This book introduces Critical Translation Studies (CTS), a cultural-studies approach to the study of translation to Translation Studies (TS) scholars. A term first used by Lydia Liu in her list of research interests, CTS is based perhaps on the model of Critical Discourse Analysis or Critical Legal Studies, with an implicit focus on translation as a social practice shaped by power relations in society. The central claim in CTS is that translators help condition what TS scholars take to be the primal scene of translation: two languages, two language communities, with the translator as mediator. CTS is dedicated to the historicization of the social relations that create that scenario.
In the past decades, translation studies have increasingly focused on the ethical dimension of translational activity, with an emphasis on reflexivity to assert the role of the researcher in highlighting issues of visibility, creativity and ethics. In Reflexive Translation Studies, Silvia Kadiu investigates the viability of theories that seek to empower translation by making visible its transformative dimension; for example, by championing the visibility of the translating subject, the translator’s right to creativity, the supremacy of human translation or an autonomous study of translation. Inspired by Derrida’s deconstructive thinking, Kadiu presents practical ways of challenging theories that argue reflexivity is the only way of developing an ethical translation. She questions the capacity of reflexivity to counteract the power relations at play in translation (between minor and dominant languages, for example) and problematises affirmative claims about (self-)knowledge by using translation itself as a process of critical reflection. In exploring the interaction between form and content, Reflexive Translation Studies promotes the need for an experimental, multi-sensory and intuitive practice, which invites students, scholars and practitioners alike to engage with theory productively and creatively through translation.
This is an integrated and structured set of progressive readings from translation and related disciplines, which provides a comprehensive overview of the field and how it is developing.
Jean Boase-Beier's Critical Introduction To Translation Studies demonstrates a keen understanding of theoretical and practical translation. It looks to instances where translation might not be straightforward, where stylistics play an important role. Examples are discussed from works of literature, advertisements, journalism and others, where effects on the reader are central to the text, and are reflected in the style. It begins by setting out some of the basic problems and issues that arise in the study of translation, such as: the difference between literary and non-literary translation; the role of language, content and style; the question of universals and specifics in language and the notion of context. The book then goes on to focus more closely on style and how it enables us to characterise literary texts and literary translation. The final part looks at the translation of poetry. Throughout, it is conscious of the relationship between theory and practice in translation. This book offers a new approach to translation, grounded in stylistics, and it will be an invaluable resource for undergraduates and postgraduates approaching translation studies.
An investigation into the state of translation studies which looks ahead at the direction in which the author sees the field moving. Included are reviews of the work of translation theorists. A volume in a series which aims to present a broad spectrum of thinking on translation.
As an interdisciplinary area of research, translation studies attracts students and scholars with a wide range of backgrounds, who then need to face the challenge of accounting for a complex object of enquiry that does not adapt itself well to traditional methods in other fields of investigation. This book addresses the needs of such scholars – whether they are students doing research at postgraduate level or more experienced researchers who want to familiarize themselves with methods outside their current field of expertise. The book promotes a discerning and critical approach to scholarly investigation by providing the reader not only with the know-how but also with insights into how new questions can be fruitfully explored through the coherent integration of different methods of research. Understanding core principles of reliability, validity and ethics is essential for any researcher no matter what methodology they adopt, and a whole chapter is therefore devoted to these issues. Research Methodologies in Translation Studies is divided into four different chapters, according to whether the research focuses on the translation product, the process of translation, the participants involved or the context in which translation takes place. An introductory chapter discusses issues of reliability, credibility, validity and ethics. The impact of our research depends not only on its quality but also on successful dissemination, and the final chapter therefore deals with what is also generally the final stage of the research process: producing a research report.
What’s new in Translation Studies? In offering a critical assessment of recent developments in the young discipline, this book sets out to provide an answer, as seen from a European perspective today. Many “new” ideas actually go back well into the past, and the German Romantic Age proves to be the starting-point. The main focus lies however on the last 20 years, and, beginning with the cultural turn of the 1980s, the study traces what have turned out since then to be ground-breaking contributions (new paradigms) as against what was only a change in position on already established territory (shifting viewpoints). Topics of the 1990s include nonverbal communication, gender-based Translation Studies, stage translation, new fields of interpreting studies and the effects of new technologies and globalization (including the increasingly dominant role of English). The author’s aim is to stimulate discussion and provoke further debate on the current profile and future perspectives of Translation Studies.
This book covers the history of the theory and practice of translation from Cicero to the digital age. It examines all major processes of translation, offers critical accounts of current research, and compares theoretical perspectives on the problems of translation ranging from sacred texts and drama to science and diplomatic interpretation.
This book offers an introduction for Translation Studies (TS) scholars to Critical Translation Studies (CTS), a cultural-studies approach to the study of translation spearheaded by Sakai Naoki and Lydia H. Liu, with an implicit focus on translation as a social practice shaped by power relations in society. The central claim in CTS is that translators help condition what TS scholars take to be the primal scene of translation: two languages, two language communities, with the translator as mediator. According to Sakai, intralingual translation is primal: we are all foreigners to each other, making every address to another "heterolingual", thus a form of translation; and it is the order that these acts of translation bring to communication that begins to generate the "two separate languages" scenario. CTS is dedicated to the historicization of the social relations that create that scenario. In three sets of "Critical Theses on Translation," the book outlines and explains (and partly critiques) the CTS approach; in five interspersed chapters, the book delves more deeply into CTS, with an eye to making it do work that will be useful to TS scholars.
Praise for the previous edition of the Encyclopedia of Translation Studies: 'Translation has long deserved this sort of treatment. Appropriate for any college or university library supporting a program in linguistics, this is vital in those institutions that train students to become translators.' – Rettig on Reference 'Congratulations should be given to Mona Baker for undertaking such a mammoth task and...successfully pulling it off. It will certainly be an essential reference book and starting point for anyone interested in translation studies.' – ITI Bulletin 'This excellent volume is to be commended for bringing together some of [its] most recent research. It provides a series of extremely useful short histories, quite unlike anything that can be found elsewhere. University teachers will find it invaluable for preparing seminars and it will be widely used by students.' – The Times Higher Education Supplement ' ... a pioneering work of reference ...'– Perspectives on Translation The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies has been the standard reference in the field since it first appeared in 1998. The second, extensively revised and extended edition brings this unique resource up-to-date and offers a thorough, critical and authoritative account of one of the fastest growing disciplines in the humanities. The Encyclopedia is divided into two parts and alphabetically ordered for ease of reference. Part One (General) covers the conceptual framework and core concerns of the discipline. Categories of entries include: central issues in translation theory (e.g. equivalence, translatability, unit of translation) key concepts (e.g. culture, norms, ethics, ideology, shifts, quality) approaches to translation and interpreting (e.g. sociological, linguistic, functionalist) types of translation (e.g. literary, audiovisual, scientific and technical) types of interpreting (e.g. signed language, dialogue, court). New additions in this section include entries on globalisation, mobility, localization, gender and sexuality, censorship, comics, advertising and retranslation, among many others. Part Two (History and Traditions) covers the history of translation in major linguistic and cultural communities. It is arranged alphabetically by linguistic region. There are entries on a wide range of languages which include Russian, French, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and Finnish, and regions including Brazil, Canada and India. Many of the entries in this section are based on hitherto unpublished research. This section includes one new entry: Southeast Asian tradition. Drawing on the expertise of over 90 contributors from 30 countries and an international panel of consultant editors, this volume offers a comprehensive overview of translation studies as an academic discipline and anticipates new directions in the field. The contributors examine various forms of translation and interpreting as they are practised by professionals today, in addition to research topics, theoretical issues and the history of translation in various parts of the world. With key terms defined and discussed in context, a full index, extensive cross-references, diagrams and a full bibliography the Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies is an invaluable reference work for all students and teachers of translation, interpreting, and literary and social theory. Mona Baker is Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. She is co-founder and editorial director of St Jerome Publishing, a small press specializing in translation studies and cross-cultural communication. Apart from numerous papers in scholarly journals and collected volumes, she is author of In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation (Routledge 1992), Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account (2006) and Founding Editor of The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication (1995), a refereed international journal published by St Jerome since 1995. She is also co-Vice President of the International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS). Gabriela Saldanha is Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is founding editor (with Marion Winters) and current member of the editorial board of New Voices in Translation Studies, a refereed online journal of the International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies, and co-editor (with Federico Zanettin) of Translation Studies Abstracts and Bibliography of Translation Studies.
