ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates further on the point that translation is a form of cross-cultural communication or ‘mediation’, as discussed in Chapter 1, and the applicability of the Meta-Model (discussed in Chapter 6) in translation and interpreting. The chapter discusses two models of translation: decoding‒encoding and frame-based approaches, and illustrates how frame theory is relevant to the translation process. Drawing on the work of scholars such as Neubert and Shreve, Fillmore, Snell-Hornby, Hermans and Marais, the first part of the chapter stresses the importance of frames (organization of experience and knowledge repertoires) and the need for translators to understand and recreate culture-bound frames wherever the context allows. The chapter then divides the discussion on text, context and translation into the three principal aspects of universal modelling: generalization, deletion and distortion. Under distortion, we discuss ‘manipulation’ and adaption in translation. Through examples, we show how translation can benefit from a conscious use of the Meta-Model, and stress that the translation brief, text type and context will, of course, determine the level of appropriateness of each translation strategy, action or omission.
