Introduction

The effects of globalization are primarily thought to be in the economic field, but it has drastically changed the world we live in. It has brought the world closer together, forcing differing languages and cultures to communicate with each other on a regular basis. The contemporary world is like the tower of Babel, where there are people speaking in different tongues, not quite able to understand each other. Translation becomes a very essential activity today to understand each other and to do business with each other. The interdependence between countries seems to have undermined the hierarchy that existed within languages, but that is only an illusion. Even though powerful countries/languages need to interact with inferior languages, this has not ushered in equality; on the contrary, the mercantile interests of the world market have brought in a new hierarchy. Today we are forced to speak/ conduct our business/ teach etc in the language of the most powerful, irrespective of which mother-tongue we use. This language is English, and its ‘superiority' has nothing to do with its inherent qualities as a language. It happens to be the language of the politically and economically most powerful nation in the world. This power of English has impacted the field of translation and translation studies also, in overt and covert ways.

Although English is the dominant language, there are occasions when the local languages and cultures have to be taken into consideration. Multinational companies need to advertise in local languages if they wish to sell their products in the local markets. The efforts to tackle terrorism often compel a government to intercept messages in languages they do not often understand. An interpreter who knows an ‘inferior' language becomes very useful in this context. So, the linguistic dependence is not only on the part of the so-called inferior and minor languages, but also on the powerful and the mighty.

But there is no denying that the powerful languages do dictate the rules in the field. This applies more to non-literary translation than anything else. As Michael Cronin, the author of Translation and Globalization observes, much of the translation that is done today is non-literary, especially in the “scientific, technical, commercial, legal and administrative” areas (2), making it more of a utilitarian and functionalist activity. Cronin points out how translation studies as a discipline has to take this into account, if it wishes to survive in the globalized world today.