Article published In:
TargetVol. 7:2 (1995) ► pp.261–284
Text-Functions in Translation
Titles and Headings as a Case in Point
As a text-type in their own right, titles and headings are intended to achieve six functions: distinctive, metatextual, phatic, referential, expressive, and appellative. Taking as a point of departure the hypothesis that translated texts have to "function" in the target situation for which they are produced by serving the purpose(s) they are intended for (which may or may not be the "same" as those of the source text), it is argued that the translator has to reconcile the conditions of functionality prevailing in the target culture with the communicative intentions of the source-title sender (= functionality + loyalty). The discussion of several examples from an extensive corpus of German, French, English, and Spanish titles and their translations shows how this methodological approach can be put into practice, establishing a model for the functional translation of other texts and text-types.
Article outline
- 0.Introduction
- 1.A Recipient-Oriented Concept of Text Function
- 2.Functional Hierarchy in Titles and Headings
- 3.Functions in Title Translation
- 3.0.General Considerations
- 3.1. Titles Identify: The Distinctive Function in Title Translation
- 3.2. Titles Present Texts: The Metatextual Function in Title Translation
- 3.3. Titles Make Contact: The Phatic Function in Title Translation
- 3.4. Titles Carry Information: The Referential Function in Title Translation
- 3.5. Titles Convey Opinions: The Expressive Function in Title Translation
- 3.6. Titles Appeal: The Appellative Function in Title Translation
- 4.Concluding Remarks
- Notes
-
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