Translating "secondary" words in the Works Cited/Bibliography section
Thread poster: agosto
agosto
agosto
El Salvador
Local time: 04:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Nov 19, 2020

I'm translating an academic article in the humanities from English to Spanish that cites works in both languages but mostly works in Spanish. The citations are in MLA format. My question is whether I should translate the "secondary" words in the Works Cited section, for instance the names of the months, words like "and", "print" or "web". Here is an example:

Mackenbach, Werner, and Alexandra Ortiz Wallner. “(De)formaciones: violencia y narrativa en Centroamérica.” Iberoameri
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I'm translating an academic article in the humanities from English to Spanish that cites works in both languages but mostly works in Spanish. The citations are in MLA format. My question is whether I should translate the "secondary" words in the Works Cited section, for instance the names of the months, words like "and", "print" or "web". Here is an example:

Mackenbach, Werner, and Alexandra Ortiz Wallner. “(De)formaciones: violencia y narrativa en Centroamérica.” Iberoamericana 8.32 (2008): 81-97. Print.

I would be inclined to translate it to (translation capitalized):

Mackenbach, Werner, Y Alexandra Ortiz Wallner. “(De)formaciones: violencia y narrativa en Centroamérica.” Iberoamericana 8.32 (2008): 81-97. IMPRESO.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:54
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@agosto Nov 20, 2020

Usually, that’s what I do when translating into Portuguese, unless I have been told by my client to leave it as it is and to translate only the word Bibliography (it has happened many a time).

 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 04:54
Dutch to English
+ ...
Don't translate citations Nov 20, 2020

I would not recommend translating the citations. If the article is in English, the reader should know that. At most, you could insert a translation of the title in square brackets. The word 'and' can be easily replaced by '&'. The word 'print is superfluous' and, I believe, has been eliminated in the latest edition of MLA. In any case, there is no reason to capitalize it.

neilmac
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Ask Nov 20, 2020

I would ask the client what they want. Often they just say leave it.

You can easily lose days, even whole months, of your life making bibliographies consistent. Imagine if it was all in vain...

If someone doesn't know the word "and", they're not going to read the articles anyway.


neilmac
 


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Translating "secondary" words in the Works Cited/Bibliography section







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