English language: communication and translation

ECOLOGICAL FALLACY

We should specify that the concepts of sharedness and acceptation aren’t to be confused. In

fact, social values and norms that are part of our nurturing are ultimately shared even by those

who refute them.

Ecological fallacy refers to the fact that it would be a fallacy to say that all the underlying

cultural values are held to be true by every person in that culture (Katan 2004).

Ideology is the way you interpret things.

Within culture the same “asset” can be interpreted in different ways (ideologies), for instance:

Capitalismcompetition, achievements, success, and wealth (good) vs exploitation of

 man by man (bad).

Privatizationto manage property for profit of people (good) vs to manage property

 for profit of the few/rich (bad).

Fundamentalismsavior (good) vs fanatic (bad).

 Political leftfreedom, regulated by solidarity (good) vs Communism (danger to

 freedom through power-control) (bad).

Political right freedom, regulated by laws and order (good) vs Fascism (danger to

 freedom through power-control) (bad).

Migration asset/challenge (good) vs problem (bad).

 

Tourismasset/challenge (good) vs problem (bad).



CULTURE AND IDEOLOGY

Culture: broad set of values and beliefs, containing (parameters to make sense of) both

 typical and atypical elements (what is expected, common, frequent).

Ideology: a restricted set of values within a given culture pointing in a very specific

 direction and excluding deviations from what is perceived to be the accepted standard

(what is good, right).

IDEOLOGY th

The concept of ideology was first introduced at the end of the 18 century by the French

philosopher De Tracy, to mean a philosophical search for truth through the “science of ideas”.

Values, influencing our interpretation of the world (ideologies contain and provide justification

for all claims and actions in line with the system of beliefs, without further evidence or

bombing countries for peace).

explanation, i.e.

HEGEMONIC IDEOLOGY: dominant view of the world (in terms of power, influence,

 Trump is a bad politician” “war is

prestige, “established” political correctness. i.e. “

always bad”) because it’ easily accessible by all members, and all claims in line with its

views can be easily understood, without requiring any backing or evidence.

NON-HEGEMONIC IDEOLOGY: in some cases, more widely shared, but requiring

 (I’m not racist, but… I don’t like Trump, but…;

justification to be “acceptable”

i.e. exploiting the maxims of approbation and agreement). They may not be easily

ENGLISH LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND TRANSLATION

understood or recognized and are likely to be perceived as face-threatening political

correctness.

“Power is related to representation: [some] representations have cognitive authority or can

secure hegemony, [others] doesn’t have authority or aren’t hegemonic ”. (Beverly, 1999:2)

HEGEMONIC IDEOLOGY-POWER

The accessibility of hegemonic views doesn’t coincide with their being widespread and

universally accepted, but simply with the fact that they are shared and promoted by sources

that are authoritative.

The institutions/individuals are:

Social agencies (Institutions): controlling higher education (government, business,

 university managers, teachers).

Media: information programs (news), movies, sitcoms (entertainment) + TV

 personalities.

Intellectuals: producers of cultural products in on domain (in which they’re experts)

 that take sides/position in other domains/politics, social issues.

Think tanks: organizations doing research on political, economic, social matters (thus

 proving “explanations” of social reality).

However, every community/domain has its hegemonic ideology (doctors, layers, scholars,

students, football supporters, vegans, hunters)- thus, aligning to it makes you a member of the

community.

DYNAMIC BETWEEN IDEOLOGIES: DOXA, HETERODOXY, ORTHODOXY

(Bourdieu)

1. DOXA: general knowledge of the world, framework for interpretating things (accepting

also divergent views, “cultural background”). It’s based on:

a) Observation: phenomena are observed, interpreted, and examined on the basis of

recognizable parameters.

b) Specificity: one instance is taken to indicate a trend only when other comparable

instances follow.

c) Linearity: knowledge progresses on the basis of the acquisition of new findings,

which implies the idea of mutability.

- Tradition-boundinfluenced by social order and system (school, family)

- Implicit, subconscious and accepted (fully naturalized and unquestionable) the

- Perceived as the only natural and normal way of dealing with reality objects (i.e.

“common” way we do things, see/interpret things, the “common” reasons why we do

things).

Every community / domain has its own doxa.

2. HETERODOXY: specific ideology, opposing traditional doxa/ruling out diverging views.

It can be explained according to these parameters:

a) Invisibility: what eludes observation and measuring is taken as being as relevant as

what is easily observable.

b) Totality: one single phenomenon may represent all other phenomena.

c) Immanence: what is found true in one circumstance is taken to be always true.

- Explicit and conscious (and possibly polemical) challenge to the doxa (counter

claiming elements of the doxa).

there’s another (alternative) way of doing things, of seeing things, there is another

i.e.

(alternative) set of reasons why we should do things.

3. ORTODOXY: specific ideology, opposing/ruling out diverging views.

- explicit and conscious (polemical and aggressive) counterclaim to the heterodoxy;

defensive of the doxa.

- systematic organization of elements of the doxa.

- explicitly presenting itself as the only possible (not only natural as was the case

with the doxa) position

among others.

even though there are other alternative ways of reasons, the ones in the doxa are proven

i.e.

as being the best ways of doing things, of seeing things, the best reasons why we do things.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND TRANSLATION

We may say that ideologies influence the understanding, interpretation and memorization of

experience, events and the associated roles and values, they presuppose opinions and

attitudes towards segments of reality which are fixed by discourse.

The way in which we discursively represent reality biases its very interpretation and may

reinforce and reiterate stereotypes. Different styles in writing and speaking are often related to

the degree of sharedness and acceptability of the referential/social/cultural content to be

presents; consequently, they are taken to be the most strategic resources to conceptualize

meanings and transmit them in ways which are appropriate.

COMMUNICATION: FORMS, TYPES AND FUNCTIONS

They’re going to influence the meanings you’re saying.

Communication

Medium

ORAL WRITTEN

Highly context based: your text needs to little context based: things relevant

in respect of the content.

be relevant to that context.

INFORMAL FORMAL PRIVATE

PUBLIC

Unrehearsed Rehearsed (cultural (informal)

(formal)

(situational context context), the best

interpersonal cant). version of what you

You talk about want to say, use it to

things that cross give a good FICTIONAL

your mind. impression

TO SELF

(diaries) Aesthetic function

NON-FICTIONAL

TO OTHERS Utilitarian function

(letters) PERSUASIVE

REFERENTIAL NORMATIVE

-to expert:

-to expert: informative -to expert: laws

argumentative, academic

-to novice: educational, -to novice: contracts,

discourse

ORAL COMMUNICATION

textbooks, resource institutional discourse

-to novice: promotional,

It’s a real-time phenomenon and, as such, is highly situationally conditioned as well as

books -to layman: signs,

true + appealing

maximally context-determined; disambiguation and discourse cohesiveness can be achieved

-to layman: signals, instruction

-to layman: advertising,

by resources like: popularization, media true<appealing

- Markers of pragmatic force, namely, stress, loudness, intonation, pauses

discourse

- Deixis, pointing to elements sharing the time and the place of the exchange

- Repair, retraction, correction; repetition of expressions, incomplete formulations

- Interactive features, adjacency pairs, question-answer pairs

Oral communication can be distinguished into:

1. Informal: the exchange hinges significantly on the situational and interpersonal

background, and both relevance and coherence of the message are negotiated within

the context of the utterance.

2. Formal; business meetings, briefings, speeches, class lesson. These texts are directly

addressed to a specific audience, and their purpose isn’t so much to negotiate

ENGLISH LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND TRANSLATION

meanings with them, but to get a given meaning across in a way that’s clear, effective.

They me adapted to the specific context of their production for reasons of impact.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

It’s primarily a two-step process. It’s usually pre-planned and revised, and the time of its

production doesn’t coincide with the time of consumption. This way of codifying meaning isn’t

situationally conditioned, and it’s minimally context dependent.

In some limited cases, writers may resort to prosody-simulators to recreate the impression of

orality.

In most written realizations, coherence, relevance, impact, and pragmatic effectiveness stem

from other features depending on other variables, such as the audience involved in the

communication, and the type of content the communication is designed to convey. Written

communication can be distinguished into private and public writing.

Private writing

It’s characterized by the fact that the informative nature of the message is at least as

important as, its interpersonal implications. The interpersonal function of the language is

predominant in such communication, which is targeted to an actual interlocutor and, its

ideational meaning is tailor-cut to fit interpersonal expectations and need. Private texts can be

addressed to oneself and to others:

1. Private genres meant to the writer himself: can range from markedly pragmatic

texts to less operative ones. In both cases, ideas, feelings, events don’t need to be fully

explicated, described in detail; allusiveness, implicitness, extreme conciseness o

incompleteness are acceptable ways.

2. Private genres meant for the others: may range from little informative to markedly

informative ones. The informative material is here primarily used as a resource meant

“to maintain the channel of communication suggest a degree of intimacy between the

writer and reader”.<