ETI 319 Translation Theory PDF

**ETI 319 TRANSLATION THEORY** **Katharina Reiss:** - Act of communication: There is a message to be conveyed; from the sender to the receiver and translator performs this communication. - Text level rather than sentence or word level - Translation is a type of communication & translator...

**ETI 319 TRANSLATION THEORY** **Katharina Reiss:** - Act of communication: There is a message to be conveyed; from the sender to the receiver and translator performs this communication. - Text level rather than sentence or word level - Translation is a type of communication & translator is a medium in this process. The production of a target text which is functionally equivalent to the source text; so the translator's main aim is to achieve functional equivalence - Source text has a communicative function & Reiss identifies texts according to their communicative function: - Informative: news, comments, interviews, trade news, user manuals, documents, textbooks, research articles, technical and social sciences texts, encyclopedia entries,... "content" - Operative: advertisements, propaganda, comment, some types of articles,... "persuasion" - Expressive: novels, novellas, stories, short stories, anecdotes, plays, poetry,..."aesthetics" "style" - Audio-medial texts: films, radio programs and products of this kind,... "visual & audio representations" **The following summary is based on the book by J. Munday entitled *Introducing Translation Studies* (pp. 114-135)** In the 1970s and 1980s there was a tendency for **functionalist** and **communicative** approach to the analysis of translation rather than linguistic typologies of translation shifts. - **Katharina Reiss's** early work on **text type** - **Mary Snell-Hornby's** later **'integrated' approach** - **Justa Holz-Manttari's** theory of **translatorial action** - **Hans J. Vermeer's** **skopos theory**, which centred on the purpose of the TT; - **Christiane Nord's** more detailed **text-analysis** model which continued the functionalist tradition in the 1990s and beyond. **Text Type** Katharina Reiss's work in the 1970s built on the concept of equivalence but viewed the text, rather than the word or sentence, as the level at which communication is achieved and at which equivalence must be sought. This functional approach of Reiss aimed initially at systematizing the assessment of translations. It borrows from the categorization of the **three functions of language** by German psychologist and linguist **Karl Bühler:** - **informative function** - **expressive function** - **appellative function** Reiss links these three functions to their corresponding **language 'dimensions'** and to the **text types** or **communicative situations** in which they are used. The main characteristics of each text type are summarized by Reiss as follows. 1\. **Informative text type**. 'Plain communication of **facts'**: information, knowledge, opinions, etc. The language dimension used to transmit the **information is logical or referential**, the **content or 'topic'** is the main focus of the communication. 2\. **Expressive text type**. '**Creative composition'**: the author uses the **aesthetic dimension** of language. The author or 'sender' is foregrounded, as well as the form of the message. 3.**Operative text type**. '**Inducing behavioural responses'**: the aim of the appellative function is to **appeal** to or **persuade** the reader or 'receiver' of the text to act in a certain way, for example to buy a product (if an **advert**), or to agree to an argument (if a **political speech** or a barrister's concluding statement). The form of language is **dialogic** and the focus is **appellative**. 4\. **Audio-medial** texts, such as films and visual and spoken advertisements which supplement the other three functions with visual images, music, etc. This is Reiss's fourth type and which are now commonly called 'multimodal texts'). Text types are therefore categorized according to their main function. For each of these text types, Reiss also gives examples of 'text varieties', which are now more commonly known as **genres**. **Exploration: Text types and genres** Reiss suggests 'specific translation methods according to text type' and these methods can be described as follows. \(1) The TT of an **informative text** should transmit the full **referential** or **conceptual** content of the ST. The translation should be in '**plain prose'**, without redundancy and with the use of exploitation when required. So, the translation of an encyclopedia entry of, say, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, should focus on transmitting the **factual** content and terminology and not worry about stylistic niceties. \(2) The TT of an **expressive text** should transmit the aesthetic and artistic form of the ST, in addition ensuring the accuracy of information. The translation should use the '**identifying'** method, with the translator adopting the **standpoint of the ST author**. So, the translator of James Joyce would need to try to write from the perspective of the author. In literature, the style of the ST author is a priority. \(3) The TT of an **operative text** should produce the **desired response in the TT receiver**. The translation should employ the '**adaptive'** method, creating an equivalent effect among TT readers. So, the TT of an advert needs to appeal to the target audience even if new words and images are needed. \(4) **Audio-medial texts** require the '**supplementary'** method, **supplementing written words with visual images and music**. Reiss also lists a series of intralinguistic and extralinguistic **instruction criteria** by which the adequacy of a TT may be assessed. These are: **linguistic component** - semantic equivalence - lexical equivalence - grammatical and stylistic features; **non-linguistic determinants:** - situation - subject field or domain - time - place (characteristics of country and culture) - receiver - sender - 'affective implications' (humour, irony, emotion, etc.). - For example, the translation of any content-focused text, such as encyclopedia entry of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, should first aim at preserving semantic equivalence. The translation of the genre 'popular science book' would generally pay more attention to the accessibility and individual style of the ST author while the translation of a scientific article for experts would be expected to conform to the specialized conventions of the academic article. Similarly, Reiss feels that it is more important for a metaphor to be retained in the translation of an expressive text than in an informative TT, where translation of its semantic value alone will be sufficient. These adequacy criteria are valid as a measure of quality in those translation situations where the TT is to have the same function as the ST. There are, of course, occasions, as Reiss allows when the function of the TT may differ from that of the ST. An example she gives is Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726). Originally written as a satirical novel to attack the British government of the day (i.e. a mainly operative text), it is nowadays normally read and translated as 'ordinary entertaining fiction' (i.e. an expressive text). Alternatively, a TT may have a different communicative function from the ST: an operative election speech in one language may be translated for analysts in another country interested in finding out what policies have been presented and how (i.e. as an informative and expressive text). **The translation of metaphors** Some of these have a fixed translation in another language, but the more complex and individualistic metaphors do not, and more recent work has also moved from the consideration of linguistic metaphor to conceptual metaphors that represent and structure perceptions of reality. Another point is whether Reiss's preferred translation methods are reversible. For example, we might accept a plain-prose method for translating the English financial metaphors above into a language where such a metaphorical style was out of place -- so, profits soar may be rendered as profits increased considerably. But what would we do when translating a financial text from that language into English? A translation of such a text into English (or other similar languages) surely requires not just attention to the informative value of the ST. It also requires the use of the lexical and conceptual metaphors that are common to that genre in English. Failure to do so would produce an English TT that was lacking in the expressive function of language.