The Pragmatic Translator: An Integral Theory of Translation

by Massimiliano Morini, Jeremy Munday (Editor), Kathryn Batchelor (Editor)

Overview

This book is concerned with translation theory. It proposes an all-round view of translation in the terms of modern pragmatics, as articulated in three pragmatic functions (performative, interpersonal and locative) which describe how translated texts function in the world, involve readers and are rooted in their spatio-temporal contexts. It presents a full and up to date view of translation that takes into account thirty years of research in the field of Descriptive Translation Studies. Unlike DTS, the theory provides an account of products and processes. This publication exhibits the need for and usefulness of such a theory, and will be essential reading for scholars involved in translation and interpreting studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472575852
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/28/2014
Series:	Bloomsbury Advances in Translation
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Massimiliano Morini is Associate Professor of English Linguistics and Translation at the University of Urbino, Italy.

Jeremy Munday is Director of the Centre for Translation Studies, University of Leeds, UK.

Kathryn Batchelor is Professor of Translation Studies at University College London (UCL), UK. Her research interests encompass translation theory, translation history, philosophies of translation, and translation in or involving Africa. She is the author of Decolonizing Translation (2009) and Translation and Paratexts (2018), and has co-edited six volumes of essays, including Intimate Enemies: Translation in Francophone Contexts (2013), co-edited with Claire Bisdorff; Translating Frantz Fanon Across Continents and Languages (2017), co-edited with Sue-Ann Harding; and Translation, Trouvailles (2023), co-edited with Chantal Wright. For a full list of publications, see https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/71119-kathryn-batchelor/publications

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A linguistic theory of translation
2. The Pragmatic Translator
3. The Performative Function 1: from text-type to text act
4. The Performative Function 2: how to do things with poems
5. The Interpersonal Function 1: the translator's personality
6. The Interpersonal Function 2: The death of the source author
7. The Locative Function 1: Translating space, translating time
8. The Locative Function 2: Repositioning Humour in Film and Comics
9. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

[Morini] explains difficult theoretical issues in extremely clear and lucid language, providing plenty of relevant microlinguistic examples in Italian and English … What makes [his] book stand out from previous research is the fact that it aims to formulate a general pragmatic theory of translation, and this goal was certainly achieved successfully … Morini's pragmatic theory may truly be called 'integral' as it aspires to reconcile existing theories instead of trying to disprove or supplant them, which is very welcome.” —Elena Gheorghita, State University of Moldova, Linguist

From the Publisher

Morini has accomplished a very difficult task: he explains difficult theoretical issues in extremely clear and lucid language, providing plenty of relevant microlinguistic examples in Italian and English. The theory developed in this book will help translation trainers not only to explain to their students that all translation is essentially manipulation, but also to set more or less clear limits on these manipulations and provide theoretical background for those limits. Thus, after reading this book, trainees as well as researchers will be less prone to fall back on old tricks and habits whenever they get in a situation that is not quite straightforward, as they will learn about the translation act and translation process rather than existing translations or interactions between translation and culture. The book is quite successful at gauging the unfortunate gap between translation theory and practice.

Elena Gheorghita