In this paper I shall attempt three tasks. First, to give a brief account of the recent history of genre studies, leading to a definition of the notion. Secondly, to contextualise the notion of genre, that is, I shall see what it has in common with, or adds to, other related notions current in Discourse Analysis. Finally, I hope to show how genre study might be integrated into programmes of translator training.
The term 'genre' is best known in literary studies, where it denotes conventional formats of writing such as Novelle, conte, sonnet, haiku and so on (Fowler 1982). 'Genre' in the literary domain has long been a concern of translation theorists (Lefevere 1975). Now however it has begun to be used in two other more practical domains: in the fields of English for Science and Technology (EST) and English across the Curriculum (EAC). This paper will suggest that 'genre' in the newer, broader sense holds some promise for the systematisation of translation studies in the first instance, and for the consequent improvement of translation quality.
References
Alderson, J. Charles and Andrew H. Urquhart
eds.1984Reading in a Foreign Language. London: Longman.
Brown, Gillian and George Yule
1983Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: The University Press.
Bullock, Lord A.
1975A Language for Life. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Buzan, Tony
1974Use Your Head!London: BBC Publications.
Connor, Ulla and Robert B. Kaplan
eds.1987Writing across Languages: Analysis of L2 Text. Reading Massachussets: Addison Wesley.
de Beaugrande, R. and W. Dressier
1981An Introduction to Textlinguistics. London: Longman.
Dudley-Evans, Tony
1986 “Genre Analysis: An Investigation of the Introduction and Discussion Sections of MSc Dissertations”. Malcolm Coulthard, ed. Talking about Text. Birmingham University: English Language Research. 128–145.
[ p. 41 ]
Fowler, Alistair
1982Kinds of Literature: An Introduction to the Theory of Genres and Modes. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
Grabe, William
1987 “Contrastive Rhetoric and Text-Type Research”.
Connor and Kaplan 1987
. 115–137.
Hakuta, Kenji
1974 “Prefabricated Patterns and the Emergence of Structure in Second Language Learning”. Language Learning 24. 287–298.
Hatim, Basil
1984 “A Text-Typological Approach to Syllabus Design in Translator Training”. The Incorporated Linguist 23: 3. 146–149.
Hoey, M.
1983On the Surface of Discourse. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Roller, Werner
1981 “Textgattungen und Übersetzungsäquivalenz”. Wolfgang Kühl- wein, Gisela Thome and Wolfram Wilss, eds. Kontrastive Linguistik und Überset- zungswissenschaft. München: W. Fink. 272–279.
Lefevere, André
1975Translating Poetry: Seven Strategies and a Blueprint. Assen-Amsterdam: Van Gorcum.
Savory, Theodore
1958The Art of Translation. London: Cape.
Schank, Roger C. and Robert P. Abelson
1977Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding: An Inquiry to Human Knowledge Structures. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Swales, J.
1981Aspects of Article Introductions. Language Studies Unit, Aston University in Birmingham, England.
Swales, John
1985 “A Genre-Based Approach to Language across the Curriculum”. Paper delivered to 1985 RELC Conference, Singapore.
Tannen, Deborah
1984Coherence in Spoken and Written Discourse. New Jersey: Ablex Publishers.
Toury, Gideon
1982a “Transfer as a Universal of Verbal Performance of L2 Learners”. FINLANCE 2. 63–78.
Toury, Gideon
1982b “The Communication Situation and the Production of Interference Forms by L2 Learners”. Regional English Language Centre Journal (Singapore) 13:2. 62–77.
Widdowson, H.G.
1978Teaching Language As Communication. Oxford: The University Press.
Widdowson, H.G.
1983Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: The University Press.
Wilss, Wolfram
1982The Science of Translation: Problems and Methods. Tubingen: Gunter Narr.
Wood, Alistair S.
1982 “An Examination of the Rhetorical Structures of Authentic Chemistry Texts”. Applied Linguistics 3:2. 121–143.