Relatore: Professor Bruno OSIMO - Bruno Osimo, traduzioni ...

These are naturally desirable qualities of all translators; however as far as the
experimental translation task is concerned, the emphasis on quantity has
clearly resulted in low quality. However, it should be stressed that Lucy’s poor
success in translating may be limited to the experimental situation; her
conduct may be successful in translating routine texts on the job.
Lucy’s nonchalant translational behaviour can also be explained through
social-psychological factors, namely by looking at the subjects’ role behaviour
in the experiment. It seems that role theory, particularly the notion of role
distance (Goffman 1961) 7 can offer useful insights for understanding the
subjects’ behaviour (see also Jääskeläinen 1996b).
In role theory human behaviour is analysed in terms of the roles people
perform in society. Goffman (1961: 93) defines roles as ‘the typical response of
individuals in a particular position’. However, people do not always produce
‘the typical response’ expected of them, i.e. people do not always live up to
their roles. Goffman therefore maintains that typical roles must ‘be
distinguished from the actual role performance of a concrete individual in a
given position’ and, it could be added, in a given situation. Roles carry with
them a large array of expectations which serve to identify individuals; in a
sense, we are defined (correctly or incorrectly) by our roles. Furthermore,
roles involve norms which govern the behaviour of individuals in particular
positions. Consequently, roles are closely related to issues of self-image and
the image conveyed to other people, which may or may not coincide.
According to Goffman (1961: 87):
7 I am grateful to Stephen Condit for bringing this reference to my attention.
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