Translating Institutions: An Ethnographic Study of EU Translation
... Risku's early qualitative fieldwork in a translation agency investigated sociological and cognitive aspects of translation work by observing project management processes, including task accomplishment, deadlines and quality control (Risku, 2004;Risku et al., 2019a). Koskinen (2008), Tcaciuc (2013) and Tesseur (2014) used ethnographic observation to obtain insights on translation policies and practices in institutional settings. Koskinen's (2008) study on translations by Finnish translators working at the European Commission focused on topics such as professional identity, cultural affiliations and role negotiation. ...
... Koskinen (2008), Tcaciuc (2013) and Tesseur (2014) used ethnographic observation to obtain insights on translation policies and practices in institutional settings. Koskinen's (2008) study on translations by Finnish translators working at the European Commission focused on topics such as professional identity, cultural affiliations and role negotiation. She studied the institutional and physical settings of the Finnish translation unit in order to locate "the spaces occupied by translators, and use these administrative and physical locations as keys to understanding their role and place in the institutional system" (Koskinen, 2008, p. 62). ...
... If researchers aim to achieve generalizations and comparisons, they should opt for another method (Pole & Hillyard, 2016). Yet, some findings may apply to similar situations (Koskinen, 2008), and results from observational research can be used to generate hypotheses and research questions. Qualitative field observations take place in natural settings and the object of research is in continuous development and mutation. ...
As digital advancements reshape communication, researchers need interdisciplinary methods to understand the cognitive processes involved. This essential reference for advanced students and researchers provides a comprehensive introduction to innovative research methods in cognitive translation and interpreting studies (CTIS). International experts from diverse disciplines share best practices for investigating cognitive processes in multilectal mediated communication. They emphasize the application of these methods across research domains situated at the interface of cognition and communication. The book offers an in-depth analysis of key research methods, explaining their rationales, uses, affordances, and limitations. Each chapter focuses on one or two closely related research methods and their tools, including surveys, interviews, introspective techniques, keylogging, eyetracking, and neuroimaging. The book guides readers in planning research projects and in making informed methodological choices. It also helps readers understand the basics of popular tools, fostering more rigorous research practices in data collection. Additionally, it provides practical suggestions on study design, participant profiling, and data analysis to deepen our understanding of texts, tasks, and their users.
... Hermans (2003) sostiene que el sistema de traducción, entendido como sistema social, comprende todas las comunicaciones vinculadas a la comunicación transnacional. En este contexto, toda traducción se concibe como una actividad institucional, es decir, como una traducción institucional (Koskinen, 2008). Mossop (1988), por su parte, ofrece una definición que circunscribe la traducción institucional al ámbito institucional, incluyendo empresas, Gobiernos, periódicos, iglesias, editoriales, etc. Además, señala que los traductores conscientemente adaptan las traducciones para servir a los objetivos de cada institución ISSN: 2341-3778 FITISPos International Journal. ...
... En la misma línea, Koskinen (2008) coincide en parte con Mossop (1988) y Lefevere (1992), pero propone la necesidad de definir y delimitar un género específico de traducción institucional. En este sentido, habla de traducción institucional cuando una entidad oficial (como una agencia gubernamental, organización multinacional, empresa privada o individuo con un estatus oficial) utiliza la traducción para comunicarse con un público específico. ...
... En definitiva, la definición que ofrece Koskinen (2008) nos parece la más apropiada. Esta definición no entiende la traducción institucional como una especialidad de la traducción, puesto que no está vinculada a un ámbito del conocimiento concreto, sino que la vincula más bien a un contexto. ...
El propósito de este artículo es presentar un estudio de caso encaminado a describir el trabajo de los traductores que trabajan en el Servicio de Traducción al Español de las Naciones Unidas y que, por tanto, tienen el español como lengua materna. En particular, se busca identificar el perfil de estos traductores y las habilidades necesarias para ejercer la traducción de manera profesional en esta organización. Además, se busca abordar la falta de información sobre el rol y las responsabilidades de los traductores en las Naciones Unidas, así como analizar los principales retos a los que se enfrentan en su labor de traducción, y describir las herramientas y los recursos que utilizan, y los tipos de textos que traducen. En resumen, el objetivo de este artículo es proporcionar una comprensión más profunda de la situación real y el trabajo de aquellos que han ejercido o ejercen como traductores al español en esta organización internacional.
... Sin embargo, tanto desde un punto de vista financiero como ideológico las dos propuestas no serían viables en Tirol del Sur. El sector público ha sufrido en las últimas décadas ingentes recortes, por tanto una inversión de dinero para un pequeño "ejército de traductores" (Koskinen, 2008) simplemente no es sostenible. Además, como ya hemos explicado en el apartado 2, la política de traducción de la administración provincial se fundamenta en el bilingüismo del personal, criterio este cuyo origen remite más a decisiones político-ideológicas que propiamente lingüísticas. ...
... Por ejemplo, Hermans (2003) afirma que el sistema de la traducción, como sistema social, consiste en todas las comunicaciones que se entienden como parte de una comunicación transnacional. Según esta idea, toda traducción se entiende como actividad institucional, considerándose la actividad traductora como una institución social en sí misma y toda traducción, por tanto, como traducción institucional (Koskinen, 2008). Sin embargo, Mossop (1990:343) ofrece una definición que delimita la traducción institucional a la que tiene lugar en un contexto institucional. ...
... Por su parte, Koskinen no cree que los traductores sean siempre conscientes de sus opciones y que, aunque sea raro encontrar traducciones fuera del entorno institucional que describe Mossop, el grado y el nivel de institucionalización varían. Koskinen (2008) afirma que es necesario establecer un género diferenciado de traducción institucional y que, dentro de estas instituciones que nombran los dos autores, existe un género particular que podemos diferenciar de otros. Habla de traducción institucional cuando un organismo oficial (agencia del Gobierno, organización multinacional, empresa privada, etc., incluso individuos que actúan con un status oficial) utiliza la traducción como un medio para dirigirse a una determinada audiencia. ...
Healthcare interpreting in Japan has a history of approximately twenty years. Currently, local governments and NPOs dispatch their trained interpreters, or hospitals hire their own interpret- ers. As interpreting services are not positioned as public services, Japan still needs integrated education systems, curricula, accreditation, and dispatching systems. In 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare published a training curriculum and a textbook for healthcare interpreters. Also, private third-party certification for individual interpreters has started. We surveyed our Association members to learn about their training experiences and awareness of certification.
... The notion of institution is a complex concept in sociology, and researchers often warn of its intricacies (Kang, 2019;Koskinen, 2008) and "slipperiness" (Kang, 2014, p. 471). When investigating the concept from a translation perspective, it is often used in a narrow and concrete sense, referring to structures such as "companies, governments, newspapers, churches, and literary publishers" (Mossop, 1990, p. 342; see also Kang, 2019 andKoskinen, 2008). ...
... The notion of institution is a complex concept in sociology, and researchers often warn of its intricacies (Kang, 2019;Koskinen, 2008) and "slipperiness" (Kang, 2014, p. 471). When investigating the concept from a translation perspective, it is often used in a narrow and concrete sense, referring to structures such as "companies, governments, newspapers, churches, and literary publishers" (Mossop, 1990, p. 342; see also Kang, 2019 andKoskinen, 2008). Hence, a translating institution is defined as a workplace that uses the services of translators to produce translations for its own use, either directly (in-house) or indirectly (through outsourcing) (Gouadec, 2007;Mossop, 1988Mossop, , 1990Schäffner et al., 2014). ...
... This line of investigation seeks to answer questions about how translation is practiced within institutional settings, including the types of texts that are translated, the languages involved, the modes of translation used, the individuals or teams responsible for translation, and the tools and resources employed (cf. Koskinen, 2008;Prieto Ramos, 2018, 2020bSchäffner, 2018). The study of institutional translation activities is considered a vital component of the wider focus on translation as a situated activity, which recognizes the importance of context in shaping translation practice. ...
Translation outside the context of Language Service Providers (LSPs) represents a sizeable share of the translation market. However, this facet of the activity remains less visible and less open to monitoring. This study investigates translation as a situated practice in the context of Oman within institutions where the translation activity does not represent a primary purpose. Adopting a quantitative approach, the study employed an online survey to investigate indicators of the institutionalization of translation, such as resourcing, working conditions, distribution of work, interaction, workflows, and quality management policies. The findings show that translation activities within institutions in Oman are thriving. However, the study revealed that translation practices are subject to considerable variation and that, despite notable exceptions, translation is frequently affected by challenges related to inadequate staffing, resources, and quality assurance procedures. These practices are mainly ad hoc, providing little evidence that translation needs are treated as an integral part of the institution's functioning. These findings align with observations in other contexts and underscore the need to recognise the significant role translation plays in the functioning of the institution and the need to effectively integrate translation activities within their institutional environments to enhance quality standards in this often-overlooked segment of the translation industry. More generally, the findings confirm the necessity for Translation Studies to appreciate the significance of institutional translation as a facet of translation as a situated activity.
... Respecto al idioma de redacción, cabe señalar que, habitualmente, estas primeras versiones se suelen redactar, sobre todo, en inglés (Dollerup 2001), a pesar de que no sea la lengua materna de la persona encargada de llevar a cabo esta labor (Robertson, 2010). Otra peculiaridad de estos textos es que, en la mayoría de las ocasiones, las instituciones de la UE desempeñan ambos roles en función del texto; dicho de otro modo, pueden ser tanto autores de la primera versión como traductores del resto de las versiones lingüísticas (Koskinen 2008). ...
... Así lo manifiesta Nordland (2002), para quien esta labor es esencial ya que, si los traductores no realizaran su trabajo, la comunicación no tendría lugar, lo que iría en detrimento de las instituciones de la Unión. Koskinen (2008), por su parte, sitúa al traductor en un punto intermedio entre las instituciones comunitarias y los Estados miembros. De este modo, lo define como el garante de los intereses de todas las partes, alguien que desempeña su función manteniendo siempre un equilibrio entre su lealtad a la organización y a los ciudadanos de los diferentes Estados miembros. ...
... En lo que respecta a los Estados miembros y a sus ciudadanos, la traducción también desempeña un papel fundamental, puesto que es el modo en el que esta se comunica tanto de forma interna como de forma externa con ellos (Koskinen, 2008). Se podría afirmar, por lo tanto, que «representa un intento de acercamiento de la UE a la ciudadanía» (Martín y Jiménez, 2021: 214). ...
El régimen lingüístico del multilingüismo integral y la vocación integradora y democrática de la Unión Europea implican que se lleven a cabo numerosas traducciones en sus principales instituciones. En este artículo analizamos las características de la traducción en el seno de la UE y sus diferencias respecto a la traducción considerada tradicional. Asimismo, abordamos el perfil que debe tener el traductor comunitario y el procedimiento que debe seguir para acceder a un puesto de trabajo en la UE. Finalmente, reflexionamos sobre el papel que desempeña la traducción en la Unión, desde el punto de vista de la organización y de los Estados miembros y sus ciudadanos.
... Sin embargo, tanto desde un punto de vista financiero como ideológico las dos propuestas no serían viables en Tirol del Sur. El sector público ha sufrido en las últimas décadas ingentes recortes, por tanto una inversión de dinero para un pequeño "ejército de traductores" (Koskinen, 2008) simplemente no es sostenible. Además, como ya hemos explicado en el apartado 2, la política de traducción de la administración provincial se fundamenta en el bilingüismo del personal, criterio este cuyo origen remite más a decisiones político-ideológicas que propiamente lingüísticas. ...
... Por ejemplo, Hermans (2003) afirma que el sistema de la traducción, como sistema social, consiste en todas las comunicaciones que se entienden como parte de una comunicación transnacional. Según esta idea, toda traducción se entiende como actividad institucional, considerándose la actividad traductora como una institución social en sí misma y toda traducción, por tanto, como traducción institucional (Koskinen, 2008). Sin embargo, Mossop (1990:343) ofrece una definición que delimita la traducción institucional a la que tiene lugar en un contexto institucional. ...
... Por su parte, Koskinen no cree que los traductores sean siempre conscientes de sus opciones y que, aunque sea raro encontrar traducciones fuera del entorno institucional que describe Mossop, el grado y el nivel de institucionalización varían. Koskinen (2008) afirma que es necesario establecer un género diferenciado de traducción institucional y que, dentro de estas instituciones que nombran los dos autores, existe un género particular que podemos diferenciar de otros. Habla de traducción institucional cuando un organismo oficial (agencia del Gobierno, organización multinacional, empresa privada, etc., incluso individuos que actúan con un status oficial) utiliza la traducción como un medio para dirigirse a una determinada audiencia. ...
El presente estudio de investigación pretende llevar a cabo un acercamiento de la realidad de la ISP en la ciudad de Córdoba a través del cual sea posible evidenciar, de forma real y actualizada, la necesidad de establecer y mejorar los servicios de interpretación de los organismos públicos en dicho enclave multicultural. Tomando la región que nos concierne como punto de partida, este trabajo se fundamenta en realizar un estudio de campo a nivel lingüístico, con el propósito de evidenciar el grado de “posibilidad de comunicación” de ciertos habitantes pertenecientes a grupos minoritarios de inmigrantes y obtener resultados representativos de dicha situación.
Como fin último, este trabajo investigativo persigue la revalorización de la interpretación y de los profesionales, la visibilidad y la puesta en valor su papel en un organismo público en ámbitos como la sanidad, la justicia, y los servicios sociales, en un enclave pluricultural como la ciudad cordobesa.
... This means that 'trust between researchers and participants can be built on the fact that researchers are often insiders […] and therefore have knowledge and experience from the field' (Hubscher-Davidson, 2011, p. 333). Koskinen suggests that translator-scholars must consider their own position and give thought to their ability to decode the very behaviour they are observing when they too have been directly involved as a practitioner in the past (Koskinen, 2014). ...
... Editor-in-Chief A attributes their success in office partially to their predecessor and also to the decision to hire Translator B, which took place on 'their watch'. They, therefore, feel somewhat responsible for the current success of the RPC: 'I know what I am talking about, and please forgive my lack of modesty, but there is a clear example of this continuity and preparing the ground, which was you, Translator B'. 177,178 This here is a clear example, as cited by Koskinen, (2014) of the proximity between researcher and interviewee and how this can enable more details about particular processes to be shared. ...
The full thesis can be downloaded from:
http://hdl.handle.net/10362/177821
Abstract
Translation has played a central role in the publication of the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology (RPC) since 1999 when the Journal first began to be published in bilingual format. This thesis tracks and traces the role of the agents in translation in a text-oriented ethnographic study of translations published by the RPC between 2017 and 2021. It focuses specifically on the role of peer reviewers and the principal translator (Translator A). It answers two research questions: is it possible to quantify and qualify interventions in the text and if so, how?
It is framed theoretically in the context of actor-network theory (ANT) and methodologically, it is divided into two parts. Study 1 relates to the textual and paratextual analysis of translator and peer reviewer interventions in 62 translations published by the RPC. The results reveal there were overwhelmingly more translation-related interventions in the text compared to peer review; the majority of peer review interventions were in Content, whereas Translator A intervened more at a Sentence Structure level. However, when Translator A intervened in Content, these changes were more likely to have a major impact on the text.
In Study 2, six actors at the RPC were interviewed regarding their experiences of working within the network, how they perceive their involvement, their interaction and social relations with others, their own goals and how these contribute to the overriding objective – the translation and publication of the RPC. The results showed that the role of Translator A was not fully understood by non-translators in the network and that in the period in question, Translator A acted as a (linguistic) gatekeeper for the Journal. As one of the central figures in the translation and publication network, Translator A fulfils various roles in addition to translation (as linguistic editor, proofreader, plagiarism-checker, reference checker and content accuracy checker), ensuring that all articles translated into English meet target audience expectations for a high-quality English language journal. As regards the peer reviewers, it was clear they play a major role, yet one that is often undervalued and exploited.
It is hoped this thesis will give stakeholders, specifically non-translators involved in the translation processes at journals, a greater understanding of how translators intervene in text production. In addition, it aims to contribute to a body of measurable evidence on the role and relevance of translators in the production of scientific knowledge and even empower translators to gain recognition for their work, especially in the wake of the development of artificial intelligence and advanced machine translation models.
... These digital platforms of authorities are all of great importance for the presentation and dissemination of signed translations to the users of signed languages in Finland. Thus, the translational context and translation task can be defined as institutional, and the texts being translated as institutional texts (see e.g., Koskinen 2008, Nordman 2009). These texts require high expertise in several fields and vocabulary in several languages for special purposes (LSP) which puts high demands on the translators. ...
... This is interesting as it differs from previous studies on institutional translation, where both an institutional responsibility and a personal responsibility are expressed by translators (Nordman 2009: 274-275) and the translation is often primarily seen as a product of the institution (cf. Koskinen 2008, Nordman 2009). This might be at least partly explained by the working conditions for SL translators who translate official texts. ...
This article highlights the translator's crucial role in the revitalisation of the severely endangered FinlandSwedish Sign Language (FinSSL). By giving voice to professional translators, filling in lexical gaps in FinSSL as part of the translation task, we discuss the concept of “Language Making” in relation to language revitalisation. The data of the study comprises interviews with two translators responsible for translating official information by authorities in Finland from Swedish into FinSSL. The translators taking part in the study identify areas where lexical gaps occur and draw on different resources for filling in gaps. When filling in lexical gaps, the translators use both written Swedish and Finnish Sign Language as well as Swedish Sign Language and Finnish, thus showing a flexible view of linguistic borders not commonly recognised in Translation Studies (cf. Kuusi et al. 2022). Besides resources such as using dictionaries and contacting peers, the community of signers are given a normative role in the choice of signs for filling in gaps. In addition to a professional responsibility for the translation, the translators show moral responsibility in relation to the audience of the translation and in mediating information to the FinSSL community. However, they do not explicitly express a responsibility for the development of the language itself.
... Att just denna översättande institution, med dess mycket detaljerade manualer och riktlinjer (Wasilewska 2021; Van de Geuchte och Van Vaerenberg 2016), har varit i fokus kan ha inneburit att de strukturella aspekterna av det institutionella översättandet har betonats. Som Koskinen (2008) har uttryckt det om just översättare inom EU-kommissionen: "när det verkligen gäller kommer översättarna sannolikt att vara på institutionens sida -kanske inte av kärlek, men av plikt" (2008: 147). Kang (2014) har dock problematiserat antagandet av att institutionellt översättande alltid påverkas av ett systemiskt eller strukturellt tryck, och Wasilewska (2021: 68) framhöll nyligen att det förblir oklart och föga utforskat hur, och i vilken utsträckning, institutionella översättare faktiskt påverkas av specifik institutionell praxis och riktlinjer. ...
... Ett problem i forskningen kring institutionell översättning -liksom i sociologisk forskning kring institutioner -har varit vad ordet institution egentligen betyder eller syftar på. Koskinen (2008) löser problemet genom att avstå från en utförlig diskussion av hur begreppet ska definieras. I stället menar hon att betydelsen av begreppet blir tydligare om man föreställer sig att institutioner existerar på tre olika nivåer: abstrakta, formella och konkreta. ...
In this paper, I discuss the relationship between structure and agency in institutional translation. My case is a Swedish retranslation of the biblical texts commenced in 1972. Against the background of the directives issued to the translators, and through a case study of how three Old Testament texts were translated by the team, I argue that the team members bypassed certain aspects of the directives. This, however, was not primarily because they exercised their individual agency, but because they collectively related their work to the abstract institution of biblical studies, which can be conceived of as a belief system which structured the interpretation and translation of the biblical texts. The case is hereby discussed to critically assess the relationship between agency and structure, and to suggest a non-binary way of understanding the relationship between the two.
... Whereas surveys and interviews establish a certain degree of distance between researchers and their participants, ethnographic research explicitly requires the engagement of the researcher in the research context. This type of scholarship strives for a holistic view of a community of practice, and theoretically emergent insofar as it does not seek to impose a priori concepts or understanding onto the specific context of inquiry (Koskinen 2008). To use this type of data collection method necessitates the recognition of the researchers' positionality given the interpretive nature of analysis of the researchers' direct observations. ...
... The tenets of ethnography are also useful to sociological inquiry into TI practices because ethnography emphasises the construction of knowledge, which enables TI to be viewed as a process of production, as well as an 'expression of the relations between the various intermediaries that have participated in its production' (Buzelin 2007: 39). Ethnographic studies are increasingly common in TI workplace studies (Ehrensberger-Dow 2014;Koskinen 2008;Risku 2017) as well as humanitarian settings (Radicioni 2022). ...
Socially driven research questions require a suite of theoretical and methodological approaches to understand the products, processes, and people involved in translation and interpreting (TI) activities in embedded and situated contexts. In some instances, these approaches are drawn from the field of sociology, while in others, the boundaries of sociology as a discipline have been challenged in order to account for translational activities and their role in society. This chapter addresses commonly adopted research methodologies and data collection methods used to study sociological aspects of TI. First, the chapter establishes some of the ontological and epistemological assumptions employed when researching TI, followed by a review of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to research that align socially driven research questions with data collection methods and the associated research data. Topics include surveys, interviews, ethnography, experimental and quasi-experimental research, natural experiments, and analytic approaches that draw on existing datasets. The chapter concludes with a reflection on research ethics, outlining important tenets that researchers should consider throughout the research endeavour, from initial conceptualisations to the dissemination of the results.
... One big challenge that an insider ethnographer faces is constant identity crisis during the process of fieldwork (e.g. Koskinen 2008;Paechter 2012;Yu 2020), and the researcher continues to interrogate her own role at the stages both of data collection and analysis (Mendoza-Denton 2008). The insider-outsider dilemma is a shared challenge for ethnographers, translators, migrants and TS researchers, who all constantly deal with the issue of in-betweenness. ...
... As already seen above, ethnography is commonly applied in research that focuses on people, their/our practices and the processes of shaping up of identities in a particular P r e -p u b l i c a t i o n m a n u s c r i p t context; hence its situated nature, which is another of its characteristics, as highlighted in Koskinen's (2008) seminal work Translating Institutions: An Ethnographic Study of EU Translation. As a practisearcher, Koskinen had gained an insider understanding of the EU's translation practices in her capacity as a staff translator working in the Finnish translation unit, and she re-entered that institution for the purpose of conducting research. ...
... Este es un corpus especializado, que consiste en documentos institucionales elaborados por los especialistas del banco central, se caracteriza por un alto nivel de formalidad y su función comunicativa es informativa. Los documentos traducidos del corpus son un ejemplo de la traducción institucional 1 , es decir, un tipo de traducción en la que una entidad utiliza la traducción como un medio de "hablar" a un público específico (Koskinen, 2008). Este término se refiere a la traducción de documentos y comunicaciones oficiales de diferentes entidades administrativas, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. ...
... La traducción institucional está regulada por normas e involucra la cooperación de múltiples agentes (traductores, editores, correctores, expertos del campo). Típicamente, es colectiva, anónima y estandarizada; el alto nivel de coherencia en el vocabulario, la sintaxis y el estilo de los documentos es asegurado por medio del uso de guías de estilo, herramientas CAT (computer-assisted translation, por sus siglas en inglés), procedimientos de revisión, etc. (Koskinen, 2008). Lenguaje, 2024, 52(1), e20112624 doi:10.25100/lenguaje.v52i1.12624 ...
Diferentes textos económicos institucionales del Banco de México son publicados en español y traducidos al inglés. Dado el potencial impacto económico causado por posibles faltas de equivalencia en las traducciones, estudiamos un corpus bilingüe desde el punto de vista de las técnicas de traducción y de la lingüística sistémico-funcional (LSF), a fin de identificar faltas de equivalencia o incluso errores de traducción. Específicamente, se analizaron las técnicas de traducción empleadas y se registraron y clasificaron los errores de traducción. Posteriormente, se aplicó un análisis metafuncional tridimensional: análisis ideacional (procesos y participantes); interpersonal (expresiones de actitud, formalidad, modalidad, etc.); y textual (coherencia en la organización temática). Si bien la identificación de los errores de traducción mejora el documento traducido, la exploración metafuncional aporta un análisis cualitativo más profundo de los aspectos no reflejados en las técnicas, revela las causas de los errores de traducción y puede servir como criterio en determinar la equivalencia.
... In line with Mossop's proposal, other works have also used the term for nongovernmental organizations (Tesseur 2023) or media corporations (Bielsa and Bassnett 2009). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the European Union, being one of the largest contractors for translation and interpreting services, has become a major focus of interest (e.g., Wagner, Bech, and Martínez 2002;Koskinen 2008). ...
... Whereas textual approaches may have adequately 6 Esther Monzó-Nebot considered them separately based on the differences in language use, taking a broader view and considering institutions as socially and culturally loaded spaces justifies their joint consideration. By doing so, we can critically examine the differences that once warranted their separate consideration and analyze the costs such differences create along with the efficiency gains they bring, as well as further commonalities in how "translated and translating" institutions (Koskinen 2008, v, emphasis in the original) are created, operated, experienced, and sustained. Taking this holistic perspective, institutional translation and interpreting is understood in this volume as a field that is defined by the social context, where institutions, that is, organizations dealing with matters of public interest, especially but not limited to government agencies and public authorities, are a key part of the process. ...
This chapter explores the raison d’être of the book Critical Approaches to Institutional Translation and Interpreting: Challenging Epistemologies, placing the focus on the epistemology of ignorance in institutional translation and interpreting studies. The chapter first defines what is understood by institutional translation and interpreting by briefly surveying the multifaceted meaning of institution across disciplines and the various terms used to examine translation and interpreting in and for institutions (Kang 2009). Then, the chapter explores how current reformist movements targeting research practices have understood research as historically, culturally, and socially situated, and therefore subject to power dynamics. It then frames academic ignorance as part of the power dynamics that shape human societies and a productive notion that can be used in reshaping those dynamics. The chapter concludes with an overview of the contributions to this book, which offer discussions on the challenges that institutional translation and interpreting studies needs to face in order to make room for diversity.
... 41). Para Koskinen (2008), a tradução institucional é aquela utilizada por uma organização pública ou privada como meio de 'falar' , de se comunicar com um público em particular -nesse caso, a comunidade acadêmica internacional. ...
... Por fim, a partir de uma perspectiva organizacional, Koskinen (2008) define a tradução institucional como aquela utilizada por um órgão oficial (agência governamental, organização multinacional, empresa privada etc.) como meio de se comunicar com um público em particular. A autora observa que os contextos de produção e recepção institucionais são numerosos e variados, mas possuem uma semelhança fundamental: a instituição que traduz, por sua natureza oficial, condiciona e ao mesmo tempo confere às traduções autoridade e poder performativo. ...
Este artigo relata o processo de construção da identidade internacional da Universidade Federalde Santa Catarina (UFSC), a partir do trabalho de Tradução Institucional realizado pelo Serviço deTradução da Secretaria de Relações Institucionais (SINTER). Apresentamos as ações realizadasentre 2016 e 2022 que contribuíram para ampliar e uniformizar a comunicação institucional emlíngua inglesa e dar maior visibilidade à instituição no cenário global. Dentre elas, destacam-se: atradução de websites institucionais; a disponibilização de um glossário português-inglês, contendotermos relevantes da estrutura acadêmica e administrativa da UFSC; e a elaboração de um guia deredação em língua inglesa. Essas e outras ações complementares buscaram aproximação com acomunidade universitária, unindo-se aos esforços do processo de internacionalização transversalem curso na UFSC.
... No one was ever going to read the translated minutes. My work effectively created what Koskinen (2008) terms 'existential translations,' since all they have to do is exist. The one translation instruction was to avoid contradictions. ...
Once fidelity and equivalence are abandoned, how can successful translation be understood? Risk management offers an alternative way of looking at the work of translators and their social function. It posits that the greater the cultural differences, the greater the risks of failed communication. What can be done to manage those risks? Drawing on the ways translators and interpreters handle intercultural encounters by adjusting what is said, this essay outlines a series of strategies that can be applied to all kinds of cross-cultural communication. Practical examples are drawn from a wide range of contexts, from Australian bushfires to court interpreting in Barcelona, with special regard for the new kinds of risks presented by machine translation and generative AI. The result is a critical view of the professionalization of translation, and a fresh account of democratized translation as a rich human activity in the service of cross-cultural cooperation.
... Piekkari, 2020; Koskinen, 2014), the authors advocate for a process of metaphorical translation-which they define as the process "through which practices get modified when they are moved to a new organizational context" (2020, p. 1316). ). ...
Research on metaphor in organization studies has proliferated over the last 40 years. For most of its history, metaphors have been studied and deployed as linguistic and cognitive ‘resources’ to unpack the complexity of organizations and the environments in which they operate. Reviewing classic papers on the topic published in Organization Studies, we synthesise the key characteristics of past work and informed by our review offer a more multi-dimensional theoretical perspective to channel research into new directions. Our new perspective is premised on leveraging dissonance and multimodality in producing and using metaphors. We demonstrate how such a viewpoint draws new perspectives for scholars and practitioners alike. We highlight some of the implications of centring future thinking from this multidimensional perspective, including new strategies of deploying metaphors to generate potentially path-breaking theories and ways of studying phenomena.
... Other studies focused on what Vecchi (2002;2020) terms (translation) company-speak (see the previous section), i.e. a discourse and forms of internal and external communication, specific to each (translation) economic entity, approached mostly by ethnographical methodology (e.g. Ehrensberger-Dow 2014;Koskinen 2008;Olohan 2019;Milošević/Risku 2020;Pedersen 2019;Risku 2014). Another body of works were aimed at exploring the professional status of translators and interpreters, their professional identity and professional self-concept, including the self-concept of all kinds of translation service providers (e.g. ...
This article examines the formal characteristics and names of translation enterprises operating in the Lower Silesia region in 2022. The data on the enterprises were drawn from the Polish official register of economic entities, i.e. REGON database. The conceptual framework is built on three fields: (1) developments in the field of translation & interpreting studies (T&IS); (2) linguistic studies in onomastics on chrematonyms/ergonyms; (3) economic and legal conditions of running businesses in Poland. The results obtained in this study offer comprehensive insights into the economic situation of Polish translation enterprises and suggest main criteria for the future sample selection: in terms of their legal and economic strength, and in terms of translational profile consistency expressed through the lexicon used in the identifying segments of their names in order to designate their core business.
... However, recently the tide is beginning to turn again as calls not to succumb to methodological uniformity are on the rise as "diversity in both philosophy and methodology encourages exploration of phenomena from multiple perspectives" (Mellinger & Hanson 2021: 121). Various TS scholars are highlighting the significance and value of qualitative inquiry for our discipline through arguments in favour, as well as with robust and insightful qualitative studies (e.g., Koskinen 2008;Risku, Milošević & Rogl 2017;Sannholm 2021;Borg 2022;Hubscher-Davidson 2022). ...
Qualitative research is one of the three methodological paradigms of research, the other two being quantitative and mixed methods.
The term qualitative research denotes approaches to empirical investigations involving the collection, analysis and presentation of data in narrative form. Very broadly, qualitative research involves mainly exploratory, naturalistic inquiry within real-life settings to gather and analyze non-numerical data, in order to understand individuals’ social reality comprehensively, i.e., to explore the ‘whats’, ‘hows’, and ‘whys’ of social phenomena. This entry focuses specifically on empirical qualitative research in Translation Studies, i.e., qualitative inquiry undertaken in naturalistic settings.
In Translation Studies (TS), qualitative research explores translators’ behaviours, perceptions, experiences, processes, and so on to understand in-depth how translations are produced, how translators perform their tasks, their motivations, emotions, how they relate with their texts, tools, colleagues, etc. Core features of qualitative research are its subjective, interpretive and inductive nature, whereas its main caveats include lack of generalisation, subjectivity, and observer/interviewer bias and effect.
... This imposition may stem from hegemonic cultures (ibid.), patrons (Lefevere 1992) and supply-demand relationships (Stauder 2014), or specific institutions (Mossop 1988;Koskinen 2008). The intersectionally aware translation practiced by the language justice movement (see 2.3.3) ...
This chapter examines the ethical implications of automating translation through the lens of the ethics of care, focusing on the gendered dimensions and patriarchal influences in the development of machine translation (MT) technologies. It highlights how gender stereotypes prevalent in patriarchal societies have shaped both the perception and evolution of the translation profession, influencing MT systems. By adopting an ethics of care, the chapter contrasts the dominant ideologies guiding translation and interpreting studies (TIS) and MT efforts. It critiques the neoliberal focus on efficiency and profitability, and the logics of capitalist realism, and explores the biases embedded within the implicit theories on translation underlying MT. The chapter argues that understanding the role of stereotypes in technological advancements allows for a critical engagement with the narratives shaping perceptions, behaviors, and societal structures. It consequently calls for TIS to further develop the epistemology required to reveal the oppressive practices embedded in MT and to engage critically with developers, policymakers, and societies to raise awareness of the risks and implications of the prevailing ideologies in MT development. Ultimately, it advocates for an inclusive approach that amplifies the voices traditionally silenced by patriarchal systems, ensuring equitable participation in the benefits of automated translation technologies.
... At any rate, translators working for bilingual and multilingual institutions benefit from the wealth of those institutions' past translations in their daily work (Monzó-Nebot, 2011;Pasteur, 2013;Ziemski et al., 2016). Possible explanations of the different uptake of corpora of translated texts in those organisations and elsewhere may lie, first, with the fact that the textual fit of these translated institutions is defined by translations (see Koskinen, 2008). Secondly, these translations are trusted among translators. ...
... The top priority of translators affiliated with it is to mediate title translation so as to optimise this dissemination. In this regard, title translation here can be categorised as institutional translation, the purpose of which is to make the voice of the translating institution heard by a particular audience (Koskinen 2014). It is not simply linguistic mediation to achieve semantic equivalence; from an institutional perspective, it represents the translators' active participation in political advertising and persuasion on behalf of the newspaper they work for. ...
... Therefore, the practice of translation of this type of text has been essentially characterised by concepts such as identity or fidelity and by the conception of translation as an act of copying. This conception has had highly visible effects in numerous contexts, from the private sphere to international institutions, as shown by critical studies over the last two decades (Koskinen 2000(Koskinen , 2008Martín Ruano 2012). The consequences have also permeated the teaching of legal translation, where dissident voices warn of the danger of uncritically maintaining these conceptual frameworks in the training of future generations of translators. ...
In this essay, using a conceptual research methodology focused on argument deve-
lopment and delimited by an epistemological framework of deconstructive reading,
Derridean concepts such as hospitality, event, and hauntology will be explored in
their relationship with legal translation. The aim of this paper is to open new paths
for the reflection upon, and practice of, legal translation in face of the challenges
posed by our contemporary era; an era characterised by asymmetries and conflicts
in terms of identities, languages, cultures, and ideologies, which shape a scenario
where translation plays a major role. After the conceptual development of this paper,
different theoretical and practical lines of action will be outlined. These proposals may
affect the way legal texts are translated and the agency we have as translators in this
domain, as well as the way we understand legal language and original texts, leading
us to propose a translation ethics fit to face the challenges of the present.
... Institutional translation (also known as official translation), is broadly defined as translation within a legally constituted political entity, a supranational organization, an institution - Mossop (1988Mossop ( , 1990 exemplifies this through studies of the Canadian Government Translation Bureau. The concept of institutional translation has drawn considerable attention for the past two decades, generating, however, other controversies related to the conceptual delimitation of the term institution (Pym 2004, Koskinen 2008, Kang 2019). If we seek to finely tune the theoretical contributions, we should also note the fact that official translation is becoming a potential subfield of institutional translation, operating at the national level and comprising the translation of official documents such as identity documents, study documents, regulations, administrative procedures etc. Koskinen (2000: 57) proposes the generic term of intercultural translation with reference to the communication between the EU and Member States and with recipients outside the EU institutions, intercultural translation being subdivided into interadministrative translation -between the Commission and national authorities, translations used for communication between the Commission and the lay population, and legal translation (for instance, the translation of directives, decisions etc.) for which the communicative method is recommended. ...
Discursul instituțional al UE reprezintă o categorie hibrid, fiind situat la granița dintre discursul specializat de tip administrative-juridic și de tip politic. Se ridică astfel problema dinamicii sale identitare și legitimării prin sedimentare, precum și a circumscrierii domeniului prin multiperspectivare. Astfel, articolul își propune să evidențieze unele dintre mecanismele de producere și consum al acestui tip emergent de discurs, prin trecerea de la contexte la contextualizare, la delimitarea zonelor de sensibilitate socio-culturală, prin adoptarea unei atitudini proactive. Sunt vizate două paliere majore de investigație: lingvistic și traductologic, cu interfețe interdisciplinare multiple.
... Le traducteur s'efface derrière l'institution qu'il représente en s'exprimant de façon très dépersonnalisée. Concernant l'aspect institutionnelle de la traduction, Koskinen(2008) indique que la traduction institutionnelle se produit lorsqu'un organisme officiel utilise la traduction comme moyen pour s'adresser à un public spécifique, tels que les organismes gouvernementaux, les organisations multinationale, les entreprises privées ou les personnes agissant dans un cadre officiel (p.22). Ainsi, dans la traduction institutionnelle, la voix qui est entendue est celle de l'institution, qui s'occupe de la réalisation des traductions. ...
La traduction occupe une place importante dans le monde des médias. Elle permet de rendre accessible l'information en surmontant les barrières linguistiques et culturelles. Par conséquent, les institutions médiatiques ont souvent recours à des traducteurs professionnels pour traduire différents types de supports : articles, communiqués, interviews. Cette étude met en évidence les principaux défis auxquels sont confrontés les traducteurs de l'Agence de Presse Algérienne (APS), ainsi que les aspects fondamentaux de la traduction au niveau de l'agence. Nous avons constaté que les traducteurs doivent faire face à plusieurs défis, tels que la célérité, la qualité, l'attractivité et l'adaptabilité. Pour faire face à ces problèmes, les traducteurs doivent travailler en étroite collaboration avec les chroniqueurs et les spécialistes de différents domaines traités. Le développement des compétences traductionnelles et rédactionnelles, ainsi que la formation continue sont également nécessaires pour répondre aux exigences du domaine journalistique. Mots-clés : Traduction ; Traduction médiatique ; Traduction journalistique ; Problèmes de traduction.
Translation plays a significant role in the world of media. It makes information accessible by overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers. Consequently, media institutions often use professional translators to translate different types of media content. The study highlights the main challenges faced by translators at the Algerian Press Agency (APS), as well as the fundamental aspects of translation within the agency. We have found that translators encounter several challenges, such as speed, quality, attractiveness and adaptability. To deal with these problems, translators must work in close collaboration with specialists in the different fields covered. The development of writing and translation skills, as well as continuing education are also necessary to meet the demands of the journalistic field.
... Finally, studies of collaboration specifically on political texts are few and tend to focus on contemporary settings. One of the earliest is by Koskinen (2008) ...
This paper investigates how collaborative translation practices were employed in the Greek translations of theoretical Marxist texts published by the Communist Party of Greece in the 1950s. The party’s efforts to dominate Marxist discourse required the codification of Marxist theory and the creation of accurate translations and retranslations of theoretical Marxist texts. To this end, a specific model of collaboration was developed based on the principles of industrial production, and conceptualised here as “industrialisation of translation” (Mossop 2006). The
translation process resembled a production line where, at different stages, each contributor added a part until the completion of a translation. The translation process is analysed by adapting indicators of industrialisation from Mossop (2006), e.g., large quantities of materials to be translated, centralization of translation, intensification of work, division of labor, and quality control and employee discipline, to show how collaboration was central both to the completion of translations and to claims about their accuracy.
... Though various facets of institutional translation have been studied by scholars (e.g., Koskinen, 2014;Svoboda, Biel, & Łoboda, 2017;Prieto Ramos, 2020), the focus of this volume on training-related aspects represents a clear novelty. In encompassing a broader spectrum, Institutional Translator Training addresses the need for research grounded in rich scholarly, pedagogical, and institutional expertise. ...
Review of the book: Institutional Translator Training.
... De ahí que la práctica de la traducción de este tipo de textos haya estado fundamentalmente marcada por conceptos como el de identidad o fidelidad, por una concepción de la traducción como copia. Esta consideración ha tenido efectos más que visibles, desde el ámbito privado al de las instituciones internacionales, como bien demuestran estudios críticos de las últimas dos décadas (Koskinen 2000(Koskinen , 2008Martín Ruano 2012). Las consecuencias también han permeado en la didáctica misma de la traducción jurídica, donde ya se alzan voces disidentes que alertan del peligro de mantener de forma acrítica estos marcos conceptuales en la formación de las futuras generaciones traductoras (Martín Ruano 2015). ...
En el presente trabajo, mediante una metodología de investigación conceptual centrada en el desarrollo de argumentos y delimitada por un marco epistemológico de lectura deconstructiva, se explorarán conceptos derridianos como la hospitalidad, el acontecimiento o su pensamiento hauntológico en relación con la traducción jurídica. El objetivo de esta investigación es abrir nuevas vías de reflexión y práctica para la traducción jurídica ante los desafíos que plantea una contemporaneidad donde las asimetrías y fricciones identitarias, lingüísticas, culturales e ideológicas conforman un espacio en el que la traducción juega un papel primordial. Tras el desarrollo teórico del trabajo, se plantearán vías de actuación teórico-práctica que reconfiguran la manera de traducir este tipo de textos; la agencia que tenemos al traducir en este ámbito; la concepción del lenguaje jurídico y el texto original, y que permiten plantear una ética traductora que pueda dar respuesta a los desafíos que nos plantea el presente.
... Etnografiska ansatser har emellertid tagits inom olika delar av översättnings-och tolkningsforskningen på senare tid, framför allt med hjälp av intervjustudier, t.ex. Koskinen (2008) om EU-översättning, Flynn (2007 om litterär översättning, och Stachl-Peier (2011) om översättarutbildning, samt på tolkningsområdet Angelelli (2000) om medicinsk tolkning och Inghilleri (2003) om asyltolkning. 5 Chesterman (2009) har för subdisciplinen där den enskilde översättarens roll vid översättning, och dennes attityder och interaktion med den sociala och teknologiska omgivningen, fokuseras, lanserat termen translator studies, dvs. ...
Speech-to-text interpreting (STTI) is an intralingual form of interpreting, mainly used by late deafened and hearing impaired persons, in which speech is transferred to text in real-time. The text is produced on a computer keyboard and displayed on a screen for the user(s) who normally use spoken language for their contributions. Finnish and Swedish law recognize STTI as a type of interpreting, on a par with spoken and sign language interpreting.For this study, which builds on ethnographical principles, nine persons working in the area of STTI from Finland and Sweden were interviewed with the aim of obtaining insights into their attitudes concerning STTI as a professional activity. The results suggest that the public image of STTI as for example depicted on official web sites, differs considerably from practitioners’ personal views, in particular concerning issues such as completeness of renditions and condensation.
... Vastaavasti kiinnostavia olisivat institutionaalisen kääntämisen kysymykset; ovathan tutkimusyhteisöt ja -instituutiot organisaatioita, joissa kääntämistä tapahtuu osana institutionaalisia käytäntöjä, vaikkei ilmiötä tästä näkökulmasta juurikaan ole tarkasteltu (ks. Koskinen 2008). ...
This article discusses the role of translation in multilingual research context. The aim is to create an overview of the different situations in which translation from one language to another takes place in a research process. The data analysed in the study has been collected in two courses organized for PhD students in the Doctoral Programme in Social and Cultural Encounters at the University of Eastern Finland. The courses concentrated on research translation, and the material collected for the present study contains the students’ preliminary assignments, final reflections and feedback forms from the courses. The analysis shows that translation as such is a multifaceted phenomenon that takes various forms and penetrates the whole research process. Before taking the course, the participants of the study had mainly been unaware of the large role that translation plays in their research, but during the course they became familiar with some of the translational issues as well as learned possible solutions to some of the problems that translation poses in their research.
... Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton poliittisiin ja taloudellisiin suhteisiin kytkeytyvällä käännöstoiminnalla oli selvästikin institutionaalisen kääntämisen ominaispiirteitä (vrt. institutional translation, Koskinen 2008). Kuten edellä tuotiin esille (Viita 2006: 121-123), idänkauppa loi viennin ja tuonnin kautta paljon työtä, jossa tarvittiin venäjän kielen kääntäjiä ja tulkkeja. ...
The present study examines training of Russian language translators in the 1980s. The main focus is on the social and ideological context of the lively bilateral trade with the Soviet Union due to which demand for translators with a command of Russian was high in Finland. The material consists of exercises used by the author of this article in teaching Russian–Finnish translation at Savonlinna School of Translation Studies. The analysis concentrates on describing what kind of source texts and commissions were typical in translation exercises. The results of the analysis suggest that the most common type of text used in translation assignments was a media text published in a newspaper or a periodical. Media texts were perhaps not ideal from the point of view of authentic translation tasks, but teachers compensated for this by imitating real-life commissions that were linked to bilateral trade or friendship activities between Finland and the Soviet Union.
... Avec 24 langues officielles prises en charge dans des départements dédiés, c'est le service de traduction institutionnel le plus important au monde (Macken, Prou, Tezcan 2020, 1). Depuis l'étude fondatrice de Koskinen (2008), de nombreux travaux ont décrit le fonctionnement de la DGT. Aux côtés des rapports d'activité, ils permettent de dégager deux cadres dans lesquels s'est inscrit le recours accru à la TA ces dernières années. ...
Artificial intelligence technologies are currently challenging both machine translation and natural language processing. A better understanding of the social, economic and ethical stakes is urgently needed. This collective work explores the possibility and the contours of a new consensus between the human uses of language and the contributions of the machine.
... Studying translation as a socially determined phenomenon thus also requires studying it within the larger social context and in interaction with other social (sub-)fields (see e.g. Koskinen 2008 for an ethnographic study of translating institutions). ...
The Manual section of the Handbook of Pragmatics, produced under the auspices of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), is a collection of articles describing traditions, methods, and notational systems relevant to the field of linguistic pragmatics; the main body of the Handbook contains all topical articles. The first edition of the Manual was published in 1995. This second edition includes a large number of new traditions and methods articles from the 24 annual installments of the Handbook that have been published so far. It also includes revised versions of some of the entries in the first edition. In addition, a cumulative index provides cross-references to related topical entries in the annual installments of the Handbook and the Handbook of Pragmatics Online (at https://benjamins.com/online/hop/), which continues to be updated and expanded. This second edition of the Manual is intended to facilitate access to the most comprehensive resource available today for any scholar interested in pragmatics as defined by the International Pragmatics Association: “the science of language use, in its widest interdisciplinary sense as a functional (i.e. cognitive, social, and cultural) perspective on language and communication.”
Isaiah 7:14 has consistently sparked controversies in Bible translations due to its potential translation of the Hebrew ‘almah as ‘young woman’ or ‘virgin’. This distinction is significant to the doctrine of Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus. This article explores the ideological battles tied to the translation of this verse within Norway’s Protestant landscape, highlighting the power dynamics influencing translation decisions. Drawing upon the sociocultural context, the study focuses on the NO1978 and Bibel 2011 translations by the Norwegian Bible Society, shedding light on the institutional and religious-ideological factors at play during their preparation. Notably, during the 1978 translation process, audience groups wielded diverse forms of power to effect a change from ‘young woman’ ( ung kvinne ) to ‘virgin’ ( jomfru ). In contrast, when producing the 2011 version, the Norwegian Bible Society tactically employed various forms of power, including media strategies, to ensure support for the contentious translation ‘the young girl’ ( den unge jenta ) among conservative circles.
Este artículo informa de una investigación que hace parte de un proyecto más amplio dirigido a la investigación de la felicidad laboral de los traductores. Este tema cuenta con muy pocos estudios en la traductología contemporánea en diferentes contextos. El propósito de este estudio piloto de cohorte es determinar la percepción de la felicidad en dos grupos de traductores considerados de alto nivel profesional “los traductores jurados eslovacos y los traductores eslovacos de la UE. Para lograr este objetivo, utilizamos el punto de vista comparativo y causal. El análisis cuantitativo incluye un análisis descriptivo y correlativo de los datos obtenidos de cuestionarios respondidos por 115 traductores pertenecientes a los dos grupos (83+32). Analizamos y comparamos la percepción de la felicidad laboral con base en las respuestas relacionadas ante todo con las variables de estatus social y los parámetros de prestigio profesional. Sobre la base de los datos obtenidos, probamos siete hipótesis por medio de métodos de investigación cuantitativos usando tablas de contingencia. Aunque nuestras conclusiones en gran parte no corroboran las hipótesis e indican algunas diferencias cruciales entre los dos grupos, los análisis también nos permiten identificar algunas similitudes. Los resultados del análisis cuantitativo son discutidos detalladamente.
Ir-riċerka kwalitattiva hija waħda mit-tliet paradimmi metodoloġiċi ta' riċerka; it-tnejn l-oħra huma r-riċerka kwantitattiva u r-riċerka b'metodi mħallta. It-terminu riċerka kwalitattiva jiġbor fih approċċi għal investigazzjonijiet empiriċi li jinvolvu l-ġbir, l-analiżi u l-preżentazzjoni ta' data f'forma narrattiva. B'mod wiesa' ħafna, ir-riċerka kwalitattiva tinvolvi prinċipalment investigazzjonijiet esploratorji u naturalistiċi f'kuntesti mill-ħajja reali biex tinġabar u tiġi analizzata data mhux numerika, sabiex nifhmu b'mod komprensiv ir-realtà soċjali tal-individwi, jiġifieri biex nesploraw fenomeni soċjali u nifhmu kif u għaliex iseħħu. Din l-entrata tiffoka speċifikament fuq riċerka kwalitattiva empirika fl-Istudji tat-Traduzzjoni (ST), jiġifieri, fuq investigazzjonijiet kwalitattivi mwettqa f'ambjenti naturalistiċi.
Fl-ST, ir-riċerka kwalitattiva tesplora l-imġiba, il-perċezzjonijiet, l-esperjenzi, il-proċessi tat-tradutturi, u l-bqija biex tifhem fil-fond kif iseħħu t-traduzzjonijiet, kif it-tradutturi jwettqu xogħolhom, il-motivazzjonijiet u l-emozzjonijiet tagħhom, kif jirrelataw mat-testi, l-għodod, il-kollegi, eċċ. Fost il-karatteristiċi ċentrali tar-riċerka kwalitattiva nsibu n-natura suġġettiva, interprettativa u induttiva tagħha, filwaqt li l-limitazzjonijiet tagħha jinkludu n-nuqqas ta’ ġeneralizzazzjoni, is-suġġettività, u l-preġudizzji u l-effett tal-osservatur/intervistatur.
La investigación cualitativa es uno de los tres paradigmas metodológicos de la investigación científica. Los otros dos son los métodos cuantitativo y mixto. El término investigación cualitativa designa los enfoques de la investigación empírica que implican recoger, analizar y presentar datos de forma narrativa. A grandes rasgos, la investigación cualitativa comprende sobre todo la indagación exploratoria y naturalista en entornos de la vida real para recopilar y analizar datos no numéricos para comprender la realidad social de las personas de modo exhaustivo. Es decir, explorar la naturaleza, las formas y las causas de los fenómenos sociales. Esta entrada se centra en la investigación empírica cualitativa en entornos naturalistas llevada a cabo en los Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación.
En los Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación, la investigación cualitativa explora los comportamientos, las percepciones, las experiencias, los procesos, etc. de los traductores para comprender en profundidad cómo se producen las traducciones, cómo realizan los traductores sus tareas, sus emociones y motivaciones, cómo se relacionan con sus textos, sus herramientas, sus colegas, etc. Las ventajas destacadas de la investigación cualitativa son su naturaleza subjetiva, interpretativa e inductiva, mientras que sus principales desventajas son la incapacidad de generalizar, la subjetividad y el sesgo y efecto del observador/entrevistador.
This article describes the history of Russian language translator training from an autoethnographic perspective, bringing out projects that are related to the author's own work tasks and research. The history of the Russian language translator training is viewed in relation to translator training as a whole and to the prevailing social context. The developments that stand out include, first, the practical orientation during the Soviet era with specific focus on trade in the 1980s, and second, the changes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. These changes included an increase in the number of native Russian speakers studying translation, and the setting up of permanent lecturers' positions for native Russian language teachers. More recent history, the 2000s and 2010s, was characterized by administrative reforms, the high number of bilingual students, and the increased relevance of working life in the training. This last development consisted of including various translation projects and an authorized translator's degree as part of the education. The article also examines the developments in translation research from the perspective of Russian. Finally, the changes that have taken place in the work environment of the trainers are discussed.
Syftet med den här artikeln är att problematisera begreppet samarbete i översättningssammanhang. Begreppet har lyfts fram i den översättningsvetenskapliga litteraturen som en central komponent i professionellt översättningsarbete, men definitionerna av begreppet skiljer sig åt. I artikeln redogör jag för olika perspektiv på begreppet samarbete, dels från en allmän tolkning av begreppet, dels från ett översättningsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Begreppet samarbete diskuteras också utifrån ett antal empiriska exempel från min pågående forskning, som syftar till att utforska professionellt översättningsarbete som social och kollektiv praktik. Sammanfattningsvis mynnar diskussionen ut i ett förslag till nyansering av begreppet samarbete, där typiska antaganden om t.ex. delade målsättningar som en komponent i interaktion mellan aktörer visar sig otillräckliga. Istället föreslås en initial uppdelning i samarbetsorienterade praktiker och proaktiva praktiker.
In this article, subtitling without context refers to situations in which subtitlers do not have access to the image and sound of an audiovisual text, which they need to carry out their translation processes efficiently and successfully. Audiovisual texts, such as movies, need to be seen and heard to be understood and their meaning translated. What happens if the video material is not available or incomplete? This is the question that this study strives to answer. The key concepts discussed in this article are the multimodality of audiovisual texts, context, relevance, and cognitive load. An empirical subtitling test was conducted with translation students at a Finnish university to examine these concepts and their impact on translation processes and products. Two sets of translations were analyzed with a multilayered contrastive analysis. In addition, the participants wrote short translation diaries that were analyzed using content analysis. The students’ translation diaries indicated that it is impossible to time subtitles, make line breaks, and understand references to places and characters, to name but a few difficulties reported by the participants in the test. In addition, the analysis of the diary entries revealed that translating without context reportedly increased the participants’ cognitive load, which in turn made translation processes less efficient and more time-consuming. Lay Summary Movies, television series and videogames can be called audiovisual texts as they convey their meaning with sounds and images. The translators of such texts are called subtitlers and the end products of their translation processes, subtitles. In this article, subtitling without a context refers to situations in which the subtitler does not have access to the image and sounds of an audiovisual text. Audiovisual texts need to be seen and heard to be wholly understood as well as translated efficiently and successfully. What happens if the video material is no available or it is not ready? This is the questions we wish to answer. The key concepts discussed in this article are the multimodality of audiovisual texts, context, relevance, and cognitive load. Multimodality means that audiovisual texts use different ways, such as pictures, texts, music and speech to tell the stories. Context refers to the situation in which language is used and translated. Relevance theory weighs what are the most important things needed to be told with minimal costs, costs in this case being the number of characters in the subtitles. Cognitive load on the other hand refers to the psychological processes and memory use that are ongoing in translation processes. We made a translation test with students from a Finnish university. They translated a written dialog list without seeing the video material it was from. Then they translated it again, but this time with the video. Then these translations were compared with each other as well as with the video’s images and sounds. This method of comparison in this article is called multilayered contrastive analysis. The students also wrote short translation diaries about their experiences. They reported that timing and doing line breaks were impossible without the video. Timing refers to the process of making the subtitle lines appear at the same time as the characters are speaking and line breaks refer to the division of sentences and words in the subtitle lines. The participants wrote to their translation diaries that it was difficult to translate without the video. It was mentally tiresome and because of this, it took much time to finish the translations. The students also were afraid that they made many mistakes, and they used a lot of time second guessing their solutions.
In questo contributo proponiamo una riflessione sugli ultimi 175 anni di storia – e una proiezione dei prossimi 25 – della traduzione istituzionale in Alto Adige, servendoci dei risultati di alcuni studi. In questa terra di confine si sono susseguite numerose forme di governo nel periodo preso in esame, che hanno influenzato direttamente la gestione linguistica delle istituzioni. Dal multilinguismo di epoca asburgica, al rigido monolinguismo di epoca fascista, al ritrovato multilinguismo favorito dall’autonomia provinciale. Nonostante l’ampio spettro di diritti linguistici attuale, e a differenza di altre realtà contemporanee, oggi nell’amministrazione locale si traduce perlopiù come si traduceva 175 anni fa, ovvero sfruttando il bilinguismo del personale impiegato. Solo l’impressionante salto qualitativo raggiunto dalle tecnologie per la traduzione sembra essere in grado di favorire un cambio di paradigma per le istituzioni di questo territorio, altrimenti fortemente ancorate alla tradizione.
This article reports on a research project that elicited translators’ emotional narratives of their work with the aim of better understanding the contemporary scene of professional translation. The respondents (n = 102) represent EU translators, Finnish professional translators and translation students from two countries (Ireland and Finland). The method of data collection was “love letter/hate letter”, an exploratory tool borrowed from user experience research (Hanington & Martin 2012: 114). A total of 148 letters drafted by the respondents has been analysed, and the findings are contrasted with the notion of habitus put forward by Daniel Simeoni in his classic essay from 1998. A content and discourse analysis of translators’ predominantly positive emotions, their spatial discourses, preference for efficiency and yearning for freedom largely supports Simeoni’s hypothesis of translators’ voluntary subservience, but the results also suggest that his model is too simplified to fully capture the variability of empirical data.
Since it started in February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian War has gained the interest of numerous news organizations. The reframing of visual elements of ten news items about the Russian-Ukrainian War is examined in this study. The Arabic versions are extracted from the Al Jazeera website, while the original articles were taken from The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. Baker’s narrative theory is used in this paper (Baker, 2018). Comparing the visual elements in the English articles to their Arabic equivalents allowed researchers to pinpoint how they are paratextually reframed in the translated versions. The findings showed that Al Jazeera occasionally produces various, varied, and incongruent interpretations of the narrative. This could lead to multiple and, occasionally, dissimilar perspectives on the same story. The findings showed that Al Jazeera utilized paratextual reframing strategies involving visual elements, such as images, videos, and typographical features, to reframe the Russian-Ukrainian War. The research suggests that while the original media outlets initially framed the war according to their agenda, Al Jazeera altered this frame in the translated text. As a result, the target audience’s perception of the event under examination may change during the entire process.
This chapter argues that languages are symbols of social identities and that managing translation and interpreting (TI) builds upon existing social hierarchies and power dynamics. Within this overarching context, the role TI play role in supporting and challenging oppressive social systems is explored. The chapter highlights how the contributors to this collective volume expose similarities and differences in how institutions operate TI when serving different populations. Throughout the examination, different forms of power emerge as differently instrumentalizing TI to perpetuate or contest established power dynamics. The contexts explored span a wide spectrum, encompassing international intergovernmental organizations and public services. This broad scope serves to reveal contradictions and shared dynamics. The chapter finally foregrounds human causation and highlights the rationales and the epistemological and social benefits of plotting new routes into unexplored spaces of institutional translation and interpreting.
Bu kitap bölümünde çoklu zeka kuramı aracılığıyla Fransızca yabancı dil sınıflarında deyimlerin nasıl öğretilebileceğinin gösterilmesi amaçlanmıştır.
This book chapter was aimed to demonstrated how the idioms can be taught in French as a foreign language classes through the theory of multiple intelligences.
A 2010-es évtized közepétől eddig soha nem látott változásokon ment keresztül a fordítói szakma, átalakult a szakfordítás folyamata, és ezáltal a fordító szerepe is. A digitalizáció, majd a mesterséges intelligenciával támogatott eszközök, főként a neurális gépi fordító és a ChatGPT megjelenése alapjaiban változtatta meg a nyelvi közvetítés, ezen belül a szakfordítás folyamatát. A neurális gépi fordítás az emberi fordításban jellegzetesen egymásra épülő olvasási, írási és transzformációs folyamatok egy részének helyébe lép, és a fordító szerepe eltolódik a gép produktumának javítása, kiegészítése és ellenőrzése felé. A fordítónak hagyományos kompetenciái mellett meg kell tanulnia a gépi fordítóval dolgozni és kiaknázni az eszköz nyújtotta előnyöket, miközben továbbra is a humán fordítással azonos minőségű fordított szövegeket várnak tőle a megrendelők és az olvasók. Így létfontosságú, hogy a humán fordító látható maradjon, és szakmai kontrolljának fontosságát a fordított szövegek felhasználói ne tévesszék szem elől. A szerző sorra veszi a változásokat: a mesterséges intelligencia megjelenésétől a humán fordító behelyettesíthetőségének kérdéséig, az új fordítói kompetenciákon, az utószerkesztés folyamatán, a fordító státuszán át az új fordítógenerációk képzéséig és önképzéséig, a fordítás elméletei és modelljei szempontjából. Vizsgálja a változások gyakorlati aspektusait, a fordítók attitűdjét és jövő képét, mégpedig egy kérdőíves és egy interjúkutatás segítségével. Így a könyvben maguk a fordítók is szót kapnak, akiknek mindennapi munkáját gyökeresen és egyre gyorsuló ütemben alakították, alakítják át az új eszközök, és várhatóan a jövőben is ennek a tendenciának néznek elébe.
For more than a decade, linguistics has moved increasingly away from evaluating language as an autonomous phenomenon, towards analysing it 'in use', and showing how its function within its social and interactional context plays an important role in shaping in its form. Bringing together state-of-the-art research from some of the most influential scholars in linguistics today, this Handbook presents an extensive picture of the study of language as it used 'in context' across a number of key linguistic subfields and frameworks. Organised into five thematic parts, the volume covers a range of theoretical perspectives, with each chapter surveying the latest work from areas as diverse as syntax, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, applied linguistics, conversational analysis, multimodality, and computer-mediated communication. Comprehensive, yet wide-ranging, the Handbook presents a full description of how the theory of context has revolutionised linguistics, and how its renewed study is crucial in an ever-changing world.
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