Technical Translation and the Quebec Language Charter
While a sudden wind gust unfurls into the already glacial winter air of Montreal, Canada, a boutique illuminates the open-sign to the respite of passers-by. Full of hippie memorabilia, the track playing through the well ensconced speakers is Signs by the Five Man Electrical Band. A throwback to 1970, the Canadian band’s lyrics deploring signs and regulations everywhere certainly speaks to present days, particularly in a linguistic context. In fact, 1977 was already a turning point when Quebec passed the Charter of the French Language, a move to make French official and promote it over English. For the proponents of language diversity and the opponents of over-regulation alike, technical translation must be accepted as a critical market in the region of maple syrup and Fleur de Lis.
Since 1867 the constitution in Quebec had mandated the use of French in administration and legal systems. However under chapter VII of the Charter, a dramatic set of rules was to concern businesses. Signs and adverts that are displayed for general audiences seem like mundane translation assignments, but not when referring to a product, “every inscription on a product, on its container or on its wrapping, or on a document or object supplied with it, including the directions for use and the warranty certificates, must be drafted in French”. This is highlighted by the main industries of Quebec that harmonize with some of the main bulleted industries in the Alpha Omega Translations brochure, namely avionics, hydraulics, medical, optics, and telecommunications.
The Office québécois de la langue française (OLF) established in 1978 listed similar industries along with general administration as ones in need of a terminological database. To achieve terminological diffusion, the office engaged in restructuring from a system of research committees and business workshops to one of linguistic specialists, yet the expected results never came to be. The main issue was the lack of staff, and their inability to provide specific enough terminology, ultimately benefiting general subjects, such as administration and management, the most. Nevertheless, the main goals had always been barring English for technological words in the absence of a French word, and next, standardization. Yet standardization is too gradual to keep up with the fast-paced world of high-tech, and this is where the hippie metaphor has scarcely any arguments, except in the case of signs and regulations. If they were frightened in 1970, rules are now enforced with what some call “a language police”. Indeed, last year’s brand new regulation can only pave the way for language inspections and fines to shoot upwards.
The need for technical translation is beyond the terminology. It is also the placement of these words into a cogent context, especially if the documents have a wide audience. This is certainly the case for Hydro Quebec, a hydroelectric energy provider that is provincial government property since 1944. The audiences for documents include the politicians debating over nationalization, the consumers, and the international businessmen that see enormous potential in hydroelectric technology. With electric cars, wind turbines, and other green energy projects booming, both a technical and coherent text is in high demand. While the first half of the 20th century might have seen the “grande noirceur” (great darkness) limiting the technology industry , there is certainly a dynamic trend in the 21st, with Quebec accounting for 20% of the Canadian GDP, and equivalent to somewhere between Norway and Denmark. For the big employers like Health, Aerospace, and IT to the small employers like Optics and Metallurgy there is an increasingly francophone population to appeal to as well as a rise in English-speaking and Chinese trading partners. Technical translation is as important as ever, and remember, before going out the door, there is a tie-die snow suit just begging to be tried on.
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Category: Business Translation
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