Localization and Internationalization of Texts of the Media Discourse

In: Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serija 2, Jazykoznanie = Lingustics, Heft 3, S. 45-54

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the original and secondary texts of media discourse aimed at identifying the ways to localize and internationalize the verbal content of news websites. The study has been conducted on the material of news hypertexts in four languages – Russian, English, German and French, posted on the international Internet resource rt.com, Business Insider news portal, National Review newspaper, RTD Documentary Channel, L'Express journal. The authors substantiate the importance of using the terms 'localization' and 'internationalization' in translation studies to name inter-language transformations used in creating news messages, and analyze the definitions of these concepts in the frameworks of linguistics. The analysis shows that in many cases the standard translation model "source text – translation text", which presupposes a certain level of semantic equivalence, loses its relevance, since the secondary text is a new verbal product. It has been shown that the localized verbal space of the analyzed international media websites is created through the use of the following translation techniques: addition / omission of information in accordance with the pragmatic characteristics of readers, inclusion of culture-specific vocabulary in the secondary text, explication of toponyms and proper names, neutralization of imagery, omission of precision vocabulary, indication of a personal viewpoint of a secondary text's author, historical reference to allusions. It has also been revealed that internationalization of texts is performed through omission of cultural markers, addition of phrases emphasizing the view on the country "from outside", explication of toponyms, replacing proper names with generalized lexemes, as well as by indicating the positions of English-speaking countries on topical issues.