Translation-oriented text analysis

Christiane Nord

Text Analysis in Translation (1988/91)

Translating as a Purposeful Activity (1997)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

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 Two basic types
of translation product

DOCUMENTARY TRANSLATION

It ‘serves as a document of a source culture

communication between the author and the
source text (ST) recipient’
e.g., literary translation, word-for-word or literal
translations (business contracts, certificates)
‘foreignizing’ or ‘exoticizing’ translations, etc.

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

 INSTRUMENTAL TRANSLATION

It ‘serves as an independent message-transmitting

instrument in a new communicative action in the
target culture, and is intended to fulfil its
communicative purpose without the recipient being
conscious of reading or hearing a text which, in a
different form, was used before in a different
communicative situation.’
e.g., ‘function-preserving translations’ (software
manual) or ‘function-changing translations’
(translation of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels for children
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão
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Nord highlights 3 important aspects:

1. the importance of the translation

commission (or ‘translation brief’) (cf.
Holz-Mänttäri, Vermeer)
2. the importance of text analysis
3. the functional hierarchy or translation
problems

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

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 1. The translation commission

The translator (T) must always keep in

mind the client’s request/guidelines etc.
T must compare the ST and TT profiles as
defined in the commission and see
where they may be different.

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

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The translation commission should specify
(for both ST and TT) (these factors are
external in relation to the text)
• Intended text functions
• Sender
• Recipient
• Time and place of text reception
• Medium (oral / written)
• Motive (why the ST was written and why it
is being translated)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

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 2. TEXT ANALYSIS
Nord’s list of intratextual factors is a possible model for
analysing the ST.
• Subject matter (tema)
• Content (conteúdo)
• Presuppositions (pressupostos): real-world factors of the
communicative situation presumed to be known to the
participants
• Composition (estrutura)
• Non-verbal elements (illustrations, italics) (aspectos não-
verbais)
• Lexic (incl. register, specific terminology) (léxico)
• Sentence structure (sintaxe)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão

3. The functional hierarchy of translation
problems
When undertaking a translation, it is important to
establish a functional hierarchy.
1. Decide intended function of translation
(documentary or instrumental)
2. Determine elements that will need to be
adapted to the TT addressee’s situation (after
analysis of trans.commission)
3. Decide translation style (SC or TC oriented)
based on translation type
4. Deal with problems presented by text at lower
linguistic level (as in ST analysis)
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvão