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Article published In: FORUM
Vol. 16:2 (2018) ► pp.197–220

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A taxonomy of manipulative operations in political discourse translation

A CDA approach

 | Universiti Sains Malayisa |
 | Universiti Sains Malayisa
 | Universiti Sains Malayisa
Published online: 26 November 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.17002.dag
Abstract
Translation may not always be understood in the way the writer of the original text intended it to be. This is particularly true in political discourse translation in which the target text has to be re-contextualized and tailored to suit the ideologies, values and socio-political needs of the target community. In so doing, translators, more precisely trans-editors, consciously or unconsciously appeal to certain operations, thus manipulate the source text. Manipulation can be analyzed at a contextual and textual level. By adopting a micro perspective (textual) and inspired by critical discourse analysis, this study tends to propose a rather inclusive typology of such manipulative operations in Persian translation of English opinion articles. Four global manipulative strategies are identified that are linked to certain local techniques.
Résumé
La traduction peut ne pas toujours être comprise de la manière dont l’auteur du texte original l’a voulu. Ceci est particulièrement vrai dans la traduction de discours politique dans laquelle le texte cible doit être recontextualisé et adapté aux idéologies, aux valeurs et aux besoins socio-politiques de la communauté cible. Ce faisant, les traducteurs, plus précisément les trans-éditeurs, font consciemment ou inconsciemment appel à certaines opérations, manipulent ainsi le texte source. La manipulation peut être analysée au niveau contextuel et textuel. En adoptant une micro perspective (textuelle) et inspirée par l’analyse critique du discours, cette étude tend à proposer une typologie plutôt inclusive de telles opérations manipulatrices dans la traduction en persan des articles d’opinion anglais. Quatre stratégies de manipulation globales sont identifiées et liées à certaines techniques locales.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Political discourse translation
  • 3.Framework and method
    • 3.1Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
    • 3.2Corpus
    • 3.3Iran’s media policies
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • Strategy 1.Blocking the undesired in TT
    • Strategy 2.Demoting undesired representations of ST in TT
    • Strategy 3.Promoting the desired representations in TT
    • Strategy 4.Preserving the desired representations in TT
  • 5.The typology and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • English news opinion articles (source texts)
  • Persian news opinion articles (target texts)
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