Translation Studies

3. Translation theory and text linguistics

Krisztina Károly, Spring, 2006

Source: Klaudy, 2003

Text-centredness in translation: 1970’s-1980’s

emergence of text linguistics in TS Dressler (1973)

Nida and Taber’s book: The Theory and Practice of Translation (1969) list 8 universal features of text that should be taken into account in translation (still not fully explored!):

“…all languages do have certain important features which can be used, and which in ’effective’ communications are used, to mark the units larger than sentences”:

Cont. Nida and Taber (1969, p.152):8 features of text to be considered in translation

1. the marking of the beginning and end of the discourse

2. the marking of major internal transitions3. the marking of temporal relations

between events4. the marking of spatial relations between

events and objects5. the marking of logical relations between

events6. the identification of participants7. highlighting, focus, emphasis, etc.8. author involvement

Late 1970’s, early 1980’s:2 main trends

1. Chernyakhovskaya (1976): approaches the text from the inside and concentrates on the way the differences in the internal structure of the text affect the solutions of translators,

2. Reiss (1971): looks at the text from the outside and focuses on how the various text types influence the translators’ task.

The internal text structure approach

preceded by the study of text coherence independently of translation in the text linguistics of the 1970’s (e.g., Isachenko, 1965; Harweg, 1968; Weinrich, 1971; van Dijk, 1975; Halliday Hasan, 1976)theme-rheme/topic-comment: analysis of the text-organizing role of this conceptual structuring in continuous texts and its linguistic realizations (Chernyakhovskaya)

The text type-typology approach

Genre-based classification of texts to be translated:Fedorov (1953) genre-related translation problems of 3 groups of texts:(1) news and reviews, official and technical

documents, and scientific texts,(2) political texts, newspaper editorials, and

speeches,(3) literary texts.

Mounin (1967) 7 groups:religious texts, literary texts, poetry, children’s

literature, stage texts, movie texts, and technical texts.

Cont. Text-type typology approach

Katharina Reiss: translation-focused text typology (the classification of texts is determined by the role L plays in the given text):

(1) content-focused texts: the descriptive function of L dominates

(2) form-focused texts: the expressive function of L dominates

(3) appeal-focused texts: the appeal function of L dominates

(4) audio-medial text type: reaches the receptor not via printed media

(1) The translation of content-focused texts

E.g.,: press releases, commentaries, news reports, users’ manuals, patent specifications, official documents, non-fiction, specialized books, essays, reports

are focused on conveying information the translator’s task is to transmit the SL content in full

(2) Translation of form-focused texts

E.g.,: literary prose (essays, biographies, belles-lettres), imaginative prose (anecdotes, short stories, romances), poetryit is not merely what the author says that matters, but also how he/she says it the main task of the translator is to reflect primarily the form and not the contentsDifficulty: the form is closely tied to the SL cannot be automatically transferred into the TLReiss: in such cases the translator will not adopt the SL form, but will try to get inspiration, and stimulated by this inspiration he/she will choose the TL form that best approaches the effect in the TL reader that the SL form produced in the SL reader the task of the translator is not to produce identical content, but to create formal analogy

(3) Translation of appeal-focused texts

E.g.: commercials, ads, texts related to missionary work, propaganda materialsboth the content and the form are intended to provoke a particular reaction in the listener or reader (appeals for likes and dislikes, or for specific actions -- e.g., shopping -- or the ceasing of specific actions: e.g., smoking) the aim of the translator is not to reflect the content or the form of the SL text, but to render its functionthe translator may deviate from both the content and the form of the text (e.g., advertisements: the same product must be promoted using different hints and allusions in different countries)

(4) Translation of audio-medial texts

E.g.: radio and television genres and theatre plays (operettas, operas, comedies, tragedies, etc.)the message reaches the receiver (audience, listener) via a channel the characteristic features of which need to be taken into account

E.g.,translating a libretto: the translator must not insist on a faithful rendering of either the content or the form of the original libretto if in the TL it does not match the music’s melody and rhythm, and cannot be sung with ease;dubbing movies: watch the actor’s lip movements

The typology of specialized texts

Vannikov’s (1987) study: a detailed and multidimensional typology of specialized texts

lists 12 features on the basis of which scientific and technical texts have to be characterized to provide sufficient guidance for translators:

(1) Characterization on the basis of linguistic organization

1.1 Texts with a rigorous structure and with strict linguistic formulation,

1.2 Texts with a soft structure, allowing the translator greater variety regarding linguistic formulation;

(2) Characterization on the basis of the functional style

2.1 Scientific texts

2.2 Technical texts

2.3 Official texts

2.4 Legal texts

2.5 Journalistic texts

(3) Characterization on the basis of functional register

3.1 Scientific texts 3.1.1 Academic texts, 3.1.2 Texts with an educational purpose, 3.1.3 Encyclopaedic texts);

3.2 Technical texts 3.2.1 Technical descriptions, 3.2.2 Instructions, 3.2.3 Technical information);

3.3 Official texts 3.3.1 Official directions, 3.3.2 Management texts, 3.3.3 Official correspondence);

3.4 Legal texts 3.4.1 Technical documentation, 3.4.2 Descriptions of inventions, 3.4.3 Patent management texts);

3.5 Journalistic texts 3.5.1 Scientific journalistic texts 3.5.2 Popular science texts

(4) Characterization on the basis of manner of expression

4.1 Narrative texts,

4.2 Descriptive texts,

4.3 Explanatory texts,

4.4 Argumentative texts

(5) Characterization on the basis of logical content

5.1 Exposition/Discussion,

5.2 Justification,

5.3 Conclusion,

5.4 Definition

etc.;

(6) On the basis of subject-related contents

6.1 Texts in exact sciences,

6.2 Texts in natural sciences,

6.3 Texts in social sciences;

(7) On the basis of manner of communication

7.1 Texts for oral communication,

7.2 Texts for written communication;

(8) On the basis of genre (e.g., within the scientific style)

8.1 Book

8.2 Monograph

8.3 Article/Paper

8.4 Dissertation

8.5 Presentation/Lecture

8.6 Communiqué

8.7 Report

8.8 Comments;

(9) On the basis of the primary or secondary nature of the information

9.1 Primary information,

9.2 Secondary information9.2.1 Report,

9.2.2 Annotation,

9.2.3 Review,

9.2.4 Bibliographical description,

9.2.5 Bibliography

(10) On the basis of expressive-stylistic features

10.1 Stylistically rich/colourful text,

10.2 Stylistically poor/not colourful text;

(11) On the basis of general pragmatic features

11.1 Texts addressed to the SL reader,

11.2 Texts addressed to the TL reader,

11.3 Texts addressed to any audience;

(12) On the basis of specific pragmatic features

12.1 Informative texts,

12.2 Normative texts,

12.3 Instructive texts,

12.4 Systematising texts;

Integration of internal text structure and text typology approaches:

Vermeer’s (1978) skopos (= aim, in Greek) theory: a functional theory of translation. Two main characteristics:

attributing priority to the aim of translation (coherence rule and fidelity rule come afterwards),

emphasising the cultural transfer nature of translation

Cont. integration

Reiss:most important rule of translation: the priority of the aim of the translation

coherence rule: intra-textual coherence and inter-textual coherence (equivalence with the SL text) relation of sub- and super-ordination: inter-textual coherence has to be subordinated to intra-textual coherence.

Cont. integration

Shoshana Blum-Kulka (1986) (”Shifts of Cohesion and Coherence in Translation”) investigates the shifts that occur in the process of translation in the text’s “external”, i.e. open and visible organisation (“cohesion”) and “internal” logical/content-related organisation (cohesive devices across Ls).Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit (1986) (”Text Type Markers and Translation Equivalence”) explores the problem that texts (e.g., argumentative texts, which can be considered a kind of dialogue with an imagined reader) can only be translated knowing the whole text it is wrong to set abbreviated texts as translation examination tasks

Research on quasi-correctness /“translationese”

= explores the differences between two corpora of texts: authentic or primary texts and translated or secondary texts

these differences are subtle, and hardly perceptible on the sentence level: it is the whole of the translated text that differs from original TL texts

Reasons for oddity of translated texts:

the devices ensuring coherence in the SL do not always work in the same way in the TL

there are slight shifts in emphases, leading to slight distortions in functional sentence perspective

And now let’s see the tasks…