Intentio operis, translator et lector empiricus

on interpretation in the translation process, empirical translators, and empirical readers

Abstract

This paper aims at applying Umberto Ecos’s (2004, 2005, 2016) concepts of a model reader and intentio operis to the translation process, relating them to the notion of translation as rewriting through the concept of transcreation (CAMPOS, 2011). Using a theoretical critical approach that considers such theories through the lens of translation practice, we debate in which way sociocultural aspects influence both the interpretative as well as the (re)authorial processes necessary for the recreation of the intentio operis of a text in a new semiotic system. Finally, we highlight the necessity of studies about empirical translators and readers as a way of obtaining data that facilitates the establishment and refinement of translation norms (CHESTERMAN, 1993, 2016; TOURY, 2012), aiming to better understand the external forces that shape translation both as process and product. Thus, we argue in favor of the relevance of empirical studies centered on the processes of interpretation and authorship in the scope of Translation Studies.