University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH POLYSEMY IN TRANSLATION: A FRENCH-ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF AN EXCERPT OF HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? JENNIFER A. D. DONKOH (10404897) UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF: DR COSMAS BADASU THIS PROJECT IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE MA IN TRANSLATION DEGREE APRIL 2021 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I, the undersigned, do hereby declare that this project is my original work and that no part of it has been submitted in part or whole to the University of Ghana or to any other University for the award of a degree to my knowledge. Ideas, definitions and contributions of others as well as specific quotations used in the research work have been duly cited. I am solely responsible for any short comings that may be found in this work which I submit with the approval of my supervisor. Signature of student: ……………………………………………………………. 16 April 2021 Date: …………………………………………………………………………….. We hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the work herein have been carried out according to the laid down procedure for the supervision of projects by the University. Supervisor: …………………………………………….. Date: ……16 April 2021………………… ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION For my mother, Margaret, for never failing to make my dreams come true. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank God for constantly granting me his unfailing grace during the entire duration of this project. I am equally grateful to my family and friends for their constant prayers, support and proof- reading; Nana Anima, Afi, Ephraim and Barbara, thank you. My sincere appreciation goes to all lecturers of the MA Translation programme for their dedication, and especially to my supervisor, Dr Badasu, for his constant professionalism, sound advice and willingness to help. I am also thankful to Dr Kuto and Dr Imorou, whose encouragement went a long way to help me through this journey. I would like to finally thank Joycelyn Armah, whose eagerness to help has inspired me in many ways. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh RESUME L'objectif de ce travail de recherche est de mener une étude approfondie sur la polysémie comme pierre d'achoppement en traduction, en utilisant le texte : HOMME/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? comme étude de cas. Ce texte source, qui provient du site internet du Centre Pour la Recherche Économique et ses Applications (CEPREMAP), a été traduit en anglaise. Toutes les difficultés rencontrées lors de la traduction ont été documentées et analysées. Cependant, l'immense problème d'ambiguïté que la polysémie pose en traduction a été le sujet principal de cette étude. Des exemples clés tirés du texte source ont servi de base pour expliquer la façon de surmonter le problème de la polysémie en traduction. Les mots polysémiques sont ambigus parce qu'ils ont plusieurs significations similaires et sont donc difficiles à traduire. On a cependant découvert que la meilleure façon de désambiguïser un polysème est de le traduire dans son propre contexte. Mots clés : traduction, polysémie, équivalence, contexte, ambiguïté v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The aim of this project is to conduct a detailed study of polysemy as a stumbling block in translation, using the text: HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? as a case study. This source text which was sourced from the website of Centre Pour la Recherche Économique et ses Applications (CEPREMAP) website has been translated into English. All difficulties encountered during this translation have been documented and analysed. However, the immense problem of ambiguity which polysemy presents to translation was the main subject of this study and key examples and instances from the source text have been used as examples on how to overcome the problem of polysemy in translation. Polysemous words are ambiguous because they have several similar meanings, and are thus difficult to translate. It was however discovered that the best way to disambiguate a polyseme is to translate it within its own context. Key words: translation, polysemy, equivalence, context, ambiguity v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table of Contents Contents DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to Study ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Significance of the study .............................................................................................. 4 1.4 Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 5 1.7 Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 7 1.8 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 12 1.9 Organisation of Work ................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.0 Introduction to the Source Text ............................................................................... 13 2.1 CORPORA ALIGNMENT ....................................................................................... 15 TRANSLATION OF SOURCE TEXT INTO TARGET LANGUAGE ................................. 15 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 49 3.0 Polysemy ..................................................................................................................... 49 3.1 Translating Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................. 57 CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 59 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………………..…59 4.1 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 59 4.2 Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 60 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………..62 WEBSITE REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 64 ONLINE DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION TOOLS .................................................. 65 FRENCH ABBREVIATIONS AND THEIR MEANINGS ..................................................... 66 ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS AND THEIR MEANINGS .................................................... 66 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................. 67 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh List of Abbreviations SL – Source Language ST – Source Text TL- Target Language TT- Target Text vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to Study Language is the tool which members of a community use to communicate with one another. Since communication is an essential part of socialisation, we have always sought better and easier ways of communication and in doing so have studied language on a scientific level. This scientific study of language is referred to as Linguistics. Though Linguistics is an age- old discipline, many aspects of it are still subject to great debate. A linguistic phenomenon that is still being discussed is the phenomenon of Polysemy. The term polysemy is derived from two Greek words, poly and sem, which mean ‘many’ and ‘meaning’ respectively (Kovács, 2011). This gives a loose meaning of polysemy as the existence of more than one meaning for a particular word. For Falkum & Vicente (2015, p.1), polysemy is “…the phenomenon whereby a single word form is associated with two or several related senses…”. Another term in Linguistics also refers to the existence of more than one meaning for a word; that is Homonymy. These two terms are however not to be used interchangeably. Authors like Falkum & Vicente (2015) and Kovács (2011) posit that polysemy and homonymy differ in the sense that polysemous words have etymologically and semantically related meanings, while homonymous words have several unrelated meanings. In fact, homonymous words are often documented as different lexemes, while polysemous words are documented as variations of the same lexeme. These distinctions were not always widely considered or even accepted in the history of the study of polysemy. Earlier studies on polysemy did not deem it necessary to distinguish the phenomenon from homonymy or even monosemy. Aristotle was even famously critical of polysemy, 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh deeming it an unnecessarily confusing phenomenon (Kovács, 2011). Nevertheless, with the advent of the structural synchronic approach to Linguistics, linguists, like Leech (1981) and Lipka (1992), studied polysemy comparatively with other phenomena like homonymy. Currently, scholars have studied polysemy from another angle: the storage of polysemous words in the lexicon. This subject is being studied in order to understand how native speakers distinguish polysemy from homonymy or monosemy. (Falkum & Vicente, 2015). This echoes the theories of other linguists like Deane (1988) and Lakoff (1987), who have suggested that polysemy is a phenomenon of Cognitive Linguistics: “There is every reason to believe that the existence and properties of polysemy follow directly from these characteristics of human cognition” (Deane, 1988, p.325). This means that polysemy can be studied as a manifestation of the functioning of the human brain, which is essentially the underlying theory of Cognitive Linguistics. The availability of different related interpretations and meanings in the human brain and the brain’s ability to choose the most appropriate meaning makes polysemy a very important aspect of Cognitive Linguistics as well as Psychology and Philosophy. This is what Evans & Green (2006, p.16) refer to as “speaker intuitions”. Thus, native speakers have the innate ability to ascribe the most appropriate meaning to a word or phrase, despite the other possible interpretations it may have. Still, for translators especially, polysemy is quite complex “…and poses special problems in … translation.” (Kovács, 2011, p.3). This implies that each isolated word in a sentence can have several meanings. This gives rise to ambiguity of the sentence, which creates a problem for the translator, whose sole purpose is to transfer meaning in order to facilitate communication between interlocutors who do not speak the same language. 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Lexical ambiguity caused by polysemy is rather difficult to solve. A translator runs the risk of ascribing the wrong meaning to a polysemous word or phrase in the Source Text (ST) and ultimately representing it with the wrong word or phrase in the Target Text (TT). Even so, it is the job of the translator to compare all available equivalents of a word in the TT in order to make the most appropriate choice that conveys the meaning the author of the ST intended and to avoid ambiguity. This is the reason why Larbaud (1946, p.82) refers to a translator as a “…peseur de mots…” […one who weighs words…] my translation]. This also makes reference to the frequency of polysemy and the risk of ambiguity in translation. Objectively, the best way for a translator to avoid ambiguity caused by polysemy is to define words within their context (Faniran, 2016). This paper seeks to show how the problem of polysemy can be handled in translation. Our ST, HOMMES/FEMMES: Une impossible égalité professionnelle, will be translated into English and we will discuss the problems presented by the phenomenon of polysemy and how we solved them. 1.2 Problem Statement According to Hurtado Albir (1990), meaning is primordial in translation. She explained that it is the one element in the ST that must remain unchanged. This is to ensure that the receiver of the TT will have the same meaning as the one in the ST. Authors do not combine words arbitrarily; they do it with a purpose of putting across a specific meaning. Consequently, for a translator to be faithful to the author, he or she must try as much as possible not to distort the meaning of the ST. However, for the sake of language economy, one word can have several related meanings, to prevent a situation of several referents for several similar concepts 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (Kovács, 2011; Schmidt, 2008). Polysemy makes it difficult for the translator to grasp the exact meaning of the text. Hence, he or she risks translating the wrong or watered- down meaning of a text because the intended message of the ST author is unclear. This is why polysemy is problematic for translators (Yennah, 2013). The existence of more than one meaning of a word creates ambiguity, which makes it difficult for the translator to determine its exact meaning in order to render it with the most appropriate equivalent in the TL. HOMME/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? is the text chosen as the subject of our study because it contains many polysemous words and so it is appropriate for this study. 1.3 Significance of the study The phenomenon of polysemy is still widely debated. There is a general consensus on the difficulty that polysemy and its resulting ambiguity causes for translators. (Catford, 1965; Faniran, 2016; Kovács, 2011). This study is significant because it aims to test the different theories in resolving the issue of polysemy and ambiguity in translation. Since the main goal of a translator is to produce as much as possible, the intent of the author, any cause of ambiguity is worthy of study. Since most linguists agree that most words are polysemous, this study’s contribution to the body of knowledge on polysemy in translation is important. Many instances of polysemy and lexical ambiguity are identified in the chosen text, which are carefully analysed for identification of the most appropriate Target Language equivalent. 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.4 Research Objectives 1.4.1 General Research Objectives. The main objective of this research is to translate HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? and to analyse all the translation problems encountered during the process. 1.4.2 Specific Objectives 1. To offer possible solutions to all translation problems encountered whilst paying special attention to polysemy. 2. To examine with the help of theories and literature review, the most prominent issue in the translation process of the text: polysemy. 3. To investigate the reasons why polysemy poses a problem in translation 4. To test the effectiveness of context in resolving the issue of polysemy. 1.5 Research Questions 1. How does polysemy affect translation? 2. How are polysemy and ambiguity linked? 3. How does one solve the issue of polysemy in translation? 4. How does one define the context of a word? 1.6 Theoretical Framework For this project, the translation of the source text and subsequent analysis of translation problems will be based on the following linguistic and translation theories and approaches. The first linguistic approach to be employed is that of Contrastive Linguistics. As explained by König (2012), Contrastive Linguistics seeks to compare the similarities and differences between two languages. A branch of Comparative Linguistics, Contrastive Linguistics is usually employed as a methodology for second language teaching and learning. It is however also relevant in translation. This is because the act of translation involves a constant comparison between the Source Language and the Target Language, in order to 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh produce a translation that retains the intent of the author while ensuring that the TT is socio- linguistically sound. This approach will therefore serve as the framework for this translation project. Again, we will be guided by the Interpretative Theory of Translation propounded by Seleskovitch & Lederer (1984), which proposes that translation involves three main successive steps: understanding, deverbalisation and re-expression (Herbulot, 2004). This theory explains that, in order for the translation process to be successful, the translator must possess the linguistic and socio-linguistic competencies to understand the message of the ST. Then, it is the translator’s duty to look beyond the words of the author to decode the core message; this is where deverbalisation occurs. Thus, equipped with the cultural and socio-linguistic knowledge of the Target Language, the translator re-expresses or interprets the message of the author in a manner tailored to the understand of the readers of the TT. Since the text is a technical text about a socio- cultural phenomenon in France, it is necessary that we first of all understand the key terms used in the source text to present the phenomenon and find their Target Language equivalents, where possible. Where such equivalents do not exist, we will work within the framework of this theory to ensure that the meaning of the text remains intact by employing other methods of translation. This theory is therefore very useful for this project. The Interpretative Theory of Translation is similar to the Textual Dimensional Approach (TDA). TDA focuses on three things, the ST, which contains the meaning, the Audience, which is the target of the message and the Message itself, which is the unit of information tailored for the audience (Nzuanke, 2015). TDA acknowledges that ambiguities can arise in translation and proposes that, to avoid this, the translator must be clearly aware of his or her target audience before beginning the process of translation so that, whilst focusing on retaining the intent of the author of the ST, he or she does not render incomprehensible message to the audience. It goes on to refer to the translation process as the ‘relay’. In 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh essence, the translation process simply involves a transfer of a previously conceptualized meaning from the Target Language into the Source Language. These three theories/approaches have one constant rule: whilst focusing on rendering the intent of the author from the ST to the TT, the translator should bear in mind that the one element that remains unchanged in translation is meaning. 1.7 Literature Review Here, we are going to analyse the views of various authors on polysemy in translation, which will subsequently serve as a guide for the analysis of translation problems. Why Are Some Words Polysemous? Many authors agree that polysemy makes translation difficult (Catford, 1965; Onuko, 2017; Raukko, 2006). Why then are most words polysemous? Schmidt (2008) believes that polysemy exists because the phonemes (distinct units of sound) of human language are limited. For this reason, people seldom create completely new words for different phenomena. They simply attach a new phenomenon to an already existing word with similar meaning. This is what is known as language economy. This analysis explains the reason why there is no shortage of polysemous words. The world is evolving and this evolution brings along with it, new concepts and phenomena that need to be named. It is hence easier to ascribe already existing words to new phenomena than to create one. Yet, technical words and genre-specific terminology often require neologism. Many other linguists believe that a more complex cognitive theory is at play when it comes to polysemy. Deane (1988) and Schmidt (2008) believe that polysemy is due, in part, to the phenomenon of “sense selection”. This means that the human brain selects the most appropriate meaning from the different available meanings of a word according to its context. This again means that, in theory, there is a distinct definition of each concept in the mind. These arguments by the authors are in line with what is known as the Sense 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Enumeration lexicon hypothesis (Falkum & Vicente, 2015). According to this model, the mind perceives each meaning of a polyseme as distinct and so ascribes it to different phonologically similar words. However, other opposing arguments to this theory exist. To Hurtado Albir (1990) and Yennah (2013), each word has a general or generic meaning that first comes to mind when the word is perceived; all other meanings of the word are related to it or depend on it, essentially as a subset. These suggestions are in line with what Falkum & Vicente (2015) refer to as the One Representation Hypothesis. This hypothesis implies that most words are usually a subset of “a single representation”. For a translator, it can be argued that both the Sense Enumeration Hypothesis and the One Representation Hypothesis are relevant and worth considering. Whether the wrong choice of polyseme can lead to the wrong choice of word equivalent as suggested by the Sense Enumeration hypothesis or cause ambiguity of meaning as suggested by the One Representation Hypothesis, both instances threaten to distort the intended meaning of the author and so should be avoided at all costs in order for the translator to relay the exact message of the author to the target audience. Polysemy is therefore clearly a problem for linguists. Since both Linguistics and Translation Disciplines are linked by virtue of their focus on language and its use (Baker, 1992), linguistic problems often become translation problems. Kovács (2011, p.5) rightly observes that “Lexical ambiguity resulting from polysemy…has … attracted the attention of translators for a long time”. A translator who seeks to master the craft should, therefore, endeavour to learn about linguistic phenomena as “Linguistics … can certainly offer translators valuable insights into the nature and function of language” (Baker, 1992, p.4). Hence the problem of polysemy is as much a translation problem as it is a linguistics problem. In translation, the recipient of the finished document is primarily the focus. A translated 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh text should read as naturally as possible to the native speaker of the TL. It is “…a process of substituting one text for another” (Catford, 1965, p. 1). However, this is not always easy. Catford (1965, p. 94), states that “Ambiguities arise from …polysemy of an SL [Source Language] item with no corresponding TL [Target Language] polysemy.” According to him, this is where “linguistic untranslatability arises”. How does a translator handle intended polysemy? Due to the fact that one word can have several related meanings, it is usually difficult for a translator to figure out the exact meaning of a particular word. He or she runs the risk of choosing an inappropriate equivalent or choosing the generic or literal equivalent that may, in the end, weaken or distort the meaning of the word, rendering the translation incorrect (Yennah, 2013). Boyarskaya (2019) posits that there are two types of ambiguity: intended and unintended ambiguity. According to him, authors and artists sometimes create ambiguity as a practice of their artistic liberty. Unintended ambiguity however occurs when the intended meaning of the author is not clear. Boyarskaya (2019, p.7) maintains therefore that "...ambiguity can …complicate the understanding of the message…” A translator should be aware of both types of ambiguity. Though it is not the priority in translation, a translator should do their best to conserve the intended ambiguity of the author, in order not to lose its intended effect. The consequences of unintended ambiguity could be as dire as a mistranslation, especially since sometimes the various senses of a word are equally probable in a sentence (Newmark, 1988). Polysemy creates ambiguity for native speakers too. Kovács (2011) states that sometimes native speakers struggle with identifying the exact context of a word and therefore disagree on meaning. In fact, Falkum & Vicente, (2015) argue that the theory of a near-infinite number of meanings per word may put a considerable strain on the cognitive processesof 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the human brain, as a sentence may contain several polysemous words. However, contexts are usually more apparent when conversations prolong, hence we can say ambiguity is seldom an issue for native speakers. This is not the case for translators who have to interpret the thoughts of the author without adding their own or softening its meaning. What is the solution to ambiguity caused by polysemy? Both Kovács (2011) and Faniran (2016) suggest that the key to disambiguating a polyseme is knowledge of the particular context of the word in question. In fact, Schmidt (2008) holds that the only way to understand a polysemous word is to put it in context. Context is defined as “…the interlevel relating grammar/lexis and situation…” of a particular word or expression (Catford, 1965, p.4). This means that, each word or expression fits within a particular situation which is conceptual, linguistics, and /or extra-linguistic, which is known as its context. Context, therefore, contributes to the overall meaning of the word. For Asher (2011), the overall meaning of the word is sometimes determined by other factors beyond the other words in the sentence containing the polysemous word. He posits that sometimes the entire discourse containing the polyseme also adds information that contributes to its meaning. This is the reason why it is important for translators to thoroughly read and understand the entire text before translation. Furthermore, it provides one element often taken for granted by native speakers of a language, which is specificity. Ambiguous words are essentially underspecified and too broad. When a word is considered within a context, it has a clear and specific meaning, and it is much easier to translate it into the TL. This corroborates Yennah’s (2013) take on the importance of context in translation. He theorised that translating a word out of context will lead to the ascription of the surface meaning of the word instead of the deeper, more specific and accurate meaning, essentially “killing” the intended meaning of the author. 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Consequently, a word translated out of context will lose the linguistic and metalinguistic qualities that make up its full meaning. Therefore, a translator who translates word- for - word is sure to distort the meaning of the ST. According to Yennah (2013), this is what separates an amateur translator from a professional one. From the analysis of the above literature on polysemy, ambiguity, and context, we glean that ambiguity must be avoided at all costs in translation except in cases where it is explicitly part of the stylistic nature of the text. Again, we see that the first major step in solving the issue of polysemy and hence avoiding unintended ambiguity is to ensure that the ST is well- read and understood. The next step is for the translator to clearly identify the intended audience of the TT, in order for him/her to reproduce the message in a way that is easy to grasp. Finally, whilst translating, translators should ensure that they do not consider words as isolated units of meaning in order not to produce a literal or word-for- word translation with essentially no meaning. These perspectives will inform the translation of our chosen text: HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? as well as the analysis of the problems encountered during the translation. 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.8 Methodology In this research, we employed purposive sampling for the choice of the ST, HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle? because, it is a technical text that contains a lot polysemous words. It is a case study that will not require the collection of quantitative data hence we will conduct the study using the qualitative method, as it involves the study, analysis, and synthesis of other works on polysemy in Linguistics and translation. Online dictionaries will be used to find definitions and TL equivalents of various words. 1.9 Organisation of Work This work will comprise four chapters. Chapter 1 will present a brief overview of translation, polysemy, and the topic for this research. Chapter 2 will first give an introduction to the text to be studied. It will also contain a corpora alignment of SL(French) and TL(English) texts. Chapter 3 will present an in-depth analysis of the problems encountered during the translation of the source text and propose solutions to these problems. However, much attention will be given to polysemy since it is the subject of the research. Lastly, chapter 4 will comprise the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the research project. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO 2.0 Introduction to the Source Text HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionnelle?, which translates as: MEN/WOMEN: Is professional equality impossible?, is a semi-technical text written by Dominique Meurs for the Centre Pour la Recherche Economique et ses Applications (CEPREMAP), which is a department of the French Ministry of Research. This text is a study on the wage differentials between men and women in France. It is written based on statistical comparisons of men and women throughout the years in terms of education, employment, household chores and renumeration. It also describes existing and upcoming public policies that are geared towards tackling the issue of wage differentials between men and women in France and how successful these policies have been. The study again examines past and present societal norms that have affected the differences in the salaries and work of men and women. The text is written in contemporary French and therefore quite easy to understand. However, being based on French culture and politics, several issues raised in the text are unfamiliar and would therefore require some research to be done in order to achieve the best possible renditions of them in the TL. A couple of acronyms in the text will also pose a problem in translation as they do not have existing equivalents in the TL. The entire document is 106 pages long and contains 28308 words. It comprises five main chapters. The first is an introduction; the second an analysis of the state of affairs; the third examines existing mentalities and social norms; after that is a conclusion and a 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh bibliography. Only 39 pages of the text will be translated, making a total of 8278 words, since one of the requirements of the M. A. Translation programme at the University of Ghana is that students should translate a document (or documents) of about 8,000 words for their Translation Project. 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.1 CORPORA ALIGNMENT - TRANSLATION OF THE SOURCE TEXT INTO THE TARGET LANGUAGE FRENCH ENGLISH HOMMES/FEMMES MEN/WOMEN Une impossible égalité professionnelle? Is equal pay impossible? Introduction Introduction Le thème de l’égalité professionnelle entre The issue of equal pay for men and hommes et femmes est un vrai serpent de women is well-worn. Every year, around mer. Chaque année, aux alentours du 8 March 8 (International Women's Day), mars (la « Journée de la femme »), on the persistent inequality between men dénonce l’inégalité persistante entre les and women on the labour market is hommes et les femmes sur le marché du condemned and attempts are made to travail en se concentrant sur le contenu à define the term “equality”; sometimes a donner au terme d’ « égalité » ; parfois, une law is passed, yet nothing really loi est votée. Plus rien ne semble beaucoup changes, until March 8 of the following évoluer, jusqu’au 8 mars suivant… year... Les termes de cette question sont posés dès The topic has been an issue since the 18th le XVIIIe siècle. Prenons l’exemple century. Take the example of Emilie du d’Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749), l’une Châtelet (1706-1749), one of the pioneer 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh des toutes premières femmes scientifiques, women scientists and Newton's translator, traductrice de Newton, qui fut obligée de who had to dress as a man to attend s’habiller en homme pour participer aux sessions of the Academy of Sciences. In séances de l’Académie des sciences. En 1735, she wrote in the introduction to her 1735, elle écrit, en introduction à sa translation of Mandeville’s fable of the traduction de la fable des abeilles de bees, the following often quoted paragraph: Mandeville, ce paragraphe souvent repris : Qu’on fasse un peu réflexion pourquoi Let us reflect a little bit on why for so depuis tant de siècles, jamais une bonne many centuries, no good tragedy, poem, tragédie, un bon poème, une histoire story, beautiful painting or physics book estimée, un beau tableau, un bon livre de has been produced by a woman. Why do physique n’est sorti de la main des femmes? these creatures who are just as intelligent Pourquoi ces créatures dont l’entendement as their male counterparts in all paraît en tout si semblable à celui des circumstances and who can reason as hommes, semblent pourtant arrêtées par well as their male counterparts tend to be une force invincible en deçà de la barrière et held back by an invisible force? May I qu’on m’en donne la raison, si l’on peut. know the reason, if there is any? Je laisse aux naturalistes à en chercher une I leave it to naturalists to decipher that physique, mais jusqu’à ce qu’ils l’aient one; but until they find an answer, trouvée, les femmes seront en droit de women will be entitled to protest against réclamer contre leur éducation. Pour moi the education they received. Quite j’avoue que si j’étais roi, je voudrais faire frankly, if I were king, I would like to 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh cette expérience de physique. Je réformerais conduct a physics experiment. I would un abus qui retranche pour ainsi dire la right this wrong which marginalises moitié du genre humain, je ferais participer essentially half of the human race and I les femmes à tous les droits de l’humanité, et would allow women to enjoy all human surtout à ceux de l’esprit… Cette éducation rights, especially those related to the nouvelle ferait en tout un grand bien à freedom of the mind... This new type of l’espèce humaine. Les femmes en education would do the entire human vaudraient mieux et les hommes y race a great deal of good. Women would gagneraient un nouveau sujet d’émulation ; be better off, and men would have a new et notre commerce, qui en polissant leur subject of emulation; and our esprit l’affaiblit et le rétrécit trop souvent, interactions, which very often weakened ne servirait alors qu’à étendre leurs and narrowed their minds by polishing connaissances […]. them, would then only serve to broaden their knowledge.... 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Plus proche de nous, Virginia Woolf More recently, in 1929, Virginia Woolf invente en 1929, dans Une chambre à soi, created a hypothetical sister to une hypothétique sœur à Shakespeare et Shakespeare in A Room of One’s own and illustre grâce à ce personnage fictif à la fois illustrated with this fictional character both l’impossibilité pour une femme de cette the impossibility for a woman of that era to époque de mener une carrière d’auteur et les pursue a career as an author and the progrès accomplis depuis. Quels que soient progress that had been made since then. ses dons, une telle femme n’aurait pu ni aller However talented she may have been, such à l’école ni étudier la grammaire et le latin ; a woman would not have been able to go elle aurait très vite été associée aux tâches to school or study grammar and Latin; she domestiques, sans aucun tempslibre pour would have very quickly been given pouvoir lire. Elle n’aurait pas eu le droit de household chores and would have had no devenir actrice de théâtre et, si elle l’avait free time to read. She would not have been pu, on l’en aurait découragée et on l’aurait allowed to become an actress and, if she poussée à s’occuper de sesenfants. did, she would have been discouraged and rather urged to take care of her children. Les raisons qui permettent d’expliquer les Both authors have already discussed inégalités professionnelles sont déjà reasons for occupational inequalities: présentes chez ces deux auteurs : unequal access to education, jobs différences d’accès à l’éducation, métiers reserved for men, priority given to interdits, priorité donnée aux travaux household chores and child care and domestiques et aux enfants, pressions social pressures. However, it is through sociales. Mais c’est en citant ces facteurs citing these reasons that we also que l’on comprend aussi pourquoi ce understand why this subject is 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh thème a une telle résonance aujourd’hui, still widely discussed today, especially in particulièrement en France, car la plupart France, since most of these obstacles seem de ces obstacles semblent relégués dans le to have been relegated to the past. passé. L’éducation? Comme dans presque tous les Concerning access to education, in France, pays de l’OCDE, en France plus de filles que as in almost all OECD countries, the de garçons vont jusqu’au terme de l’école number of girls who finish high school is secondaire. Les femmes ont accès à toutes higher than that of boys. Women have les formations, y compris les plus sélectives, access to all types of training, including the comme l’École polytechnique qui s’est ouverte most selective ones like the École aux filles en 1970, et leur niveau de formation Polytechnique, which was opened to girls in dépasse désormais celui des hommes. Plus 1970, and since then their level of training aucun métier n’est fermé aux femmes, même has surpassed that of men. Women are now dans l’armée (en 1999, une femme est allowed to do any job even in the army (in admise comme pilote de chasse dans un 1999, a woman was employed as a fighter escadron de combat ; seul le corps des sous- pilot in a combat squadron; only the mariniers est encore exclusivement masculin submarine corps is still exclusively male in en France, alors que des femmes y sont France, whereas in the United States, admises depuis 2012 aux États- Unis). women started getting recruited in 2012). Technological advancements have made Les progrès techniques ont rendu les tâches household chores less time- consuming ménagères moins chronophages et la France and France prides itself in s’enorgueillit de disposer de crèches et d’écoles maternelles qui facilitent la 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh conciliation entre vie familiale et vie having nurseries and kindergartens that professionnelle. Enfin le basculement d’une make it possible to combine family and société industrielle vers une société de professional life. Lastly, the shift from an services favorise l’emploi des femmes. Tous industrial society to a service society ces changements ne sont pas récents et encourages the employment of women. auraient dû reléguer la question des All these changes are not recent and inégalités professionnelles au rayon des should have made the issue of controverses aussi dépassées que la question occupational inequality as outdated as the de savoir, nagère, si les femmes pouvaient ou question of whether or not women could non enseigner le latin et le grec au lycée. teach Latin and Greek at the high school level. Pourtant, ces inégalités se perpétuent et However, this inequality has persisted donnent lieu à une abondante littérature en and generated a lot of literature in Labour économie du travail. Peu de questions sont Economics. Few issues are analysed to analysées aussi attentivement et on peutdire this extent and it can be said that we are que l’on connaît bien aujourd’hui les now well aware of the main factors principaux mécanismes conduisant à ces responsible for these wage differentials. écarts de salaire. Plus qu’une pure The issue goes beyond wage discrimination salariale, c’est-à-dire un discrimination, i.e. earning a lower wage salaire inférieur à celui des hommes pour des than men for the same tasks; it is rather a tâches identiques, c’est essentiellement la phenomenon caused mainly by ségrégation professionnelle et les difficultés occupational segregation and the d’accès aux emplois les mieux rémunérés qui difficulties inherent in accessing the best sont à l’origine de ce phénomène. paid jobs. 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Cela implique une responsabilité des This borders on the recruitment and pratiques de recrutement et de promotion promotion practices in both public and dans les entreprises, publiques et privées. private companies. However, when we dig Mais quand on approfondit les raisons de deeper, we see that the major cause of cet état de fait, on voit que la cause majeure these trends lies outside the labour market; de ces comportements se situe àl’extérieur it is due to in the unequal distribution of du marché du travail, c’est-à-dire dans household chores and childcare l’inégale répartition des tâches responsibilities in the home. domestiques et des soins aux enfants au niveau des ménages. Les stéréotypes de genre et le partage Gender stereotypes and unequal division inégal des tâches au sein de la famille of chores within the family are apparaissent de plus en plus comme le increasingly emerging as the key to point clé pour comprendre les inégalités understanding labour market inequalities sur le marché du travail et leur persistance. and their persistence. In 1922, F. Y. À F. Y. Edgeworth, en 1922, qui écrit que Edgeworth wrote: "if much of the « si la vaste quantité de travail domestique currently unpaid domestic work could only actuellement non rémunéré ne pouvait être be obtained by paying for it, the demand obtenue qu’en payant pour cela, la for women’s work could be higher more demande de travail des femmes et son prix and the wage paid for it could be pourraient être considérablement considerably higher [...] [but that] these augmentés […] [mais que] ces changes do not however, appear changements, cependant, n’apparaissent imminent". A. Barrett said something pas imminents », fait écho A. Barrett, en similar in 1982: 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1982 : « Les femmes ont des carrières mais "Women have careers but have ont continué à faire l’essentiel du travail continued to do most of the household domestique, les hommes continuant à en chores, while men continue to do little. faire peu. Il n’y a pas de changement While there is no significant change in notable dans la division des tâches au sein the division of labour within households, des ménages alors que les femmes ont women have increased their augmenté leur participation au marché du participation in the labour market. travail. » Trente ans plus tard, alors que le "Thirty years later, as the workforce has salariat a continué de progresser et que la continued to grow and the norm is for norme est que les couples, mêmes avec couples, even those with children to enfants, sont bi-actifs, le constat du work, the imbalance in division of déséquilibre des tâches au sein des household chores still remains. ménages reste inchangé. Comment sortir de cette impossibilité à How can these inequalities be résorber les inégalités ? Dans la société addressed? In the French society, there française, de nombreux éléments jouent are many factors that potentially favour a potentiellement en faveur d’un shift towards professional equality basculement vers l’égalité professionnelle between men and women entre les femmes et les hommes La France attache beaucoup d’importance France attaches great importance not au principe d’égalité, principe hérité de la only to the principle of equality which Révolution française, et à la méritocratie. she inherited from the French Cette sensibilité aux inégalités a eu Revolution, but also to meritocracy. 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tendance à se renforcer avec la crise de This sensitivity to inequalities tended to 2008, mais aussi avec le constat de la forte increase both with the 2008 crisis, but croissance actuelle des plus hauts revenus. also with the current significant growth C’est aussi un pays qui n’affiche aucune in very high incomes." Like other préférence pour les garçons à la naissance, developed countries, France does not à l’instar des pays du Nord, l’idéal étant have any preference for male children; d’avoir des enfants des deux sexes. Enfin, la the ideal is to have children of both société française est loin d’être la plus sexes. Lastly, compared to other inégalitaire parmi celles des pays industrialised countries, the French industrialisés : l’écart moyen de salaire society is far from having the highest entre les hommes et les femmes est du rate of inequality: the average wage gap même ordre de grandeur que celui des pays between men and women is the same as scandinaves (Eurostat, 2011). that of the Scandinavian countries (Eurostat, 2011). À ce fond culturel plutôt positif s’ajoutent In addition to this rather positive cultural les évolutions technologiques. Le background, technological développement du tertiaire et les besoins developments are also taking place. The accrus en main-d’œuvre éduquée font que development of the service sector and les femmes se trouvent pour une fois dans the increased need for educated workers une position économique potentiellement have for once put women in a potentially favorable. Leur taux de participation au favourable economic position. Their marché du travail a progressé, leur risque labour market participation rate has de chômage à la sortie du système éducatif increased, their risk of post-school n’est plus supérieur à celui des hommes, unemployment no longer higher than elles ont moins souffert que leurs that of men, and they 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh homologues masculins de la grande suffered less than their male counterparts récession de 2008. from the 2008 Great Recession. Enfin, les discours ont évolué et ledécalage Lastly, the language has changed and the entre le poids des femmes dansla société et gap between women's influence in leur sous-représentation dans les instances society and their under-representation in de pouvoir est considéré comme de moins power structures has become less and en moins supportable, en France comme less acceptable in France and in the dans le monde. Les inégalités entre les wider world. Inequalities between men hommes et les femmes sont devenues and women are becoming visible and visibles et mises en exergue, leur réduction highlighted, and reducing them has been fait partie de tous les programmes the focus of international programs. For internationaux. Par exemple, en ce qui example, in Europe, a stir was caused by concerne l’Europe, le fait que le directoire the fact that until 2018, the ECB's de la BCE soit exclusivement masculin Management Board was made up of only jusqu’en 2018 a provoqué des remous, le men. This made the European Parlement européen ayant pour cette raison Parliament delay the interview the male retardé l’audition du candidat – un homme. candidate for the position. In France, the En France, le fait qu’en 2012 seulement 27 fact that in 2012 only 27% of members % des députés et 22% des sénateurs soient of parliament and 22% of senators were des femmes est ressenti comme une women is perceived as an unacceptable anomalie insupportable. anomaly. 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh La quasi-absence des femmes dans les The fact that very few women are on conseils d’administration et dans les boards of directors and in senior instances dirigeantes est abondamment management positions is widely commentée et dénoncée. Dernier exemple: commented on and criticized. A final le nombre de femmes présidentes example is the number of female Vice - d’université est passé de 16 % à 8 % entre Chancellors dropped from 16% in 2008 2008 et 2012 ; si l’on étend la statistique à to 8% in 2012; if one considers all l’ensemble des établissements de tertiary institutions, the percentage was l’enseignement supérieur, la proportion est 6.5% in 2010, which puts France among de 6,5 % en 2010, ce qui place la France the lowest ranking countries in the parmi les dernières positions de l’Union European Union (the first country, européenne (le pays le mieux placé, la Norway, has 32%, Sweden has 27%). Norvège, est à 32 %, la Suède à 27 %). Comment atteindre l’égalité How can we achieve professional professionnelle alors que le consensus se equality when there is an ever-increasing fait de plus en plus pressant pour avancer consensus to push this issue forward? sur ce thème ? Nous allons montrer queles We will show that public policies politiques publiques actuellement currently being debated upon seek to débattues cherchent à s’attaquer aux address the root causes of gender racines de l’inégalité entre les hommes et inequality on the labour market. les femmes sur le marché du travail. 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Il ne s’agit pas seulement de faire respecter It is not only about enforcing laws des lois interdisant la discrimination, mais against discrimination, but also about d’influer sur les normes sociales et les influencing social norms and daily pratiques quotidiennes tant au travail que practices at work and in private life. dans la vie privée. De toute évidence, les Evidently, the results will not be résultats tarderont (il est en effet toujours immediate (as it is always difficult to difficile de changer les pratiques) et change old habits) and some measures certaines mesures risquent de ne pas jouer may not produce the expected results. dans le sens attendu. Nous rappelons dans la première partie de In the first part of this study, we stated the cette étude les grands indicateurs de main indicators of professional (in) l’(in)égalité professionnelle entre les equality between men and women. It was hommes et les femmes. Il en ressort que noted that wage differentials were due l’essentiel de l’écart des rémunérations mainly to identifiable factors provient de facteurs identifiables. 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh La deuxième partie retrace les progrès The second part of the study traces the législatifs réalisés depuis l’après- guerre, legislative progress made since after the progrès qui ont permis de faire disparaître Second World War, which has resulted les barrières légales s’opposant auprincipe in the removal of legal barriers to the d’égalité professionnelle. Les obligations principle of professional equality. des employeurs en matière de politiques Employers' obligations regarding non- non discriminatoires ont été affirmées tant discriminatory policies have been du point de vue des rémunérations que de affirmed both in terms of remuneration celui de l’embauche. La discrimination and hiring. While wage discrimination, salariale au sens strict a de ce fait reculé, strictly speaking, has consequently mais les inégalités se sont déplacées vers reduced, inequalities have shifted to l’accès des femmes aux emplois les mieux women's access to the best paid jobs. rémunérés. 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Pour y remédier, l’accent est actuellement To remedy this, emphasis is currently mis sur des politiques de recrutement being placed on recruitment policies that favorisant l’équité, comme l’obligation de promote equity, such as the requirement mixité dans les jurys, ou des politiques plus for gender balance in the constitution of directes avec des quotas de femmes (et interview panels, or more direct policies d’hommes) dans les promotions et les on quotas for women (and men) in nominations aux postes les plus élevés. promotions and appointments to the Nous montrons que cette démarche highest positions. We will prove that this présente l’avantage d’être visible et approach has the advantage of being vérifiable mais que des travaux de transparent and verifiable, but research recherche menés sur des expériences (le carried out on other experiences (most plus souvent étrangères) prouvent que leurs often foreign) has shown that their effets ne vont pas toujours dans un sens effects have not always favoured favorable aux femmes. Ainsi des mesures women. Thus, measures such as ensuring comme la mixité dans les comités de gender balance in the constitution of recrutement peuvent jouer in fine contre le recruitment committees may ultimately recrutement féminin. work against women. La troisième partie examine la The third part examines the effect of responsabilité du poids des mentalités et social attitudes and norms on the des normes sociales dans la persistance des persistence of inequalities on the labour 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh inégalités sur le marché du travail. Les market. Economists call on économistes font appel aux psychologues psychologists and sociologists to assess et aux sociologues pour évaluer dans quelle the extent to which gender norms mesure les normes sexuées sont à l’origine influence career choices and the des choix professionnels et des inégalités resultant wage differentials. salariales qui en découlent. Il apparaît dans les multiples From the results of various studies and études et les recherches sur ces sujets que research on these issues, it would appear la réduction des inégalités de partage du that reducing inequalities in the division travail non marchand est centrale pour agir of non-commercial work is the key to sur les inégalités sur le marché du travail. fight against inequalities on the labour Les politiques d’aide à la conciliation entre market. Policies to help combine work travail et vie professionnelle sont alors au and professional life are therefore the cœur des politiques publiques d’égalité focus of public policies on professional professionnelle. equality. Nous terminons par l’analyse du congé We conclude with an analysis of parental parental. Ce mode de garde par retrait leave. This form of childcare through temporaire du marché du travail fait partie temporary withdrawal from the labour des politiques actuellement discutées pour market is one of the policies currently la France. Il correspond aux aspirations being discussed in France. It is in line d’un grand nombre de parents, mais il est with the wishes of most parents, but it is pris presque exclusivement par les mères, taken almost exclusively by mothers, 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh qu’il écarte pour des durées assez longues keeping them for fairly long periods de leur emploi, avec des conséquences away from their jobs, with proven négatives prouvées sur leur carrière. Inciter negative consequences on their careers. les pères à partager ce congé parental est Encouraging fathers to share this une piste pour rééquilibrer la charge de la parental leave is a way of sharing the garde des enfants et pour permettre une burden of childcare and ensuring true égalité professionnelle effective. professional equality. Les expériences des pays nordiques Studies in the Nordic countries indicate indiquent que les pères peuvent se saisir that fathers can quickly embrace these rapidement de ces dispositifs, mais que les measures, but that there is hardly any évolutions dans les comportements au sein change in behavioural patterns in the des ménages sont encore peu visibles. Le home regarding childcare. Therefore, congé parental masculin est donc while paternity leave is potentially a potentiellement un levier puissantd’égalité powerful instrument of professional professionnelle, parce qu’il secoue les equality due to its potential to change habitudes, mais il ne peut remplacer les habits, it is no substitute for public politiques publiques de conciliation. policies geared towards marrying work and family life. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh État des lieux : entre rapprochements et Situational analysis: between sur-place progress and stagnation Sur deux points essentiels pour l’insertion Concerning two key points for accessing sur le marché du travail – l’éducation et la the labour market, that is, education and participation au marché du travail –, on ne participation in the labour market, it is peut que constater un rapprochement des observed that there is a convergence of caractéristiques masculines et féminines. male and female characteristics. there Mais ces changements majeurs nesuffisent are some similarities between men and pas pour atteindre l’égalité professionnelle women. These significant changes are : aujourd’hui, les inégalités salariales entre however not enough to achieve les hommes et les femmes perdurent, occupational equality: today, wage quasiment inchangées depuis le début des differentials for men and women persist; années 1990, alors que des mutations there has been hardly any change since économiques majeures (technologie, envol the early 1990s, whereas major des hautes rémunérations) affectaient le economic changes (technology, sharp fonctionnement du marché du travail. rise in high wages) had always affected the way the labour market functioned 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Il y a là un paradoxe qui n’est pas propre à This is a paradox that is not peculiar to la France, le même phénomène s’observant France; the same phenomenon can be dans les autres pays de l’OCDE. Tout se observed in other OECD countries. It is passe comme si les efforts des femmes dans as if women's efforts in education and les domaines de l’éducation et de involvement in the labour market are not l’engagement sur le marché du travail producing the expected monetary n’entraînaient pas les gains monétaires returns. Let us briefly recall the issues attendus. Rappelons brièvement pour la of interest to France in these three France les éléments de cadrage dans ces essential areas (education, participation, trois domaines essentiels (éducation, salary) and their recent changes. participation, salaire) et leur évolution récente. ÉDUCATION, PARTICIPATION AU EDUCATION, PARTICIPATION IN MARCHÉ DU TRAVAIL, CHÔMAGE THE LABOUR MARKET, : LES FEMMES FONT QUASIMENT UNEMPLOYMENT: WOMEN ARE JEU ÉGAL AVEC LES HOMMES ALMOST AT PAR WITH MEN La poussée éducative des filles The educational advancement of girls 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh C’est sans doute dans les niveaux It is undoubtedly in levels of education d’éducation que cette dynamique de that it is most noticeable that women are rapprochement et de dépassement est la not only closing the gap between them plus visible. En vingt ans, les taux de and men, they are even surpassing the scolarisation dans les établissements latter. In twenty years, enrolment rates in d’enseignement supérieur ont progressé tertiary institutions have increased pour les deux sexes de manière significantly for both sexes, though girls spectaculaire mais les filles poursuivent tend more to further their studies than plus leurs études que les garçons. boys. Au début des années 1980, il n’y a In the early 1980s, there was virtually no quasiment aucun écart entre les filles et les educational gap between girls and boys. garçons. Puis, durant les vingt années Then, in the twenty years that followed, suivantes, les filles prolongent plus leurs more girls furthered their studies than études que les garçons si bien qu’en fin de boys, such that at the end of the period période, 51 % d’entre elles ont un diplôme under review, 51% of them obtained du supérieur (dont deux tiers un diplôme tertiary level degrees (two thirds of which supérieur à bac +2) alors que les garçons ne are higher than the Associate’s degree), sont que 37 % dans ce cas, soit quatorze while only 37% of boys reached the same points de pourcentage d’écart. level, falling behind the girls by fourteen percent. 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Dans ce décalage entre les deux sexes Another issue that is peculiar to intervient aussi un élément spécifique pour France in respect of the difference in la France : la suppression du service educational situation between boys militaire votée en 1997. Sa mise en œuvre and girls is: the abolition of military à la fin des années 1990 a eu un effet service in 1997. Its implementation indirect sur l’éducation des jeunes in the late 1990s had an indirect hommes, car ils ont été moins incités à effect on the education of young prolonger leurs études pour retarder leur men, as they were less motivated to départ au service et se sont donc moins continue their studies to delay their engagés dans des études supérieures. military service and were, therefore, less committed to pursuing higher education. Due in part to the impact of this En partie suite au choc de cette réforme sur reform on men's behavior, France lecomportement des hommes, la France se found herself among a group of situe dans le groupe des pays où l’avantage countries where women have been féminin s’est récemment affirmé: dans la recently empowered: among the 25- génération des 25-34 ans, l’écart entre les 34 age group, ten percent more girls filles et les garçons qui ont terminé leurs than boys have 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh études secondaires est de dix points de completed secondary education, unlike pourcentage, contrairement aux previous generations where the générations précédentes où la proportion percentage was the same for both sexes. était la même pour les deux sexes. However, this improvement in women's Toutefois cette avance scolaire des femmes education is not perculiar to France; it is n’est pas propre à la France et s’observe also observed in all OECD countries, aussi dans l’ensemble des pays de l’OCDE, with a few exceptions (Turkey and to a à quelques rares exceptions près (la Turquie lesser extent, Switzerland, Austria and et, dans une moindre mesure, la Suisse, Mexico). l’Autriche et le Mexique). Par ailleurs, les filles ont désormais More so, girls now tend to pursue further tendance à faire des études plus longues studies than boys. This trajectory is que les garçons. Le mouvement va likely to continue in the coming years: vraisemblablement se poursuivre dans les girls constitute two thirds of the current prochaines années : les filles représentent number of university students and are les deux tiers des cohortes actuelles more successful than boys: 42% of them d’étudiants à l’université et réussissent obtain their degree in three to four years mieux que les garçons : 42 % d’entre elles compared to 33% for men. However, it ont leur licence en trois ou quatre ans contre should be noted that this educational 33 % pour les hommes. Notons toutefois advantage goes with a persistence in que cet avantage éducatif s’accompagne differences in career choices, where men d’une persistance dans les différences are more inclined towards the sciences d’orientation, les hommes choisissant bien and women continue to go for Literary and legal studies. 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh plus que les femmes les études scientifiques, celles-ci continuant à privilégier les études littéraires et juridiques. Un taux élevé de participation au marché A high rate of participation in the du travail labour market Parallèlement à cette montée des niveaux With this rise in educational levels, the d’éducation, le taux de participation des rate of participation of women in the femmes au marché du travail en France labour market in France (percentage of (proportion d’actifs occupés et de employed people and unemployed chômeurs dans la population people in the potential workforce) has potentiellement active) a continûment risen steadily over the past 50 years or augmenté depuis une cinquantaine d’années so; it remains however lower than that of ; il reste toutefois inférieur à celui des men and has hardly increased since the hommes et ne progresse pratiquement plus early 2000s. In 2011, the rate of depuis le début des années 2000. En 2011, participation for men aged between 15 le taux d’activité des hommes entre and 64 years was 75% and that for 15 et 64 ans était de 75 %, celui des women 66%. femmes de 66 %. 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Si l’on se concentre sur la tranche d’âge If we focus on the 25-49 age group des 25-49 ans qui correspond à la période which is the period of full working life, de pleine activité professionnelle, sans les and ignore the disruptions related to perturbations liées aux études ni celles studies or those due to retirement, we see dues aux départs en retraite, on voit que les that women's participation rates have taux de participation des femmes se sont risen over the period under review, even élevés sur la période, même s’ils restent if they remain lower than those of men inférieurs à ceux des hommes pour lesquels for whom being out of work is marginal. l’inactivité est marginale. De 1975 à 2011, From 1975 to 2011, the rate of le taux de participation des femmes dans participation for women within this age cette tranche d’âge est passé de 60 % à group rose from 60% to 84%, while that 84%, celui des hommes restant autour de for men remained around 95%, with a 95%, avec cependant un léger recul par slight decrease at the beginning of the rapport au début de la période. period. Un risque de chômage devenu comparable Risk of unemployment almost equal to à celui des hommes that of men. Globalement, le taux de chômage des Overall, unlike in previous times, the femmes n’est plus aujourd’hui unemployment rate for women is no significativement supérieur à celui des longer significantly higher than that for hommes contrairement aux périodes men. antérieures. 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In 1975 a period characterized by En 1975, période de plein emploi, le taux maximum employment, the de chômage pour l’ensemble des hommes unemployment rate for men was 2.3% était de 2,3 %, celui des femmes de 4,1 %, and for women 4.1%, which was almost soit près du double. Au troisième trimestre double. In the third quarter of 2013, it 2013 il était égal à 10,4 %, tant pour les was 10.4% for both men and women hommes que pour les femmes (Insee, (INSEE, October 2013). And if we limit octobre 2013). Et si on restreint l’analyse ourselves to those who left school over aux sortants du système scolaire depuis au the last six years, the situation will be plus six ans, la situation est inversée : les reversed: the unemployment rate of femmes ont un taux de chômage inférieur à women will be lower than that of men celui des hommes (respectivement 18 % et (18% and 22% respectively). 22%). Ce renversement provient en grande partie du niveau relatif de formation plus This reversal is largely due to women’s élevé. Mais s’y est ajouté un autre élément relatively higher level of education. paradoxalement favorable : la crise de There was, however, another 2008. Celle-ci a en effet davantage touché contributory factor that was les emplois à dominante masculine du paradoxically favourable: the 2008 secteur privé industriel, et les femmes, plus crisis. This had a greater impact on male- employées dans les services dont ceux du dominated jobs in the private industrial public (enseignement, santé), ont été moins sector, and women, who are mostly exposées aux réductions d’emplois, au employed in the service sector, including moins dans un premier temps. public sector ones (education, health), have been less susceptible to job cuts, at least not initially. 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DU SUR-PLACE DANS LES BARELY ANY WAGE DIFFERENTIALS ÉCARTS DE SALAIRE Il est difficile de fournir un chiffre It is difficult to provide a single overall synthétique unique de l’écart des salaires figure on the wage differentials between entre les hommes et les femmes et il n’est men and women. It is therefore not pas étonnant que les indicateurs diffusés surprising that the indicators disseminated puissent varier de plusieurs points de may vary by several percentage points, pourcentage, même s’ils se situent even though they are generally around 20 généralement autour de 20 à 25 % en to 25% to the disadvantage of women. défaveur des femmes. En effet, les pourcentages calculés ne Indeed, the percentages calculated can peuvent pas être les mêmes selon que l’on differ depending on whether our analysis raisonne en incluant ou non les temps includes part-time work, whether or not we partiels, que l’on neutralise ou non les ignore differences in working hours (if so, différences de temps travaillés (si oui, on then we speak of a wage differential based parle alors d’écart de salaire en équivalent on full-time equivalent). temps plein). 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ils dépendent aussi du champ retenu et des They also depend on the field selected sources utilisées ; selon que l’on inclut ou and sources used; whether or not public non les fonctions publiques dans le calcul, services are included in the calculation selon les tranches d’âge considérées… les or whether the age groups are écarts de salaire obtenus seront différents. considered...the wage differentials obtained will be different. Il n’y a donc pas un indicateur unique des There is therefore no single indicator of inégalités salariales entre les hommes et les wage inequality between men and femmes, tout dépend de ce que l’on décide women. It all depends on the factors we de retenir pour avoir une comparaison decide to consider in order to have a pertinente par rapport à la question que relevant comparison in relation to the l’on se pose. question we are asking. On prendra ici comme premier indicateur The first indicator here will be the salary les statistiques des rémunérations publiées statistics published by INSEE (National par l’Insee dans son Regards sur la parité Institute of Statistics and Economic (2012) qui présentent un triple avantage : Studies) in Regards sur la parité (2012), which has the following three advantages: 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh elles sont construites sur les déclarations they are based on the declarations of des employeurs, privés ou publics, elles private or public sector employers, they sont calculées sur le revenu salarial annuel are calculated on annual wage income (en incluant donc les situations de non- (thus including cases of no work done in travail dans l’année ou le temps partiel) the year or part-time work) for all pour l’ensemble des salariés (public et employees (in the public and private privé, à temps partiel ou non) et, enfin, sectors, part-time or not) and, lastly, they elles permettent de comparer les situations allow for comparing situations over a sur une période longue (1996-2010). long period (1996-2010). On peut donc considérer qu’elles sont They can therefore be considered pertinentes pour avoir une première vue relevant for a preliminary overview that globale qui tienne compte de tous les takes into account all the factors facteurs conduisant à un écart. S’il existe responsible for the inequality. If there is un indicateur qui reste relativement stable one indicator that has remained depuis une vingtaine d’années, c’est bien relatively stable over the past two celui des écarts de salaire moyens entre les decades, it is the average wage hommes et les femmes. inequality between men and women. 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh le salaire moyen des femmes représente The average female wage has been about autour de 75 % de celui des hommes 75% that of men continuously from 1994 to continûment de 1994 à 2008, avec peu de 2008, with little variation over the period. variation dans la période. On note aussi une We also notice an unforeseen and most conséquence imprévue et très likely temporary effect of the 2008 crisis: probablement temporaire de la crise de affecting variable pay more than fixed pay, 2008 : touchant plus les rémunérations and causing a significant reduction in men's variables que les rémunérations fixes, elle wages, thus helping to reduce the wage salaires des hommes, contribuant ainsi à inequality a bit. resserrer un peu l’écart. Les différences de temps de travail annuel Differences in the number of hours of work expliquent une partie de l’écart de salaire per year explain an aspect of the wage entre les hommes et les femmes. En inequality between men and women. premier lieu, les femmes sont plus sujettes Firstly, women are more inclined than men que les hommes à des interruptions to have interruptions of work within the d’activité pendant l’année et à des périodes year and during short periods of d’emploi courtes (par exemple suite à des employment (for example due to maternity congés de maternité pris dans l’année), et leave taken within the year), therefore, very vont donc plus souvent que les hommes often, they earn very low annual incomes percevoir des revenus annuels très bas. than men. 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh En deuxième lieu, parmi les actifs qui Secondly, among those who work exercent une activité continue sur les douze continuously all year long (full-time or mois (à temps complet ou partiel), la durée part-time), the annual working time is annuelle du travail est inférieure pour les lower for women (on the average 1,430 femmes (en moyenne de 1 430 heures hours compared to 1,700 hours for men). contre 1 700 heures pour les hommes). Finally, even if the analysis is limited to Enfin, même si on restreint l’analyse aux full-time hours, the number of hours male temps complets, les durées travaillées des employees put in is higher: 1,730 hours for hommes salariés sont supérieures : 1 730 men, 1,600 hours for women, or 8% less. heures pour les hommes, 1 600 heures pour The tendency for men to work more hours les femmes, soit 8 % de moins. La tendance than women is due to a structural factor: à ce que les hommes fassent plus d’heures men are more likely to be executive staff de travail que les femmes proviennent d’un than women and executive staff put in effet structurel : les hommes sont plus longer working hours annually than other souvent des cadres que les femmes et les employees. cadres effectuent des durées annuelles de travail plus longues que les autres salariés. Mais des dispositions en apparence neutres However, seemingly insignificant sur les heures supplémentaires peuvent provisions for over time can affect men jouer différemment sur les hommes et les and women differently and widen the gap femmes et amplifier l’écart des heures in annual working hours. For example, annuelles. Ainsi, la loi Tepa de 2007, qui the 2007 Tepa Law which exempted défiscalisait les heures supplémentaires, overtime work from taxation, 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh incitait, au sein des couples, les hommes encouraged full-time male employees who salariés à temps complet à effectuer plus are married to work more hours (their d’heures (leur durée de travail a augmenté working hours increased in 2008), with en 2008), les femmes assurant davantage women doing more of the household chores. les tâches domestiques. Néanmoins les différences dans les durées Nevertheless, the differences in working travaillées sont loin d’expliquer la totalité hours do not fully explain wage inequality: de l’écart de salaire : lorsque l’on raisonne when considering full-time equivalent pay, en salaire équivalent temps plein, il reste there is still a difference of about 20% in une différence de l’ordre de 20 % dans le the private sector and 15% in the public secteur privé, de 15 % dans le public. On sector. Here too, the average wage ratio constate là aussi une forte inertie du ratio has remained unchanged over the past 15 des salaires moyens sur les quinze dernières years. The statistics given here are for the années. Les statistiques sont données ici 25-55 year olds, in full-time employment, pour les 25-55 ans, en emploi à temps receiving an annual income; they are not complet, pour un revenu salarial annuel ; directly comparable to the previous figure elles ne sont pas directement comparables à due to differences in age group and hours la figure précédente en raison des of work. In 1996, women working in différences sur le groupe d’âge et les temps private companies earned on the average a de travail. En 1996, les femmes qui salary equal to 79% of men's salaries; in travaillaient dans les entreprises privées 2010, the gap narrowed by two percent percevaient en moyenne un salaire égal à 79 (81%). % de celui des hommes ; en 2010, l’écart s’est resserré 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh de deux points (81 %). Il en est de même dans la Fonction The same can be seen in the State Civil publique d’État ; l’écart est certes plus petit Service; the gap is certainly smaller (autour de 85 %) mais également stable. Un (about 85%) but also stable. Narrowing resserrement ne s’observe que dans la the pay gap can only be observed in the Fonction publique territoriale, où l’écart territorial civil service, where it was était déjà le plus bas. Cette double already the smallest. This double particularité s’explique par la conjugaison peculiarity is explained by the de deux éléments structurels : le premier combination of two structural elements: est que la Fonction publique territoriale the first is that the territorial civil service emploie beaucoup d’ouvriers et employs many manual and non-manual d’employés (les trois-quarts des emplois workers (three-quarters of jobs are of this sont de ce type) comparativement aux type) compared to other public services autres fonctions publiques où prédominent where there are more executive les cadres (dont les enseignants) ; par staff(including teachers); consequently, conséquent les salaires versés sont plus the salaries paid are lower, more people bas, plus de personnes sont rémunérées au are paid an amount close to the smic voisinage du Smic et les écarts entre les (minimum wage) and there is little hommes et les femmes sont plus resserrés difference between men’s and women’s en valeur absolue. wages in absolute terms. Le second est que les dernières années ont The second structural factor is that in été marquées par des recrutements ou des recent years emphasis has been on the titularisations de personnels plus qualifiés last few years were characterized by the 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh pour lesquels les femmes sont majoritaires, recruitment of trained staff wherein ce qui pousse vers le haut leur salaire moyen women were in the majority, a situation par rapport aux hommes et explique le which raised their average salary rapprochement des salaires. compared to men and accounted the reduction of wage differentials. Au total, comme les femmes sont Overall, since there are proportionally proportionnellement plus nombreuses dans more women in the public sector than in le secteur public que dans le secteur privé, the private sector, public sector l’emploi public contribue à réduire l’écart employment contributes to reducing the global de rémunération entre les femmes et overall wage inequality between men and les hommes ; ce résultat s’observe dans la women; this is seen in most of European majorité des pays européens. Toutefois cet countries. However, this structural « avantage » structurel en faveur des "advantage" in favour of women is fragile femmes est fragile et s’estompe and is currently diminishing: strict fiscal actuellement : les politiques de rigueur policies, staff lay-offs, etc. have budgétaire, les compressions d’effectifs… contributed to its severe erosion in recent contribuent à l’éroder fortement ces years. The austerity policy, although dernières années. La politique d’austérité, applicable to all, has more negative bien que s’appliquant à tous, a donc plus de consequences for women than for men. conséquences négatives pour les femmes que pour les hommes. 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Agir sur les entreprises: Working with companies: obstacles et politiques publiques obstacles and public policies Le rapide panorama effectué dans la The brief overview in the first première partie a donc mis en évidence section has therefore revealed the l’étonnante résistance au shocking barriers to the reduction of rapprochement des salaires entre les wage differentials between men and hommes et les femmes malgré la women despite rising levels of montée des niveaux d’éducation et de education and labour market la participation au marché du travail. participation. Quels mécanismes entravent l’égalité What factors hinder professional professionnelle ? On examine dans cette equality? This section examines partie les obstacles du côté de la barriers in the area of job search and demande de travail et des politiques des employer policies. It will begin by employeurs, en commençant par recalling what is meant by the rappeler ce que recouvre le concept de « concept of "equal pay, for equal à travail égal, salaire égal » pour passer work" and then moving on to the ensuite aux raisons pour lesquelles les reasons why positions offered by postes offerts par les employeurs ne sont employers are not equal and why pas égaux etles carrières des femmes women's careers attract lower moins rémunératrices que celles des salaries than those of men. hommes. 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh On passera enfin en revue les politiques Finally, we will review the corrective correctrices récemment policies recently introduced or discussed introduites ou débattues pour réduire to reduce equality in getting certain jobs. l’égalité dans les possibilités d’accéder à These varying policies which include certains emplois. Ces politiques variées quotas, anonymous CVs, the presence of qui englobent les quotas, les CV women on interview panels are not easy anonymes, la présence de femmes dans to change. Their effects are not yet fully les jurys d’admission ne sont pas d’un and conclusively identified and some can maniement facile, ont des effets qui ne lead to results that go against general sont pas encore complètement identifiés expectations. avec certitude et certaines peuvent conduire à des résultats inverses de ceux attendus. 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE To be able to translate a text, a translator must understand it at a deeper level than any other reader of the text. A careful and strategic analysis of the text is required in order to determine the most appropriate translation method and to identify and resolve problems encountered during the translation (Newmark, 1988). Problems encountered during translation often hinder the translator’s goal of making the TT convey the meaning of the ST. This section of the project is therefore not only seeking to identify and analyse all problems encountered during the translation of HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionelle?, but also to document the translation methods employed to solve these problems. Paying close attention to the issue of polysemy, we intend here to highlight specific examples of translation problems in the ST and explain how they were resolved. 3.0 Polysemy “The expected outcome of any effective communication is to decode very thoughtfully the meaning of the message of the speaker or writer without any ambiguity”, (Faniran, 2016, p.7). As previously explained, polysemy is a problem in translation because it creates ambiguity which makes it difficult for the translator to determine the exact meaning of a word in the ST to be able to translate it into the TL. This might lead to mistranslation, as the translator may select a TL equivalent that may seem odd to a native speaker or may simply be wrong. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The following are some examples of polysemy in the ST and how they were dealt with: An example is the word “sexuées” of the phrase “normes sexuées” on page 29. larousse.fr/dictionnaires gives two meanings to the adjective “sexué”: a) « Qui possède l'un des deux sexes et ne peut se reproduire sans le concours de l'autre sexe. » (« One who has one of the two sexes and cannot reproduce without the other sex”) b) « Se dit d'une différence de comportement entre individus mâle et femelle d'une même espèce en dehors des conduites sexuelles » (« Different behaviours that are specific to the males and females of the same species aside from sexual activity) A look at these two meanings shows that “sexuées” is a polyseme because the two meanings clearly originate from the same surface meaning which will most likely be “of distinct sex”. Still, none of these meanings fits the context of the word “sexuées”, which is “Les économistes font appel aux psychologues et aux sociologues pour évaluer dans quelle mesure les normes sexuées sont à l’origine des choix professionnels et des inégalités salariales qui en découlent.’’ Here, we noticed that the word in question was part of the noun phrase: “les normes sexuées”, because, it agreed with the noun “normes” in number and gender. Using the meaning strata concept of Yennah (2013) as reference, we considered all other lexical units of the entire sentence: “économistes (economists), psychologues (psychologists) sociologues (sociologists), choix professionnels (career choices) and inégalités salariales (wage differentials), as contributors to the meaning of the phrase (larousse.fr). From these words, we understood that the sentence spoke about how some professionals could analyse the extent of the influence of “les normes sexuées” on wage differentials. Since we normally speak of wage differentials between men and women, we understood that the best TL equivalent that will suit the context of the SL phrase was “gender norms”. The whole sentence in the TL was therefore rendered as: “Economists 50 call on psychoUlongiivstes rasnidty s oocifo Gloghisatsn tao ahststepss: /t/hueg esxtpenatc toe w.uhgic.he gdeun.dgehr norms influence career choices and their resultant wage differentials”. Another polyseme was “thème” on page 15 in the sentence « Le thème de l’égalité professionnelle entre hommes et femmes est un vrai serpent de mer. » Dictionary.reverso.net defines the word “thème” in the following ways: a) « idée, proposition, développée dans un discours, une œuvre » ("idea, proposal, developed in a speech, a work"). TL equivalent- “Theme” b) « centre autour duquel s’organise une activité, une recherche, une reflexion » ("Subject/topic/main idea").TL equivalent- “Theme” c) « personne ou chose dont on dit quelque chose (sujets) » (person or thing about whom something is said). TL equivalent-issue Since “theme” and “issue” are the closest TL equivalents of “thème”, we examined their definitions further: a) Theme a. a subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation (guilt and punishment is the theme of the story) b. a specific and distinctive quality, characteristic, or concern (the campaign has lacked a theme) b) Issue a. a vital or unsettled matter (economic issues) b. a concern/ problem ( have issues with his behaviour) c. a matter that is in dispute between two or more parties d. the point at which an unsettled matter is ready for a decision (brought the matter to an issue) (merriam-webster.com) 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Here, one might be tempted to assign the English word “theme” as the most appropriate TL equivalent because it is arguably similar to “thème”. However, comparing these different TL equivalents of thème and their definitions, we concluded that “issue” was the best TL equivalent due to the fact that it captures the notion that equal pay remains a matter of great debate. We know this because the sentence made reference to “l’égalité professionnelle” (equal pay) as a “serpent de mer” (well-worn). The word well-worn is defined by www.merriam-webster.com as “made trite by overuse.” Another polysemous word is “arrêtées” (p. 16) in the sentence “Pourquoi ces créatures dont l’entendement paraît en tout si semblable à celui des hommes, semblent pourtant arrêtées par une force invincible en deçà de la barrière ...” lexilogos.com and dictionary.reverso.net gave the meanings of “arrêtér” as follows: a) “Interrompre ou faire cesser un mouvement ou une marche. » (Interrupt or stop a movement or demonstration) a) « Empêcher d'avancer » (to prevent progress) b) « Faire obstacle au passage de » (to obstruct the passage of) c) « emprisonner » (to imprison) Though the definitions above fit the context and are syntactically acceptable. The most common TL equivalent of the word “arrêtées” is “stopped”. However, in such an instance where the context of the sentence is referring to an interruption of progress, we chose the phrase “held back” as the most natural-sounding equivalent. The sentence in the SL is therefore: “Why do these creatures, who are just as intelligent as their male counterparts, seem to be held back by an invisible force?” (p. 16). 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh For the word, “poussée” in the sentence « Elle n’aurait pas eu le droit de devenir actrice de théâtre et, si elle l’avait pu, on l’en aurait découragée et on l’aurait poussée à s’occuper de ses enfants. » on page 18, we found the following meanings: a) « Impulsion, choc donnés pour mettre en mouvement, déplacer, pénétrer. » (Impulse, shock given to set in motion, move, penetrate.) b) « Action de bousculer, fait d'être bousculé » (Act of pushing, being pushed) c) « Pression exercée par une chose qui pousse, par une force » (Pressure exerted by something pushing, by a force) (cnrtl.fr) Here, we chose c) to be the best-fitting meaning for “poussée” in the context of the sentence which makes reference to a woman who was advised against becoming an actress. Still, we did not find the word “pressured” to be the most appropriate TL equivalent of the word. We realised that it is very rare to have to pressure a woman before she takes care of her children. The author of the source text certainly did not mean to imply that a working woman was a bad mother. So, taking into account the tone of the word “découragée” in the sentence, we realised that the best TL equivalent which would capture the subtility of being urged on to choose a particular option out of two available choices without the element of coercion was the word: “urged”. Our final sentence was therefore “She would not have been allowed to become an actress and, if she could, she would have been advised to abandon it and urged to take care of her children” (p. 18). 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh We found another such polyseme on page 24: « audition ». It was tempting here to translate this word as “audition” in English. We found its definitions from cnrtl.fr as follows: a) “Action d'entendre, d'écouter quelqu'un, quelque chose (un discours, une lecture, un récit, une leçon, un cours, une exécution musicale, une émission radiophonique)” ; (The act of hearing, listening to someone, something (a speech, a reading, a story, a lesson, a course, a musical performance, a radio program); b) « Action d'entendre les dépositions des témoins en justice » (Hearing witness statements in court). In this case, we were initially tempted to eliminate the second definition since it is a legal jargon. However, after taking the clause that contains the word into account, that is, the context of the word, which is “le Parlement européen ayant pour cette raison retardé l’audition du candidat”, we realised that the mention of “candidat” (candidate) in the sentence meant that the second definition was closer to the intended meaning of the author. This is because, it captured the element of vying for something or aiming to convince a group of people. Still, since this was clearly not making reference to the hearing, we widened our context to capture the entire sentence: “Par exemple, en ce qui concerne l’Europe, le fait que le directoire de la BCE soit exclusivement masculin jusqu’en 2018 a provoqué des remous, le Parlement européen ayant pour cette raison retardé l’audition du candidat – un homme » (p. 24). 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This sentence shows that the “candidate” was vying for the post of the director of ECB; and so, in this case he would not have had a hearing, he would have attended an interview. We therefore translated “audition” as “interview” in the TL. Again, the word “éducation” appeared several times in the ST (pages 16, 32, 34, 44, etc.), but in different contexts. The following are the different meanings of “éducation”, as suggested by www.larousse.fr and www.context.reverso : a) Conduite de la formation de l'enfant ou de l'adulte. (Process of training a child or an adult). ST equivalent- Upbringing b) Formation de quelqu'un dans tel ou tel domaine d'activité; ensemble des connaissances intellectuelles, culturelles, morales acquises dans ce domaine par quelqu'un, par un groupe. (a person's training in a particular field; all the intellectual, cultural and moral knowledge acquired in this field by someone, by a group.). ST equivalent- Education c) Mise en œuvre de moyens propres à développer méthodiquement une faculté, un organe. (Methodical development of a faculty, a body) ST equivalent- Training d) Connaissance et pratique des bonnes manières, des usages de la société ; savoir-vivre (Knowledge and practice of good manners, social customs; manners) In most of the instances that « éducation » appeared in the ST, it corresponded with definition b). For example, on page 34, in the sentence: 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh « Sa mise en œuvre à la fin des années 1990 a eu un effet indirect sur l’éducation des jeunes hommes, car ils ont été moins incités à prolonger leurs études pour retarder leur départ au service et se sont donc moins engagés dans des études supérieures. » (page 34) The context of « éducation » in the sentence above clearly indicates that it is referring to education as the intellectual knowledge aquired by somenone (definition b)), due to the word « études» in its context. Also on page 19, we translated « éducation » in « L’éducation? Comme dans presque tous les pays de l’OCDE, en France plus de filles que de garçons vont jusqu’au terme de l’école secondaire.” Here too, we translated «éducation » as “education” in the TT since the sentence provides contextual reference with the phrase “l’école secondaire”. Conversly, on page 16, «éducation» is used in a different context: «Je laisse aux naturalistes à en chercher une physique, mais jusqu’à ce qu’ils l’aient trouvée, les femmes seront en droit de réclamer contre leur éducation. ». To aid us to properly understand the word, we extended its context beyond the sentence. Considering the whole paragraph: «Pourquoi ces créatures dont l’entendement paraît en tout si semblable à celui des hommes, semblent pourtant arrêtées par une force invincible en deçà de la barrière et qu’on m’en donne la raison, si l’on peut. Je laisse aux naturalistes à en chercher une physique, mais jusqu’à ce qu’ils l’aient trouvée, les femmes seront en droit de réclamer contre leur éducation. » (p. 16). This paragraph connotes socialisation by referring to women as creatures who have been “held back by an invincible force” or essentially by a system. Therefore, in this context «éducation» goes beyond mere academic instruction, as is portrayed in definition b) to socialisation/upbringing, as is portrayed in definition a). Consequently, we chose “upbringing” as the most appropriate TT equivalent of « éducation »in this context. 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh We solved all other problems encountered with polysemes in the SL text the same way: by carefully analysing their definitions choosing the most appropriate, contextually accepted one which in turn helped us to render it in the most natural-sounding way possible in the TL text. Our analysis of the translation problems and solutions to them is in tandem with the Contrastive Linguistics approach as in our bid to choose the most appropriate SL equivalents of the polysemous words, we engaged in a thorough comparison of the SL and TL to find out the various senses of the polysemous SL words and their corresponding TL equivalents. We again leveraged on the Interpretative Theory of Translation in order to look beyond the surface meanings of the words to find their contexts and consequently identify the message the author intended to convey, to enable us render it accordingly. 3.1 Translating Acronyms and Abbreviations Though the most prevalent issue encountered during the translation of this text was that of polysemy, one other recurring problem was that of acronyms and abbreviations. Translators sometimes encounter acronyms of organisations or institutions. In many cases, acronyms of known organisations have fixed equivalents that are easy to look up; an example in the source text is the acronym BCE (La Banque Centrale Européenne) which is easily translated as ECB (European Central Bank) (p. 24). Another example is OCDE (Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques) which has the equivalent in the target text as OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh However, with local or lesser-known organisations or names like “Smic” or “INSEE” in our SL text, fixed equivalents in the TL may not exist; so we were faced with the task of finding a suitable way of rendering them in the TL. In such instances, we rely on a translation method known as Adaptation. Adaptation is employed when an SL concept does not exist in a TL (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1958/1995). The translator has to create a suitabale equivalent that will be equally acceptable to the TT reader. Hence, as advised by Graciet (2003), we kept the original acronym and translated its meaning in brackets in the target text. “Smic” was translated as “Smic (minimum wage)” (p.45). We translated “L’INSEE “(L'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) as “INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies)” (p. 40). This was done to help readers of the target text who may not have prior knowledge of the meaning of these acronyms to understand what they stand for. This method is also in line with the Textual Dimensional Approach (TDA), which focuses on translation that takes into account the target audience and how they comprehend the author’s message. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Conclusion For this project, we sought to explore the concept of polysemy in translation. In view of the fact that polysemy is a linguistic problem, we first examined the different facets of the phenomenon of the concept according to linguists and how it affects translation. We examined various linguistic theories and approaches like the Contrastive Linguistics, (König, 2012), Interpretative Theory of Translation propounded by Seleskovitch & Lederer (1984), the Textual Dimensional Approach (TDA), (Nzuanke, 2015). The approach of Contrastive Linguistics served as a guide in the translation and analysis of translation problems, since in the process we compared the linguistics of the SL and the TL, French and English. The Interpretative Theory of Translation gave step-by-step guidance of the translation process and also helped us to identify nuances and contexts within the ST that enabled us to produce a translation that remained faithful to the meaning of the ST. Lastly, the TDA helped us to focus on the message of the translation as well as the target audience. This helped us find certain fixed ST equivalents like acronyms and idioms, in order to produce an accurate translation that would also be relatable to an SL reader of the ST. Bearing in mind these theories and other useful literature on polysemy and translation, we then translated HOMMES/FEMMES Une impossible égalité professionelle? into English. We found ways of solving the translation difficulties we encountered. Since polysemy was the most prominent translation problem encountered, it was our focus in the analysis of problems encountered during translation. We discovered that polysemy can create ambiguity and hence make it difficult to determine the intended meaning of the author in order to find the most appropriate TT equivalent to convey the said meaning. We however found that the only way to 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh disambiguate a polyseme is to place it within its context. Translating words out of context may lead to a linear translation which may not make any sense in the end and ultimately distort the message of the ST author. This project, therefore, affirms the phenomenon of the importance of context in communication and especially in translation. 4.2 Recommendations This study has proved that context is arguably the most important phenomenon to consider in translation as it plays a key role in determining the meaning of a word and ultimately, the meaning of the entire ST. This proves the relevance of previous studies conducted by Catford (1965); Kovács (2011); Newmark (1988); Yennah (2013). After conducting this study, the following recommendations are worth noting: a) Student translators and translators should bear in mind that their analysis and critique of a text should be at a very deep level. They should ensure that they read the ST thoroughly. At least two readings: one to get the gist of the author’s message; the second to be able to properly analyse and document terminology and translation problems whilst devising a strategy for translation. This is also important because sometimes, the context of a word goes beyond the immediate surrounding words that make up the sentence and so in order to choose the most appropriate TL equivalent, one must endeavour to understand the entire text thoroughly. b) During translation, a translator should avoid focusing too much on the generic meaning of the word in isolation as this completely disregards context as an essential contribution to the meaning of a word and is sure to result in a complete distortion of the intended meaning of author’s message. 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh c) Translators should also ensure that they take into account the target audience of the author’s message in the process. Linguistic differences are usually linked with cultural differences and so certain SL concepts may have fixed equivalents in the TL. This is where research becomes very important. Trying to translate such concepts word for word may cause the target audience to miss out on the author’s intended meaning. d) For future research on polysemy, it is advisable to study it together with homonymy in order to conduct a more comprehensive study of the differences between them and the different types of ambiguity they are bound to cause in translation. 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh REFERENCES Asher, N. (2011). Lexical Meaning in Context: a Web of Words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A coursebook on translation. London: Routledge. Boyarskaya, E. (2019). Ambiguity matters in linguistics and translation. Слово. ру: балтийский акцент, 10(3), 81- 93. Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Deane, P. D. (1988). Polysemy and cognition. Lingua, 75(4), 325–361. Evans, V., & Green, M. (2006). Cognitive Linguistics An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd. Falkum, I. L., & Vicente, A. (2015). Polysemy: Current perspectives and approaches. Lingua, DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2015.02.00. Faniran, K. F. (2016). A Critical Study Of Polysemy: A Perspective Of French Language and its Parts of Speech. 2(7). Herbulot, F. (2004). La Théorie interprétative ou Théorie du sens: Point de vued’une praticienne. Meta: journal des traducteurs / Meta: Translators’ Journal, 49(2), 307– 315. https://doi.org/10.7202/009353ar Hurtado Albir, A. (1990). La notion de fidélité en traduction. Paris: Didier Erudition. König, K. (2012). Contrastive Linguistics and Language Comparison. 12. https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.12.1.02kon Kovács, É. (2011). Polysemy in Traditional vs. Cognitive Linguistics. Eger Journal of English Studies.XI,3-19. 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. London: The University of Chicago Press, Ltd. Larbaud, V (1946). Sous l’invocation de Saint-Jerome. Paris: Gallimard Leech, G. (1981). Semantics: The Study of Meaning. Penguin Books. Lipka, L. (1992). An Outline of English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics and Word-Formation (Second). Max Niemeyer Verlag Tübingen. Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Nzuanke, S. F. (2015). Towards Clarity in Translation: Applying the Textual Dimensional Approach. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2(1), 415–436. Onuko, T. (2017). Translation: Essential vehicle for human development. European Journal of Language Studies, 4(2). Raukko, J. (2006). Polysemy as complexity. A Man of Measure: Festschrift in Honour of Fred Karlsson on his 60th Birthday.SKY Journal,19, 357-361. Seleskovitch D. & M. Lederer. (1984). Interpréter pour traduire. Paris: Didier erudition. Schmidt, G. (2008). Polysemy in Translation—Selecting the Right Sense. V. Karabalić and M. Omazić (Eds.), Istrazivanja, izazovi i promjene u teorijiipraksiprevodenja (pp. 203- 218). Osijek: Sveuciliste Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet. Vinay J. P. & Darbelnet J. (1958/1995). Comparative Stylistics of French and English A methodology for translation (Benjamins Translation Library, Trans.). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Yennah, R. (2013). Voltaire et la traduction: Tuer, énerver ou vivifier le sens du mot, de la phrase et du texte. Lublin Studies Modern Languages and Literature, 37, 37-54. 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh WEBSITE REFERENCES Graciet, C. (2003, December 15). Acronyms. Retrieved 21 October 2019, from Naked Translations website: https://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2003/acronyms/ Meurs, D. (2014). HOMMES/FEMMES Une Impossible égalité professionnelle?. Retrieved 16 March 2019, from http://www.cepremap.fr/en/?s=hommes%2Ffemmes 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ONLINE DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION TOOLS www.cnrtl.fr www.deepl.com www.dictionary.reverso.net www.expression-francaise.fr www.larousse.fr www.lexilogos.com www.merriam-webster.com 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh FRENCH ABBREVIATIONS AND THEIR MEANINGS BCE Banque Centrale Européenne INSEE Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques OCDE Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques Smic Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel de Croissance CEPREMAP Centre Pour la Recherche Economique et ses Applications ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS AND THEIR MEANINGS ECB European Central Bank OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development INSEE National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies Smic Minimum wage CEPREMAP Center for Economic Research and its Applications 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh GLOSSARY FRENCH ENGLISH A temps partiel Part-time A temps plein Full-time Actifs occupés Employed people Bi-actif Double-income Cadres Executive Staff Chômeurs Unemployed Chronophages Time-consuming Compressions d’effectifs Downsizing Congé parental Parental leave Congé maternel Maternity leave Conseil d’administration Board of directors Corps des sous-mariniers Submariners' corps Demande de travail Job search Députés Members of Parliament Tertiaire Service Sector Écarts de salaire Wage differentials Égalité professionnelle Professional Equality Éscadron de combat Combat Squadron Études littéraires et juridiques The Humanities Études scientifiques The Sciences Fonction publique d’État Civil Service Fonction publique Local Government territoriale Services 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Grande récession de 2008 Major Recession of 2008 Inégalité entre les hommes et les femmes Gender inequality Marché du travail Labour Market Non rémunéré Unpaid Normes sexuées Gender norms Partage inégal Unequal distribution Pilote de chasse Fighter pilot Politiques de recrutement Recruitment Policies Politiques publiques Public Policies Progrès techniques Technological advancement Recrutement féminin Recruitment of women Rémunérations Wages Revenu salarial Income Salariat Workforce Secteur privé Private Sector Secteur privé industriel Private Industrial sector Secteur public Public Sector Stéréotypes de genre Gender Stereotypes Soins aux enfants Childcare Tâches domestiques/ Tâches ménagères Household chores Taux d’activité Level of participation 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Titularisations Tenure Travail non marchand Non-commercial Work 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70