Social context and translation of public notices

Babel ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meifang Zhang

To study the translation of public notice is in effect seeking insights which take us beyond translation itself towards the whole relationship between language activity and the social context in which the translation is intended to function. Social context is an important aspect in the study of language and translation because the three are inextricably linked. This paper attempts to investigate the text types, text functions and the translations of public notices functioning in the social context of Macao SAR of China. It tries to deduce about the contexts in which the ST and TT were produced, the purpose for which they were produced and the target reader for whom they were produced. The study is carried out in the light of Reiss’s theory of text typology (2000) and the Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics. It is hoped that this study will identity differences in public notice translation and explore the reasons behind the differences, and also be a test case for examining the role of functional theories of language in explaining some phenomena of translation.
 Texts for the analysis are extracted from the database for a research project undertaken by the present writer, and the analysis is conducted in terms of three text types and functions: informative, expressive and operative. The results of this study reveal that although one of the language functions might be dominant in a single text in a public notice, overlapping or combining functions are very often bestowed upon most texts. They also show that although invariance in the transfer of content could be achieved in the translation of informative texts, and an analogous form in the translation could be found in the transfer of an expressive text, there are more differences than similarities in the translation of texts with operative functions.
 Possible reasons behind the differences between the source and target texts are discussed. It is argued that the differences are most possibly caused by differences in cultural values, different religious backgrounds and different expectations between readers of the source and target texts.


Author(s):  
Anya Farennikova

Experiences of absence are often laden with values and expectations. For example, one might notice that a job candidate is not wearing a tie, or see the absence of a wedding band on a person's ring finger. These experiences embody cultural knowledge and expectations, and therefore seem like good candidates for being a form of evaluative perception. This chapter argues that experiences of absence are evaluative apart from the social or cultural values they take on. They are evaluative in their core, solely by virtue of being experiences of absence. The chapter begins by explaining why certain experiences of absence should be treated as a case of genuine perception. It then clarifies the role of the evaluative states in experiences of absence. The chapter concludes by arguing that experiences of absence constitute a new form of evaluative perception, and presents the subjective–objective dichotomy in a new light.


Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Cristina Guardiano ◽  
Melita Stavrou

In this paper, we investigate patterns of persistence and change affecting the syntax of nominal structures in Italiot Greek in comparison to Modern (and Ancient) Greek, and we explore the role of Southern Italo-Romance as a potential source of interference. Our aim is to highlight the dynamics that favor syntactic contact in this domain: we provide an overview of the social context where these dynamics have taken place and of the linguistic structures involved.


Author(s):  
Babita Bhatt ◽  
Israr Qureshi ◽  
Christopher Sutter
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Massimiliano Aragona

AbstractThe way somatization is expressed—including the actual somatoform symptoms experienced—varies in different persons and in different cultures. Traumatic experiences are intertwined with cultural and social values in shaping the resulting psychopathological phenomena, including bodily experiences. Four ideal-typical cases are presented to show the different levels involved. The effects of trauma, culture and values may be pathofacilitating (creating a social context which is necessary for the experience to take place), pathogenetic (taking a causal role in the onset of the psychopathological reaction), pathoplastic (shaping the form such a psychopathological reaction takes) or pathointerpretive (different interpretation of the same symptoms depending on the patient’s beliefs). While the roles of trauma and culture were already well recognized in previous accounts, this chapter adds an exploration of the importance of values, including cultural values, in the aetiology, presentation and management of somatization disorders. As a consequence, the therapeutic approach has to be adjusted depending on the way these factors intervene in the patient’s construction of mental distress.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (SPE3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadbir Magusovich Safin ◽  
Rafael Mirgasimoviz Valeev

The analysis of the current state and development of social tourism in Russia indicates the need for further research into its content and forms, aimed at introducing the historical and cultural values of our citizens, organizing their active and wholesome recreation, solving the problems of patriotic education for the country's younger generation. The paper discusses some issues of social tourism development in Russia, the role of social tourism in the preservation and development of historical and cultural heritage focuses on the need to develop measures to stimulate tourist demand, strengthen the social component of tourism in the country


1985 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph W. Fasold

This chapter [of Sociolinguistic patterns – RWF] will deal with the study of language structure and evolution within the social context of the speech community. The linguistic topics to be considered here cover the area usually named “general linguistics,” dealing with phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics (Labov 1972:184). Surely, this is too narrow a conception of the role of sociolinguistic research (Romaine 1982:6).


Africa ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chapurukha M. Kusimba

Ironsmiths occupy an important yet ambiguous position in many African societies. They are both revered and feared, because they wield social power which arises from their access to occult knowledge, not only of metallurgy but of healing, divination, circumcision and peacemaking. In some societies smiths enjoy high status and are the wealthiest people. In others they are feared, covertly maligned, and blamed for societal misfortunes. In still others the smiths' position is often marginal except when they are needed to intercede on their society's behalf to solve natural or cultural predicaments. The forge or smithy plays a central role in the community as tool-making centre, a place of refuge from violence, of purification, and for healing. This article examines the social context of iron forging among the ironsmiths of the Kenya coast, focusing on the role of iron forging in the coastal economy, the forge, the smiths' life cycle, the institution of apprenticeship, the ritual and technical power of smiths, the role of women in the smiths' community, and the future of iron forging on the coast. It is argued that, while coastal smiths are marginal and despised, they hold important ritual and spiritual powers in coastal society. The article concludes that a detailed understanding of the traditional crafts historically practised on the coast can do much to illuminate the complex history of coastal society.


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