Presenting a Systematic, Interdisciplinary and Sequential Model of Translation: When Translation Meets Linguistics

The present article aims at exploring the complex process of interlinguistic translation, proposing a new model which, while being originally conceived in terms of literary translation, might be easily applied to non-literary textual types too. Indeed, by focusing on both the verbal and the non-verbal components of the text, the model developed here aims at rendering the approach to any kind of translation more systematic. As the paper suggests by referring to the notion of isotopy, which is adapted here to the discussion of interlinguistic translation, the same model could in fact prove valuable also in the translation of audio-visual texts and/or hybrid texts such as comics and graphic novels, advertisements etc. In particular, by positing as central issues related to the reader and the cultural gaps existing between source and target culture/language – which naturally underlay issues of register, politeness, turn-taking and so on – the model could also be fruitfully applied to all those situations in which informative texts are created and need translating to the benefit of people whose mother-tongue is not the national language of the country they inhabit. Thus, by incorporating linguistic disciplines (among others: discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics and the analysis of specialized languages), with the approach typical of translation studies, the paper emphasizes the need for an integrated approach to translation, which it sets out to satisfy. Although many works have been published on both the general strategies and the specific procedures at the disposal of translators, in fact, there seems to be a lack of a more systematic and inclusive approach to the translation process itself. This is precisely what the model suggested here, which develops in three consecutive phases, intends to do. For obvious reasons, the model is not exhaustive, and each translator, according to the source text, might need to adjust it. Yet, its flexible and interdisciplinary nature points to the usefulness of its synergic approach. The paper thus discusses, step by step, the fundamental operations translators should complete at the various stages of the translation process, while not neglecting to refer to the various tools they might find useful while performing their task. Furthermore, it lays emphasis on the importance that extra-textual aspects might acquire during the translation process and the impact they might have on the final product. In particular, the bearing which cultural elements might have on translation is constantly taken into consideration and explored, not least by referring to the basic notions set forth by the various disciplines of discourse analysis