian, is also more like manipulation than open, honest communication. In the West, there is the term negative campaigning, that is, to conduct a negative campaign against someone or something, this is very often used in elections. But there is no such nonsense as to divide PR into black, gray or white.

The term “public relations” is a literal translation of the English phrase “public relations” (PR). In some translations, PR sounds like "public opinion shaping" (POS).

For the first time the term "public relations" was used by the US President T. Jefferson in 1807 in his "Address to Congress". It should be noted, however, that in this context it concerned only international relations. In 1882, Yale Law School professor D. Eaton applied it in his lecture "Public Relations and the Duties of the Legal Profession." Further use of this term is associated with the activities of A. Ledbetter Lee, who founded the first public relations agency in the USA in 1904. From now on, a record of the widespread use of PR by the US media can be kept.

Therefore, with a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that at that time period and up to the 60s. for obvious reasons, no translation of the term "public relations" could yet enter the Russian language. "Thaw" of the 60s. opened access for specialists to Western printed sources of information. During these years, domestic publishing houses began to publish translated literature on topical issues of politics, economics and technology. It was then that the Russian translation of the term "public relations" appeared as "communication (connections, interaction) with the public." There are many definitions of PR. One of the classic definitions of public relations sounds like this: PR is the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, issuing recommendations to the organization's management and implementing action programs in the interests of both organizations and the public. According to another definition, PR is considered as any communication carried out mainly for the purpose of creating prestige and ensuring goodwill on the part of everyone on whom the success of the organization depends: its own employees, clientele, authorities, the public, the general population. PR can also be seen as a planned continuous effort aimed at creating and maintaining goodwill relations and mutual understanding between the enterprise and the public. PR is cash stimulation of demand for a product, service or activity through the placement of commercially important news in publications or receiving favorable presentations in the media, which are not paid by a particular sponsor. In other words, PR is modern methods and means of implementing the marketing policy of an enterprise, aimed at real and potential consumers of goods and services, establishing relationships between producers and consumers in the process of creating, producing, selling and operating a product.

Along with public relations, another term, “publicity”, is also in use. Publicity - any commercially important messages about goods, services or enterprises, transmitted by means of mass communication, but not paid by the interested party. Publicity usually takes the form of news reports or editorial comments in the press about an enterprise's products or services. This information or commentary receives free newspaper space or airtime because media representatives find the information useful to their readers or viewers. Later, marketers realized the feasibility of using a wider arsenal of public relations means than publicity. Public relations began to be considered the most important element of the communication complex, and publicity was included in it. Public relations starts where advertising ends. This, at first glance, paradoxical statement has a deep meaning. It is the essence of a change of milestones, a reflection of qualitative changes in the market.

Pure advertising began to satisfy the advertiser less and less with its hard-to-predict performance. The consumer has ceased to distinguish the offered goods or services among similar ones only by advertising offers.

Public relations can be viewed as the art of creating a favorable attitude towards the manufacturing firm not only of potential clients, but also of the rest of the population, government officials, and public organizations. The success of an enterprise depends on how trusting people relate to it, therefore work with the public should be more systematic, planned, purposeful than advertising. It should be borne in mind that advertising of goods that, for one reason or another, entered the recession phase, can and should be stopped, and work with the public must be carried out starting from the moment the goods enter the market, while the goods are on the market and ending with their departure from the market. looking forward to his return.

The formation of a favorable public opinion should be based on the idea that a given product is produced and sold in the interests of the consumer, and not just for the sake of profit. This idea needs to be communicated to the public through mass communication. [1]

Nowadays, one of the most important components of a PR specialist's competence is the ability to develop connections with foreign audiences: foreign partners and clients of the company, head offices and representative offices abroad. The increase in the share of domestic companies in the world market and the strengthening of their influence on international economic, political and cultural processes cannot but rejoice. On the other hand, this trend raises a number of questions, not the least of which is the problem of high-quality translation of articles, news, press releases, PR projects, reports, etc. into a foreign language. Quite often, the work of a PR manager also requires oral simultaneous or consecutive translation. For example, when organizing press conferences, round tables or presentations. The specifics of PR translation in its two guises - oral and written - will be discussed.

Written PR translation. Distinctive features of written translation of PR materials (press reviews, clippings, interviews, press releases, etc.) are the "brightness" of the text, memorability of headings, orientation, first of all, on the interests of readers. Laconicism, freshness and originality of the author's language can also be attributed to the obligatory attributes of a good PR-text. In order for the news to achieve its goal for a foreign language target audience, it is necessary to preserve, and preferably increase, all of the listed components. Such a task can only be done by a highly qualified translator who has experience in working with PR-documentation and realizes its purpose. Of course, one should not argue that translation of PR-texts is akin to literary translation, but certain points of contact are obvious - in both cases we are dealing with the creativity and flight of imagination of both the author and the translator. It should also be noted that in PR translation, it is important to preserve the structure of the source text, since the construction of, for example, a press release is associated with the sequential highlighting of semantic accents to facilitate perception. “The need for translations for public relations has been seriously discussed only in recent years. Nevertheless, as our work experience shows, there is a growing understanding among PR specialists that the success of an organized event depends, among other things, on translation. Public relations in general is a very dynamic field, so translation is usually needed urgently, but in order not to compromise the quality. Only professional translators in the field of PR can cope with such a task, many of whom are successfully cooperating with our company, "says Dmitry Beloshapkin, General Director of the It is interesting to compare, for example, two translations of the same press release, one of which was made by a “regular” translator, and the other by a translator from the “Exprimo” company specializing in PR-topics.

Our task in this case will not include a detailed analysis of the selection of language units. For example, from the point of view of a PR specialist, “media relations” is better translated as “contact for journalists” (the first option is “communication with the media”), and to say “client exhibition” is more accurate and laconic than “exhibition for customers”. PR translation is also distinguished by great concreteness, confidence in the message and concentration of thought.

The proposal "The company is going to announce a revolutionary new software platform at a customer conference in Italy" after the PR translator was revised became "The company will present a revolutionary software platform." In the opinion of a PR specialist, writing a "business model" is more organic and understandable for the Russian audience than a literal "business model". A PR-translator, in contrast to a non-specialist translator in this field, always remembers the peculiarities of the target audiences who will read the text, so he uses the terminology they understand, professional jargon. If the text is aimed at bank employees and financiers, then it is more expedient to use "self-service banking and security systems" than "ATMs and security systems and services." The PR-specialist does not forget about preserving the brightness of the original text, the need to be remembered by the readers, therefore, to replace the neutral and long "creates exceptionally high requirements", "anticipating this growing market demand" come short and figurative expressions - "toughens the requirements" and " boom ". From the point of view of a PR specialist, uniformity in the design of translations is also very important. A good example in this case is when the same header is given for the American and European translation: “European Media and Market Review”, “American Media and Market Review”. Translating the names of Western companies, print media, etc. into Russian, the translator should remember that it is better to keep them intact in PR-texts, not transliterate, for example, GavinAnderson, BASF, Associated Press, FT (Financial Times), The Times. The above approach, of course, does not apply to Russian firms, whose names are more logical to write in Russian, for example, TNK-BP. When adapting a PR text for a Russian audience, it is better to avoid literal translation of foreign expressions, for example, such as "business activity", "business newspaper" and russify phrases to the end - "main activity", "business newspaper".

The professional jargon of PR specialists allows one to say, for example, "positive article", however, in written PR-translation it is better to interpret such expressions, for example, "article of a positive character / tone" or "the article presents the company in a positive light." Depending on the context, you should select the most favorable phrases from a literary point of view, since the material will be read not only by PR specialists. Of course, there are a lot of nuances in PR translation that are significant for its target audiences, but I think the main differences of such translation are tangible even in the examples we have analyzed.

Oral PR translation

Oral PR-translation also requires special training, deep erudition and extensive knowledge from the translator. Quite often, PR-specialists involve translators to work at press conferences, seminars, round tables, opening of monuments and enterprises. In order for the speech, for example, of the head of a company to impress not only compatriots, but also foreign partners, the translation must be adequate and interesting for a foreign audience. Translation of names of products or services, brands of well-known companies, special marketing moves and promotions deserves close attention from the translator. An experienced translator receives information about the company's line of business, whenever possible, before an important event, and takes note of those difficult moments, the exact translation of which is especially important for establishing effective communication.

It is clear that no one is immune from mistakes. A literal or ill-conceived translation can be consonant with other words in the language, which for foreigners have a negative connotation. A fairly well-known example, when General Motors did not take into account the peculiarities of the Spanish language, introducing a new brand of Chevrolet Nova on the Latin American markets. The fact is that in translation from Spanish the name sounds like "cannot move." However, unpleasant situations can be avoided or, at least, the risks of “failed” translation can be minimized, if you carefully and competently relate to the selection of companies that provide translation services.

In oral translation, the question remains open: is it the translator's competence to soften the harsh statements of the translated speaker? The issue is still being discussed in professional circles and within the walls of higher educational institutions.

A funny trend was noticed by some PR agencies - it turns out that among their employees there is a considerable percentage of those who previously worked as a translator.

A striking example of this is Yuliana Slashcheva, one of the most famous PR specialists in Russia, President and CEO of the Mikhailov & Partners. Strategic Communications Management ". At the beginning of her career, thanks to her good knowledge of English, she worked as a translator for an American company. Moreover, already during the interview, the owner of the company noted not only Juliana's outstanding talent as a translator, but also brilliant prerequisites for working as a PR specialist, and therefore suggested combining both professions. Knowledge of the language came in handy when organizing conferences for Russian businessmen in the United States and communicating with the English-language media. Yuliana Slashcheva's successful career and her “transformation” from a translator into a PR specialist is perhaps one of the most illustrative examples of the fact that many excellent PR specialists “came” into the profession from translators.

It is no coincidence that recruitment agencies send representatives of this particular profession for interviews at PR agencies, since a good PR specialist and a translator have a lot in common. Starting with professional qualities, such as diligence, imaginative thinking, developed communication skills, responsibility, and ending with the role that their craft plays in the life of society.

            About a year ago, on one of the forums on the Internet, the topic of similarities between the professions of a translator and a PR specialist was actively discussed, during which it was stated that they had in common the absence of their own content. It was suggested that, in fact, both professions are service, intermediary, which only broadcast some content. Thus, PR specialists "translate" the language of businessmen and managers into a language that is understandable to potential investors, professional communities, the media, etc.

This approach undoubtedly carries a rational kernel, but if you look more broadly, it becomes obvious that the content of both professions is still there, and it is even somewhat similar. A brilliant translation (especially of literary works) becomes almost an independent work, a part of the translator's soul, as well as a masterfully written press release or a PR campaign that had a wide public response. The commonality of the missions of both the translator and the PR specialist is that, in a global sense, they "connect" people with each other for successful communication and activity.

 

Conclusions

All PR specialists of CIS, including Kazakh PR specialists or translators who translate PR terms from Russian into Kazakh, should be more attentive and translate better in terms of the meaning of the Western PR school than from Russian. Translation of terminology into Kazakh from the Western PR school will be much more effective. And maybe a correct translation will help PR as a discipline / profession become more respected, adequately perceived and appreciated. Otherwise, the very terminology used in Russian subconsciously pushes people to think that PR people are manipulators. [3]

Literature:

1. Tsakhaev R.K., Murtuzalieva T.V., Aliev S.A .. Fundamentals of marketing.— M .: Publishing house "Exam" .. 2005

2. Dmitry Beloshapkin General Director of the International translation company "Exprimo"

 

 

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Әлеуметтік желілерде бөлісіңіз: