Hedges in Translation : A Study on the Translation of Hedging Devices from English to Swedish in a Non-Fiction Text

Abstract: This paper examines the translation of hedging devices from English to Swedish in a non-fiction history book, and more specifically, which strategies are used in the translation process and why. To get a clear overview of the different hedging devices that are found in the ST, they are divided into categories, which are then analyzed individually with illustrative examples. The analysis shows that the most frequent hedging categories in the ST, as well as the reference material from the pilot study, are modal verbs, adverbs and adverbials, and quantifying pronouns, and the most frequently used translation strategy is retention. Furthermore, the study indicates that polysemous hedges can sometimes cause problems for the translator. Other factors that affect translation are genre-specific hedging conventions and translator preferences. As previous research in this subject area seems sparse, this paper aims to begin to fill that gap, but also to encourage larger studies that can, even more clearly, determine hedging conventions in the field of history.