Meaning and context in literary translation: Language as a cultural construction

Abstract

The significant role of cultural context in translation entails a special focus from researchers mainly that the emotive nature of language affects the contextual meaning of expressions. The emotiveness that characterizes languages stems from the considerable position culture occupies with regard to the deliberate construction of specific types of meaning in different contexts. Culture is therefore an authoritative guide simply because the way speakers conceptualize their social interaction is based in the first place on their cultural identity. More importantly, words acquire their significance by virtue of their cultural context and thus their acquired meaning differs regarding the change that may occur within any context of interaction. It is worth noting that the problematic relation between language and culture results in an ambiguous conceptualization of textual structures mainly in terms of using one word in different contexts and for different purposes. This ambiguity can be resolved by looking at languages as outer forms of communication unable to carry anything without being colored by the power of culture. Hence, language and culture influence each other and complete one another in different fields and at all levels. Adopting a socio-cultural theory was relevant in this regard to investigate the problematic relation that exists between linguistic systems and cultural meanings and how they co-exist to produce significant expressions.