Translation as a
rhetorical device
In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, ...
is a form of
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
, where a
sarcastic
Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection ...
paraphrase of a source quotation is given to mock its author; to enhance the
irony
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
, it is furthermore stated that the version being given is merely a translation into the speaker's language, implying that the original speaker was unduly obscure or
ranting
A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion.
Histo ...
. Given the nature of
Usenet
Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
forums, parodic translation is prevalent in
flame wars
Flaming or roasting is the act of posting insults, often including profanity or other offensive language, on the internet. This term should not be confused with the term trolling, which is the act of someone going online, or in person, and causing ...
, where remarks such as "Translation: 'I do not have a clue and am throwing mud'" are used to imply — on very little ground — that another poster is not making any appreciable contribution to the subject.
Unlike other forms of parody, translation has a relatively recent history; early usages of the device can be seen in the work of the Viennese literary critic and journalist
Karl Kraus, who claimed to translate from other journalists' — famously former friend
Harden — and from ''Moskauderwelch'' — a derisive term for the highly elaborate
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...
of the time, a pun on ''Moskau'', Moscow, and ''Kauderwelch'', gibberish. Kraus' influence is notable in
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
; while translation of scientific theories into
verificationist terms had been a standard procedure in
logical positivism
Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement in Western philosophy whose central thesis was the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion o ...
for some time, Popper's criticism of several philosophers and scientists that failed to comply with his notion of the
scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...
took a mocking quality reminiscent of the former.
Rhetoric
Satire
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