Vorüberlegungen für eine translationsrelevante Klassifikation von Personifizierungen: Sekundäre Subjektivierung und Definitionskollisionen im Bereich Bildhafte Sprache

Abstract

Abstract To facilitate idiomaticity, translation practice and translation didactics require that the linguistic phenomenon of personification be handled confidently when translating into German. At first glance, the term personification appears to be well defined. However, on closer inspection it becomes clear that the term is used in different ways by classical rhetoric on the one hand and by linguistics and translation studies on the other. This becomes clear when examining the phenomenon of secondary subjectification, which a) causes problems of idiomaticity and b) is often – wrongly – seen as synonymous with personification. The manuals of classical rhetoric, despite being generally consulted first by researchers, do not consider secondary subjectification and thus do not provide a complete view of the concept of personification. In order to describe the problem more precisely, the present paper will go beyond purely stylistic-idiomatic concerns by taking into account the functional side of figurative language. This involves emphasizing that not every personification is automatically a secondary subjectification. In German, however, secondary subjectifications can have the same effect as personifications, which can cause problems of idiomaticity. In order to provide some clarification, we suggest establishing a specific classification of personifications for translational purposes.