Third Space of Legal Translation: Between Protean Meanings, Legal Cultures and Communication Stratification

Abstract

AbstractLegal translation is a complex transfer of the text formulated in a source language into a target language which needs to take into account a wide array of factors to ensure the equality of parties to the process of interlingual communication. It is an autonomous realm of cross-cultural events within which the system-bound of legal concepts/notions deeply rooted in language, history and societal evolution of one country are transformed and integrated into the language of another, and as a result, stratified over the course of time (Mattila in Comparative legal linguistics, Routledge, Aldershot, 2006). That aspect of legal translation is called the Third Space (Bhabha in: Ashcroft B, Griffiths G, Tiffin H (eds) The post-colonial studies readers. Routledge New York, pp 206–209, 1995). The authors investigate some aspects of the Third Space including (1) Protean meanings and diverging legal cultures which are constantly remodeled, (2) cultural codes, and communication stereotypes as well as (3) communication problems stemming from stratification of communication in legal settings. The research methods applied include the semiotic analysis of legal translation strategies and potential loss of meaning.