Communicative and pragmatic status of a metagraphic sign: Translation perspective

Within this paper the communicative and pragmatic analysis of a metagraphic sign, italics, through translation practices (in fiction) has been carried out. What makes the topic relevant is the current status of metagraphemics as a special means of information transmission. What is more, italics’ functions are specific to different languages and only partly correlate, that is why investigating text as a semiotic system that unites both verbal and non-verbal means proves to be crucial and determines the ultimate goal of this paper, which is to compare the chosen metagraphic sign function in modern fictional discourse. The empirical data consists of sentences with italics in the English version of the novel under scrutiny. These sentences were analysed in the Russian translation as well, the results are statistically verified. The research is based on the content analysis with its focus on both qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The results obtained argue for impressive communicative and pragmatic potential of italics in modern fiction, specifically, the ability to reveal different communicative intentions (from making the narrative more intimate to creating the polyphonic effect – these factors act synergistically together to engage the reader and forge interactive mode of decoding information while reading). The results contribute to futher research of italics (in other translated versions, or novels) and multicoded texts research form a translation point in general.