Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies

This article argues that when considering periodicals as “carriers” of foreign texts, attention must be paid to the modalities of this form of publication, and the manner in which periodicals enable and condition access to texts. The article examines not just the transnational circuits of communication of periodicals, but also the discursive practices, the agency, and the dynamic and distinct modalities of the periodical form. The nineteenth century witnessed an unprecedented expansion of periodical publishing and this article uses the case study of a nineteenth-century periodical, the Dublin University Magazine, in order to question the cultural transfers taking place, the positioning of translations within the publication, the significance of the medium of communication, and the challenges posed when studying translation in periodicals. Drawing on book history approaches, the article focuses on integrating the study of the translations within their publication context, examining how the mutable and ephemeral form of the periodical allowed for expanded textual discourses and also for widened participation in the translation enterprise.

Translation in nineteenth-century periodicals: Materialities and modalities of communication

An indirect translation is a translation in language C which is produced not from the source text in language A but based on a mediating text in language B which itself is a translation of the source text. One issue arising from indirect translation is the issue of fidelity, that is, the extent to which the translation reflects the original source text due to the presence of the mediating text. The aim of this paper is to examine this issue by focusing on a translation in Malay entitled Nurani Tanah Melayu, the English mediating text, The Soul of Malaya and the French source text, Malaisie. More specifically, the paper aims to determine the types of relationship that exist between the three texts and to establish the changes made by the translator in the process of translating. Ultimately, the aim is to establish whether the process of indirect translation produces a translated text that deviates from the original text and if so, whether the mediating text plays a role in the deviations that occur. For this purpose, a comparison is carried out between the three texts with the aim of establishing the similarities and differences between them. The findings indicate that the deviations from the French source text in the Malay translation are not necessarily due to the mediating text. Additionally, in cases where the Malay translation reflects the French source text, the adherence to the French text is not necessarily due to the assistance the mediating text.

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From French into Malay via English: The Indirect Translation of Henri Fauconnier’s Malaisie into Malay

Source text (ST), although a central concept in translation studies, has remained vaguely defined. This complicates the identification of a translation’s ST, which in turn creates problems for research. Associating translations with the incorrect ST(s) leads to questionable conclusions and categorizations, especially when dealing with the types of translation that are defined and theorized with reference to their relationship with their ST(s), such as retranslation, indirect translation, pseudotranslation and self-translation. Our case study of five Finnish translations of Jules Verne’s Vingt mille lieues sous les mer demonstrates that these assumed retranslations have different STs. We adopt the notions of work and text to establish the relationships among the translations and STs involved: texts are representations of a work, and a work, in turn, is a literary creation implied by its various texts. Although the five Finnish translations have different source texts, they are all – as are their STs – texts of the same work. In other words, if source text is understood to be a text, the five translations are not, strictly speaking, retranslations; however, if source text is understood to be a work, then they are all retranslations of the same work. Therefore, the categorization of these translations – and thus also the points of view from which they can be studied – depends on whether source text is defined as a text or as a work.

Beware the source text: five (re)translations of the same work, but from different source texts

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European Society for Translation Studies Congress

In Finland, indirect translation (ITr) played an important role as early as the sixteenth century in the formation of literary language. In the late nineteenth century, the first signs of critics condemning ITr began to appear. The stigma of ITr and the focus on the original have cast into obscurity the agency of translators and publishers, but archival material since the nineteenth century shows that publishers gave a free hand to translators doing ITr, who resorted to compilative translation. Kyllikki Villa, an important mediating agent and a translator of Modern Greek literature into Finnish during the second half of the twentieth century, discussed ITr as both translator and critic. Her archival material offers a rich insight into how her attitude towards ITr changed with her role: as a critic, she was wary of ITr; as a translator, she used and advocated compilative and collaborative translation as strategies for dealing with ITr.

Attitudes towards indirect translation in Finland and translators’ strategies: Compilative and collaborative translation


 This special issue is about indirect translation (ITr). To counter the traditional disinterest of Translation Studies in
 researching ITr, it explores and showcases what research on the topic can do for our discipline as a whole. This introductory article
 prepares the ground for and provides an overview of what is discussed in the seven articles included in the special issue. Before
 introducing the contributions to this issue, we briefly explain the terminology and definitions used throughout this issue. In the spirit of
 transparency, and making this special issue useful to everyone in Translation Studies, this introduction also devotes space to discussing
 how this issue came into being, sharing some of the lessons learnt through guest editing.

http://bwpl.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/BWPL-_2008_2_Dollerup.pdf

What can research on indirect translation do for Translation Studies?

Focused on key issues in researching indirect translation, this article presents a dialogue with and between three scholars from different branches of Translation Studies: news translation, interpreting and literary translation. The aim of this dialogue is to address fundamental questions concerning the history of indirect translation studies, the methodological challenges faced by researchers investigating this practice, and the impact of English as a lingua franca and recent advancements in machine translation on the quality and future of indirect translations. This intra-disciplinary exchange allows us to identify unique perspectives and potential blind spots in approaches to indirect translation within specific branches of Translation Studies. At the same time, the dialogue sheds light on the various overlaps and complementarities between these approaches. We hope that the insights gained from this dialogue will not only deepen our understanding of indirect translation as a field of practice and research but also foster opportunities for future intra-disciplinary collaborations. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0907676X.2023.2221389?needAccess=true&role=button

Studying indirect translation: a conversation with and between L. Davier, M. Marin-Lacarta and F. Pöchhacker

Drawing on a structured literature review, this article offers a meta-analysis of published research on indirect translation in different domains between 2017 and 2022. The article first presents the rationale and method used in designing and implementing bibliographic searches, as well as in examining selected publications. It then presents the findings of the structured literature review, focusing on the date of selected publications, their authorship, translation domains and research approaches. The results show a significant increase in publications on indirect translation, with much more co-authored papers and a slight move towards author specialisation in this field. Our findings also show that literature is still the prevalent domain, and empirical studies prevail, particularly those that are product-oriented and look at the quality of indirect translations. Process-oriented, participant- oriented and context-oriented studies are still a minority, and they mainly emerge from research on non-literary texts. The article also includes a compilation of references to publications analysed as part of the literature review. A dataset resulting from this meta-analysis is shared in open access to ensure replicability. We hope that this meta-analysis will help highlight recent developments and blind spots, serving as useful tools for researchers wanting to diversify perspectives in indirect (literary) translation. 

Laura Ivaska

Papers

Attitudes towards indirect translation in Finland and translators’ strategies: Compilative and collaborative translation

Beware the source text: five (re)translations of the same work, but from different source texts

What can research on indirect translation do for Translation Studies?

Studying indirect translation: a conversation with and between L. Davier, M. Marin-Lacarta and F. Pöchhacker

Structured literature review of published research on indirect translation (2017–2022)