《Genre and translation》.pdf

Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 14 (2001) : 297-32 1 Genre and Translation1 Christoph Unger Summer Institute of Linguistics, Germany christoph-kuelvi_unger@sil. org ABSTRACT This paper discusses a variety of translation problems which are often attributed to genre effects. These effects are analyzed and shown to reveal that genre is a diverse notion which can function in various ways in comprehension processes. To explain these, an account of genre based on relevance theory is proposed. The central claim of this account is that genre information can crucially contribute to the fine-tuning of relevance expectations in complex stimuli. On tire theoretical side, this account refines our view of the management of expectations of relevance. On the practical side, it is shown that this account of genre is powerful enough to identify the sources of translation problems attributed to genre effects, and, together with Gutts (1991; 2000a) explanatory account of translation, guide the translator in a principled way to adequate solutions in given situations. 1. Translation problems related to genre Imagine yourself in the position of a translator who is assigned to transíate example (1) Jato Germán: (1) Seminar motion to establish a working group for research in translation2 Whereas, the SIL International Translation Department sponsored a Relevance Theory Update Seminar at Horsleys Green in November 2000 , 298 Revist