Translingualism
Translingualism ( Latin trans 'about' and lingua 'language') comprises language elements that are relevant in more than one language. These elements can exist in several languages, have the same meaning in several languages, contain words from several languages or act in an inter-lingual space. Internationalisms provide several examples of translingual vocabulary. For example, the international scientific vocabulary consists of thousands of translingual words and compounds.
Translingualism as the fluidity of language systems
According to the American literary critic, essayist and author Steven G. Kellman , people who write in more than one language or in a language other than their mother tongue are translingual authors. As such, they are able to form a new linguistic identity. Kellman here cites the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - the principle of linguistic relativity based on the assumption that language determines thought - as an indication of why translingual authors choose to switch languages within their works. A writer's translingual fluidity is determined by the effect his works have on a geographically and demographically diverse audience. On the other hand, readers prove their translingual fluidity by being open-minded and receptive to, and familiar with, the linguistic heterogeneity of the works.
Translingualism as a communicative competence
More recently, scholars have also conceptualized translingualism as a communicative competence . They refer to the fact that, in multilingual scenarios, mastering a language is not as relevant for the exchange as achieving effective communication through strategies that go beyond purely linguistic skills. In today's global context, there are many scenarios in which speakers of different languages come together and mostly communicate in English. The speakers often have different cultural values that influence the production and interpretation of "their" language. Therefore one cannot simply speak of an adaptation of the speakers to any language or / to any language system or culture; instead, the speakers adapt to a “common communicative space”. Canagarajah (2013), for example, defines translinguals as speakers who have the ability to successfully adapt their available languages to context-specific goals across a wide range of norms.
Translingual Practice Theory
According to the theory of translingual practice, language is always a process of negotiation. It should be noted that this is not tied to externally ascertainable limits. The language and culture border is not the limit of the ascription of meaning. Any attribution of meaning is also a process of negotiation. The translation between languages is a special performance, as every meaning is permanently negotiated (repetition motif). The approach of Lydia H. Liu offers a theoretical basis. Through the discourse not only a translation of a term is found, but a new, own meaning within the target language (hypothetical equivalence) emerges, whereby existing power relations can be perpetuated or broken up. The theory of translingual practice dispenses with the idea of a universal transcendental signified and instead emphasizes the constant process of individual negotiation of both the terms and the meanings. A negotiation carried out in practice can subsequently have an effect on further individual negotiation processes (e.g. when learning vocabulary / definitions) via institutionalization (e.g. dictionaries).
Individual evidence
- ^ Martha J. Cutter: Book Review. By: Steven G. Kellman: Switching Languages: Translingual Writers Reflect on Their Craft. 2003.
- ↑ Steven Kellman: JM Coetzee and Samuel Beckett: The Translingual Link. In: Comparative Literature Studies. 33 (2), 1996, pp. 161-172.
- ↑ B. Horner, MZ Lu, JJ Royster, J. Trimbur: Opinion: Language difference in writing: Toward a translingual approach. In: College English. 73 (3), 2011, pp. 303-321.
- ^ Clara Molina: Curricular Insights into Translingualism as a Communicative Competence. In: Journal of Language Teaching & Research. Volume 2, No. 6, November 2011, pp. 1244-1251.
- ↑ S. Canagarajah: Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. Routledge, 2013.
- ↑ Lydia H. Liu (Ed.): Translingual Practice. Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity - China, 1900-1937. Stanford University Press, Stanford California 1995.
- ↑ Lydia H. Liu (Ed.): Tokens of Exchange. The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations. Duke University Press, Durham 1999.
- ^ Lydia H. Liu: The Problem of Language in Cross-Cultural Studies. (1995). In: Hwa Yol Jung (Ed.): Comparative Political Culture om the Age of Globalization. Lexington Books, Lanham 2002, pp. 305-355.