Publications

Publication details [#17682]

Trosborg, Anna. 2000. Discourse Analysis as Part of Translator Training. Current Issues in Language & Society 7 (3) : 185–228.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Multilingual Matters

Annotation

*This paper presents an approach to textual analysis and its application in translator training for university students at advanced level at the Aarhus School of Business. The course is voluntary and is aimed at students who are interested in in-depth textual analysis that is translation oriented. Its approach is to create a deep understanding of the source text (ST) by means of a detailed analysis of it. Understanding the text in full gives the translator a thorough overview and the possibility of maintaining or adapting the ST in a conscious way to meet the demands of the target text (TT) skopos when producing the TT. The approach emphasises not only the quality of the product (the translation) but also how the process is administered. Thus, we are dealing with a process-oriented approach to translation. It draws on the ideas and work of a number of theorists. The main source is Halliday's register analysis, as administered by a number of scholars (e.g. Hatim & Mason, Baker, Eggins, Butt et al.), but the work of researchers in speech act theory, genre analysis and semantic theory also play a part. An eclectic approach has been chosen as the aim has been to bring in theoretical aspects that contribute to a deeper understanding of the text regardless of a strict adherence to one particular theory. This approach to translation is built on skopos theory relying on Nord's interpretation of Reiss and Vermeer's ideas about skopos. Part I of this paper outlines the approach to textual analysis. Part 2 applies the approach to one particular text. Part 3 is concerned with translation strategies in general and in relation to the particular text chosen.