From Translation to Transfer

Abstract

This article examines transfer as a mechanism which applies to translation and other phenomena. The foundations for a theory of transfer were laid down by Roman Jakobson, whose ideas were further developed by Itamar Even-Zohar. Even-Zohar defined transfer as the re-creation in cultural system A of a text or a model originating in system B, whether in the same macro-system or not. Aside from translation in the narrow sense, transfer includes the remaking of films, adaptation of literary works for a new audience (e.g., children), rewriting them in nonverbal semiotic symbols, etc. All these forms of transfer can be described and explained with the help of theoretical concepts and assumptions used in translation research. This article aims to map the forms of transfer implied by Even-Zohar's definition and illustrate them, using examples from Israeli and other cultures. This article ends by the discussion of the question of the relation between the transfer theory applied and post-modern ideas.