Учебное пособие: Text analysis in translation

The categories of speech and writing cannot, however, always be separated completely, as there are spoken texts which are reproduced in a written form (e.g. a statement made by a witness) and written texts which are spoken (e.g. lectures). Crystal & Davy (1969) therefore introduce the concept of complex medium, comprising "language which is spoken to be written, as in dictation, or language written to be spoken, as in news-broadcasting", and even subclassifications such as "language written to be read aloud as if written".

This shows that for our purposes it would not be wise to aim at a mere "labeling" of texts as regards medium. What we have to do is elicit specific features of the medium such as coincidence or discontinuity of text production and reception, indirect or direct form of communication, spontaneity of text production, opportunities for feedback operations, one-way communication, etc.

What to find out about the medium

In spoken communication, the dimension of medium includes the technical devices for information transfer (such as telephones or microphones), and these, of course, affect the production, reception and comprehension of the text. In written communication, on the other hand, it is the means of publication that is referred to as the "medium", i.e. newspaper, magazine, book, multi-volume encyclopedia, leaflet, brochure, etc., as well as subclassifications such as business news, literary supplement, etc.

The dimension of medium is relevant because it provides some clues as to the size and identity of the addressed audience. The readership of a national daily newspaper is not only much larger, but usually represents a different level of education and information with different expectations and different standards of stylistic quality from that of a medical, not to mention a neurosurgical, journal. The cheap paperback edition of a novel would be expected to reach a wider public than an expensive, multi-volume collection of Cantonese love poems. A personal letter is directed at one individual receiver whereas a standard business letter can be addressed to any number of companies on a mailing list, and a poster on an advertising board is targeted at anyone passing by, etc., etc.

In addition, the specification of the medium may give some clue as to the sender's intention (e.g. in the case of a poster or a picture postcard) and to the motive for the communication (e.g. in the case of a death announcement in a newspaper). Since the range and conventions of medium use may vary from culture to culture and from one generation to another, the specification of medium may even give some idea of the time and place of text production.

Although the choice of a particular medium obviously provides pre-signals for the receiver's expectations regarding the intended text function, function and medium must not be automatically associated or even equated. The receivers' expectations are certainly based on their experience with the medium in question, but, again, a particular sender may intend to surprise or disappoint the receiver by using a medium for a purpose quite different from that usually associated with it. For the translator it is important, too, to take into account the fact that the "same" media may have quite different functions in another culture.

As a general rule, however, the medium determines the receiver's expectations as to text function. A leaflet distributed at the entrance of a famous church is expected to contain basic information on the objects of interest in the form of a guided tour. The text in a guidebook usually has the functions of information plus advertising, and an article in an encyclopedia is expected to provide detailed information not only on the positive but also on the negative aspects of a place.

Example

a)This plan draws your attention to some of the main features of the building. More details may be obtained from guide books on sale in the shop. The Nave, begun in 1291 and finished in the 1350's in the Decorated Gothic style, is one of the widest Gothic naves in Europe. It is used for services throughout the year. The pulpit on the left commemorates Archbishops Temple and Lang, and the brass lectern has been used since 1686. The Great West Window is being repaired and cannot at present be seen. (First paragraphs of the information leaflet Welcome to York Minster. There is a plan with numbers on the opposite page.)

b)THE MINSTER (by the late Chancellor F. Harrison)

Beloved to Yorkshiremen, renowned the world over. This is true. Of great and noble churches in this country, probably three attract the greatest number of visitors. These three are Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and York Minster). (...) The east window deserves a note of its own. Seventy-six feet high and thirty-two feet broad, containing therefore more than two-thousand square feet of medieval glass - the great window at Gloucester Cathedral measuring seventy-two feet by thirty-eight feet, and containing more than two-thousand-three-hundred square feet of glass, but not wholly coloured - this great and grand window never ceases to excite admiration and wonder. The master-glazier, John Thornton, of Coventry, received for his work, in all, the sum of Ј 55 in three years, worth in modern currency - Ј 2,000? Who knows, even approximately? This was the pay of only one man. (From the brochure City and County of the City of York, Official Guide, 112 pages. I have left out the 12 pages on the history of the Minster.).

c)There are many small old churches, quaint and often glorious towers and the breathtaking spectacle of the Minster. It took two-and-a-half centuries, from 1220 to 1470, to complete this poem in stone. Inside, a kaleidoscope of light explodes from windows of medieval stained glass that are among the art treasures of the world. (Last of the three paragraphs on York, from the book AA Illustrated Guide to Britain, 544 pages)

d)York Minster is the largest of England's medieval cathedrals. The result of 250 years of building, it shows a variety of styles. The transepts are the earliest part of the present building, dating from 1220-1260; the nave, chapter house, and vestibule were built in 1291-1345 in Decorated style; the choir in 1361, the central tower in 1400-1423, and the western towers in 1433-1474 in early and late Perpendicular. The Minster contains some of the earliest glass and the biggest acreage of stained glass in Britain. The lancet lights of the "Five Sisters" in the north transept are a particularly fine example of 13th-century grisaille glass. (Paragraph on York Minster - under the heading "York" -from The New Caxton Encyclopedia, 18 vols.)

For translation-oriented text analysis, it is most important to elicit features typical of the medium, i.e. features of content and/or form, and to classify them as culture-specific or transcultural or even universal. This is particularly relevant in those cases where the target text is to be transmitted through a medium or channel different from that of the source text.

How to obtain information about the medium

If the source text is not available in its original medium, but only in a copy or typescript (which actually occurs fairly frequently in translation practice), the translator must insist on having detailed information about the medium, as it is rather difficult to identify the medium from intratextual analysis alone. There may be some clues in the dimensions of the sender and his/her intention or motive; time and place, too, sometimes narrow the field of possible media. In some cases, the choice of medium is determined by convention since there are favourite media for particular communicative purposes in every culture (e.g. posters or newspaper advertisements for product promotion, leaflets for tourist information, etc.).

Checklist

The following questions may help to find out the relevant information about the dimension of medium or channel:

1.Has the text been taken from a spoken or a written communication? By which medium was it transmitted?

2.Which medium is used to present the text to the target audience? Is there any extratextual information on the medium?

3.What clues as to medium or channel can be inferred from other situational factors (sender, intention, motive, function)?

4.What conclusions can be drawn from the data and clues obtained about the medium as regards

(a)other extratextual dimensions, such as the addressees and their expectations, motive, and function, and

(b)the intratextual features?

Place of communication

The dimension of space refers not only to the place of text production, i.e. the actual situation of the sender and the text producer, but also, at least in connection with certain media, to the place of text reception. It cannot be equated with the dimension of medium. The dimension of space is of particular importance where languages exist in various geographical varieties (such as the Spanish spoken in Spain as opposed to Latin America or even Peru, Mexico, Argentina etc., and the English spoken in Great Britain as opposed to the United States, Australia, India etc..

Example

The Portuguese version of the information brochure published by the Tourist Office of Munich was accepted unhesitatingly as being correct and appropriate by a group of Brazilian teachers in a seminar on translation, whereas their colleagues from Portugal classified the text as "more or less understandable, but unidiomatic and not conforming to normal usage". In this case, an analysis of the dimension of place could not throw any light on this problem because the text had been produced in Munich for "Portuguese"-speaking receivers. As the name of the translator was not specified in the text imprint, the participants in the seminar could only assume that the translator - whether he or she was a native speaker or not - had used the Brazilian variety of Portuguese. The sender/initiator (the Tourist Office) had probably not been aware of the problem. For the German version of this brochure, however, the dimension of place (of reception) would suggest that the text is written in the variety used in Germany (as opposed to Austria or Switzerland).