Traduction et normalisation linguistique
ABSTRACT
Normalization in translation and language
The theory of translation normally indicates a purely communicative function thereof. However, according to the author of this article, it often happens that a relatively large quantity of a certain kinds of literature translated can produce different effects depending on the sociolinguistic situation of their target population. The more minoritized and precarious the situation of the language into which one is translating, the greater the danger of the defects: bad translating style, distortion of language usage rules, etc., (which also appear in everyday usage of that same, though not translated, language). This could eventually bring about a deterioration of the language to the extent that it becomes pure pidgin.
Of course, this effect is not only due to translation, but also to the "minoritization" of one language with regard to another.
This article attempts to analyze the interdependence which may exist between translation and language normalization processes; those recuperation processes based on situations of precariousness and a kind of osmosis of the "minoritized" language with respect to the dominant one, a frequent phenomenon in such cases.
The author briefly describes and analyzes various types of "minoritization" situations and tries to grade them, and also outlines the positive influence translation has had in the past on languages which have been spoken in those situations.
