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Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Online First
Online First articles are the published Version of Record, made available as soon as they are finalized and formatted. They are in general accessible to current subscribers, until they have been included in an issue, which is accessible to subscribers to the relevant volume
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Review of Flynn (2023): Translating in the Local Community
Author(s): José LambertAvailable online: 03 July 2025More Less
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Canonizing Arthur Waley, rewriting Murasaki Shikibu : The Japanese back-translations of Waley’s The Tale of Genji
Author(s): Leo Tak-hung Chan and Jindan NiAvailable online: 30 June 2025More LessAbstractThis article examines the two Japanese back-translations of Arthur Waley’s English rendition (1925–1933) of Murasaki Shikibu’s 源氏物語 Genji monogatari ‘The tale of Genji’ to underscore the complexities of back-translation as process and product. The back-translations by Samata Hideki (2008–2009), and Mariya Marie and Moriyama Megumi (2017–2019) are clearly attempts to reinvigorate the millennium-old Japanese tale and renew interest among the domestic readership, but they also serve to canonize Waley’s version. It is important that these two back-translations be read against a long history of successful translations of the novel — both intralingual and interlingual — to see the peculiarities of the new textual interventions. Unlike what usually happens with translations in general, the back-translators engage with two source texts (by Shikibu and by Waley) instead of one. Through close textual analysis, this study aims to demonstrate how back-translations can be an ideal site for exploring issues related to rewriting, canonization, retranslation, and textual authority in historical and cultural contexts.
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The roles of language proficiency, working memory, and anxiety in speech error repairs in consecutive interpreting
Author(s): Nan Zhao and Yumeng LinAvailable online: 26 June 2025More LessAbstractThis study investigates the underexplored aspect of how interpreters detect and repair speech errors, focusing on various linguistic levels. We examined how error repairs are influenced by individual differences in language proficiency, working memory, and anxiety levels among student interpreters. Our findings demonstrate that while interpreters effectively detected and repaired lexical, syntactic, and phonological errors, they struggled with conceptual errors. Error detection and repair improved with an increase in the interpreter’s working memory span, whereas heightened anxiety impeded the repair of conceptual errors. Interpreters with superior working memory were more successful in correctly repairing conceptual errors and indeed speech errors in general, and those with better language proficiency also showed more success in error repair. The results highlight the pivotal role of working memory and the influence of language proficiency and anxiety on error correction in interpreting, emphasizing the significance of source language comprehension in avoiding conceptual errors.
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Finding synergies in Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies via task design
Author(s): Álvaro Marín GarcíaAvailable online: 13 June 2025More LessAbstractTraditionally, Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS) scholars have approached Multilectal Mediated Communication (MMC) tasks separately, partly due to methodological reasons, partly due to the tendency, identified by Blumczynski and Hassani (2019) in the wider field of Translation Studies (TS), to conceptualize language mediation according to discrete, absolute categories, often opposed in dichotomies (interpreting/translation, source text/target text, oral/written). However, actual instances of MMC are complex and entail many dimensions that frequently overlap across tasks and relate to each other in multifarious ways (Marais 2014). While dichotomous epistemologies favor the isolation of tasks and limit the scope of application of methods and constructs, complexity epistemologies cater for the diversity of linguistic, social, and environmental variables, and their impact on each other (Marín 2023). Such an epistemic stance allows us to identify theoretical synergies, developing constructs and models to empirically investigate different aspects of tasks both individually and in relation to each other to inform a general cognitive theory of MMC. In this article, I revisit the translation task model (Marín 2021) as a construct that could be instrumental to describe mediators’ interaction with the task from an extended perspective. In order to do so, the notion of ‘constraint’ is introduced and further explained according to Baggs and Chemero’s distinction between habitat and umwelt (2018). I argue that empirical data can be described according to these categories and, in turn, the resulting descriptions applied to the development of a general theory of MMC.
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The reception of translated vaccination information : Evidence from a reading and stops-making-sense judgment task
Author(s): Susana Valdez, Leticia Pablos Robles and Karin van den BergAvailable online: 05 June 2025More LessAbstractReception-oriented research on health communication, especially when focusing on migrant populations, allows for an exploration of what it means to provide access to health information, shedding light on migrants’ communicative needs with practical implications for translators’ work. Adopting a multi-method approach, this study explores the potential for reading difficulty and for misinterpretation of translated vaccination-related public health information. For this purpose, we conducted a reception-oriented study that used a participant-paced, region-by-region reading method coupled with an incremental stops-making-sense judgment task and a post-hoc comprehension questionnaire with two participant groups (native and non-native English speakers). Three main findings stand out from our analysis. First, the triangulation of multiple data sources indicates that reading difficulty and misinterpretation were not exclusive to the non-native group but affected both participant groups. Second, while participants generally responded correctly to comprehension questions, average reading times showed that both groups took longer to read most texts than expected. Third, medical language was the most challenging aspect for our participants, as indicated by data from online and offline subjective measures.
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A new perspective on models and theories of simultaneous interpreting
Author(s): Rhona Amos and Martin J. PickeringAvailable online: 02 June 2025More LessAbstractIn this article, we consider influential theories and models of simultaneous interpreting through the prism of current theories and findings in psycholinguistics. We review evidence suggesting that meaning is routinely accessed during comprehension, and, on this basis, suggest that it is unlikely that interpreters produce translation equivalents without accessing meaning. We also reflect on data showing cross-linguistic activation in two-language settings, and suggest that such cross-linguistic activation regularly takes place in simultaneous interpreting, without interfering with the processing of meaning. Finally, we consider the role of prediction in simultaneous interpreting. Evidence suggests that prediction regularly takes place during simultaneous interpreting and may facilitate the interpreting process. On the basis of this theoretical analysis, we consider that simultaneous interpreting involves a synergy, rather than just an overlap, of comprehension and production. We outline the pedagogical implications of our conclusions, and explain why viewing simultaneous interpreting from this new perspective may open up directions for future research.
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Investigating cognitive and interpersonal factors in hybrid human-AI practices : An empirical exploration of interlingual respeaking
Author(s): Elena Davitti and Anna-Stiina WallinheimoAvailable online: 02 June 2025More LessAbstractThis article investigates interlingual respeaking (IRSP) as a hybrid practice involving direct interaction between a language professional and speech recognition software to produce live subtitles. This technique combines language transfer with the diamesic shift of subtitling, the immediacy factor of interpreting, and direct interaction with AI-driven technology. It is, therefore, a prime example of Multilectal Mediated Communication which requires language professionals to adapt the procedural skills acquired through training and professional experience in related fields. The article reports on an empirical study that explores cognitive abilities and interpersonal traits as underexamined but critical elements of competence in IRSP, guided by Hambrick et al.’s (2018) multifactorial model of expertise. A mixed-methods exploratory design was used to investigate factors influencing IRSP performance. Fifty-one language professionals participated in a twenty-five-hour upskilling course, completing pre- and post-experiment surveys as well as a battery of cognitive tasks and interpersonal skills scales. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate predictors of IRSP accuracy and errors. Our study found that, among cognitive variables, complex working memory predicts accuracy. Additionally, different working memory resources were found to be involved in different error categories. In relation to interpersonal traits, integrated regulation (a measure of motivation) and conscientiousness were found to negatively predict accuracy. The study highlights the interplay between human cognitive and interpersonal variables in IRSP as a complex form of human-AI interaction, establishing a baseline for future research and advancing methodological approaches and training frameworks for language professionals working in AI-assisted environments.
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Mapping synergies in cognitive research on Multilectal Mediated Communication
Author(s): Raphael Sannholm, Laura Babcock and Elisabet TiseliusAvailable online: 02 June 2025More Less
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Review of Wilson (2024): Translation and Mysticism: The Rose and the Wherefore
Author(s): David HayesAvailable online: 02 June 2025More Less
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Conducting replication in translation and interpreting studies : Stakeholders’ perceptions, practices, and expectations
Author(s): Chao Han and Yueqing WangAvailable online: 19 May 2025More LessAbstractReplication has the potential to substantiate tentative research claims and consolidate the existing evidence base. Translation and interpreting (T&I) scholars have argued for the need for replication and generated initial data on practices and attitudes towards replication. In three inter-linked studies described in this article, we shed further light on how replication is perceived, practiced, and expected by relevant stakeholders. We find that (a) most of the T&I journal editors surveyed support replication, but give lower priority to direct replication; (b) the overall prevalence rate of replication was 0.6% among 3807 research articles published in eleven leading T&I journals (2000–2022), and most of the identified replications were partial replication; and (c) the majority of the T&I researchers who participated in this research expected their study to be replicated based on various alterations. These findings help us develop an enhanced understanding of replication and formulate strategies to promote replication in empirical T&I studies.
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A tale of two Skopos theories : (Re-)siting translation theory
Author(s): Brian James Baer and Philipp HofenederAvailable online: 09 May 2025More LessAbstractConceptual theories are generally understood as more or less static models that provide an argumentative basis for a scholar’s work. They present their intellectual genealogies through citation and referencing by which they are connected to existing works. The purpose of this article is to promote an alternative understanding, namely, that theories be treated as historical phenomena, which are influenced by space and time and are therefore constantly changing. Using the theoretical works of Hans J. Vermeer and Andrei V. Fedorov as examples, the article will trace their respective handling of secondary sources, their roots, and connect them to the subsequent circulation of these theories, their routes. In so doing, we suggest a more complex and unpredictable relationship between the roots and routes of theoretical models.
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Ideology, power, and a virgin : Translations of Isaiah 7:14 in Norwegian Bible translations as a case study
Author(s): Morten BeckmannAvailable online: 25 April 2025More LessAbstractIsaiah 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.
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The translation of extralinguistic cultural references in subtitling : An investigation of translation fidelity in Chinese films
Author(s): Wei Chen, Takeshi Nakamoto and Juan ZhangAvailable online: 11 August 2021More LessAbstractThere has been substantial scholarly interest in extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs) in translation, especially in audiovisual translation (AVT). However, most scholars have investigated subtitling from English into other languages. Although China has a long tradition of film production, few studies have investigated the subtitling of ECRs from Chinese into English. This article attempts to remedy this by investigating the translation strategies, translation strategy distribution, and fidelity indexes of six subtitled versions of Chinese-language films. We compare our results with Gottlieb’s (2009) results on Danish subtitles, and find that both Chinese and Danish subtitlers hold a target-oriented attitude. We then investigate the share of the strategies in the subtitling of ECRs across different Chinese films and determine that this varies by genre and that the difference in the fidelity index among films of different genres is substantial. The translation of epic films appears to be highly faithful, whereas that of crime and gangster films is much less faithful.
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Translation: universals or cognition? : A usage-based perspective
Author(s): Nina SzymorAvailable online: 21 February 2018More LessAbstractThis paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the existence of translation universals by investigating the use of aspect in modal contexts in translated and non-translated legal Polish and by analysing the observed differences with reference to insights from cognitive linguistics. Corpus analysis highlights significant distributional differences in the use of the two aspectual forms of Polish verbs (imperfective and perfective) in modal contexts. I argue that cognitive mechanisms called ‘chunking’ ( Langacker 1988 ; Bybee 2006 ) and ‘entrenchment’ ( Bybee 2010 ) underlie these differences. I show that what may at first glance seem as behaviour unique to the translation process, is in fact caused by general cognitive processes. The study has implications for both translation studies and cognitive linguistics: it offers support for the basic assumptions about the usage-based nature of linguistic knowledge and highlights the importance of taking these assumptions into consideration when investigating the translation process and translation universals.
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From ‘Is’ to ‘Ought’
Author(s): Andrew Chesterman
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