Conceptualisation of transfer and translation in modern linguistics

Abstract

This paper studies the vision of translation developed within structuralism, cross-cultural studies, and semiotics and compares them with the theory of cultural transfers. The authors identify key notions of each theory or school. Some of these notions — code, opposition, discretion, and border — permeate the scientific vocabulary of many linguistic schools. However, these terms easily acquire new meanings and interpretations in research works. The continuity of communication space is key to semiotic and cultural transfer approaches. The paper shows how scholars conceptualise translation and how the concept of translation transforms. The differences between the above-mentioned schools relate to the way translation is perceived; they also show which cognitive operations or procedures each linguistic paradigm identifies as priority ones. The understanding of translation corresponds to different cognitive operations — shared knowledge is important for structuralism, perspectivisation is relevant to cross-cultural studies, and blending is crucial for cultural transfer studies.

Keywords

• translation
• transfer
• cognitive operations
• communication