Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?

Abstract This paper examines how flouts and violations of conversational maxims are represented in translation and how this influences the different types of translational equivalence. A number of scenes from audiovisual media where there is a gap between one character’s intended meaning and another...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hadeel Saed, Ahmad S. Haider, Mohammad Albarakati, Sausan Abu Tair, Mohammad Alqatawna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025-01-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04187-8
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832594882126938112
author Hadeel Saed
Ahmad S. Haider
Mohammad Albarakati
Sausan Abu Tair
Mohammad Alqatawna
author_facet Hadeel Saed
Ahmad S. Haider
Mohammad Albarakati
Sausan Abu Tair
Mohammad Alqatawna
author_sort Hadeel Saed
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This paper examines how flouts and violations of conversational maxims are represented in translation and how this influences the different types of translational equivalence. A number of scenes from audiovisual media where there is a gap between one character’s intended meaning and another’s reply were examined by comparing the employment of conversational maxims in the source and target text. Additionally, the relation between the employed translation strategies, equivalence type, and the representation of the maxims was analyzed. The results showed that audiovisual translators tend to reduce ambiguity through strategies like addition and explicitation, which alters the features of the maxims found in the source text. Moreover, linguistic differences also make retaining ambiguity a challenge. Furthermore, while functional equivalence is often seen as the ideal type to convey the sense of a text, in cases where the text contains double meanings, the rendition of sense is no longer straightforward. As a result, translators must employ compensational strategies to maintain the ambiguity or explain its existence. The study concludes that the translators must pay attention to nuance to choose the best equivalents and phrasings for each given situation since even slight changes may change the implicatures of the text.
format Article
id doaj-art-12ef983fd2294036be2c3fbffa6414e0
institution Kabale University
issn 2662-9992
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Springer Nature
record_format Article
series Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
spelling doaj-art-12ef983fd2294036be2c3fbffa6414e02025-01-19T12:14:12ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-01-0112111410.1057/s41599-024-04187-8Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?Hadeel Saed0Ahmad S. Haider1Mohammad Albarakati2Sausan Abu Tair3Mohammad Alqatawna4Department of English Language and Translation, Applied Science Private UniversityDepartment of English Language and Translation, Applied Science Private UniversityDepartment of Foreign Languages and Literature, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, King Abdulaziz UniversityDepartment of English Language and Translation, Applied Science Private UniversityPreparatory Year Deanship, King Faisal UniversityAbstract This paper examines how flouts and violations of conversational maxims are represented in translation and how this influences the different types of translational equivalence. A number of scenes from audiovisual media where there is a gap between one character’s intended meaning and another’s reply were examined by comparing the employment of conversational maxims in the source and target text. Additionally, the relation between the employed translation strategies, equivalence type, and the representation of the maxims was analyzed. The results showed that audiovisual translators tend to reduce ambiguity through strategies like addition and explicitation, which alters the features of the maxims found in the source text. Moreover, linguistic differences also make retaining ambiguity a challenge. Furthermore, while functional equivalence is often seen as the ideal type to convey the sense of a text, in cases where the text contains double meanings, the rendition of sense is no longer straightforward. As a result, translators must employ compensational strategies to maintain the ambiguity or explain its existence. The study concludes that the translators must pay attention to nuance to choose the best equivalents and phrasings for each given situation since even slight changes may change the implicatures of the text.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04187-8
spellingShingle Hadeel Saed
Ahmad S. Haider
Mohammad Albarakati
Sausan Abu Tair
Mohammad Alqatawna
Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
title_full Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
title_fullStr Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
title_full_unstemmed Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
title_short Translating conversational implicatures in English movies and series into Arabic: can floutings be captured?
title_sort translating conversational implicatures in english movies and series into arabic can floutings be captured
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04187-8
work_keys_str_mv AT hadeelsaed translatingconversationalimplicaturesinenglishmoviesandseriesintoarabiccanfloutingsbecaptured
AT ahmadshaider translatingconversationalimplicaturesinenglishmoviesandseriesintoarabiccanfloutingsbecaptured
AT mohammadalbarakati translatingconversationalimplicaturesinenglishmoviesandseriesintoarabiccanfloutingsbecaptured
AT sausanabutair translatingconversationalimplicaturesinenglishmoviesandseriesintoarabiccanfloutingsbecaptured
AT mohammadalqatawna translatingconversationalimplicaturesinenglishmoviesandseriesintoarabiccanfloutingsbecaptured