Pragmatics in Translation

Abstract

This Element addresses translation issues within an interpersonal pragmatics frame. The aims of this Element are twofold: first, we survey the current state of the field of pragmatics in translation; second, we present the current and methodologically innovative avenues of research in the field. We focus on three pragmatics issues – relational work, participation structure, and mediality – that we foreground as promising loci of research on translational data. By reviewing the trajectory of pragmatics research on translation/interpreting over time, and then outlining our understanding of the Pragmatics in Translation as a field, we arrive at a set of potential research questions which represent desiderata for future research. These questions identify the paths that can be productively explored through synergies of the linguistic pragmatics framework and translation data. In two case study chapters, we offer two example studies addressing some of the questions we identified as suggestions for future research. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.