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Defining “Political” texts

Defining “Political” texts. Alone, on a piece of paper, jot down some ideas about following questions: What makes something a “political” text? What kinds of texts are “political”?. Now, discuss your responses with a partner. Translation theorists weigh in.

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Defining “Political” texts

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  1. Defining “Political” texts Alone, on a piece of paper, jot down some ideas about following questions: • What makes something a “political” text? • What kinds of texts are “political”? Now, discuss your responses with a partner

  2. Translation theorists weigh in... • Texts primarily related to political activities, ideas, relations • Often associated with institutional politics (e.g. Political/Parliamentary debates, speeches, documents) (see Schäffner 2007: 143)

  3. Translation theorists weigh in... • “Prototypical” political texts a) discuss political ideas, beliefs, practices • e.g. Textbooks, academic papers, essays b) are used to establish political communities/ groups • e.g. Treaties, manifestos, speeches (see Schäffner 2004: 117-119)

  4. Applying translation theory Text types Text genres Reiss: informative, expressive, operative Hatim & Mason: argumentative, expository, instructive Correspondence, essays, manifestos, interviews, biographies, advertisements, speeches, policy papers, treaties, etc.

  5. Translation theorists weigh in... Political texts range from: Very culture-bound texts (e.g. speeches, statements by politicians) To: Interactive, multinational texts (e.g. standardized treaties, NATO or EU documents) (See Trosborg 1997: 145)

  6. Discussion break In groups of 3-4 discuss the following questions: What is “political discourse”? What is the style of political texts? Be prepared to share your answers with the class in 5 minutes.

  7. Translation theorists weigh in... Political discourse can have different strategic functions: i) coercion ii) resistance, opposition, protest iii) dissimulation iv) legitimization/delegitimization See Schäffner (2004: 119)

  8. Translation theorists weigh in... Political language is used to: Formulate policies Create alliances Shape/disseminate the values of political associations Establish legal systems Identify forms of government (See Romagnuolo 2009: 2)

  9. Translation theorists weigh in... Features of political language: Abstract conceptual terms (e.g. capitalism, communism, socialism, democracy, revolution) Political jargon Euphemisms Metaphors Neologisms Acronyms Collocations (which may border on clichés) (See Newmark 1991: 147-161)

  10. Some parting thoughts... Does a text become more or less political over time?

  11. References • Hatim, Basil & Ian Mason. (1990). Discourse and the Translator. London; New York: Longman. • Newmark, Peter. (1991). About Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. • Reiss, Katerina. (1971/2004). Type, Kind and Individuality of Text: Decision-Making in Translation. (Susan Kitron, trans.) In Lawrence Venuti, ed. The Translation Studies Reader (2nd ed.). New York; London: Routledge. • Romagnuolo, Anna. (2009). Political discourse in translation: A corpus-based perspective on presidential inaugurals. Translation and Interpreting Studies 4(1): 1-30. • Schäffner, Christina. (2004). Political discourse analysis from the point of view of Translation Studies. Journal of Language and Politics 3(1): 117-150. • Schäffner, Christina. (2007). Politics and Translation. In Piotr Kuhiwczak and Karin Littau, (Ed.), A Companion to Translation Studies (pp. 134-147). Clevedon; Tonawanda; North York: Multilingual Matters. • Trosborg, Anna. (1997). Translating Hybrid Political Texts. In Anna Trosborg (Ed.) Text Typology and Translation (pp. 145-158). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

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