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(a) "the concept of translation equivalence is a broad,
flexible and changing (or at least changeable) one, and not
that narrow, fixed notion which is usually adopted by
(normative) theorists of translation.
(b) the main factor determining the identification of certain
relationships between TT (or TT units) and ST (or ST units)
- which are describable independently of such an
identification - as those of equivalence are the norms".
(ibid, p64)
Toury concludes that the extraction of basic principles underlying
a theory of equivalence can be accomplished by establishing and
scrutinizing the interrelationships between the existing heterogeneous
corpora of TTs and STs. The relationships holding between a TT and its
relevant ST are characterized as being only relational and functional,
for the only constancy in TT-ST relationships is functional, and not
any form of 'material' constancy. "The only things that can be
predicted", he says, "...are what relationships are likely to be
encountered in reality under certain specified conditions; and the
better specified these conditions, the more valid the prediction."
(Toury, 1980, p68) The relational character of translation equivalence
is conceived within the TT-ST established relationships. Translation
equivalence is functional in the sense that it is governed by norms
which influence and determine the comparative functionality of
individual textual structures and sub-structures in SL and TL texts;
hence it is flexible, broad and changeable.
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