Redefining Translation

The theory of translation is now recognized as a key area for all those investigating language and culture, but the study of translation has reached a crisis point. It needs to consolidate the rapid advances that have been made in the field and critically evaluate the variety of conflicting approaches. The authors of this book aim to meet these demands, proposing a comprehensive approach which is satisfying from a theoretical point of view and applicable in the everyday practice of translation. The "variational" approach is a two-tier model which first isolates a wide set of paraphrastic possibilities and then goes through a series of selection procedures to produce a final text. Translation emerges as an essentially creative activity, a concept which takes the reader far beyond the limitations of traditional approaches. This book should be of interest to advanced students and teachers of translation studies, linguistics and modern languages, and professional translators.