Introduction

This chapter explores approaches and concepts that enable readers to capture the translator's presence in translated texts. One approach consists of contextualizing the individual from each translation assumes, as translators position themselves through the display of a particular mode of representation seen against the possibility of alternative modes. Other approaches are designed to tease out translator's attitudes as conveyed in actual translations or their paratexts. If, following relevance theory, people construe translation as echoic discourse, people can identify the translator's attitude by gauging the difference between what is said and what is implied in the translated discourse. Modality, too, is concerned with the speaker's attitude towards and appraisal of what is being said. A focus on modality allows investigation, not just of the translator's value judgements about the discourse being rendered, but also of the rapport with the audience which is established in the process.