Divergent vs Convergent Similarities (Chesterman, 2007)

Divergent similarity is a one-to-more-than-one relation: you start with one thing, and produce another that is similar to it in some relevant way. Like a copying machine; or a composer inventing variations on a theme; or a translator producing a translation. Like this:

A > A, A’ (, A’’...)

Convergent similarity, on the other hand, starts with a situation in which two (or more) entities exist, and the perception (by someone, from a given point of view) of a similarity between them. This is the kind of similarity you find in riddles: why is a raven like a writing-desk? Or: this church in Ghent reminds me of one I saw in Strasbourg recently. This is the similarity used in contrastive linguistics. I symbolize it like this:

A < ––– > B

[...]

Divergent similarity is created; convergent similarity is perceived.

A translator creates divergent similarity, but a critic or a scholar looks for, or perceives, convergent similarity.

Chesterman, A., 2007. Similarity Analysis and the Translation Profile. Belgian Journal of Linguistics, 21(1).