Der „kommunikative Wert“ in der Leipziger Schule: eine Revision

Abstract

In this article we aim to present the «communicative value», a fundamental concept of the Leipzig Translation Studies school which is based on the interlingual communication model (Kade 1965, Jäger 1975, Neubert 1968). After its definition, we will try to review the concept in order to show some of its relevant properties (Wotjak 2001, Jung 2000) which should be taken into consideration and updated for current translation research purposes. The communicative value represents the textual paradox, because it is located somewhere between linguistic and extralinguistic factors, not being able to reject any of them. We will conclude that the communicative value collects all the potential displayed by the text in a «world» that determines the contextual meaning and allows —is a necessary condition for— textual interpretation. The aim of this overview is to update the relevance of the concept and to suggest a new turn: the communicative value as hermeneutic principle.