On drama translation : Katerina Reiss's text types revisited1 with reference to Shakespearean translation into Arabic

Abstract EN

The theory of text types, introduced by Katerina Reiss towards the end of the 20th century has been a major contribution to Translation Studies.

It revolutionized our approach to the translation of various texts by establishing parameters for each text type, requiring the translator to observe stylistic differences in the target text commensurate with those of the source text.

The idea of equivalence was thus given a new linguistic relevance as the form of the target text became part of the equation.

One would now expect an expressive text to be translated differently, in terms of style, from an informative text.

Katerina Reiss's types are, however, found to be too general and translators have tended to suggest more than one subtype in each category.

This paper argues that the category of expressive text as applied to literature includes other sub-categories.

Prose should, however 'literary', be different from verse.

Still as the practice of major literary translators show, both sub-types can be used alternatively, either in the same translated text or exclusively in other texts.

This is demonstrated by the translation of certain Shakespearean texts by M.Enani.

The upshot of the investigation has shown that more work has to be done on Reiss's theory to make it applicable to different texts, especially to drama, which have a special nature in which the expressive and the informative overlap.

Experienced literary translators, Enani is one example, set rules which refuse rigid boundaries between text types.