Evidential stance in translation: patterns of complementation in mediated memories

Abstract

The non-coincidence of author/translator identities inherent in translation has consequences for the evidential character of translated texts. For example, when an autobiography is translated, the experiential connection between the autobiographical ‘I’ and the memories being narrated is interrupted: an author narrates on the basis of ‘memory evidence’, while a translator narrates on the basis of ‘hearsay’. Assuming that the contrasting evidential positioning of autobiographical authors vs. translators can be traced in their respective textual productions, this article reports an analysis of ‘evidential stance’ in translated and non-translated (original) autobiographies.Using a purpose-built, bi-directional comparable corpus of translated and non-translated autobiographies in English and Japanese, the analysis focuses on memory-reporting constructions incorporating verbs of recollection, paying particular attention to the character of object complement structures (e.g. remember -ing, remember that), which are interpreted as effecting either an ‘experiential’ or ‘non-experiential’ construal of the memory being reported. The analysis reveals that translated autobiographies in both English and Japanese tend to report memories using experiential constructions less frequently and non-experiential constructions more frequently than do non-translated autobiographies. The findings are interpreted as an indication that the translational mode of consciousness is characterised by a mediative rather than experiential stance.