COURSE II
MODEL FOR TRANSLATION –ORIENTED TEXT
ANALYSIS
We need a model of source text analysis which is applicable to
all text types and text specimens, and which can be used in any
translation task that may arise.
1. Theoretical principles
1.1.Translatological foundation
a. Factors and constituents of translation
Translation is basically functional- it implies a transfer
from the Source Lg to Target Lg..
Translation = intercultural communication
It is initiated by a customer or ’initiator’, approaching a
translator because he needs a certain target text for a
particular recipient.
There is a methodological distinction between the text
producer and the text sender.
The text producer = actually produces the text
The text sender = transmits a text in order to send a certain
message.
 If the sender uses a text\ written by himself, he is both a
text producer and sender.
 If the sender asks an expert on text production (a ghostwriter) to write the text for him, a discrepancy may
occur between the sender’s intention and its realization
by the text producer.
Once the process of intercultural communication has been
initiated, the translator may be regarded as the actual
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recipient of the ST. Although the recipient does not take an
active part in the process of intercultural communication, he
is still an important factor in the ST situation and can
influence on the linguistic and stylistic features of the ST.
The essential factors and constituents of the process of
intercultural communication are, in chronological order:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
ST producer ST-P
ST sender ST-S
Source text
ST recipient
Initiator I
Translator TRL
Target text
TT recipient. TT-R
Some of these roles can be represented in practice by one and
the same person.
Example.
1.A German medical prof. has to give a lecture at an
international conference, where the official lg. will be English.
He knows sufficient E to be able to read out a text, but not
enough to write his lecture in E. So he writes the text in
German and asks a translator to put it into E (ST -Producer ,
I, TT-R).
2. A translator produces a translation in order to submit it
as an example of his work when applying for a job
(Translator,I).
3. A copywriter asks for the translation of a foreign ad in
order to gain an impression of the marketing strategies
used in other countries (TT-R, I).
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4. A Latin American author living in exile in France translates
his own novel from Spanish into French (ST-P, TRL).
Non – essential constituents: X
E.g.
1. An advertising agency orders the ST from a copywriter (STP), specifying certain requirements for a later translation ( X =
advertising agency).
2. The final layout of the TT is assigned to a text designer, so
that the translator need not bother about this (X= text
designer).
3. Before being sent to print, the TT is revised by an expert
who adapts the text to the firm’s special terminology (X=
expert).
Interpreting vs Translating
Interpreting is a special form of translation, since the situation
requires the presence of the ST –S as well as the TRT and
the TT –R. Interpreting = a form of face-to-face
communication- both the sender and the recipient are
present, together with the translator in the role of the
producer.
The same place, the same time, the same medium of
communication.
One more skill required: to do shorthand.
What is different – the background of the ST-S + ST-R on the
one hand, and that of the TT-R , on the other.
The translation of written texts takes place in a different
type of situation.
Even if the medium is the same, the ST- sender and the ST
and TT recipients are separated in time and space and their
communication is a ‘one-way communication’, which does
not permit immediate feedback.
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Moreover, written texts exist outside their original situation
and can thus be applied to new situations. One such new
situation is translation. If the translator wants to find out if
the text is suitable for a new situation in the target culture,
he has to take into consideration the factors and constituents
of the original situation.
Being culture-bound linguistic signs, both the source text
and the target text are determined by the communicative
situation in which they serve to convey a message.
1.1.2. The Role of the Initiator
The initiator starts the process of intercultural
communication
because
he
wants
a
particular
communicative instrument: the target text.
This implies that the initiator plays an important role.
He wants the translation for a certain purpose. The reception of
the target text depends on n this purpose. It is this purpose that
determines the requirements to be met by the translation.
E.g.
1.An American physicist asks for a translation of some
Russian technical literature to find out about the latest state of
scientific research in the Soviet union.
2. A German businessman wants to present his product or
make an offer to a Spanish salesman.
3. By having a French novel translated into English, a British
publisher wants to launch a bestseller on the market.
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4. A lg. teacher wants to find out by means of a translation
exercise whether his students can tell the diff. between the
function of a gerund and a present participle in English.
If the translation is to be suitable for a certain purpose, it must
meet certain requirements, which are defined by the
‘translation instructions’ = the description of the prospective
target situation, the so-called skopos of the target text (TT
skopos). The initiator might simply say: Would you translate
this into Russian? The translator, an expert in the target culture,
converts the information the initiator gives him about the TT
situation into a practical definition of the TT skopos. Even if the
initiator defines the TT skopos, the responsibility for the
translation will always rest with the translator.
The function of the target text is not arrived at automatically
from the analysis of the source text, but is pragmatically
defined by the purpose of the intercultural communication.
Sometimes, the translator is in the possession of more detailed
information about ‘his’ addressee than the author himself,
whose readers are to be found not only in the source culture,
but, in the case of a later translation, also in the respective
target culture(s):
E.g.
A Latin American novelist and Nobel prize winner may write
his new novel not only for his countrymen but also with
foreign readers in mind, if he expects the book to be translated
later. The translator who renders this novel into German will
normally have to take into consideration any French or Italian
readers.
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1.1.3 The role of the translator
The translator is not the sender of the ST message but a text
producer in the target culture who adopts somebody else’s
intention in order to produce a communicative instrument
for the target culture, or a target-culture document of a
source-culture communication.
The translator’s reception (i.e. the way he receives the text) is
determined by the communicative needs of the initiator or the
TT recipient.
The professional translator reads every new ST in the light
of his experience as a critical recipient and translator.
This experience forms the framework into which he integrates
the findings of each new ST reception. In translation teaching
we thus have to set up the basic structure for such a framework.
Last but not least, the translator’s reception is determined by
his particular competences:
a. he is bi-cultural- he has a perfect command of both the
source and the target culture;
b. he possesses a transfer competence, which comprises
the skills of text reception, text production, and research;
c. he has the ability to synchronize ST reception and TT
production.
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1.2. Text – linguistic foundations
1.2.1. The text as a communicative interaction
Translation takes place within the framework of a
communicative situation and on the basis of texts- source text
and target text.
Two cultures are involved.
The act of intercultural communicative is to be broken by
the intervention of the initiator and the translator.
Both the source and the target text are texts embedded in a
communicative situation and thus part of a communicative act
of interaction.
Beaugrand & Dressler – 1981- refer to the text as a ‘
communicative occurrence’.
Other aspects to be taken into account
 The text central notions of textuality – coherence,
cohesion and the procedures for pertaining them
(recurrence, parallelism, paraphrase, pro-forms, anaphora,
cataphora) refer to structural features.
We should include not only textuality – as a structural featurebut both pragmatic- situational aspects.
 For the translator, the semantic and syntactic structural
features of the text-in-function are important as a means
of analysing the meaning both in the sense of denotation
(reference to extralinguistic reality) and connotation
(reference to language use and style).- the distinction
between
the
two
levels
of
analysis:
denotative/connotative/, literal/abstract.
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 Another aspect to be taken into account – the nonlinguistic and non-verbal means such as:
a. intonation, facial expressions, gestures in face-to-face
communication;
b. illustrations, layout, a company logo, in written
communication.
There are case when these non-verbal elements are of even
greater importance than verbal elements, as in the case of
comic strips.
Conclusion
A text is a communicative action which can be realized by
a combination of verbal and non-verbal means.
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