Into the Cosmos : A Translation Study of Astronomical Proportions Focusing on Terminology, Additions and Omissions

Abstract: The intention of this essay is to illustrate and describe various means to overcome some of the difficulties that any translator dealing with technical translations at some point or another would come upon – presented in a qualitative analysis. The text under analysis is a chapter called Into the Cosmos and is part of the book Planet Quest – The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems by the American astronomer Ken Croswell. The analysis specifically focuses on terminology and two aspects that usually are part of the cultural adaptation of a text; namely additions and omissions. However, in this essay they help adapting the text towards a new target audience not so much because of culture, but rather because of my decision to fully disconnect the text from the context in which it previously functioned. And because of this, the target text was in the end given more of an educational character compared to the source text.