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Introduction
ThesimplestandthemostbluntdefinitionofexplicitationIcanthinkofisthat
itisaboutadding.Thisimpreciseandsimplisticdefinitionbringstomymind
acertaininterpreterwhoprobablyresortedtothemostextensiveadditions
Ihaveeverheardof.ItisJuanRanz-oneofthebest-knowninterpreters,al-
thoughheisonlyafictionalcharacterinJavierMarias)snovelAHeartSoWhite.1
Itishisbrilliantlyunfaithfultranslation,fullofadditions,thattransforms
meaninglessandinsipidsmalltalkofaSpanishandanEnglishpoliticianinto
apassionateconversationaboutloveandShakespeare.Thankstotheinterpreter)s
deliberateadditions,theinterlocutorsbecomesoinvolvedthatwecometothink
thatperhapshemerelyexplicitateswhatinfacttheymeantandwantedtosay.
Obviously,explicitationisnotaboutchangingthecourseofconversation,aswas
thecaseofJuanRanz,butthefictionalinterpreterinMarias)sbookisaperfect
example,albeitsomewhatextreme(therightofliterature,onemaysay),ofan
interpreter)smediatingrole.Inreallife,interpretersdonotaddanythingthat
couldchangethemessage,buttheydoadd-usuallytomediatethemessage.
Andsuch“additions,”denominatedexplicitations,appeartobeauniversalfea-
tureofalltranslationalactivityirrespectiveofthemode,genre,andlanguagepair.
Explicitation,manifestingitselfingreaterexplicitnessoftargettextsascom-
paredtosourcetexts-becauseinfactthatishowwedefineitratherthansay
that“itisaboutadding”-hassparkedunprecedentedinterestintheTranslation
Studiescommunityinthelast60years.Almostunanimouslyhailedasoneofthe
translationuniversals,ithasbeeninvestigatedinrelationtotranslationalnorms,
strategicbehaviour,translator)sstyle,andmanyotheraspects.However,thevast
majorityofthesestudiesconcernwrittentranslation,andthescaleofempirical
researchonexplicitationininterpretingappearstobeincomparablysmaller.
Despiteinitialclaimsthattheconstraintsintrinsictosimultaneousinterpreting
mightprecludeextensiveandrecurrentexplicitationinthismode(Schjoldager
1
IreferheretotheEnglishtranslationbyMargaretJullCosta,NewDirections,2002.