Present and Future Horizons of Translation Review

Abstract

Translation Review has played a major role in establishing the art and craft of translation as a major field of study in the arts and humanities. After forty years of the journal’s appearance with three issues per year, the editors decided to take an inventory of what the review has contributed to the expansion of translation studies and what additional topics should be addressed in the future. When the first numbers of Translation Review appeared, translation was still considered a stepchild in many academic institutions: the publication of translations, scholarly articles on the theory and practice of translation, and book publications of translations did not fall into the category of respectable scholarly publications. The interview with Margaret Sayers Peden by Jim Hoggard reflects the treatment that a distinguished translator and scholar was receiving in the academic environment. Frequently, assistant and associate professors would hide their publications in the field of translation studies when they were up for promotion. Over the years, these attitudes have begun to change, and I hope that the essays, interviews with translators, reviews of translations, teaching of translation, and the illumination of the translation process have greatly enhanced the study of the arts and humanities during the past forty years. What is Translation? George Steiner frames the essence of translation in the following statement: “All acts of communication are acts of translation.” Translation resides in all our activities every day: we carry words and images from another language and culture into English. The translator tries to communicate the atmosphere and associations of a word in a foreign language into the environment of the new language. At all times, translators are haunted by the idea that there is no such thing as the definitive translation of a text, as there is no such thing as a definitive interpretation of a work. At all times, translation establishes an interaction with the text in which the interpretive perspective of the translator becomes apparent. The translator is reader, interpreter, and performer of the text in a new language. Translation destroys language walls and illuminates the gestures, assertions, and utterances of other nations. The craft of translation encompasses the recreation of literary, historical, philosophical texts from a foreign language into English. At the same time, all human activities are continuously involved in some form of translation: the pianist translates the music score to the keys of the piano, the actor translates the words of the play to the stage and the audience, and the dancers translate their vision of the world into movements. Translation Review has shaped the various fields and thought processes that constitute the necessary intellectual frame for the understanding and implementation of how translation shapes our daily life. Now is the time to look back into the past pages of Translation Review to assess what the journal has contributed to the development of translation studies in the environment of the humanities to promote the act of interpretation and cultural understanding. The translator plays the most important role in facilitating the exchange and dialogue with other languages and cultures. In the past, translators have not received the respect and the recognition they deserve. Many translations were published without the name of the translator. Even today, it is rare that the translator will appear on the cover of a translation. Continuously, publishers have resisted featuring the translator as a major contributor to the translation. From their perspective, the name of the translator could divert the attention from the writer, especially when the writer had international recognition. To underline the importance of the translator, Translation Review has regularly presented interviews with translators. In the first issue, Thomas TRANSLATION REVIEW 2022, VOL. 112, NO. 1, 1–5 https://doi.org/10.1080/07374836.2022.2044247