Torresi, Ira (2010/2021): Translating Promotional and Advertising Texts. 2nd edition. London/New York: Routledge, 224 p.

Willy Brandt, former German Chancellor, is credited with having said: “If I’m selling to you, I speak your language. If I’m buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen!” With this quip—offered in decades past—Brandt recognised the simple reality that organisations can increase their chances of success by addressing their target customers in their own language. In today’s increasingly global and multicultural marketplace, this suggestion has never been more valid. But the reality is anything but simple. First published in 2010, the second edition of Ira Torresi’s Translating Promotional and Advertising Texts was released in 2021. Torresi, an Associate Professor of Interpreting and Translation at the University of Bologna and active interpreter and translator, once again expertly engages the reader in her world. In particular, the detailed accounts of marketing-focused translation projects she has worked on are illuminating. Torresi’s book offers a range of useful strategies and considerations when approaching the translation of a selection of advertising and promotional texts that she has categorised according to their “addressers and addressees” (p. 26)—that is, who is generating the message and for what audience. Torresi’s discussion of these different genres is well supported by examples written mainly in Italian and English, the author’s primary language pair. Some examples also include versions of a text or advertisement in other European languages such as German, French or Spanish, and occasionally in Hindi, Russian and Arabic. Her target readership is as varied as the translation strategies covered. Most obviously, Torresi’s insights will be instructive to students, those recently graduated and seeking to find their niche in the translation industry, and to freelance translators or translation agencies. Equally, this text will be of value to organisations that seek to engage with foreign markets or foreign-speaking segments of their domestic market. Her book piqued my interest as it embraces my two key areas of interest: marketing, which was at the core of my “first career” as a practitioner as well as tertiary instructor in the field, and translation, which is the foundation of my “next career.” The common element between the different promotional genres addressed by Torresi is their persuasive imperative: they all seek to sell “a product, a service, a person, a company, an attitude or a behaviour” (p. 26). Drawing on skopos theory, she highlights that promotional translation is assessed only in functional terms: the translator’s task is to render the source information in a target text that preserves its persuasive purpose. The translation must reflect the same intent of the original, and elicit the same response by the intended audience. In some instances, this will be achieved through quite literal translation, but other translations will demand significant cultural adaptation or even rewriting of the original text to preserve the intended function. Torresi considers the categories of personal and self-promotion, business-to-business (B2B), institutional, and business-to-consumer (B2C) promotion, noting that each genre displays different stylistic conventions, distribution methods as well as type and intent of content. Recognising changes in marketplace trends since the first release of this text in 2010, the revised edition includes a new section that discusses the use of social media, specifically Facebook, by individuals and small family businesses aiming to build awareness of their services. Her examples of authentic content by small business owners reflect the importance of multimodal and visual techniques as well as the opportunity to employ translanguaging strategies in this medium. Whilst it is tempting to skip straight to the latter chapters that deal with the “bells and whistles” aspects of advertising and promotion, the reader is well advised to devote time to earlier chapters. Here Torresi outlines firstly how to …