Free as in free beer vs. free as in free speech: Volunteer Translations on the Internet

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce a joint research project defining the characteristics and impact of volunteer translation in web communities and forums. Volunteer translation for the internet takes place in a wide range of contexts: from volunteer translation of manga comics, via fan-sites, to translation for alter-globalist organisations. Translating quickly and without financial rewards is only logical in the atmosphere of free exchange of ideas and creativity fostered by concepts such as free software and shareware. This paper aims to describe the similarities and differences between two specific contexts of volunteer translation in more detail. The first case study looks at examples of ad hoc translation for fan-sites for actors, films and TV-series. The second case study deals with volunteer translation in the context of politically-motivated web communities, which can be either professionally monitored, or have minimal monitoring input. For each of the two contexts, the study will focus on the process of commissioning a volunteer translation, followed by a quality assessment of two concrete examples. Results of the study indicate that volunteer translations in both contexts tend to favour prevalence of the information level (Reiss 2000). With fan-sites, although the function of the translations is based on loyalty to the actors/ TV series (Nord 1993, 2001), there is a tendency to favour very literal translations irrespective of the original language, and feedback seems to be exclusively positive regardless of quality. While some politically-motivated web communities such as Babels (the network of translators and interpreters for Social Forums) ensure high quality and consistency through a complex selection process for the translators, as well as monitoring of translation output, for other web communities the monitoring process seems to be very limited. As these translations may reach a wider audience than those created in a professional context, the impact of volunteer translations is relevant as an emerging area for translation studies.