Cover not available

Article published In: Im/politeness and Stage Translation
Edited by Maria Sidiropoulou
[Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 6:1] 2020
► pp. 92–108

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Constructing leadership through translating im/politeness

 | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Published online: 17 February 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00046.skr
Abstract
The use of im/politeness in political discourse has attracted relatively little attention in im/politeness scholarship (Tracy, Karen. 2017. “Facework and (Im)politeness in Political Exchanges.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, ed. by Jonathan Culpeper, Michael Haugh, and Dániel Z. Kádár, 739–758. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). The study examines how the character of a leader may be intra-/cross-culturally reshaped, in translated drama, through the use of im/politeness strategies. To this end, the study examines the use of im/politeness strategies in two Greek versions (. 1997. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Ερρίκος Μπελιές [Julius Caesar, translated by Errikos Belies]. Αθήνα: Κέδρος.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 1932/2004. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Κωνσταντίνος Καρθαίος [Julius Caesar, translated by Konstantinos Karthaios]. Αθήνα: Πατάκης.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) of William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Etic and emic approaches to the data show differences in the way the character of Brutus is portrayed, by the translators’ manipulating im/politeness strategies in his discourse. The study uses the ‘horizontal’ dimension of intimacy/distance and the ‘vertical’ dimension of power (Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 1996. “Reconsidering Power and Distance.” Journal of Pragmatics 26 (1): 1–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) to show that the first translation (. 1932/2004. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Κωνσταντίνος Καρθαίος [Julius Caesar, translated by Konstantinos Karthaios]. Αθήνα: Πατάκης.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) shows Brutus to be making use of a less impressive persuasive strategy when addressing the public, the second translation (. 1997. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Ερρίκος Μπελιές [Julius Caesar, translated by Errikos Belies]. Αθήνα: Κέδρος.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) seems to show Brutus’ potential to express intimacy towards the public, which made the persuasive force of his discourse more convincing. The study shows that im/politeness is a significant tool in the hands of translators who shape the identity of the leader and that translated versions of a playtext can fruitfully show preferred patterns of behaviour which may be pointing to cultural patterns of interaction.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology and theoretical considerations
  • 3.Presentation of the data
    • 3.1An analyst’s perspective into Brutus’ discourse
    • 3.2A lay person’s perspective into Brutus’ discourse
  • 4.Discussion of the results
  • References
  • Texts
References (11)
References
Banham, Martin. 1988. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. 1978/1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daniell, David, ed. 2011. William, Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbst, Susan. 2010. Rude Democracy Civility and Incivility in American Politics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koliopoulos, Giannēs, and Thanos Veremēs. 2010. Modern Greece: A History since 1821. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 1996. “Reconsidering Power and Distance.” Journal of Pragmatics 26 (1): 1–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tracy, Karen. 2017. “Facework and (Im)politeness in Political Exchanges.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, ed. by Jonathan Culpeper, Michael Haugh, and Dániel Z. Kádár, 739–758. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Texts
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. The Arden Shakespeare. London: Bloomsbury. Accessed August 21, 2018. [URL]
. 1997. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Ερρίκος Μπελιές [Julius Caesar, translated by Errikos Belies]. Αθήνα: Κέδρος.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1932/2004. Ιούλιος Καίσαρας. μτφρ. Κωνσταντίνος Καρθαίος [Julius Caesar, translated by Konstantinos Karthaios]. Αθήνα: Πατάκης.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Αρχείο του Εθνικού Θεάτρου – Παραστάσεις, Ιούλιος Καίσαρ [National Theatre Archive – Performances, Julius Caesar]. 1932. Accessed December 28, 2018. [URL]
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Wong, Leei & Keiko Mochizuki
2025. Implications and Recommendations. In Effective Chinese Language Teaching in Australian Higher Education [SpringerBriefs in Education, ], ► pp. 77 ff. DOI logo
Wong, Leei & Keiko Mochizuki
2025. Theory, Application, and Cultural Dynamics. In Effective Chinese Language Teaching in Australian Higher Education [SpringerBriefs in Education, ], ► pp. 15 ff. DOI logo
Alafuzova, Elena
2022. Interpreted vs. Translated Political Talk: President Putin on the Coronavirus Outbreak. In Multilingual Routes in Translation [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 29 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue