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--- abstract: 'In this paper I argue that the phenomenon commonly referred to as "translation" can be accounted for naturally within the relevance theory of communication developed by Sperber and Wilson (1986a): there is no need for a distinct general theory of translation. Most kinds of translation can be analysed as varieties of interpretive use. I distinguish direct from indirect translation. Direct translation corresponds to the idea that translation should convey the same meaning as the original. It requires the receptors to familiarise themselves with the context envisaged for the original text. The idea that the meaning of the original can be communicated to any receptor audience, no matter how different their background, is shown to be a misconception based on mistaken assumptions about communication. Indirect translation involves looser degrees of resemblance. I show that direct translation is merely a special case of interpretive use, whereas indirect translation is the general case. In all cases the success of the translation depends on how well it meets the basic criterion for all human communication, which is consistency with the principle of relevance. Thus the different varieties of translation can be accounted for without recourse to typologies of texts, translations, functions or the like.' altloc: [] chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Gutt given: Ernst-August honourific: Dr lineage: '' date: 1990 date_type: published datestamp: 2002-11-12 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/25/97 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: - family: Toury given: Gideon honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Lambert given: Jose honourific: '' lineage: '' eprint_status: archive eprintid: 2597 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/2597/1/THEORACC.htm full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: 'relevance theory, direct translation, cognition, indirect translation, communication, translation theory, interpretive use, communicative clue, faithfulness' lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:06 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 2 pagerange: 135-164 pubdom: FALSE publication: 'Target: International Journal of Translation Studies' publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company refereed: TRUE referencetext: | Beekman, J. and J. 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Taber (1969) The Theory and Practice of Translation, E.J. Brill, Leiden. Picken, Catriona (1983), The translator's handbook. Aslib, London. Reiss, Katharina and Hans J. Vermeer (1984), Grundlegung einer allgemeinen �bersetzungstheorie. Niemeyer, T�bingen. Schulte, R. (1987) "Translation Theory: A Challenge for the Future", Translation Review, no. 23, (Special Theory Issue), 1987. Snell-Hornby, Mary (1988) Translation Studies: An integrated approach, John Benjamins, Amsterdam. Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson (1986a) Relevance: Communication and Cognition, Blackwell, Oxford. Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson (1986b), 'Loose talk'. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 1985/6, vol. 86, pp. 153-171. Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson (1987), 'Pr�cis of Relevance: Communication and Cognition'. Behavioural And Brain Sciences vol. 10, pp. 697-754. Steiner, George (1975) After Babel. Aspects of Language and Translation, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Wilson, Deirdre and Dan Sperber (1988a) "Representation and Relevance" in R.M. Kempson (ed), Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 133-153. Wilson, Deirdre and Dan Sperber (1988b), 'Mood and the analysis of non-declarative sentences'. In J. Dancy, J. Moravcsik and C. C. W. Taylor (eds), Human agency: language, duty and value. Stanford University Press, Stanford, pp. 77-101. Wilss, W. (1982) The Science of Translation. Problems and Methods, Gunter Narr Verlag, T�bingen. Wilss, W. (1988) Kognition und �bersetzen. Zu Theorie und Praxis der menschlichen und der maschinellen �bersetzung. Max Niemeyer Verlag, T�bingen. relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 8 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:45:56 subjects: - cog-psy - ling-prag - phil-sci succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: 'A theoretical account of translation - without a translation theory' type: journalp userid: 3214 volume: 2