Nord highlights two types of translation: documentary translation, which serves to document a source culture communication, and instrumental translation, which serves as an independent message in the target culture. She also emphasizes three important aspects of translation: 1) considering the translation commission/brief, 2) analyzing aspects of the source text like subject matter and composition, and 3) establishing a functional hierarchy of translation problems from deciding the intended function to addressing lower-level linguistic problems.

1. Translation-oriented text analysis
Christiane Nord
Text Analysis in Translation (1988/91)
Translating as a Purposeful Activity (1997)
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2. Two basic types
of translation product
DOCUMENTARY TRANSLATION
It ‘serves as a document of a source culture
communication between the author and the
source text (ST) recipient’
e.g., literary translation, word-for-word or literal
translations (business contracts, certificates)
‘foreignizing’ or ‘exoticizing’ translations, etc.
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3. INSTRUMENTAL TRANSLATION
It ‘serves as an independent message-transmitting
instrument in a new communicative action in the
target culture, and is intended to fulfil its
communicative purpose without the recipient being
conscious of reading or hearing a text which, in a
different form, was used before in a different
communicative situation.’
e.g., ‘function-preserving translations’ (software
manual) or ‘function-changing translations’
(translation of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels for children
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4. Nord highlights 3 important aspects:
1. the importance of the translation
commission (or ‘translation brief’) (cf.
Holz-Mänttäri, Vermeer)
2. the importance of text analysis
3. the functional hierarchy or translation
problems
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5. 1. The translation commission
The translator (T) must always keep in
mind the client’s request/guidelines etc.
T must compare the ST and TT profiles as
defined in the commission and see
where they may be different.
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6. The translation commission should specify
(for both ST and TT) (these factors are
external in relation to the text)
• Intended text functions
• Sender
• Recipient
• Time and place of text reception
• Medium (oral / written)
• Motive (why the ST was written and why it
is being translated)
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7. 2. TEXT ANALYSIS
Nord’s list of intratextual factors is a possible model for
analysing the ST.
• Subject matter (tema)
• Content (conteúdo)
• Presuppositions (pressupostos): real-world factors of the
communicative situation presumed to be known to the
participants
• Composition (estrutura)
• Non-verbal elements (illustrations, italics) (aspectos não-
verbais)
• Lexic (incl. register, specific terminology) (léxico)
• Sentence structure (sintaxe)
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8. 3. The functional hierarchy of translation
problems
When undertaking a translation, it is important to
establish a functional hierarchy.
1. Decide intended function of translation
(documentary or instrumental)
2. Determine elements that will need to be
adapted to the TT addressee’s situation (after
analysis of trans.commission)
3. Decide translation style (SC or TC oriented)
based on translation type
4. Deal with problems presented by text at lower
linguistic level (as in ST analysis)
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