This article proposes the term Big Translation History (BTH) to describe a translation history that can be analysed computationally and that we define as involving: (1) large-scale research (geographical and chronological); (2) massive data understood as big data, accompanied by little data, and drawing on a wide range of often heterogeneous and non-structured sources; and (3) the use of computational techniques as part of the research process, and for the production of knowledge, rather than helping only with visualisation of data. We advance the hypothesis that one of the main possibilities of BTH, as a conceptual framework and a methodology, is to help decentralize translation history and literary and cultural history, in a broad sense. The article goes on to present an analysis of the circulation of literary translations and the agents involved in the Spanish-speaking world between 1898 and 1945 as a case study in BTH.
{"title":"Big translation history","authors":"Diana Roig-Sanz, Laura Fólica","doi":"10.1075/ts.21012.roi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.21012.roi","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article proposes the term Big Translation History (BTH) to describe a translation history that can be\u0000 analysed computationally and that we define as involving: (1) large-scale research (geographical and chronological); (2) massive\u0000 data understood as big data, accompanied by little data, and drawing on a wide range of often heterogeneous and non-structured\u0000 sources; and (3) the use of computational techniques as part of the research process, and for the production of knowledge, rather\u0000 than helping only with visualisation of data. We advance the hypothesis that one of the main possibilities of BTH, as a conceptual\u0000 framework and a methodology, is to help decentralize translation history and literary and cultural history, in a broad sense. The\u0000 article goes on to present an analysis of the circulation of literary translations and the agents involved in the Spanish-speaking\u0000 world between 1898 and 1945 as a case study in BTH.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45543526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article fills a gap in the existing array of translation metaphors by introducing maze-walkers as a metaphor for translators at work. Ten similarities and five dissimilarities between translating and walking through a hedge maze are discussed. Translators’ control over their actions is compared to that of maze-walkers and of four other metaphorical agents: stage and musical performers, puppeteers, echoborgs and ghost-writers. Most existing metaphors convey attitudes toward translations and translators, whereas the maze-walking metaphor captures the varied actions of a translating translator. The metaphor may be of value to anyone explaining translation to students.
{"title":"Maze-walkers and echoborgs","authors":"B. Mossop","doi":"10.1075/ts.21001.mos","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.21001.mos","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The article fills a gap in the existing array of translation metaphors by introducing maze-walkers as a metaphor\u0000 for translators at work. Ten similarities and five dissimilarities between translating and walking through a hedge maze are\u0000 discussed. Translators’ control over their actions is compared to that of maze-walkers and of four other metaphorical agents:\u0000 stage and musical performers, puppeteers, echoborgs and ghost-writers. Most existing metaphors convey attitudes toward\u0000 translations and translators, whereas the maze-walking metaphor captures the varied actions of a translating translator. The\u0000 metaphor may be of value to anyone explaining translation to students.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42005979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The present article discusses the notion of translation hacking and attempts to chart the history of this practice in the Arabic context. It also discusses the current practices of translation hacking by examining the work of a well-organized online community of Arab translation hackers called Games in Arabic (GiA). To this end, the study adopts two methods for data collection. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the first translation hackers in the Arab world in order to document the history of this practice. Second, a cyberethnographic approach was adopted to collect qualitative data related to GiA, including their translation hacking practices and the technologies used to facilitate their collaborative work. Subsequently, this article attempts to reveal the roles played by the different GiA community members in executing their projects and how they control for quality in their work. Ultimately, the article attempts to provide insights into the practice of Arabic game localization performed by amateur translators, hackers, and gamers, in the hope of adding to current professional and pedagogical practices in Arabic game localization.
{"title":"Translation hacking in Arabic video game localization","authors":"Mohammed Al-Batineh, Razan F. Alawneh","doi":"10.1075/ts.20051.alb","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.20051.alb","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The present article discusses the notion of translation hacking and attempts to chart the history of this practice in the Arabic context. It also discusses the current practices of translation hacking by examining the work of a well-organized online community of Arab translation hackers called Games in Arabic (GiA). To this end, the study adopts two methods for data collection. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the first translation hackers in the Arab world in order to document the history of this practice. Second, a cyberethnographic approach was adopted to collect qualitative data related to GiA, including their translation hacking practices and the technologies used to facilitate their collaborative work. Subsequently, this article attempts to reveal the roles played by the different GiA community members in executing their projects and how they control for quality in their work. Ultimately, the article attempts to provide insights into the practice of Arabic game localization performed by amateur translators, hackers, and gamers, in the hope of adding to current professional and pedagogical practices in Arabic game localization.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46893913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The present study propounds a methodology for the translation of Qur’anic lexis in a way that synergizes semantic preference, discourse prosody, and para/intertextuality. Towards the validation of this methodology, the Qur’anic lexical item آيـة (āyah) is investigated at two levels: (a) the intertextual level of the semantic preferences emerging in the various co-texts of āyah inside the Qurʼan and (b) the paratextual level of the overall discourse prosody underlying these semantic preferences in the exegetical contexts of āyah. The research finds firstly that there are four semantic preferences associated with āyah, viz. cosmological phenomena, miraculous tokens, conclusive evidence, and divine revelations/communications. Second, the discourse prosody underlying the Qurʼanic usages of āyah is divine visibility, which motivates the word’s generic English translation as “sign.” Third, in rendering the lexical item آيـة (āyah) into English, the well-known Qur’an translators in the Qurʼanic Arabic Corpus have opted either for “sign,” to maintain the positive discourse prosody associated with the Qur’anic usages of the item, or “token,” “portent,” “miracle(s),” or “verse/revelations/communications,” with a view to observing the semantic preferences associated with them.
{"title":"A methodology for Qur’anic lexical translation","authors":"A. Salama","doi":"10.1075/ts.20042.sal","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.20042.sal","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The present study propounds a methodology for the translation of Qur’anic lexis in a way that synergizes semantic\u0000 preference, discourse prosody, and para/intertextuality. Towards the validation of this methodology, the Qur’anic lexical item\u0000 آيـة (āyah) is investigated at two levels: (a) the\u0000 intertextual level of the semantic preferences emerging in the various co-texts of āyah inside the Qurʼan and (b)\u0000 the paratextual level of the overall discourse prosody underlying these semantic preferences in the exegetical contexts of\u0000 āyah. The research finds firstly that there are four semantic preferences associated with\u0000 āyah, viz. cosmological phenomena, miraculous tokens, conclusive evidence, and divine\u0000 revelations/communications. Second, the discourse prosody underlying the Qurʼanic usages of āyah is divine\u0000 visibility, which motivates the word’s generic English translation as “sign.” Third, in rendering the lexical item آيـة (āyah) into English, the well-known Qur’an translators in the Qurʼanic\u0000 Arabic Corpus have opted either for “sign,” to maintain the positive discourse prosody associated with the Qur’anic usages of the\u0000 item, or “token,” “portent,” “miracle(s),” or “verse/revelations/communications,” with a view to observing the semantic\u0000 preferences associated with them.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41325121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article conducts a textual and reception analysis of George Jamieson’s translation of Qing marriage law with the aim of probing a translational encounter between traditional Chinese law and British anthropology. Approaching a Qing clause against marriage between persons of the same family name as an object of anthropological study, Jamieson annotated his rendition with rich paratexts to orient it under the concept of exogamy. After reflecting upon predecessors’ theories, he advanced his own by restructuring existing anthropological constructs. Taking his translation as a knowledge source, Jamieson further highlighted the existence of an endogamous limit upon the exogamy rule; this observation was absorbed by Henry Maine to strengthen his argument that exogamy and endogamy were not oppositional in agnatic societies. As revealed in Jamieson’s interaction with British anthropologists, he proved himself more than a translator of Qing marriage law but also a contributor to nineteenth-century British anthropology.
{"title":"When Qing Law Encountered British Anthropology","authors":"R. Liu","doi":"10.1075/ts.20028.liu","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.20028.liu","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article conducts a textual and reception analysis of George Jamieson’s translation of Qing marriage law with\u0000 the aim of probing a translational encounter between traditional Chinese law and British anthropology. Approaching a Qing clause\u0000 against marriage between persons of the same family name as an object of anthropological study, Jamieson annotated his rendition\u0000 with rich paratexts to orient it under the concept of exogamy. After reflecting upon predecessors’ theories, he advanced his own\u0000 by restructuring existing anthropological constructs. Taking his translation as a knowledge source, Jamieson further highlighted\u0000 the existence of an endogamous limit upon the exogamy rule; this observation was absorbed by Henry Maine to strengthen his\u0000 argument that exogamy and endogamy were not oppositional in agnatic societies. As revealed in Jamieson’s interaction with British\u0000 anthropologists, he proved himself more than a translator of Qing marriage law but also a contributor to nineteenth-century\u0000 British anthropology.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45669515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Though interpreters’ professionalism has been discussed in interpreting studies, there have been few studies on how the general public see the image of interpreters. The present study is a multi-dimensional analysis of the image of conference interpreters as represented by the media, which is based on a corpus of 60 news reports about interpreting and interpreters in the Chinese media in the past 10 years. It explores the research question: How are conference interpreters represented in the Chinese media? Through thematic and rhetorical analysis of the headlines and body texts as well as multimodal analysis of the photos in the news reports, it is found that conference interpreters are represented by institutional conference and diplomatic interpreters, who are in turn represented as “stars” or public celebrities of the profession; they are frequently presented along with big events and big names, and portrayed as affiliating to power and as distant from the public. Images of female beauties among them are also selected and “consumed” as in popular culture. This implies a discrepancy between the self-perception of the interpreting profession and their representation by the media.
{"title":"A multi-dimensional analysis of the representation of conference interpreters in the Chinese media","authors":"Yiwei Du, Binhua Wang","doi":"10.1075/ts.18011.du","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.18011.du","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Though interpreters’ professionalism has been discussed in interpreting studies, there have been few studies on\u0000 how the general public see the image of interpreters. The present study is a multi-dimensional analysis of the image of conference\u0000 interpreters as represented by the media, which is based on a corpus of 60 news reports about interpreting and interpreters in the\u0000 Chinese media in the past 10 years. It explores the research question: How are conference interpreters represented in the Chinese\u0000 media? Through thematic and rhetorical analysis of the headlines and body texts as well as multimodal analysis of the photos in\u0000 the news reports, it is found that conference interpreters are represented by institutional conference and diplomatic\u0000 interpreters, who are in turn represented as “stars” or public celebrities of the profession; they are frequently presented along\u0000 with big events and big names, and portrayed as affiliating to power and as distant from the public. Images of female beauties\u0000 among them are also selected and “consumed” as in popular culture. This implies a discrepancy between the self-perception of the\u0000 interpreting profession and their representation by the media.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45032052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For over two decades, Translation Studies (TS) scholars have argued that the discipline is going through a ‘technological turn’. This paper critically questions whether TS has already completed this “paradigmatic” or “disciplinary turn,” “a clearly visible and striking” change of direction that can “perhaps even [amount] to a redefinition of the subject concerned” (Snell-Hornby 2010, 366). After a revision of the notion of ‘turn’ in TS, it will be argued that the ‘technological’ one has been completed and it can, in fact, be assessed “after it is already complete” (ibid). It will be shown how the emergence and consolidation of this turn were “driven not by theoretical developments in cognate areas of inquiry,” but are an “emergent property from new forms of translation practice” (Cronin 2010, 1). As a consequence, it has permeated TS across its different subdisciplines, both in their theoretical apparatus and/or in their research methodologies. In this examination, the picture that emerges is that translation, across TS, has in fact been redefined in one way or another as an instance of “human-computer interaction,” even in contexts such as literary translation.
{"title":"The “technological turn” in translation studies","authors":"Miguel A. Jiménez-Crespo","doi":"10.1075/ts.19012.jim","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.19012.jim","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 For over two decades, Translation Studies (TS) scholars have argued that the discipline is going through a\u0000 ‘technological turn’. This paper critically questions whether TS has already completed this “paradigmatic” or “disciplinary turn,”\u0000 “a clearly visible and striking” change of direction that can “perhaps even [amount] to a redefinition of the subject concerned”\u0000 (Snell-Hornby 2010, 366). After a revision of the notion of ‘turn’ in TS, it will\u0000 be argued that the ‘technological’ one has been completed and it can, in fact, be assessed “after it is already complete” (ibid).\u0000 It will be shown how the emergence and consolidation of this turn were “driven not by theoretical developments in cognate areas of\u0000 inquiry,” but are an “emergent property from new forms of translation practice” (Cronin\u0000 2010, 1). As a consequence, it has permeated TS across its different subdisciplines, both in their theoretical\u0000 apparatus and/or in their research methodologies. In this examination, the picture that emerges is that translation, across TS,\u0000 has in fact been redefined in one way or another as an instance of “human-computer interaction,” even in contexts such as literary\u0000 translation.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41812475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Bowker & Ciro (2019): Machine Translation and Global Research: Towards Improved Machine Translation Literacy in the Scholarly Community","authors":"Caroline Rossi","doi":"10.1075/ts.00028.ros","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.00028.ros","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46191975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The more language service companies (LSCs) include machine translation post-editing (MTPE) in their workflows, the more important it is to know how the PE task is performed, who the post-editors are, and what skills they should have. This research is designed to address such questions. It aims to deepen our knowledge of current practices to later create new training content and adapt existing training methodologies to different types of audiences. Based on the results of a survey of LSCs and other companies who currently use MTPE, we present a picture of evolving practices in the contemporary European MTPE market, and opinions held about this emerging métier. Our research finds that a high level of expertise in MTPE may not necessarily be indicative of the industry, and that the post-editor of MT has a multi- and transdisciplinary profile.
{"title":"Language industry views on the profile of the post-editor","authors":"C. Cid, Carme Colominas, A. Oliver","doi":"10.1075/ts.19010.cid","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.19010.cid","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The more language service companies (LSCs) include machine translation post-editing (MTPE) in their workflows, the\u0000 more important it is to know how the PE task is performed, who the post-editors are, and what skills they should have. This\u0000 research is designed to address such questions. It aims to deepen our knowledge of current practices to later create new training\u0000 content and adapt existing training methodologies to different types of audiences. Based on the results of a survey of LSCs and\u0000 other companies who currently use MTPE, we present a picture of evolving practices in the contemporary European MTPE market, and\u0000 opinions held about this emerging métier. Our research finds that a high level of expertise in MTPE may not\u0000 necessarily be indicative of the industry, and that the post-editor of MT has a multi- and transdisciplinary profile.","PeriodicalId":43764,"journal":{"name":"Translation Spaces","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43535213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}