Legal Translation Studies as Interdiscipline: Scope and Evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Prieto Ramos

This paper offers an overview of the development of Legal Translation Studies as a major interdiscipline within Translation Studies. It reviews key elements that shape its specificity and constitute the shared ground of its research community: object of study, place within academia, denomination, historical milestones and key approaches. This review elicits the different stages of evolution leading to the field’s current position and its particular interaction with Law. The focus is placed on commonalities as a means to identify distinctive reference points and avenues for further development. A comprehensive categorization of legal texts and the systematic scrutiny of contextual variables are highlighted as pivotal in defining the scope of the discipline and in proposing overarching conceptual and methodological models. Analyzing the applicability of these models and their impact on legal translation quality is considered a priority in order to reinforce interdisciplinary specificity in line with professional needs.

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Radegundis Stolze

The article describes, on the basis of hermeneutics, the specific perspective from which a translator may approach legal texts, as translation is seen as a personalized activity. Different text types are rooted in a specific legal system and fulfil their function within a special field of law, and the cultural and legal background is evident in linguistic aspects on a textual level. Comparative law carries out research on the differences in legal concepts, whereas translation studies and practice use this knowledge as a basis for work. Legal terminology has various levels of abstraction and appears in texts along with general language words. Fields of orientation for the translator are presented here, such as legal contexts, genre, concepts and style. This should be combined with proficiency in writing according to the text function, terminology and standard formulae. The translator tries to make source cultural and legal aspects transparent for target readers, as translation is always a means of comprehension that furthers communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong King Lee

Abstract Translation has traditionally been viewed as a branch of applied linguistics. This has changed drastically in recent decades, which have witnessed translation studies growing as a field beyond, and sometimes against, applied linguistics. This paper is an attempt to think translation back into applied linguistics by reconceptualizing translation through the notions of distributed language, semiotic repertoire, and assemblage. It argues that: (a) embedded within a larger textual-media ecology, translation is enacted through dialogical interaction among the persons, texts, technologies, platforms, institutions, and traditions operating within that ecology; (b) what we call translations are second-order constructs, or relatively stable formations of signs abstracted from the processual flux of translating on the first-order; (c) translation is not just about moving a work from one discrete language system across to another, but about distributing it through semiotic repertoires; (d) by orchestrating resources performatively, translations are not just interventions in the target language and culture, but are transformative of the entire translingual and multimodal space (discursive, interpretive, material) surrounding a work. The paper argues that distributed thinking helps us de-fetishize translation as an object of study and reimagine translators as partaking of a creative network of production alongside other human and non-human agents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-488
Author(s):  
Thomas M.J. Möllers

AbstractThe Europeanisation of domestic law calls for a classical methodology to ‘update’ the established traditions of the law. The relationship between European directives and national law is difficult, since directives do apply, but European legal texts need to be implemented into national law. Whilst directives are not binding on private individuals, there is no direct third-party effect, but only an ‘indirect effect’. This effect is influenced by the stipulations of the ECJ, but is ultimately determined in accordance with methodical principles of national law. The ECJ uses a broad term of interpretation of the law. In contrast, in German and Austrian legal methodology the wording of a provision defines the dividing line between interpretation and further development of the law. The article reveals how legal scholars and the case-law have gradually shown in recent decades a greater willingness to shift from a narrow, traditional boundary of permissible development of the law to a modern line of case-law regarding the boundary of directive-compliant, permissible development of the law.


Target ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Parra-Galiano

Abstract This article proposes a hierarchy of translator and reviser competences in prototypical scenarios in legal translation with a view to determining the most appropriate revision foci to ensure translation quality. Built on a prior characterisation of the most common professional translator profiles in legal translation, the proposal for a hierarchy of competences derives from two premises: (1) The professional profile of those who translate and revise legal documents is very diverse in terms of competence and qualifications (training and experience), and (2) translation competence and specialist knowledge in legal fields (i.e., domain competence) are fundamental when revising to guarantee the quality of legal translations. The proposal is framed by quality assurance in legal translation through a revision process based on (1) the coherent management of the work of the translators and revisers involved in the translation project, and (2) the appropriate methodology for revision applied to legal translation by adapting the revision mode’s focus to ensure its effectiveness. Six common scenarios are identified in light of the translators’ profiles, for which revisers’ profiles are then proposed in order to detect any legal translation competence deficiencies among translators, and thus ensure quality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
Brian Mossop

This semi-autobiographical article reflects on the discipline known as Translation Studies from the point of view of the author, who was a full-time Canadian government translator from 1974 to 2014, but also taught and wrote about translation. The narrative begins with the emergence of Translation Studies in Canada and in Europe and continues through the present neoliberal era, with reflection on a variety of topics including the English name of the discipline, the lack of definition of an object of study, the original role of the journal Meta, and the notion of translation as applied linguistics. The last section considers two fictive scenarios in which Translation Studies does not emerge, and translation is studied, right from the start, in ways much more closely linked to the translation profession, with a focus on translators rather than translations, and therefore on translational production rather than the analysis of completed translations.


Litera ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 177-182
Author(s):  
Natalia Kurchinskaya-Grasso

This article examines the peculiarities of the legal English language as the object of translation studies. Currently, English language is dominant in international relations and business, and plays a significant role as legal language within the European Union. Legal English is a global phenomenon. This style of English language is used by the lawyers and other legal experts in their work. In the conditions of globalization of English language, it is necessary to be scrupulous about translation of the legal English in order to avoid inaccuracies in the entire system of international law. Therefore, the goal of this article consists in consideration of the unique characteristics of legal English associated with its origin, terminology, linguistic structure, linguistic peculiarities, and punctuation. The work employs descriptive method, comparative method, and method of applied comparative jurisprudence. The conclusion is made that legal English developed under the influence of languages previously used in the legal system, which is reflected in modern legal terminology and linguistic structure of the legal English language and requires attention in translation. Taking into account the aforementioned peculiarities would be of much help the legal translator in working with legal texts in English language.


Author(s):  
Daria Hnatenko ◽  
Yuliia Venher ◽  
Tetyana Druzhyna

The non-equivalent lexis is one of the most common problems arising while translating multimedia video games. The relevance of this study is due to the great popularity of computer video games among contemporaries of different ages and social context. This leads to the need to introduce high-quality and faithful professional translation into Ukrainian, as well as the study, analysis and further development of possible effective models for solving problems in the field of translation and localization of video games. The purpose of the study is to analyze the problems of Ukrainian translation and localization of English-language computer games for the further implementation of universal translation solutions in theoretical and applied aspects at the present stage of development of translation studies. The analysis of the computer multimedia video games translation aimed at distinguishing the prominent translation tactics has allowed to draw the following conclusions. The most common there has proved to be the tactic of the foreign language coloring preservation, realized chiefly by means of the operation of transliteration, employed to render most terms. Loan translation is most uncommon in Ukrainian translations of computer video games. The chief advantage of the translations under analysis there should be considered their lexical, grammatical and stylistic accuracy with the full rendering of the content. The most common translation strategy there turned out to be the strategy of communicative-equal translation. The result of the research will allow avoiding possible difficulties in the future and finding out the ways of their solution. This will result in the optimization of the translation quality which in its turn will cause improvement of the final product’s quality and further popularization of computer video games.


2021 ◽  
pp. 215-228
Author(s):  
Eric W. Welch

To better understand the effects of broadband use, there must first be a commitment from policymakers to support evaluation. This volume has made an argument about why policymakers should undertake this investment and has outlined needs and strategies for advancing this knowledge. It has also examined the profession of broadband evaluation itself. The complexity of broadband use demands an evaluation approach that values generalizability and applies multiple research methods. But it also requires a further development of common concepts, improved collection of and access to data, and comparison across policy areas, programs, scales, and time. To do all of this, we need not only more and better evaluation methods but also a research community around broadband evaluation that shares knowledge and effectively communicates evidence for policy. The future impact of broadband technology on effective and equitable use depends on concerted attention by both the research community and policymakers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Squire

Artifacts of the software development process, such as source code or emails between developers, are a frequent object of study in empirical software engineering literature. One of the hallmarks of free, libre, and open source software (FLOSS) projects is that the artifacts of the development process are publicly-accessible and therefore easily collected and studied. Thus, there is a long history in the FLOSS research community of using these artifacts to gain understanding about the phenomenon of open source software, which could then be compared to studies of software engineering more generally. This paper looks specifically at how the FLOSS research community has used email artifacts from free and open source projects. It provides a classification of the relevant literature using a publicly-available online repository of papers about FLOSS development using email. The outcome of this paper is to provide a broad overview for the software engineering and FLOSS research communities of how other researchers have used FLOSS email message artifacts in their work.


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