The Translator’s Responsibility

What then could the future hold for the activity of translation in an increasingly mechanized world? One problem with translation today, says Cronin, is that we think of the process of translation to the exclusion of other aspects like the context in which it originated or its impact. As Maria Tymoczko points out, translation is thought of as a metaphoric process, “a process of selection and substitution in which the words of one language are selected so as to substitute for another language” (qtd in Cronin, 132). The better way is to think of the process as metonymic, argues Tymoczko, because “…translators represent some aspects of the source text partially or fully or others not at all in a translation…it is a form of representation in which parts or aspects of the source text come to stand for the whole” (qtd in Cronin, 133). What translators need to do is not allow the human and social aspects of translation get smothered under the landslide of technological development. Cronin says that “there must be an activist dimension to translation which involves an engagement with the cultural politics of society at national and international levels” (134). In short, the political and cultural dynamics behind the process, and the translator’s interventions have to be kept visible at all times. This will help us to keep in mind the differences that underlie our seeming unity, and enable us to respect those differences – a quality that is most essential for the survival of the world.