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Article published In: Target
Vol. 3:1 (1991) ► pp.17–53

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Coincidence in Translation

Glory and Misery Again

 | University of Florida and University of the Philippines, Diliman
Published online: 1 January 1991
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.3.1.03bea
An important factor impeding the development of explicit theories of translation has been the centrality of coincidence. Skilled translating consists not of following rules or algorithms of equivalence, but of generating coincidences between the materials of the source language and those of the target language. Conventional aspirations of linguistic theory emphasize degrees of generality, uniformity and formality, which such an activity does not readily seem to fit. Also, language science and linguistics have consistently rated form over meaning and language system over communicative context, while translation is an activity in which meaning dominates over form, and context immediately controls and influences how the language system is used. Recent approaches to text and discourse are now striving to revise traditional theoretical aspirations in order to attain better models of language use, and may thus provide a basis for unifying theory with practice in translation.
Résumé
L'un des facteurs qui ont entravé le développement de théories exhaus-tives de la traduction est la question centrale de la coïncidence. La traductionprofessionnelle ne se sert pas de règles ou d'algorithmes d'équivalence, mais gé-nère des coïncidences entre les ressources des langues émettrice et réceptrice.L'activité traductrice ne correspond pas en effet aux aspirations conventionnellesde la théorie qui insistent sur la généralité des niveaux, l'uniformité, la formalité.Corrélativement, la science du langage et la linguistique ont privilégié la formeau détriment du sens, le système verbal au détriment du contexte de la communi-cation, cependant que le sens domine la forme en traduction, et qu'aussitôt lecontexte contrôle et influence l'usage même du système. Des progrès récents del'analyse textuelle et discursive s'attachent à réviser les aspirations traditionnellesdes théories, et projettent l'élaboration de meilleurs modèles d'usage de la lan-gue, qui seraient aptes à unifier la théorie et la pratique de la traduction.
Article outline
  • 1.Coincidence in the Theory and Practice of the "Science of Language"
  • 2.The Rise of "Translation Science" and the Shift to Text and Discourse
  • 3.Misery and Glory Again
  • MY FINAL FAREWELL
  • MI ULTIMO ADIÓS
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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Dancette, Jeanne
1994. De la coïncidence accidentelle à la coïncidence dirigée. Meta: Journal des traducteurs 39:3 ► pp. 439 ff. DOI logo
Dancette, Jeanne
1995. Bibliographie. In Parcours de traduction, ► pp. 227 ff. DOI logo

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