1. 10. Translational purpose – skopos theory
Lingua Inglese 2 LM

2. Papa/Scalfari - genre analysis part 1
1. COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSE OF THE ST
the source
the writer
the readers
ANALYSE THESE ON THE HANDOUT

3. Scalfari/Papa – communicative purpose
THE SOURCE
What is the Repubblica Magazine?
How is it different from the newspaper?
What kind of articles does it write?
What is its attitude to religion?
What is its attitude to translation; what gets translated and why?

4. Scalfari/Papa – communicative purpose
THE WRITER
Who is Scalfari?
What is his attitude to religion?
Is the article about Scalfari or about Papa Francesco ?

5. Scalfari/Papa – communicative purpose
THE READER
Who reads the Repubblica magazine?
Who is likely to click on and read this article?

6. Papa/Scalfari -genre analysis part 2
2. TEXT ANALYSIS OF THE ST
the text type
the lexis
the grammar
the discourse organisation

7. Papa/Scalfari – text type
JOURNALISTIC TEXT TYPES
Informative texts – news report with factual description of events
Interpretive – reportage in which info is selected, interpreted and narrated by the journalist
Argumentative genres
The author’s style prevails – the “opinion” article
WHICH TEXT TYPE FOR PAPA/SCALFARI?

8. Papa/Scalfari – text type
INTERVIEW (not a typical celebrity interview nor a typical political one)
A MIXTURE - DOESN’T FIT THE USUAL PARAMETERS
Informative texts – news report with factual description of events (NOT MUCH OF THIS)
Interpretive – reportage in which info is selected, interpreted and narrated by the journalist
Argumentative genres
The author’s style prevails – the “opinion” article
INTERVIEW + NARRATIVE, REPORTAGE, OPINION

9. Papa/Scalfari - lexicogrammar
a lot of translation of speech
mix of formal and informal registers
present and past tenses

10. Papa/Scalfari - discourse organisation
introduced as an interview in the present
narrative in flashback (present and past)
narrated interview
questions and answers

11. Translating the Scalfari text
We have analysed the source text
The Repubblica also provided a translation of the Italian text for its “English version”
We need to analyse the purpose of the translation?

12. Two purposes
Analysing the purpose of a text is an important part of genre analysis. There are 2 kinds of purpose.
the communicative purpose of the ST
the purpose of the translation itself
The purpose of a translation often decides the strategy and method of translation

13. Skopos theory adds to genre analysis
Genre analysis – 3 stages
1. COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSE OF THE ST
the source
the writer
the readers
2. TEXT ANALYSIS OF THE ST
the text type
the lexis
the grammar
the discourse organisation
3. PURPOSE OF THE TRANSLATION ITSELF
translation commission (function)

14. Analysing the purpose of a translation
Skopos theory (Reiss & Vermeer (1984)
The purpose of the translation is paramount
Rules
a TT is determined by its overall purpose (skopos)
a TT is a message in a target culture/TL concerning a message in a source culture/SL
a TT is not clearly reversible
a TT must be internally coherent
a TT must be coherent with the ST

15. Implications of skopos theory
The source text is dethroned.
The same text can be translated in different ways for different purposes.
All strategies are legitimate if they achieve the purpose. The purpose of what translators do (“translatorial action”) may be to produce equivalence to various aspects of the source text, or to engage in rewriting, or to give advice, as required.
The translator is an expert who decides on the basis of the client’s instructions (commission).

16. Translator-client relationship
In the last analysis, the purpose of the translation is defined by the individual translator, working in relation with all the other social actors involved
A key factor in defining the purpose of the translation are the instructions given by the client or negotiated with the client.
A good working relationship between translator and client is very important; translator needs to advise the client on translation and explain what he/she is doing with the translation

17. Strong points of skopos translation
The “skopos-purpose” paradigm recognizes that the translator works in a professional situation, with complex obligations to people rather than to texts.
It liberates the translator from theories that would try to formulate linguistic rules governing every decision.
It forces us to see translation as a project, involving many factors, rather than as work on just one text.
It can address ethical issues in social terms.

18. Weak points
Difficulties in translation are often questions of conflicting purpose
Skopos theory cannot resolve cases of conflicting purposes.
Hard to apply to literary translation. Do poems have a purpose?

19. Papa/Scalfari – what is the purpose of the translation
You need to make a hypothesis about the commission
What did the editor tell the translator
to do?

20. Scalfari/Papa - client/translator commission
INSTRUCTIONS
FROM THE CLIENT
Keep the readers happy
Keep it interesting
Keep it accurate
QUESTIONS FACING THE TRANSLATOR
Yes, but who reads the English version of the Repubblica magazine?
Ok, but what is interesting for the readers
OK, but how free can I be?

21. Other important questions for the translator
The Pope is speaking in Italian – it’s not his native language. Is there any sense of “foreignness” in the ST? What kind of Italian speaker has he been represented as being in the ST?
What kind of English speaker should the translator represent the Pope as?
For Catholic readers the Pope’s words are the word of God so the translator has to be 100% accurate !