Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 37, Issue 1, 2025

Abstract

Like language policy, translation policy is a complex adaptive phenomenon where multiple agents interact dynamically at diverse levels and affect how principles such as equality, inclusion, and non-discrimination are implemented at concrete, structural levels. While a fair amount of work has been done on top-down and bottom-up translation policy, more research about meso-level translation policy is needed to better understand this topic. This study thus seeks to show how meso-level agency needs to be taken into consideration; in particular, the complex interplays between meso-level agency and structural factors in policymaking and appropriation processes. Taking two Toronto hospitals as examples, this study demonstrates how hospitals can be conceptualised at a meso-level as collective agents. It examines the complexity of their agentive roles and elucidates their exertion of agentive power in order to explore meso complexity, and to assess the subsequent impact on both policy outcomes and people’s lives. To do so, a framework of parameters influencing, if not determining, the effectiveness of public service translation and interpreting provision is proposed. It is then used in combination with an existing tripartite framework of translation policy to develop a more fine-grained and holistic understanding of translation policy in public service settings.

Abstract

This article explores informed consent in maternity care in multilingual and multicultural contexts. Based on findings from a Royal Society of Edinburgh funded research project carried out in 2022 in Scotland, the article examines why consent is particularly crucial in maternity care, how it is usually obtained in the case of parents with limited English proficiency, and which barriers may stand in the way of truly informed consent. By focusing on the prevalent conception of informed consent as a legal requirement vis-à-vis its wider ethical implications, the objective of the article is to understand how the professional relationships between service providers, users, and interpreters may be enhanced through a discussion of the fiduciary aspect of interpreting and of advocacy for best possible outcomes.

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed burgeoning research on the sociology of translators. So far, academic translators of humanities and social sciences (HSS) texts have not received much attention. This exploratory study aims to describe their profile and document their views on their translation activity. A convenience sample of academic translators of HSS texts were invited to participate in an online survey. The results provide evidence of the shared and unique attributes of this little-known group of translators in terms of their gender, working languages, levels of education, areas of disciplinary knowledge, years of professional experience, employment types, qualifications in translation training, and publishing experience as authors. It challenges some assumptions regarding HSS translation, in terms of means of acquiring translation assignments, translation directions, domains of translation, collaboration with other agents, quality management measures, misconceptions of translation, and satisfaction with remuneration.

Abstract

The new millennium has witnessed a widening application of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to the field of Translation Studies, but the interface of ANT and Museum Translation Studies has so far remained underexplored. This article focuses on the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum as a case study. It attempts to construct the translation-related actor network involved in the renovation of the museum in 2015 and the subsequent two rounds of revisions the bilingual guide scripts have undergone. It also explores the bi-directional agential relations enabling the role change of main actors and the general development of the network. This article argues that translation-related ANT analysis should deem translational relations as neither the center nor the end of an actor network, and highlights the significance of nonhuman and non-translational actors in explaining the process of translation production and revision in the context of Museum Studies.

Abstract

Trade-offs are solutions to translation problems where two or more apparently incompatible values are sought at the same time. As such, they present an alternative to theories that see translation as operating between two polarities of the one value. Analysis of three illustrative examples suggests that receivers can activate trade-offs that are quite different from those envisaged by translators and that different readerships may seek different kinds of trade-offs. The resulting instability gives rise to problems concerning research methodology. It is proposed that the study of trade-offs is suited to a mixed-methods approach that starts from receiver-produced data, that allows for more than two values, and that recognizes that not all solutions are trade-offs. This approach can also identify situations where one kind of trade-off leads to another, creating chains of value transformation that are informed by translation history.

This article reviews Dialect, Voice, and Identity in Chinese Translation: A Descriptive Study of Chinese Translations of Huckleberry Finn, Tess, and Pygmalion

This article reviews Experimental Translation: The Work of Translation in the Age of Algorithmic Production