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In:Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power
Edited by Ovidi Carbonell i Cortés and Esther Monzó-Nebot
[Benjamins Translation Library 157] 2021
► pp. 227–252

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Chapter 10
EU institutional websites

Targeting citizens, building asymmetries

ORCiD logo with link | University of Warsaw
Published online: 16 August 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.157.10bie
Abstract
This chapter uses corpus methods to explore how distance and power asymmetries are mediated by EU institutions in their website netspeak – the digital Eurolect – and subsequently reflected in Polish translations against the background of Polish domestic institutions’ websites. At the policy level, the selective translation of EU content into only procedural languages builds asymmetries between official languages. The study analysed two dimensions of translations: (1) grade of specialisation (EU terminology, EUese), and (2) engagement strategies positioning institutions and citizens in a discourse. EU and domestic websites show preferences for different types of engagement strategies, with the former oriented at downplaying power but maintaining a respectful distance while the latter decreasing distance through directness, personalisation, and informalisation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Institutional websites as a tool of political marketing and engagement in institution-to-citizen communication
  • 3.Localisation of EU websites: Translators’ agency in institutional guidelines
  • 4.Expectancy norms: Transformations of administrative discourse in Post-Communist Poland
  • 5.Corpus design: Institutional websites for citizens
  • 6.Analysis of the digital Eurolect: The discursive construction of power and distance in institutional communication
    • 6.1EUese, terminology and a grade of specialisation
    • 6.2Engagement: The discursive construction of the institution-citizen relationship
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
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