Indirect translation and discursive identity: Proposing the concatenation effect hypothesis

ABSTRACT

This article posits the hypothesis that indirect translations are predisposed to limit both their acknowledgement of their cultural alterity, and the inclusion of elements particular to the source culture. Basing its argument on the discursive identity spectrum proposed by Clem Robyns, this article argues that the likelihood of such cultural specificities being omitted or replaced is extremely high in indirect translations, as a result of a phenomenon termed the “concatenation effect”. The article synthesizes the discursive identity spectrum with a meta-analysis approach, focusing on literary examples taken from a variety of cultural contexts, in order to illustrate the generalized nature of its hypothesis. This hypothesis offers a new framework for the analysis of indirect translations, nuanced beyond traditional dualities, and observable among multiple translating cultures.

KEYWORDS:

• Discursive identity
• meta-analysis
• concatenation effect
• context-neutrality

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Motoko Akashi for reading and commenting on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

James Hadley is Ussher Assistant Professor in Literary Translation at the Trinity Centre for Literary Translation and the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultural Studies at Trinity College Dublin. He researches and teaches translation theory, with a focus on East Asian contexts.

ORCID

James Hadley http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1950-2679

Notes

1. My translation.

2. My translation.