Translation as a socio semiotic research tool

Abstract

The incorporation of ternary sign models to semiotics has opened an entire new field of research issues. The reception of signs is one of them. However, reception involves both activities of interpretation and appropriation. While the latter are easily observable as they are embodied in practices and discourse, the former are harder to pinpoint as they hide in the inner world and express themselves to the outside world almost exclusively through activities of appropriation. How to get access, then, to the interpretations? In the search of the answer to this question, we have designed a technical tool that makes use of translation to produce discourses that are as closely associated to interpretations as possible, within the framework of focused interviews. In this article, I intend to put forth the theoretical bases that enable the use of translation as a technique, for both the reconstruction of the interpretations of informants as well as to infer operations and cognitive processes that lead to them. I intend to do this by analyzing the potential of intrasystemic and intersystemic translations, and providing examples from empirical research on the reception of tango (its music and poetry) in the city of Córdoba.