For a sociology of
translators
Anthony Pym
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Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Plaça Imperial Tàrraco 1
43005 Tarragona
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A social turn?
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Social/sociological turn (2006)
Cultural turn (1990)
Return to ethics (1995)
Linguistic re-turn (2007)
Skopostheorie (1984)
Scientific corpus studies (1993)
Scientific descriptive translation studies (1985)
Scientific translation stylistics (1970)
Scientific study of language in culture (1915-16)
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A social turn?
Never in the field of academic disciplines have
so many turns been made for so little
knowledge produced.
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What we have discovered 1
The bigger the culture, the lower the
percentage of translations.
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What we have discovered 1
PERCENT AG E OF T RANSLATI ONS IN LANG UAG E
FIG. 2a. PERCENTAGES OF TRANSLATIONS
BY BOOKS PUBLISHED IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
UNESCO DATA FOR 1979- 1983
30
Alba nia n
Dan ish , Norwe gia n
Finn ish , Ara bic
Heb rew
Dutch
Slovak
It alia n
Spa nish
Hun ga ria n
Germa n
Turkish
Fren ch
Russia n
Polish
Port ug ue se
Ja pa ne se
25
20
15
10
5
Eng lish
0
0
50
100
150
BOOKS PUBLISHED ( IN THOUSANDS)
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200
What we have discovered 2
The more prestigious the source culture, the more
literal the translations from that culture. (Even-Zohar,
Toury)
The cultural role of translations is usually
conservative and reinforcing (i.e. “peripheral”). (Even
Zohar)
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What we have discovered 3
Publishers can use translations in a reinforcing way in
the center (“best sellers”) and an innovative way on
the periphery (“trouvailles”). (Bourdieu)
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What we have discovered 4
The more complex the traslation technology, the
more independent the translator. (Agency theory)
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True that translation…?
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Allows debate and comparison of different views of
the issues at stake in European society.
Improves the general quality of life of immigrants.
Improves the general quality of life of linguistic
minorities.
Informs consumers about products that have been
produced in foreign languages.
Enables exports to foreign markets
Enables mass tourism by improving the experiences
of tourists.
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True that translation…?
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Is necessary for the survival of a society? (Diamond,
Even-Zohar)
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A society recruits:
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Autonomously
 Trains its own
Heteronomously
 Finds them elsewhere
Mixed
 Reliability and competence?
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Bourdieu’s capitals:
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Economic
 Money and material resources
Cultural
 Skills and competencies (degrees and diplomas)
Symbolic
 Social prestige (perhaps degrees and diplomas)
Social
 Who you know
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An interculture:
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A border:
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General hypotheses:
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Translators gain prestige in neighboring fields.
They belong to professional intercultures.
Technical translators exchange cultural and symbolic
capital for economic capital.
Literary translators exchange cultural capital for
symbolic capital, which may in turn be exchanged in
neighboring fields.
The general economy of translation does not form an
independent field.
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What the data say…
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What the data say…
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What the data say…
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What the data say…
Numbers of translations
into Chinese per year?
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What the data say…
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What the data say…
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What the data say…
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So you need data…
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from
the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather
on which a mirror and a razor lay
crossed.
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So you need data…
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Are translations into Chinese normally literal
(foreignizing) or free (or domesticating)?
Does Chinese accept foreign terms or develop its own
terms? How do you translate the terms blog and
bluetooth?
Name five well-known contemporary translators into
Chinese. Do they have other jobs?
Name three historical translators into Chinese. What
social group did they belong to? Did they have other
jobs?
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So you need data…
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What percentage of books published in China are
translations?
If you walk into an academic bookshop in Beijing,
what percentage of the books are translations? What
about a roadside kiosk?
What percentage of the main daily newspapers is
translated? From what languages?
What percentage of the television news is translated?
What percentage of a Chinese scientific journal is
translated?
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So you need data…
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How much are in-house technical translators paid in
China? How much were they paid 20 years ago?
What are the segments of the Chinese translation
market?
Where are translators visible?
Will you work for economic, symbolic or social
capital?
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