Text In Context

Ian Mason has been a towering presence in the now flourishing discipline of translation studies since its inception, and has produced some of the most influential and detailed analyses of translated text and interpreted interaction to date. The sophistication, dynamism and inclusiveness that have characterized his approach to all forms of mediation are the hallmarks of his legacy. Text and Context celebrates Ian Mason's scholarship by bringing together fourteen innovative and original pieces of research by both young and established scholars, who examine different forms of translation and interpreting in a variety of cultural and geographical settings. In line with his own inclusive approach to the field, these contributions combine close textual analysis with keen attention to issues of power, modes of socialization, institutional culture, individual agency and ethical accountability. While paying tribute to one of the most innovative and influential scholars in the field, the volume offers novel insights into a variety of genres and practices and charts important new directions for the discipline.

A substantial revision to a classroom favorite Explore the literature, history, and social context of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and their relevance for making sense of this ancient collection. This significant revision of a classroom standard pays particular attention to the original Mediterranean context--how it differs from modern Western culture--and its importance for interpretation. The significance of critical scholarly methods as well as the value of archaeology are likewise explored. Designed with the realities of the classroom in mind, it includes helpful illustrations, insets, and maps; study questions; a glossary; and indexes of subjects, personal and place names, and Scripture citations.

This book derives empirical evidence for the didactic value of translating texts in context through an experiment involving final-year undergraduate students who study translation as a basic component of their curriculum. A number of theoretical frameworks are invoked here, most notably those of the discourse model elaborated by Hatim and Mason (1990) (1997) and House’s text analysis model (1997). Furthermore, the study conducted draws on Hatim’s multi-stage curriculum translation design (2000), consisting of various stages representing an increasing degree of evaluativeness and difficulty.

This text aims to examine the nature of text and context, using theoretical models based in the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).

Written by a leading researcher in the field, this fascinating examination of the relations between grammar, text, and discourse is designed to provoke critical discussion on key issues in discourse analysis which are not always clearly identified and examined. Written by a leading researcher in the field Continues the enquiry into discourse analysis that Zellig Harris initiated 50 years ago, which raised a number of problematic issues that have remained unresolved ever since Introduces the notion of pretext as an additional factor in the general interpretative process Focuses attention specifically on the work of critical discourse analysis (CDA) in light of the issues discussed

The major religious traditions of South Asia are ‘religions of the book’. All accept basic arrays of texts of scriptures, often seen as sacred reservoirs of meaning and power. The West has viewed these texts as ‘bibles’ of their respective traditions, projecting onto them Western values and concerns. This book challenges such misconceptions by revealing the complex character of scripture and its interpretation in South Asian religions. Texts in Context explores the hermeneutical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism. The question of how we should understand the diversity of text-traditions is approached by asking “How have traditional thinkers — the exegetes within these traditions —understood and utilized scripture?” The answers, though remarkably diverse, do reveal important similarities and take the discussion of scripture in India to a deeper level. This book makes accessible to the non-specialist sensibilities and approaches that have previously received little attention in the West, but have formed the basis for traditional efforts to understand and utilize scripture. It is a collaboration between contemporary thinkers and their traditional counterparts, whose voices emerge as they consider the sacred words of the religious traditions of South Asia.

Text, Context and the Johannine Community adopts a new approach to the social context of the Johannine writings by drawing on modern sociolinguistic theory. Sociolinguistics emphasizes language as a social phenomenon, which can be analysed with reference not only to its broad context of culture, but also, through the use of register analysis, to its narrower context of situation. The Johannine writings have increasingly been seen as the product of a distinct Johannine Community, depicted by some scholars as a sectarian group, opposed both to wider Jewish society and to other Christian groups. This model has largely been constructed on historical-critical grounds, yet given our lack of reliable external information about the origin of the Johannine writings, a more fruitful approach may be to examine their lexico-grammatical and discourse features to determine what these imply about interpersonal relationships. This study compares selected 'narrative asides' from the Gospel of John with a passage section from 1 John and with the two shorter Johannine Epistles. It concludes that register analysis of these texts does not support the idea of a close-knit sectarian group.