Resources for Translation Studies: Books

The Translation Studies Reader

Survey of the most important and influential developments in translation theory and research, with an emphasis on twentieth-century developments. With introductory essays prefacing each section, the book places a wide range of seminal and innovative readings within their thematic, cultural and historical contexts.

Translation and Technology

Chiew Kin Quah draws on years of academic and professional experience to provide an account of translation technology, its applications and capabilities. Major developments from North America, Europe and Asia are described, including developments in uses and users of the technology.

Thinking Arabic Translation

Clear explanations, discussion, examples and exercises enable students to acquire the skills necessary for tackling a broad range of translation problems.

Translating As a Purposeful Activity

Translating Law

Examines legal translation in its many facets from an interdisciplinary perspective, covering both theoretical and practical grounds and linguistic as well as legal issues. This book analyses the basic skills and competence of the legal translator and various types of legal texts.

Translating Official Documents

Official translations are generally documents that serve as legally valid instruments. They include anything from certificates of birth, death or marriage through to academic transcripts or legal contracts. This field of translation is now as important as it is fraught with difficulties, for it is only in a few areas that the cultural differences are so acute and the consequences of failure so palpable. In a globalizing world, our official institutions increasingly depend on translations of official documents, but little has been done to elaborate the skills and dilemmas involved.   Roberto Mayoral deals with the very practical problems of official translating. He points out the failings of traditional theories in this field and the need for revised concepts such as the virtual document, pragmatic constraints, and risk analysis. He details aspects of the social contexts, ethical norms, translation strategies, different formats, fees, legal formulas, and ways of solving the most frequent problems. Care is taken to address as wide a range of cultural contexts as possible and to stress the active role of the translator.   This book is intended as a teaching text for the classroom, for self-learning, or for professionals who want to reflect on their practice. Activities and exercises are suggested for each chapter, and information is included on professional associations and societies across the globe.

Text Analysis in Translation

Text Analysis in Translation has become a classic in Translation Studies. Based on a functional approach to translation and endebted to pragmatic text linguistics, it suggests a model for translation-oriented source-text analysis applicable to all text types and genres independent of the language and culture pairs involved. Part 1 of the study presents the theoretical framework on which the model is based, and surveys the various concepts of translation theory and text linguistics. Part 2 describes the role and scope of source-text analysis in the translation process and explains why the model is relevant to translation. Part 3 presents a detailed study of the extratextual and intratextual factors and their interaction in the text, using numerous examples from all areas of professional translation. Part 4 discusses the applications of the model to translator training, placing particular emphasis on the selection of material for translation classes, grading the difficulty of translation tasks, and translation quality assessment.The book concludes with the practical analysis of a number of texts and their translations, taking into account various text types and several languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch).

Rewriting

"Like all writers, intellectuals need to say something new and say it well. But unlike many other writers, what intellectuals have to say is bound up with the books we are reading . . . and the ideas of the people we are talking with." What are the moves that an academic writer makes? How does writing as an intellectual change the way we work from sources? In Rewriting, a textbook for the undergraduate classroom, Joseph Harris draws the college writing student away from static ideas of thesis, support, and structure, and toward a more mature and dynamic understanding. Harris wants college writers to think of intellectual writing as an adaptive and social activity, and he offers them a clear set of strategies--a set of moves--for participating in it.

English-Arabic/Arabic-English Translation

This guide concentrates on developing sensitivity to text-types and a deeper understanding of the demand that a given text-type makes on the translator. Invaluable for students and teachers of translation.

Critical Readings in Translation Studies

Provides students with a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in thinking about translation, both within and outside translation studies.

Audiovisual Translation Theories...

Audiovisual translation is the fastest growing strand within translation studies. This book addresses the need for more robust theoretical frameworks to investigate emerging text- types, address new methodological challenges (including the compilation, analysis and reproduction of audiovisual data), and understand new discourse communities bound together by the production and consumption of audiovisual texts. In this clear, user- friendly book, Luis P¿z-Gonz¿z introduces and explores the field, presenting and critiquing key concepts, research models and methodological approaches. Features include: ¿ introductory overviews at the beginning of each chapter, outlining aims and relevant connections with other chapters ¿ breakout boxes showcasing key concepts, research case studies or other relevant links to the wider field of translation studies ¿ examples of audiovisual texts in a range of languages with back translation support when required ¿ summaries reinforcing key issues dealt with in each chapter ¿ follow- up questions for further study ¿ core references and suggestions for further reading. ¿ additional online resources on an extensive  companion website This will be an essential text for all students studying audiovisual or screen translation at postgraduate or advanced undergraduate level and key reading for all researchers working in the area.

Interpreting and Translating in Public Service Settings

Translation, interpreting and other forms of communication support within public sector settings constitute a field which deals, quite literally, with matters of life and death. Overshadowed for many years by interpreting and translating in other domains, public sector interpreting and translating has received growing attention in recent years, with increasingly mobile populations and human rights, diversity and equality legislation shining the spotlight on the need for quality provision across an increasing range and volume of activities. Interpreting and Translating in Public Service Settings offers a collection of analytically-grounded essays that provide new insights into the reality of the interaction in public sector settings and into the roles and positioning of the participants by challenging existing models and paradigms. Issues of local need, but with global resonance, are addressed, and current reality is set against plans for the future. The triad of participants (interpreter/translator, public sector professional and client) is investigated, as are aspects of pedagogy, policy and practice. Empirical data supports the study of topics related to written, spoken and signed activities in a variety of professional settings. Bringing together academics and practitioners from different countries in order to explore the multidisciplinary dimension of the subject, this collection should serve as a valuable reference tool, not only for academics and students of public sector interpreting and translating, but also for practising linguists, providers of language services and policy makers.

Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling

"Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling" is an introductory textbook which provides a solid overview of the world of subtitling. Based on sound research and first-hand experience in the field, the book focuses on generally accepted practice but identifies current points of contention, takes regional and medium-bound variants into consideration, and traces new developments that may have an influence on the evolution of the profession. The individual chapters cover the rules of good subtitling practice, the linguistic and semiotic dimensions of subtitling, the professional environment, technical considerations, and key concepts and conventions, providing access to the core skills and knowledge needed to subtitle for television, cinema and DVD. Also included are graded exercises covering core skills. "Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling" can be used by teachers and students as a coursebook for the classroom or for self-learning.It is also aimed at translators and other language professionals wishing to expand their sphere of activity. While the working language of the book is English, an accompanying DVD contains sample film material in Dutch, English, French, Italian and Spanish, as well as a range of dialogue lists and a key to some of the exercises. The DVD also includes WinCAPS, SysMedia's professional subtitling preparation software package, used for broadcast television around the world and for many of the latest multinational DVD releases of major Hollywood projects.

Audiovisual Translation: Dubbing

Audiovisual Translation: Dubbing is an introductory textbook that provides a solid overview of the world of dubbing and is fundamentally interactive in approach. A companion to Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling, it follows a similar structure and is accompanied by a DVD. Based on first-hand experience in the field, the book combines translation practice with other related tasks ¿ usually commissioned to dialogue writers and dubbing assistants ¿ thus offering a complete introduction to the field of dubbing. It develops diversified skills, presents a broad picture of the industry, engages with the various controversies in the field, and challenges prevailing stereotypes. The individual chapters cover the map of dubbing in the world, the dubbing market and professional environment, text segmentation into takes or loops, lip-syncing, the challenge of emulating oral discourse, the semiotic nature of audiovisual texts, and specific audiovisual translation issues. The book further raises a number of research questions and looks at some of the unresolved challenges of this very specific form of translation. It includes graded exercises covering core skills that can be practised in class or at home, individually or collectively. The accompanying DVD contains sample film material in Dutch, English, French, Italian and Spanish, as well as a range of useful material related to professional practice.

In Other Words

Coursebook for any student studying in this field. Offers a practical and theoretical guide to translation studies, and provides an important foundation for training professional translators.

Introducing Translation Studies

Key textbook, provides a guide to the theories and concepts in the field of translation studies.

Literary Translation

Pragmatic techniques for dealing with problems of literary translation, whatever the original language.

The Map

The Map is a practical guide for students doing their first major research at BA and MA/PhD levels.