Translation studies
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, dealing with the systematic study of the theory, the description and the application of translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, interpreting
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
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
Antoine Berman
Antoine Berman was a French translator, historian and theorist of translation.- Works :* L'épreuve de l'étranger: Culture et traduction dans l’Allemagne romantique: Herder, Goethe, Schlegel, Novalis, Humboldt, Schleiermacher, Hölderlin. Paris: Gallimard, 1984* Lettres à Fouad El-Etr sur le...
.
As an interdisciplinary discipline, translation studies borrows much from the different fields of study that support translation. These include comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
, terminology
Terminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
, 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 studiesCultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
to denote the process of transformation, linguistic or otherwise, in a given culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. The concept uses linguistic translation as a tool or metaphor in analysing the nature of transformation in cultures. For example, ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
is considered a translated narrative of an abstract living culture.
See also
- European Society for Translation StudiesEuropean Society for Translation StudiesThe European Society for Translation Studies is an international non-profit organization that promotes research on translation, interpreting, and localization.-Name and abbreviation:...
- Skopos theorySkopos theoryThe skopos theory is a concept from the field of translation studies.It was established by the German linguist Hans Vermeer and comprises the idea that translating and interpreting should primarily take into account the function of both the source and target text.Skopos theory focuses on...
- TranslationTranslationTranslation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
- :Category:Translation scholars
External Links
- http://www.scribd.com/doc/72664748/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6-%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87-%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A4-%E0%A4%94%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%82-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%95-%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%A8-%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%89-%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6article 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
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, MonaMona BakerMona Baker is an Egyptian professor of translation studies and Director of the Centre for Translation and International Studies at the University of Manchester in England.-Career:...
ed. (2001). Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. New York & London: Routledge. - Baker, MonaMona BakerMona Baker is an Egyptian professor of translation studies and Director of the Centre for Translation and International Studies at the University of Manchester in England.-Career:...
(1992). In Other Words: Coursebook on Translation. New York & London: Routledge. - Bassnett, SusanSusan BassnettSusan Bassnett is a translation theorist and scholar of comparative literature. She served as pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Warwick for ten years and taught in its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies, which closed in 2009...
(1980; revised 1991; 2002). Translation Studies. - Benjamin, WalterWalter BenjaminWalter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
(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, EdwinEdwin GentzlerEdwin Gentzler is an American Germanist, comparative literature and translation scholar.-Biography:Gentzler first obtained his BA in English at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio in 1973. After studying Germanistics at the Free University of Berlin, 1974-1977, Gentzler obtained his PhD in Comparative...
(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.
- Levý, JiříJirí LevýJiří Levý was a Czech literary theoretician, literary historian and translation theoretician.-Early life and career:Jiří Levý was born on 8 August 1926 in Košice , and died on 17 January 1967 in Brno ....
(1967). Translation as a Decision Process. In To Honor Roman Jakobson. The Hague: Mouton, II, pp. 1171–1182. - Levý, JiříJirí LevýJiří Levý was a Czech literary theoretician, literary historian and translation theoretician.-Early life and career:Jiří Levý was born on 8 August 1926 in Košice , and died on 17 January 1967 in Brno ....
(1969). Die literarische Übersetzung: Theorie einer Kunstgattung. Frankfurt am Main-Bonn. - Mounin, George (1963). Les problèmes théoriques de la traduction. Paris.
- Newmark, PeterPeter NewmarkPeter Newmark , was an English professor of translation at the University of Surrey.-Biography:He was one of the main figures in the founding of Translation Studies in the English-speaking world from the 1980s...
(1988). A Textbook of Translation, New York & London: Prentice Hall. - Torop, PeeterPeeter ToropPeeter Torop is an Estonian semiotician. Following Roman Jakobson, he expanded the scope of the semiotic study of translation to include intratextual, intertextual, and extratextual translation and stressing the productivity of the notion of translation in general semiotics...
(2010). La traduzione totale. Tipi di processo traduttivo nella cultura, Milano: Hoepli. - Reiss, KatharinaKatharina ReissKatharina Reiß , German linguist and translation scholar.She is a defender of the skopos theory.-Works:*Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Übersetzungskritik. Munich, Hueber, 1971....
(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.Mary Snell-HornbyMary Snell-Hornby , British-Austrian translator and scholar.-Career:Mary Snell was awarded a State Scholarship to study at Saint Felix School, Southwold, Suffolk, where she attained G.C.E. Advanced and Scholarship Level in English, French and German in 1958...
(1999/2006). "Handbuch Translation". Tübingen: Stauffenburg-Verlag. - Steiner, GeorgeGeorge SteinerFrancis George Steiner, FBA , is an influential European-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, translator, and educator. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the impact of the Holocaust...
(1975). After BabelAfter BabelAfter Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation is a 1975 linguistics book written by literary critic George Steiner. It was first published by Oxford University Press in the United Kingdom and deals with the "Babel problem" of multiple languages....
. Oxford University Press - Venuti, LawrenceLawrence VenutiLawrence Venuti , American translation theorist, translation historian and translator from Italian, French, and Catalan.-Career:...
(1995). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. London & New York: Routledge (Read full version here) - Vermeer, Hans J.Hans VermeerProf. Dr. h.c. Hans-Josef Vermeer , German linguist and translation scholar.He was appointed Professor of General and Applied Linguistics at the University of Mainz in Germersheim . After that he held the chair of Translation Studies with special reference to Portuguese at Heidelberg University...
/Reiß, KatharinaKatharina ReissKatharina Reiß , German linguist and translation scholar.She is a defender of the skopos theory.-Works:*Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Übersetzungskritik. Munich, Hueber, 1971....
: 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.