Turó de la Rovira

Having completed the reproduction of the MUHBA’s information leaflet I began to read up on how best to go about creating the Wikipedia page. On starting this project I hoped to use Wikipedia’s in-house translation tools to quickly translate the Spanish Turó de la Rovira page into English. However due to restrictions on new accounts I didn’t have access to the translation suite which is still in Beta.

What I did instead was copy the code used to compose the Spanish page and paste it into wikipedia’s sandbox. From there I changed some formatting and replaced the Spanish text with information from my translation of the information leaflet as well as information from some of the sources I used for said translation. The page must now be submitted for review by other wikipedia users. Seeing as this is my first attempt at creating a wikipedia page I am unsure as to how long that process will take and how strict they are in their reviewing. I am not certain if the page will be approved prior to the deadline for the submission of this project but I remain hopeful. Because of this I have again included some screen captures of my work.

The development of the page, as with every wikipedia article, will be an ongoing process as I hope to add further information and citations as I come across them.

This post will be edited with any updates as the wikipedia page evolves. Here is a link to the current draft of the wikipedia page.

 

Editing and producing a PDF document isn’t something I had done before and I must say I enjoyed the challenge. I first converted the file from PDF into ePub format using Calibre ebook management software. In Calibre I split the document into image files, a CSS file and a html file. I began replacing the catalan text in the html file with my english translation but when I saved and refreshed the document there appeared to be a disconnect between the html file and the cascading stylesheet. Restricted by time constraints I decided to abandon Calibre and this approach.

Instead I opened the PDF in Gimp, a free Adobe Photoshop alternative. The idea was to place text boxes over the original text but again the learning curve was too steep for the amount of time I had to complete the task.

Finally I opened Keynote, the Apple version of PowerPoint. This allowed me to do exactly what I wanted.  I screencapped each page of the source document and added the as the background for a slide each in Keynote. This allowed me to overlay text boxes as if I was making a normal presentation. Once I had the translated text placed over the original content I then exported the file as a PDF.

 

I’d definitely use this method when doing similar projects in the future but with one change. Instead of saving the screen captures as JPEG files I’ll instead use the TIFF format to negate any loss in quality from the original document. There is a slightly noticeable difference in quality, especially in the photos and other graphics caused by compression when saving as JPEG files. Other than that, practice makes perfect and thanks to my discoveries during this project, the process should prove a lot smoother the next time around.

The current draft of the translated leaflet can be found here

In this translation project I began by translating the text very literally into a word document. I did this by using a mixture of my own vocabulary as well as using https://www.softcatala.org/traductor/ and http://www.diccionari.cat/. Once I had that complete I revised it, making it flow better and more suitable to be read in English while also being careful not to stray too far from the meaning of the original source text. I did this through re-ordering sentence structures and also using a thesaurus to find similar words that flow better in the target language. This was difficult and I’m still not 100% happy with how the finished translation reads, but I do believe that it’s as close as I’m going to get. 

 

The final translation can be found here

 

While I knew a lot about the subject from my many visits and reading the information plaques scattered around the site, I did require a number of secondary sources in Catalan, Spanish and English to provide context in order for me to accurately translate the leaflet from Catalan to English. These sources ranged from tourist websites to history texts and encyclopaedias: 

1. http://museuhistoria.bcn.cat/en/node/662 Before starting the translation I did a broad web search for any sources referring to Turó de la Rovira. The first source I used was a page on the MUHBA website which was in english. This page provides a brief overview of the location as a heritage site. This webpage its self is easily identifiable as being a translation into english as it has some linguistic anomalies and some strange turns of phrase.
2. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tur%C3%B3_de_la_Rovira#EB2 Also before starting the translation I read the Spanish language Wikipedia page for Turó de la Rovira. I used this to give me further historical information on the hill, allowing me to approach the translation of the Catalan document with a broader understanding of what was likely to be discussed. I was also able to use the wikipedia page’s bibliography to gather other sources that may be useful as the translation process progressed.
3. During the translation process some instances arose where words were not directly translatable to English and needed further research, “fonolocalitzador” being a good example. This I found through extensive googling as being a form of listening apparatus used to detect war planes during WW1 and up until WW2 when radar came into being. My searches brought me to both a Catalan language site detailing the city’s Civil War air defences(http://www.btv.cat/lab/datalab/ca/projecte/la-defensa-antiaeria/) and an English language site on the evolution of acoustic location (http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/ear/ear.htm). Both of these sources I used to decide on wording for the translated text.
4. In another instance of not understanding the source text completely, and literal translation being no good, I once again found myself using a secondary source to help me out. The sentence I was trying to translate was regarding the end of use of the location as an anti-aircraft battery but I wasn’t certain what the original author was trying to say. I used my own copy of The Spanish Civil War. A Very Short Introduction by Helen Graham to reference the dates and what was happening in Barcelona at the time. I managed to glean enough information to construct a sentence that hopefully preserves some of the original meaning.

Entre el 25 i el 26 de gener del 1939,en el moment de la retirada, l’exèrcit republicà va inutilitzar les peces d’artilleria, que acabada la guerra van romandre durant un temps al cim del Turó.

While this is a project for a university course, its subject is close to my heart. On Erasmus in 2015/16 Turó de la Rovira, known to ourselves and other erasmus students at the time as ‘Bunkers’, was first on our list to bring each and every visitor we had.

Its views of the city are absolutely spectacular and the atmosphere is very relaxed, and very popular among locals winding down their weekend or celebrating the end of another week of work or study. It really is one of my favourite places on Earth.

As well as it’s sentimental value, there is an apparent lack of english language information on both the location it’s self and the events that occurred there. The best English language source I found on the web is a page on the MUHBA website. The page it’s self gives a brief overview of the site, focussing on recent renovations. Other information on Turó de la Rovira can be found on tourist websites, but these focus on its views rather than giving any historical context. Towards the bottom of the MUHBA website however is a link to a PDF file for a leaflet in Catalan. The leaflet delves into the historical background of the hill to a degree that doesn’t exist in english language resources. In starting this project I hoped that through through translating this leaflet and creating a wikipedia page for Turó de la Rovira I could improve the quality of english language information on the spot, in turn allowing more visitors to appreciate its fascinating heritage as well as its stunning physical beauty.

For this project I plan on Translating from Catalan into English this information leaflet for Turó de la Rovira, one of the most scenic and historic locations in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia. The function of the translated text is to give historical information on Turó de la Rovira which is currently unavailable to English speakers. While the translation its self will not be published, it will help me in the creation of the English language wikipedia page. Being such a popular platform, Wikipedia should work in increasing awareness of the location its self as well as it’s historical significance to the city of Barcelona.

 

This process will involve at least three steps:

1. Read leaflet and gather supplementary sources
2. Translate the leaflet into English
3. Use translated leaflet to create Wikipedia article.

 

1. Finding and studying sources.

Finding sources has been proving difficult thus far. There exist very few English language sources online, most being touristic guides. In order to read academic texts to serve as background reading for my translation I will have to search more in depth, taking Spanish language and Catalan language sources into account.

 

2. Translating the information leaflet

Translating from Catalan as opposed to Spanish should be quite challenging, however having studied the Catalan language and culture, as well as having lived in Barcelona for over 10 months, I believe I possess sufficient cultural context to carry out the translation. I will use online resources such as softcatala.org to assist with the translation

 

3. Composing the wikipedia article

While there already exists a Spanish language wikipedia article on the subject matter, wikipedia have restricted their translation suite to accounts more than 30 days old and that have more than 5000 edits on English language articles. This makes life a little more difficult for me as I’ll have to format the article myself. The Spanish article is beneficial however, providing a template to model my article off as well as providing me with more sources for background reading.