Vol. 16:1 (2021) ► pp.80–100
Translating discourse markers in theater
David Mence’s Convincing Ground in Italian translation
This article examines the translation of discourse markers in drama dialogue. Discourse markers are an important feature of spoken language, and unsurprisingly, they abound in drama dialogue. Yet very few studies have addressed the issue of discourse markers in theater translation. While some scholars suggest that discourse markers do not add anything to the propositional content of the sentence (Bazzanella 1994), our study reveals that it is very difficult to omit them in translation. In this article we suggest that an approach based on pragmatics could inform the practice of translating discourse markers in a playtext without overriding the importance of the rhythm of a spoken utterance, which is vital for rendering a play in translation (Bartlett 1996).
Article outline
- Introduction
- Drama dialogue and discourse markers
- Theoretical framework
- David Mence’s Convincing Ground
- Translating interactional DMs in David Mence’s Convincing Ground
- DMs on the part of the speaker
- Request for agreement and/or confirmation
- DMs on the part of the hearer
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
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References
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.18030.tar