This
article is also the answer to the question given below.
Katharina
Reiss borrows Buhler’s
tripartite division of texts. How does she apply the concept to translation?
Before
Katharina Reiss' theory, some theories were linguistic and focused on
words or sentences during translation, but Katharina changed the path
and shifted the study to a functionalist and communicative approach.
She
built her theory on the concept of equivalence. She focused on the text on the
level at which communication is achieved and at which equivalence must be
sought. She did not focus on words or sentences much. She aimed to systematize
the assessment of translation. While describing her theory, she borrowed Karl
Buhler’s tripartite division of text and linked the types of texts or
communicative situations in which those texts occur or are used.
According
to her, there are four types of texts:
1. Informative text: These texts are
straightforward communication of facts comprising opinions, knowledge,
information, and all the rest. The logical language dimension is used by a
speaker or author while transmitting these texts, and the emphasis in this type
of communication is the content or topic.
2. Expressive text: In these types of texts,
authors use an aesthetic or artistic dimension of language, and both the author
and the message are foregrounded.
3. Operative text: These types of texts
include behavioral responses from readers or receivers. The language dimension
is dialogically used to transmit these types of texts, and the focus is
appellative. The author or speaker aims to appeal to or persuade a reader or
receiver to act in a certain way, after reading the given text.
4. Audio-medial: These are films, visual or
spoken ads, and others. These mediums supplement the first three types of
texts, with visual images and music.
So
she said there are certain functions of different types of texts. But while
examining them extensively she recognized, that there are some texts which are
hybrid, which means that their function is not one, but they are conveying two
or more functions at the same time. Biography is a hybrid text which has two
functions of the same type: informative and expressive.
Because
of this hybridity in texts, she stated that transmission of the predominant
function of the source text (ST) is the determining factor by which the
translated text (TT) will be judged.
She
gave specific translation methods according to different text types:
1. The
TT of informative text should transmit all the referential and conceptual
content of the ST. The translation of an informative text should be done in
simple prose format without any redundancy but the author will explain some
things where there is a need.
2. The
TT of an expressive text should transmit the aesthetic and the art form of the
ST. Translator while translating this type of text should adopt the perspective
of the author of the ST and should apply identifying method.
3. The
TT of an operative text should persuade the desired response in the receiver of
TT. The translator should create an equivalent effect among the readers of TT
and should employ the adaptive method.
After
giving these ways of translation she listed the series of intra-linguistic and
extra-linguistic instruction criteria by which according to her authenticity or
accuracy of the TT must be assessed.
Intra-linguistic
criteria involve semantic, lexical, grammatical, and stylistic features. And on
the other hand, extra-linguistic criteria involve situation, time, subject
field, place, sender, receiver, and affective implications.
She
described the importance of these criteria and that these will vary according
to the types of texts. The texts with a focus on content will focus on
semantics, likewise, the news texts will focus on grammar on second hand and
the book of science will focus on style first. She stated that while
translating the expressive text it is more important that the metaphors should
be retained. She also told us that there are some situations in which the
function of ST will change from the function of TT after translating them. She
gave us the example of Gulliver’s Travels which was an attack on the government
but nowadays the translation which is the TT function as entertaining fiction.
She also stated that sometimes the communicative function changes while
translating one text. She gave the example of a political speech. If one is
translating a political speech and only wants to focus on the policies then the
communicative function will be changed. ST served an operative function but the
TT will serve an informative or expressive function.
So
this is how she borrowed the three-way categorization, in the functions of the
language of Buhler, and she stated the different functions of text
types, which will be translated according to their function. By giving this
theory, she gave the concept of translation according to the text types. After
her research, this theory was criticized by so many critics, because functions
vary from text to text and there can be hybrid texts too, but even though this
theory has some place in history.
