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Leading authorities assess the state of the art to suggest directions for further research, with substantial case studies ranging over a wide variety of topics - from the legitimacy of language norms of lingua franca communication to the recognition of newer post-colonial varieties of English in the online OED. Four regional sections treat the Caribbean (including the diaspora), Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia and the Pacific Rim.
Each section maintains a careful balance between linguistics and literature, and external and indigenous perspectives on issues. The book is the most balanced, complete and up-to-date treatment of the topic to date.
Leading authorities assess the state of the art to suggest directions for further research, with substantial case studies ranging over a wide variety of topics - from the legitimacy of language norms of lingua franca communication to the recognition of newer post-colonial varieties of English in the online OED. Four regional sections treat the Caribbean (including the diaspora), Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia and the Pacific Rim.
Each section maintains a careful balance between linguistics and literature, and external and indigenous perspectives on issues. The book is the most balanced, complete and up-to-date treatment of the topic to date.
In its most obvious sense translation concerns verbal texts and their relations among different languages. However, to remain within the sphere of verbal signs, languages consist of a plurality of different languages that also relate to each other through translation processes. Moreover, translation occurs between verbal languages and nonverbal languages and among nonverbal languages without necessarily involving verbal languages. Thus far the allusion is to translation processes within the sphere of anthroposemiosis.
But translation occurs among signs and the signs implicated are those of the semiosic sphere in its totality, which are not exclusively signs of the linguistic-verbal order. Beyond anthroposemiosis, translation is a fact of life and invests the entire biosphere or biosemiosphere, as clearly evidenced by research in “biosemiotics”, for where there is life there are signs, and where there are signs or semiosic processes there is translation, indeed semiosic processes are translation processes. According to this approach reflection on translation obviously cannot be restricted to the domain of linguistics but must necessarily involve semiotics, the general science or theory of signs.
In this theoretical framework essays have been included not only from major translation experts, but also from researchers working in different areas, in addition to semiotics and linguistics, also philosophy, literary criticism, cultural studies, gender studies, biology, and the medical sciences. All scholars work on problems of translation in the light of their own special competencies and interests.
In its most obvious sense translation concerns verbal texts and their relations among different languages. However, to remain within the sphere of verbal signs, languages consist of a plurality of different languages that also relate to each other through translation processes. Moreover, translation occurs between verbal languages and nonverbal languages and among nonverbal languages without necessarily involving verbal languages. Thus far the allusion is to translation processes within the sphere of anthroposemiosis.
But translation occurs among signs and the signs implicated are those of the semiosic sphere in its totality, which are not exclusively signs of the linguistic-verbal order. Beyond anthroposemiosis, translation is a fact of life and invests the entire biosphere or biosemiosphere, as clearly evidenced by research in “biosemiotics”, for where there is life there are signs, and where there are signs or semiosic processes there is translation, indeed semiosic processes are translation processes. According to this approach reflection on translation obviously cannot be restricted to the domain of linguistics but must necessarily involve semiotics, the general science or theory of signs.
In this theoretical framework essays have been included not only from major translation experts, but also from researchers working in different areas, in addition to semiotics and linguistics, also philosophy, literary criticism, cultural studies, gender studies, biology, and the medical sciences. All scholars work on problems of translation in the light of their own special competencies and interests.
Chapter 1 begins with a brief examination of present-day approaches to meaning, and goes on to a deconstruction of four twentieth century linguists. Chapter 2 takes as its starting point two aspects of the 20th century scientific paradigm, non-deterministic causation and relativity, and considers a number of thinkers who have worked within this paradigm. A major aim of this work is to convince students and teachers of literary theory, cultural studies and feminist theory of the validity of a linguistics of indeterminacy, so Chapter 3 focuses on an analytical approach that models indeterminacy in language, and Chapter 4 applies the model to a newspaper editorial, a Wallace Stevens' poem, and an extract from a Patrick White novel.
Chapter 1 begins with a brief examination of present-day approaches to meaning, and goes on to a deconstruction of four twentieth century linguists. Chapter 2 takes as its starting point two aspects of the 20th century scientific paradigm, non-deterministic causation and relativity, and considers a number of thinkers who have worked within this paradigm. A major aim of this work is to convince students and teachers of literary theory, cultural studies and feminist theory of the validity of a linguistics of indeterminacy, so Chapter 3 focuses on an analytical approach that models indeterminacy in language, and Chapter 4 applies the model to a newspaper editorial, a Wallace Stevens' poem, and an extract from a Patrick White novel.
The book's argument is carefully structured. An extensive introduction outlines the general background of ideas and the thirteen articles are grouped into four main sections, linked together by a clear line of questioning and discussion which is made explicit in sectional introductions.
The book is addressed to established scholars, postgraduate students, and advanced undergraduates who are interested in linguistics, literary theory, literary criticism, and sociocultural history and searching for ways of bringing these branches of learning into synergetic relation with each other.
The book's argument is carefully structured. An extensive introduction outlines the general background of ideas and the thirteen articles are grouped into four main sections, linked together by a clear line of questioning and discussion which is made explicit in sectional introductions.
The book is addressed to established scholars, postgraduate students, and advanced undergraduates who are interested in linguistics, literary theory, literary criticism, and sociocultural history and searching for ways of bringing these branches of learning into synergetic relation with each other.