Translation studies

Translation studies is an interdiscipline containing elements of social science and the humanities, dealing with the systematic study of the theory, the description and the application of translation, interpreting or both these activities.

Translation studies can be normative (prescribing rules for the application of these activities) or descriptive; a translation scholar that insisted upon this latter approach was Antoine Berman.

As an interdisciplinary discipline, translation studies borrows much from the different fields of study that support translation. These include comparative literature, computer science, history, linguistics, philology, philosophy, semiotics, terminology, and so forth. Note that occasionally in English, writers will use the term translatology to refer to translation studies. However, the term translation studies has become implanted in English, whereas in French, it is la traductologie that is used.

Cultural translation

This is a new area of interest in the field of translation studies. Cultural translation is a concept used in cultural studies to denote the process of transformation, linguistic or otherwise, in a given culture. The concept uses linguistic translation as a tool or metaphor in analysing the nature of transformation in cultures. For example, ethnography is considered a translated narrative of an abstract living culture.

Ethics

In the last decade, the interest among theorists and practitioners in the issue of ethics has grown remarkably due to several reasons. As Anthony Pym, professor of translation and intercultural studies, points out, a shift within the field from descriptivism towards tendencies of globalisation can be observed that draw the attention to questions of cross-cultural communication. In the course of the cultural changes due to 9/11 the consciousness of the problem of conflicting worldviews and values between the author and reader, and their relationship to social, economic and political power has been sharpened.

Research

Although there has been some work in the field regarding this topic, the definition of ethics is still unclear when applied to translation studies. Much discussed publications have been the essays of Antoine Berman and Lawrence Venuti that differed in some aspects but agreed on the idea of emphasising the differences between source and target language and culture when translating. Both are interested in how the “cultural other [...] can best preserve [...] that otherness”. In more recent studies scholars applied Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophic work on ethics and subjectivity on this issue. As his publications have been interpreted in different ways, various conclusions on his concept of ethical responsibility have been drawn from this. Some have come to the assumption that the idea of translation itself could be ethically doubtful, while others receive it as a call for considering the relationship between author or text and translator as more interpersonal, thus making it an equal and reciprocal process. Parallel to these studies the general recognition of the translator`s responsibility has increased. More and more translators and interpreters are being seen as active participants in geopolitical conflicts, which raises the question of how to act ethically independent from their own identity or judgement. This leads to the conclusion that translating and interpreting cannot be considered solely as a process of language transfer, but also as socially and politically directed activities.

Code of practice

There is a general agreement on the need of an ethical code of practice providing some guiding principles to reduce uncertainties and improve professionalism, as having been stated in other disciplines (for example Military medical ethics or Legal ethics). However, as there is still no clear understanding of the concept of ethics in this field, opinions about the particular appearance of such a code vary considerably.

See also

• European Society for Translation Studies
• Skopos theory
• Translation
• Category:Translation scholars

External Links

• article in HINDI on translation theory and studies
• International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies
• American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association
• European Society for Translation Studies
• Sachin Ketkar's article on contemporary translation studies

Further reading

• Bachmann-Medick, Doris (2009). Translational Turn, in: Doris Bachmann-Medick, Cultural Turns. Neuorientierungen in den Kulturwissenschaften. 3rd. ed. Reinbek: Rowohlt, 238-283.
• Bachmann-Medick, Doris ed. (2009). The Translational Turn. (=Special Issue of 'Translation Studies' vol. 2, issue 1)
• Baker, Mona ed. (2001). Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. New York & London: Routledge.
• Baker, Mona (1992). In Other Words: Coursebook on Translation. New York & London: Routledge.
• Bassnett, Susan (1980; revised 1991; 2002). Translation Studies.
• Benjamin, Walter (1923). The Task of the Translator, introduction to Benjamin's translation of Fleurs du Mal.
• Joanna Best, Sylvia Kalin|Best, Joanna; Kalina, Sylvia, (2002) "Übersetzen und Dolmetschen".Tübingen und Basel: A. Francke Verlag (UTB).
• Catford, J.C., (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London.
• Gentzler, Edwin (2001). Contemporary Translation Theories. 2nd Ed. London & New York: Routledge
• Holmes, James S. (1972/1988). The Name and Nature of Translation Studies. In: James S. Holmes, Translated! Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies, Amsterdam: Rodopi, pp. 67–80.
• Inghilleri, Moira; Maier, Carol (2001). Ethics. In: Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. New York & London: Routledge.
• Levý, Jiří (1967). Translation as a Decision Process. In To Honor Roman Jakobson. The Hague: Mouton, II, pp. 1171–1182.
• Levý, Jiří (1969). Die literarische Übersetzung: Theorie einer Kunstgattung. Frankfurt am Main-Bonn.
• Mounin, George (1963). Les problèmes théoriques de la traduction. Paris.
• Newmark, Peter (1988). A Textbook of Translation, New York & London: Prentice Hall.
• Torop, Peeter (2010). La traduzione totale. Tipi di processo traduttivo nella cultura, Milano: Hoepli.
• Reiss, Katharina (1989). Text Types, Translation Types and Translation Assessment. In: Chesterman, Andrew (ed.) (1989). Readings in Translation Theory. Helsinki: Oy Finn Lectura Ab.
• Toury, Gideon (1995). Descriptive Translation Studies and beyond. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
• Snell_Hornby, Mary et al. (1999/2006). "Handbuch Translation". Tübingen: Stauffenburg-Verlag.
• Steiner, George (1975). After Babel. Oxford University Press
• Venuti, Lawrence (1995). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. London & New York: Routledge (Read full version here)
• Vermeer, Hans J./Reiß, Katharina: Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1984, ISBN 3-484-30147-3.
• Translation Studies. An International Peer-reviewed Journal. Vol. 1,1 2008 and Vol. 1,2 2008. London: Routledge.