MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE MEANING IN TRANSLATION SYLLABI

Although the notion of meaning is central to translation studies and practical activities, it is one of the most difficult ones to elucidate theoretically and make use of in practice. Recent scientific research from various perspectives has revealed new dimensions of the meaning which expand beyond a purely linguistic perception. We believe it vital for Minor Translation studies at university level to include some reasonable amount of relevant data from this research to provide for a thorough and comprehensive grasping of this complex notion. While working on a combined theoretical-practical approach to English-Russian Translation Syllabus due to the requirements of standardization and educational internationalization, we have been introducing elements of new research data in our lectures and practical classes.

In this contribution we share our experience in updating the standard syllabus based on Linguistic Translation Theory by including recent meaning and communication research data. The author suggests possible ways of acquainting first and second year Minor Translation students with introductory theoretical information from such areas as phenomenology, linguistic philosophy, semiotics, semantic and pragmatic research, cognitive and communicative linguistics, cross-cultural studies, in their focus on verbal activity and its participants. This information brings the students closer to understanding a linguistic unit meaning as representative of a complex multilateral phenomenon which encompasses multiple domains of life experience and communication.

The teaching goals are:
1) to help prospective translators expand their grasping of the meaning beyond traditional linguistics and treat each instance of meaning in speech as a flexible variable;
2) to show the directions of translators’ analysis of original verbal messages by establishing a set of particular relations between linguistic units and the communication act they are embedded in.

Our practical classes are becoming an efficient tool of developing translators’ skills to uncover these relations in the source language communicative acts. They also teach how to proceed further conveying the original meanings thus ‘reconstructed’ into the target language within specifics of a new communication act.

The students should learn to correlate the meaning of the linguistic signs used in speech with the following components of the communicative acts analyzed:
1) the objects of the surrounding world the signs refer to (referential, denotative meanings);
2) the participants of the verbal communication and their perception of the topic and the communicative act in question (phenomenology and pragmatics of communication);
3) other linguistic units of a particular language of communication understood as a complex system (linguistic meanings proper).

The students are offered a selection of various English-Russian translation samples for comparison of the message conveyed. In turn, while doing practical translation the students learn to choose accurate equivalents according to the expanded view of the meaning.

The last two semesters have shown the fruitfulness of expanding the notion of meaning in Minor Translation Syllabus. In the students’ perception the notion of meaning is turning from a petrified abstract entity stored in dictionaries into a palpable notion that manifests itself in utterances and is analyzable in terms of modern Translation studies.