| Reviews Diller & Kornelius's division of semantics and pragmatics; Nida's concept of style; Lorscher's two ways of translating, translation units, and sense and form separation; Honig & Kussmaul's writer's intention; Reiss & Vermeer's text function; and Gutt's definition of context.; Conclusions. Translation theory needs a unitary frame to account for semantic, pragmatic, and stylistic phenomena; beliefs about communication and translation affect the way a subject translates; the basic goal in professional training must be to clarify those beliefs; the conduit metaphor, by which meaning is objectified and text and message are equated, caused the distinction between form and content; a theory of translation needs to distinguish between text and message; many elements used when communicating are supplied by the receiver.; The theoretical problems related to context are resolved through a cognitive approach (based on Langacker 1987-91, and Lakoff 1987). It leads to the following redefinitions: Categorization is based on prototypes. Culture: body of knowledge available to the members of a speech community. Language: subset within the set of conceptual systems which constitute culture. Meaning has an encyclopedic nature. Grammar: conventional symbolization of semantic structure.; Speech act theory is extended through Ferrara's and Van Dijk's concepts as text act theory to provide a descriptive frame of the translation process. Texts are behavioral structures within text act models (along Hymes' genres and performances, and Fillmore's frames and scenes). Textual and text act models are two levels of abstraction within a single prototypical structure.; Professional translation consists of (1) building an SL text act model to frame the ST; (2) building a TL text act model; (3) breaking down the ST into processing units; (4) establishing correspondences between ST and TL segments, against the background of both text act models; and (5) creating a TT. These actions are interdependent, intuitive, and simultaneous.; ST readers and translators do not pursue the same goals when reading. Interlingual communication does not exist in translation. The translator's goal is to imitate the ST. Understanding fidelity as an ethical principle in professional translation, Grice's co-operative principle and maxims are proposed as guidelines.; Concepts illustrated using Harold Pinter's Betrayal and The Homecoming. |
