Fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation: A cognitive perspective

Haidee Kruger
Macquarie University / North-West University

Abstract

This paper argues for the addition of a cognitive perspective to the concepts of fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation. Given the disjunctions between the ontological levels (and analytical levels of specificity) implied in these concepts (cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural), the paper first sets out an argument for how these ontologies are related, demonstrating how cognitive processing, and specifically cognitive effort for both translators and readers, form a second-level constituent of both these sets of concepts, by drawing on usage-based theories of language. From within this conceptual frame, the paper turns its attention to an empirical investigation. The study demonstrates how a combination of product and process methods may be utilised to explore the cognitive effort involved in domesticating and foreignising choices. The findings of the study are used to formulate some suggestions regarding how investigations of cognitive effort in translation may contribute to an understanding of fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation in diverse contexts.

Keywords:
Table of contents

Both House (2013) and Tymoczko (2012) have made proposals for micro-level cognitive approaches to translation to be integrated with approaches to translation that focus on translation as cultural and social phenomenon, at the macro-level. This paper takes up the challenge by investigating this possibility of integrating different ontologies of translation from both a conceptual and empirical point of view, based on the assumption that empirical data, concept formation and theoretical development are closely interwoven. It specifically argues for the addition of a cognitive perspective to the concepts of fluency/resistancy, and domestication/foreignisation. Given the disjunctions between the ontological levels (and analytical levels of specificity) implied in these concepts (cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural), the paper first sets out an argument for how these ontologies are related, at disciplinary, theoretical and conceptual levels. It then narrows the focus to the concept level, focusing on the relationship between the basic, constituent and data levels in the concepts fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation, demonstrating how cognitive processing, and specifically cognitive effort, form second-level constituents of both these sets of concepts. In this, the argument draws on usage-based theories of language (specifically focusing on lexical and collocational priming) that argue that individual, psycholinguistic processing, and social forces combine in how language is used, and how it changes over time. Having established a conceptual frame of reference, the paper then turns its attention to the empirical investigation of the concepts fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation. It reports on a small study investigating one particular dimension where domesticating and foreignising choices drawing on fluent and resistant features of the target language may be effected — lexical items that metonymically evoke culture. The study illustrates how a combination of text analysis, process data and prompted retrospective verbalisation may be utilised to explore the cognitive processing and effort involved in these choices. The findings of the study are used to formulate a number of provisional hypotheses regarding how investigations of cognitive processing in translation may contribute to an understanding of fluency/resistancy and domestication/foreignisation in translation in diverse contexts.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Angelone, Erik
2010 “Uncertainty, Uncertainty Management and Metacognitive Problem Solving in the Translation Task.” In Shreve and Angelone 2010, 17–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernardini, Silvia
2001 “Think-aloud Protocols in Translation Research: Achievements, Limits, Future Prospects.Target 13 (2): 241–263. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan
2006Frequency of Use and the Organisation of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2010Language, Usage and Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Stuart
2000 “Choice Network Analysis in Translation Research.” In Intercultural Faultlines: Research Models in Translation Studies I — Textual and Cognitive Aspects, ed. by Maeve Olohan, 29–42. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew, and Emma Wagner
2002Can Theory Help Translators? A Dialogue between the Ivory Tower and the Wordface. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Croft, William
2000Explaining Language Change: An Evolutionary Approach. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Danks, Joseph H., Gregory M. Shreve, Stephen B. Fountain, and Michael McBeath
eds. 1997Cognitive Processes in Translation and Interpreting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Delabastita, Dirk
2010 “Histories and Utopias: On Venuti’s The Translator’s Invisibility.The Translator 16 (1): 125–134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dragsted, Barbara
2012 “Indicators of Difficulty in Translation: Correlating Product and Process Data.Across Languages and Cultures 13 (1): 81–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fawcett, Peter
1995 “Translation and Power Play.The Translator 1 (2): 177–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fenk-Oczlon, Gertraud
2001 “Familiarity, Information Flow and Linguistic Form.” In Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure, ed. by Joan Bybee, and Paul Hopper, 431–448. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, Aline, and John W. Schwieter
eds. 2015Psycholinguistic and Cognitive Inquiries into Translation and Interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goertz, Gary
2005Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gutt, Ernst-August
2000Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Halverson, Sandra
2009 “Psycholinguistic and Cognitive Approaches.” In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, ed. by Mona Baker, and Gabriela Saldanha, 211–216. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2010 “Cognitive Translation Studies: Developments in Theory and Method.” In Shreve and Angelone 2010, 349–369. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heilbron, Johan
1999 “Towards a Sociology of Translation: Book Translations as a Cultural World System.European Journal of Social Theory 4 (2): 429–444.Google Scholar
Hoey, Michael
2005Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 “Lexical Priming and Translation.” In Corpus-based Translation Studies: Research and Applications, ed. by Alet Kruger, Kim Wallmach, and Jeremy Munday, 153–168. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Holmqvist, Kenneth, Marcus Nystrom, Richard Andersson, Richard Dewhurst, Halszka Jarodzka, and Joost van de Weijer
2011Eye Tracking: A Comprehensive Guide to Methods and Measures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
House, Juliane
2011 “Using Translation and Parallel Text Corpora to Investigate the Influence of Global English on Textual Norms in Other Languages.” In Corpus-based Translation Studies: Research and Applications, ed. by Alet Kruger, Kim Wallmach, and Jeremy Munday, 187–208. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
2013 “Towards a New Linguistic-Cognitive Orientation in Translation Studies.Target 25 (1): 46–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ibáñez, A. J., Pedro Macizo, and M. Teresa Bajo
2010 “Language Access and Language Selection in Professional Translators.Acta Psychologica 135: 257–266. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Just, Marcel Adam, and Patricia A. Carpenter
1980 “A Theory of Reading: From Eye Fixations to Comprehension.Psychological Review 87 (4): 329–354. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kool, Wouter, Joseph T. McGuire, Zev B. Rosen, and Matthew M. Botvinick
2010 “Decision Making and the Avoidance of Cognitive Demand.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 139 (4): 665–682. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kranich, Svenja, Viktor Becher, Steffen Höder, and Juliane House
2011Multilingual Discourse Production: Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruger, Haidee
2012Postcolonial Polysystems: The Production and Reception of Translated Children’s Literature in South Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 “Child and Adult Readers’ Processing of Foreignised Elements in Translated South African Picturebooks: An Eye-Tracking Study.Target 25 (2): 180–227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, Thomas S.
1996The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lang, Peter J.
1984 “Cognition in Emotion: Concept and Action.” In Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior, ed. by Carroll E. Izard, Jerome Kagan, and Robert B. Zajonc, 192–228. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo
2010 “Leave No Stone Unturned: On the Development of Cognitive Translatology.Translation and Interpreting Studies 5 (2): 145–162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
National Centre for Reading Education and Research (Stavanger University College)
2005ScriptLog, version 1.8.19. http://​www​.scriptlog​.net
O’Brien, Sharon
ed. 2011Cognitive Explorations of Translation. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
2013 “The Borrowers: Researching the Cognitive Aspects of Translation.Target 25 (1): 5–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pinheiro, José, Douglas Bates, Saikat DebRoy, Deepayan Sarkar, and R Core Team
2015 “nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R package version 3.1–122. http://​CRAN​.R​-project​.org​/package​=nlme.Google Scholar
R Core Team
2015R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://​www​.R​-project​.org/.Google Scholar
Rayner, Keith
1998 “Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research.Psychological Bulletin 124 (3): 372–422. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schaeffer, Moritz, and Michael Carl
2014 “Measuring the Cognitive Effort of Literal Translation Processes.” In Proceedings of the Workshop on Humans and Computer-assisted Translation (HaCaT), ed. by Ulrich Germann, Michael Carl, Philipp Koehn, Germán Sanchis-Trilles, Francisco Casacuberta, Robin Hill, and Sharon O’Brien, 29–37. Stroudsburg, PA: Association for Computational Linguistics.Google Scholar
Shreve, Gregory M., and Erik Angelone
eds. 2010Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snell-Hornby, Mary
2006The Turns of Translation Studies: New Paradigms or Shifting Viewpoints? Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, Robert J.
2009Cognitive Psychology. 5th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.Google Scholar
Taalkommissie van die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns
1991Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls. 8th ed. Cape Town: Tafelberg.Google Scholar
2002Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls. 9th ed. Cape Town: Pharos.Google Scholar
2009Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls. 10th ed. Cape Town: Pharos.Google Scholar
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja, Jukka Mäkisalo, and Sini Immonen
2008 “The Translation Process — Interplay Between Literal Rendering and a Search for Sense.Across Languages and Cultures 9 (1): 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja
2005 “The Monitor Model Revisited: Evidence from Process Research.Meta 50: 405–413. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toury, Gideon
2012Descriptive Translation Studies — and Beyond. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria
1999Translation in a Postcolonial Context: Early Irish Literature in English Translation. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
2012 “The Neuroscience of Translation.Target 24 (1): 83–102. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Varkel, Adrian
2006aLittle Lucky Lolo and the Cola Cup Competition. Illustrated by Jacki Lang and Daley Muller. Johannesburg: Giraffe Books.Google Scholar
2006bLittle Lucky Lolo en die Cola Cup-Kompetisie. Illustrated by Jacki Lang and Daley Muller, translated by Denise Diamond. Johannesburg: Giraffe Books.Google Scholar
Venuti, Lawrence
(1995) 2008The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.Google Scholar