Text and Context in

Translation

Juliane House
University of Hamburg
1. Text and Context

2. Context from Different Perspectives

2.1. Philosophical and
Psychological
2.2. Anthropological,
Sociolinguistic, Discourse,
Conversation Analytical
2.3. Linguistic

3. Context - Text -Translation

4. Translation as an Act of
Re-contextualisation
4.1. A Theory of Translation as
Re-Contextualisation
4.2. Two Types of Translation:
Overt and Covert Translation
4.3. The ‘Cultural Filter’ in
Covert Translation

5. Global English and Cultural

Filtering
 1.The Notions ‘Text’ and
‘Context’
 ‘Text’: (A unit of) connected discourse.
Its function is communicative, and it is
an object of analysis and description

 ‘Context’: A general type of connection

or relationship; circumstances relevant to
something under consideration’; the
environment surrounding a phenomenon
(such as e.g. a text!) that determines its
meaning, similar to setting, background,
frame, (figure and) ground.
 ‘Text’ and ‘context’ are closely
related concepts.
‘Context’ is the more complex
notion and thus in need of further
exploration.
 2.1. Philosophical and Psychological
Perspectives of Context
Contextualism versus Universalism

- Linguistic actions are embedded in the

environment in which they occur and fulfil certain
functions versus
- Sentences obey formal rules, principles and
parameters,
- The local, the particular, the social, the situated,
the individual, the unique, the relative versus
- the generally valid, the typical, the supra-
individual, the absolute
 Wittgenstein’s idea that language is a form
of action, and that the meanings of linguistic
forms are their use in specific ‘forms of life’

 Austin’s emphasis on how the contexts of

speech acts influence the conventions of
language use, and how speech act
performance depends on the enveloping
context and language user’s intentions.

 Gadamer’s and Steiner’s hermeneutic

interpretive study of texts with its ‘fusion of
horizons’ uniting writer and reader in their
context-dependence.
 Grice’s conception of context as part of
a theory of language use - including
conversational maxims which guide the
conduct of talk and express an
underlying co-operative principle.

 Sperber and Wilson’s notion of

relevance as a set of internalized
contextual factors for interpreting
utterances
 Forgas’ view that utterance meaning
and speakers’ shared views of context
result from collective cognitive
activities.

 Clark’s idea of language use as a form

of collaborative action bound up with
contexts as ‘common ground’, i.e.,
knowledge, beliefs, assumptions which
language users bring to joint activities
 2.2. Context in Anthropology,
Sociolinguistics, Discourse and Conversation
Analysis
 ‘Context’ as ‘culture’ is central in anthropology. It
comprises conventionalized expectations made to
fit a specific, local situation

 For sociolinguists, language reflects context and

language also determines the context in which it is
used. Contexts are evolving systems undergoing
constant change and mutual influence with
language

 Context is also at the core of discourse analysis,

since all interaction involves context. In order to
understand, speakers must rely on context, and
their linguistic choices are motivated by contextual
factors (topic, participants, place, time, etc.)
 Conversation analysts focus on
utterances-in-sequence which both create
context and are conditioned by it.
Utterances are organized linearly in time,
such that what is said now relies on what
was said before. Context and talk are in a
“reflexive relationship”: talk and its
interpretation shapes context as much as
context shapes talk.
 2.3.Context from Linguistic
Perspectives
Hymes’ “Ethnography of Speaking” as ‘contextual linguistics’
explicitly designed as an ‘anti-Chomsky model’:

stark contrast between ‘functional, contextual linguistics’

and

‘formal, competence linguistics’. The latter has an

idealized view of language divorced from the context
in which it is actually used by human beings.

Context in functional linguistics includes setting,

behavior, language itself, knowledge, and is subject
to multiple interpretations of immediate environments and
wider socio-cultural frameworks
 A prime example of functional linguistics is
pragmatics. Here context plays such an
important role that its very definition is bound
up with context
- Pragmatics is the study of linguistic acts
and the contexts in which they occur
- Pragmatics is a theory of language
understanding that takes context into
account

Gumperz’ notion of “contextualization cues” is

based on assumptions about context and
connects linguistic forms with cognitive and
social phenomena
 Halliday’s systemic-functional
theory explicitly links text and
context and combines broad
functional explanations of social
phenomena with detailed
description of linguistic forms
3. Context, Text and Translation
 In most disciplines, Context is thought to refer to
both external (situational,cultural) and internal
(cognitive, psychological) factors which influence
each other in acts of speaking and listening
 Context is often regarded as dynamic rather than
static, as more than a set of pre-fixed variables that
impact on language.
 Context and language are viewed as mutually
dependent, such that language shapes context as
much as context shapes language.

For translation, such a view of context is

NOT useful!
 In translation, a ’finished’, and in this sense ‘static’
stretch of written language as text is available to
the translator in its entirety from the start. Full
availability of a written text - as opposed to the bit-
by-bit unfolding of discourse - is thus constitutive
of translation.

 Translating involves RE-CONTEXTUALISING and as

such the creation of a discourse out of a written
text, i.e., the creation of a ‘living’, but
essentially NOT dynamic, cognitive-social
entity replete with contextual connections.

 In translation, Context is NOT ‘negotiated’ or

‘emergent’, but rather static. This ‘staticness’
arises in the space opened up by the
separation in time and space of writer and
reader, and through the translator’s limited
power to define what the context is.
 The realisation of a discourse out of a text
can only involve imaginary, hidden, mental
interaction between writer and reader in the
translator’s mind. The natural unity of
speaker and listener in oral interaction is
replaced by the real-world separateness in
space and time of writer and reader. But the
translator can overcome this separateness:
S/he creates a new unity that transcends the
text’s givenness (with its immutable
arrangement of linguistic elements) by
activatingthe text’s context in its old and new
variant - imagined and miraculously united in
his mind.
 4. Translation as an Act of Re-
Contextualisation
 For translation as an act of re-contextualisation, a
TEXT is a stretch of a contextually embedded
ensemble of linguistic forms. And CONTEXT is the
means of converting ‘inert (static) text’ into
discourse in an ex- post facto, cognitive ‘meaning
making’

 The translator’s re-creative act is thus critically

different from the type of observable on-line
transformative power a speaker in talk-in-
interaction has over the path of the developing
discourse.
 4.1. A Functional Theory of
Translation as Re-contextualization

House’s Theory of Translation as

Re-contextualisation:
 Translation texts are doubly contextually-
bound: to their source text and to the new
recipient’s contextual conditions. This
double-linkage is the basis of the
equivalence relation – the conceptual
heart of translation.
 Equivalence is determined by context, and
comprises at least the following:

Source and target linguistic features and the

rules of the two language systems
The extra-linguistic world and how it is perceived
by members of L1 and L2 communities
L1 and L2 conventions and genres guiding the
translator
Structural, connotative, and aesthetic features of
the original
The translator’s interpretation of the original and
his or her ‘creativity’
The translator’s theory of translation
Translation traditions holding in the target culture
 Since appropriate use of language
in communicative performance is
what matters most in translation,
it is functional pragmatic
equivalence which is crucial.
This type of equivalence
underpins House’s functional
translation model.
 A Scheme for Producing, Analysing and
Comparing Original and Translation Texts
This model explicates the way semantic,
pragmatic and textual meaning are re-
constituted across different contexts.

 Translation is conceived as the

replacement of an L1 text by a
semantically and pragmatically equivalent
L2 text. An adequate translation is then a
pragmatically and semantically equivalent
one.

 A first requirement for this equivalence is

that a translation text have a function
equivalent to that of its original.
 If we use a concept such as ‘function’ of a text,
we must be sure that there are elements in a text
which can reveal a text’s function.

 Function here is NOT identical with ‘functions of

language’ as suggested by philosophers and
linguists such as Bühler, Jakobson,Popper and
many others.

 Different language functions always co-exist in a

text, there is no simple equation of language
function and textual type.
 The function of a text is simply the
application of a text in a particular context,
and there is a systematic relationship between
context and the functional organization of
language-in-text, which can be revealed by
breaking down context into a manageable set of
‘contextual parameters’: FIELD –TENOR- MODE

 The pre-translation analysis results then in a

text-context profile that reflects the text’s
function. Whether and how this function can be
maintained, critically depends, however, on the
type of translation sought.
 4.2.Two Types of Translation:
Overt and Covert Translation
 Overt and covert translation are outcomes of
different types of re-contextualisation

 They resemble Schleiermacher’s famous

distinction between “verfremdende und
einbürgernde Übersetzungen” (‘alienating’ and
‘integrating’ translations) which has had many
imitators using different, but essentially similar
terms.
 What sets the overt-covert distinction apart is
the fact that it is integrated into a coherent
theory of translation, within which these terms
are explicated.
 In overt translation, recipients are quite ‘overtly’ NOT
directly addressed, because an overt translation is quite
overtly a translation, not a ‘second original’. And it shows:
while an overt translation must needs be embedded in a new
context, it also, at the same time, schizophrenically, signals
its origin. The translator’s work is important and visible: it is
to enable L2 members to observe and judge the original’s
impact “from outside”

 Although an overt translation and its original are equivalent

at the levels of Language/Text, Register, Genre, only
second-level functional equivalence is possible: giving
access to the original’s function. Since this access is to be in
the L2, a contextual switch is necessary. But because there
is this three-tier equivalence, the original’s context is co-
activated in the minds of the translator and L2 addressees so
as to enable them to “eavesdrop” and appreciate the
original’s function in its new guise.
 A covert translation is a translation which
enjoys the status of an original text in a new
context. The translation is covert because it is
not marked as a translation, but may,
conceivably, have been created in its own right.
An original and its covert translation are
pragmatically of equal concern for L1 and L2
addressees in their different contexts

The translator re-creates an equivalent speech

event and reproduces the original’s function
with the result that a covert translation
operates solely in the new L2 context, with no
attempt made to co-activate the context in
which the original had unfolded.
The translator’s express task is to ‘betray’ the
original, to hide behind its transformation.The
translator acts in a self-effacing manner.

Since true functional equivalence is the goal,

the original may be legitimately manipulated
at the levels of Language/Text and Register.
The translator takes exclusive account of the
new context into which the translation is
inserted. To facilitate this insertion
seamlesssly as it were, the translator applies
a CULTURAL FILTER.
 4.3. The ‘Cultural Filter’
 A ‘cultural filter’ is a means of capturing
contextual differences in expectation
norms between recipients in L1 and L2
contexts.The application of a cultural filter
should however ideally not be left to
accidental individual intuition, but be in
line with relevant cross-cultural research.
 What do we mean by “culture”??
 ‚Culture‘
Whatever it is one has to know or believe in
order to operate in a manner acceptable to a
society’s members, and do so in any role that
they accept for any one of themselves ....
Culture is not a material phenomenon; it
does not consist of things, people, behavior,
or emotions. It is rather an organization of
these things. It is the forms of things that
people have in mind, their model of
perceiving, relating, and otherwise
interpreting them.
(Goodenough, 1964: 36)
 As in the case of context, a “dynamic”,
negotiable view of culture is NOT useful
for translation, because in translating a
text, one must refer to a concrete point in
time and space and adopt a static,
necessarily “essentialist” idea of culture.
This should not be disqualified as naively
ignoring the complexity of culture, as in
translation we also take account of
empirical research into cultures as
interpretive devices for understanding
communicative behavior.
 Empirical research into communicative
norms in L1 and L2 cultures can give
substance to the cultural filter and thus
complement tacit native-speaker knowledge.

For example, in the case of the German and

Anglophone linguistic-cultural communities,
the cultural filter has been substantiated
through extensive empirical contrastive-
pragmatic research. Its results show
differences in behavioral norms that can
explain acts of re-contextualization in covert
translation.
 For example: Germans often express
themselves in more direct, explicit and content-
oriented ways than Anglophone speakers

 Such cross-cultural differences can be displayed

along dimensions such as

 directness vs. indirectness

explicitness vs. implicitness
focus on vs. focus on
content persons
 The Cultural Filter: Examples

Sign at Frankfurt Airport at a building site:

Damit die Zukunft schneller kommt!

[Such that the future comes more quickly!]

vs. English translation:

We apologize for any inconvenience work on our

building site is causing you!
Software manual (original English, Back
Translation from German)
WordPerfect is backed by a customer support
system designed to offer you fast, courteous
service. If you’ve exhausted all other Help
Avenues and need a Friendly Voice to help you
with your problem, just follow these steps...

vs.

WordPerfect has established a Support Centre,

whose employees offer you competent support
with problems. If, despite the support available to
you in WordPerfect, you were not able to solve a
problem, turn to our support centre.
 Preface, Perl Cookbook (Original
English, backtranslated from German)

 That's what  It is for this that

Learning Perl, a books like
kinder and gentler Introduction to Perl
introduction to are meant.
Perl, is designed
for.
Instruction leaflet, oven ware (original German
backtranslated into English)

Kerafour has been tested for being ovenproof in

independent testing institutes. So that you can enjoy it for a
long time, we give you some instructions for use: 1. Never
put an empty cold vessel into the heated oven - “empty”
also refers to a vessel which is only rubbed with fat!

vs.

Kerafour oven-to-table pieces have been tested by

independent research institutes and are considered
ovenproof and micro-wave resistant. Here are a few simple
rules for using Kerafour:
Never put a cold and empty piece into the heated oven.
 ADVERTISEMENT AIR FRANCE (Translations from French
into English and German, backtranslated)

We know how hard it is for business travellers to have to

concentrate on their work while waging the eternal battle of
the armrest, so we have re-arranged the space between
our L’Espace Europe seats. Where there used to be rows of
three seats, there are now two seats separated by a table.
Your seat is now much wider, more comfortable and the
total space more conducive to a little privacy.

Business travellers want to study their files, read

newspapers or prepare themselves quietly for a meeting.
Preferably without getting too close to the man sitting next
to them. Or the woman. This is why we have completely re-
arranged our L’Espace Europe. Bigger, more beautiful and
comfortable and above all with very welcome space for
putting things on between the seats. For much elbow room
for reading, eating and relaxing in exactly the right
distance. And also for stimulating conversations.
 FILM TITLES (Original ENGLISH-Backtranslation from
GERMAN)
 Where are the children?----Limitless Suffering of a
Mother
 Jack the Bear----My Dad-a totally incredible father
 The Surrogate ----Murder after Birth
 Whatever happened to Aunt Alice----A widow kills softly
 Silent victim ….Accusation: Abortion
 Backlash…..The secret of the five graves
 Shadow of the Past----The corpse in the boot
 etc.
  Michel Bond’s classic book “A
“A Bear called Paddington” in translation

 An example of massive cultural filtering in children’s literature.

 Examples here backtranslated from the German :“Paddington unser kleiner Bär”
(Mr Brown offers Paddington some cakes)
I’m sorry they haven’t any marmalade ones, but these
were the best I could get
There is nothing with marmalade

(Paddington in a shop)
Mr Gruber took Paddington into his shop and after
offering him a seat. ….
Then he pulled the little bear into the shop: „Sit
down!”

(Small Talk)
“Hallo Mrs Bird” said Judy “It’s nice to see you again.
How’s the rheumatism?” “Worse than it’s ever been”
began Mrs Bird….
(Zero-Realization in the German Translation…)
 The Body Shop: Corporate Statement
(Original English, Back Translation from
German)

 We consider  We are of the

opinion that
testing products or experiments with
ingredients on animals in the
animals morally cosmetics industry
and scientifically are neither
necessary nor
indefensible  morally defensible
 We know that
 We are of the
you're unique, and opinion that every
we'll always treat man or woman is
you like an beautiful, everyone
individual. in his or her own
way
P&G CEO Speech to students at small US
College (Original English, Back Translation
from German)

Simulation of oral impromptu talk:

 I thought I’d use  I will use the time

my time here to allotted to me to
talk to you report on...
about…
 I will report on
 I’ll give you one another case...
more example…
 Congruent Presentation of states
of affairs and events

 When I was first  For the preparation of

started to put together my presentation today
my remarks for today, I I asked Dr. Amos
asked for some input Bradford for a few
from Dr. Amos Bradford, suggestions...
who provided a broad list
of subjects he thought
you’d be interested in
hearing about:
 After I’ve finished,  After my
I’ll be happy to presentation I will
answer any questions gladly answer all
you have and, your questions and
hopefully, to engage talk about this
in a bit of afternoon‘s topics.
conversation about
the issues we’ll raise
here this afternoon.
 Second Person Pronouns
 …he provided a  ..he provided me
broad list of with a long list of
subjects he topics, which he
thought you’d be considered
interested in interesting…
hearing about:

 You’re tempted to  One is tempted to

put off a delay a
discussion… conversation...
 Evaluations

 And it’s important to  It is not simply a

note that it is not just piece of paper…
a piece of paper…

 And more positively,

 Governments and
governments and other other firms prefer to
cooperate with
companies really do companies which
want to deal with act…
companies they feel...
 Multisyn Vision 2000 (Original
English, Back Translation from
German)

 ...obsessively  ...look for

search for new intensive new
ideas, by ideas through
observing, listening observing, listening
and learning from and learning from
everyone everyone.
 I want to be part of a
 I want to be part of
company where I am a company which
challenged to.. challenges me
to…

 have unrelentingly  put high

high expectations of
myself and others expectations on
me and others
 Goldsmith Corporate Statement
(Original English, Backtranslation
from German)
 Our long term success  Our long-term success
requires a total is only possible, if we
commitment to set ourselves
exceptional standards exceptional standards
of performance and of performance and
productivity, to productivity, and if we
working together cooperate efficiently
effectively and with all
preparedness.
Milton Meissner Letter to Sharesholders 27.12.1971
(Original English, backtranslated from German)

As you will note, we have asked that

you designate a bank (or broker) to
which your dividend certificates will be
sent. Your bank (or broker) should
indicate its confirmation of your
signature…

As you will note, we have asked you to

name a bank (or a broker) to which the
dividend certificates shall be sent. You
have to ask the bank (or the broker) to
confirm your signature…
 CULTURAL FILTERING IN SCIENCE TEXTS
„HIV Vaccines: Prospects and Challenges“
Scientific American, July 1998/ Backtranslated
from German Spektrum der Wissenschaft,
October 1998
 Most vaccines  Most vaccines
activate what is activate the so-called
called the humoral humoral arm of the
arm of the immune immune system
system.  (after Latin humor,
liquid.
 Buchbinder, S. „Avoiding Infection after HIV
Exposure“ Scientific American July 1998;
Backtranslation from German Spektrum der
Wissenschaft October 1998 „Prevention after HIV
Contact“
 Treatment may reduce  An immediate
the chance of treatment after contact
contracting HIV reduces under certain
infection after a risky circumstances the
encounter. danger that the human
immuno-deficiency-
virus establishes itself
in the body.There is no
guarantee for this,
moreover new risks
arise.
Suppose you are a doctor In the emergency room
in an emergency room of a hospital a patient
and a patient tells you reports that she had
she was raped two hours been raped two hours
earlier. She is afraid she ago and was now
may have been exposed worrying that she had
to HIV, the virus that been exposed to the
causes AIDS but has AIDS-Virus. She said she
heard that there is a had heard that there was
"morning-after pill" to an "After-Pill", which
prevent HIV infection. might prevent an HIV-
infection. Can the doctor
Can you in fact do
in fact do anything which
anything to block the
might prevent potentially
virus from replicating and
existing viruses from
establishing infection?
replicating and
establishing themselves
permanently in the body?
 M.F. Perutz, Hemoglobin structure and respiratory transport,
Scientific American, December 1978, Backtranslated from German,
February 1979 Spektrum der Wissenschaften

Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and helps
to transport carbon dioxide back to the lungs. It fulfils this dual role
by clicking back and forth between two alternative structures.

Hemoglobin, the substance responsible for the blood’s red color,

carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and facilitates the
backtransport of carbon dioxide to the lungs. The molecule fulfils
this double function because it changes between two structures.
“Why the grass is green and our blood red, are secrets which
nobody will ever know. In this dim state, poor soul, what will you
do?” (John Donne “On the soul’s progress”)
 David Hounshell, “Two Paths to the Telephone,
Scientific American”, June 1981
As Alexander Graham Bell was developing the
telephone, Elisha Gray was doing the same. Bell got
the patent, but the episode is nonetheless an
instructive example of simultaneous invention.

 Back Translation from German „The Race for the

Telephone Patent“, Spektrum der Wissenschaft,
August 1981.
Independent of each other Alexander Graham Bell
and Elisha Gray handed in nearly identical
construction plans for a telephone in 1976 – but only
Bell received the patent and became rich and
famous. Gray on the other hand had misjudged the
importance of his invention and had moreover been
badly advised.
 INTERVIEW with German translator of Popular
Science Texts (Scientific American/Spektrum der
Wissenschaft)

“A bit more rational strength, a bit more:

what can we really do and what do we really
know? What can we really build on? Many
popular science texts written in English, when
you translate them, you notice that they are
written totally imprecise. You consume them
in a way for your entertainment, and if you
realize that then you don’t find it so bad. But
try to get this into German! The English
language actually permits you to express
yourself much more imprecisely, then
everything is like chewing gum with a taste
of science…”
 5. Global English and Cultural
Filtering
 Globalisation has created a demand for texts
simultaneously meant for recipients in many
different contexts. They are either translated
covertly or produced simultaneously as
‘comparable texts’. In the past, translators
routinely applied a cultural filter. Due to the global
dominance of English, there is now a tendency
towards cultural “neutralism” - which is in reality
a drift towards (universal) Anglo-American norms.
 While Anglophone influence is amply documented
in the area of words and phrases, we know very
little about what happens at the levels of text and
context. However, investigating textual shifts from
local contexts towards pseudo-neutral Anglo-
contexts is an important research task.

A first step in this direction is the project “Covert

Translation” at Hamburg’s Research Center on
Multilingualism. Here we investigate Anglophone
influence on translations and comparable texts in
other languages, using quantitative and qualitative
diachronic analyses on the basis of multilingual
corpora, interviews, and ethnographic background
material.
 Covert Translation Corpus

I: Primary Translation Corpus: Translations of English Texts into German,

French, Spanish (later Chinese, Persian, Arabic)

Two Genres:
Popular Science Texts
Economic Texts
-Business-/Product Information
-Letters to Shareholders
-Visions and Missions

II: Comparable Corpus: English, German, French, Spanish (later Chinese,

Persian, Arabic)
Authentic original texts in the same genres

III: Validation Corpus

1. Translations into English using the same genres

2. Interviews with Translators,Translation Commissioners, Editors
3. Background Documents, e.g. Business PR Materials
4. Press Corpus (Translation Corpus + Comparable Corpus)
International Dailies International Herald Tribune, Financial
Times, Globalized Magazines: National Geographic
 The analyses show that German communicative
preferences –unlike French and Spanish ones! – have
indeed changed over the past 25 years
(Two time frames: 1978-1982 and 1999-2002; 550
texts, 800 000 words)

 Particularly vulnerable are the functional categories

pronouns, conjunctions, pronominal adverbials,
mental verbs and modal particles. They trigger
changes in text norms

 There is a general tendency towards colloquialisation

in German texts - where formerly a more ‘scientific’,
‘serious’ norm was the rule in popular science and
economic texts, and a cultural filter enabled German
readers to be informed in a more detached manner
rather than the entertaining person-oriented Anglo-
manner.. All this, it seems, is now changing.
 Non-Filter Examples
 Michael Rose: “Can Human Ageing be Postponed?”
Scientific American, December 1999, Backtranslated
from German March 2000 “Can Human Ageing be Held
up?” Spektrum der Wissenschaft

Anti-ageing therapies of the future will undoubtedly

have to counter many destructive biochemical
processes at once.

 Effective therapies must however take up the fight

against many destructive biochemical processes
simultaneously.
 Ian Tattersall: “Once we were not alone”,
Scientific American, January 2000,
Backtranslated from German, Spektrum der
Wissenschaft, March 2000

As far as can be told, these two hominids

behaved in similar ways despite anatomical
differences. And as long as they did so, they
somehow contrived to share the Levantine
environment.

As far as we can judge this, both hominids

behaved in a similar way despite all their
anatomical differences. And as long as both
stayed that way, they also succeeded in
sharing the environment in the Near East.
 Hans Moravecs, “Rise of the Robots”, Scientific
American, December 1999, Backtranslation from
German Spektrum der Wissenschaften “Robots will
overtake us”January 2000

Nevertheless, I am convinced that ... By 2040, I

believe, we will finally achieve the original goal of
robotics and a thematic mainstay of science
fiction: …Why do I believe that rapid progress and
stunning accomplishments are in the offing?

 Despite previous failures I am convinced that....

By 2040 we will, so I think, have finally reached
the great goal which has also been often praised in
science fiction...How do I come to be so optimistic
and believe…
 Jill Tarter and Christopher Chyba „Is Life elsewhere in
the universe?” Scientific American December 1999
At a minimum we will have thoroughly explored the
most likely candidates, something we cannot claim
today. We will have discovered whether life dwells
on Jupiter’s moon Europa or on Mars. And we will
have undertaken the systematic exobiological
exploration of planetary systems…

 “Is there extra-terrestral life?“ Spektrum der

Wissenschaft March 2000, backtranslated
We will at least have thoroughly examined the most
likely candidates, something we cannot yet claim
today. Until then we will for example find out
whether we will find traces of life on the Jupiter
moon Europa or on Mars. And we will have begun to
systematically and biologically investigate extrasolar
planets…
 While there is then some evidence that cultural
filtering is replaced by “All-Anglo Norms”,
we cannot be sure that the dissolution of
the natural ties between texts and their local
contexts is traceable to hegemonic English via
translation processes

 It might for instance be the case that the observed

changes reflect a current general (media-induced?
youth-culture conditioned?) tendency for texts to
become more colloquial, more oral, more
,personal’!
 The changes in the link between text and
context can presently not be definitively
explained. Much more empirical research
is needed - with different genres, different
language pairs and larger diachronic
corpora - before plausible hypotheses can
be formulated that might explain how
global English changes the link between
texts and their local contexts.