This thesis presents a theoretical attempt to look into the process of political translation in China and the textual products from a functional-cognitive perspective by combining the CDA models of Fairclough and van Dijk. The functional linguistic parameters parallel to Fairclough’s functional forms of textual analysis serve as a micro-level device for the close examination of texts. At the macro-level, van Dijk’s direction of CDA from a socio-cognitive perspective accounts for the core relation between the power enactment and discourse production in a more profound manner. Meanwhile, anchored in the Chesterman’s model of translation norms, it sets out to argue that political translation in China is both an institutional operation and a reciprocal process of norm-reformation practice in specific context models. The theoretical propositions are instantiated by comprehensive text analysis from a functional perspective. The corpus of data is formed by five sets of Chinese political speeches and their English translations delivered by the state leaders in each of their periods of leadership. The focus is on presenting a holistic picture of the translation of Chinese political discourse through a spectrum of political genres. The thesis is concluded with the theoretical insights that the roles translation intends to play in mediating between the source and target communities manifest themselves as the power-mediated knowledge transfer between the source group and the target group depending on which group holds more discursive power in specific context models. Practically, it is observed that translation, as a form of political engagement in an era when China is governed under a more open and settled leadership, demonstrates a growing tendency to interact with the target readership and engages in the negotiation with the orthodox norms.

Scientific and technical translation has always played a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge. Today, the domain of science and technology is the main area of translation work. Nevertheless, there is still a discrepancy between the growing need for high-quality technical translations and the short supply of competent technical translators to produce them, a situation which may be due in part to the recent neglect of the equivalence concept in the theoretical/descriptive and applied branches of translation studies (TS). This thesis sets out to redefine, reassess, and reinstate equivalence as a useflul concept in TS by adopting an approach based on the English-German language pair and on one specific text genre and type. The investigation of equivalence as a qualitative complete-text-in-context-based concept is embedded in an equivalence-relevant methodology based on two methodological pillars, the first being a theoretically sound translation comparison and the second a highly refined translation corpus. Within this methodological framework, equivalence-relevant features are investigated and described at the syntactic, lexical-semantic, terminological-phraseological and overall textual levels. These levels are hierarchically interrelated in descending and ascending order and may be conditioned by pragmatic aspects, viz., domain knowledge and register considerations. The comparison is made using a high-quality corpus selected on the basis of a threefold set of selection criteria, with a special emphasis on the qualitative criteria. This helps us generate well-underpinned intersubjectifiable regularities in the form of potential equivalents established in the TT for ST equivalence-relevant features and enables us to obtain meaningful generalizations. Both regularities and generalizations should be capable of implementation in the applied branches of TS and, at the same time, help dynamize and intersubjectify the complex concept of equivalence. So, hopefully, this thesis will also contribute toward creating a link between the methodological, theoretical/descriptive and applied branches of TS to their mutual benefit.

This thesis deals with the problems of Literary translation nameLy: subjectivity in the interpretation of the original message, the question of stylistic faithfulness and flexibility as regards the form of the original text I and the extreme notion of the impossibility of an adequate translation. It also approaches the problem of equivalence and that of translation units which are raised by the translation process itself and are therefore reLevant to the probLems of literary translation. The beginning of the thesis entitled 'A Brief and General Review of Translation Theory' gives a brief account of the history of. translation theory. It also considers the ambiguity of the process of translation and presents a brief description of the different types of translation. The first chapter, is devoted to the problem of equivalence. Equivalence is approached in terms of. the dichotomy sty1lstic vs. communicative equivalence. This bipartite division is investigated to see whether it can be applied in the transLatioh process. The second chapter is devoted to the problem of translation units. Special emphasis is put on the difficulty of defining translation units because of the subjective nature of the translation process. A possible solution to this problem is suggested. - The third chapter deals with the question of subjectivity in the interpretation of the meaning of a source language literary text. Special emphasis is put on the relationship between the meaning of the source language text and the author's concepts which condition it. Such relationship is investigated in order to see whether it can help the translator to avoid a speculative and subjective interpretation of the original message. The fourth chapter discusses the questiorr of faithfulness and flexibility as regards the form of a source language literary text. In this study, the translator's dynamic role in reading the original text is highlighted. The consequence of such dynamic role, as regards faithfulness and unfaithfulness to the form of the original version, is analysed. The fifth chapter considers the extreme notion of the impossibility of an adequate translation'. The quality of a literary translation is assessed not in terms of its identity to the stylistic effect of the original text but in terms of its approximate correspondence to it. Such criterion is suggested as an appropriate means of assessing the adequacy of a literary translation and consequently the extreme notion of the impossibility of an adequate translation' is found to be irrelevant. - A comparison between the original English version of Gibran KahliL Gibran's The Prophet and its two Arabic translations is given as an illustration to most of the views and suggestions made in this study.

This study considers how examining the Popular Front movement against fascism in Britain sheds new light on thirties leftist fiction. It brings into view a range of critically neglected texts, focusing on the work of John Sommerfield, Arthur Calder-Marshall, Jack Lindsay, Lewis Jones and James Barke. The thesis shows how their fiction relates to and participates in a mobilisation of cultural forces against fascism both at home and abroad. The thesis is divided into three parts. Part One, ‘Realism and Modernism’ begins by examining how British writers negotiated the respective claims of the developing Soviet aesthetic of socialist realism, the mobilisation of European intellectuals against fascism and the heritage of literary modernism (chapter one). These currents of thought are then explored through readings of John Sommerfield’s May Day (chapter two) and Arthur Calder-Marshall’s Pie in the Sky (chapter three). Part Two, ‘On English History’, discusses leftist writings of the history of England under the rubric of anti-fascism; at its heart is a reading of Jack Lindsay’s trilogy of English historical novels (chapter four). Part Three, ‘Class, Nation, People’, first examines the ‘national’ turn in Communist politics as it was negotiated in the work of the Scottish novelist James Barke (chapter five), before turning to the fiction of the Welsh proletarian novelist Lewis Jones (chapter six). In both We Live and The Land of the Leal, the Spanish Civil War plays a key role in mediating the relationship between working-class historical experience and the demands of internationalist anti-fascism. The chief contributions are firstly a recovery and critical reconsideration of a range of marginalised works, and secondly a demonstration of how these novels can be read in terms of a radicalised and populist realist aesthetic, consonant with and interpretable in terms of the work of Georg Lukács in the 1930s.

The thesis looks at the origin and development of Lancashire dialect literature between the publication of John Collier's ('Tim Bobbin') A View of the Lancashire Dialect in 1746, and the death of Allen Clarke ('Teddy Ashton') in 1935. The thesis is partly chronological, paying particular attention to the largely unexplored period of dialect writing between the 1890s and the 1930s, which suggests that earlier assessments of dialect literature need revision. The period before the First World War witnessed the development of a dialect literature closely linked to the labour movement in Lancashire, and contributed to the development of a distinctive socialist culture. For a time at least, dialect literature escaped from the middle class patronage which characterised it in the 1850s and 1860s, aided by the existence of an independent, Lancashire-based, press. Dialect literature was never a pure, unadulterated 'voice of the people', and it was used both by middle and working class social forces to support rival value systems. An argument in dialect suggested a practical, common sense, wisdom, regardless of the actual message. Dialect poetry was used by different writers to support imperialist adventures, Irish home rule, left-wing socialism, and to oppose strikes, women's suffrage, and restrictions on access to the countryside. The literature represented divisions within the working class, as well as attempts from the middle class to influence it. Differing class and political standpoints were, on occasions, transcended by a wider regional consciousness in which dialect had a prominent place. Particular themes within dialect literature are explored, contributing to current debates on class, identity, and gender. The treatment of women, war and imperialism, work, and the 'Cotton Famine' of 1861-4 are examined in separate chapters. Selfcriticism, and defences of dialect writing, are looked at in Chapter 6 on "Defending Dialect".

This study attempts to analyse the process of translation and to explore its phases (Analysis, Transfer, Synthesis ) and its related aspects. Translation theory is usually addressed as if languages alone were at stake. In contrast to most studies on transaltion, this study is devoted to analysing the process of translation rather than to a comparative analysis of two languages. The study is set up on the basis of communication theory in general, and draws upon various linguistic theories and other language—related disciplines such as psycholinguistics, semiotics, etc. The basic suggestion posited is that translation should be viewed as a special case of communication process. Four models of the translation process are presented and discussed. All were found to be inadequate in representing the process as a whole (in its entirety). Thus, a more comprehensive representation of the process of translation which takes into consideration various factors is proposed. The representation proposed describes the process of translation as a complex network of operations based on linguistic and extralinguistic factors. It is argued that the main issue in translation theory should not be whether to translate literally or freely but how we can achieve an optimum translation which is the approach taken in this study. It is also hoped that this study may be of benefit to those interested in teaching translation and training would —be translators. It is also recognized that further research is required in the area of the mental processes involved in translation. The motivation for this study is the need felt for clarifying and describing the process of translation in order to improve the quality of translation and to design consequently an adequate syllabus for teaching translation.

Applying conceptual ideas of memory and propaganda, this study intends to shed light on feature films produced during the Third Reich which gave prominence to the Great War. Since the National Socialist movement presented an image of itself as not only part of the tradition of the 'undefeated German soldier' of the First World War, but also sought to rectify the perceived political injustices of the conflict, this study defines 'Great War films' as not only those which were set during the conflict, but also productions which used the immediate aftermath of the war and the 'post-war period' as the reference points for their plots. By using the National Socialists' own very broad conception of what the Great War signified, this study has identified a corpus of around fifty films which are the main object of the analysis. The principal question which the thesis intends to answer is: How did National Socialist film define the Great War, in what way did it portray the experience and consequences of war, and what did it attempt to communicate about that conflict and its aftermath? In order to provide an answer, attention will be given to the censorship process and other efforts to influence film-making. At the centre of the study is the analysis of specific features which recurred in the majority of the films: common to the two major categories of film were points of consistency in the portrayal of various 'enemies', women and soldiers; also significant were the ways in which the experience of war and peace were portrayed; more common to films dealing with the war were references to the hotly disputed issue of 'war guilt'; more common to the films dealing with 'post-war' was the connection made between defeat and the prospect of a brighter future under the National Socialists.

Regional inequalities in the developing countries have in recent years led to increasing attention to various proposals of deconcentration and decentralization, which in turn have triggered renewed interest in rural developnent and the potential significance of small urban centres. Yet little is known about the social, econanic and geographical relations of these centres with whom the majority of the rural population have contact. This thesis is a geographical study of small urban centres paying particular attention to their role in rural development in Sierra Leone. In choosing these centres as subjects of study, the author echoes other scholars, that the instances where they play a positive role are few and that to get than to do so would entail transformations within the economy and society which though necessary may prove so difficult under the present political and economic structures. The study is divided into two sections. Section I (Chapters IIII) forms the theoretical framework. Section II (Chapters IV - VII) is devoted to testing the hypotheses in the study area. The thesis starts with introducing the aims and objectives of the study, definition of tents and concepts used and justifies their application in the study area. The data and methodology are also fully discussed and the structure of the study outlined (Chapter I). The second chapter reviews various economic and spatial theories and literature on small urban centres forming the theoretical framework on which the hypotheses drawn are based. Studying small urban centres without paying attention to the macro-economic. and political context in which they are set and operate may prove futile. The third chapter therefore examines those aspects bf the study area which are considered relevant to this investigation. Section II of the thesis starts with tracing the origins of these centres and finds out how these origins have influenced their functions and thereby structures. Here a retrospective approach is adopted by tracing their pre-urban origins and discussing the factors which contributed to their urban status. The implications of these origins for rural development are pointed out (Chapter IV). In assessing their present role (Chapter V) the numbers and spatial distribution of these centres and their relative centrality are examined. From the furtional units within these centres, centrality ratios are calculated to determine whether these centres are adequately provided for. The limitations imposed on the positive role they can play in rural development by their lack of adequate numbers and low centrality is examined and their implication on using the present framework for the delivery of goods and services is assessed. Chapter VI is devoted to an examination of the relationships of small urban centres and their immediate rural hinterlands, through the consumer travel patterns to secure goods and services fron these centres. Where no positive links exist the chances of such centres acting as stimuli for rural development are indeed limited. The functional relationships of these centres through consumer travel patterns form the subject of investigation in Chapter VII. These relationships give us an idea on the way these centres function with other members in the urban hierarchy. The analysis is based on the hierarchical concepts of central place theory. The conclusion (Chapter VIII) sunmarizes the findings of the study and makes recamiendations where it is deemed necessary and in each case pointing out the implications of, such recaT1m ndations.

The thesis presents a social history of the development of solicitors as a professional group in Manchester during the period 1800-1914. This is the first work on the history of Manchester solicitors and one of the few histories of the profession outside London. It is based on primary source material which has not previously been subject to investigation. The study explores the development of solicitors through the period by examining their reaction to the pressures imposed by an increasingly industrial and urbanizing society. It considers the importance of the role of provincial solicitors in the development of the profession nationally and the part Manchester solicitors played in this development. The relationship between Manchester solicitors and the community and their place in the local societal structure is also examined.

This study is concerned with the teaching and learning of Arabic as a second or a foreign language in Malaysia in general and in the Faculty of Islamic Studies of the National University of Malaysia in particular. Its main purpose is to evaluate the existing Arabic program in the Faculty, and to provide some suggestions for its improvement. This thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one provides some background to the teaching and learning of Arabic in Malaysia. The historical development of religious teaching and learning institutions in Malaysia, and the teaching and learning of Arabic in the existing Arabic and religious institutions in Malaysia are discussed. In addition, this first chapter also discusses the role and the status of Arabic in Malaysia in order to lay the ground for understanding the actual needs for Arabic in Malaysia. Chapters two and three are concerned with the review of the literature in second and foreign language program design. They discuss the factors involved in SL teaching and learning, the general framework to be used in designing SL program, methods and approaches for specifying goals and objectives for such program, and the syllabuses and teaching methodologies for SL teaching and learning. At the end of chapter three, general criteria for the design and evaluation of Arabic programs are described. Chapter four is concerned with the teaching and learning of Arabic to noi cttive speakers. It focuses on the historical development in TASL, issues and problems in TASL, and the teaching and learning of Arabic in the Faculty of Islamic Studies. In addition, this chapter defines the research problem, scope of the study, hypo thesis, and the research methods followed. Chapters five, six and seven are concerned with the description, analysis and discussions of the results. The results reveal that the existing Arabic program in the Faculty of Islamic Studies is not compatible with the needs for Arabic in Malaysia and in the Faculty itself. It is found that the major components of the existing program, namely objectives, syllabus content and teaching methodologies, are not compatible with the present stated goal of the program. The prescription and the design of the program components do not seem to comply with general principles for SL program design. In the light of these conditions, suggestions are provided for the improvement of the Arabic program in the Faculty. These suggestions include some important areas for further research.