Exploration, Communication, Continuation: Building an Interpretation in Translation, with an Introduction to Ad Theory

Translation has often been ignored or dismissed as an unimportant and theoretically impossible field. Scholars have proposed numerous theories attempting to explain, illustrate, and ultimately understand the process of making and judging translations. However, while there have been trends, no complete consensus has been made. Notably, there have been issues coupling the faithful with the fluent strategies, as well as the science and the art of translation. This new perspective is to provide a more focused and defined way to conduct and consider translations. According to this proposed theory, named ad theory, a translator attempts to transmit information from the original text to a target audience, guided by one or more purposes or objectives. Thus a translation is essentially an advertisement of the original text and should be treated as such. The ultimate goal of the translator is to have the target audience accept or “buy into” the purpose. There are degrees of freedom in which the translator may deviate from the original, but generally this carries an inverse-like relationship with audience acceptance. Nevertheless, theoretically, as long as the target audience accepts the purpose or objective, then the translation-advertisement has been successful. Information considered to develop ad theory comes from a wide variety of fields, ranging from applied linguistics and comparative literature to economics and marketing. With the establishment of a legitimate connection between translation and marketing, a new interdisciplinary approach can be used to design translations that are more specific for the target audience with optimal results in persuasion. This would involve using tools commonly found in business, such as test marketing. Examples illustrating the existence and potential application of ad theory, including the comparisons of translations/adaptations of Federico García Lorca‟s Bodas de sangre, Mary Shelley‟s The Mortal Immortal/ Iginio Ugo Tarchetti‟s L’elixir dell’immortalità, and Colette‟s Gigi will also be presented