Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dealing with cultural elements in technical texts for translation
Dealing with cultural elements in technical texts for translation
ABSTRACT
Cult ure is t he background of every hum an com m unicat ion. Cult ural em bedding as a
feat ure of t ext s in general is also valid in t echnical and scient ific t ext s. As t ranslat ion by
hum ans is based on underst anding, t he t ranslat or needs knowledge in order t o det ect
cult ural aspect s. This is possible by put t ing down im plicit cult ural references t o cert ain
st ruct ures on t he t ext level. Cult ural elem ent s appear in t he t ext on all levels – from t he
concept and form of words, t o t he sent ence and t ext st ruct ure, t o pragm at ics. Exam ples
for t he various appearances are present ed in t he first part of t he paper.
The second part discusses t ranslat ion as a writ ing process. Here t he cat egories of
at t ent ion governing t he t ranslat or’s approach are present ed. Taking a holist ic view of t he
t ext , t he t ranslat or m ay consider t he relevant cult ural cont ext , discourse field, concept ual
world and predicat ive m ode t o prom ot e his or her underst anding. The t arget language
form ulat ion will t hen observe t he m edium , st ylist ics, coherence and funct ion of t he t ext .
Dealing wit h cult ural elem ent s m ay be m ot ivat ed in view of t he aforem ent ioned
cat egories of at t ent ion.
KEYW ORD S
Cult ure, t erm inology, t ext t ype, funct ion, cat egories of at t ent ion, underst anding,
pragm at ics.
1 . I n t r oduct ion
As a ‘higher- level’ discipline, building upon t he insight s of cont rast ive linguist ics and
sharing wit h it t he not ion of ‘t ert ium com parat ionis’, TS [ sc. Translat ion St udies]
seeks opt im ally inclusive rules of ST/ TT coordinat ion ( Wilss 1996: 10) .
I t is quest ionable, t hough, whet her t he not ion of a t ert ium com parat ionis
– valid for st andardised t echnical t erm inology – can be t ransferred t o t he
t ask of t ranslat ing in general. Translat ing t echnical t ext s in t he
professional environm ent or in scient ific com m unicat ion is m ore t han
handling t erm inology.
Text s, as t he m eans of oral and writ t en com m unicat ion am ong persons,
are carriers of m essages. And any m essage wit hin a t echnical or scient ific
discourse field includes bot h subj ect - relevant inform at ion and som e
im plicit references t o t he cult ural background of t he person speaking.
There is no st erile sphere of ‘opt im al t ext coordinat ion’ in t he real world.
Cult ure as t he background of every hum an com m unicat ion is a dynam ic
phenom enon based on hist orical t radit ion including t he individuals’
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personal developm ent . Cult ural issues in t ranslat ion are connect ed wit h
t he problem of underst anding t he t ext s t o be t ranslat ed, because in m any
cases t he t ranslat or is not necessarily a m em ber of t he sam e cult ure.
The t ranslat or t herefore will have t o be aware of his or her own
herm eneut ic approach. Underst anding is never a m at t er of fact but
requires int erpret at ion as t he process of searching for m eaningfulness.
Herm eneut ics sees com prehension as a cognit ive revelat ion of m eaning t o
t he int erest ed recept ive reader ( St olze 2003: 81) ; it is not an act ive
const ruct ion of sense, and it m ay also fail.
The foreign realit y is always seen phenom enologically from a part icular
individual perspect ive. This individual perspect ive is t he “ herm eneut ic
circle” as every hum an disposes of different experiences and knowledge.
You can only underst and som et hing when a bridge of knowledge already
exist s. But t his is no fixed rest rict ion, as t he circle m ay easily be ext ended
by learning. However, wit hout any cult ural or fact ual pre- knowledge I will
not underst and a piece of inform at ion, even if it is present ed t o m e in t he
m ost logical way. Herm eneut ics calls for a crit ical self- awareness
regarding t his problem : one m ust always ask oneself whet her sufficient
knowledge is given for underst anding, t ranslat ing and ent ering int o a
debat e, or whet her som e learning st rat egies are st ill needed.
When we accept t hat t ext s funct ion wit hin cult ures, t here m ust also be
som e cult ural feat ures discernable in t hose t ext s. Cognit ive t ext
processing based on reading is a part ly int uit ive int eract ion bet ween t he
bot t om - up input of t he t ext st ruct ure and t he t op- down int ervent ion of t he
cont ent of one’s m em ory. That m eans t hat underst anding can be put
down t o linguist ic st ruct ures on t he t ext level t hat first t riggered t he
respect ive cognit ive react ion. Cult ure will be present in t ext s, even in
t echnical ones. And cult urally based convent ions of t ext const ruct ion m ay
even const it ut e a m aj or t ranslat ion problem for scient ific com m unicat ion.
Det ect ing cult ural elem ent s in t ext s t herefore is decisive for t ranslat ion.
2 . Cu lt u r a l e le m e n t s in t e x t s
A key quest ion is what are cult ural elem ent s and how are t hey visible in
t ext s? Cult ural elem ent s cannot be reduced t o st range obj ect s t hat would
be unknown elsewhere. Cult ural elem ent s are a background of knowledge
which is generally relevant for adequat e com m unicat ion wit hin a societ y:
Cult ure, being what people have t o learn as dist inct from t heir biological herit age,
m ust consist of t he end product of learning: knowledge, in a m ost general, if
relat ive, sense of t he t erm . By t his definit ion, we should not e t hat cult ure is not a
m at erial phenom enon; it does not consist of t hings, people, behaviour, or
em ot ions. I t is rat her an organizat ion of t hese t hings. I t is t he form s of t hings t hat
people have in m ind, t heir m odels for perceiving, relat ing, and ot herwise
int erpret ing t hem ( Goodenough 1964: 36) .
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Cult ure det erm ines how people speak and writ e and perceive each ot her.
Consequent ly, cult ural elem ent s, t herefore, m ust be present im plicit ly in
t ext s, but as a background feat ure t hey are im plicit . This becom es crucial
in t ranslat ion, when a t ranslat or from a different cult ure m ay not be able
t o adequat ely int erpret t he im plicit cult ural t races, or even m isint erpret s
t hem . I n t ranslat ions we oft en find m ore or less adequat e “ m odulat ions”
or “ adapt at ions” result ing in “ cult ural shift s” . And a t ranslat ion where
foreign elem ent s are not adapt ed will appear as an “ overt t ranslat ion”
( House 1997: 29) “ which allows t he t ranslat ion recept or a view of t he
original t hrough a foreign language while clearly operat ing in a different
discourse world” .
Cult ural t races in t ext s cert ainly have a specific linguist ic form . Hence it is
useful t o present an overview of various linguist ic m anifest at ions of
cult ure in t ext s. This ranges from t he word level and synt act ic st ruct ures
t o t he st yle on t he t ext level, and it s pragm at ic social funct ion.
2 .1 . Cu lt u r e in t e r m in ologica l con ce pt s
Underst anding of t erm inology – which is essent ial for correct t ranslat ion –
is not fully guarant eed by t he consult at ion of dict ionaries and dat abases,
because new t erm s are const ant ly being creat ed t hat part ly even carry
inherent concept ual differences. Schm it t ( 1999: 228ff) present s som e
im pressive exam ples of an int er- cult ural incongruence of concept s, where
com parable t erm s are not equivalent because t he concept s t hey designat e
are different for cult ural reasons. There are for inst ance varying st andards
for t he st eelm aking bet ween t he U.S.A. and Germ any: carbon st eel is not
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equivalent t o Kohlenst offst ahl ( as is indicat ed in m any dict ionaries) , rat her
it is Baust ahl, a less brit t le t ype of st eel.
Due t o clim at ic variat ions, t he safet y and const ruct ion rules m ay be
different in count ries, even if t he t erm s designat ing t he respect ive obj ect
are apparent ly t he sam e: Wärm epum pe ( in Germ any for environm ent -
friendly house- heat ing) ~ heat pum p ( for heat ing and/ or cooling in t he
U.S.) . From a linguist ic perspect ive we are faced wit h “ false friends” .
There is also t he exam ple of apparent ly equivalent t erm s in t he
const ruct ion of power st at ions: Druckhalt er- Wasserst andsm esskanal ~
pressurizer wat er level sensing channel, or int egriert es Blockregelsyst em
~ int egrat ed cont rol syst em , et c. Even if t he basic funct ion of t he
respect ive obj ect is t he sam e, e.g. in t he Am erican and t he Germ an
cult ure, t he t erm s st ill are incongruent , because t he obj ect s are
const ruct ed in a different way.
Ot her exam ples are provided by Schm it t ( 1999: 238ff) , for exam ple, who
m ent ions different legislat ion on product ion m et hods, varying m easuring
m et hods, t he specific clim at e, sem ant ic prot ot ypes, e.g. a ‘ham m er’ t hat
act ually has various concret e form s and t hus nam es ( ball peen ham m er –
Schlosserham m er, cross peen ham m er – Klauenham m er) . Of course t his
problem can oft en be solved wit h t he help of a dict ionary, but t he
t ranslat ors need t o be aware of t he problem . They will have t o be crit ical
and possess t he relevant knowledge in order t o be able t o select t he right
expressions.
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The above exam ples present cult ural differences in t erm inological
concept s bet ween t he languages. I n addit ion t o t his variat ion t here is t he
basic difference of t erm inological concept ualisat ion in t he sciences and in
t he hum anit ies ( St olze 2003: 201) t hat will reflect in t he t ext s. I n t he
nat ural sciences t erm inology is based on exact definit ions and includes
m et hodical deduct ion. Every t erm has it s place wit hin a hierarchical
syst em , but it is not always t ot ally free of cult ural differences in t he
concept s, as shown. I n t he hum anit ies, on t he ot her hand, t here is
academ ic convent ion and int erpret at ion of concept s t o be agreed am ong
scholars. Whet her ‘t ranslat ion’, for inst ance, is defined as an int er- lingual
t ransfer or a cult ural m anipulat ion or t he represent at ion of a m essage
underst ood or a cognit ive decision process, et c. depends on t he respect ive
academ ic ‘school’. Recognit ion of t he relevant t erm inology and it s
dist inct ion from general language form s is im port ant , in order t o prevent
naïve underst anding of a specialist t ext .
2 .2 . Cu lt u r e in t h e la n gu a ge for m
The Germ an language allows one- word com binat ions as shown in t he
previous exam ple, and t his is generally applicable in t ranslat ion. For
exam ple, t he t erm a change in t he rat e of exchange m ight be t ranslat ed
wit h Wechselkursänderung inst ead of “ Änderung des Wechselkurses” , a
lit eral version which is considered as t oo long, t hough being perfect ly
correct regarding t he sem ant ic cont ent .
I n t he adj ect ive- noun com binat ions one has t o check whet her t his is a
norm al qualifying expression: long dist ance ( Langst recke) , basalt ic
volcano ( Basalt vulkan) , t ext ile product ( Text ilprodukt ) or, rat her, a
relat ive qualifier: seasonal worker ( worker for one season –
Saisonarbeit er) , t ext ile indust ry ( indust ry producing t ext iles –
Text ilindust rie) , president ial elect ions ( elect ion of t he president –
Präsident schaft swahlen) , et c. Due t o t he language econom y t he use of
t his linguist ic concent rat ion is developing fast in m any European
languages. Linguist ic differences based on cult ure are not lim it ed t o t he
word level but also include synt act ic st ruct ures.
2 .3 . Cu lt u r e in t h e syn t a x
Synt act ic form s concern t he way in which t he elem ent s in a sent ence are
com bined idiom at ically. Whereas t he languages in lit erat ure dem onst rat e
a great variet y of creat ive linguist ic form s, t echnical com m unicat ion uses
a purposeful reduct ion of st ylist ic form s where t he cont ent - orient ed nat ure
of t echnical com m unicat ion m eans t hat short assert ive sent ences, a linear
t hem e- rhem e organisat ion, and a dense synt act ic com pression are
prevalent . However, t here are differences bet ween languages, beyond
t echnical and scient ific writ ing st yles. The following exam ples illust rat e
how concise explicit expressions are realised in Germ an by reducing
several subordinat e clauses int o an at t ribut ive const ruct ion:
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They t end t o ( overt ly) encode or verbalize proposit ional cont ent rat her t han leave it
t o be inferred from t he cont ext ( House 2004: 187) .
St ruct ural differences bet ween languages are part icularly visible in
com m unicat ive sit uat ions which are funct ionally com parable, for inst ance
regarding legal relat ions. Even if Germ an expressions are m ore explicit t o
som e ext ent , as shown, we can also not e t hat t he English language has a
t endency t o express det ailed sem ant ic variat ions wit h m ore words. I t
present s t he feat ure of double phraseological form s t hat would correspond
t o single form s in Germ an. Such form s concern bot h obj ect s and act ions,
for exam ple:
2 .4 . Cu lt u r e in t h e t e x t st r u ct u r e
Germ an CVs, for exam ple, generally begin wit h birt h and present t he
whole developm ent of t he person from schooling t o st udies up t o work
experience. I n ot her count ries t he t radit ion is t o focus on t he present
sit uat ion, adding inform at ion on t he past .
Whereas Germ an t est im onials cont ain a det ailed descript ion of t he
em ployee’s charact er and working m et hod, Am erican credent ials are a
sim ple cert ificat e on t he period and field of em ploym ent .
Court sent ences in Germ any show first t he subst ance of t he j udgem ent in
a sent ence followed by a st at em ent of fact s and t he present at ion of t he
reasons for t he decision, quasi as a j ust ificat ion of t he sent ence.
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I n Brit ish or Am erican court sent ences we find t he accum ulat ion of relat ive
sent ences as a t ypical feat ure of t his t ext genre. Exam ple:
The court finds t hat … and t hat … - I n Germ an t ext s such long list s are
unusual.
I n Brit ish court sent ences t he m ot ivat ion of t he decision is oft en given by
t he j udge in a personal st yle ( Lashöfer 1992: 14/ 19) according t o t he
com m on law syst em wit h independent j udges, whereas t his st yle in
Germ an decisions would not be considered adequat e, since t hey have a
general legal effect iveness based on t he civil law .
I nform at ive t ext t ypes on a higher level – possibly wit h an int ernat ional
perspect ive –, such as user m anuals, pat ent specificat ions, pat ient
package insert s, scient ific papers, m onographs, court sent ences, art icles
of law, sales cont ract s, am ong ot hers, are based as a t ext t ype on a
specific com m unicat ive sit uat ion, and in t heir cont ent t hey focus on a
specific t echnical obj ect . And st ill t here are t races of cult ure left in such
t ext s which have not yet been st andardised on an int ernat ional level.
Text s as language usage wit hin a cult ural sit uat ion are never a m ere
response t o ext ernal condit ions or t echnical obj ect s but , rat her, a result of
individual language usage. Cult ural aspect s are m ainly visible in t he global
t ext st ruct ure.
I t is not always easy t o dist inguish bet ween cult ural t ext st ruct ures and
charact erist ics of a t ext t ype. We not e, however, t hat m acrost ruct ures of
t ext s m ay be cult urally different , even if t he ext ra- lingual funct ion as such
is com parable.
There seem t o be cult urally different st yles of writ ing but t he im port ance
of cult ural st yles in academ ic present at ions is oft en underest im at ed by
academ ics when present ing abroad. Everybody int uit ively st art s wit h one’s
own idea of st ruct uring t ext s, and t his m ay cause underst anding
problem s. What usually goes down well in our hom e count ry m ay receive
an ent irely different recept ion elsewhere. Johan Galt ung, Professor of
Peace St udies wit h a focus on cult ural st ereot ypes, was one of t he first t o
docum ent his differing experiences of holding lect ures and appearing at
int ernat ional congresses. Galt ung ( 1995) described a “ Saxon, Teut onic,
Gallic and Nippon” st yle of academ ic writ ing. These differences m ainly
concern t he st ruct ural arrangem ent of argum ent at ion – whet her m ore
linear in sm all pieces, or rat her t heoret ical wit h som e supposedly circular
argum ent , or em phasising a good form ulat ion, or giving m uch reference
t o m ast ers t hus obscuring novelt y. This is relevant for t ranslat ing such
art icles. I t m ay even be necessary t o rewrit e an art icle in a ‘shape’ which
is preferred in t he t arget cult ure.
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2 .5 . Cu lt u r e in pr a gm a t ics
This t ells us t wo cult ural specificit ies: ( a) in I t aly t he law perm it s m arriage
celebrat ions by religious com m unit ies, unlike Germ any for inst ance ( only
civil) and t o t he U.S.A. ( any official person) , and ( b) especially in t he
Sout h ( Naples, Messina) t here have been living a lot of inhabit ant s wit h
Hebrew fait h.
Translat ion ( a) :
Als Zulieferer, der bei D. war, seit diese vor knapp zwei Jahren in Kapit el
11 eint rat , wollen wir I hnen einige sehr wicht ige I nform at ionen
überm it t eln. D. hat ihren vorgeschlagenen Um st rukt urierungsplan und die
zugehörige Offenbarungserklärung beim U.S. Bankrupt cy Court
eingereicht .
Das Gericht wird die Offenbarungserklärung bei einer Anhörung am 3.
Okt ober 2007 begut acht en, und wenn diese dabei genehm igt wird, will D.
versuchen, bei einer Anhörung vor dem U.S. Bankrupt cy Court um den 19.
Novem ber 2007 eine Best ät igung des Um st rukt urierungsplans zu
erreichen. Wird dieser best ät igt , wird D. versuchen, gegen Jahresende aus
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Translat ion ( b) :
I hnen als Zulieferer von D. seit der Zeit , als diese vor fast zwei Jahren ein
Verfahren nach Kapit el 11 des Am erikanischen Konkursrecht s ( Bankrupt cy
Code) eingeleit et hat , m öcht en wir einige sehr wicht ige I nform at ionen
m it t eilen. D. hat ihren vorgeschlagenen Reorganisierungsplan und die
zugehörige Offenbarungserklärung beim US- am erikanischen
Konkursgericht eingereicht . Das Konkursgericht wird in einem Term in am
3. Okt ober 2007 die Offenbarungserklärung prüfen, und wenn diese in
dem Anhörungst erm in genehm igt wird, wird D. die Best ät igung des
Reorganisierungsplans bei einer Anhörung vor dem US- Konkursgericht am
oder um den 19. Novem ber 2007 beant ragen. Wird der
Reorganisierungsplan dann bei diesem Term in best ät igt , will D. versuchen,
bis zum Ende des Kalenderj ahres aus dem Verfahren nach Kapit el 11
heraus zu kom m en. ( This t ranslat ion t ries t o explain t he im plicit
cult ural/ legal difference and t hus m ake t he m essage t ransparent . I nst ead
of a m erely lit eral t ranslat ion it adds explanat ion: in Kapit el 11 eint rat >
ein Verfahren nach Kapit el 11 des am erikanischen Konkursrecht s
eingeleit et hat .)
Cult ural differences include varying ideas of polit eness, st ereot ypes of
foreign people, and special im ages of a societ y in anot her area. Such
feat ures t end t o reflect on t he t ext level and any lit eral t ranslat ion will
sound st range in t he t arget cult ure. Below we have a Germ an publicit y
t ext for a set of knives which seem s t o be a lit eral t ranslat ion from an
Am erican t ext . I n t hat cult ure publicit y and underlining one’s capacit y,
rat her t han being unassum ing, is a social value. This is visible in t he t ext
wit h it s collect ion of superlat ives and at t ribut ive const ruct ions in t he
descript ion of t he knives for sale. For Germ an readers t his sounds very
st range, and t his t ranslat ion will cert ainly not fulfil it s publicit y purpose.
Exam ple:
geschnit zt , j eder Ent wurf hebt die Schönheit eines j eden Messers
einzigart ig hervor. – [ ADAC m ot orwelt , 2/ 1993] .
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Cult ural keywords and cert ain colours t rigger specific associat ions.
Translat ors will need t o know such aspect s, in order t o prevent
m isunderst anding or unint ended com ic. Values of a societ y are alm ost
always different from one anot her, and t his again will have t races in t ext s.
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Religious and ot her m et aphors will in a lit eral t ranslat ion not always creat e
t he sam e cognit ive ideas as in t he original t ext .
3 . Th e t r a n sla t or ‘s a ppr oa ch
Just like finding one’s way in unknown t errit ory, t he t ranslat or will use a
cognit ive m ap for guidance. One will observe som e point s of orient at ion,
going from m acroscopic t o m icroscopic. Any linguist ic feat ure has an
int rinsic relat ionship t o t he whole of a t ext , and wit hin a different
proposit ion it m ay have a different m eaning. Hence t he m ere descript ion
of linguist ic form s indicat ing cult ural aspect s, such as st andard form ulae,
specific word com pounds, st range proposit ions, unusual expressions, is
not sufficient . Analysis does not lead t o com prehension. We have, rat her,
t o det erm ine t he ‘right cult ure’ which is relevant as t he cognit ive
environm ent for t he t ext and det erm ines t he value of individual st ruct ural
elem ent s. One will first t ry t o grasp t he t ext ’s m essage as a whole, and
only lat er analyse det ails wit h reference t o t he t ext ’s em bedding.
The orient at ion in such a holist ic approach t o t ext s m ay be assist ed by
som e ‘cat egories of at t ent ion’ which are present ed in t he following t able
( St olze 2003) :
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3 .1 . Un de r st a n din g t h e or igin a l
Faced wit h t he t ask of t ranslat ing one will first check t he CULTURAL CONTEXT
about t he epoch of a t ext , i.e. t he relevant sphere of sciences or
hum anit ies wit h t heir st at e of developm ent . This is ext ra- t ext ual
inform at ion which needs t o be collect ed in order t o posit ion t he t ext
adequat ely. An older t echnical t ext will require different knowledge
regarding t erm inology, com pared wit h a report on t he m ost recent
scient ific developm ent s in a field.
This cult ural cont ext t hen includes t he relevant DI SCOURSE FI ELD , e.g. t he
special dom ain and t he level of com m unicat ion. I s it a scient ific t ext for
expert s in t he field, or rat her an expert - lay m essage like in user m anuals?
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Which t ext t ype is valid? This inform at ion is const rued wit h a view on t he
aut hor and t he place of publicat ion of t he t ext which also det erm ines t he
special dom ain. The t ranslat or will t hen be able t o est ablish whet her s/ he
is capable of t ranslat ing t hat t ext , or whet her furt her research is needed,
and t his even before act ually going int o m uch det ail. Posit ioning t he t ext
in a cert ain discourse field will raise t he awareness for any t erm inological
differences, eit her in t he concept s or in t he form .
3 .2 . W r it in g t he t r a n sla t ion
I n form ulat ing t he t ranslat ion we will first observe t he MEDI UM. The
required t arget language layout , form of illust rat ions, t he space available,
t he st yle of st ruct ural m arkers and even script font s m ay be cult urally
different and are relevant for t ranslat ion.
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I t is clear t hat cult ural elem ent s are an issue for t echnical t ranslat ion, but
t heir handling is governed by t he global t ext funct ion. The goal of
t ranslat ion is precision in m aking t ransparent t he foreign cult ural ideas,
however in a funct ionally adequat e and idiom at ic form ulat ion. This goes
beyond t he surface level observat ion of “ covert vs. overt t ranslat ions”
( House 1997: 29) .
3 .3 . H a n dlin g cu lt u r a l e le m e n t s in t e x t s
Regarding cult ure in t erm inological concept s, an addit ional explanat ion or
t he correct t arget t erm is needed; regarding t he linguist ic form of t erm s,
t he t arget norm shall always be applied. Cult ural feat ures in t he synt ax
will be changed int o t arget idiom s, so as not t o affect t echnical
com m unicat ion.
As regards cult ure in t he t ext st ruct ure, we have t o decide whet her or not
a specific source- cult ural st andard t ext will be replaced by a t arget - cult ure
st andard t ext t ype. A subst it ut ion of t ext t ypes seem s adequat e for
inst ruct ion m anuals or publicit y t ext s, where t he social funct ionalit y is
predom inant . In docum ent t ranslat ion ( cert ificat es, cont ract s,
t est im onials, business correspondence, et c.) , on t he ot her hand, a form al
preservat ion is required. Those t ext s wit h inform at ive funct ion have t heir
validit y as an original, and t he t ranslat ion is only a secondary t ext t o help
underst anding ‘what t he t ext is saying’.
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Biogr a ph y
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