Translation of Shop Signboards: A Hermeneutic Perspective

The pragmatic dimension in Translation Studies broadened the area of study to include “Schildertexte” (Stolze, 1994) which were also called performative texts (Snell-Hornby, 1984) as an important text type. Though shop signboards as a text type were not explicitly mentioned, one could safely consider such texts under the rubric “Schildertexte”. In Sherry Simon’s 2019 book “Translation Sites. A Field Guide” names of hotels, bridges, markets, etc. became an area of study in translation. These are sites where translation pervades the ordinary and mundane and becomes sites of memory, migration, and translation. This article focuses on shop signboards as an area of translation study from the hermeneutic perspective. Shop signboards are usually viewed as just deictic gestures, the translation of which can be done, thanks to the realisation of Warren Weaver’s dream of FAHQT by apps like WayGo, Naver Papago Translate, and Microsoft Translator amongst many others. The minute signboards are viewed not only as deictic gestures but as hermeneutic texts, they become contested sites, sites that subvert and comply with hegemonic language policies, sites of creativity that reflect history and human migration, sites that reveal and conceal identity, in short, sites where translation is at play. This article looks at shop signboards caught in the middle of language wars, human migration, and memory from a translation perspective.