Translation Department

Introducing of Translation Studies

Main Issues In Translation
Professor Dr. Al-Hussien Mohsen
By Hajer Albashir Alshtawi
The concept of translation:

There are 7.000 languages across the world¹

How is the exchange of knowledge
between languages possible?
Translation
 1340
The word translation comes from the Latin words:

translasio or
transparently
It meansOVER”
“TO CARRY
The meaning of the translation

 the general subject field of phenomena.

 The product itself: the text has been translated.
The process of producing the translation.
The general definition of translation is:

“a term referring to the transfer of thoughts, notion, ideas from one

language to another weather the language is in written, oral or sign
form”.
 Roman Jakobson
According to James Jacobson there are three types of
translation(Jakobson:1959):

1 • Intralingual Translation.
• Interlingual Translation.
2
• Intersemiotic Translation.
3
How did translation studies become so prominent
1. The demand for translation resulted in a vast expansion in
translation programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
2. The increase of publications raised the demand for
anthologies, databases, encyclopedias, handbooks and
introductory texts.
3.The emergence of international translation organizations.
 Developments since Holmes
Germany has seen the rise of theories centered around text types and
text purpose.

The late 1970s and the 1980s saw the rise of a descriptive approach that
had its origins in comparative literature and Russian Formalism.

Research activity has been revolutionized by new technologies.

 The Holmes/Toury ‘map’
James S. Holmes’s ‘The name and nature of translation studies’
(Holmes 1988:2004) is considered to be the founding statement
Of new discipline.
Holmes map is answering the two main objectives of translation
studies.
1) The description of the phenomena of translation (descriptive
theory)
2) The establishment of general principle to explain and predict such
phenomena (translation theory).
The Holmes/Toury ‘map’
The Holmes/Toury ‘map’
* The descriptive branch of pure research is known as “Descriptive Translation
Studies (DTS)”.
The three main aspects are:

1) Product-oriented DTS.

2) function-oriented DTS.

3) Process-oriented DTS.
*

Theoretical branch

general partial

A) Medium-restricted theories
B) Area-restricted theories
C) Rank-restricted theories
D) Text-type restricted theories
E) The term time-restricted
F) Problem-restricted theories
 The ‘applied’ branch of Holmes’s framework

1_teaching methods 2_Translation aids

3_Translation critisicim
 The van Doorslaer ‘map’
In van Doorslaer ‘map’ (Doorslaer:2007) where the distinction is
drawn between Translation and Translation study .
Translation is divided into:
1. lingual mode (interlingual, intralingual)
2. media (printed, audiovisual, electronic)
3. mode (covert/overt translation, direct/indirect translation
4. field (political, journalistic, technical )
 The van Doorslaer ‘map’

Translating study divided into:

1. Approaches (cultural approach, linguistic approach).
2. Theories (general translation theory, polysystem theory)
3. Research methods (descriptive, empirical).
4. Applied translation studies (criticism, didactics,
institutional environment).
Discipline, interdiscipline or multidiscipline
Translation has relationships with disciplines such as: linguistics, language
studies, comparative literature, cultural studies, sociology and history.

The relationship of translation studies to other disciplines is not fixed.

Contrastive linguistics cultural studies, computing and multi-media.

translation studies have moved from the study of words to text to sociocultural
context to the work of translators themselves.
Translation studies has expanded hugely, and it is now
often considered an interdiscipline.
The End Of Chapter 1
Thank you
References list
Jakobson, R. (1959/2012) ‘On linguistic aspects of translation’,
in L. Venuti (ed.) (2012), pp. 126–31

Jeremy Munday (2016) fourth edition Introduction to

Translation Studies.
Louw, T. van der (2007) Transformations in the Septuagint: Towards an Interaction of
Septuagint Studies and Translation Studies, Leuven: Peeters.
‘The name and nature of translation studies’, in L. Venuti (ed.)
(2004), pp. 180–92
Vellnagel, C. C. (2011). Language Endangerment is an Important Issue: A Discussion. GRIN
Verlag.¹