POSSIBLE WORLDS AND TYPES OF DISCOURSE

Translation and trans-lation

POSSIBLE WORLDS

A possible world is a cultural construct. Not all cultural constructs, however, are possible worlds (possibilia vs realia) It cannot be identified with the linear manifestation of the text describing it. The linguistic strategy of the text is intended to trigger an interpretation on the part of the Model Reader. This interpretation represents the possible world emerging out of the readers interaction with the text (Umberto Eco). To confirm worlds, one has to consider the real or actual world as a cultural construct. The actual world is accessed via a multitude of images or descriptions, successively excluding one another and forming the potential encyclopedia of the world (maximal and complete). Even if the actual world is a cultural construct, one could question the ontological status of the universe described (how things are vs how they appear).

SMALL WORLDS

This problem does not exist in the case of possible worlds. Being outlined by a text, they exist outside that text only as a result of textual interpretation. Possible worlds are generally small worlds a relatively short development of local events, in a corner of the actual world. Narrative worlds have the same status: to determine readers to conceive a possible narrative world, a text must test their cosmological abilities. Analysing narratives, we are evaluating characters and events in the possible world(s) in keeping with our knowledge of the actual world. Narrative worlds are incomplete, semantically nonhomogeneous, handicapped and small.

IMAGINARY WORLDS

Imaginary worlds differ from possible worlds. (Lubomir Dolezel) There are verisimilar possible worlds that one can conceive (foreseeable future), and others that one cannot (rewritten past). There are possible worlds which are not verisimilar, being little credible in view of our present experience (talking animals). There are incredible possible or impossible worlds (exaggerated abstraction). Incredible worlds are the extreme example of impossible possible worlds that the reader is expected to conceive just as long as it takes to see that conceiving is impossible (self-avoiding texts or self-disclosing metafiction). An impossible world is presented by a discourse that shows why an event is impossible. An impossible possible world does not mention something that is inconceivable; it constructs its very conditions of incredibility.

DISCOURSE
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The fundamental reality of language is interaction. (M. Bakhtin) Successful interaction depends not only on linguistic competence, but on a general communication ability which comprises: a referential dimension (of the domain) a situational dimension (of interpersonal norms and types of discourse) a textual dimension (micro and macro-structural) Discourse is defined in terms of contradiction & complementation: discourse/sentence: discourse is a succession of sentences discourse/enunciation: discourse is not simply a linguistic unit, but a communication unit pertaining to a specialised discursive genre discourse/language: discourse is the individual conversion of language discourse/context: discourse is the process associated with the product and the circumstances of its making (modality, tension, distance, transparency) discourse/story: deliberate disruption of coherence, logic, chronology

LANGUAGE, TEXT, DISCOURSE

James R. Martin speaks of a tertiary system language/text/discourse: - Language finite set of signs and rules - Text organised set of enunciations - Discourse finite set of possible sentences Discourse/Text: - discourse is before, text is after; - discourse is the deep structure of a text, ensuring its linearity; - discourse is investigated via the text Discourse is event, genesis, process that precedes the end product (text) Types of discourse: - spoken/written - assumed - descriptive/narrative/argumentative

TRANSLATION & TRANS-LATION (1)

Cultural information needs to be preserved and transmitted (trans-lated) via translation. A translation is part of a communication flow, with an addresser-text-addressee core that allows for interpretation from multiple points of view, especially when that which is generally communicated is the cultural dimension. The translation of textual linearity is insufficient; the textual architecture (that reflects on discourse) has to be taken into account also. Inappropriate intercultural encounters leave traces both at the level of language-in-use and at that of the broader cultural (mediatic/mediated) environment. The automatic, incorrect transfer and usage of cultural parallelisms (intertexts) may be avoided by interpreting texts in terms of import and export of cultural values. In the case of culturally charged texts, awareness and analysis of the discourse patterns becomes a must (intentionality of the original and translated text, choices made, effects envisaged)

TRANSLATION & TRANS-LATION (2)

Translation strategies (Venuti): - domestication the translator leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author (SC source culture) towards him/her; envisaging changes of perception, it involves a great amount of refraction and manipulation; it may be seen as sharing profound functional similarities with other genres such as historiography or criticism; like the latter, universally accepted forms of re-writing, it may include explanatory asides (forewords, footnotes, brackets) which show that it is processed for particular audiences, being mediated for a purpose. - foreignization the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader (TC target culture) towards him/her; it counteracts international standardization and encourages receptiveness to foreign cultures; it entails emancipation from absolute obedience to target linguistic and textual constraints; the translator takes a proactive stance in the act of crosscultural mediation and makes himself/herself visible (transparency, the basic feature of translation, is served and manipulation avoided)

TASKS
1. Identify the type(s) of worlds/discourses resulting from the literary excerpts (Nick Hornby, About a Boy, 1998) and discuss their impact on the reader.

2. Comment on the translation/trans-lation of cultural information and on the difficulties that may arise with the following texts: - Bdranii - Adrian Ursu, Cotidianul, 04 Mai 2009 - Restituiri: Panait Istrati, scriitor romn, scriitor francez, scriitor grec? - Maria Coglniceanu, Romania Literara nr 11, 2009.