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Hedging in Persuasive Text: Approach from English-Korean Translation

Jin-won Shin 1

1

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In persuasive texts, how to effectively convey propositional contents can be a determining factor to achieving the aim of text act. Hedging is adopted as one of key communicative strategies for such efficient message delivery. It is important for translators to understand the role of hedges and motivations behind writers’ hedgy language, and to make use of this knowledge in their translating work. Nonetheless, due to its culture-dependent and context-dependent quality, translators are highly unlikely to notice hedging expressions clearly and to translate them with strategic approaches. But translating work without understanding the meaning potential and function of hedgy language can easily lead to changing ST writers’ attitude or often translators’ own stance into being more assertive or less assertive; and more subjective or more objective. This paper attempts to apply this complicated but significant concept to translation study, aiming at helping translators much aware of hedging and thereby convey text messages with efficiency. To achieve the aim, this paper examines hedging expressions extracted from Newsweek's columns and their translations, regarded as one of key persuasive text types. The research result of this case study clearly shows how ST writers' or translators' attitudes can be influenced in their translation by the translators' strategic choice.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.