1.

The analysis of a Text - Newmark

A. Reading the text
A translator begins his/her work by reading a text for two purposes:
1. To understand what it is about, and
2. To analyse it from translators point of view.
nderstanding a text re!uires both general and "lose reading.
1. #eneral Reading
General reading to get the gist.
$. %lose reading
Close reading to look up the words both out of and in context.
&. The intention of the text
The intention of the text represents the ource !anguage "!# writer$s attitude of the text or
sub%ect matter.
%. The intention of the translator
&sually the translator$s intention is identical with that of the author of the ource !anguage
"!# text.
'. Text (tyle
1. Narrati)e
involving a dynamic se'uence of events in which the emphasis is on the verbs(
$. 'es"ription
a static style, with emphasis on linking verbs, ad%ectives and ad%ectival nouns(
*. 'is"ussion
involving the treatment of ideas, with emphasis on abstract nouns, verbs of thought,
mental activity, logical argument and connectives(
+. 'ialogue
involving emphasis on collo'uialisms and phaticisms.
,. The Readership
characteristic the readership of the original and then of the translation, and to decide how
much attention to pay to the T! readers.
the average text for translation tends to be for an educated, middle)class readership in an
informal, not collo'uial style.
-. (tylisti"s ("ales
The scale of formality includes* officialese, official, formal, neutral, informal, collo'uial,
slang, and taboo.
The scale of generality or difficulty includes* simple, popular, neutral, educated,
technical, and opa'uely technical.
The scale of emotional tone* intense, warm, factual, and understatement.
There is some correlation between formality and emotional tone, in that an official style
is likely to be factual, whilst collo'uialisms and slang tend to be emotive.
#. Attitude
The standards of the writer may be accessed with a positive or negative opinion. The same
referent may be expressed positively, neutrally, and negatively.
.. (etting
The three typical reader types are perhaps the expert, the educated layman, and the
uninformed.
/. The !uality of the writing
The 'uality of the writing has to be %udged in relation to the author$s intention and+or the
re'uirements of the sub%ect matter.
The authority of the text is derived from good writing, but also from the status of the !
writer.
0. %onnotations and denotations
Connotations are an aura of ideas and feeling suggested by lexical words.
,n a non)literary text the denotations of a word normally come before its connotations.
-ut in a non literary text, you have to give precedence to its connotations.
1. 2ast Reading
.inally, you should note the cultural aspect of the ! text(
/hilst the meaning of a completely context determined word may appear to be remote
from its non contextual "core# meaning there must be some link between the two
meaning.
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