Publication plans
Two edited volumes of selected papers from Research Models in Translation Studies I were published in 2000 and 2001 and it is expected that similar publications will ensue from Research Models in Translation Studies II.
Intercultural Faultlines offers an exploration of research models and methods in translation studies, as implemented, discussed and critically evaluated by some of the leading researchers in the field of translation and interpreting. While the focus throughout is on textual and cognitive aspects of translation and interpreting, the objects of study and consequently the methodological considerations are wide-ranging. The volume contains chapters focusing on research conducted in areas as diverse as corpus-based translation studies, dialogue interpreting, simultaneous interpreting, acquisition of translation competence, cognitive processes in translation, translation into the L2, creativity in translation and translation quality assessment. Some research models and methods are applied to translation for the first time, while others are more established and can be assessed in terms of their reliability and the generalizability of the results they yield. Issues of research design and methodology are addressed, and interesting questions are raised which are likely to become the focus of attention in future research, for example with regard to causal models of translation, translational ethics, collaborative research and issues of power in interpreting research.
"... the diversity of approach, interest, and methodology in this volume is testament to the explosion of ideas that is taking away from
prescriptive theorising about equivalence to a descriptive analysis of the many ways...translators and interpreters actually do what they do"
(David Katan, Logos and Language).
Crosscultural Transgressions offers explorations and critical assessments of research methods and models in translation studies, and points up new questions and directions. Ranging from epistemological questions of description and historiography to the politics of language, including the language of translation research, the book tackles issues of research design and methodology, and goes on to examine the kind of disciplinary knowledge produced in translation studies, who produces it, and whose interests the dominant paradigms serve. The focus is on historical and ideological problems, but the crisis of representation that has affected all the human sciences in recent decades has left its mark. As the essays in this collection explore the transgressive nature of crosscultural representation, whether in translations or in the study of translation, they remain attentive to institutional contexts and develop a self-reflexive stance. They also chart new territory, taking their cue from ethnography, semiotics, sociology and cultural studies, and tackling Meso-American iconic scripts, Bourdieu's constructivism, translation between philosophical paradigms, and the complexities of translation concepts in multicultural societies.
"... provides a fascinating kaleidoscope of methodological approaches, (inter)cultural viewpoints and ideological stances. It is highly
thought-provoking and will be an indispensable companion to courses and seminars in the growing domain of Translation Studies research"
(Ian
Mason, Logos and Language).