Mixed-method approach to institutional political translation: a contrastive study of Obama and Trump

Abstract

This article analyses the methodology used in the author’s PhD thesis on the translation of institutional political speeches from the White House. Using a mixed-method approach that combines qualitative and quantitative analyses, it examines speeches by Barack Obama and Donald Trump and their translations into Spanish. Based on the theories of Al-Juwaid, Gallardo Paúls, Fairclough and Van Dijk, we apply techniques of argumentative, discursive and rhetorical analysis. The results reveal significant differences in argumentative structure, the use of rhetorical resources and their translation. The methodology allows us to identify patterns of discursive manipulation and to evaluate the coherence of institutional translations. This work highlights the importance of an integrative approach to analyse translated political speeches from a critical perspective, contributing to the knowledge of institutional translation in political contexts. By means of this mixed-method approach, we seek to establish the suitability of this methodological framework to identify ideological and discursive elements in the discourses analysed as a preliminary phase of the translation process, in this case, in the English/Spanish language pair.