THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT
In reading, you search for the intention
of the text, you cannot isolate this from understanding it, they go together
and the title may be remote from the content as well as the intention. Two
texts may describe a battle or a riot or a debate, stating the same facts and
figures, but the type of ianguageused and even the grammatical structures
(passive voice, impersonal verbs often used to disclaim rcsponsibilitv) in each
case may be evidence of different points of view. The intention of the text represents
the SL writer's attitude to the subject matter.
A piece about floors may be 'pushing1 floor
polishes; about newspapers, a condemnation of the press; about nuclear weapons,
an advertisement for them -always there is a point of view, somewhere, a modal
component to the proposition, perhaps in a word- * unfortunately',
'nevertheless', 'hopefully1,
What is meant by 'That was clever of him1?
Is it ironical, openly or implicitly? {In a text showing that BBC Radio 2 is a pale
imitation of commercial radio, the irony may only be implicit and obscure to a
non-British reader, and the translator may want to make the point more
explicitly,) "CUmenie, noire justice repressive?*, writes a
journalist meaning LOur repressive judicial system is far from lenient1, or is
it a bluff, mainly nonsense, for amusement? It may be 'iceberg1 work to find
out, since the tone mav come through in a literal translation, but the translator
has to be aware of it, Again, in a
detailed, confused piece about check-ups on elderly patients who may have to
undergo chemotherapy the author's intention is to show that patients must have
a thorough physical check-up before they start a course of drugs: if physical
problems are cleared up first, there may be no need for psychiatry.
A summary of this nature, which uses
only a few key words from the original, appears to be isolated from the
language, simply to show what happens in real life, and it is indispensable to
the translator. But he still has to 'return1 to the text. He still has to
translate the text, even if he has to simplify, rearrange, clarify, slim it of
its redundancies, pare it down.
THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR
Usually, the translator's intention is
identical with that of the author of the SI - text. But he may be translating
an advertisement, a notice, or a set of instructions to show his client how
such matters are formulated and written in the source language,
THE
ANALYSIS OF A TEXT
13
rather than how to adapt them
in order to persuade or instruct a new TL reader-ship. And again, he may be
translating a manual of instructions for a less educated readership, so thac
the explanation in his translation mav be much larger than the 'reproduction'.
TEXT STYLES
Following Nida, we distinguish four
types of (literary or non-literary) text:
(1)
Narrative: a dynamic sequence of events, where the emphasis is on the
verbs or. for English, 'dummy' or 'empty' verbs plus verb-nouns or phrasal
verbs ('He made a sudden appearance', lHe burst in1).
(2)
Description, which is static, with emphasis on linking verbs,
adjectives, adjectival nouns.
(3)
Discussion, a treatment of ideas, with emphasis on abstract nouns
(concepts), verbs of thought, mental activity ('consider1, 'argue',
etc.), logical argument and connectives,
(4) Dialogue, with
emphasis on colloquialisms and phaticisms.
THE READERSHIP
On the basis of the variety of
language used in the original, you attempt to characterise the readership of
the original and then of the translation, and to decide how much attention you
have to pay to the TL readers, (In the case of a poem or any work written
primarily as self-expression the amount is, I suggest, very little,) You may
try to assess the level of education, the class, age and sex of the readership
if these are 'marked \
The average
text for translation tends to be for an educated, middle-class readership in an
informal, not colloquial style. The most common variety of 'marked' error in
register among student translators tends to be Colloquial' and 'intimate1, e.g. useofphrasessuchas 'more and more'for'increasingly' (de
plus en plus), 'above air for 'particularly' (surwut); 'job' for
'work1; 'got well1 for 'recovered' and excessively familiar phrasal verbs ('get
out of, 'get rid of). TrTe other common error, use of formal or official
register (e.g. 'decease' for 'death*), also shows signs of translationese.
These tokens of language typify the student-translators instead of the
readership they are translating for; they may epitomise their degree of knowledge
and interest in the subject and the appropriate culture, i.e. how motivated
they are. All this will help you to decide on the degree of formality,
generality (or specificity) and emotional tone you must express when you work
on the text.
