Interdisciplinarity in Translation Studies

Interdisciplinarity and Translation StudiesThe Spreading of Ideas

Ideas evolve and spread. They may be analogous to genes, and can be called memes (Blackmore). (See Chesterman 1997 for translation memes).Ideas traverse disciplinary boundaries with more or less ease.

What are disciplines?

Disciplines can be defined as stable epistemic communities in which there are shared practices. The advantages of disciplines are that they provide a secure home for enquiry, they uphold standards, provide a controlled relation to society, and are a power base for funding requests. (Fuller) What is interdisciplinarity?The integration of elements (theories, methods) between two disciplines or from one discipline into another.Can be distinguished from multidisciplinarity (the additive juxtaposition of disciplines), and transdisciplinarity (conceptual frameworks that transcend the narrow scope of disciplinary world views eg. structuralism) (Klein)Types of interdisciplinarity:

1) Instrumental interdisciplinarity: borrowing concepts, theories or methods from another discipline (eg. single researcher borrowing a framework from another discipline).2) Synoptic interdisciplinarity: exploration of commonalities with the aim of achieving conceptual unity (eg. two researchers each from a different discipline collaborating on a project). Interdisciplinary contacts may be temporary, regular, or lead to a formal alliance.

(Klein) Benefits of interdisciplinarity:

An interdisciplinary approach may sensitize scholars to questions not normally asked, or may help interpret and explain the object of study. Due to its inherent openness, interdisciplinarity leads to innovation, the production of new forms of knowledge, and epistemic change. Why is Translation Studies prone to interdisciplinarity?Translation is a cluster concept (an open concept there are many types of translation processes and products), therefore Translation Studies itself is an open field. Frames allow us to focus attention. (Tymoczko)The object of study is multi-faceted.What are interdisciplines?

Translation Studies has been called an interdiscipline. Chestermans (2002) definition: A new discipline often starts life at the interface of existing disciplines; it is perceived as a hybrid, an interdiscipline, for example sociolinguistics. Snell-Hornbys definition: An interdiscipline draws on a number of disciplines without being a subdivision of any of them.Translation Studies within other disciplines: traditional disciplinary influences Linguistics (particularly Contrastive Linguistics), Literary Studies (Comparative Literature)Translation Studies as an independent discipline:

Contemporary influences Linguistics eg. pragmatics, discourse analysis, corpus linguisticsLiterary Studies/Cultural Studies eg. feminism, post-colonialismPsychology eg. think-aloud protocolsSociology eg. norm theory, BourdieuPhilosophy eg. ethics, deconstructionHistory eg. life historiesComputer Science eg. machine translationTranslation Studies as a ghostly discipline with shifting borders and unstable content (Duarte, Rosa & Seruya)Mechanisms of interdisciplinarity:

Borrowing theories and/or methods from another discipline

Partial borrowing (selection of concepts/theories)Adaptation

Use of theories: using a theory to conceptualize practice; applying a concept or theory; testing a concept or theory; juxtaposing and comparing theories; developing a model from the combination of different theories. Advantages of interdisciplinary borrowing:1) The borrowed model has already been tested (tendency to borrow successful paradigms from prestigious disciplines)2) Making up for gaps

3) Powerful and convincing research 4) New insights

Potential problems:

1) Lack of knowledge/expertise2) Tendency to simplify

3) Potential distortion (through misunderstanding, inappropriate application, or partial borrowing)The Future:

A two-way influence?Jonathan Ross (2007) has undertaken a fascinating study whereby he has traced the engagement of scholars outside of Translation Studies with TS literature, through examining Web of Science citation indices. Obviously there are some methodological difficulties in the study such as defining which discipline(s) texts and authors belong to. Ross general conclusion is that although there is a fair amount of ignorance with regard to contemporary Translation Studies, there are a few cases where scholars from diverse disciplines somewhat distant from Translation Studies, such as Information Science, display a sound understanding and creative use of TS literature.

From Translation Studies to other disciplines: the importance of rhetoric. Rhetorical differences between disciplines (Hyland); also cultural differences (Connor) within disciplines.What happens when memes from one discipline penetrate another is either undervaluation (due to entrenched approaches and conceptions in the receiving discipline, and difficulty of understanding and appreciating a new approach) or overvaluation (due to unfamiliarity, and finding the new approach highly original).

Possibility of co-authored research and papers.Questions for discussion: 1) Discuss Translation Studies in the light of the two definitions of an interdiscipline given above.2) Some scholars in Translation Studies are worried that the increasing diversity of research means that the discipline will explode. What is your opinion? Do you think the discipline has to be unified in its goals and methods? Can too much interdisciplinarity be dangerous?3) You may already have a dissertation topic in mind. Will your topic require some knowledge from fields outside Translation Studies?

Bibliography

Blackmore, Susan. 1999. The Meme Machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chesterman, Andrew. 1997. Memes of Translation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Chesterman, Andrew. 2002. On the Interdisciplinarity of Translation Studies. Logos and Language. 3(1): 1-9.Connor, Ulla. 1996. Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-cultural Aspects of Second-language Writing. Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Duarte, Joo Ferreira, Alexandra Assis Rosa & Teresa Seruya (eds) 2006. Translation Studies at the Interface of Disciplines. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Fuller, Steve. 2003. Interdisciplinarity: The loss of heroic vision in the marketplace of ideas. http://www.interdisciplines.org/interdisciplinarity/papers/3[accessed 20/02/2007]Hyland, Ken. 2000. Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow etc.: Pearson Education.

Klein, Julie Thompson. 1990. Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory and Practice. Detroit, MI.: Wayne State University Press.

Ross, Jonathan. (2007 unpublished conference paper) Translatological Turns? The Spread of Ideas Beyond Translation Studies. Paper given at 5th EST Congress, Ljubljana, Slovenia September 2007.

Snell-Hornby, Mary. 1988. Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Tymoczko, Maria. 2005. Trajectories of Research in Translation Studies. Meta 50 (4): 1082-1097.PAGE 3