Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation: The English-Greek Paradigm, written by Maria Sidiropoulou
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Maria Sidiropoulou'sUnderstanding Im/politeness Through Translation: The English-Greek Paradigm is a study which outlines what happens to im/politeness when an English text is translated into Greek and how it is rendered.This work offers a cross-disciplinary methodology that connects the two fields of translation studies and contrastive pragmatics, relating them to different genres, including, but not limited to, press articles, academic papers, theatrical productions, and films.The writer explains how translation as communication is often a cross-cultural "laboratory" for the study of the relational dimension of a language.The book is divided into two main parts: non-fiction (press and academic discourse) and fiction (novels, plays, and audiovisual translation).Each part addresses the distinct challenges of translating politeness and relational dynamics across genres.With respect to non-fiction genres, the emphasis is on press and academic discourse.The press section shows how im/politeness is mitigated or altered to meet cultural expectations in Greek, which often involves softening confrontational tones present in English press texts.The goal is to align with cultural norms of relational harmony prevalent in Greek media.The academic discourse presents different challenges.Translators need to maintain a balance between formality and accessibility.Here, Sidiropoulou explores how positive and negative politeness strategies are adjusted to accommodate different academic conventions in Greek compared to English.The category of fiction includes plays, novels, and audiovisual translation.Translating fiction involves maintaining the intended relationship between characters and preserving the author's interaction with the audience.For
Source: Contrastive Pragmatics
Author: Irene Theodoropoulou
Institution: Qatar University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409713555