The Missing Link identified by Michèle Kaiser-Cooke explains the fundamental translatability of the world. Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, a link is established between various human interpretations of reality, as manifested in cultures, languages and disciplines. These different constructions of reality are essentially commensurable and therefore also translatable because of the common experience of the conditio humana. The only limits to translatability, whether between cultures, languages or disciplines, are set by the limits of human communication. By clearly defining the translation paradigm, the author makes it possible to explain the commensurability of all languages within the concept of the indissoluble unity of theory and practice.

Due to the increasing lingua-cultural heterogeneity of today’s users of English, it has become necessary to examine politeness, translation and transcultural communication from a different perspective. This book proposes a concept for a transdisciplinary methodology to shed some light onto the opaque relationship between the lingua-cultural biographies of users of English and their patterns of perceiving and realizing politeness in speech acts. The methodology incorporates aspects of CAT tools and business intelligence systems, and is designed for long-term research that can serve as a foundation for theoretical studies or practical contexts, such as customer relationship management and marketing.

The Missing Link identified by Michèle Kaiser-Cooke explains the fundamental translatability of the world. Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, a link is established between various human interpretations of reality, as manifested in cultures, languages and disciplines. These different constructions of reality are essentially commensurable and therefore also translatable because of the common experience of the conditio humana. The only limits to translatability, whether between cultures, languages or disciplines, are set by the limits of human communication. By clearly defining the translation paradigm, the author makes it possible to explain the commensurability of all languages within the concept of the indissoluble unity of theory and practice.

Due to the increasing lingua-cultural heterogeneity of today’s users of English, it has become necessary to examine politeness, translation and transcultural communication from a different perspective. This book proposes a concept for a transdisciplinary methodology to shed some light onto the opaque relationship between the lingua-cultural biographies of users of English and their patterns of perceiving and realizing politeness in speech acts. The methodology incorporates aspects of CAT tools and business intelligence systems, and is designed for long-term research that can serve as a foundation for theoretical studies or practical contexts, such as customer relationship management and marketing.