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- Volume 5, Issue, 2016
Translation Spaces - Volume 5, Issue 1, 2016
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2016
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At the cognitive and situational interface
Author(s): Isabel García Izquierdopp.: 20–37 (18)More LessCharacteristics such as interdisciplinarity and dynamism make both written medical communication and medical translation particularly complex. In order to address this complexity, researchers need to adopt an interdisciplinary perspective (involving discourse analysis, sociology of professions, knowledge communication, etc.) and to approach the communicative process as a complex and comprehensive chain of cause and effect interactions at three levels: cognitive (the translation act), situational (the translation event) and socio-cultural (norms, initiator, etc.). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research project concerned with communication in the highly sensitive area of cancer patients in two Spanish hospitals, to outline the methodological proposal of the Gentt Group, which advocates for flexibility in the approach (quantitative and qualitative methods) and for the use of the notion of genre as a conceptual tool for research purposes. The concept of genre combines linguistic, cognitive and contextual aspects, and it allows for links with translation studies theory.
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Translate live to generate new knowledge
Author(s): Yong Zhongpp.: 38–58 (21)More LessThis paper discusses findings of an investigation into the real-life practice of Yuan Tianpeng, a new-generation translator whose work, based on Robert’s Rules of Order, involved translating live as well as publishing a translation. This investigation adopted a qualitative method and analyzed both first-hand and second-hand data, focusing on how Yuan delivered live translation, what strategies he used, and especially how he and his target audiences engaged in the co-production of new knowledge required to drive urgently needed social changes in China. The investigation found that Yuan’s practice constituted a distinct new mode of translation, which is called ‘live translation’ in this paper. In the light of recent development of translation theories, this new mode of translation constitutes an interesting case study for exploring the interface between cognitive and situational levels of translation.
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Text creation in a multilingual institutional setting
Author(s): Sofie Van de Geuchte and Leona Van Vaerenberghpp.: 59–77 (19)More LessText creation is influenced by situational factors, like the context in which the text is written. In a multilingual institution, the context is especially important, because it is controlled by rules and guidelines. This paper presents a case study conducted in the European Commission and the Directorate General for Translation. The text creation and translation process were reconstructed starting from the published version in the Official Journal of the European Union back to the initial idea. The paper focuses on the impact that external processes have on internal processes. We found that text editing and translation go hand in hand and that translators are part of a cooperative system in which their input is of importance for the source text. Moreover, the impact of the institution is significant, since it determines not only the work processes, but also the linguistic form, technical medium and technical content.
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Affect as a hinge
Author(s): Sari Hokkanen and Kaisa Koskinenpp.: 78–96 (19)More LessAffect, understood here as embodied meaning-making, offers one useful point of departure in studying translation as an activity that involves both cognitive and social processes, because it functions as a hinge between subjective understandings and social environments. We approach affects related to translating with the theoretical framework of the translator’s experiencing self, defined here as the perception that translators have of themselves, based on lived and embodied experience. In other words, we suggest that the study of affect in relation to translating should pay attention to translators’ own processes of meaning-making. Since the processes of human meaning-making, including self-construction, have been argued to rest upon narrative practice, we furthermore argue for a narrative approach to studying affects. We illustrate the methodological opportunities provided by a narrative approach to affect with three cases deriving from three different research projects.
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The ergonomic impact of agencies in the dynamic system of interpreting provision
Author(s): Jiqing Dong and Graham H. Turnerpp.: 97–123 (27)More LessInterpreters are part of a complex system involving multiple human and technological agents, some of which are aggregated into the form of interpreting agencies. Interpreting is shaped by the ergonomics of the agency as well as by those of the courtroom, hospital or conference centre. The changing British economic climate and contractualism across the public services have brought the role of agencies to the fore. Drawing upon ethnographic data, the paper explicitly links the effect of agency management to practices on the ground and investigates the ergonomic barriers perceived by interpreters. We identify a set of organisational imperatives for recruitment, work allocation, professional ethics and collaborative working. As a key information interface, agencies do not always interact effectively with interpreters or consider their own ergonomic impact. We conclude that there is a need for more research on agencies as workplaces and employers of interpreters in the community.
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Automatic Speech Recognition in the professional translation process
Author(s): Dragoș Ciobanupp.: 124–144 (21)More LessIn a language services industry currently feeling the pressure of ever-faster translation turn-around times, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) offers a variety of advantages for professional translators, yet also presents challenges. Anecdotal evidence shared on translators’ community platforms support the former, but the latter has not received as much attention. This paper reports insights into professional translation practices with ASR, based upon a survey on the use of ASR as well as a study in a naturalistic setting. By examining which translation tasks professionals have been using ASR for, how successfully, and in which workflows, this article highlights some of the main advantages and disadvantages of ASR adoption in the professional translation world. The conclusion is that ASR has the potential to increase the productivity and creativity of the translation act, but the advantages can be overshadowed by a reduction in translation quality unless thorough revision processes are in place.
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Processes of what models?
Author(s): Ricardo Muñoz Martínpp.: 145–161 (17)More LessIn a recent article, Chesterman (2013) elaborates on Toury’s (2012) distinction between ‘translation acts’ (cognitive process) and ‘translation events’ (sociological process), and adds a third, superordinate level of ‘translation practices’ (cultural, historical, anthropological). Such successively nested models seem intuitively correct when applied to categorizing different approaches within translation studies. However, when used within cognitive and psycholinguistic approaches, such categories are found to lead to flawed reasoning. When Chesterman’s proposal is considered from perspectives such as the level of abstraction and the dynamicity of the models, many examples provided as illustration turn out to be misleading. The bulk of such errors points to an implicit notion of cognition which is contested by a growing number of researchers within translation process research: a view of thought as an internal, neutral, and logical brain process, mainly focused on problem-solving.
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