Translation-oriented text

analysis
Christiane Nord

Text Analysis in Translation

(1988/91)
Translating as a Purposeful
Activity (1997)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo

 Two basic types
of translation product

DOCUMENTARY TRANSLATION

It serves as a document of a source culture

communication between the author and
the source text (ST) recipient
e.g., literary translation, word-for-word or
literal translations (business contracts,
certificates) foreignizing or exoticizing
translations, etc.

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo

 INSTRUMENTAL TRANSLATION

It serves as an independent message-transmitting

instrument in a new communicative action in the
target culture, and is intended to fulfil its
communicative purpose without the recipient
being conscious of reading or hearing a text
which, in a different form, was used before in a
different communicative situation.
e.g., function-preserving translations (software
manual) or function-changing translations
(translation of Swifts Gullivers Travels for
children

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo

 Nord highlights 3 important
aspects:
1. the importance of the translation
commission (or translation brief)
(cf. Holz-Mnttri, Vermeer)
2. the importance of text analysis
3. the functional hierarchy or
translation problems

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo

 1. The translation
commission

The translator (T) must always

keep in mind the clients
request/guidelines etc. T must
compare the ST and TT profiles
as defined in the commission
and see where they may be
different.
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo
The translation commission should
specify (for both ST and TT) (these
factors are external in relation to the
text)
Intended text functions
Sender
Recipient
Time and place of text reception
Medium (oral / written)
Motive (why the ST was written and
why it is being translated)
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo
 2. TEXT ANALYSIS
Nords list of intratextual factors is a possible
model for analysing the ST.
Subject matter (tema)
Content (contedo)
Presuppositions (pressupostos): real-world
factors of the communicative situation
presumed to be known to the participants
Composition (estrutura)
Non-verbal elements (illustrations, italics)
(aspectos no-verbais)
Lexic (incl. register, specific terminology) (lxico)
Sentence structure (sintaxe)

FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo

 3. The functional hierarchy of
translation problems
When undertaking a translation, it is
important to establish a functional
hierarchy.
1. Decide intended function of translation
(documentary or instrumental)
2. Determine elements that will need to be
adapted to the TT addressees situation
(after analysis of trans.commission)
3. Decide translation style (SC or TC
oriented) based on translation type
4. Deal with problems presented by text at
lower linguistic level (as in ST analysis)
FLUP - Elena Zagar Galvo