Discourse approach to conveying modality in translation

Abstract

This paper highlights a brief theoretical and methodological investigation of the most widespread specific features of Translation Studies touching the development of the discourse approach in adequate conveying of modality in translation. The category of modality is examined from the point of view of an interdisciplinary approach that combines results obtained in logic, and traditional linguistics. Modality, originating in the logical philosophical tradition, is one of the most important characteristics of the utterance. It reflects cognitive activity of a person, thus expressing the connections of the objective world. As a functional-semantic category, it contains a number of evaluative means characterizing the attitude of a statement to reality, its objective significance, and the means that characterize the attitude of a speaker to the statement, which reflects its subjective side. Further studies can help to fully attain substantial progress in the analysis of the multimodal systemic functional approach to investigating the variability of expressing the means of modality in translation which may be another step towards a fuller understanding of the nature of this still poorly investigated sphere of translation. This rather interdisciplinary analysis is anchored in Hallidayan systemic functional grammar where "a text is the product of ongoing selection in a very large network of systems – a system network". Thus, a text is analyzed from the point of view of creativity and expression of various modal meanings.

Keywords

• translation theory
• translation approach
• translation methods
• category of modality
• discourse parameters