The Idea of the Hybrid Text in Translation Revisited

Abstract

This concluding chapter provides responses to some of the issues raised in the individual chapters, highlighting similarities and differences in the interpretation of the concept of the hybrid text. The questions dealt with here concern the notion of hybridity and the definition of hybrid text; the contexts in which hybrid texts emerge; the functions of hybrid texts; the various levels at which hybrid phenomena manifest themselves; the genres to which the notion of the hybrid text applies; the effects of hybrid texts; and the status of a hybrid text in Translation Studies. It is concluded that the phenomenon of the hybrid text involves greater complexity than had initially been defined in the discussion paper. There-fore, the original hypothesis is reformulated to account for the fact that hybrid texts are not only the product of a translation process but that they can also be produced as original texts in a specific cultural space, which is often in itself an intersection of different cultures.

Multilingual Legal Drafting, Translators’ Choices and the Principle of Lesser Evil

“…Similarly, the Interinstitutional agreement on common guidelines for the quality of drafting advises the draftspersons in point 5 that "concepts or terminology specific to any one national legal system are to be used with care" to take into account the multilingual character of legal drafting. Thus "hybrid texts" (Schäffner and Adab 2001) are produced, situated at an intersection of cultures, being amalgamates of various linguistic and rhetorical features, blurring the boundaries between languages and cultures, and felt to be foreign even by the native speakers of the language of the original. Whether this actually simplifies the translator's task is doubtful.…”

Hybrid Texts and Uniform Law? The Multilingual Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

“…''…the hybrid text ceases to exist once it has been accepted by the target audience and has been fully integrated into the discursive universe of the target culture'' [19].…”

“…''Hybrid texts, in addition to being products of text production in a specific cultural space, which is often in itself an intersection of different cultures, can also result from a translation process'' [19].…”

“…That tone seems to be based on the tone of judgments of the French Cour de Cassation and most référendaires, and indeed many members of the Court, feel that it is quite unnecessary 19 :…”

“…The third factor that restricts how judgments are drafted and thus affects the development of the style of the Court's case law is the collegiate nature of those 19 It must be noted that that ''pompous tone'' appears to have gradually crept into the judgments of the Court of Justice. In the 1970s (when, incidentally, the President of the Court was a German, Judge Kutcher) the judgments of that Court were much lighter and ''not so stuffy'' (référendaire).…”