Paratexts

Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar
Boğaziçi University
Table of contents

The analysis of verbal and visual material surrounding and presenting published translations is increasingly becoming integrated into empirical research on translated texts. These materials which lie at the threshold of translations are referred to as ‘paratexts’, a term initially conceived to cover presentational elements of works in the literary field, including, but not limited to, translations. Typical examples of paratexts include titles and subtitles, pseudonyms, forewords, dedications, epigraphs, prefaces, intertitles, notes, epilogues, and afterwords (Macksey 1997: xviii) which all constitute devices and conventions, both within a book and outside it, which mediate the work to the reader. The term ‘paratext’ was elaborated by Gerard Genette in his book Seuils (1987) translated into English as Paratexts: The Thresholds of Interpretation (Genette 1997) and has rapidly caught the attention of translation scholars who wish to focus on elements that bridge translated texts with their readers and therefore shape their reception in a major way.

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References

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