Transcript An Overall Model of Translating

An Overall Model of
Translating
Ian Mason
Heriot Watt University
The Indeterminacy of Meaning
 Models
of communication
 Models
of translation
The ‘Conduit Metaphor’
 “linguistic
expressions are vessels or
conduits into which thoughts, ideas
or meanings are poured, and from
which they can be transmitted… [and
then] extracted exactly as they were
sent”
Green 1989: 10
The code model
SENDER
→
MESSAGE
encodes
→
de-codes
LANGUAGE
KNOWLEDGE
RECEIVER
A model based on assumptions
PRODUCER
text-world
model
intends
RECEIVER
infers
assumptions
assumptions
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
TEXTUAL RECORD
SL/TL Transfer
 the
translator as receiver and
producer
 the commissioner
 the editor/reviser
 the publisher
 intended receivers of the translation
The translation process
SL textual record
TRANSLATOR
Assumptions
TL textual record
assumptions
Commissioner
Editor/Revisor/
Publisher
TL Receivers
Contexts
Translator
SL users
TL users
The Hatim & Mason approach
CONTEXT
STRUCTURE
TEXTURE
“top-down” and “bottom-up”
processing
Context
 of
situation (Communicative: Use
and user)
 of
intention (Pragmatics)
 of
signs (Semiotics)
Structure
 ‘plans’
towards ‘goals’
 dominant rhetorical purpose
 text type focus
– narration
– description
– exposition
– argumentation
– instruction
Texture
 lexical
choice
 syntactic arrangement
 transitivity
 modality
 cohesion
The communicative dimension of
context
 User
variables
– Geographical/historical/social dialect
– Standard/non-standard dialect
– Idiolect
 Use
variables
– Field
– Mode
– Tenor
Field and Tenor: an example
Tax Return Guide (UK)
“This guide is to help you fill in the enclosed
Tax Return form; it has no binding force
and does not affect your right of appeal…
If you need any help or more information I
shall be glad to give it, or you can ask for
general guidance at any other tax office.
Always bring your tax papers with you
when you call.”
Alternative version
“The Guide provides information
relative to completion of the
enclosed Tax Return…
Further information may be obtained
by writing to Inland Revenue.
Alternatively, enquirers may seek
information at any tax office. In this
case, it is advisable to have all tax
papers available…”
Mode
Mode
Speaking
spontaneously
Writing
Non-spontaneously
monologue
reciting
dialogue
Speaking from writing
Mode
Writing
To be read
As if spoken
To be spoken
As if thought
To be spoken as if not written
The pragmatic dimension of
context
 Use
of language to get things
done
 “Watch
out!” as a TEXT above all
performs an ACTION
 J.
Austin (1960) How to Do Things
with Words
The Speech Act
1.
2.
3.
Locutionary Act
Illocutionary Act
Perlocutionary Act
Illocutionary Force
 As
a standard of translation
equivalence
 Involves consideration of READERS
and their PURPOSES
An example from interpreting
Situation: A murder has taken place
on board a Russian ship, which then
puts in to port in an English coastal
town. A man is arrested.
The police interview the crew as
witnesses, assisted by interpreters.
They hear three different versions of
one utterance:
 “Ya
tebya uroyu” (lit. I’ll dig you)
– “I’ll get you”
– “I’ll kill you”
– “I’ll stitch you up”
Krouglov (1999)
Receivers’ interest:
 Does
it count as a death threat?
The semiotic dimension of context
 Signs
acquire shared meanings
within communities;
 Words acquire connotations within
cultures;
 Cultural beliefs and values emerge
from shared/repeated use
Example
 ‘Multiculturalism’
 ‘Integration’
 ‘Assimilation’
Example
 Jihad
– ‘Holy war’
– In Arabic/Islam: personal struggle
against evil; religious duty
– In English/the West: violence; terrorism
Intertextuality
 We
recognise entities (word, texts)
because we have met them before;
 A text is made up of elements of
previous texts;
 Text users have their own
intertextual history;
 Communities develop their own
socio-textual practices.
Socio-textual practices
 Genres
(language used in relation to
particular social occasions)
 Discourses (language used to
express the values and attitudes of
social institutions)
 Text types (formats used for
rhetorical purposes)
Examples
 Genres:
the birth certificate, the
legal contract
 Discourses: military discourse
(‘collateral damage’, ‘friendly fire’…),
environmentalism (‘sustainable’,
‘carbon footprint’…)
 Text types: the counter-argument
(‘Of course… However…’)