1.1.2.4. Communicative competence
Given that translation is all about communication, it would be
unacceptable to talk about linguistic competence without pointing at the vital
necessity of communicative competence. Georges Mounin (1973) insists that:
"La traduction n'est difficile que lorsqu'on a appris une
langue autrement qu'en la pratiquant directement en situation de
communication."
(p. 61)
(see translation 10, Appendix C)
The translator's communicative competence then is fundamental
to assure the appropriateness of translation acts, and hence the achievement of
the ultimate aim of translation. Hatim and Mason (1990) assume that:
"[...] the translator's communicative competence is attuned to
what is communicatively appropriate in both SL and TL communities and
individual acts of translation may be evaluated in terms of their
appropriateness to the context of their use."
(p. 33)
1.1.2.5. Controlled linguistic knowledge
Another vital feature of the translator's required linguistic
competence is a separate knowledge of the two different linguistic
worlds. In other words, this knowledge should be free of any sort of
interference. That is to say a perfectly controlled knowledge that should be
the result of a complete cognitive and affective involvement. Titone's (1995)
explanation is clear:
"The linguistic-communicative competence in two
languages/cultures becomes an invaluable asset only if the
whole human personality is complete in its performative, cognitive and in-depth
conscious dimensions, and is therefore involved in controlling the two
communication systems."
(p. 177)
Inevitably, an uncontrolled knowledge of two languages leads
to interference, which might be disastrous to the translation as well as to
both languages. A constant cognitive effort is thus needed to prevent any
interference to take place. This faculty is an aspect of what Titone (1995)
calls linguistic awareness, which "is nothing else but total
self-perception and total self-control" (p. 28).
On the whole, it should be retained, from all the assumptions
advanced so far, that the difference between languages is far from being
superficial. Mastering a language, even one's mother tongue, is hard. Mastering
more than one language is even harder. But mastering two languages in order to
be able to translate is far more complex. Indeed, it should be systematic,
precise, deep, subtle and controlled. The translator needs to transcend the
mere syntactic and lexical competence to establish communication between two
distinct linguistic worlds.
Many other aspects should be characteristic of his linguistic
knowledge. Precise knowledge of the limits of appropriateness in each language
(communicative competence), mastery of textual features and effective writing
devices, awareness of where differences and where similarities lie, are but
some of these aspects. Again, it should be clearly underlined that
consciousness of both linguistic systems as two separate entities is
extremely important to translate safely, without distorting the specificity of
any language.
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