Unknown agents in translated political discourse

Schäffner, Christina

doi:10.1075/target.24.1.07sch

Article published In: The Known Unknowns of Translation Studies
Edited by Elke Brems, Reine Meylaerts and Luc van Doorslaer
[Target 24:1] 2012
► pp. 103–125

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Unknown agents in translated political discourse

Christina Schäffner | Aston University

Published online: 7 September 2012

https://doi.org/10.1075/target.24.1.07sch

This article investigates the role of translation and interpreting in political discourse. It illustrates discursive events in the domain of politics and the resulting discourse types, such as jointly produced texts, press conferences and speeches. It shows that methods of Critical Discourse Analysis can be used effectively to reveal translation and interpreting strategies as well as transformations that occur in recontextualisation processes across languages, cultures, and discourse domains, in particular recontextualisation in mass media. It argues that the complexity of translational activities in the field of politics has not yet seen sufficient attention within Translation Studies. The article concludes by outlining a research programme for investigating political discourse in translation.

Keywords: political discourse, political institution, recontextualisation, Critical Discourse Analysis, agency

Article outline

1.Introduction
2.Jointly produced texts: A common voice?
3.Press conferences: Whose voice is heard?
4.Recontextualisation of political discourse in mass media across languages
5.Conclusion: From political texts to contexts of political institutions
Notes
Texts analysed
References

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