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Oral sources in translation : 19th century and contemporary perspectives on translating orality

Two widely used reference points in Translation Studies are the notions of source and target, indicating a point of departure and a point of arrival in the translating process. This thesis takes the notion of source as a starting point and observes what happens when one introduces a variation in the early stages of the process. Specifically, it argues that by modifying the perception of the source, i.e. the way one sees and consider the source, the resulting translation changes as well. By "perception" one wants to stress that the source in question is a constant and does not actually change; what varies is the way one conceives of it. The framework chosen to verify this hypothesis is the translation of orality into different media, i. e. paper, magnetic, electronic or digital media. Translation is here not merely intended as the act of transferring material from one language into another, but has been expanded to include the intralingual passage from oral to a different form. The source is examined from two different perspectives. One, located in 19th century England and Italy, identifies the source of orality in a collective entity, called "folk" in England and "popolo" in Italy. The other perspective, taking place in current times and drawing inspiration from performance-oriented approaches to orality, focuses on individuals and their personal performances. Taking into account linguistic, historical, political, social and economic factors, the thesis argues that these two perspectives have affected the translations of oral material, giving space alternatively to the voice of a collectivity or that of an individual. Translating orality thus emerges as a process influenced by the attitude of translators, whose "perceptions" underscore their decision-making role.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:524436
Date January 2006
CreatorsDal Brun, Ilaria
PublisherUniversity of Warwick
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2436/

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