Discourse in Translation

This book explores the discourse in and of translation within and across
cultures and languages. From the macro aspects of translation as an inter-
cultural project to actual analysis of textual ingredients that contribute to
translation and interpreting as discourse, the ten chapters represent differ-
ent interrogations of ‘global’ theories of discourse and translation. Offering
interrogations of theories and practices within different sociocultural envir-
onments and traditions (Eastern and Western), Discourse in Translation
considers a plethora of domains, including historiography, ethics, technical
and legal discourse, subtitling, and the politics of media translation as
representation. This is key reading for all those working on translation and
discourse within translation studies and linguistics.

Said Faiq, FRSA, is professor of intercultural studies and translation at the

American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

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9781138298163_pi-216.indd ii 05-Oct-18 2:10:20 PM
 Discourse in Translation

Edited by Said Faiq

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 First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Said Faiq; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-29816-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-09879-1 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Out of House Publishing

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 T h i s vo lu me is d ed ica t ed t o Basil Hatim

A Fe st sc hr ift

Professor Basil Hatim, a gentleman and an internationally renowned scholar

and teacher. His model/theory of discourse/text and translation has influ-
enced generations of students around the globe in their exploration of the
intricacies of intercultural communication (a quick Google Scholar search
shows his prolific contributions to and standing in academia).
Basil Hatim completed his undergraduate studies at the University of
Baghdad in 1968, then moved to Abha in Saudi Arabia, where he taught
English for the Ministry of Education. In 1971, he headed for the UK,
where he did a postgraduate diploma in teaching English as a second lan-
guage (TESL) at University College of North Wales Bangor. This was fol-
lowed by a move to Lebanon, where he taught English while doing his MA
at the American University of Beirut (AUB). This was interrupted by a one-
year fellowship at the Atlantic College in South Wales, doing research in
applied linguistics and helping to pioneer the now-renowned International
Baccalaureate (IB). Then he returned to Lebanon, where he obtained his MA
in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) from AUB in 1976, leav-
ing immediately afterwards for Libya, where he helped to found the English
department at the newly established Institute of Petroleum in Tripoli. He left
in 1978 for the UK and Exeter University where, under the supervision of
Reinhard Hartmann, he completed his PhD in applied linguistics. In 1981,
he joined Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, helping to establish both the
MA programme in Translation and Interpreting and the doctoral programme
in Translation and Linguistics. In 1999, he left for the American University
of Sharjah, where he still is and has established and developed a prestigious
master’s programme in English/Arabic Translation and Interpreting.

What the contributors say about Basil Hatim

We came from two different worlds, but when Basil and I first met many years
ago at a translation conference, we established a rather large ‘middle space’ of
agreement based on our common views regarding the nature of ‘translation’
and its practice. We thus established a collegial bond of friendship and mutual
respect that has continued to the present day. I am most pleased, therefore, to

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 cooperate together with others in paying this well-deserved verbal tribute to
a prolific and groundbreaking scholar who has influenced us all in so many
ways. Ernst Wendland

It is a very difficult task you ask me here! Actually, I do not know Basil very
well. I have always enjoyed our meetings and, if I try to summarize the rea-
sons that lie behind this pleasure, I think that it is because he combines all the
qualities one wishes to find in every colleague (and yet seldom finds!): schol-
arship and scientific rigour, wit and humour, civility and humility, and a won-
derful ability at listening and building up a conversation. Richard Jacquemond

Basil Hatim is one of the pioneers of the study of translation and discourse.
His early publications were an inspiration to me in my own work as a new
researcher in the emerging field of discourse-based interpreting studies.
There are only a few academic authors whose work is consistently insightful,
engaging, and totally logical – Basil is one of them. Sandra Hale

Professor Hatim’s books were significant to me. They led me into the world
of translation in a linguistic perspective by delineating the ways of incorp-
orating, in particular, Systemic Functional Linguistics into translation in a
systematic and in-depth manner. Hui Wang

Honorific titles such as ‘Master’ or ‘First Teacher’ are often reserved for the
scholarly luminaries of the past, and it is rare to find a figure among contem-
poraneous colleagues who deserves such praise. However, in the case of Basil
Hatim, such laudatory epithets would not be out of place, given his field-
defining contributions to the theoretical and methodological frameworks of
translation studies. Indeed, there is no one who currently works in this field
except that they are deeply indebted to him. Gavin Picken

Professor Basil Hatim stands as a true pioneer in the approach that will prove
to be the key to translation studies in years to come: the centrality of language
and linguistics – being texts that translators translate – and the efficiency of
discourse-analysis tools to shed light on how translators construct reality
across cultures. Ovidi Carbonell i Cortés

I first worked with Basil Hatim at Heriot-Watt University in 1986. As well as

being an inspirational teacher, Basil was a pioneer of the textual approach to
translation studies and has for decades been one of the leading figures in the
discipline. James Dickins

Professor Basil Hatim is a well-known scholar who has left indelible marks
in applied linguistics in general and in translation studies in particular. His
contributions have significantly influenced the state of art in these two fields.

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 His work is a necessary read for every researcher/student in the field. It is
really a source of pride for me to have known Professor Hatim since 1989.
Mohammed Farghal

A scholar and a gentleman whose ideas have been transmitted far and wide,
particularly in the Arabic interpreting translation programmes in Australia.
Muhammad Y Gamal

Well-known in translation studies, discourse analysis, and theories of trans-

lation, Basil Hatim is a scholar who devoted his life to filling a gap in the
translation literature regionally and internationally through his unique con-
tribution by writing vital, accessible, and inviting books in such areas of
research. Rajai Al-Khanji

I have known Basil Hatim for over three decades. A  teacher, a mentor, a
friend, a colleague, Basil Hatim is a rare human being. Generations of applied
linguists have been affected by his model of discourse/communication ana-
lysis; even those who do not agree with it have found themselves revising their
‘cherished’ concepts, models, and theories. A towering figure in discourse/text
and translation studies as applied semiotics. Said Faiq

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 Contents

Acknowledgements xi
Notes on contributors xii
Foreword: Pragmatics on the hoof! Relevance as
effort and reward xvii
Basil Hatim

Introduction: Translation as D-discourse 1
Said Faiq

1 Translating ‘translation’: What do translators ‘translate’? 8

Ernst Wendland

2 Theory and practice in the French discourse of translation 31

Richard Jacquemond

3 Specialist legal interpreters for a fairer justice system 47

Sandra Hale

4 Investigating mediation in translation 67

Hui Wang

5 Translation as the instigator of a new Arabic discourse in

Islamic intellectual history 91
Gavin N. Picken

6 A toolbox for critical translation analysis in specialized

discourse (English/Spanish) 110
Ovidi Carbonell Cortés

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 x Contents

7 Types of connotative meaning, and their significance for

translation 135
James Dickins

8 A case study of modality in legal translation: The Omani

constitution 163
Mohammed Farghal

9 The translation of film titles in the Egyptian film industry 184

Muhammad Y. Gamal

10 Strategic media misrepresentation and the Arab–Israeli

conflict 200
Rajai Al- Khanji

Index 217

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 Acknowledgements

My most sincere thanks and gratitude to the contributors.

Special thanks go to Ernst Wendland, David Wilmsen, Mohammed
Farghal, Muhammed Ayish, and Michael Springer for their valuable com-
ments and insights.
I am particularly grateful to Louisa Semlyen, Laura Sandford, and Hannah
Rowe of Routledge, for their superb editorial handling of this project.

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