Translation Studies 

About: Translation Studies is an academic journal published by Routledge. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Translation studies & Translation (biology). It has an ISSN identifier of 1478-1700. Over the lifetime, 467 publications have been published receiving 4313 citations.

Cultural translation: An introduction to the problem, and Responses

Abstract: Etymologically, translation evokes an act of moving or carrying across from one place or position to another, or of changing from one state of things to another. This does not apply only to the words of different languages, but also to human beings and their most important properties. They too can be moved across all sorts of differences and borders and so translated from one place to another, for instance from one cultural and political condition to another. Thus, one can culturally translate people – for a political purpose and with existential consequences. No discussion of the concept of cultural translation can easily dispense with an analysis of the very concrete devices of such translation if it strives to maintain contact with the political and existential issues at stake in the debate on cultural translation. The political meaning of cultural translation is not a quality external to the concept and capable of being discussed in a haphazard way. Precisely by becoming cultural, translation opens up...

Introduction: The translational turn

Abstract: Translated by Kate Sturge It is no longer possible to ignore how crucial the processes of cultural translation and their analysis have become, whether for cultural contact or interreligious relatio...

A conservative revolution in publishing

Abstract: This essay by Pierre Bourdieu was originally published in 1999 as “Une revolution conservatrice dans l’edition” in Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 126–127: 2–28. The translation appears by kind permission of Jerome Bourdieu.

Translation and the field of publishing

Abstract: A sociological approach to translation needs to take into account publishers, whose role in the international circulation of books is crucial. This paper focuses on the contribution of Bourdieu's economy of symbolic goods and field theory to the sociology of translation. The first section introduces Bourdieu's article “A conservative revolution in publishing” and more broadly his analysis of publishing. In the second section, I propose three theoretical and methodological directions for enlarging Bourdieu's model to a global sociological analysis of the circulation of books in translation: firstly a displacement from the national to the global market of translation; secondly a focus on publisher's strategy and booklist; and thirdly reception.

Translators and translation technology: The dance of agency

Abstract: Andrew Pickering's view of agency in scientific practice challenges other views from the sociology of science in that he seeks to account for both human and non-human agency within a performative idiom of science. His approach has been applied in various contexts, within and beyond the sciences. This paper explores the potential of mobilizing Pickering's notions of the “mangle of practice” and the “dance of agency” to conceptualize translation practice, specifically to develop a deeper understanding of translators’ interaction with translation technology, both individually and collectively. I argue for the relevance of this conceptualization and make a case for a “mangle-inspired” reading of translators’ contributions to an online technical forum. However, I also reflect on how this analysis deviates from the principles of the mangle and conclude by discussing some of the methodological challenges of researching the interaction between translators and translation technology within this framework.