Special Features of Tourism Text Translation from Russian into English

Avagyan Asmik Armenovna ORCID: 0000-0001-9215-2690 PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Higher School of General Humanities; Russian State University of Tourism and Service 99 Glavnaya Street, Cherkizovo, Moscow region, 141221, Russia avagyanasmik@gmail.com

Introduction

Due to the active development of international tourism as one of the largest sectors of the economy, there is an increasing need to ensure high-quality translation of tourist discourse texts into foreign languages. Undoubtedly, these texts have a number of features that determine the choice of certain translation methods and create certain difficulties in the absence of the necessary knowledge and experience of working with such texts.

One of the most popular foreign languages today remains English, the knowledge of which is often included in the list of key requirements for applicants planning to work in the tourism and hospitality industry. Thus, the relevance of this study is due to the rapid pace of development of international tourism and, as a result, the practical need to translate tourist-oriented texts into foreign languages. In addition, the increased demand for translation in the tourism sector is caused by the development of Internet technologies, namely the appearance of an increasing number of websites requiring translation into foreign languages. In turn, the high quality of the translation of these texts directly affects the image of the tourist destination and contributes to the development of the region's economy.

The purpose of our research is to identify the key features of the translation of tourist-oriented texts. To achieve this goal, two tasks have been set and solved:

- consider the concept of international tourism discourse;

- describe the main problems of translation of tourist texts and suggest ways to eliminate them;

- analyze the texts of the tourist discourse using the example of a brief description of excursions and tours in Russian and English, posted on the websites of the companies I visit Fussia and Moscow Excursion.

The theoretical basis of the research was the work of modern Russian linguists devoted to the texts of tourist discourse, as well as the practice of their translation. This work uses methods of generalization, meaningful analysis and systematization of literature on the topic of research, as well as comparative analysis of texts in Russian and English.

1. The concept of international tourism discourse

Today, the most popular objects of translation are advertising products (brochures, flyers, booklets), websites of travel operators, hotels, sightseeing tours, video tours, etc. It is obvious that both written and oral translation are in demand in the tourism sector. But despite the fact that interpretation is traditionally considered a more complex form of translation, the written translation of special texts also requires theoretical knowledge and special translation strategies. In this regard, the tourist discourse in our article refers to written texts related to the topic of tourism and subject to translation into a foreign language.

Often, the concept of tourist discourse is associated with the concept of advertising discourse, which is associated with the genre specifics of tourist texts: one of the active means of promoting a tourist product is precisely advertising products aimed at attracting tourists to a particular region or country. Let's consider one of the definitions reflecting this understanding of tourism discourse: "a special subspecies of advertising discourse that combines various types of tourism advertising and is aimed at positioning and promoting tourism services using argumentation strategies that are linguocognitive in nature" ^{[10, p. 13]}. If we adhere to this definition of tourist discourse, then we should remember the need to create a text that is equivalent in pragmatics, taking into account the culturally significant context.

Some researchers identify several subspecies of tourist discourse, such as professional, academic and public ^[9]. Professional tourism discourse can include texts that serve the process of business activity in the field of tourism. The academic discourse is represented by texts functioning in the field of training specialists in the tourism industry and devoted to the scientific analysis of practical activities in tourism. Public discourse aims to spread information about tourism products and attract tourists.

In general, all texts on tourism topics can be attributed to one of three functional styles: official business, scientific and journalistic ^[6]. Obviously, the official business style can include documents that consolidate the client's relationship with a particular company, such as an agreement or contract. The same category includes job descriptions, questionnaires and forms to fill out. The peculiarity of all these texts is the accuracy of the information indicated or requested, which, in turn, requires clear wording. Deviations from the original text, figurative expressions and stylistic techniques are not allowed here. Instead, the translator should know the basic cliches used in such documents. Thus, the official business style is most often represented by template documents that require a single translation into a foreign language for subsequent completion.

The scientific style is represented by a wide range of texts on various subjects. For example, scientific texts include safety instructions and medical certificates. They are characterized by the presence of both common and special terminology that has well-established equivalents in the target language. Like official business-style texts, scientific texts often contain cliches and do not require creative translation.

In our opinion, the translation of journalistic style texts is the most difficult, since it allows maximum deviations from the original text in order to create an influencing effect on the target audience. The texts of the journalistic style are primarily represented by brochures, advertising booklets and texts of travel websites.

As E. Y. Novikova notes, due to the genre diversity of tourist texts, there is no single strategy for their translation. In each case, it is necessary to adhere to the rules and recommendations based on the genre of the text ^[7]. For example, when working with technical documentation, it is advisable to carry out a translation as close as possible to the original. Such texts, as a rule, contain special terminology that has well-established equivalents in the translation language, and require high accuracy from the translator. At the same time, the translation of advertising texts allows significant discrepancies with the original text, as it often contains figurative vocabulary, stable expressions, wordplay, the translation of which will require creativity from the translator. At the same time, creative translation of texts of tourist content is not only allowed, but is often considered the best tool for translating texts of this type ^[2].

2. Problems of translation of tourist texts and ways to eliminate them

The main problems of translation of tourist texts include the following:

- underestimation of translation in the field of tourism and translation by non-specialists who often resort to machine translation;

- errors in the translation of terminology related to the ambiguity of individual linguistic units and differences in the terminological systems of the original language and the target language;

- ignoring the genre features of the source text;

- insufficient adaptation of the translation text to the target audience of another culture ^{[2, p. 53]}.

Recently, the problem of underestimating the translation of texts of tourist content has been eliminated, however, high-quality professional translation of texts in the field of tourism is still not always provided. Russian Russian dictionaries can partially solve this problem, but a lot of work remains to be done to create comprehensive Russian-English and English-Russian dictionaries with the content of new terms that constantly replenish the vocabulary of employees in the field of tourism and hospitality. Nevertheless, today explanatory dictionaries containing tourist terms and their definitions in one of the languages under consideration are more common: Russian or English.

The elimination of errors related to the translation of tourist terminology is also possible with the help of special dictionaries that fix the correspondence of the desired terms in the translation language. However, it is worth noting the need for knowledge of key concepts in the field of tourism at least in the original language (native language) and the experience of translating these concepts into a foreign language. Thus, T. G. Nikitina writes about the preliminary specialization in the field of tourism, which is a great advantage for a translator working with tourist texts, and due to the need to know the specifics of accommodation, transportation, catering and entertainment of tourists ^{[6, p. 4]}. It is difficult to disagree with this opinion, since in the field of tourism there are indeed many terms, the content of which can be understood only when working directly with special texts. In particular, the need to understand certain aspects of tourism and hospitality is confirmed by the experience of the author of this article teaching foreign languages at the Russian State University of Tourism and Service. Thus, in the process of working with students of the fields of study "Tourism" and "Hospitality", teachers teach not only effective oral communication on professional topics, but also successful translation of texts from their native (Russian) language into a foreign language and vice versa. Perhaps special courses dedicated to the translation of tourist-oriented texts and created on the basis of specialized universities offering training in the field of Tourism will be relevant.

In order to match the translation to the genre of the source text, the translator must identify its stylistic features and select linguistic units equivalent in style and pragmatics in the translation language. This is possible with a clear understanding of the differences between texts of different genres and knowledge of translation strategies when working with texts on tourism topics. E. Y. Novikova writes about university education in the translation of texts of tourist discourse, noting their pronounced cultural specificity, reflected in such characteristic features as

"1) the presence of commonly used, stylistically labeled vocabulary;

2) availability of evaluative, expressive-colored information;

3) the use of stylistic techniques, tropes and figures;

4) the presence of an emotionally expressive syntax;

5) the content of cultural information;

6) the variability of the text logical and compositional structure depending on the type of text" ^{[7, p. 45]}.

It should be noted that, given the above features, the translator must not only have the skills to adapt the translation text stylistically, but also take into account the linguistic and cultural specifics of the source texts and, as noted in the work of A. A. Novozhilova, the mentality of the potential addressee ^[8]. In our opinion, it is the translation of texts with such specifics that requires special skills, professionalism and experience from the translator. In this regard, the key to solving many problems related to the translation of tourist texts of different genres and, in particular, the adaptation of the translation text to the target audience of another culture, will be the introduction of texts on this topic into the program of a practical translation course within the framework of educational programs of language training in higher educational institutions. The expediency of teaching translation in the tourist discourse at the higher education level is confirmed by its potential practical significance for certain regions of our country, due to the availability of orders for the preparation of booklets, city guides and interpretation during excursion services ^[7].

Another reason for the purposeful teaching of students of language specialties to translate texts of tourist discourse is the need to know and use special means of expression used to give the translation text the same expressiveness as contained in the source text. For example, when translating advertising texts, the translator resorts to the use of numerous means of expression, which can be divided into the following groups:

- lexical means of expression (metaphors, the most frequent adjectives);

- grammatical means of expression (rhetorical question, imperative, etc.);

- phonetic means of expression (alliteration);

- graphical highlighting of words in order to emphasize a certain meaning;

- antonymy ^[5].

Some of the above-mentioned means of expression, along with many others, including personification, hyperbole, gradation, etc., are also explored in modern works devoted to the analysis of stylistic features of tourist discourse ^[4]. Moreover, many common features are inherent in the texts of tourist discourse, regardless of the language, which is confirmed by a study based on a comparison of Russian-language and English-language tourist discourse on the example of the Tripadvisor website ^[1].

When assessing the degree of adaptation of the translation text to the target audience of another culture, first of all, it is necessary to mention the excursion texts that present the greatest difficulty in translation, including those related to the content of non-equivalent vocabulary. It is also necessary to take into account the level of proficiency of recipients in the language of translation (in the framework of our work – English) ^[3]. In particular, when working with tourists demonstrating a basic level of English proficiency, it is worth avoiding complex syntactic constructions and simplifying the structure of sentences as much as possible. At the lexical level, it is necessary to provide additional explanations when translating real words, which are more likely to be completely unfamiliar to the target audience. In this case, descriptive translation and translation by searching for functional analogues are effective if there are similar concepts in the recipient's culture. In our opinion, the translation of excursion texts is one of the proofs that the tourist discourse requires more attention and competent work with it is possible only with a professional approach with knowledge of special translation strategies.

3. Examples of tourist discourse texts

As an example, let's consider the translation of small texts posted on the I visit Russia website (www.ivisitrussia.com ). The submitted texts can be found in the "Excursions" and "Tours" tabs.

Table 1. Tour of Moscow and Arbat (City Tour & Arbat Street)

The texts given in Table 1 are brief descriptions of excursions around Moscow and Arbat and reflect the characteristic features of tourist sites. Thus, these texts contain proper names (Red Square, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, etc.) and non-equivalent vocabulary describing cultural realities (matryoshka). Separately, we note that the translation of the source text requires knowledge of the established correspondences of the specified proper names in English and knowledge of the rules for setting articles with proper names. When reading, questions arise about the Russian–language version of the description of the tour, as there are inaccuracies in the names (St. Basil's Basilica - St. Basil's Cathedral), spelling errors (spelling of the proper name with a small letter: Cathedral of Christ the Savior), repetitions ("... Victory Park, which was created on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great The Great Patriotic War (World War II), which includes ..."), etc. On the right, the table probably shows a machine translation of the source text, which is indicated, among other things, by the reproduction of the structure of the Russian sentence. The choice of verb and time form in the first sentence is questionable: ‘are known’ ‘known’ instead of ‘will be visited’ ‘will be visited'. However, the best solution in this case would be to use a second person in both the original and translated text.: "During the trip, you will visit the most important tourist attractions in Moscow" ‒ "During the trip, you will visit the most important tourist attractions in Moscow". Such a decision can be explained by the purpose of attracting the reader's attention to the described excursion. Also in the English version there is a fragment missing from the original: “... Russia invaded in 1812”, which indicates that the original text was modified (shortened) after publication. The last paragraph of the source text requires editing, for example, "After that you will visit Arbat Street ...". The use of a second-person pronoun, as in the first sentence of the text, is intended to interest a potential buyer of the tour.

Table 2. Weekend in Moscow (Moscow Weekend)

The above texts (see Table 2) contain a description of a weekend tour of Moscow. As in the previous case, the description of the tour in both Russian and English is subject to editing. Corrections should be made to the text on the left in the second ("moving to the Moskva River"), third (repetitions of conjunctions: "and also") and fifth sentences (repetition of the verb "to look"). In addition, the text contains grammatical errors related to incorrect coordination: "Then a sightseeing tour of Moscow with a visit to Victory Park and Arbat Street and an inspection of skyscrapers." The English text also contains lexical repetitions (sentence 3: the word ‘visiting’), incorrect use of prepositions (“cruise all over the city of Moscow by night”: you can write “night cruise around the city”, “during the 50s from the last century”: you can write “in the 1950s”) and articles (the article before the ordinal number is omitted: “The first days includes...") and other errors.

Table 3. Tour of the Old and New Arbat (Arbat Street Tour)

Table 3 shows examples of travel texts posted on the Moscow Excursion company's website (www.moscowexcursion.com ). Note that the English version is not a translation, but only a brief description of the tour, devoid of much of the information indicated in the text on the left, and at the same time containing details not set out in the Russian text. The first text does not raise any questions in terms of the choice of vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. However, the English text requires editing, as it contains grammatical errors. In particular, there are errors in sentences involving the use of the possessive pronoun its: “it's appearance” instead of “its appearance”, “it's inhabitants” instead of “its inhabitants”, “it's own memorable spirit” instead of “its own memorable spirit”. In some cases, the production of articles is required: the Arbat, the 15th century, a wide range of gift shops. In addition, in some sentences it is necessary to change the tense of the English verb: “The street exists since the 15th century...” ‒ “The street has existed since the 15th century ...". A comparative analysis of the two texts allows us to conclude that it is necessary to make additions to the English version of the site in order to make it more stylistically consistent with the original text. Obviously, the text in Russian contains all the features of advertising texts encouraging tourists to book excursions, while these features are absent in the English text. So, in the text on the left, more adjectives are used that convey a positive assessment: "an amazing excursion", "an eventful excursion", "an extraordinary, inspiring atmosphere", "an exciting excursion". The translation of individual details can indeed raise questions from a foreign-speaking audience who is not familiar with Russian culture. This, for example, explains the decision to omit the description of what the tourist learns during the tour. However, during the tour, the guide may need to make additional clarifications (for example, to clarify that Kisa Vorobyaninov is a character in the novel "Twelve Chairs"), to adapt the text, taking into account the degree of familiarity of the foreign audience with Russian culture.

Thus, the analysis of the selected texts of the tourist discourse posted on the Internet confirms the need for a serious approach to teaching translation of texts in the field of tourism. The identified features of tourist texts will improve the quality of translation of tourist texts and contribute to the even more active development of international tourism.

Conclusion

The study showed that tourism discourse is a special kind of advertising discourse, the purpose of which is to promote tourism services. The tourist discourse is represented by texts of different genres, which determine the choice of strategy and method of translation. The main problems of translation of tourist texts are underestimation of this area of translation activity and, as a result, an unprofessional approach to translation, mistakes in translating terminology, ignoring the genre of the original text and insufficient adaptation of the translated text to the target audience belonging to another culture. Among the possible ways to eliminate these problems, it is proposed to create dictionaries of tourist terminology, organize special courses for translation of tourist texts for professional translators and introduce the practice of translating texts of tourist discourse into training programs for students of language specialties.

The features of the translation of small texts containing descriptions of excursions and tours and posted on the websites of two Russian companies are considered. It is noted that the translated texts contain errors caused, among other things, by the use of machine translation. Based on the analysis of the selected texts, it can be concluded that it is necessary to perform professional translation of tourist texts by specialists who are well versed in the systems of the source and foreign languages, as well as those who know the rules for translating proper names and cultural realities often found in tourist-oriented texts. It also confirms the need to refine the English-language versions of Russian companies' websites stylistically, taking into account the target audience.