Sociopragmatic Aspects of Translation: a Socio-pragmatic Comparative Study of Translation in English, Polish and Russian

Translation is viewed as a form of cross-cultural communication. The complexity of translation, one of the most complex things in human history, lies in the large number of delicate relationships among its relevant factors. There is always a context and the translator, a social, political and economic situation in which translation takes place, always a history from which a text emerges and into which a text is transposed. The purpose of the work is to show that awareness of sociopragmatic context is an essential requirement for the translator of a work coming from an alien culture. Thorough knowledge of a foreign language, its vocabulary, and grammar is not sufficient to make one competent as a translator. One should be familiar with one's own culture and be aware of the source-language culture before attempting to build any bridge between them. The book provides a new point of view for translators as well as those who may be interested in translation practice. The empirical part of the book should help shed some light on dilemmas translators may be obliged to face in their career, and should be especially useful to students of intercultural communication.