Abstracts
Abstract
The information transmitted by images accompanying technical and scientific texts id supposed to lead to a better, visually-oriented understanding of the concepts and descriptions contained in the text. Given that conceptualising scientific information entails creating mental representations of the concepts, and since the function of images is complementary to the function of texts, cultural attitudes might well influence many aspects of an image ranging from its contents, to shape or colour. One might ask if the translation process should include the adaptation of original images in the text in order to avoid a misunderstanding of the message by readers from a target culture, or if images should be treated differently depending on the target audience.
As images in technical and scientific books and articles are often difficult to interpret a close study of them is needed so that the visual message matches the knowledge of the receiver in the target culture. In this article we propose cognitive and pragmatic criteria regarding the message transmitted by images in scientific texts as a guide to translation-oriented image analysis.
Keywords/Mots-Clés:
- images,
- technical and scientific texts,
- cognitive and pragmatic perspective,
- visual message
Résumé
L’information véhiculée par les images dans les textes de vulgarisation scientifique prétend faciliter la compréhension des concepts et des descriptions grâce à la perception visuelle. Étant donné que le processus de conceptualisation de l’information scientifique comporte la représentation mentale des concepts et que la fonction des images est complémentaire de celle du texte, les inférences culturelles peuvent influer sur les différents aspects du traitement de l’information contenue dans les images, que ce soit leur contenu, leur forme ou leur couleur. Le processus de traduction devrait-il entraîner l’adaptation des images présentes dans le texte d’origine afin d’éviter une mauvaise compréhension du message de la part des lecteurs dans la culture d’arrivée? Cette étude fournit une description de certains aspects cognitifs et pragmatiques entourant le message virtuel transmis par les images des textes scientifiques dans le but de proposer des règles pour une analyse orientée vers la traduction.
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Appendices
References
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10.7202/010942ar