Intelligibility and the reception of translations

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the framework of descriptive translation studies, the notions of ‘translation’ and ‘language’ are deeply influenced by socially accepted ideas, as suggested by Toury. Based on Sakai's schema of co-figuration, conceptions of intelligibility affect views on linguistic continuity and consequently may determine the reception of translation. This paper argues that for intralingual translation, intelligibility may have an impact not only on the reception of the translated text, but also on the very use of the term ‘translation’. The notion of intelligibility, normally applied on spoken texts following Smith and Nelson's paradigm, is expanded here to include written texts. It is used as a tool to examine how judgments concerning the intelligibility of a source text can determine positions about the necessity or the legitimacy of the translation as well as the effect it may have on its readers. The suggested relation between the reception of intralingual translations and opinions on intelligibility will be demonstrated using the reception of Tanakh Ram, the Modern Hebrew translation of the Hebrew Bible. This example focuses on the intralingual aspect rather than on religious or Biblical features of the text.