Communicative translation theories

Communicative translation theories were chosen since this paper concentrates on the translation of utterances which appear in social interaction. Vehmas-Lehto (1999: 59) explains that communicative translation theories consider translations as a form of

communication and, thus, the different operators of communication have great significance in the theory. These theories include a sender, a recipient and a message that is mediated

between these two. The message itself is made up of a signal, a combination of the form of the message and its content, which is the more important of the two. For the message to reach its destination, a communication channel is required as well. In the case of translations, the communication is bilingual, which is why there is need for yet another operator, the

translator. Communicative translation theories are based on general communication theories, with the exception that they are mostly monolingual. All the other components, however, are present in all communication-based theories.

The need for a more functional, communicative way of translating stemmed from the process of translating the Bible for different cultural needs. Vehmas-Lehto (1999: 59) notes that the first versions strove for formal equivalence, meaning that each word in the source language is always replaced by its equivalent word in the target language and that also the syntax of the source text is copied into the translation. This way of translating, however, did not serve the fundamental idea of the Bible, which was to spread the gospel around the world. This strategy was replaced by the concept of dynamic equivalence, which is described by its creator,

Eugene Nida (1989: 95), as a process of choosing the closest natural equivalence of the message in the target language, emphasising firstly the meaning and secondly the style. In his theory, Nida prioritised the reactions of those receiving, reading and using the translation and stated that if those reactions were similar to the reactions of those receiving the original text, the translation could be considered equivalent. The concept of “choosing the closest natural equivalent”, which the dynamic equivalence theory is based on, does not differ much from the principles of free translating, which translators had already been using for years.

Vehmas-Lehto (1999: 56) considers Nida’s ideas revolutionary because not only does the form change, but also the meaning can be changed, if necessary, to bring the translation closer to the recipients’ culture.

The theory on dynamic equivalence is communicative by its nature, perhaps even more so than others as, according to Nida (1989), the main function of the translation is to be understandable to the recipient, within the recipient’s own culture. To achieve this, the translator must go through a complicated process of analysing and restructuring, which Nida depicts as follows:

Figure 1. Nida’s understanding of the translation process. (Nida 1989: 82)

Due to the different structures in grammar and semantics, the translator cannot translate directly, but instead he needs to analyse the source language thoroughly before transferring it into the target language. After the transfer is complete, the translator must reconstruct the language to create a form in which the recipient will finally consume and, hopefully, react to it similarly as the source language recipient did (ibid.).

The next step for translation theories, according to Vehmas-Lehto (1999: 70), was to the direction of the functional equivalence theories, including the skopos theory, which will be examined in closer detail in the next subchapter. Functional equivalence theories are similar to their dynamic cousins, but instead of focusing on the recipients’ reactions, these theories focus on the function(s) of the translation and the source text. Functional equivalency means that the functions of both the source and of the target text are similar and the linguistic tools are chosen to reflect that.

Reiss (1989) developed the already existing theory on the functions of language further by attaching the functions to different text types. She discerns that for the functional equivalence to be fulfilled, the function and, thus, the text type needs to remain the same. The original functions of the language were: informative, expressive and operative. Originally, Reiss’s theory considered it possible for one text type to have only one function, which rarely is the case in practise as a text can have numerous functions. She realised this later on as the following figure exemplifies:

Figure 2. Reiss’s theory on text types and their functions. (Reiss 1989: 105)

Another functional equivalency theory that has gained popularity is that of situational dimensions, by Juliane House. House (1977) states that the function of a text is always dependent on the context of a certain situation and that situation is unique in each case. House was able to determine eight situational dimensions, from which three are related to the user of the language and five to the use of the language. House (1977) names geographical origin, social class, time and the way these are reflected in the text as decisive factors regarding the user of the language. This means that the translator should consider the place and time in history the text was written as this can have a significant effect on how the text is understood by the reader and what meanings it holds for him. The dimension of place can manifest itself also in

the form of a regional dialect, which should be taken into account when translating so the text retains its original function even when transferred to another culture. The same goes for the use of sociolects tied to a certain social class as their use can be vital in guaranteeing that the author’s intentions do not get lost in translation. The factors related to the use of language, as listed by House (1977) are the medium, if the text was meant to be read or to be spoken;

participation, whether the text is a dialogue or mainly a monologue; social role relationship, if they are on the same level and the social attitude, if it is neutral, formal, intimate or perhaps even frozen. These factors are analysed first in the source text and then in the translation. If the translator has been able to maintain these elements in the translation, functional equivalency can be achieved.