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Probabilistic explanations in translation studies Welcome as they are, would they qualify as universals?* Gideon Toury Tel Aviv University Part of the meaning of a [. . .] system is the relative probability of its terms. (Halliday 1991a:48) There is no doubt a vast array of factors which have the capacity to influence the selection of a particular translational behavior or its avoidance. Although we have no real list, it is clear that this array is heterogeneous in its very nature: some of the variables are cognitive, others cross-linguistic or socio-cultural, and there are no doubt more. Due to this vastness and heterogeneity, there can be no deterministic explanation in <strong>Translation</strong> Studies. First of all, there seem to be no single factor which cannot be enhanced, mitigated, maybe even offset by the presence of another. Secondly, the different variables are present (and active) all at once rather than one by one, so that there are always several factors interacting, and hence influencing each other as well as the selected behavior. In an attempt to escape the trap of deterministic reasoning I suggested a different format of explanation; namely, a conditioned, and hence probabilistic one, and defined the ultimate aim of TS as moving gradually, and in a controlled way, towards an empirically-justified theory which would consist in a system of interconnected, even interdependent probabilistic statements. The present paper will return to all these issues with the intention of asking whether, welcome as they certainly are, such explanations qualify as “universals of translational behavior” and, if not, whether there are any other candidates for universal-ship.
16 Gideon Toury 1. Introduction Even though a deliberate search for regularities has long been recognized as an inherent feature of the endeavor of science, the quest for universals is anything but common practice among translation scholars. In fact, it is almost the other way around: there have been, there are, and there will probably always be many who would value differences over similarities any time. Some would even declare not mere lack of interest in, but even hostility towards the very idea of searching for recurrent patterns, purporting as they do to show what is unique to whatever they set their heart on, at a particular moment. It is not difficult to sympathize with them either. After all, we have all been in their shoes once. At the same time, I cannot but wonder how those who subscribe to such a position think they are ever going to know what is truly unique (and I do not doubt it that, although some instances of translation are certainly less unique than others, there is a measure of uniqueness in all of them) unless they have at least some idea of what their immediate object of study shares with other possible objects. Or is there anyone who would still maintain that translation is erratic in its nature, so that shared features, if and when encountered, represent a mere accident? – Because, sooner or later, shared features, at one level or another, are bound to emerge. True, the first cases one studies often seem fraught with revelations. At times, almost everything may look like a genuine discovery. However, this is just an optical aberration, the reflection of a beginner’s lack of previous experience, not to say naïveté. Thus, as one increases one’s knowledge, or expands the field one takes into account, certain phenomena start repeating themselves and gradually become more predictable than others. Any further expansion of the object of study, especially if it is done systematically (i.e. on the basis of an explicit criterion, or set of criteria, which also lend themselves to control), would contribute towards undermining the (evidently erroneous) first impression of uniqueness, until it is finally reversed. Unfortunately, by that time, many would have stopped doing active research in translation or left academia altogether, surrendering the field to (inevitably naïve) newcomers. The latter would go through the same initiation process again, albeit (probably) at a somewhat quicker pace, due to some permanent impressions left in the field by previous generations of scholars. Those few who would stay with us, on the other hand, will no longer experience too many surprises. For them, almost everything, certainly everything of essence, will have become highly predictable. Be the balance between the two positions among translation scholars as it may, I wish to proceed from a naïve assumption myself; namely, that all
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Page 4 and 5: Translation Universals Do they exis
Page 6 and 7: Table of contents Introduction 1 I.
Page 8 and 9: Introduction The search for univers
Page 10 and 11: Introduction 3 the main methodologi
Page 12 and 13: Introduction 5 tious corpus would w
Page 14 and 15: Introduction 7 of several frequent
Page 16 and 17: Introduction 9 For many, the term u
Page 18: Introduction 11 Toury, Gideon (1991
Page 24 and 25: Probabilistic explanations in trans
Page 40 and 41: Beyond the particular* Andrew Chest
Page 42 and 43: Beyond the particular 35 6. A trans
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Page 46 and 47: Beyond the particular 39 Contributi
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Page 56: Beyond the particular 49 Schulte, R
Page 59 and 60: 52 Silvia Bernardini and Federico Z
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Corpora, universals and interferenc
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Untypical frequencies in translated
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102 Jarmo Harri Jantunen Mauranen (
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104 Jarmo Harri Jantunen 2.2 Lexica
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106 Jarmo Harri Jantunen eighth day
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108 Jarmo Harri Jantunen second pha
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110 Jarmo Harri Jantunen Figure 2.
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112 Jarmo Harri Jantunen synonymous
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114 Jarmo Harri Jantunen items comp
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116 Jarmo Harri Jantunen Table 4. T
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118 Jarmo Harri Jantunen translatio
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120 Jarmo Harri Jantunen Table 7. T
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122 Jarmo Harri Jantunen However, t
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124 Jarmo Harri Jantunen 13. The bo
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126 Jarmo Harri Jantunen Mauranen,
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Translation-specific lexicogrammar?
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144 Vilma Pápai It is in the last
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146 Vilma Pápai Table 1. Summary o
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148 Vilma Pápai (Sinclair 1991:13-
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150 Vilma Pápai Table 2. Summary o
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152 Vilma Pápai 4.1.2 Shifts on th
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154 Vilma Pápai part of speech and
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156 Vilma Pápai his former prison
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158 Vilma Pápai Table 4. Frequency
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160 Vilma Pápai In addition, consi
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162 Vilma Pápai PA Porter, A. 1997
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164 Vilma Pápai Ishikawa, Luli (19
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166 Tiina Puurtinen (1996) and Bake
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168 Tiina Puurtinen (1) Hän katsoi
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170 Tiina Puurtinen conditional: jo
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172 Tiina Puurtinen Table 2. Occurr
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174 Tiina Puurtinen (5) Lisko voisi
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176 Tiina Puurtinen Mauranen, Anna
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178 Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit equivale
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180 Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit Table 1.
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182 Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit do not t
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184 Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit Östman,
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What happens to “unique items”
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“Unique items” in learners’ t
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The fate of “The Families of Mede
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Thefateof“TheFamiliesofMedellín
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Author index A Adab 1 Aijmer 131 Al
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Author index 217 Schäffner 1, 38,
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220 Subject index G generalization
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In the BENJAMINS TRANSLATION LIBRAR
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47. SAWYER, David B.: Fundamental A
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