Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 6, Issue 1, 1994

Abstract

This paper examines the relevance of three semantic models for translation. Structural semantics, more specifically semantic feature analysis, has given rise to the maxim that we should translate "bundles of semantic features". Prototype semantics suggests that word-meanings have cores and fuzzy edges which are influenced by culture. For translation this means that we do not necessarily translate bundles of features but have to decide whether to focus on the core or the fuzzy edges of the meaning of a particular word. Scenesand-frames semantics suggests that word meaning is influenced by context and the situation we are in. Word-meaning is thus not static but dynamic, and it is this dynamism which should govern our decisions as translators.

Abstract

This paper takes as a model for discussing the issue of translating ancient texts into a modern language and for a modern western society an ancient Mesopotamian myth written in the Semitic Akkadian language. Aiming for an oral production for a Hebrew-speaking audience in contemporary Israel, the translator has tackled problems of transmission in both poetics and language. The genre and linguistic gaps have been bridged by the existent proximity of the two cultures in poetic meter. Both the theoretical approach and some practical problems and solutions are discussed.

Abstract

The scientific translating associated with twelfth-century Toledo remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Attention to its political dimension suggests that it should not be attached to the state-subsidized work carried out under Alfonso X after 1250 but is better explained in terms of Cluniac sponsorship of the first Latin translation of the Qur'an in 1142. This approach reveals grounds for potential conflict between the foreign scientific translators and the Toledo cathedral. Such conflict would nevertheless have been smoothed over by certain translation principles serving both scientific and religious interests. The foremost of these principles were literalism, secondary elaboration, the use of teamwork, the inferiorization of non-Latinist intermediaries, justification of conquest and the accordance of authority to non-Christian texts. Thanks to this shared regime, the Church helped scientific translations to enter Latin. But the translations brought with them a questioning spirit that would contest and eventually undermine Church authority.

Unusual ventures justify special measures. The project outlined below is such a venture. It concerns a new, large-scale encyclopedia of translation studies. Scheduled for publication by Walter de Gruyter (Berlin/New York) in 1999-2001 as part of their series of Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (general editors Hugo Steger and Herbert Ernst Wiegand), the encyclopedia Übersetzung* Translation* Traduction will consist of some 400 articles spread over three volumes of around 1,000 (large-format) pages each. The editors are Armin Paul Frank (Göttingen), Norbert Greiner (Heidelberg), Theo Hermans (London), Harald Kittel (Göttingen), Werner Koller (Bergen), José Lambert (Leuven) and Fritz Paul (Göttingen).

In the following pages the editors submit their project for public scrutiny. The presentation is necessarily brief, and covers only the general nature and overall structure of the Encyclopedia. Further information, including a detailed list of individual articles, may be obtained from the editor-in-chief at the address below. The editors invite readers of Target to come forward with comments, criticism and suggestions to improve the existing concept. Please write to: Dr Harald Kittel, SFB 309 'Die Literarische Übersetzung', Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Humboldtallee 17, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany.

This article reviews Translation and Text Transfer: An Essay on the Principes of Intercultural Communication. by Anthony Pym3-631-44995-XDM 65,-.

This article reviews Translation and Meaning I: Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 1990 Maastricht-Lódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning”.Translation and Meaning II: Proceedings of the Lódź Session of the 1990 Maastricht-Lódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning”. by Marcel Thelen, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Marcel Thelen90-72614-03-8Hf1 60,-.90-801039-1-8Hfl 60,-.

This article reviews Wissenschaftliche Grundlagen der Sprachmittlung: Berliner Beiträge zur Übersetzungswissenschaft. by Heidemarie Salevsky3-631-44547-4DM 75,-.

This article reviews Hermeneutisches Übersetzen: Linguistische Kategorien des Verstehens und Formulierens beim Übersetzen by Radegundis Stolze3-8233-4223-1DM 86,-.

This article reviews Rhetoric, Hermeneutics and Translation in the Middle Ages: Academic Traditions and Vernacular Texts by Rita Copeland0-521-38517-2

This article reviews Studi sulla traduzione nell'Inghilterra del Seicento e del Settecento. by Carmela Nocera Avila, Tullio De MauroLire 20.000

This article reviews Einführung in das funktionale Übersetzen: Am Beispiel von Titeln und Überschriften by Christiane Nord3-8252-1734-5

This article reviews De Oudheid in het Nederlands. Repertorium en bibliografische gids by Patrick De Rynck, Andries Welkenhuysen90-263-1098-6BF 1590,-.

This article reviews Interpreting as Interaction: On Dialogue-interpreting in Immigration Hearings and Medical Encounters. by Cecilia WadensjöISBN 91-7871-000-6ISSN 0282-9800

This article reviews 't Word grooter plas: maar niet zo 't was. Nederlandse beschouwingen over vertalen (1670-1760). by Cees W. Schoneveld90-71313-40-9Hfl. 29,50.

This article reviews Modalpartikeln als Übersetzungsproblem: Eine kontrastive Studie zum Sprachenpaar Deutsch-Spanisch by Christiane Beerbom3-631-44664-0DM 108,-.