Vol/51 No/1 2012FEATURESChristophe Declercqlooks at thechallenges for translators working inthe field of anti-doping textsAlthough it is generally accepted thatspecialised translation requires thoroughtopical knowledge and, preferably, a networkof specialists, few specific fields offer as manycross-cultural sensitivities as doping. Themost important body of texts that involvesdoping as a subject are scientific reports andresearch reports on substances withperformance-enhancing capability. In thecontrolled environment of research anddevelopment (R&D) labs, both the researchprocess (including medical reports andspecialised papers) and the researchoutcome (ie, the product itself), as well as itsdocumentation, are written in a specificscientific style. Representations of R&D outcomes must be accurate as well as truthful;1unsupported opinions are to be excludedand any language that could cause apotential reader to question the authority ofthe scientist or the validity of the researchshould be avoided. Pharmaceutical-scientifictexts are, by default, disinterested and notemotive, as can be seen in the following e-publication on CERA, a substance I willdiscuss in more detail later on:Stimulation of erythropoiesis by thethird-generation erythropoietin drug CERA, a pegylated derivative of epoetin ?, has provided valuabletherapeutic benefits to patients sufferingfrom renal anaemia, but has also rapidly found application as an illicitperformance-enhancing strategy inendurance sports.2Translating a text such as this would notpose too many difficulties, as typicaltranslation solutions, for example addition,are already included in the source text. Thetranslator is also helped by the fact thatspecialised texts are, more often than not,informative rather than instrumental.Ethics and the mediaThe wider media are also eager to tap intothe world of doping. Many arguments havebeen printed in the media to defend oraccuse an athlete who is under suspicion butdid not test positive. An article from TheTimes, which, at first sight, seems perfectlydisinterested, reads as follows:Ricardo Ricco [sic], Saunier Duval's Italian rider, has tested positive forerythropoietin (EPO), according to theFrench national anti-doping agency (AFLD).The 24-year-old who has won twomountain stages in this year's race, testedpositive for the banned substance CERA(Continuous Erythropoietin ReceptorActivator) after a urine test.3But did Riccò test positive right after thosemountain stages? If so, the statementexplicitation is truthful rather than emotive. Ifnot, the addition is biased and the translatorhas to take that into account. Intratextualethics then come into play as to whether ornot to keep the bias, rectify the statement oradd a translator's note.The text on Riccò is typical of a newspapertext on doping issues in that acronyms areexplained or paraphrased, bringing into ageneral text some more specialisedterminology and clarifying information, which is seemingly additional but possiblymore comment-like. This is not popular scientific writing only.The text assumes that the reader has aworking knowledge of how EPO and CERAact, both as drugs and as doping products. On dopeTranslators will oftenbe confronted by amixture of styles andregisters: legalese,slang, technical jargon FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist19© ISTOCKPHOTO

www.iol.org.ukFEATURESIn addition to a level of specialisation,journalistic texts on doping use regularlycombine the approach of popular scientificwriting with procedures also known totranslators, such as addition, paraphrase,explicitation and the translator's note.When science marries lawAnother feature of texts on doping is of a legalnature. Translation involving material for courtcases, documentation for sports associationsor national sports federations, and contractsfor athletes (which usually contain stipulationsconcerning the consequences of gettingcaught using performance-enhancing drugs ormethods) will have more in common withlegal translation than with translatingjournalistic or scientific texts. In a more legal take on doping issues,translators will often be confronted by amixture of styles and registers: 'the legaleseof the professional lawyers, the everydaylanguage of the witnesses and litigants', the slang of the athletes and 'the oftenextremely technical jargon of the reports' and testimonies.4Translators need a solid workingknowledge of the legal systems concerningthe field of doping use and anti-dopingviolations of both the source and targetculture. Furthermore, they are often out on alimb, vulnerable in their choices regardingattributing equivalence as well as nuances inthe translation (take the possibly emotiveaddition in the Riccò text). Luckily, for that reason, translations used inofficial and legal documents are very oftenaccompanied by labels such as 'unofficialtranslation' or 'provisional translation'.5Notonly do translators of texts on dopingbecome invisible, but they also gain a moreredundant pivotal language stature, insteadof a key mediator one.A 'divorce' between culturesWith disinterested yet legally sensitive textson doping, the possibility of translatorsoffering phrases that are not entirelyequivalent seems too troublesome for manyofficial bodies to deal with. The main anti-doping agency in the world, WADA (WorldAnti-Doping Agency), publishes a glossary ofdoping terminology in various languages.However, the glossary clearly stipulates: 'TheEnglish version shall prevail in the event ofany conflict of interpretation.'6Despite all theefforts to design an elaborate glossary ondoping in Chinese, French, German,Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish,the most important organisation in the worldin combating doping use restricts itself to thesafe haven of English if the need arises. English then acts as a 'get out clause'. Assuch, the translation moves from a merelyprovisional intermediate step in thecommunication chain to a near redundantone, an act of assimilation only. Distributionis no longer essential, let alone publication. Both WADA and the French Minister ofHealth, Youth Affairs and Sport took part inthe UCI's 2007 Conference on Doping inCycling. The language to prevail in case ofpossible misunderstanding was not Englishbut French. This was quite a move away fromthe front-end multilingualism of the event,with a monolingual legal core maintainingEnglish as the one key language. If a transparent language policy is in place,establishing a cross-organisationaland cross-cultural anti-doping fightmight very well be flawed at itscommunication and informationcore. Proof of this can be found inthe fact that, although it providesa 20-page bilingual French-English glossary, the UCI doesnot specify what happens in the case of a conflict.Also, the UCI's cyclingregulations elaborateon the procedure ofthe analysis of Bsamples, stating:7The opening and analysis ofthe B Sample may be attendedby the Rider, an expertdesignated by him or hisNational Federation, arepresentative of the Rider'sNational Federation, a representative of theUCI and a translator.Other than that this profile suits aninterpreter more than a translator, it must beemphasised that the translator's task shouldnot be taken lightly, as many possibleconflicts of interpretation abound. Flirting with disasterWhereas definitions of scientific and/ormedical concepts traditionally effectuate aframework of confidence within whichtranslators feel comfortable to work, theabsence of a definition of what in factconstitutes doping convolutes the entire field even further. The lexicographical issue of not being able to pin down what doping effectively is,is also demonstrated in the often conflictingapproaches of official anti-doping bodies andin different national approaches. What usedto be a threshold for an athlete's haematocrit(red blood cells count) and was stillconsidered 'healthy' in cross-country skiing,would trigger doping cases in cycling. One well-known Spanish cyclist implicatedin the Operacion Puerto doping ring wascleared by the Spanish judiciary due to lackof evidence but convicted on the basis of thesame material by the Italian OlympicCommittee (CONI). The rider was bannedfrom competing in Italy but went on to winthe 2009 Vuelta d'Espana.8Besides the specialised terminology andtranslation procedures used in any branch ofscience or medicine, such as paraphrase andaddition, texts on performance-enhancingdrugs are characterised by the incrementalencyclopaedism of the genre. Arguably the major doping trend of thelast two decades concerns blood doping, inparticular blood boosting drugs known aserythropoietins, such as EPO, Aranesp andCERA. These products constitute three'generations' of erythropoietin, whichstimulates the production of oxygen-carryingred blood cells. The difference between Translators are oftenout on a limb,vulnerable in theirchoices regardingequivalence© ISTOCKPHOTO