Resources

How to Use Translation

Translation, both commercial and literary, is an activity that is growing phenomenally in today’s globalized world. The study of translation, an interdisciplinary field known as Translation Studies, has also developed enormously in the past twenty years. It interfaces with a wide range of other disciplines from linguistics and modern languages to Cultural Studies and postcolonialism. This book attempts to investigate both the practice and the theory of translation in an accessible and systematic way. It is designed specifically with the needs in mind of students of Masters degrees and final year undergraduates in translation or applied linguistics, research students beginning to investigate the field, and practising translators who wish to examine the theory behind the practice. It is hoped that it will also provide useful insights and examples for more experienced researchers.

The book is divided into three sections (A, B and C) and 14 units. Each unit is treated in each of the sections.

Section A of each unit introduces the main concepts of each area of translation and presents reflective tasks to encourage the reader to think through the theory. Key concept boxes highlight and summarize the main points.

Section B, the extension stage, then presents one or two readings, which are extracts from key articles or books on the relevant subject. Each reading is accompanied by brief tasks: Before you read aids recall of the Section A concepts, As you read brings out the crucial elements of the reading and After you read recapitulates the main points and prepares for exploration.

Section C is the exploration section. It critiques and develops the previous sections with a series of tasks and projects that at first provide the reader with specific data to investigate and then encourage wider exploration and original research in the reader’s own linguistic and cultural context.

A detailed glossary is supplied at the end covering central terms of Translation Studies, including some from linguistics and Cultural Studies. These terms are highlighted in bold in the main text for ease of reference. Finally, a full bibliography brings together the theory references. A very focused Further Reading list is also accompanies each unit.

Of course, the study of translation inevitably presupposes knowledge of more than one language. However, the book has been designed for use by readers from any language background who have an advanced level of English, whether or not they are native speakers. In the translation examples, English is therefore always either the source (original) language or the target language. The other languages covered are varied, including the major European languages and Arabic.

The many different tasks that are part of the basic framework of the book are designed in such a way that they can be used either by readers working on their own, or in pairs or groups in a more formal teaching situation. Section A tasks are designed to encourage the reader to reflect on the validity and application of the theoretical concepts and to relate them to their own experience. In Section B, the ‘After you read’ tasks may lend themselves to an oral presentation by one member of a class, followed by discussion, or to a short essay-type response in the early stages of assessment. In Section C, the tasks are more extensive, especially the ‘projects’ which in some cases may develop into full-scale research projects and even doctoral theses! Although data are provided and a methodology suggested, the more complex projects will work best when the student actively researches new material and has the opportunity of interviewing or observing professional translators. Sometimes that professional may in fact be the teacher of a translation class.

The cross-referenced contents list describes each unit (1 to 14) and each section (A, B and C). This allows the book to be followed either ‘vertically’ or ‘horizontally’. That is, it can be read linearly from beginning to end (all Section A units, then all Section B units, then all Section C units) or thematically through a unit (e.g. Unit 1 Section A, followed by Unit 1 Section B, Unit 1 Section C, and so on). Many readers or teachers may find the thematic order particularly useful, especially since Section C usually critiques the concepts presented in Section A and B of the same unit and which may then be further developed in Section A of the subsequent unit.