Table Of ContentA (Bio)Semiotic
Theory of Translation
This volume outlines a theory of translation, set within the framework of
Peircean semiotics, which challenges the linguistic bias in translation studies
by proposing a semiotic theory that accounts for all instances of translation,
not only interlinguistic translation. In particular, the volume explores cases
of translation which does not include language at all. The book begins
by examining different conceptualizations of translation to highlight how
linguistic bias in translation studies and semiotics has informed these fields
and their development. The volume then outlines a complexity theory of
translation based on semiotics which incorporates process philosophy,
semiotics, and translation theory. It posits that translation is the complex
systemic process underlying semiosis, the result of which produces
semiotic forms. The book concludes by looking at the implications of
this conceptualization of translation on social-cultural emergence theory
through an interdisciplinary lens, integrating perspectives from semiotics,
social semiotics, and development studies. Paving the way for scholars to
analyze translational aspects of all semiotic phenomena, this volume is
essential reading for graduate students and researchers in translation studies,
semiotics, multimodal studies, cultural studies, and development studies.
Kobus Marais is interested in understanding the emergence of society
and culture from a material substrate. He specializes in semiotics with a
focus on complexity thinking and the relationship between translation and
development. His publications include Translation Theory and Development
Studies: A Complexity Theory Approach and, co-edited with Ilse Feinauer,
Translation Studies beyond the Postcolony.
Routledge Advances in Translation and Interpreting Studies
Translating Foreign Otherness
Cross-cultural anxiety in modern China
Yifeng Sun
Translating Picturebooks
Revoicing the Verbal, the Visual and the Aural for a Child Audience
Riitta Oittinen, Anne Ketola and Melissa Garavini
Translation and Emotion
A Psychological Perspective
Séverine Hubscher-Davidson
Linguistic and Cultural Representation in Audiovisual Translation
Edited by Irene Ranzato and Serenella Zanotti
Jin Ping Mei English Translations
Texts, Paratexts, and Contexts
Lintao Qi
Untranslatability
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Edited by Duncan Large, Motoko Akashi, Wanda Józwikowska and
Emily Rose
Perspectives on Retranslation
Ideology, Paratexts, Methods
Edited by Özlem Berk Albachten and Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar
A (Bio)Semiotic Theory of Translation
The Emergence of Social-Cultural Reality
Kobus Marais
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
A (Bio)Semiotic
Theory of Translation
The Emergence of
Social-Cultural Reality
Kobus Marais
First published 2019
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Kobus Marais to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-30737-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-14231-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
I dedicate this book to Sanita, my life partner, whose
grounded humanity has enriched me beyond reason.
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
1 Translation Problematized 1
2 Conceptualizing Translation in Translation Studies 11
3 Conceptualizing Translation in Semiotics 47
4 Translation: The Process Underlying Semiosis 83
5 Conceptualizing a Semiotic Theory of Translation 120
6 Translating Socio-cultural Emergence 158
7 Musing About the Future of Reality in the Humanities 182
References 187
Index 203
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is generally regarded as an isolated, if not lonely, endeavor.
While this is true for the physical writing phase, the writing depends on
thinking, which depends on talking, which assumes other people, which
makes writing a deeply social activity. And while good scholarship is sup-
posed to be original, all scholars are embedded in networks of colleagues
or friends or even just the scholars they meet fleetingly at conferences or the
ones whose books they read.
I honor all of these. The ones whose books I read, I recognize in the text
by referencing them. However, much of my thought was shaped by discus-
sion, interaction, argumentation (sometimes intense) by so many colleagues
that I cannot, at this point, tell exactly where their contribution ends and
my own begins. I am thus indebted to many colleagues. I try here to thank
them, but I might even have forgotten names and influences, so if your name
is not here and you feel that you have made a significant contribution to my
thinking, you are welcome to let me know that I did you an injustice.
The five postdocs that I mention in the text allowed themselves to be
harassed in debates and discussions to sharpen my insight into problems
of translation studies. I acknowledge Sergey Tyulenev, Caroline Mangerel,
David Orrego Carmona, Duygu Tekgul, and Carmen Delgado Luchner as
colleagues, brilliant scholars in their own right, and unselfish contributors
to the larger scholarly project—including mine.
Maria Tymoczko, Reine Meylaerts, and João Queiroz have been amaz-
ing sparring partners over a number of years as research associates in our
department. A research visit to Maria at UMass and a conference on com-
plexity organized with Reine (and attended by João as a keynote) shaped
my thought in crucial ways. Another research associate, Rovena Troqe has
not been able to visit me in Bloemfontein but has contributed through Skype
meetings, e-mail discussions, and suggesting sources.
Paul Cobley, Kalevi Kull, and Douglas Robinson contributed in various
ways to thinking through some of the issues in this book. So also did par-
ticipants in the 2012 and 2018 Gatherings in Biosemiotics. David Vampola
supported my efforts to explore the kind of ideas presented in the book with
an enthusiasm that both encouraged and embarrassed me.
Acknowledgments ix
Closer to home, Kristina Riedel has been a great Head of Department,
allowing me to pursue my interests and supporting me in that. Colleagues
Monnapula Molefe, Marlie van Rooyen, and Xany Jansen van Vuuren pro-
vided a collegial and therefore stimulating intellectual environment in which
I could explore. Jackie Naudé has been a mentor to me for about three de-
cades now, and he and Cynthia Miller-Naudé continued to tell me to believe
in myself and to keep exploring my lines of thought—something for which
the reader might curse them, but something for which I honor them.
Even closer, at home, I had a life partner, children, and family that put up
with my quirks and supported me.
I thank and acknowledge all of you. I am because you are.
