History: Quoting Foreign Sources

[Pirat Havelund]

Hi everyone - this is my first post here; please be kind.

I'm currently writing my EE in History. My topic is Anti-Semitism in the Third Reich, and I've chosen to use a lot of primary sources in German.

My question is whether I should note that I translated it, or whether I should just indicate the source as I normally would if it were an English source?

Also, if I've found a translation online for something, I should obviously quote it properly, but should I also note the translator then, and possibly add a link to the source + accessdate?

Thanks in advance.

[sweetnsimple786]

Hey PH. Welcome =)

You'll want to analyze everything you quote, so it's a good idea to just add a dependent clause or something subtly noting that the following excerpt has been translated. Then you'll want to clarify if anything was lost in translation [unless you don't speak German. Then you'll want to put that possibility out there if you're disagreeing with the original writer] as part of the analysis.

Yes, add the translator. We had to do that for the world lit books, and I assume it's the same here. I don't think you'll need to link to the source in German--just cite as you would if it were an English source. If you're writing it in English, most likely the grader won't be able to read German either

Edit: typo

Edited August 10, 2009 by sweetnsimple786

[1-2-3]

As far as I know, the IB EE Guide mentions what form of citation to use for each subject. Find out what it is for history and google how to credit the translator. I remember doing so while writing my historical investigation

[Tilia]

I have a similar question. In my EE, I'm using a quote from a Swedish children story, that I translated myself. Should I write "my translation" or something?

[sweetnsimple786]

I know for sayings, you can just quote them without having to cite them because they're pretty well-known.

However, I think you'd have to cite the book and list yourself as the translator in the bibliography/works cited page. Like here's a citation for a WL book:

Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. Trans. Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.

That's just one format.

Then, when you write the quotation in your actual EE, say something like "I translated this snippet from [insert Book Title], originally in Swedish." Or if you feel uncomfortable with that because your entire paper has a formal tone [which I don't think is the case, right?], then you'd need to be a bit more crafty. Does that help?

[Tilia]

Then, when you write the quotation in your actual EE, say something like "I translated this snippet from [insert Book Title], originally in Swedish." Or if you feel uncomfortable with that because your entire paper has a formal tone [which I don't think is the case, right?], then you'd need to be a bit more crafty. Does that help?

I'm trying to keep it formal, yes. Seems like there should be a more elegant way, but I'll just use this for now and then I'll see if my teacher complains about it.

[sweetnsimple786]

Hmm well context is key. But you could maybe say something like "Informally translated from Swedish to English, 'quotation' arises from a children's book by [author]" or

"[insert author's name], in his/her children's book _______ originally written in Swedish writes __________"

That probably won't work. I don't know what the quotation or the lines around it say, so I can't come up with anything better than shoddy.