Communication Across Cultures: Translation Theory and Contrastive Text Linguistics

253 Pages·1996·8.97 MB·English

by  Basil Hatim

COMMUNICATION
ACROSS CULTURES
Translation Theory
and Contrastive Text
Linguistics
Communication Across Cultures
Translation Theory and
Contrastive Text Linguistics
EXETER LANGUAGE AND LEXICOGRAPHY
General Editors: RRK. Hartmann and Tom McArthur
Understanding Semantics
by D. Connor Ferris, 1983
The ESP Classroom: Methodology, Materials, Expectations
edited by Gregory James, 1984
Workbook on Lexicography
by Barbara Ann Kipfer, 1984
Applied Text Linguistics
edited by Alan Turney, 1988
Lexicographers and their Works
edited by Gregory James, 1989
Lexicography in Africa
edited by RRK. Hartmann, 1990
Dictionary Workbooks. A Critical Evaluation
by Martin P. Stark, 1990
Sound Changes in Progress
by Anthea E. Sullivan, 1992
Chosen Words: Past and Present Problems for Dictionary Makers
by N .E. Osselton, 1995
Solving Language Problems: From General to Applied Linguistics
edited by RRK. Hartmann, 1996
Living Words: Language, Lexicography and the Knowledge Revolution
by Tom McArthur, 1998
Communication
Across Cultures
Translation Theory and
Contrastive Text Linguistics
Basil Hatim
UNIVERSITY
of
EXETER
PRE SS
First published in 1997 by
University of Exeter Press
Reed Hall, Streatham Drive
Exeter EX4 4QR
UK
www. exeterp ress. co. uk
Reprinted 2000
Printed digitally since 2006
© Basil Hatim 1997
The right of Basil Hatim to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Paperback ISBN 10: 0 85989 497 5
Paperback ISBN 13: 978 0 85989 497 5
Typeset in 10112 pt Linotype Times by Kestrel Data, Exeter
Printed in Great Britain
by Edwards Brothers, Plymouth
Contents
Figures VB
Preface ix
Arabic Transliteration System xi
Introduction Xlll
Chapter 1 Contrastive linguistic decisions: the need for
textual competence 1
Chapter 2 Foundation disciplines 13
Chapter 3 The myth of the single register 22
Chapter 4 Argumentation across cultures 35
Chapter 5 Argumentation in Arabic rhetoric 47
Chapter 6 The paragraph as a unit of text structure 54
Chapter 7 Background information in expository texts 65
Chapter 8 At the interface between structure and texture:
the textual progression of themes and rhemes 76
Chapter 9 Cataphora as a textural manifestation 89
Chapter 10 Degree of texture explicitness 99
Chapter 11 Emotiveness in texts 111
Chapter 12 Translating direct speech and the dynamics of
news reporting 123
Chapter 13 The pragmatics of politeness 139
Chapter 14 Cultures in contact 157
CONTENTS
Chapter 15 The discourse of the alienated 174
Chapter 16 The translation of irony: a discourse perspective 186
Chapter 17 The 'other' texts: implications for liaison interpreting 200
Glossary of Contrastive Text Linguistics and Translation Terms 213
References 226
Index 231
Figures
3.1 The three dimensions of context 22
3.2 Tenor v. field and mode 26
3.3 The semiotics of field, mode and tenor 29
3.4 Deeper levels of semiotics 31
4.1 Basic text types 39
4.2 Through-argumentation 39
4.3 Counter-argumentation 40
4.4 Order of text-type preference 44
6.1 The negotiation of text structure 55
6.2 A possible context 56
6.3 Negotiating a structural format-the basic level of elements 57
6.4 Negotiating a structural format-the higher level of chunks 57
6.5 The structural organization of sample B 61
7.1 Exposition 66
7.2 Add-on background information 68
7.3 Three levels of narration 71
7.4 Main and subordinate texts 73
7.5 Background signals in embedded texts 74
8.1 Simple linear TP 81
8.2 Continuous-theme TP 81
FIGURES
8.3 The tone-setter and the scene setter 83
8.4 The zigzag and the uniform patterns 85
9.1 Argumentation and exposition 91
9.2 Cataphora in argumentation 93
9.3 Cataphora in exposition 94
12.1 Contextual profile of sample A 126
12.2 Speech act sequence for Part V sample A 130
12.3 Text structure of sample A 134
12.4 Text-discourse-genre-chain 135
13.1 The type token relationship in texts 140
13.2 Text-type, Power and Distance 156
14.1 The text-type continuum 168
17.1 Intertextual retrieval 203
Preface
Both contrastive linguistics and text linguistics are now truly in their
prime; witness the conferences at Innsbruck on New Departures in
Contrastive Linguistics in 1991 and at Brighton on Contrastive Semantics
and Pragmatics earlier this year, or the 4-volume Handbook of Discourse
Analysis edited by T.A. van Dijk (1985). However, the combination of
the two perspectives (the contrastive and the textual), for which some
of us have been pleading for many years (I suggested the term
'contrastive textology' in 1980), and whose computational implemen
tation is now feasible, is only just beginning. A further development, the
application of contrastive text linguistics to translation studies, is long
overdue.
Basil Hatim's book not only addresses all these issues and con
troversies, but exemplifies them through the prism of Arabic, a language
that has enjoyed a long and distinguished rhetorical tradition, but not
the benefit of much modern theoretical work. The author is well qualified
to undertake this difficult but exciting task. Ever since the days of his
Exeter PhD he has explored the relevance of contrastive discourse
analysis to English-Arabic translation and demonstrated it in his practical
teaching.
We are gratified to be able to present Dr Hatim's ideas in our Exeter
Linguistic Studies in the hope that they will enrich the debate and aid
instruction in a growing interdisciplinary field.
R.R.K. Hartmann
Exeter, October 1996