Artical about education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Artical about education - Essay Example The author pinpoints the basis of the Education National Key Result Areas which are abbreviated as NKRAs. The government has decided for its own self four sub-areas which would meet the national educational objectives so that there is a complete guarantee of strong and competitive workforce, which is maintained at all times. The article lists down how the preschoolers’ enrolment has been increased drastically and how government is playing its proactive role at leveling up the Year One children which have slow learning attributes within them in an apparent manner (Kamini, 2011). The national preschool committee is also one of the initiatives that the NKRA has undertook which basically harmonizes the quality that is present between the public and private preschools present within Malaysia. The role of the Malaysian government has been highlighted to a good enough extent and all out possibilities within its folds are talked about at great length. The different training programs h ave also been mentioned and the incentives and subsidies are also noted upon within the realms of the article. Works Cited Kamini, R. S. Going all out for Children.

Sstrategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sstrategic management - Essay Example In strategic thinking a firm primarily should concern itself with the answering of three important question, these are; where we are? Where we are headed and how we intend to get there? The first question is vital because by understanding its current position, a firm can define itself in the present tense and thus prepare strategy that can be launched from the position. The second question is in a way a continuation of the first since it can only be practically answered after the first has been determined, where is the firm headed in the market? A firm must interrogate the market and business positions it intends to hold and occupy in the, the firm also needs must consider who its potential target customers are in addition to figuring out the needs it aims to satisfy and fulfill for these customer groups. A firm should also under the question of where we are going; consider what it seeks to achieve in its particular business. After asking and answering the above question, the firm wi ll have established its position and intention, at this point the third question emerges, how are we going to get there? The next consideration of the presentation was the definition of strategy; according to the speaker, a company’s strategy is comprised of the sort of competitive moves and actions business managers engage in in order to successfully run the company. To use a sporting analogy, a strategy can be described as the game plan in which the maneuvers and plans intended to be applied in bringing eventual success are contained (courseonline3000, n.d.). This game plan comprises of information on what sort of company they want to run, the characteristics, expectations of the target customers, and the means by which they will be attracted and maintained. It is in the strategy that the firm’s market position is staked out so it may curve out for itself a niche in its particular industry in the interests of maintaining relevance. The strategy must also indicate the type of operations that management wishes to conduct, the means by which they will be completed successfully, as well as the individuals expected to work on the same. All this is done with the ultimate goal of achieving the organizational objectives and this will depend on what sort of objectives, which should have also been specified in the strategy. Business models are other critical considerations that companies make; a business model addresses the issue of how a company should make money, which is the ultimate objective of majority of firms. In the setting up of a business model, firms must determine whether the business in which they are engaged provides an equitable return in investment. To determine the effectiveness of a particular business model the managers must consider several factors in the business front; first they must consider the revenue that a particular strategy is expected to produce after implementation. Secondly, they should consider the cost involved in form s of structures and resources and compare it with the potential profit margin, finally they must consider if the resulting earning are indicative of a viable strategy and thus practical model. These are important because the resulting revenues and other benefits that follow its implementation will only determine the validity of a model. A business model and strategy work toward the same end; nevertheless, in their structure and

The Petrov Affair Essay Example for Free

The Petrov Affair Essay The â€Å"Petrov Affair† started in April 1954 when Vladimir Petrov and his wife Edvokia defected to Australia. The affair finally finished today, the 11th of December 1955; a day after the Federal Election in Australia when Robert Menzies was elected. The Events That Saw It Unfold The Petrov Affair occurred around the 3rd of April last year, when Vladimir Petrov, who was the cause of the Petrov Affair, defected to Australia under top-secret conditions. On arrival in Sydney, he was taken to a safe house on Sydney’s north shore. Only 3 or 4 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, officers knew about his defection to Australia, his wife Evdokia didn’t even know about this! Once the soviet embassy was aware of this defection, they accused the Australian Authorities of kidnapping him. Reason For His Defection One of Petrov’s main reasons for defecting here to Australia was to secure Ron Richards’, ASIO Deputy Director, secret documents containing evidence of Soviet espionage and infiltration of the Australian Government agencies. Richards was in charge of this operation and made the one of the possible code words for the defection â€Å"Cabin Candidate†. Another reason for defection was that he feared being arrested and killed by the Russian Government after he was associated with Beria and that if he went back to Russia, he would be purged as â€Å"Beria Man†. What Menzies Did About It Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia at the time, caused a stir when he announced to the House of Representatives that Petrov brought with him documents that revealed Soviet Espionage in Australia. He called a Royal Commission to investigate these allegations. Herbert Evatt, The Opposition Leader at the time, accused Menzies of arranging the defections to coincide with the election. After this happened, Menzies ended up winning the election, even though everyone thought Labour was going to succeed. Menzies denied that he had advanced knowledge of Petrov’s defection to Australia, but he did not deny that he exploited it.

The Catcher in the Rye :: Essays Papers

The Catcher in the Rye The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger published by The New American Library in 1951 is one of, if not the most popular and controversial books written by Salinger. The main character is a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. He casually explains a certain time of transition in his life. It is a time of adventures and deep thought. Holden has his own view of the world and for 192 pages, he allows the reader to see the world through his eyes. He comes across many people at this time and refers to the general society as "phonies". Each personal encounter he makes affects him throughout his story. Holden begins the story by rambling about general things about him and his family and suggests to the reader that he is now in some form of an institution. He talks about the school he has currently gotten kicked out of, (unbeknownst to his parents)"Pencey Prep". This is one of many schools that he has attended and been rejected from for his laziness problem. He gets into an argument with his roommate and decides to leave Pencey early for Christmas break since there's no reason for him to stay. He packs up his things and takes a train to New York City where he grew up and where his family is. When he arrives in the city, he stays in a hotel. He observes people in other rooms through his window. Then, he goes to different bars even though he is under age. Holden is rather tall and has a gray streak of hair that makes him look older. In these bars, he meets and observes many varieties of people. He cannot go home to his parents until they've had a chance to find out about Pencey and had some time to calm down. To pass the time in NYC, he calls some people from his past. Each new person plays a specific role in Holden's actions and decisions. For example, Sally, his ex-girlfriend, makes him feel a spectrum of feelings from love to hate in a matter of hours. Holden notices many things in everyday life that others never really realize are there. He describes the Museum of Natural History and how no matter how many times you go there, nothing ever changes.

The Role of Social Class in Thomas Hardys Writing Essay -- Biography

The Role of Social Class in Thomas Hardy's Writing The works of Thomas Hardy reflect the ideas of a man who was clearly obsessed with the issue of social class throughout his literary career. From his first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady (the very title of which indicates class differentiation), to his final work, Jude the Obscure, class issues are woven into every novel which Hardy wrote. Furthermore, his works are personal in the sense that they depict Hardy's own lifelong struggles with social mobility and the class structure as a whole throughout his life. Hardy was born the son of an independent mason in the rural area of Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. As he was growing up, he felt that the circumstances surrounding the working class limited the opportunities by which he could fully develop his talents. Thus, in order to create a place for himself in society, he pursued architecture for nearly twenty years while writing on the side. Only when Hardy had firmly established himself as a writer with the success of Far from the Madding Crowd did he completely devote himself t...

Poetic skills Tennyson Essay

To finally come to a conclusion on this question we will be referring to 3 narrative poems which are, ‘The Lady of Shalott’, ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Mariana. ‘ A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story such as ‘Mariana’ which tells us a story of a girl who is waiting for her lover who would not return to her. The poetic skills that can be used in such poems are techniques such as description, use of mood and atmosphere, use of words, structure (stanzas, rhythm, rhyme scheme) and style (repetition, imagery, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, contrast, simile), also narrative skills, e. g. suspense and tension (created within the story). In ‘The Lady of Shalott’, Tennyson divides the poem into 4 parts. The first part (part 1) sets the scene and consists of 4 stanzas. The second part (part 2) also consists of 4 stanzas. In this part we are inside the tower and we meet the lady, we also learn the she has a curse on her and that she must not look out of the window. In part 3 there are 5 stanzas. Here Sir Lancelot is introduced riding and singing on his way to Camelot. The lady can not resist and goes to look at him. The curse is broken and it is upon her, â€Å"‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried The lady of Shalott† (part 3 stanza 5 lines 8-9) Part 4 is the climax to the story and the poem. This part consists of 6 stanzas. Here she leaves the castle, goes out into the storm and finds a boat. The river takes her far. She sings her last song and dies. She is now seen by the people and Sir Lancelot for the first time. The second poem ‘Mariana’ is made up of 7 stanzas. At the start of each stanza there is a narrative voice and Mariana’s voice at the end. Each stanza describes a different area of her life. In the first stanza we see everything falling apart, â€Å"The rusted nails fell from the knots† (Stanza 1 line 3) This is a comparison to how her life is falling apart. At the end of each of the first six stanzas there are three lines which are always the same, â€Å"He cometh not, she said,’ she said; She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead! ‘ † (stanza 1 2 3 4 5 6 lines 10-11-12) The effect could be that we start to feel sorry for this poor, wretched woman as she always says that she wants to be dead. These three lines show that Mariana is waiting for someone but he never arrives. She wishes she was dead. The whole poem is about a woman alone in her house with everything falling apart.

Give a critical account with examples of the strategies available to the translator to deal with culturally specific items, which arise, in translation. The WritePass Journal

Give a critical account with examples of the strategies available to the translator to deal with culturally specific items, which arise, in translation. Introduction Give a critical account with examples of the strategies available to the translator to deal with culturally specific items, which arise, in translation. IntroductionDeterministic machine translationTable 1. Conservation Strategies   Table 2. Substitution Strategies BIBLIOGRAPHYRelated Introduction It is commonly agreed that the act of translation involves the conveyance of a message from one language to another, however, as Komissarov states,   â€Å"Translation from language to language is ipso facto translation from culture to culture† (1991, p.12). Hatim and Mason’s description of translation agrees with this opinion stating that the message must cross â€Å"cultural and linguistic boundaries† (1997, p. 1) in order to be clearly understood, while George Bernard Shaw’s[1] much referenced comment that â€Å"England and America are two countries separated by the same language† gives us a clear indication that, when it comes to translation, knowledge of language is not enough and an appreciation of culture and customs is paramount. Deterministic machine translation A  notorious for missing the point and the errors that are thrown up obvious, and often comical, in the target language such as the original Chinese translation of the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan finger-lickin good which read eat your fingers off (Wolter, 2010). Culler states, â€Å"If language were simply a nomenclature for a set of universal concepts, it would be easy to translate from one language to another. One would simply replace the French name for a concept with the English name.† (cited in Baker, 1992, p. 10). This circumstance rarely presents itself and lack of equivalence, especially in the case of culture-specific words and concepts, is one of the main challenges faced by the translator. It is particularly evident within the realm of literary translation where the source-language culture plays a significant role and the emphasis is on recreating a piece of writing that is â€Å"true to the original, as well as being equally enchanting† (G. Paul, 2009, p .1). The translator must therefore not only have a good knowledge of both languages and cultures but a set of tried and trusted strategies to employ to overcome difficulties in transferring cultures within literary translation. This essay will concentrate on literary translation, with an emphasis on translation strategies available to deal with areas of cultural relevance within children’s literature. It will focus on the novel Le Petit Nicolas, (Goscinny Sempà ©, 2007) and its translation Nicholas (Goscinny Sempà ©, 2005); a book full of culture-specific phrases and concepts, which will offer an insight into the challenge of translating from â€Å"culture to culture† (Komissarov, 1991, p.12). To review the author’s processing of culturally specific items and develop a schema of success and failure that meaning can be drawn from, Javier Franco Aixel’s model of strategies available to the translator when translating items of cultural relevance will be used (1996, pp 52-77). The first step in this assessment must be to define what constitutes an item of cultural significance. As Aixel points out, it is easy to identify more common culturally specific words, such as personal and place names, however, an overall explanation of cultural specificity is in itself rather challenging as â€Å"everything is culturally produced, beginning with language itself.† (1996, p. 57). For instance, Aixel gives the example of translating the word â€Å"lamb† from the Bible for the Eskimo people; while this would not pose a problem to a source culture (SC) where this animal is known as having connotations of being helpless and sacrificial, it would for a SC where the animal is either completely unknown or unknown in that capacity (ibid, pp. 57-58). Aixel terms an area of cultural significance as a ‘culture-specific item’ (CSI), which he defines as: â€Å"Those textually actualized items whose functions and connotations in a source text involve a translation problem in their transference to a target text, whenever this problem is a product of the non-existence of the referred items or of its different intertextual status in the cultural system of the readers of the target text.† (ibid, p. 58) This essay will use Aixel’s definition of ‘CSIs’, which are anything linked to the SC that either does not exist in the target culture (TC) or carries a different meaning in that culture, when identifying areas of cultural relevance within Le Petit Nicolas. While this definition makes it possible to identify CSIs within a given text, it is worth noting that a CSI, like language and culture themselves, is liable to change; Aixel states that â€Å"objects, habits or values once restricted to one community come to be shared by others† (1996, p. 58). It is possible to extrapolate Aixela’s theory further than this as the evolution of cultural significance can also affect a single language, for example, ‘car crash’ previously just another way of saying ‘motoring accident’, was recently admitted into the Oxford English Dictionary carrying entirely different cultural connotations of celebrity misadventure (Alleyne, 2008 I pinched th is from the 2011 inclusions..) . It is therefore important to remain flexible in identifying and handling CSIs. With a definition of a CSI it is possible to concentrate on the strategies available for translating them. Aixel splits his strategies for dealing with CSIs into two main categories – ‘Conservation’ and ‘Substitution’ (see Tab. 1 2) (1996, pp. 61- 65). The strategies within the category of   ‘Conservation’ focus on preserving the CSI in the TT in some way and therefore support Schleiermacher’s notion of ‘Foreignizing’ whereby the translator emphasises cultural differences from the ST in the TT (in Venuti, 2008, p. 20); conversely, ‘Substitution’ strategies aim at replacing the source-culture item with one from the TC and therefore correspond to the contrasting view of ‘Domesticating’ the TT (Ibid, p. 18), and Nida’s theory of ‘Dynamic Equivalence’ which places the focus on the target reader and thus the TC over that of the SC (2000, p.156). The general consensus at the p resent time, as put forward by Gill Paul, is that a good literary translation must â€Å"reflect cultural differences, while drawing parallels that make it accessible [†¦]. It should be read by readers in its new language with the same enthusiasm and understanding as it was in the old.† (2009, p. 1). Both ‘Foreignization’ and ‘Dynamic Equivalence’ place unnecessary limitations on the literary translator and hence the TT and, if followed to the letter, would not produce Paul’s ‘good literary translation’. Therefore, in incorporating an element of each theory, Aixel’s strategies (listed below) strike the right balance: Table 1. Conservation Strategies   Repetition Straight transference of CSI from ST to TT. Orthographic Adaptation Transliteration or transcription of CSI from ST to TT. Linguistic (non-cultural) translation Using a target language version, which is based on pre-existing translation and can still be recognised as belonging to the source culture. Extratextual gloss One of above strategies plus addition of information in form of footnote, brackets etc. Intratextual gloss One of above strategies plus addition of information in main body of text. Table 2. Substitution Strategies Synonymy Use of a synonym to avoid repetition of a CSI on stylistic grounds. Limited universalization Use of another CSI from source culture to replace the more incomprehensible one in ST. Absolute universalization Replacing CSI with a neutral reference, thus removing any exoticism. Naturalization Replacing CSI with a CSI from the target culture. Deletion Removing all elements of CSI for ideological or stylistic reasons. Autonomous Creation Adding a cultural reference to TT that is not present in ST. The data in Tables 1 2 are from Translation, Power, Subversion (pp.61-70) by R. lvarez and M. C.-. Vidal, eds.(1996), Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Viewing the ST (Goscinny, 2007) with the strategies outlined above we can start to identify thematic CSIs that cause issues for the target TT and would likely cause unnecessary confusion. Translation of the French children’s names was a particular challenge; Aixel generally advocates ‘Conservation’ strategies of ‘Repetition’ or ‘Orthographic adaptation’ (Tab.1) for dealing with names (1996, pp. 61-62), however with French names, there is the obvious issue of pronunciation such as with the Eudes and Joachim. While pronunciation is not a necessity when reading, it does aid character recollection and thus the ability to emphasise with a character. In addition to pronunciation, the names also carry underlying connotations and stereotypes such as popularity, whether they are modern or old-fashioned and what type of person the name evokes in the imagination that would not transfer to the TT. While elements of these issues may be overcome by the fact that in the ST there already appears to be what Aixel terms ‘Intratextual gloss’ (Tab. 1) in the form of descriptions of the characters, the issues concerning pronunciation highlight a weakness in the strategies of ‘Repetition’ and ‘Orthographic adaptation’. This weakness calls for the translator to be sensitive to external factors affecting translation decisions. Aixel terms these factors as ‘Supratextual’ variables, which include the genre of the ST, the translation brief and the intended audience (1996, pp. 65-66). The translation by Anthea Bell of Le Petit Nicolas was undertaken in 1978, when translation norms looked to adhere to viewpoints such as Nida’s ‘Dynamic Equivalence’ while attempting to â€Å"produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original† (Newmark, 1981, p39). The reference to th e ‘readers’ above is an important one; In Principles of Correspondence, Nida states that the translator needs to understand the audience in terms of their ‘decoding ability’ and ‘potential interest’ (in Venuti, 2000, p. 155). Le Petit Nicolas is a classic piece of children’s literature that is enjoyed by young children and adults alike. While this book is enjoyed by an adult audience, the main readership would fall into Nida’s category of   â€Å"The capacity of children, whose vocabulary and cultural experiences are limited;† (in Venuti, 2000, p. 155); this indicates that Aixel’s ‘Conservation’ strategies of ‘Repetition’ or ‘Orthographic adaptation’ for dealing with names, would not be suitable here. In order to overcome this, the ‘Substitution’ strategy ‘Limited universalization’ (Tab. 2) could be employed, which would have made it possible to keep French names without losing any understanding on behalf of the target readers; for example changing ‘Eudes’ to ‘Edouard’ or ‘Joachim’ to ‘Jà ©rà ´me’. This strategy would be more in tune with today’s translation norms and would fulfil Paul’s ideal of a good translation that â€Å"allows a reader to experience first hand a different world – hearing the sounds, tasting local fare, seeing the sights† (2009, p.55). Translator Anthea Bell uses English names in place of the French ST versions and this approach corresponds to substitution strategy of ‘Naturalization’ (Tab. 2). The choice to remove all elements of French from the names is a bold one; ‘Naturalization’ is rarely used in literature, however it was once a common strategy for translating children’s stories (Aixel, 1996, p. 63) and this, along with the above mentioned supratextual factors, may have influenced this decision. While ‘Repetition’ proved inappropriate in translating Christian names, it would be possible to preserve elements of the SC in the TT by using this strategy for other CSIs. There are a number of references in the ST to food items specific to French culture; these include ‘pain au chocolat’, ‘Camembert’, ‘Roquefort’ and ‘frites’. Aixel states that â€Å"in the Western World there is a clear trend [†¦] towards maximum acceptability [†¦] towards ‘reading as an original’† (Ibid, p. 54); this sentiment promotes the use of ‘Conservation’ strategies such as ‘Repetition’ – ‘pain au chocolat’ to ‘pain au chocolat’ and ‘Linguistic (non-cultural) translation’ – ‘frites’ to ‘French fries’. These strategies definitely have their appeal in today’s society where globalisation has meant that food items such as ‘pain au chocolat’ and ‘French fries’ are readily available in our shops; however, these terms   may not have been suitable in the late seventi es when the ST was translated – again this indicates that words change their meaning and distribution over time and to quote Aixel once more, â€Å"objects, habits or values once restricted to one community come to be shared by others† (1996, p. 58). Lack of availability and hence knowledge about French food may be the reason behind Bell’s decisions in her era, which once again correspond to Aixel’s ‘Substitution’ strategies of ‘Limited universalization’ for ‘pain au chocolat’ where it was translated as ‘chocolate croissant’ (something entirely different in today’s supermarkets) and ‘Naturalization’ for ‘frites’ which became ‘chips’. While both ‘Limited universalization’ and ‘Naturalization’ are perfectly valid strategies for translating CSIs such as food items, their overuse will eventually lead to ‘Domestication’ of th e ST (Schleiermacher in Venuti, 2008, p.18), which is not in line with Paul’s description of ‘a good literary translation’ (2009, p. 55). ‘Repetition’ of Camembert and Roquefort, which appear in the ST as part of an amusing tale between two of the characters who are trying to recall the fable The Fox and the Crow (ST, pp. 45-48, TT, p. 34), would clearly correspond with Paul’s ideal of allowing the target reader to personally experience the ST world (2009, p.55), however, it may lead to a lack of understanding due to the nature of the target audience who probably do not have knowledge of such delicacies as Camembert or Roquefort. In the fable by Aesop the crow has a piece of cheese in its beak (Crow and the Fox, n.d.) and in the ST the two boys are arguing over whether this piece of cheese is Camembert or Roquefort: â€Å"[†¦] d’un corbeau qui tenait dans son bec un roquefort.[†¦]  Ã‚ «Ã‚  Mais non, a dit Alceste, c’à ©tait un camembert.  Ã‚ » (ST, pp. 45-48) [of a crow who had in his beak a roquefort [†¦] â€Å"but no, said Alceste, it was a camembert†] ‘Limited universalization’ choosing a more general French cheese, or ‘Naturalization’ using an English cheese, could solve this problem, however, the next remark made by one of the boys highlights the need for an understanding of the CSI’s treatment in the ST and how this affects the choice of strategies (1996, p. 69-70):  «Ã‚  Pas du tout, a dit Rufus, le camembert, le corbeau il n’aurait pas pu le tenir dans son bec, à §a coule et puis à §a sent pas bon  !  Ã‚ » (ST, p. 48) [Not at all, said Rufus, the camembert, the crow would not be able to hold it in his beak, it runs, and then it doesn’t smell good!] Bell opts for ‘Repetition’ in the TT which is one of the only times that she uses a ‘Conservation’ strategy (1996, pp. 61-62) and for this reason the CSIs feel out of place within a TT that has, for the most part, been domesticated. This observation underlines the need for an equal balance in the use of ‘Conservation’ and ‘Substitution’ strategies when translating CSIs. The possible use of the ‘Conservation’ strategies ‘Extratextual’ and ‘Intratextual gloss’ (Tab. 1) emerged when translating the CSI in the form the job title ‘le surveillant’. ‘Le surveillant’ is a term ‘restricted to the source culture’ (Aixel, 1996, p. 56) and, at the time of Le Petit Nicolas, it was an adult in charge of study and discipline (nowadays a ‘surveillant’ is more likely to be a fellow student and not in charge of discipline equivalent to a monitor or prefect in a British school). As there is no linguistic equivalent in the target language this poses a problem, which could be overcome for the translator wanting to keep an element of the SC in the TT by using such ‘Conservation’ strategies: â€Å"monsieur Dubon, le surveillant, nous a conduit en classe† (ST, p. 23) â€Å"Mr Dubon, the surveillant (the person in charge of study and discipline in a school), led us into the classroom† (My translation using ‘Extratextual gloss’) â€Å"Mr Dubon, who is the school’s surveillant in charge of discipline, led us into the classroom† (My translation using ‘Intratextual gloss’) These approaches conserve the CSI in the TT; however, they interrupt the flow of the text and are therefore not ideal options for literary translation. This draws attention to a need for the translator to decide between which is more important: the fluidity of the TT or the preservation of the cultural elements present in the ST. Analysis of the TT has shown that, as with the Christian names, Bell opts to maintain the flow of the TT and chooses ‘Naturalization’ here using ‘one of the other teachers’ (TT, p. 17). While this does not interrupt the flow of the text, it is not correct and does lead to some confusion as to why their class teacher allows ‘one of the other teachers’ to constantly interrupt lessons and discipline her pupils. The nickname for the ‘surveillant’ in Le Petit Nicolas is ‘Le Bouillon’ a type of broth usually made with meat and vegetables like a stew. It may be possible to use the ‘Conservation’ strategy of ‘Linguistic (non-cultural) translation’ (Tab. 1) for ‘Le Bouillon’ renaming it ‘stew’, however, what Aixel terms as ‘intratextual’ factors relating to this CSI, namely how the CSI is treated within the ST itself such as its cultural consideration, its significance and replication will mould how it is dealt with in translation (1996, pp 69-70); the reason why the boys use this nickname would make a CSI translated using ‘Linguistic (non-cultural) translation’ confusing for the target reader: â€Å"On l’appelle comme à §a, parce qu’il dit tout le temps :  «Ã‚  Regardez-moi dans les yeux  Ã‚ », et dans le bouillon il y a des yeux.† (ST, p. 23) [one calls him like that because he says all the time ‘look me in the eyes’, and in stew there are eyes] This reason is quite clearly culturally specific; it refers to the fat in the broth that gathers in circles on top of the water, which in French culture are seen as ‘eyes’. As this is not something that the target reader would instantly think of, it is not possible to use any of Aixel’s ‘Conservation’ strategies here without having to include a lengthy and disruptive explanation within the TT. In line with Bell’s other translation decisions for names, the terms have been ‘naturalised’ and the CSI has become ‘Old Spuds’, which allows the reason to remain the same as in the ST albeit with the reader enjoying a differing mental image. While ‘Naturalization’ can be seen to have gone against the ideal of a ‘good literary translation’ in domesticating the CSI, it is sometimes a necessity in order to preserve as much of the content of ST as possible. Another challenging CSI is a confluence of two of the above themes in Le Petit Nicolas, namely food and culture. ‘le goà »ter’ (an after-school snack usually given at 4pm) is a ritualistic snack that forms part of the French way of life and should not be confused with the evening meal, which is served much later than in the UK. For this reason one could use a ‘Conservation’ strategy such as ‘Intratextual gloss’ (Tab. 1) however, as previously discussed this strategy impedes the flow of literary texts and therefore the ‘Substitution’ strategy ‘Absolute universalization’ (Tab. 2) may be a better option:  «Ã‚  j’ai pas envie d’à ªtre en retard pour le goà »ter  ! (ST, p. 37) â€Å"I don’t want to be late for our after-school snack which is usually given at 4pm!† (my translation using ‘intratextual gloss’) â€Å"I don’t want to be late for snack-time!† (my translation using ‘Absolute universalization’) Interestingly, Bell has again employed the ‘Substitution’ strategy ‘Naturalization’ to translate this CSI (1996, p. 63): ‘I don’t want to be late for tea!’ (TT, p.27) While this option may have been suitable when the translation was published, it would now lead the target reader to believe that the children are having their evening meal. The ‘Substitution’ strategy of ‘Deletion’ (Tab. 2) is preserved for CSIs that are considered â€Å"unacceptable on ideological or stylistic grounds† (Aixel, p. 64). Aixel states that the â€Å"nature of the CSI† in terms of any pre-established translations it may have, its transparency, its ideological status and what culture it refers to all influence how it is treated in translation (1996, pp. 68-69); an area in the ST that this would be considered is within the story Djodjo regarding the English student (ST, pp 59-65). On being introduced to the English student George the French boys notice his teeth and comments on them: â€Å"Il a souri et nous avons vu qu’il a des tas de dents terribles.  «Ã‚  Le veinard, a dit Alceste, [†¦] avec des dents comme à §a, il doit mordre des drà ´les de morceaux  !  Ã‚ » (ST, p. 59) [he smiled and we saw that he had loads of awful/huge teeth. â€Å"Lucky thing, said Alceste [†¦] with teeth like that must be able to eat lots of things!†] This stereotypical image of poor English dental care is specific to the SC and may offend the target audience if it were to be kept in the TT. If Kelly’s opinion in her work on the ideological implications of translation, that the translator â€Å"she should be aware of the pitfalls of stereotypical images, and attempt to avoid them† is to be adhered to then ‘Deletion’ would be an appropriate strategy here (1998, p. 63). However, this strategy involves major changes to the ST and places the importance of target-audience views above that of the message of the ST and should only be used if the translator sees no other working solution. Analysis of the TT shows that Bell also uses ‘Deletion’ for this CSI and goes further in changing the CSI by using ‘Autonomous creation’ – changing the name of the student to a Dutch name, and thus his nationality from English to Dutch (1996, p.64). Le Petit Nicolas gives us a wide range of CSI’s in action and permits the evaluation of Aixel’s strategies in parochial areas such as naming conventions, cuisine and social structures and stereotypes. All of these challenge and inevitably force a course of action and stylistic choice from the translator. The strategies employed in Le Petit Nicolas have not always produced the best fit or proved the most enduring, e.g. ‘chocolate croissants’, but they clearly show that translation is an art not a science as indeed it should be in the realm of literary translation.  Ã‚   ; I It is often factors outside of the ST that will have a bearing of the efficacy of each strategy.   The analysis of the items of cultural significance and the strategies used to translate them in the essay epitomises the quintessential tensions of translation. While it can be helpful that translation theorists such as Aixel create models for translation that should be followed a priori, it is often not the case that these models can be taken off the shelf and applied to all translations. Sometimes to coin a business expression the real test comes when ‘the rubber hits the road’ and the need for pragmatic responses to CSIs gives Bell and all involved in translation a raison d’à ªtre and a place that currently cannot be filled easily by mechanistic rule sets. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alleyne, R. (2008) Custard Cream is New Entry in Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The Telegraph. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from website telegraph.co.uk/news/2235642/Custard-Cream-is-new-entry-in-Concise-Oxford-English-Dictionary.html Aixà ¨la, J.F. (1996). Culture-specific Items in Translation. In R. lvarez and M. C.-. Vidal, eds. Translation, Power, Subversion (pp.52-78). [Electronic version]. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Baker, M. (1992). In other words: A coursebook on translation. London: Routledge Hatim, B. Mason, I. (1997) The Translator as Communicator. [Electronic version]. London: Routledge Kelly, D. 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