Genre-based approach to corpus compilation for translation research

Abstract

Translation research focuses mainly on parallel and comparable corpora, whereby it is constantly faced with issues of representativeness, balance and comparability as its main constraints. This research aims to introduce the concept of genre as a way of observing linguistic features under controlled conditions. The study analyses the application of external and internal criteria with particular focus on the genre criterion in selecting texts for the compilation of a highly-specialized bilingual maritime legal corpus, consisting of source texts in English and their translations into Croatian. The main advantages and constraints of genre as a criterion are discussed. The main benefits of such an approach are found in its application in translator training and practice. In addition, genre-based approaches to corpus analysis may raise awareness of generic features specific to a target language, ultimately improving the quality of translation.