Tendencies of Translation Manipulation Strategies in Anglophone Mass Media: The Case of the “Collective West”

Abstract

Especially at times of conflict, questions concerning the accuracy of texts published as translations are of interest in fields including sociology and international relations due to their role in facilitating—or forestalling—the possibility of resolving such conflicts. In order to examine why texts asserted as translations are not always accurate, we analyze tendencies in mistranslation. To this end, we sampled texts containing the key term “collective West” from Russian news sources and their translations in Anglophone mass media. Using a comparative interpretation method within contextual and discursive theory, we noticed numerous discrepancies and distortions, which allowed us to identify key tendencies in mistranslation. Five main tendencies identified from the analysis are: (a) subtle tampering in direct quotation; (b) deliberate omission of chunks; (c) imprecise indirect quotation; (d) tampering with the cornerstones of direct quotation; (e) defacing the source of quotation. The results of our research reveal the manipulative character of such mistranslations.