Challenging The Traditional Axioms

Translation into a non-mother tongue or inverse translation, especially of literary texts, has always been frowned upon within Translation Studies in Western cultures and regarded by literary scholars and linguists as an activity of dubious worth, doomed to fail. The study, which received an award from EST in 2001, sets out to challenge the established view and to critically question some of the axiomatic assumptions of Western theorists. Its challenge is supported by extensive empirical research involving reader response to translations of specific literary texts. The conclusion reached is that the quality of the translation, its fluency and acceptability in the target language environment depend primarily on the as yet undetermined individual abilities of the particular translator, his/her translation strategy and knowledge of the source and target cultures, and not on his/her mother tongue or the direction in which s/he is translating.

Translation is commonly understood as the rendering of a text from one language to another – a border-crossing activity, where the border is a linguistic one. But what if the text one is translating is not written in “one language;” indeed, what if no text is ever written in a single language? In recent years, many books of fiction and poetry published in so-called Canada, especially by queer, racialized and Indigenous writers, have challenged the structural notions of linguistic autonomy and singularity that underlie not only the formation of the nation-state, but the bulk of Western translation theory and the field of comparative literature. Language Smugglers argues that the postnational cartographies of language found in minoritized Canadian literary works force a radical redefinition of the activity of translation altogether. Canada is revealed as an especially rich site for this study, with its official bilingualism and multiculturalism policies, its robust translation industry and practitioners, and the strong challenges to its national narratives and accompanying language politics presented by Indigenous people, the province of Québec, and high levels of immigration.

The synagogue remains a central institution in Jewish life as a place of study, worship, and assembly, but each day brings word of a new challenging development within each of the larger movements to which synagogues belong—Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist. Jewish religious communities today share a number of challenges, from the increase in secular or unaffiliated Jews to emerging Jewish spiritual communities forming outside the synagogue. There has never been a more compelling need for a wide-ranging discussion of the diverse issues facing American Judaism. Brought together by Zachary I. Heller, associate director of the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies, and an editorial team which included Rabbis David Gordis, Hayim Herring, and Sanford Seltzer, twenty of the leading Jewish thinkers—rabbis, scholars, authors, professors, activists, and experts in the study of the American synagogue—have contributed to this comprehensive collection of essays. Each writer brings unique expertise and perspective in describing the development of contemporary religious movements (denominations) in American Judaism, their interrelationships and tensions, and their prospects for the future. Their combined voices create a timely discussion of the many urgent issues bearing down on American synagogues. Contributors to Synagogues in a Time of Change take on the changing dynamics of synagogue life, its organization into movements, and the organic changes taking place that are causing those movements to lose their coherence and strength, both internally and as an attractive force for seekers of Jewish religious tradition and expression. They address the current fiscal issues that face the movement organizations and the broader questions of their future stability as well as their significance and continued relevance to individual congregations. Ultimately, the book is a catalyst for personal reflection and public discussion on the past, present and future of the American synagogue. The issues faced by Judaism in America are not unique to Jewish religious movements. Many of the issues facing synagogues will be familiar to those of all faiths. Indeed, the book includes an essay by Rodney L. Petersen of the Boston Theological Institute on denominationalism, nondenominationalism, and postdenominationalism in American Christian communities that helps us see these parallels. Religious groups of all kinds will find reflections of common struggles that can provide a vehicle for constructive conversations about their own pressing issues.

The Routledge Handbook of the History of Translation Studies is an exploration of the history of translation and interpreting studies (TIS) as a field of intellectual enquiry. The volume covers the evolution of thinking on translation, from the earliest discourses in Assyria, Egypt, Israel, China, India, Greece, and Rome, up to the early 20th century when TIS emerged as an identifiable academic field. The volume also traces the institutionalization of TIS and its key concepts from their beginnings in the 1920s in Ukraine up to their contemporary interdisciplinary manifestations. Written by leading international scholars, many of whom played a direct role in the events they describe, the chapters in this volume provide a comprehensive and in-depth account of the birth and consolidation of translation and interpreting studies as a thriving interdiscipline. With a focus on providing readers with the methodological and theoretical tools they need to conduct research, as well as background in the historiography of TIS, this handbook is an indispensable resource for all students and researchers of translation and interpreting studies.

This well illustrated, non-technical book focuses on astronauts' descriptions of the human aspects of space exploration, and their attempts to solve both mechanical and interpersonal problems. Based on interviews granted to the author by three astronauts, the book describes the experiments they undertook during the Apollo/Soyuz and Shuttle-Mir programs and the lessons learned from these missions. This book provides unique insight as to how adversity and challenges are overcome in the process of exploration.

The volume of economic, business, financial and institutional translation increases daily. Governments strive to produce plain and accessible information. Institutions and agencies operate in more than one language. Multinationals produce documents in multiple languages to expand their services worldwide, and large businesses and SMEs also have to adopt a multilingual approach for accessing new markets in new countries. Translation and interpreting training institutions are aware of the increasing need for training in this area. This awareness is evident in their curricula, which include subjects related to these areas of activity. Trainers and researchers are increasingly interested in knowing and researching the intricacies and aspects of this type of translation. This peer-reviewed publication, resulting from ICEBFIT 2016, echoes the voices of translation practitioners, researchers, and teachers, as well as other parties gathered to discuss new issues in institutional translation and business, finance and accounting translation, as well as, in a larger sense, specialized translation.

What are the methodologies that we should employ for designing and evaluating governmental policy, in light of the profound effects that policies have on the level and distribution of individuals' well-being? The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of this question, drawing from welfare economics, moral philosophy, and psychology. It covers policy-assessment methodologies, both established and emerging, and reviews philosophical conceptions of well-being, and the literature on "subjective well-being" in psychology and economics. Further chapters focus specifically on well-being measurement, and a variety of challenges for policy assessment.

Cognitive aspects of the translation process have become central in Translation and Interpreting Studies in recent years, further establishing the field of Cognitive Translatology. Empirical and interdisciplinary studies investigating translation and interpreting processes promise a hitherto unprecedented predictive and explanatory power. This collection contains such studies which observe behaviour during translation and interpreting. The contributions cover a vast area and investigate behaviour during translation and interpreting – with a focus on training of future professionals, on language processing more generally, on the role of technology in the practice of translation and interpreting, on translation of multimodal media texts, on aspects of ergonomics and usability, on emotions, self-concept and psychological factors, and finally also on revision and post-editing. For the present publication, we selected a number of contributions presented at the Second International Congress on Translation, Interpreting and Cognition hosted by the Tra&Co Lab at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.