In order to understand recent developments in the field of professional translation, we focus in this article on the contemporary network-based translation industry using Albert-Lázsló Barabási’s model of real-world networks and combining it with sociological studies of social capital and trust. According to Barabási, networks are scale-free and therefore fundamentally undemocratic. Barabási’s findings can be used not only by researchers in explaining the topology and organizing principles of production networks but also by professional translators as a conceptual tool in making sense of their current working environment. We use empirical evidence from interviews with six Finnish translators, relating what we discover to be the roles of trust, loyalty, and social capital in networks. The findings suggest that (a lack of) trust may be the Achilles’ heel of these economic networks.À partir de la théorie des réseaux d’Albert-Lázsló Barabási et des concepts sociologiques de capital social et de confiance, cet article propose une analyse de l’industrie de la traduction afin de rendre compte des changements qui affectent depuis peu la profession. Selon Barabási, les réseaux n’ont pas d’échelle et sont donc foncièrement non démocratiques. Les conclusions de Barabási invitent les chercheurs à dresser une typologie des principes qui régissent l’organisation des réseaux de production et offre du même coup aux professionnels la possibilité de développer des outils conceptuels qui leur permettront de saisir leur environnement de travail. Sur la base de données empiriques recueillies par voie d’entretiens auprès de six traducteurs professionnels finlandais, cet article met en évidence l’importance des relations de confiance, de loyauté et du capital social dans le fonctionnement des réseaux, et suggère donc indirectement que la confiance – ou son absence – pourrait bien être le talon d’Achille de ces réseaux
Organizational scholars refer to translation as a metaphor in order to describe the transformation and movement of organizational practices across institutional contexts. However, they have paid relatively little attention to the challenges of moving organizational practices across language boundaries. In this conceptual paper, we theorize that when organizational practices move across contexts that differ not only in terms of institutions and cultures but also in terms of languages, translation becomes more than a metaphor; it turns into reverbalization of meaning in another language. We argue that the meeting of languages opens up a whole new arena for translator agency to unfold. Interlingual and metaphorical translation are two distinct but interrelated forms of translation that are mutually constitutive. We identify possible constellations between interlingual and metaphorical translation and illustrate agentic translation with published case examples. We also propose that interlingual translation is a key resource in the discursive constitution of multilingual organizations. This paper contributes to the stream of research in organization studies that has made translation a core aspect of its inquiry.
Retranslations are a frequent object of study in Translation Studies. They can be used as data for a number of research problems, or retranslation can be studied as a phenomenon on its own. There are no large-scale surveys on retranslation, however, let alone surveys that would be coupled with in-depth case studies, no doubt due to the laboriousness and complexity of the task. Our own interest in the issue started from a small-scale project testing the so-called Retranslation Hypothesis, but gradually our research expanded into a wider range of questions. We have addressed three main areas: the extent and proportion of retranslation in Finland; the motives for and reception of retranslations (publishers, critics); and finally, what happens to a text when it is either retranslated or revised (textual analysis). For this purpose, we have compiled three different sets of data from the Finnish context. These sets consist of synchronic data (retranslations and their reviews from the year 2000), diachronic data (charting the retranslation history of classics shortlisted in 1999 and 1887) and case studies (by e.g. Victor Hugo, Nikolai Gogol, Astrid Lindgren and Juan Valera translated into Finnish). This paper presents an overview of the results of our investigation, argues for a need for a comprehensive treatment of retranslation as a phenomenon, and discusses the implications of textual analysis for the understanding of the fuzzy area between retranslation and revision. The cases presented include Hugo’s Les Misérables , Gogol’s Dead Souls and Lagerlöf’s Gösta Berling .
In this position paper we define an interculturally competent translator as one that demonstrates a high level of intercultural knowledge, skills, attitude and flexibility throughout his or her professional engagements. We argue that to attain this goal, intercultural competence needs to be introduced into the translator training curriculum explicitly and in a conceptually clear manner. In this article we provide an overview of earlier attempts at discussing the role of intercultural communication in translator training curricula and we discuss the various pedagogical and practical challenges involved. We also look at some future challenges, identifying increasing societal diversity as both a source of added urgency for intercultural training and a challenge for traditional biculturally based notions of translators' intercultural competence, and we argue for the central role of empathy. Finally, and importantly, we introduce the contributions to the special issue.
This article looks at the municipality of Tampere (Swedish: Tammerfors), an industrial inland city in southern Finland. The patterns of multilingual interaction within this geographic space are traced, paying special attention to the historical trajectories of translationality. This rereading of the history of Tampere (with particular emphasis on the period 1809-1917) focuses on translational eventsthat is, moments of overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers in written or spoken communicative situations in which more than one language is involved. Translational actions are found to take many forms, ranging from highly prominent and visible interpreting to everyday self-translation. What remains constant during the period under study is a sense of parallel existence of languages and mutual accommodation to the linguistic needs of a multilingual community, even in the face of conflicting interests and changing power relations.
Drawing on the concept of translatorial action by Justa Holz-Mänttäri, this article sets out to analyse the role of translation in a bilingual formal meeting without any professional translation or interpreting. The analysis reveals the central role of translatorial activities: 60% of the turns include some kind of translatoriality. The chair and expert speakers stand out as producers for most of the translations. Self-translation is the most prominent form of translation, but otherwise the translator role tends to vary dynamically with the role of the source text producer. Three types of translatorial action with varying degrees of replication of content were found: duplicating, summarizing, and expanding. In the meeting context, translatorial action is the primary means of enabling participation for all, regardless of language skills or language background, and this action was used by the participants in flexible and dynamic ways.
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