Translating a text on the American Indian Wars: : A study of what kinds of adaption are required to make the TT suit the intended readers

Abstract: Abstract The aim of this essay is to find out what kinds of adaption are necessary when translating an English text from a specialist book into a text that will suit Swedish students in upper secondary school. In order to obtain the data needed for the study I translated a part of a chapter from the book North American Indian Wars by Richard H. Dillon. The analysis focuses on how to make the target text as clear and unambiguous as possible for the intended readers and what methods can be used to reach this aim. The analysis shows that one kind of adaption that had to be made during the translation process mainly consisted of additions and omissions. The additions were made in order to clarify certain passages in the source text that otherwise could have been difficult for the target readers to understand. The omissions, on the other hand, were often made due to the fact that some of the words or phrases in the source text are very specific and may refer to things that may be unknown to the target readers. In some cases such words or phrases could be omitted without making the target text lose any vital information, and in some cases they had to be exchanged with an explanation or a word that would be easier for the intended readers to understand. Apart from addition and omission of information, Vinay and Darbelnet’s procedures of modulation and equivalence were used in order to make the target text accessible to the target readers. The analysis shows that obligatory modulation had to be used due to differences in point of view between English and Swedish, whereas optional modulation was used to suit the target readers’ level of attainment. The analysis also shows that Vinay and Darbelnet’s procedure of equivalence was very useful when translating idioms, metaphors and similes in order to make the target text easy to understand for the target readers.