paratext

Although filling the gap in reading comprehension gained momentum with the rise of the top-down approach, Vygotsky’ concept of scaffolding and the dual code theory provided a strong support for the use of paratext to enhance comprehension. Scaffolding is dependent on other-regulation, one type of which is object-regulation. From this vantage-point, various types of paratext can function as sources of object-regulation to scaffold the interaction between the reader and the text. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of three types of paratext (the picture, preface, and title) on the reading comprehension and recall of less proficient and more proficient EFL learners. The control groups in the two proficiency levels read a text with no paratext, whereas participants in the experimental groups read the same text accompanied by the three types of scaffolding paratext. Both groups were also given a recall test which required the recall of propositions from the original texts. The results showed the beneficial effect of paratext on reading comprehension among the more proficient experimental group. As to reading recall, neither less proficient nor more proficient group succeeded in manifesting better recall than the control groups. These findings have two implications. First, there is proficiency “short-circuit” for the scaffolding effect of paratext on reading comprehension. Second, short-circuit has a task-bound nature. As the results of this study show, the proficiency ceiling needed to move beyond the short-circuit effect of comprehension is different from that of recall because recall is a comparatively more demanding task.

Drawing upon the notion of ‘paratextual agency’ (Paloposki, “Limits of Freedom” 191), the current study investigated the agency of the Iranian fansubbers. To do so, a corpus of 20 Persian fansubs of Hollywood movies released during the last decade was selected randomly. The study was carried out in two steps. Firstly, translators’ notes were categorized based on their content, frequency, and percentage of each category. Secondly, these notes were analyzed to scrutinize the agency of the Iranian fansubbers. The findings of the study reveal that notes added on the part of the Iranian fansubbers can be categorized into narrative-related notes, locations, famous figures, organizations, medical information, allusions, and transliteration. The study illustrates that by providing such notes to the audience, Iranian fansubbers move beyond the conventional role of subtitler and a mere linguistic conveyor of the movies and take the responsibility of teachers, researchers, cultural representatives, and intermediary agents. The study concludes that fansubbing in Iran is concerned with elucidating culture-bound items of the movies to make them more understandable for the audience. The conclusions of this study can open up prospective avenues for the sociologically-oriented approaches to audiovisual translation, with an eye on the agency and status of fansubbers

The world is not a neutral or value-free reality, but each person inevitably experiences it in terms of value. So, every person in the society has a perception of reality and the translator is no exception. However, this has a lot to do with his/her social status. Understanding a symbolic system such as language as a product of culture is done through our expression of reality. Identity construction is somehow related to reality construction. So the main issue is not how the narrative is constructed as a text, but how it acts as a mental tool in constructing reality and consequently, identity. Like the controversial issue of language and thought, it is not easy to deal with narrative discourse and narrative thinking, since the reality existed in the mind, depends on the spatio-temporal framework of the culture in question. In this regard, elaborating on the concept of narrative identity, and the applicability of Goffman’s Frame Analysis in mentioned concept, this paper shows how society, as a cultural frame, forces the translator or the publisher to retell the narrative and to reconstruct the identity, and why this identity formation will be more pronounced in the paratextual elements (translatorial &authorial prefaces). Analyzing the frame of 80s, along with literature and media, it proposes a hybrid model based on Somers’ features (Paul Ricoeur’s Mimesis), and Goffman’s Framework for the concrete manifestation of renarration, and the incorporation of the core conception of identity formation, to indicate how orientalism concepts have been renarrated in translatorial and authorial prefaces of Edward Said’s Orientalism, affected by structure or agency during 80s in Iran, and how these prefaces play a crucial role in framing readers’ interpretation. Finally, it has concluded that, regarding structure/agency, and the involvement of multiple agents in translation, different author-functions and identities have developed through the presentation of the prefaces in question.