43016 (Text analysis in translation), страница 2

The sender of a text is the person (or institution, etc.) who uses the text in order to convey a certain message to somebody else and/or to produce a certain effect, whereas the text producer writes the text according to the instructions of the sender, and complies with the rules and norms of text production valid in the respective language and culture. The formal design of the text, such as the layout, may be assigned to another expert, and in some cases, the text is presented to the public by yet another person (e.g. a news reader or an actor).

Example

The imprint on the back of a tourist information brochure of the city of Munich reads as follows: "Edited by the Tourist Information Office of Munich (...). Text: Helmut Gerstner." The Tourist Information Office, which intends to inform the visitors and to promote the beauties of the town, is the sender of the text. Mr Gerstner is the text producer, and he is the person responsible for the stylistic features of the text, but not for the sender's intention. The imprints on the English, French, and Spanish versions of the brochure contain the same information, which in this case is obviously wrong. Although the Tourist Information Office is the sender of these texts, too, it is the respective translators who have to be regarded as text producers. Their names ought to be mentioned in addition to, or instead of, that of Helmut Gerstner.

As is shown by the example, it is usually the text environment (imprint, reference, bibliography, etc.) that yields information as to whether or not the sender and the text producer are different persons. If the author's name is the only one given, she can normally be assumed to be the text producer. However, this cannot be regarded as a hard and fast rule, as is illustrated by the following example.

Example

In her book Estudio sobre el cuento espahol contempordneo (Madrid 1973), Erna Brandenberger has included the short story "Pecado de omision" by the Spanish author Ana Maria Matute to give an example of a certain type of plot which she calls a "fast moving story". For the German version of the book, Brandenberger (as sender and translator in one person) has translated the story into German with the intention of showing the typical features of a fast moving story. If the same story is published in a collection of modern Spanish short stories, however, it is the author herself who acts as sender, and in translation it would be her intention that determines translation strategies.

The situation of a translator can be compared with that of the text producer. Although they have to follow the instructions of the sender or initiator and have to comply with the norms and rules of the target language and culture, they are usually allowed a certain scope in which to give free rein to their own stylistic creativity and preferences, if they so wish. On the other hand, they may decide to stick to stylistic features of the source text as long as their imitation does not infringe the text norms and conventions of the target culture.

Another aspect of sender pragmatics is the question as to whether a text has one or more than one sender (monologue vs. dialogue, question/answer, discussion, exchange of roles between sender and receiver, etc.). If there is more than one sender, the corresponding data have to be analysed for each of them.

What to find out about the sender

Within the framework established by time, space, culture and the basic functions of communication, what we regard as being relevant to translation is all data which may throw light on the sender's intention, on the addressed audience with their cultural background, on the place and time of, and the motive for, text production, as well as any information on the predictable intratextual features (such as idiosyncrasies, regional and social dialect, temporal features, knowledge presuppositions, etc.).

Example

a) If a text is written in Spanish, it may be vital for comprehension to know whether the author is from Spain or Latin America, since a large number of words are used with different meanings in European and American Spanish. Even if a Peruvian like Mario Vargas Llosa writes in a Spanish newspaper for Spanish readers, he can be expected to use americanisms. b) In a Spanish edition of Cuban short stories (Narrativa cubana de la revolution, Madrid 1971), certain cubanisms are explained to the Spanish readers in footnotes, e.g., duro: "moneda de un peso cubano" (which was then a five peseta coin in Spain), or neques: "sorpresas, golpes imprevistos". For the translator, these footnotes may be important not only in the comprehension phase, but also - if the TT skopos requires the preservation of the effect the book has on the European Spanish-speaking reader - in the transfer phase, c) The Portuguese eclogue Crisfal can be ascribed either to Cristovao Falcaos or to Bernadim Ribeiro. In the first case, the text has to be interpreted literally as a naturalistic poem, while in the second case, it must be regarded as an allegory. As Kayser points out, "the words may have a completely different impact if they come from an author who really was put into prison for his love, who really was separated from his lady, and whose lady really was forced to stay in the cloister of Lorvao" (Kayser 1962: 36, my translation).

How to obtain information about the sender

How can the translation-relevant information about the sender (or the text producer) be obtained? The first clues are provided by the text environment (imprints, blurbs, preface or epilogue, footnotes, etc.). The author's name may already carry further information which either belongs to the receiver's or translator's general background knowledge or can, if necessary, be obtained. The name of a writer usually evokes some knowledge of their literary classification, artistic intentions, favourite subject matters, usual addressees, status, etc.; similarly, the name of a politician evokes his or her political standpoint, function or position, public image, etc. Since this is culture-specific knowledge, which belongs to the "hinterland" of the text, it cannot be presumed that it is shared by the target receiver. Therefore, the translator has to consider whether the TT receiver might lack information. Whenever such a lack interferes with text comprehension, it should be compensated for by some additional piece of information given in the target text or in the TT environment.

Example

If ex-Prime Minister Edward Heath writes an editorial in a British newspaper, British readers will immediately know what political party the author belongs to. If the text is translated and published in the German weekly paper DIE ZEIT, many German readers may not be able to "classify" the author as easily. If, however, the classification is relevant for the comprehension and/ or interpretation of the article, the information has to be supplied in a few introductory lines or even in the text itself, if possible.

Further information about the sender may be provided by other factors of the communicative situation (either individually or as a combination of several factors). There may be clear and unambiguous information, which I call "data", or there may be hints which may allow the necessary information to be inferred. If the analyst knows, for instance, by which medium, at what time, and for which function a text has been published (local newspaper of the day X, death announcement), s/he is able to tell who the sender may be (relatives, employer, or friends of the dead person). The place of publication points to the origin of the sender or possible origin, if the language is spoken in various countries (Great Britain - United States - Australia - India; Portugal - Brazil; Spain - Latin America -Bolivia), and the medium can throw light on the possible status of the sender (specialized journal - expert; newspaper -journalist), etc.

Sometimes it may even be possible to ask the sender in person, or a person related to him or her.

Another source of information is the text itself. If the text environment does not provide the necessary details, the analyst has to look for internal hints about the characteristics of the sender. The use of a certain regional or class dialect may reveal the (geographical or social) origin of the text producer (although not necessarily that of the sender, if they are not the same person), and the use of obsolete forms may tell the analyst that the text producer probably lived in another age. These questions, however, can only be answered after completing the intratextual analysis.

Checklist

The following questions may help to find out the relevant information

about the sender:

1. Who is the sender of the text?

2. Is the sender identical with the text producer? If not, who is the text producer and what is his/her position with regard to the sender? Is s/he subject to the sender's instructions? Is s/he an expert in text production or an expert on the subject?

1. What information about the sender (e.g. age, geographical and social origin, education, status, relationship to the subject matter, etc.) can be obtained from the text environment? Is there any other information that is presupposed to be part of the receiver's general background knowledge? Can the sender or any person related to him or her be asked for more details?

2. What clues as to the characteristics of the sender can be inferred from other situational factors (medium, place, time, motive, function)?

3. What conclusions can be drawn from the data and clues obtained about the sender with regard to

1. other extratextual dimensions (intention, receiver, medium, place, time, occasion, function) and

2. the intratextual features?

The difference between intention, function, and effect

In order to ascertain the dimension of intention we have to ask what function the sender intends the text to fulfill, and what effect on the receiver s/he wants to achieve by transmitting the text. It may seem difficult to distinguish the concept of intention from that of function and effect. Biihler (1984), for example, equates "author's intention" with "purpose and effect". The three concepts are three different viewpoints of one and the same aspect of communication. The intention is defined from the viewpoint of the sender, who wants to achieve a certain purpose with the text. But the best of intentions does not guarantee that the result conforms to the intended purpose. It is the receiver who "completes" the communicative action by receiving (i.e. using) the text in a certain function, which is the result of the configuration or constellation of all the situational factors (including the intention of the sender and the receiver's own expectations based on his/her knowledge of the situation). The question "What is S aiming at with the text?" can therefore not be assigned to the factor of text function, but belongs to the dimension of intention.

Text function is defined "externally", before the receiver has actually read the text, whereas the effect the text has on the receiver can only be judged after reception. It is, so to speak, the result of the reception and encompasses both external and internal factors.

It is true that certain genres are conventionally associated with certain intentions, but these need not necessarily be realized in the communicative situation. Some ancient genres, for example, such as magic spells or epic poems, are received today in a function which differs considerably from that intended by the original sender.

Ideally, the three factors of intention, function and effect are congruent, which means that the function intended by the sender (= intention) is also assigned to the text by the receiver, who experiences exactly the effect conventionally associated with this function. Methodologically, the three factors have to be distinguished because their separate analysis allows for a different treatment (preservation, change, adaptation) in the translation process. If the intention has to be preserved in translation, we must often be prepared for a change in function and/or effect.