Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies: Amazon.co.uk: Mona Baker, Gabriela Saldanha: Books

Review

'The second edition of this authoritative encyclopedia has been extensively revised and augmented by over 100 worldwide contributors to reflect the evolving interests and concerns of scholars and practitioners in the field...The volume's final comprehensive bibliography and index invaluably supplement this work's rich contents.' -　K. Rosneck, University of Wisconsin--Madison, Choice, June 2009

'The editors are to be congratulated for once again bringing together such a distinguished group of scholars and such a wide range of material. There simply is no other single volume that offers such a panoramic view of the field or such a diverse range of contributors... As a general reference work and introduction to the field, it is without equal.' - Linguist List

Product Description

Praise for the previous edition of the Encyclopedia of Translation Studies:

'Translation has long deserved this sort of treatment. Appropriate for any college or university library supporting a program in linguistics, this is vital in those institutions that train students to become translators.' – Rettig on Reference

'Congratulations should be given to Mona Baker for undertaking such a mammoth task and...successfully pulling it off. It will certainly be an essential reference book and starting point for anyone interested in translation studies.' – ITI Bulletin

'This excellent volume is to be commended for bringing together some of [its] most recent research. It provides a series of extremely useful short histories, quite unlike anything that can be found elsewhere. University teachers will find it invaluable for preparing seminars and it will be widely used by students.' – The Times Higher Education Supplement

' ... a pioneering work of reference ...'– Perspectives on Translation

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies has been the standard reference in the field since it first appeared in 1998. The second, extensively revised and extended edition brings this unique resource up-to-date and offers a thorough, critical and authoritative account of one of the fastest growing disciplines in the humanities.

The Encyclopedia is divided into two parts and alphabetically ordered for ease of reference.

Part One (General) covers the conceptual framework and core concerns of the discipline. Categories of entries include:

central issues in translation theory (e.g. equivalence, translatability, unit of translation)

key concepts (e.g. culture, norms, ethics, ideology, shifts, quality)

approaches to translation and interpreting (e.g. sociological, linguistic, functionalist)

types of translation (e.g. literary, audiovisual, scientific and technical)

types of interpreting (e.g. signed language, dialogue, court).

New additions in this section include entries on globalisation, mobility, localization, gender and sexuality, censorship, comics, advertising and retranslation, among many others.

Part Two (History and Traditions) covers the history of translation in major linguistic and cultural communities. It is arranged alphabetically by linguistic region. There are entries on a wide range of languages which include Russian, French, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and Finnish, and regions including Brazil, Canada and India. Many of the entries in this section are based on hitherto unpublished research. This section includes one new entry: Southeast Asian tradition.

Drawing on the expertise of over 90 contributors from 30 countries and an international panel of consultant editors, this volume offers a comprehensive overview of translation studies as an academic discipline and anticipates new directions in the field. The contributors examine various forms of translation and interpreting as they are practised by professionals today, in addition to research topics, theoretical issues and the history of translation in various parts of the world.

With key terms defined and discussed in context, a full index, extensive cross-references, diagrams and a full bibliography the Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies is an invaluable reference work for all students and teachers of translation, interpreting, and literary and social theory.

Mona Baker is Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. She is co-founder and editorial director of St Jerome Publishing, a small press specializing in translation studies and cross-cultural communication. Apart from numerous papers in scholarly journals and collected volumes, she is author of In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation (Routledge 1992), Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account (2006) and Founding Editor of The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication (1995), a refereed international journal published by St Jerome since 1995. She is also co-Vice President of the International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS).

Gabriela Saldanha is Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is founding editor (with Marion Winters) and current member of the editorial board of New Voices in Translation Studies, a refereed online journal of the International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies, and co-editor (with Federico Zanettin) of Translation Studies Abstracts and Bibliography of Translation Studies.

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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

An Essential for all Academic Libraries 19 Dec 2002

By Sara K. Hayden

Format:Paperback

Widely-acclaimed as a milestone publication in translation history, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies finally fills an uncomfortable void in its namesake field, firmly establishing translation studies as definite part of academia. Still relatively nascent and amorphous, translation studies needed just such a means of solidification.

The book is divided into two main sections of signed entries two to six pages each and arranged alphabetically to best facilitate study. Following the product-humble, field-proud introduction, one finds descriptions of all themes related to translation, including explanations of common jargon and concepts. Tools are provided for easier navigation of murky waters such as hermeneutic motion, pure language, and semiotic approaches. Studies of the histories of Qur’an, Torah, Shakespeare, and Bible translation provide exemplary cases of translation methods and historical development. Throughout, well-respected authors use illustrative examples as they discuss myriad topics such as anthologies of translation, corpora in translation studies, the history of translation, machine translation, metaphrase, Skopos theory, subtitling, term banks, think-aloud protocols, and even court interpreting. They exclude little, if anything, even providing practical entries with useful information on publishing strategies, translator-training institutions, and reviewing and criticism.

The second section of the encyclopedia is novel and interesting because it examines traditions of translation in several different languages and countries. Translation itself has been treated differently depending on the target language, receiving more respect in some cultures, less in others. Different cultural expectations are presented: some cultures demanding more literal translations, others have a history of promoting more conceptual translations that are not necessarily verbatim. The latter accept that the translation must be the translator’s interpretation, and translators even compete with the original authors in some traditions.

With this encyclopedia, one may easily familiarize oneself with the different aspects of translation studies as well as acquaint oneself with major figures in translation studies and pick out interesting topics to examine more in-depth. Baker has brought together such impressive names as Umberto Eco, Theo Hermans, Louis Kelly, and Judith Woodsworth to essentially define this new discipline and give it greater legitimacy by presenting it in some coherent fashion. Not surprisingly, since more than 90 authors from over 30 countries collaborated on this project, the articles demonstrate variety in style; however, each entry in both sections is highly readable, of manageable length, and convenient for either skimming or reading thoroughly. Information is super-simple to find because the index is extensive and all entries are highly crossed reference, making acquaintanceship with this new field a pleasure. Those already working in the field will be pleased with the suggestions for future research and the ample 55-page bibliography. Categorization, alphabetization, and illumination all make the book and thus the field accessible to neophytes while simultaneously serving the needs of professionals.

Although, particularly in the west, translation has often been regarded as one of the more lowly academic professions associated with the simplicity of the grammar exercises employed in language acquisition, translation studies is not only helping to get more respect for translators, but also to improve understanding of cultural differences and both the methods and effects of colonialism. This reference book, essential for any academic library supporting studies in the fields of comparative literature, linguistics, of course, translation studies, is a thorough introductory source to almost every aspect of the field.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

an exciting introduction to translation studies 5 Nov 2009

By Julie Roberts

I bought this book on beginning my MA in translation studies and it has so far been really helpful and inspiring. Its definitions are clear and in depth, written by respected scholars in the field of translation studies. After each definition there is a section on further reading which is very useful as a starting point for further study in any particular area. Highly recommended.

This book really helped me on my T&I course 16 Jun 2011

By Dariush

This book is essential for anyone doing T&I at post-grad level and above. I found it most useful for all the modules I completed on my T&I MA course. These included specialised translation, subtitle translation, literary translation, poetry translation and translation studies.