A Translational Sociology

A Translational Sociology provides an interdisciplinary investigation of the key role of translation in society. There is a growing recognition of translation’s intervention in the intellectual history of sociology, in the international reception of social theory, and in approaches to the global literary and academic fields. This book brings attention to aspects of translation that have remained more elusive to sociological interpretation and analysis, investigating translation’s ubiquitous presence in the everyday lives of ordinary people in increasingly multilingual societies and its key intervention in mediating politics within and beyond the nation. In order to challenge a reductive view of translation as a relatively straightforward process of word substitution that is still prevalent in the social sciences, this book proposes and develops a broader definition of translation as a social relation across linguistic difference, a process of transformation that leaves neither its agent nor its object unchanged. The book offers elaborations of the social, cultural and political implications of such an approach, as a broad focus on these various perspectives and their interrelations is needed for a fuller understanding of translation’s significance in the contemporary world. This is key reading for advanced students and researchers of translation studies, social theory, cultural sociology and political sociology.

The view of translation as a socially regulated activity has opened up a broad field of research in the last few years. This volume deals with central questions of the new domain and aims to contribute to the conceptualisation of a general sociology of translation. Interdisciplinary in approach, it discusses the role of major representatives of sociology like Pierre Bourdieu, Bruno Latour, Bernard Lahire, Anthony Giddens or Niklas Luhmann in establishing a theoretical framework for a sociology of translation. Drawing on methodologies from sociology and integrating them into translation studies, the book questions some of the established categories in this discipline and calls for a redefinition of long-assumed principles. The contributions show the social involvement of translation in various fields and focus especially on the translator s position in an emerging sociology of translation, Bourdieu s influence in conceptualising this new sub-discipline, methodological questions and a sociologically oriented meta-discussion of translation studies.

Increasing attention has been paid to the agency of translators and interpreters, as well as to the social factors that permeate acts of translation and interpreting. In addition, agency and social factors are discussed in more interdisciplinary terms. Currently the focus is not only on translators or interpreters – i.e., the exploration of their inter/intra-social agency and identity construction (or on their activities and the consequences thereof), but also on other phenomena, such as the displacement of texts and people and issues of access and linguicism. The displacement of texts (whether written or oral) across time and space, as well as the geographic displacement of people, has encouraged researchers in Translation and Interpreting Studies to consider issues related to translation and interpreting through the lens of the Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics, and Historiography. Researchers have employed a myriad of theoretical and methodological lenses borrowed from other disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Therefore, the interdisciplinarity of Translation and Interpreting Studies is more evident now than ever before. This volume, originally published as a special issue of Translation and Interpreting Studies (issue 7:2, 2012), is a perfect example of such interdisciplinarity, reflecting the shift that has occurred in Translation and Interpreting Studies around the world over the last 30 years.

This book deals with one of the most prominent and promising developments in modern Translation Studies--the sociology of translation. Tyulenev develops an original way of applying Luhmann's Social Systems Theory to translation, viewing translation as a social-systemic boundary phenomenon. The book consists of two major parts: in the first, translation is described as a system in its own right with its systemic properties; in the second part, translation is viewed as a social subsystem and as a boundary phenomenon in the overall social system.

This companion offers a wide-ranging introduction to the rapidly expanding field of translation studies, bringing together some of the best recent scholarship to present its most important current themes Features new work from well-known scholars Includes a broad range of geo-linguistic and theoretical perspectives Offers an up-to-date overview of an expanding field A thorough introduction to translation studies for both undergraduates and graduates Multi-disciplinary relevance for students with diverse career goals

Bourdieu's key concepts of habitus, field and capital have been adopted or adapted to elaborate the social and cultural nature of translation or interpreting activity, to locate this activity within social structures and social institutions, and to analyse the cultural, historical and political specificity of translation and interpreting practices. This special issue of The Translator explores the emergence and subsequent development of Bourdieu?s work within translation and interpreting studies. Contributors to this volume offer their critical assessment of the force of Bourdieu?s arguments in clarifying, strengthening or challenging existing analyses of the role of the social in translation and interpreting studies. The topics include a consideration of the role of habitus and symbolic/linguistic capital in translation and interpreting within the legal field; a critical evaluation of how educational sign language interpreters serve to reinforce the continuation of exclusionary practices toward deaf pupils within mainstream schooling; a critique of the dominant historiography of the early translations of Shakespeare?s drama in Egypt; an exploration of Bourdieu?s concepts of habitus, capital and illusio in relation to the formation of the literary field in France and America in the 19th and 20th century; a re-evaluation of the potential for a theoretical alliance between Latour? s actor-network theory and Bourdieu?s reflexive sociology; and a discussion of the ethnographic epistemological foundations of Bourdieu?s work with reference to political asylum procedures in Belgium. From varying perspectives, the papers in this volume demonstrate the contribution of Bourdieu?s work toward the continued elaboration of sociological perspectives within translation and interpreting studies.

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This essential new textbook guides readers through the social aspects and sociologically informed approaches to the study of translation. Sergey Tyulenev surveys implicitly and explicitly sociological approaches to the study of translation, drawing on the most important and influential works both within translation studies and in sociology, as well as recent developments in the field. In addition to the theoretical grounding provided, the book explains in detail the methodology of studying translation from a sociological point of view. Translation and Society discusses why translation should be studied sociologically, reinforces the foundation of the sociologically informed translation research already in existence in the field and outlines possible new directions for the future. Throughout the book there are many examples and case studies and each chapter includes thought-provoking discussion points, possible assignments, and suggestions for further reading. This is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Translation Studies.