Science, Translation and the Mangle:A Performative Conceptualization of Scientific Translation

Dans un contexte où les approches historiques et sociologiques suscitent de plus en plus d’intérêt pour l’étude de la traduction scientifique, le présent article explore le potentiel heuristique du concept avancé par Andrew Pickering, selon lequel la pratique agit comme une tordeuse (mangle of practice ; Pickering 1992 ; 1993 ; 1995 ; Pickering et Guzik 2008). Selon Pickering, la science est performative, de sorte qu’il faut rendre compte de l’interaction entre les agents humains et matériels engagés dans la pratique scientifique. Il est d’avis que les avancées scientifiques et technologiques émergent, au fil du temps, d’une dialectique entre résistance et accommodation, d’où la métaphore de la tordeuse. L’article présente les principaux arguments de Pickering, situe ceux-ci dans le contexte des études des sciences et technologies et explore ce qu’ils apportent à la traductologie, notamment aux études sur la pratique de la traduction. D’une part, ils permettent de mettre en évidence le rôle de la traduction dans l’exercice de la science et ouvrent la voie à l’étude de la traduction comme faisant partie intégrante des pratiques scientifiques. D’autre part, la perspective posthumaniste, ou décentrée, de Pickering permet de montrer l’interaction entre l’agent traducteur et la performativité matérielle parce qu’elle se concentre non seulement sur l’agent humain et l’agent matériel, mais aussi sur leur interaction. En conclusion, il est proposé que la traductologie prenne ce virage ontologique, lequel aiderait à mieux comprendre le rapport du traducteur aux outils, aux technologies et aux développements sociotechniques en traduction.Against a backdrop of growing interest in historical and sociological approaches to the translation of science, this paper explores the conceptual potential of Andrew Pickering’s ‘mangle of practice’ (Pickering 1992; 1993; 1995; Pickering and Guzik 2008) as a sociological framework for research into the translation of science. Pickering’s approach is situated within a performative idiom of science and seeks to account for the interplay of material and human agency in scientific practice. It sees scientific and technological advances as emerging temporally from a dialectic of resistance and accommodation, metaphorically the mangle of practice. This paper introduces the main tenets of Pickering’s argument, contextualizing it within the field of science and technology studies. It then explores some of the implications of construing translation in these terms. Firstly, this conceptual approach helps to recognize the role of translation in the performance of science and to seek ways of studying translation practices as an integral component of scientific practices. Secondly, Pickering’s posthumanist or decentred perspective focuses on both material and human agency and the interplay between them; a similar approach to the study of translation would foreground the interaction between translator agency and material performativity in studies of translation practices. I conclude with proposals for adopting this ontological shift in translation studies, where it may have the potential to enhance our understanding of translation practices, in particular in relation to tools, technologies and sociotechnical developments in translation

Post-editing:A Genealogical Perspective on Translation Practice

This paper develops a practice-theoretical conceptualization of post-editing, as an activity that increasingly forms part of translation practice. This contrasts with a prevailing conceptualization of post-editing as a practice in its own right, competing with or complementing translation practice. Adopting a genealogical perspective, I trace this particular evolution of the translation practice through some of the interdependent changes in the materials constituting the practice, the competences or know-how that transpire in the practice, and the meanings of the practice, in particular as constructed through the discourse of language service providers and the international standards that normatively regulate the practice. The paper concludes with some implications of this practice-theoretical approach for future research on post-editing

An introspection-based analysis of the post-editing process

This thesis analyses the post-editing process by means of concurrent verbalisations. Four participants thought aloud while post-editing MT output produced by the METAL system. The need to investigate the postediting process, and the usefulness of the thinking-aloud technique to do so, are outlined in Chapter 1. By comparing the post-edited texts produced by the participants with the version generated by METAL, three major categories of syntactic change effected in the post-editing process were isolated. These were active-to-passive, noun-to-verb, and inter-TU changes. The execution of these changes was subsequently traced through the thinking-aloud protocols, and this forms the basis of Chapters 2, 3 and 4. Finally, Chapter 5 presents ensuing conclusions and recommendations

Conceptual metaphor in English popular technology and Greek translation

This research project studies the metaphorical conceptualisation of technology in English popular technology magazines and in translation in the respective Greek editions. The focus is on the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor initially presented by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), on the metaphor identification procedure (Pragglejaz Group 2007), and critical metaphor analysis (Charteris-Black 2004). The analysis of the English data identifies 14 main metaphors and 29 submetaphors which contribute to the structure of the target domain of technology. It distinguishes between conventional and novel metaphors, and common and original metaphorical expressions, motivated by correlations in experience between diverse source domains and by the widespread diffusion and impact of technology. The English data also provide insight into the functions of these metaphors in popular technology discourse and reveal evidence to thinking, values and attitudes about technology in the English language. The analysis of the Greek data examines similarities and differences in the conceptualisations between the English and Greek languages and cultures, and finds similarities in the categories of metaphors, frequency of and preference for metaphor use in the source and target languages, and in the majority of metaphorical expressions. Similarities are based on common experiences stemming from experiential co-occurrence or experiential similarity, and on translated experience. Differences are restricted to specific-level metaphors and expressions, motivated by alternative conceptualisations of terminology, cultural specificity and preferential conceptualisations. A set of translation strategies and a number of possible translation effects are also identified. These strategies and effects add to the possibilities of translation variations and the range of translation options, and are used to draw conclusions regarding the similarities and differences between the English and Greek languages and cultures. Consequently, through the identification and description of metaphors in technology magazines and in translation, the study attempts to highlight aspects of the culture of technology, which views technology as a cultural artefact and a producer of its own culture.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGreek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY)GBUnited Kingdo

Modelling competence in community interpreting : expectancies, impressions and implications for accreditation

The aims of this thesis are to propose and explore a competence model for community interpreting, and to discuss implications of the model for accreditation of community interpreters in the UK. The thesis first focuses on selected approaches to translation competence and interpreting competence in order to show that translation and interpreting studies fail to offer foundations for a model of community interpreter competence. The deficiencies identified in these approaches concern mostly a prevailing tendency to discuss the question of competence in terms of components. This, in turn, seems to result in prescriptive views on competence in translation and interpreting studies. With a view to overcoming those deficiencies, the thesis discusses achievements of intercultural communication studies, arguing that scholarly contributions within this discipline are helpful in seeking theoretical foundations for a new model. Having shown the applicability of the model of intercultural communication competence to the current project, the thesis puts forward a model of community interpreter competence. Drawing on relevant assumptions, the proposed model postulates approaching the question of competence as a matter of subjective impressions governed by fulfilment of individual expectancies. This correspondence between competence impressions and expectancy fulfilment is claimed to constitute the decisive factor in the process of impression formation. For this reason, the assumptions and propositions of the model are used to derive a principle which describes the correspondence concerned. This principle is then tested through analysis of transcripts of interviews conducted with all three participants of interpreter-mediated encounters. The analysis successfully points to the correspondence between competence impressions and expectancy fulfilment. Finally, the thesis explores the conclusions and implications of the analysis by proposing enhancement to the framework of interpreter accreditation in the UK. The proposals aim to enrich the framework by widening the range of individuals, methods and sources used to assess a candidate's competence. This enrichment acknowledges the expectancy-based nature of impressions related to community interpreter competence.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo