Cultural Turn in Translation
This is a relatively new term in translation studies marking the reciprocal relationship between translation and a given cultural milieu. This was propounded by Mary Snell-Hornby in her book Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach (1988) and espoused by theorists like André Lefevere and Susan Bassnett. The underlying premise of this approach is that translation cannot be dissociated from its socio-cultural moorings and viewed as a purely linguistic activity. Mary Snell-Hornby went so far as to say that a good translator has to be not only bilingual but bi-cultural. Today the field is informed by this perspective, as is evident in the diverse ways in which cultural theories have seeped into the study of translation.
Assignments
- Which are the concepts that are basic to translation as a practical activity
as well as an academic discipline?
- Identify a few idioms or proverbs in your mother-tongue and try to translate them into another language. What are the difficulties you face? How would you surmount them?
References
Bassnett, Susan. Translation Studies. 1980. Revised edition 1991. London: Routledge.
Venuti, Lawrence. Ed. The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 2000. |
