10. Translational purpose – skopos theory

1. TRANSLATION 10. Translationalpurpose – skopostheory Lingua Inglese 2 LM

2. Papa/Scalfari - genreanalysis part 1 1. COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSE OF THE ST • the source • the writer • the readers ANALYSE THESE ON THE HANDOUT

3. Scalfari/Papa –communicativepurpose THE SOURCE • Whatis the Repubblica Magazine? • Howisitdifferentfrom the newspaper? • Whatkindofarticlesdoesitwrite? • Whatisitsattitudetoreligion? • Whatisitsattitudetotranslation; whatgetstranslated and why?

4. Scalfari/Papa –communicativepurpose THE WRITER • Who is Scalfari? • What is his attitude to religion? • Is the article about Scalfari or about Papa Francesco ?

5. Scalfari/Papa –communicativepurpose THE READER • Who reads the Repubblica magazine? • Who is likely to click on and read this article?

6. Papa/Scalfari -genreanalysis part 2 2. TEXT ANALYSIS OF THE ST • the text type • the lexis • the grammar • the discourse organisation

7. Papa/Scalfari – text type JOURNALISTIC TEXT TYPES • Informative texts – news report with factual description of events • Interpretive – reportage in which info is selected, interpreted and narrated by the journalist • Argumentative genres The author’s style prevails – the “opinion” article WHICH TEXT TYPE FOR PAPA/SCALFARI?

8. Papa/Scalfari – text type INTERVIEW (not a typical celebrity interview nor a typical political one) A MIXTURE - DOESN’T FIT THE USUAL PARAMETERS • Informative texts – news report with factual description of events (NOT MUCH OF THIS) • Interpretive – reportage in which info is selected, interpreted and narrated by the journalist • Argumentative genres The author’s style prevails – the “opinion” article INTERVIEW + NARRATIVE, REPORTAGE, OPINION

9. Papa/Scalfari - lexicogrammar • a lot of translation of speech • mix of formal and informal registers • present and past tenses

10. Papa/Scalfari - discourseorganisation • introduced as an interview in the present • narrative in flashback (present and past) • narrated interview • questions and answers

11. Translating the Scalfari text • We have analysed the source text • The Repubblica also provided a translation of the Italian text for its “English version” • We need to analyse the purpose of the translation?

12. Twopurposes • Analysing the purpose of a text is an important part of genre analysis. There are 2 kinds of purpose. • the communicative purpose of the ST • the purpose of the translation itself • The purpose of a translation often decides the strategy and method of translation

13. Skopostheoryaddstogenreanalysis Genre analysis – 3 stages 1. COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSE OF THE ST • the source • the writer • the readers 2. TEXT ANALYSIS OF THE ST • the text type • the lexis • the grammar • the discourse organisation 3. PURPOSE OF THE TRANSLATION ITSELF • translation commission (function)

14. Analysing the purpose of a translation Skopos theory (Reiss & Vermeer (1984) • The purpose of the translation is paramount • Rules • a TT is determined by its overall purpose (skopos) • a TT is a message in a target culture/TL concerning a message in a source culture/SL • a TT is not clearly reversible • a TT must be internally coherent • a TT must be coherent with the ST

15. Implications of skopos theory • The source text is dethroned. • The same text can be translated in different ways for different purposes. • All strategies are legitimate if they achieve the purpose. The purpose of what translators do (“translatorial action”) may be to produce equivalence to various aspects of the source text, or to engage in rewriting, or to give advice, as required. • The translator is an expert who decides on the basis of the client’s instructions (commission).

16. Translator-client relationship • In the last analysis, the purpose of the translation is defined by the individual translator, working in relation with all the other social actors involved • A key factor in defining the purpose of the translation are the instructions given by the client or negotiated with the client. • A good working relationship between translator and client is very important; translator needs to advise the client on translation and explain what he/she is doing with the translation

17. Strong points of skopos translation • The “skopos-purpose” paradigm recognizes that the translator works in a professional situation, with complex obligations to people rather than to texts. • It liberates the translator from theories that would try to formulate linguistic rules governing every decision. • It forces us to see translation as a project, involving many factors, rather than as work on just one text. • It can address ethical issues in social terms.

18. Weak points • Difficulties in translation are often questions of conflicting purpose • Skopos theory cannot resolve cases of conflicting purposes. • Hard to apply to literary translation. Do poems have a purpose?

19. Papa/Scalfari – whatis the purpose of the translation • Youneed to make a hypothesisabout the commission • Whatdid the editor tell the translator to do?

20. Scalfari/Papa - client/translatorcommission QUESTIONS FACING THE TRANSLATOR Yes, but who reads the English version of the Repubblica magazine? Ok, but what is interesting for the readers OK, but how free can I be? INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE CLIENT • Keep the readers happy • Keepitinteresting • Keepit accurate

21. Otherimportantquestions for the translator • The Pope is speaking in Italian – it’s not his native language. Is there any sense of “foreignness” in the ST? What kind of Italian speaker has he been represented as being in the ST? • What kind of English speaker should the translator represent the Pope as? • For Catholic readers the Pope’s words are the word of God so the translator has to be 100% accurate !