Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Recycling: The process of quoting in increasingly mediatized settings
Edited by Lauri Haapanen and Daniel Perrin
[AILA Review 33] 2020
► pp. 157–175

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Reporting quotable yet untranslatable speech

Observations of shifting practices by Japanese newspapers from Obama to Trump

 | Rikkyo University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 7 October 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00035.mat
Abstract
When a newsmaker (i.e., a newsworthy subject) is speaking or being spoken about in a foreign language, quoting requires translation. In such “translingual quoting” (Haapanen, L. (2017). Quoting practices in written journalism. Article-based doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), it is not only the content of the speech but also its translatability that determines newsworthiness. While news media in some countries prefer indirect quotation, Japanese media favor direct quotes ( (2019). When news travels east: Translation practices by Japanese newspapers. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). This practice yields relatively clear source text (ST)-target text (TT) relationships in translingual quoting, especially when a political speech is directly quoted by newspapers, offering abundant data for news translation research (Matsushita, K. (2013). Obama daitōryō no enzetsu o Nihon no shinbun wa ikani hōjitaka: Chokusetsu inyō to shōryaku o meguru kōsatsu [How President Obama’s speeches were translated by the Japanese newspapers: A discussion on direct quotation and omission]. Media, English and Communication, 31, 31–46.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2014). Risk management as a theoretical framework for analyzing news translation strategies. Invitation to Translation Studies, 121, 83–96. Retrieved from <[URL]>, (2015). Omission as a key strategy in Japanese news translation: A case study of President Obama’s speeches. In A. Fuertes, & E. Torres-Simón (Eds.), And translation changed the world (and the world changed translation) (pp. 75–88). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2019). When news travels east: Translation practices by Japanese newspapers. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). However, this research approach has been challenged by the rise of a public figure known for making headlines with his extemporaneous remarks: US President Donald J. Trump. Translingual quoting of Trump in the non-English media has proven at times a “nearly impossible quest” (Lichfield, G. (2016, November 26). Inside the nearly impossible quest to translate “Make America Great Again” into Spanish. QUARTZ. Retrieved from <[URL]>) because of the unique features of his utterances, such as unorthodox word choices, run-on sentences and disjointed syntax (Viennot, B. (2016). Pour les traducteurs, Trump est un casse-tête inédit et désolant [For translators, Trump is an unprecedented and disheartening puzzle]. Slate FR. Retrieved from <[URL]>). This difficulty is heightened for Japanese newspapers, which uphold a longstanding journalistic standard of reporting speech as faithfully as possible, even in the case of translingual quoting ( (2019). When news travels east: Translation practices by Japanese newspapers. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Against this backdrop, this article examines the often-conflicting relationship between “quotability” and “translatability” by analyzing how Japanese newspaper articles have quoted Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, through comparison of original speeches and news texts produced by Japanese newspapers. The comparison shows that institutional conventions of Japanese newspaper companies regarding direct quotes are frequently neglected by the journalists trans-quoting Trump (e.g., changed to indirect quotes or reproduced less faithfully), leading to marked differences in the textual portrayals of the newsmakers in terms of eloquence and assertiveness.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Overview of news translation research
    • 2.2Global quoting practices
    • 2.3Japanese quoting practices
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Target of analysis
    • 4.1Japanese newspapers and journalators
    • 4.2Search criteria
  • 5.Key findings
    • 5.1Frequency of quotes
    • 5.2Length of quotes
    • 5.3Dispersion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • 7.Future implications
  • Notes
  • References
References (41)
References
Aota, H., & Kida, T. (2017, April 21). Pari Shanzerize-dōri, keikan ni jūgeki san nin shishō: IS-kei, hankō seimei, daitōryō-sen no tōhyō chokuzen [Paris Champs-Elysées, gun fires at policemen, three injured or killed: IS-related group claims responsibility, just before the presidential election]. Asahi Shimbun, evening edition, p. 1.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Associated Press. (2019). The Associated Press stylebook 2019. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Bassnett, S. (2005). Bringing the news back home: Strategies of acculturation and foreignisation. Language and Intercultural Communication, 5(2), 120–130. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bielsa, E., & Bassnett, S. (2009). Translation in global news. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clayman, S. E. (1995). Defining moments, presidential debates, and the dynamics of quotability. Journal of Communication, 45(3), 118–146. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davier, L., & van Doorslaer, L. (2018). Translation without a source text: Methodological issues in news translation. Across Languages and Cultures, 19(2), 241–257. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davier, L., Schäffner, C., & van Doorslaer, L. (2018). The methodological remainder in news translation research: Outlining the background. Across Languages and Cultures, 19(2), 155–164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, H. H. (1985). Discourse and media influence. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse and communication: New approaches to the analysis of mass media discourse and communication (pp. 44–59). Berlin: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, M., & Perrin, D. (2009). Capturing translation processes to access metalinguistic awareness. Across Languages and Cultures, 10(2), 275–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Applying a newswriting research approach to translation. In M. Ehrensberger-Dow, S. Göpferich, & S. O’Brien (Eds.), Interdisciplinarity in translation and interpreting process research (pp. 79–94). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, M., Perrin, D., & Zampa, M. (2017). Multilingualism and media: Reconsidering practices and ideologies of media-linguistic research. In C. Cotter, & D. Perrin (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and media (pp. 373–387). Abingdon: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haapanen, L. (2017). Quoting practices in written journalism. Article-based doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haapanen, L., & Perrin, D. (2017). Media and quoting. In C. Cotter, & D. Perrin (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and media (pp. 424–441). Abingdon: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Translingual quoting in journalism: Behind the scenes of Swiss television newsrooms. In L. Davier, & K. Conway (Eds.), Journalism and translation in the era of convergence (pp. 15–42). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holland, R. (2013). News translation. In C. Millán, & F. Bartrina (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of Translation Studies (pp. 332–346). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuromi, S. (2017, March 3). “Beidaitōryōsen no kyōgi sezu” : Gishō giwaku no shihō chōkan, Rotono sesshoku shakumei [“No consultations on US presidential election”: Attorney General suspected of perjury explains his connection with the Russians]. Yomiuri Shimbun, evening edition, p. 3.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lichfield, G. (2016, November 26). Inside the nearly impossible quest to translate “Make America Great Again” into Spanish. QUARTZ. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Matsushita, K. (2013). Obama daitōryō no enzetsu o Nihon no shinbun wa ikani hōjitaka: Chokusetsu inyō to shōryaku o meguru kōsatsu [How President Obama’s speeches were translated by the Japanese newspapers: A discussion on direct quotation and omission]. Media, English and Communication, 31, 31–46.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Risk management as a theoretical framework for analyzing news translation strategies. Invitation to Translation Studies, 121, 83–96. Retrieved from <[URL]>
(2015). Omission as a key strategy in Japanese news translation: A case study of President Obama’s speeches. In A. Fuertes, & E. Torres-Simón (Eds.), And translation changed the world (and the world changed translation) (pp. 75–88). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). When news travels east: Translation practices by Japanese newspapers. Leuven: Leuven University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Minemura, K. (2017, February 21). Beikokubōchōkan, Iraku hōmon: Abadi shushō to kaidan, kankei shūfuku hakaru [US Secretary of Defense visits Iraq: Meets with Prime Minister Abadi, tries to restore relationship]. Asahi Shimbun, evening edition, p. 2.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oki, S. (2017, April 27). Taikita atsuryoku “seisai, gaikō de”: Bei san chōkan kyōdō seimei, jōkazengiin ni setsumeikai [Pressure against North Korea “through sanctions and diplomacy”: Joint statement by the three heads, briefing to all upper and lower house members]. Yomiuri Shimbun, evening edition, p. 1.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Osaki, T. (2017, February 17). Japan’s interpreters struggle to make sense of ‘Trumpese.’ The Japan Times. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Perrin, D., Ehrensberger-Dow, M., & Zampa, M. (2017). Translation in the newsroom: Losing voices in multilingual newsflows. Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies 6(3), 463–483. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reuters. (2017). Handbook of journalism. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Satoh, A. (2001). Constructing imperial identity: How to quote the Imperial Family and those who address them in the Japanese press. Discourse & Society, 12(2), 169–194. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schäffner, C. (2018). Language, interpreting, and translation in the news media. In K. Malmkjaer (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Translation Studies and Linguistics (pp. 327–341). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stewart, P. (2017, February 20). Trump’s defense chief: “We’re not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil.” Reuters. Retrieved from <[URL]>
The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association. (2019). Nihon Shimbun Nenkan [Japan Newspaper Annual].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The New York Times. (2008). Guidelines on integrity. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Umehara, T. (2009, January 28). Obama daitōryō Isuramu to no taiwa kyōchō: Hatsu no tandoku kaiken wa Chūtō TV [President Obama emphasizes dialogue with Islam: First exclusive interview with a Middle Eastern broadcaster]. Asahi Shimbun, evening edition, p. 2.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
US Embassy & Consulates in Italy. (2017). Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Gentiloni of Italy in joint press conference. Retrieved from <[URL]>
(2015b). Fifteen years of journalistic translation research and more. Perspectives, 23(4), 634–662. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vandendaele, A. (2017). The newsroom’s last line of defence: A linguistic ethnographic investigation into newspaper sub-editing (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ghent University, Belgium.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Doorslaer, L. (2009). How language and (non-) translation impact on media newsrooms: The case of newspapers in Belgium. Perspectives, 17(2), 83–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Translating, narrating and constructing images in journalism with a test case on representation in Flemish TV news. Meta, 57(4), 1046–1059. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Viennot, B. (2016). Pour les traducteurs, Trump est un casse-tête inédit et désolant [For translators, Trump is an unprecedented and disheartening puzzle]. Slate FR. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Filmer, Denise
2025. Historical JTR: journalistic translation in the representation of Mussolini’s rise to power in two British newsbrands. Perspectives 33:4 ► pp. 778 ff. DOI logo
Greenall, Annjo Klungervik & Lucía Aranda
2024. The (non-)translation of English-language, embedded social media quotes in Norwegian and Spanish online news texts: Effects of assumed levels of reader proficiency?. Meta 68:2 ► pp. 445 ff. DOI logo
Martín Ruano, M. Rosario
2021. Towards alternatives to mechanistic models of translation in contemporary journalism. Language and Intercultural Communication 21:3 ► pp. 395 ff. DOI logo
Matsushita, Kayo
2021. Diverging narratives: exploring the hidden influence of transquoting in framing the journalistic portrayal of Shiori Ito. Language and Intercultural Communication 21:3 ► pp. 366 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue