Contemporary Situation

So, Translation Studies has definitely come of age today. What is significant is its expansion of borders to encompass other discourses and disciplines that are strictly outside its realm. It is entering the broader area marked out by cultural studies, as it borrows from areas that are not directly connected to it. Feminism, anthropology, film and media studies, and aesthetics are some of the fields that are brought together by translation studies.  

This results in a complexity that was hitherto not discernible in the field. The increased interest in translation studies is reflected in the number of university departments devoted exclusively to this. There are numerous scholarly works on various aspects of the discipline. The main trends in contemporary theory inform the field. However, there are translation theorists who fear that the ‘cultural turn’ (as it has been termed) in translation studies will result in the devaluation of its practical uses. Andre Lefevere had stated that the purpose of translation studies was to “produce a comprehensive theory which can also be used as a guideline for the production of translations” (qtd in Bassnett 7). This very clearly states the connection that exists between theory and practice in the field. So even as translation theories expands its boundaries beyond languages there are theorists who insist on not losing sight of its immediate purpose.

Assignments

1. What are the various strands that go into the making of Translation Studies as a discipline?
2. In your opinion, which is the most important theoretical stand in the field of Translation Studies? Justify your position.
   
   

References

Bassnett, Susan. Translation Studies. 1980. Revised edition 1991. London: Routledge.

Benjamin, Walter. “The Task of the Translator”. The Translation Studies Reader. Ed. Lawrence Venuti. London: Routledge, 2000: 15-25.

Venuti, Lawrence. Ed. The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 2000.