More about induced discourse
Induced discourse is a specialized clichéd variety of communication between people, who can
actually be strangers to each other, but have to talk observing the communication norms of a
society. Total depriving of personal issue makes speakers behave in accordance with their socially
attributed roles, like mannequins or actors.
But still there is an invisible boundary, intuitively felt, beyond which the communicators cannot
step for the fear of distortion the very idea of the social institution.
What does it mean for the translator?
Discourse is a regulated social practice, culturally and historically determined.
It is diachronically variable and reflects the level of democracy, social values, stratification
of the society of a speaking community.
The regulatory potential of the discourse varies intra- and interculturally.
The translator faces a dilemma: either to retain the specificity of the discourse of ST, or to
adjust the TT to the norms of TL. Here lies the biggest challenge for the translator
(одомашнення / доместикація; очуження / форенізація перекладу).
Domestication and foreignization are strategies in translation, regarding the degree to which
translators make a text conform to the target culture. Domestication brings the writer to the
reader, but Foreignization takes the reader to the writer. Domestication designates the type of
translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign
text for target language readers; while foreignization means a target text is produced which
deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original.
Whether a text should be domesticated or foreignized largely depends on the purpose of the
text. Domestication removes any challenges or violated conventions and does not remind the reader
that they are reading a translation. In lieu of forcing the reader to deal with unfamiliar conventions
and concepts, the text is made more fluent and familiar for the reader. By foreignizing a text, the
reader is forced into a new environment that challenges the literary tradition.
The benefit of domesticating is that changing an object to a more familiar object, could aid the
reader in understanding the text and increase how they are affected. For example, instead of
characters playing “Xiangqi” which is a Chinese strategy game, they could play Chess which is also
a strategy game but is more familiar to western audiences. If a reader cannot identify with any of
the features in a text, they could feel isolated.
Foreignizing can cause a lot of affect but it has a higher chance of creating negative affect, and it is
less likely to leave the reader completely unaffected. It could be used as a shock stratagem. By
using foreign conventions, the reader is forced outside of their comfort zone and it could be used to
reinforce the idea that they are reading a translated text. For example, a foreign language could be
introduced into a paragraph with the purpose of confusing the audience.
Through the combined use of Foreignization and Domestication which can be used in parallel and
complement each other, a comprehensible text can be achieved. Foreignization maybe the most
empowering for a translator as it allows them to permeate the target text most thoroughly; however,
Domestication often has more effect on the reader and the translator facilitates the process towards
fluency and naturalness.
