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answer). This typical reaction (i. e. there must be something 'special' here) of listeners to any
apparent violation ojf thejnaxims is actually the key to the notion of conversational implicature.
TRANSLATION AS CONSTRAINED COMMUNICATION
Translation is an intercultural displaced constrained secondary communication.
In its socio-cultural dimension, translation can be described as subject
[ s bd ekt / s bd kt] to constraints of several types and varying degree. These
extend far beyond the source text, the systemic differences between the languages and textual
traditions involved in the act, or even the possibilities and limitations of the cognitive apparatus
of the translator as a necessary mediator. (Gideon Toury)
A translation constraint is any factor in the translation process that limits the performance
of an optimally approximated translation – be it at the micro level or macro level or internal or
external level.
The concept of optimally approximated translation is a goal defined by the translator in
response to a set of requirements, which for all intents and purposes may in turn act as
constraints on the translation process.
André Lefevere:
“Translation needs to be studied in connection with power and patronage
[pe trən d ], ideology and poetics, with emphasis on the various attempts to shore up or
undermine an existing ideology or an existing poetics.”
“It is my conviction that translations are made under a number of constraints of which
language is arguable the least important”.
Translation Constraints according to Lefevere:
1) Patronage: “the powers (persons and institutions) that can further or hinder the reading,
writing, and rewriting of literature.”
2) Poetics: “an inventory of literary devices, genres [ nrə], motifs, prototypical
[ prə tə t p kl ] characters and situations, and symbols” plus “a concept of what
the role of literature is, or should be, in the social system as a whole.”
3) The universe [ ju n v s] of discourse: this refers to the subject matter of the
source text, the objects, customs and beliefs it describes. The point is that translators
may feel some of these are unacceptable to the target readership, and hence adapt or
bowdlerize [ ba dləra z] passages thought to be ‘offensive” or the like.
4) The source and target languages themselves, and the differences between these.
5) The translator’s ideology: this refers to the translator’s personal set of values ana
attitudes, including his/her attitudes to the other constraints, e.g. whether he/she
willingly accepts them or not.
There are two types of translation constraints: external and internal.
External constraints can be further broken down into extrinsic and intrinsic.
Extrinsic constraints are those physical variables that are extraneous to the act of
translating, yet form an integral part of the translation event. Extrinsic constraints include: the
environment, time and space, standards, norms, protocols, tools, technology, systems,
machines.
Intrinsic constraints are those constraints that belong to the act of translating and are a
manifestation of the translation act. Intrinsic constraints include: information medium,
readability, legibility and audibility of discourse.