From the outset, this book has evoked strong responses. Its central claim is that given a comprehensive theory of inferential communication, there is no need for a special theory of translation. This has been praised by some as "wise and right" (Dell Hymes) and condemned by others as "astonishing, not to say perverse" (Kirsten Malmkjaer). Gutt's call to move from semiotics to an inferential paradigm of communication remains a challenge for many. The debate continues and so does the demand for the book, resulting in this second edition. There is a 'Postscript' entitled 'A decade later', where the author addresses peer criticism, especially from those involved in the movement of 'translation studies', and attempts to bring out more clearly the unique mandate of translation. New perspectives, such as authenticity, are also introduced. Marginal notes, some tongue-in-cheek, liven up the discussion and new references ensure its currency.

This book illustrates the potential of Relevance Theory (RT) in offering a cognitive-pragmatic, cause-effect account of translation and interpreting (T&I), one which more closely engages T&I activity with the mental processes of speakers, listeners, writers, and readers during communicative acts. The volume provides an overview of the cognitive approach to communication taken by RT, with a particular focus on the distinction between explicit and implicit content and the relationship between thoughts and utterances. The book begins by outlining key concepts and theory in RT pragmatics and charting the development of their disciplinary relationship with work from T&I studies. Chapters draw on practical examples from a wide range of T&I contexts, including news media, scientific materials, literary translation, audiovisual translation, conference interpreting, and legal interpreting. The book also explores the myriad applications of RT pragmatics-inspired work and future implications for translation and interpreting research. This volume will be of interest to scholars in T&I studies and pragmatics.

Simultaneous interpretation is among the most complex of human cognitive/linguistic activities. This study, which will interest practitioners and trainers as well as linguists, draws more on linguistics-based theories of cognition in communication (cognitive semantics and pragmatics) than on the traditional information-processing approaches of cognitive psychology, and shows SI to be a valuable source of data on language and cognition.Starting from semantic representations of input and output in samples of professional SI from Chinese and German into English, the analysis explains the classic phenomena – anticipation, restoration of the implicit-explicit balance, and communicative re-packaging (‘re-ostension’) of the discourse – in terms of an intermediate cognitive model in working memory, allowing a more unitary view of resource management in the SI task. Relevance-theoretic analysis of the input discourse reveals rich pragmatic information guiding the construction of the appropriate contexts and the speaker’s underlying intentionalities. The course of meaning assembly is reconstructed in annotated synchronised transcripts.

The first truly multidisciplinary text of its kind, this book offers an original analysis of the current state of linguistic pragmatics. Cummings argues that no study of pragmatics can reasonably neglect the historical and contemporary influences on this discipline of neighboring fields of inquiry, particularly philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, and language pathology. By the same token, these fields can begin to address their own questions more productively by examining the insights of pragmatics. The book's range of topics and depth of analysis will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and more specialized readers in linguistics, communication studies, speech and language therapy, and cognitive science. Topics discussed include: *coverage of pragmatic concepts and theories; *criticisms of Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory, Habermas's theory of communicative competence, and Kasher's views on the modularity of pragmatics; *pragmatic deficits in a range of child and adult language disorders; and *a pragmatic analysis of argumentation in topical issues such as AIDS and BSE theories of meaning, inferences, pragmatics and AI.

The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Pragmatics provides an overview of key concepts and theory in pragmatics, charts developments in the disciplinary relationship between translation studies and pragmatics, and showcases applications of pragmatics-inspired research in a wide range of translation, spoken and signed language interpreting activities. Bringing together 22 authoritative chapters by leading scholars, this reference work is divided into three sections: Influences and Intersections, Methodological Issues, and Applications. Contributions focus on features of linguistic pragmatics and their analysis in authentic and experimental data relating to a wide range of translation and interpreting activities, including: news, scientific, literary and audiovisual translation, translation in online social media, healthcare interpreting and audio description for the theatre. It also encompasses contributions on issues beyond the level of the text that include the study of interpersonal relationships in practitioner networks and the development of pragmatic competence in interpreter training. Each chapter includes many practical illustrative examples and a list of recommended reading. Fundamental reading for students and academics in translation and interpreting studies, this is also an essential resource for those working in the related fields of linguistics, communication and intercultural studies.

Poetic Effects: A Relevance Theory Perspective offers a pragmatic account of the effects achieved by the poetic use of rhetorical tropes and schemes. It contributes to the pragmatics of poetic style by developing work on stylistic effects in relevance theory. It also contributes to literary studies by proposing a new theoretical account of literariness in terms of mental representations and mental processes. The book attempts to define literariness in terms of text-internal linguistic properties, cultural codes or special purpose reading strategies, as well as suggestions that the notion of literariness should be dissolved or rejected. It challenges the accounts of language and verbal communication that underpin such positions and outlines the theory of verbal communication developed within relevance theory that supports an explanatory account of poetic effects and a new account of literariness. This is followed by a broader discussion of philosophical and psychological issues having a bearing on the question of what is expressed non-propositionally in literary communication. The discussion of emotion, qualitative experience and, more specifically, aesthetic experience provides a fuller characterisation of poetic effects and 'poetic thought'.

This volume contains selected papers from the 4th Language International Conference on 'Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Building Bridges' which was held in Shanghai in December 1998. The collection is an excellent source of ideas and information for teachers and students alike. With contributions from five continents, the topics discussed cover a wide range, including the relevance of translation theories, cultural and technical knowledge acquisition, literary translation, translation and interpreting for the media, Internet-related training methods, and tools for student assessment. While complementing the volumes of the previous three conferences in exploring new methods and frontiers, this collection is particularly strong on case studies outside of the European and Anglo-American spheres.

The collection of papers discusses various applications of Relevance Theory within several areas of pragmatics and discourse analysis. It covers an array of topics, including the treatment of figurative language, pragmatic markers and lexical pragmatics within Relevance Theory. It also discusses relevance-theoretic analyses of special kinds of discourse, such as discourse emerging from the internet or from psychotherapeutic sessions. The volume will primarily interest relevance theorists and scholars working on the subjects addressed by particular chapters.

This collection of papers arises from a meeting of relevance theorists held in Osaka, May 29-30, 1993. Speakers at the conference included both of the originators of the theory, Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson, the editors of this volume and several other Japanese linguists and pragmatists, all of whose work is included. The full breadth and richness of relevance theory is represented here, both in its applications to problems of utterance interpretation, that fall squarely within the domain of pragmatics, and its implications for linguistic semantics. Several papers investigate and assess the theory’s account of figurative uses of language, such as irony, metaphor and metonymy. Other central pragmatic issues include a relevance-driven account of generalized implicature, the role of bridging implicatures in reference assignment, the way in which different intonation patterns contribute to the relevance of an utterance and the application of the theory to literary texts. The recently developed semantic distinction between conceptually and procedurally encoded meaning, motivated by relevance-theoretic considerations, is employed in new accounts of several Japanese particles and in a fresh perspective on the phenomenon of metalinguistic negation. The volume comes with a comprehensive glossary of relevance-theoretic terms.

Originating at an international forum held at the University of Vic (Spain), the twelve essays collected here attest to important changes in translation practice and the assumptions which underpin them. Leading theorists respond to the state of Translation Studies today, particularly the epistemological dilemma between theories that are empirically oriented and those that are inspired by developments in Cultural Studies. But the volume is also practical. Experienced instructors survey existing pedagogies at translator/interpreter training programs and explore new techniques that address the technological and global challenges of the new millennium. Among the topics considered are: how to use translation technology in the classroom, how to construct a syllabus for a course in audiovisual translating or in translation theory, and how to develop guidelines for a program for community interpreters or conference interpreters. The contributors all assume that translation, whether written or oral, does not occupy a neutral space. It is a cross-cultural exchange that produces far-reaching social effects. Their essays significantly advance the theoretical and practical understanding of translation along these lines.