Katharina Reiss Text Typology

Katharina Reiss Text Typology Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic approach to translation. More interestingly, it approaches translation at the text level. This essay will examine Reiss typology with focus on Parting the Waters, published in National Geographic, a monthly magazine that borders on science, geography, history and culture. REISS TEXT-TYPOLOGY Reiss sees translation as an act of communication whereby the translator acts as a medium (secondary sender). This presupposes that a message has to be passed across, from the primary sender (source text) to the secondary receiver (target text). The major media are the source language and the target language. The aim here is to produce a target language text that is functionally equivalent to the source language text (Reiss 1971:160). This means the source text should be the consultative point for the translator. In order to achieve this functional equivalence, Reiss proposes a functional approach of text-typology. This approach takes into account the communicative functions of a source text as a basis for translating into the target text. In other words, a target text that does not have the same function as the source text is not entirely a translation, but what Reiss calls transfer (ref here). Reiss text-typology includes a two-phase approach in translating a text: Phase of analysi s and phase of reverbalization. The analysis phase basically involves establishing the text type, genre and style (linguistic form).The phase of analysis is the most important as that is what would inform the translation method to employ. Text-type of Parting the Waters Reiss identifies three text-types according to their communicative function namely: the informative type (communication of content), the expressive type (communication of artistically organised content) and the operative type (communication of content with a persuasive character). There is another hyper-type which she calls the audio-medial text type. This is more of a super-ordinate term for the other three and does not concern the text in question since it is a written text. Parting the Waters can be seen chiefly as an informative text type; first given the context of the text: magazine and second because it gives factual information about a place: Korea, and the geographical events that take place there. The translation strategy recommended in this case by Reiss should thus focus on conveying content. Text variety (genre) of Parting the Waters This stage has to do with the conventions of structure and language adopted by the text. However, Reiss explains that they may differ according to different cultures. The importance of this is to be able to find a functionally equivalent convention in the target text culture. In this light, Parting the Waters is a kind of popular scientific text. This suggests also that it seeks a wider audience other than scientists. This leads to the final stage of analysis: style. Style in Parting the Waters The final stage of analysis has to do with detailed semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analysis of the language use (Reiss 1971:166). Ordinarily, one would expect that when a text is an informative type, even the language used should be such that it is aimed only at giving facts. But that is often not the case, as Reiss herself admits not in one single language do form and function show a 1:1 relation (166). Hence, looking at the text, one would find a similar occurrence. The text has expressive language such as the internal rhymes: tides, divine, divide; of 15 feet. There is also an allusion to a biblical story: not divine interventions, an expression that answers the presupposition in the title itself Parting the Waters. Reiss thus considers this stage of analysis the most important, as the translator is faced with a decisive battle on what would inform the translation: the language or the function of the text. At this point, Reiss posits that if using an equivalent language style m ay weigh on the content of the text, then the translator should stick to the predominant function of the text. Translating Parting the Waters to Yorà ¹bà ¡: limitations Taking into consideration the content-focused function of the text, the translator is expected to employ a method that would achieve the same function as that of the target text by translating according to the sense and meaning (Reiss 1971:167). This suggests that the meaning conveyed by the target text should be equivalent to the meaning in the source text. For this to be achieved, Reiss adds that what is conveyed implicitly in the SL text should be explicated in the TL and vice versa (167). Being a popular science text, and specifically about geography, Parting the Waters has terms such as peninsula, southwestern, mile, width, feet, and spring. While some of them might have some kind of equivalence (i.e. peninsula, mile width) in , a climatic description like spring poses a problem because Yorà ¹bà ¡ neither has a word nor group of words for it. This is basically due to the different weather conditions. The question is: what should the translator convey here? This is important be cause spring as used in the text plays a major role in the content; by telling us when an event takes place. The only alternative here would be to replace the word with the time of the year this season happens in Korea. The problem with this is that it might change the meaning, as the sense of season is different from the calendar year. This aspect of the translation problem seems to call on Nidas gloss translation of formal equivalence, that is, the use of footnotes in order to make the text fully comprehensible (Nida 1964:129). What this means is that Reiss method is not sufficient to solve this translation problem. In talking about divine interventions, the text makes allusion to a biblical story about the Red Sea. This could be because the author had a target audience in mind and presumes they know about the story in the Bible. Although this can also be linked to the use of expressive language, it is however difficult to ignore the fact that this type of language use plays a role in the text- to maintain the interest of the reader. If the original audience for the source text were scientists, there is doubt as to whether expressive language would have been used at all, since all that would be needed are facts. The question is whether or not to include it in the translation. The answer to this is dependent on another question: who are the audience? Sacrificing the expressive form might change the text to an entirely scientific or historic one. This means a different readership, as it may not appeal to a common reader. The problem here is that Reiss method overlooks the fact there is an addresse e for even an informative text type. She acknowledges this only in the text variety stage. Communication itself is not complete without a receiver, in this case the audience. The title, Parting the Waters, also draws attention. It first makes the reader think of the biblical story of the red sea, and then makes a reader assume that is what the text is about. But this effect can only be achieved based on a shared knowledge between the author and the reader about the biblical story of the Red Sea. This assumption too must have been informed by the fact that the author had an audience in mind. However, the author quickly attends to this curiosity and possible misconception by the following opening sentence Tides, not divine interventions, divide Unfortunately, the target language (Yorà ¹bà ¡) audience is a mixture of different religions. In this text the title performs an expressive function, but that is not to say its predominant function is expressive. Since it is an informative text, one would expect again that the title would be informed by the major content being conveyed. But this is not the case. Moreover, attractive titles seem to be a common featu re of this genre. This is also a common feature of Yorà ¹bà ¡ magazines (ref here). The question here is: since content is the aim, should the target title be informed by the content alone and leave the use of expressive language? This of course is possible, as Reiss already advises on ignoring such language use especially if it will weigh on the content. The translation can simply have à pa-Õnà   Ã’kun Korea which means The Path between Korean Waters. The consequence of this however is that it might not appeal to the wider audience except a few, specialists. This brings up again the question: who are the audience? Reiss considers this an appropriate factor only when the function of the target text is different from the source text (Reiss 1971:170). What her typology fails to recognise is that both source and target texts can have the same function (as in the case of Parting the Waters) but different addressees. CONCLUSION While Reiss translation-oriented text-typology provides a systematic method of approaching a translation task, it does not provide a complete solution for some problems in English to Yorà ¹bà ¡ translation of Parting the Waters. This suggests that it is not absolute that a text function will provide a translation strategy. Fawcett (1997: 107) makes this same point: There is simply no necessary link between text function and translation strategy. Just because we have identified a text functiondoes not mean that we are led inexorably to any logical or translation-scientific imperative to take this function as an overriding parameter to which we subordinate our translation decisions. This further suggests that other translation theories are valid and useful to the extent to which they proffer a solution to a translation problem.

Government Capital Punishment Essay

Theories of punishment have significant role to play in the ongoing debate on capital punishment, especially for murder. Some retributivists appeal to the lex talionis, the law of retaliation, to determine the appropriate amount of punishment . This principle specifies that the punishment should inflict on offenders what they have done to their victims; â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth†, and â€Å"a life for a life†. Capital punishment is therefore the only appropriate punishment for murder. But the lex talionis is deeply flawed. It focuses on the harm done by offenders without regard to their mental states. A life may be taken intentionally or accidentally; a person may be killed for personal gain or in order to relieve him or her of the agony of a terminal illness. Even if we restrict the scope of the lex talionis to cases in which the wrongdoing is fully intentional, there is still the problem about the level at which the punishment should imitate the crime (Singer, 1993). Should murderers be killed in exactly the manner that they killed their victims? In any case, it is impossible to apply the lex talionis to many offenders; the penniless thief, the tooth assailant who knocks out his victim’s teeth, the tax evader, etc. If conscious of the defects of the lex talionis, retributivists merely insist that the punishment should be appropriate to the moral gravity of the offence, then this requirement can be satisfied so long as the murderer is punished more severely than less serious offenders. There is no need for capital punishment. From the utilitarian point of view, capital punishment can only be justified if it produces better consequences than less severe forms of punishment. This condition would be satisfied if capital punishment is a superior deterrent to alternative forms of punishment such as long periods of imprisonment. So a utilitarian will try to settle the issue on the basis of the evidence about the effects of capital punishment. The statistical evidence is based on comparisons of murder rates in countries where there is capital punishment with those in socially similar countries where there is no capital punishment, and no comparisons of the murder rates in one and the same country at different times when it had capital punishment and when it later abolished it, or when it restored capital punishment after a period of abolition. The evidence does not show that capital punishment is a superior deterrent. However, the utilitarian approach is rejected by those who wish to place greater value on the lives of the innocent victims of murder than on the lives of convicted murderers. It is suggested that the evidence does not conclusively rule out the superior deterrence of capital punishment, and in the presence of such uncertainty, it is better to have capital punishment. If there is capital punishment, and it turns out that capital punishment is not a superior deterrent, then convicted murderers have been unnecessarily executed. If, on the other hand, we abolish capital punishment, and it turns out that it is a superior deterrent, then there would be additional victims of murder. But this argument is unacceptable because where there is capital punishment, it is certain that convicted murderers will die, but in the absence of capital punishment and in the light of available evidence there is only a remote probability that there would be more innocent victims of murder (Conway, 1974). In any case, there is a risk of a few innocent people being wrongly convicted of murder and executed if there is capital punishment. This has to put on the scales against capital punishment.

The Status of Women in Ancient Times

The Status Of Women In Ancient Times Throughout the years, women have had to fight for the right to gain independence and freedom. They have been through good times and bad, but through all of it women have won respect and responsibility for themselves. In the times of Ancient Egypt, women had many more rights than other places. Inheritance and property were important to them. The status of women in Mesopotamia was as simple as a contract, and men were their priority. The Napoleonic Code and the Sharia Law were degrading and difficult.It is important that we reflect on what women have been through to learn for the future. In Ancient Egypt, women were mainly important for reproduction. Children were very important, and infertile women were divorced immediately. Marriage was a very important aspect, as it was almost considered a duty of the Egyptian people. It was also popular to marry cousins, brothers, and sisters considering family and dynasties were very important. If one was to be divorced it was a very private matter, but if they wanted, women could get divorced for any reason.The men were also free to marry as many women as they liked. Women could inherit their husbands belonging and property. They could give it to anyone or keep it, and many of the husband’s rules were written in his will. Women had a lot of rights in Ancient Egypt and that is very close to what we are today. In Mesopotamia, the rights for women were very different. The status of women in their marriage relied completely on a contract. The women were forced to stay with their husbands until he wanted to leave her, and there was nothing she could do if she was unhappy in the relationship.Once the husband divorced, they could not re-marry. Men dominated in every aspect, even the children. For women to have any inheritance or property it had to be in a written document. Some of the things women could do in Mesopotamian times were that they were able to buy and sell in the market place , and they could attend all legal matters. They could also conduct business on their property. The only reason why this was important though was because the men were lazy and wanted the women to work for them.The Napoleonic Code was a code in ancient times which also contained rules for women. The main aspect was that as long as men took care of the wives and protected them, the women had to have full obedience to their husbands. They had to ask to do anything and everything. There was no such thing as more than one marriage, because the only way a woman could divorce her husband was if they had grave or a severe injury. If the women committed adultery they would have three months in jail and a divorce, where as if the men committed adultery there was no punishment.The men were so powerful that if they were ever unhappy with their sons, they could get them arrested. The men had full use of the wife’s inheritance and property if she gave his approval, and it was very rare that she didn’t. Also, if anyone else wanted their inheritance, they would have to sue the owner of the inheritance. The husband managed the dowry completely, but had to give the wife one thing per year for maintenance or personal need. The only right the wife had was that she could make her will without the consent and authority of her husband.Lastly, the Sharia Law was unfair to women as well. The major inequality that is noticeable is that the Muslim men could marry non-Muslim women, but Muslim women could not marry non-Muslim men. Also the men could divorce their wives but he had to pay an already agreed sum of money that was established before the marriage. Women could onluy divorce men if they were infertile, insane, had leprosy or some other skin desease. The men had full power over the children, yet the mother could only have power over them if they were too young to part from their mothers.The worst part of the Sharia Law was that the men were given right under the Quran to hit their wives. The only right the women had were rights to inheritance, and the right to make a will. Researching all about the status of women in ancient times makes me so grateful to live the way we do today. Women should not be treated like objects or property. For a man to be able to hit a woman is so shocking to me. I believe that we should learn from our past world and know that we should not repeat some of the aspects of the law in ancient times again.

The Work of Countee Cullen Essay - 1861 Words

Countee Cullens poetry was extremely motivated by race. He produced poetry that celebrates his African American Heritage, dramatizes black heroism, and reveals the reality of being black in a hostile world. In Harlem Wine, Cullen reveals how blacks overcome their pain and rebellious inclinations through the medium of music (Shields 907). James Weldon Johnson said that Cullen was always seeking to free himself and his art from these bonds (Shields 905). In Yet Do I Marvel, Cullen raises questions about the motivation God might have had in making a poet black in bidding him sing in a world that is fundamentally racist and that does not readily accept the creative work of African Americans (Shackleford 1013). Poems such as Heritage,†¦show more content†¦Christianity is also a major theme in Cullens literary work. In some of his greatest poems, he contrasts paganism with Christianity. He realizes his own pagan inclinations and cannot overcome them despite his commitment to a Chr istian worldview (Shackleford 1012). His poem Black Magdalen is about black magdalens that are people who hide their pain and wrap their wounds in pride. Unlike Mary Magdalene, they do not have Christ to defend them against the self righteous, judgmental chaste clean ladies, so they must fend for themselves. This poem, like many other Cullen works, demonstrates his sympathy and identification with the outcast and his criticism of judgmental and provincial Christians. Jean Wagner asserts that The Black Christ is a masterly reconstruction of the poets inner drama, the conflict between disbelief and faith. Wagner argues that the poem reflects Cullens own reconciliation with Christianity (Shackleford 1013-1016). Cullens chief problem has been that of reconciling a Christian upbringing with a pagan inclination; this became his pose (Early 170). The form is very definite in most of Cullens work. The Petrarchan form is suggested in the rhyme scheme of Yet Do I Marvel. The first two quatrai ns rhyme abab,cdcd in perfect accord with the Shakespearean scheme. The poem is also essentially divided into the octave, wherein the problem is stated, and the sestet, in which a resolution is attempted. The poem begins with theShow MoreRelatedFigurative Language In Countee Cullens Tableau And Incident745 Words   |  3 PagesCountee Cullen was an African American poet during the early 1900s. Countee became renowned during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, a time where black writers and artists were featured prominently. His most influential poems are â€Å"Tableau† and â€Å"Incident.† Both of the poems, by Countee Cullen, show how racism plays a large part in how people perceive each other. 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