Translating ‘America First’ into Thai: Translators’ Evaluations of President Trump’s Inaugural Speech

Abstract

The present article investigates Thai translations of Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural address and its potential shift in attitude-rich words caused by translators’ choices. Applying the appraisal-based translation analysis to the Trump speech and Thai translations by Khaosod, Thairath, and VOA Thai, the article discusses Trump’s appraisal profile and the Thai translators’ evaluations compared to those found in previous studies. The Trump speech, which received many negative reviews, is presented somewhat differently in the three Thai versions, possibly resulting from an ideological manipulation of the target text. The translators’ interventionist moves resulted in a shift in a number of implicit values inscribed in the source text’s terms and phrases. The article also discusses the roles of translators and news agencies in relation to the findings. It is hoped to be a valuable resource for studies on the translation of political texts and its application of appraisal-based analysis, especially in the Thai context.