Exploring Newmark's Communicative Translation and Text Typology

Abstract

Translation, as an important means of communication, in all aspects of cross-culture communication, is playing a crucial role. Translation theory's main concerns are to determine appropriate translation methods for the widest possible range of texts or text-categories. When a lot of pragmatic texts, science and technology texts appeared in the translation areas, the interrelation between the text type and transfer method began to arouse the interest of translation scholars. Many translation scholars presented the concept of standards for classifying the correlation between the text type and translation method. There are two famous theorists of Functionalism who made a major contribution to the theory of text typology: Katherina Reiss and Peter Newmark. Peter Newmark, a famous British translation theorist, who linked language function to translation in his theory and further bring the theory of text typology to translation practices. Communicative translation is an important part of Newmark's translation theories. In this thesis, the author will focus on the comparison of semantic translation and communicative translation, then further explore the framework of Newmark's text typology. Peter Newmark and Communicative Translation The Definition of Communicative Translation. "Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original" (Newmark, 2006: 39). It is obvious that communicative translation focuses on producing an equivalent effect on the target readers. On the contrary, semantic translation remains within the original culture at the author's linguistic level. Newmark's one major contribution to translation is the communicative translation versus semantic translation. Difference Between Communicative Translation and Semantic Translation. In theory, there are only two methods of translation: communicative translation and semantic translation. There are wide differences between the two methods. Communicative translation addressed itself solely to the second reader, who does not anticipate difficulties or obscurities, and would expect a generous transfer of foreign elements into his own culture as well as his language where necessary. But even here the translator still has to respect and work on the form of the source language text as the only material basis for his work. Semantic translation remains within the original culture and assists the reader only in its connotations if they constitute the essential human (non-ethnic) message of the text. Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original. The functionalism theory demonstrates the possible translation procedures and the various arguments for and against the use of one translation rather than another in a particular context. Translators should accordingly adopt respective appropriate translation strategies and relative approaches, either semantic translation or communicative translation according to different text types.