Abstract

RASTIER, François. Interprative linguistics and the semiotic foundations of translation. Tóp. Sem [online]. 2011, n.25, pp. 15-52. ISSN 1665-1200.

This paper reports on a study performed prior to recent descriptive proposals (Rastier, 2006), in order to identify the epistemological obstacles currently being created by the semiotic conceptions governing cognitive and communicative theories of translation. Because these conceptions fall within the tripartite syntax/semantics/pragmatics split imposed by logical positivism, they are unable to capture the particular characteristics either of linguistic signs or of text semiotics, as defined by historical and comparative linguistics, most notably by de Saussure. Even more than the sign, the concept of the text actually places interpretation fully back within the scope of linguistics, allowing it to be seen in a new light, as an interactive movement between the text and the intertext. Text linguistics, particularly in its interpretative dimension, thus assumes special responsibility for applying a standardized methodology to describe relationships within and between texts, whether in the same or in different languages.