Feeling foreign: A trust-based compromise model of translation reception

Abstract

ABSTRACT Contributions to translation reception often examine the readers’ responses to binary translation solutions (e.g. foreignisation and domestication). Scant attention has been paid to the ethical causes of readers’ acceptance of translated foreignness. This quasi-experimental study attempts to illustrate how a heterogeneous readership engages with varying degrees of translator intervention to handle foreignness. It offers insights into the ways in which trust relates to translation reception. Empirical evidence indicates that what readers tend to accept is not any deterministic, textual solution but rather a set of options that are deemed ethically trusted. Readers might refuse a norm-conforming, fluent translation because they feel manipulated. On the other hand, a literal translation of foreign elements may be accepted if the text is regarded as “authentic” or as “objective”. This article conceptualises translation reception using a trust-based compromise model, in which readers calculate losses and gains within mediated, intercultural communication.