Intertextuality and cognition : behind the translator's knowledge and linguistic skills

الملخص EN

Any regular translator is generally considered bilingual, if not trilingual or polyglot; and trying to learn about their more-than-one language acquisition will certainly lead us to dealing with imitation: the most important process of skill-learning.

As it is widely believed, more improved linguistic skills and further general knowledge – two main qualifications of a good translator – can only result from reading, practice, and experience.

It is clear that both linguistic skills and general knowledge represent an input process, and reading, practice, and experience represent different sources for such inputs.

This can explain how cognition and learning be connected.

This makes me believe that most human learning – mainly language – is based on intertextuality since it is itself based on imitation.

In this paper, I will try to give the concept of intertextuality a farther cognitive dimension rather than being merely related to literary criticism.

This cognitive process is essential in the translation process and plays a crucial role in sharpening the translator's skills when they take more care of the quality of their textual and informational sources in both source and target languages: the better books and texts they read, the better linguistic – mainly writing– skills and more general knowledge they acquire.

This will obviously help with improving the quality of their translation be it literary or scientific.

The idea of giving such importance to intertextuality and taking advantage of it in translation stems basically from the assumption that translating is rewriting; subsequently, any kind of writing or rewriting is tightly related to the concept of intertextuality.

Eventually, one question that must be posed here is whether translators, being students, teachers, or professionals, are even aware of this cognitive phenomenon so that they can develop both sensible and sensitive imitating skill which might make their reproduction read like a masterpiece rather than a literal translation.