A vast array of political speeches : can the same powerful, historical and timeless effect be maintained through translation?

Abstract

This dissertation shall evaluate the genre of political speeches by examining research studies made in relation to Translation Studies. The aim is to identify whether, through translation theory and the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), translated political speeches have the ability to maintain their power and ideology in the same manner as the Source Text (ST). By doing so one must not only look at translation from a CDA perspective; particularly from Fairclough, van Dijk and Halliday's point of view, but also by means of Translation Theory, such as the notions of hermeneutics, equivalence and translation losses. The importance of this application lies in the ability to understand the ST well, by conducting a thorough examination of the cultural, historical and social contexts in order to provide an adequate understanding. This will hence lead to a suitable translation of the ST into present-day Maltese. By doing so the frameworks opted for shall be put into motion and will be able to test whether the theories selected come into play when producing a Translated Text (TT) related to this genre.