Maria Sidiropoulou

On the connective although

In this paper, a semantic account of the use of the connective although is used in constructing the representations of the meaning of concessive connections. Although concession is integrated into a version of Discourse Representation Theory (DRT) by extending the relevant Discourse Representation Structures (DRSs). Two types of although concession are distinguished with the help of (1) a speaker/author assumption; (2) differences in quantification related to these assumptions; and (3) the semantic relations between the connected propositions (p, q). The speaker/author assumption is embodied in the Discourse Representation Structure representing the concessive connection. In the first type of although concession, information about the speakers (social, natural, etc.) environment is encoded at the intermediate level of analysis into Discourse Representation Structures. In the second type, the speakers implicit (positive or negative) evaluation of the conjuncts of the connection is computed with reference to the speaker/author assumption. Although concession seems to favor a modification of the character of the intermediate level of analysis. Following Kamp (1984), pragmatic information must be incorporated into the representation in order for the processing of although concession to be adequate.

Cultural Encounters in Advertisement Translation

Sociologists, linguists, and anthropologists have classified cultures along various dimensions which delineate intercultural difference. Geert and Gert Jan Hofstede, in their five dimensions of cultural communication styles, suggest that translation can significantly enhance research on cultural identity with a view to widening perception of a) intercultural difference and b) the use to which this type of knowledge may be put in practice. The condensed messages of parallel advertisement versions provide extremely rich reflections of cultural identities. Ten sample English-Greek advertisement pairs (out of 26 pairs that the data comprise) suffice to demonstrate the divergent cultural profiles of English and Greek. Evidence from other genres (in English-Greek translation) testifies to conclusions drawn about advertisement parallel/translation data. Parallel versions of advertisements are a valuable resource for heightening awareness of divergence in research and educational settings.

Causal shifts in news reporting: English vs Greek press

Abstract Persuasion strategies often involve the expression of cause‐and‐effect relationships between discourse segments. Since persuasion strategies often vary cross‐culturally, relationships in discourse may also be subject to cross‐cultural variation. A 12,000 word sample of translated articles in Greek newspapers was contrasted to the longer source versions in the English‐speaking press. In some cases explicit cause‐and‐effect relationships were transferred in the target text, but in others the Creek translator interfered with the implicit cause‐and‐effect relations: at points of evaluation and estimation, the Greek translator tended to explicitate the cause‐and‐effect relationships. It is assumed that this intervention is prompted by a belief that the Greek target readership has a different social role. Awareness of cross‐cultural differences in this type of cohesive tie is of interest to translation studies because it supports the view that communicative equivalence involves adoption of different di...

Offensive language in English‐Greek translation

Abstract Using three texts as paradigms, this article discusses how the treatment of taboo issues varies across cultures. The article focuses on how offensive language (references to sex, defecation, etc.) is dealt with in English‐Greek translation, in three different genres, and how this reflects cross‐cultural variation in the toleration shown by audiences in these two cultures. In a news translation situation, Greek cannot tolerate offensive items, whereas in prose and theatre translation it tolerates stronger offensive values. Brown and Levinsons (1987) positive/negative politeness patterns are used to describe translators’ mediation of offensive items. In a press news translation situation, translators adopt a negative politeness strategy which neutralises the offensive value of items. A positive politeness strategy favours accuracy which has a neutralising effect in prose translation, and an explicitation effect in theatre translation. Translators’ behaviour, thus, differs from genre to genre, nota...

Conceptualisations across English–Greek parallel press data: a foreign language teaching perspective

Translation studies can lend valuable insights to foreign language (FL) teaching, in that contrastive analyses of parallel data can enhance intercultural competence in the FL classroom. The paper focuses on variation in metaphorical conceptualisation to raise intercultural awareness between the English and Greek languages. The data comprise a sample set of eight press article pairs from a wider 2011–2012 parallel press corpus (English>Greek). Findings suggest that translation practice may reveal a rich set of varied conceptualisations across versions which may improve learners’ intercultural competence, including illocutionary and strategic competences. This is because collocational shifts traced in parallel data can indeed be sites where intercultural conceptual variation is effectively manifested, while the collocational shifts identified in a parallel corpus can be creatively exploited by FL instructors and material designers to raise learners’ metaphorical and collocational intercultural awareness. The approach also fosters critical thinking in that the varied conceptualisations focused upon across versions may convey more than language/culture-specific awareness, allowing access to the public and political spheres as well as the ethical dimensions of experience.

Politeness shifts in English-Greek political science discourse: translation as a language change situation

Abstract Translation practice is a code interaction situation (Schäffner and Adab 1997; Cronin 2003; Heine and Kuteva 2005; House 2006), which can bring about change in target linguistic systems through the cumulative effect of hegemonic donor languages on reception ones. The study traces development of politeness-related features in English-Greek samples of translated political science discourse. A pilot study first identifies a set of shift types between the English and Greek versions of John Stuart Mill’s essay On Liberty (1869,1983) tracing a prevailing set of positive politeness shifts in the Greek target version, often balanced with some negative politeness ones. An experiment follows, examining a rendition of three politeness devices which are claimed to realize quality, social identity and relational aspects of facework (Spencer-Oatey 2007), in samples from two Greek versions (1990, 2005) of John Locke’s The Second Treatise. Results show that there is variation between retranslations in the treatment of these devices over the years. The study further examines a set of six parallel samples from different political science works and their translations into Greek, with a view to quantitatively verifying the hypothesis that Greek academic discourse is changing under the influence of English academic discourse. Results show that features are ‘degenerating’ as manifested through the translated versions of these works. Finally an experiment was conducted with translator-trainees, hoping to show the relative importance of these features (and aspects of facework) from an emic perspective. The study concludes that the relational aspect of facework, which is prioritized by native Greek informants, undergoes some ‘degeneration’ over the years, which seems to suppress the local balance of positive/negative politeness patterns in political science discourse. The finding is assumed to be an effect of globalization suppressing locally prioritized aspects of facework.

Translating Urgent Messages

Abstract Translation research has focused on parameters that affect the translation product in various ways. Cultural identities, normative conventions, and ethical issues have all been taken into account in quality assessment. Here an attempt is made to underline a parameter that affects the translation product by triggering unexpected variation in target texts. The analysis of empirical data shows that the urgency to transmit a message – and consequently an increase in the translator’s involvement – is a parameter that may distort preferred target-culture patterns in the construction of the message. This situation points to an ethics of communication where emphasis is not on representing the Other but on communicating with the Other. Here the translator has an explicit presence and does not remain an invisible linguistic figure, as professional ethics might otherwise require.