Textual And Contextual Analysis In Empirical Translation Studies

This book presents the state-of-art research in ETS by illustrating useful corpus methodologies in the study of important translational genres such as political texts, literature and media translations. Empirical Translation Studies (ETS) represents one of the most exciting fields of research. It gives emphasis and priority to the exploration and identification of new textual and linguistic patterns in large amounts of translation data gathered in the form of translation data bases. A distinct feature of current ETS is the testing and development of useful quantitative methods in the study of translational corpora. In this book, Hannu Kemppanen explores the distribution of ideologically loaded keywords in early Finnish translation of Russian political genres which yielded insights into the complex political relation between Finland and Russia in the post-Soviet era. Adriana Pagano uses multivariate analysis in the study of a large-scale corpus of Brazilian fiction translations produced between 1930s-1950s which is known as the golden age of Latin American translation. The statistical analysis detected a number of translation strategies in Brazilian Portuguese fictional translations which point to deliberate efforts made by translators to re-frame original English texts within the Brazilian social and political context in the first three decades under investigation. Meng Ji uses exploratory statistical techniques in the study of recent Chinese media translation by focusing three important media genres, i.e. reportage, editorial and review. The statistical analysis effectively detected important variations among three news genres which are analysed in light of the social and communicative functions of these news genres in informing and mobilising the audience in specific periods of time in Mainland China.

The present volume is devoted to the study of language use in translated texts as a function of various linguistic, contextual and cognitive factors. It contributes to the recent trend in empirical translation studies towards more methodological sophistication, including mixed methodology designs and multivariate statistical analyses, ultimately leading to a more accurate understanding of language use in translations.

Translation Studies has been defined in terms of spatial metaphors stressing the need for disciplinary border crossings, with the purpose of borrowing different approaches, orientations and tools from diverse academic fields. Such territorial incursions have resulted in a more thorough exploration of the home province, as this volume is designed to show. The interdisciplinary nature of the venture arises out of the multiplicity of terrains involved and the theoretically motivated definition of the object itself. Translation has been perceived as communication in context, hence the study of translated texts as facts of target cultures means that they need to be investigated within particular situational and sociocultural environments, an enterprise which necessarily requires the collaboration of various disciplines.This volume has grown out of a conference held at the University of Lisbon in November 2002 and collects a selection of papers that focus: on the crossdisciplinarity of Translation Studies, offering new perspectives on the current space of translation; on the importation and redefinition of theories, methodologies and concepts for the study of translation; and on the complex interplay of text and context in translation, creating dynamic interfaces with Sociology, Literary Theory, Cultural Studies, Discourse Analysis, Cultural History, among other disciplines.

The discipline of translation studies has gained increasing importance at the beginning of the 21st century as a result of rapid globalization and the development of computer-based translation methods. Today, changing political, economic, health, and environmental realities across the world are generating previously unknown inter-language communication challenges that can only be understood through a socially-oriented and data-driven approach. The Oxford Handbook of Translation and Social Practices draws on a wide array of case studies from all over the world to demonstrate the value of different forms of translation - written, oral, audiovisual - as social practices that are essential to achieve sustainability, accessibility, inclusion, multiculturalism, and multilingualism. Edited by Meng Ji and Sara Laviosa, this timely collection illustrates the manifold interactions between translation studies and the social and natural sciences, enabling for the first time the exchange of research resources and methods between translation and other domains' experts. Twenty-nine chapters by international scholars and professional translators apply translation studies methods to a wide range of fields, including healthcare, environmental policy, geological and cultural heritage conservation, education, tourism, comparative politics, conflict mediation, international law, commercial law, immigration, and indigenous rights. The articles engage with numerous languages, from European and Latin American contexts to Asian and Australian languages, giving unprecedented weight to the translation of indigenous languages. The Handbook highlights how translation studies generate innovative solutions to long-standing and emerging social issues, thus reformulating the scope of this discipline as a socially-oriented, empirical, and ethical research field in the 21st century.

This book presents a systematic literary comparison of the retranslations by adopting a mixed-method and bottom-up (inductive) approach by developing an empirical corpus approach. This corpus is specifically tailored to identify and study linguistic and non-linguistic modernist features throughout the texts, such as stream of consciousness-indirect interior monologue and free indirect speech. All occurrences are analysed quantitatively in the computations of inferential and comparative statistics, such as tests of time trends, lexical variety, and lexical frequency. The target texts are digitised, and the resulting text files are then analysed using a bespoke, novel computer program capable of the functions not provided by commercially available software such as WordSmith Tools and WMatrix. This methodology enables in-depth explorations of micro- and macro-textual features and allows a mixed-method approach combining close-reading qualitative analysis with systematic quantitative comparisons. The empirical study of the digital corpus of eleven Italian (re)translations of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse identifies a progressive source-text orientation only in a relatively few aspects of a few target texts. The translators’ presence affects all the examined target texts in terms of register and style under the influence of the Italian translation norms usually attributed to the translation of literary classics. Its intended readership comprises students of the mentioned fields and the general public of readers, editors, and publishers.

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data.

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 edited book is a collection of the latest empirical studies of translation and interpreting (T&I) from the post-structuralist perspective. The contributors are professors, readers, senior lecturers, lecturers, and research students from an international context. The contributions are characterised by five themes: Intervention in T&I Process of T&I Product of T&I T&I and technology T&I education These up-to-date topics are reflective of the shift in attitudes that is being witnessed as a new generation of translation scholars rejects the subjective assertions of previous generations, in favour of an altogether more rigorous approach. The book will notably contribute to the development of T&I and enhance our knowledge of the areas. It will be a useful reference for academics, postgraduate research students, and professional translators and interpreters. The book will also play a role in proposing practical and empirically based ways of training for universities and the industry, so as to overcome traditional barriers to translation and interpreting learning. The book will additionally provide reference material for relevant professional bodies.