Mainstream translation studies considers meaning and style as two different things. Stylistic features are often neglected in translation, and are frequently sacrificed. Nevertheless, no text can be a text without its stylistic features. The reader cannot be sure of the function of stylistic elements, because the differences in meaning they convey are not as conventional as the differences in the meaning of lexical items. But from this it does not follow that stylistic differences in meaning are not relevant for the understanding of the text. As such, stylistic features are important, and should be taken into account in the process of translation. It seems justified to argue that a translation theory should consider stylistic features as devices which help the reader to derive the meaning of a text. This paper will first define the term 'style' and review the development of stylistics, and examine how style relates to translation, and finally will attempt to find general stylistic characteristics of political speeches by analyzing actual speeches.
