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- Volume 19, Issue, 2007
Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 19, Issue 2, 2007
Volume 19, Issue 2, 2007
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How about meta?: An introduction
Author(s): Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaerpp.: 189–195 (7)More Less
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Defining patterns in Translation Studies: Revisiting two classics of German Translationswissenschaft
Author(s): Gernot Hebenstreitpp.: 197–215 (19)More LessA definition can be seen as a central working tool for researchers, since it leads to a new conceptual construction. At the same time a multitude of definitions, especially if competing with each other, is quite often perceived as a typical symptom of fields of research that have not yet developed their theories to the necessary level of sophistication. A relatively young field of research, Translation Studies and its proponents have repeatedly been the target of criticism in that respect, i.e. working with concepts whose definitions do not comply with commonly accepted standards of definition. That kind of critique serves as the starting point for this paper, which tries to analyze definitions in two seminal publications in the history of German Übersetzungswissenschaft, representing two opposing approaches to translation, namely Zufall und Gesetzmäßigkeit in der Übersetzung by Otto Kade (1968) and Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie by Hans J. Vermeer and Katharina Reiß (1984). The paper will give an account of standards of definition, commonly found in philosophy of science and terminology, will address central aspects of scientific concepts (theory-boundness, types of concepts, determinacy, vagueness) and present the findings of a study focusing on defining patterns.
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Risking conceptual maps: Mapping as a keywords-related tool underlying the online Translation Studies Bibliography
Author(s): Luc van Doorslaerpp.: 217–233 (17)More LessThe Holmes/Toury map is a monument in Translation Studies. It is often referred to but only very few attempts have been made to complement it, let alone to draw completely new maps of the discipline, especially after the simplicity of relationships suggested by maps was severely denounced by Anthony Pym. Nevertheless, in the last years a new conceptual map has gradually been developed as an underlying tool for the online Translation Studies Bibliography. This TSB map has an open and descriptive character and tries to bring an added value to the conceptualization and the interrelationships between concepts that are often used ambiguously or even in an idiosyncratic way. This contribution describes the development and construction of that new map and concludes by calling for criticism, changes and additions.
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Polysemy and synonymy: Their management in Translation Studies dictionaries and in translator training. A case study
Author(s): Leona Van Vaerenberghpp.: 235–254 (20)More LessThe use of the same term with different meanings and the use of different terms with somewhat analogous meanings are not exceptional phenomena in scientific language. This article deals with polysemy and synonymy, and consists of three parts. The introductory part gives a brief description of the dictionaries and encyclopedias published up to the present time and justifies the choice of the examples in this case study, namely the polysemic term coherence and four synonymous couples of concepts and terms: documentary/instrumental translation, overt/covert translation and interlingual interpretive/interlingual descriptive communication as well as direct/indirect translation. The second part offers a comparison between the various dictionaries and encyclopedias and shows how the polysemic term coherence and the related pairs of concepts/terms are dealt with. It also indicates how the profusion of terminology could more effectively meet the needs of everyone who is engaged in translation and Translation Studies. The purpose of the third part is to demonstrate that in the training of translators, it is necessary to dispose of a metalanguage and that terminological diversity as a reflection of theoretic-conceptual diversity may be seen as an opportunity.
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The terminology of translation: Epistemological, conceptual and intercultural problems and their social consequences
Author(s): Josep Marcopp.: 255–269 (15)More LessThis article focuses on three kinds of problems besetting the terminology of translation. Firstly, the weak epistemological status of Translation Studies as a discipline does not favour consensus among specialists. Secondly, conceptual difficulties arise from the fact that the relationship between concepts and terms is far from univocal: conceptual similarities are clouded by terminological differences, and conceptual differences lurk beneath apparent synonymy. Thirdly, both conceptual and terminological practices are often rooted in different national traditions and may be school-specific. These three sets of problems are interrelated, and they are shown at work in a concept that has often been referred to as technique or shift. They have not only inward — academic and theoretical — but also outward — social and professional — consequences, as the social projection of professional translators vis-à-vis other professions may depend to a certain extent on their ability to use an acknowledged terminology. The same may be true of the translation scholar community.
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Natural and directional equivalence in theories of translation
Author(s): Anthony Pympp.: 271–294 (24)More LessEquivalence was a key word in the linguistics-based translation theories of the 1960s and 1970s, although its basic mode of thought may be traced back to Cicero and later to the Renaissance theories that began to presuppose languages of equal status. Close inspection reveals that some theories assume pre-existing equivalents and are thus concerned with a search for “natural” equivalence. Other theories allow that translators actively create equivalents, and are thus concerned with “directional” equivalence. The first kind of equivalence is concerned with what languages ideally do prior to translation; the other deals with what they can do. These two approaches are often intertwined, giving rise to many misunderstandings and unfair criticisms of the underlying concept. The historical undoing of the equivalence paradigm came when the directional use of the term allowed that equivalence need be no more a belief or expectation at the moment of reception, which need not be substantiated on the level of linguistic forms. At the same time, source texts became less stable and languages have been returning to more visibly hierarchical relations, further undermining the concept. Contemporary localization projects may nevertheless fruitfully be interrogated from the perspective of natural and directional equivalence, since the presumptions are being used by contemporary technology precisely at the moment when the terms themselves have been dropped from critical and exploratory metalanguage.
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A literary work — Translation and original: A conceptual analysis within the philosophy of art and Translation Studies
Author(s): Leena Laihopp.: 295–312 (18)More LessThe focus of this paper lies on the translatability of a literary work of art. The phenomenon is approached as a conceptual challenge subsumed under the question Can the identity of a literary work of art be retained when the work is translated? Since the question of translatability as posed here belongs to the realm of philosophy of art, the problematic nature of ‘original’, ‘translation’ and ‘identity’ is discussed first in the theoretical context of analytic philosophy. I then consider the issue within the framework of Translation Studies. By showing the definitional diversity the necessity of contextual embedding and theoretical explicitness is highlighted. A genuine exchange of ideas and views, between and within disciplines, presupposes conceptual transparency.
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“What’s in a name?”: On metalinguistic confusion in Translation Studies
Author(s): Mary Snell-Hornbypp.: 313–325 (13)More LessTerminology has often proved to be a problem in scholarly discourse, and Translation Studies is a case in point. Even the name of the discipline has been an issue since James Holmes brought it up in 1972, and the central concept of the time, equivalence, despite incessant debate and revaluation in some schools of thought, has in others long since been discarded as an illusion.Basically there are three possibilities open to the scholar wanting to introduce a new technical term:– As in the case of norm (Toury), a word from general language can be used in a specified sense and defined as such. The danger arises that it can be misinterpreted and used differently in other contexts and languages (as with Vermeer’s Norm).– the invention of completely new terms, as with Justa Holz-Mänttäri’s Botschaftsträger.– A word is taken over from a classical dead language, such as Latin or Greek, and given a specific definition for the theory concerned, as was the case with skopos in the functionalist approach.Referring to experience in editing the Handbuch Translation, the essay discusses this issue in detail. It also deals with the use of English as a lingua franca in the metadiscourse of Translation Studies.
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In defence of fuzziness
Author(s): Nike K. Pokornpp.: 327–336 (10)More LessIn Translation Studies the definitions of the concepts native speaker and mother tongue have been uncritically adopted from linguistics and are regarded as defined and clarified as far as their meaning is concerned, despite the fact that neither linguistics nor translation theory can offer an objective and water-tight definition of the terms. A similar desire for univocal terms can also be detected in the claims for the need of one, universally accepted term for the same phenomenon where various competing terms already exist and are in use. Although some linguists have already expressed their doubts in the justification of some of the fundamental linguistic concepts, as Rajogopalan has observed, a lot of them are still happy working with such discreet entities thus making linguistics perhaps the most “19th century” of the academic disciplines taught in universities today. Unfortunately, this could also be stated for some currents in Translation Studies, despite the fact that translation research can and should provide the most suitable field where such axiomatic truths are challenged. The article questions this desire for the univocal and argues that it is high time we all learn to live with more fuzzy definitions.
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The metalanguage of localization: Theory and practice
Author(s): Iwona Mazurpp.: 337–357 (21)More LessIn recent years localization has become a popular concept in both translation practice and theory. It has developed a language of its own, which, however, still seems to be little known among translation scholars. What is more, being primarily an industry-based discourse, the terms related to localization are very fluid, which makes theorizing about it difficult. Therefore, the aim of this article is, first of all, to explain the basic terms of the metalanguage of localization, as they are used by both localization practitioners and scholars, and, secondly, to make this metalanguage more consistent by proposing some general definitions that cover the basic concepts in localization. This, in turn, should, on the one hand, facilitate scholar-to-practitioner communication and vice versa and, on the other, should result in concept standardization for training purposes. In the conclusions I link the present discussion of the metalanguage of localization to a more general debate on metalanguage(s) in Translation Studies and propose that in the future we might witness the emergence of a new discipline called Localization Studies.
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The metalanguage of translation: A Chinese perspective
Author(s): Jun Tangpp.: 359–374 (16)More LessThis paper provides a brief introduction to the metalanguage of translation in China. It also gives an account of the recent domestic anxiety about the uncritical acceptance of Western metalanguages and the discontinuity of traditional metadiscourses. The author contends that mutual understanding between scholars from different academic backgrounds will contribute to a new global academic order that accommodates and incorporates local knowledge of different cultures and marginal metalanguages of various academic communities.
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Translation terminology and its offshoots
Author(s): Yves Gambierpp.: 375–382 (8)More LessWe have today a number of versions in different languages of Terminologie de la traduction / Translation terminology, originally compiled in four languages by Jean Delisle, Hannelore Lee-Jahnke and Monique C. Cormier (1999). To assess how these versions were prepared, nine editors have been contacted by e-mail and asked to respond to a series of questions: How did they proceed to select the terms, to write their definitions, to insert the examples? In a paradoxical way, the answers do not seem to reflect a clear and thorough methodology. The metalanguage of translation is far from enjoying consensus and the way to reach an agreement is all but simple.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 36 (2024)
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Volume 35 (2023)
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Volume 34 (2022)
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Volume 33 (2021)
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Volume 32 (2020)
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Volume 31 (2019)
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Volume 30 (2018)
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Volume 29 (2017)
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Volume 28 (2016)
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Volume 27 (2015)
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Volume 26 (2014)
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Volume 25 (2013)
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Volume 24 (2012)
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Volume 23 (2011)
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Volume 22 (2010)
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Volume 21 (2009)
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Volume 20 (2008)
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Volume 19 (2007)
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Volume 18 (2006)
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Volume 17 (2005)
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Volume 16 (2004)
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Volume 15 (2003)
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Volume 14 (2002)
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Volume 13 (2001)
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Volume 12 (2000)
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Volume 11 (1999)
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Volume 10 (1998)
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Volume 9 (1997)
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Volume 8 (1996)
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Volume 7 (1995)
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Volume 6 (1994)
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Volume 5 (1993)
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Volume 4 (1992)
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Volume 3 (1991)
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Volume 2 (1990)
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Volume 1 (1989)
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From ‘Is’ to ‘Ought’
Author(s): Andrew Chesterman
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